Chapter 17
Winning People Over with Virtue
Su Ying rushed forward and held Ling.
Ling was frightened. She pouted and burst into tears in Su Ying’s arms. Yet she did not dare to cry too loudly and sobbed like a kitten. Su Ying’s heart ached.
Xiao Jin’s dark eyes glared coldly at the person who had snatched Ling’s pancake. He recognized him at once – he was the son of one of his deputy generals.
“Jiang Yang.”
Jiang Yang returned to his senses and stepped forward to kick the man. The man’s body slammed into the wall. Even so, he was still unwilling to let go of the pancakes in his hand.
“Wang Neng. You animal. You even snatched a child’s food!” Jiang Yang apparently also knew the person.
Wang Neng stuffed all the pancakes into his mouth like a man starving to death, then glared at Jiang Yang with resentment. “On this road to exile, you die, or you live. Who cares if she’s a child or not? Besides, the reason why my family is in such a miserable state is all because of you!”
Xiao Jin had been accused of treason, and his trusted aides and deputy generals, and their families, had all been imprisoned.
Jiang Yang clenched his fists in anger. “You bastard. What are you saying?”
Wang Neng regained strength from the food and got up from the ground. He glared at them angrily and said: “I am telling the truth! What did my father do wrong? What did my family do wrong? Why should we be implicated in your misfortune?”
Xiao Jin’s expression was icy as he glared at Su Ying. If looks could kill, Su Ying would have been riddled with holes by now.
However, Su Ying wasn’t the only one to blame for this. If it weren’t for his negligence, she wouldn’t have been able to take advantage.
Just as Xiao Jin was about to be burned by regret and anger, Su Ying placed Ling in his arms. “Put away your evil aura that scares the child.”
Xiao Jin’s eyes were filled with coldness. “You … You also deserve to die.”
“Father…” Ling was frightened by Xiao Jin’s expression and started crying again after Su Ying soothed her.
Xiao Jin’s heart ached for his child, and he finally restrained the hostility in his body.
Su Ying saw that he was comforting the child and walked towards Wang Neng and looked at him coldly.
“You said that everything you’re going through now was caused by Xiao Jin, but have you ever thought that the wealth you were enjoying in the capital was also given to you by him? Your father was appreciated by him, which was how he could go from an unknown veteran to a deputy general and achieve military exploits. If it weren’t for Xiao Jin, you would still be living in the slums, bending over for five buckets of rice!”
Su Ying slowly straightened her body, and her straight back made her look like a soldier who had trained for many years. Her face was cold and stern. “What is an army? It is a team. It is where we are bound together for good or for bad. Since you can take on its glory, you should be prepared to bear the suffering it brings you. If I hear such stupid words again, I’ll tear your mouth apart.”
Su Ying’s every word was sonorous and forceful, like a heavy hammer smashing into Xiao Jin’s heart. He looked at her solemn expression in shock as if she was a soldier.
These words and everything she had done in the past few days were definitely not what she would have done in the past. He could tell if a person practiced martial arts or not. At least, Su Ying surely did not have the ability to kill a white tiger with one strike.
She was not Su Ying!
At this moment, Xiao Jin had absolutely no doubt of his thoughts.
Wang Neng was stunned by Su Ying’s aura. He didn’t understand how a woman hiding in the backyard could have such an intimidating aura.
Su Ying felt that there were still too few allies, and she would slowly reveal many things in the future. It was inevitable that people would be jealous of her. It would not be good if everyone ganged up against them.
Therefore, she needed a team of her own.
Her sharp gaze swept across the people in the room. “Don’t think about doing stupid things again. If you’re willing to follow me, I won’t be short of food for you. However, if anyone has such evil thoughts again, I’ll wring his head off and kick it like a ball.”
After living in a cannibalistic world for many years, Su Ying never knew how to win people over with virtue. If you were not convinced, then she’d beat you up until you were.
She took some flour from her bag, went to the backyard, and asked He Shouyi to cook more.
He Shouyi made about thirty pancakes and some meat congee with dried tiger meat. Before he finished, he also sprinkled some of the vegetables that Su Ying had bought in the pot. The congee with dried meat boiled in the pot, and the fragrance spread throughout the courtyard. Everyone was so hungry that their eyes were fixed on them.
Bai Shuang found chipped bowls in the abandoned kitchen. It was better to wash and use these than to grab the congee with hands.
Bai Shuang scooped a bowl of congee for Su Ying, who took it and passed it to Mama Zhao. “Mama Zhao, have this congee. Eat more so that your body can recover faster.”
Mama Zhao stared at Su Ying in a daze. She felt Su Ying was like a stranger.
In the past, the Princess was arrogant and willful. Yet the person in front of her was sensible and could say words as such. This shocked her, but she did not doubt Su Ying’s identity.
She was someone who had brought Su Ying up since she was young, and she was all too familiar with Su Ying. She was sure that the person in front of her was Su Ying, and just like Bai Shuang, she automatically regarded Su Ying’s change as a sign of her growth.
“Pri… Madam, this old servant is not hungry. Madam, please leave some for young miss and the others to eat.”
Su Ying pointed at Bai Shuang. “There is a lot more in the backyard. From now on, anyone willing to follow me will have a bowl of congee to eat.”
Bai Shuang also smiled when she heard this. “Mama Zhao, hurry up and eat. Madam didn’t lie to you. There’s still a big pot of congee.”
Hearing this, Mama Zhao took the bowl and ate in small mouthfuls.
The fragrance of the congee mixed with dried meat instantly invaded her taste buds. Mama Zhao could not remember how long it had been since she had eaten something so delicious.
This farmer’s family used to be a large household, and there were many broken bowls in the kitchen. Bai Shuang washed them clean and served congee.
“Pri… Master, please have some congee.” Bai Shuang brought the congee to Xiao Jin. Xiao Jin only motioned for her to put the congee down.
Ling had calmed down with his comfort. However, she was unwilling to come out of Xiao Jin’s arms after the fright.
“Ling, are you hungry? Daddy will feed you some congee.”
After a long while, little Ling nodded and ate the congee in small mouthfuls. Perhaps because the meat congee was too delicious, her little face broke into a smile after only half a bowl.
Xiao Jin and the others were eating the steaming meat congee and pancakes while the rest of the prisoners were staring at them.
Su Ying placed the bowl on the table and said to them: “As I have said, if you are willing to follow me from now on, I won’t let you go hungry as long as I have something to eat. If you’re not willing, I won’t force you.”
The prisoners looked at each other. In the end, perhaps they couldn’t resist the temptation of food or had other thoughts, they all got up and rushed to the stove in the backyard, snatching the rest of the congee and pancakes in no time.