"Mother, I'm starving. Hurry up and serve dinner." Zhao Yu's booming voice made Zhao Yan feel a slight tingling in his ears.
Thinking to himself, this sixteen-year-old mama's boy was still as clueless as ever. Since Zhao Wei and Zhao Yu were twins, if Zhao Wei could be said to have a little bit of cunning (though not much), then Zhao Yu was a textbook example of a complete fool.
Younger Mrs. Li considered herself a great benefactor to the Zhao Family, having given birth to two "scholars destined for official glory," and since her mother-in-law, Elder Mrs. Li, was also her aunt, she was exceptionally arrogant around the house. She loved to bully others, and the target of that bullying, of course, was Madam Chen. Coupled with Elder Mrs. Li and Zhao Dahe turning a blind eye and a deaf ear, Younger Mrs. Li's arrogance knew no bounds.
While Zhao Yan was not usually a particularly meddlesome person, he simply could not stand Younger Mrs. Li's behavior. It was the modern equivalent of campus bullying translated into ancient domestic oppression.
Younger Mrs. Li cared more about her two sons than anything else in the world, which made her look at Zhao Yan with particular disdain. She believed that all the family property belonged to her branch of the family. Even though Zhao Yan was not favored by Zhao Dahe and Elder Mrs. Li, he was still a male heir and even held an academic degree, meaning he would definitely take a share of the property that rightfully belonged to her branch. If Zhao Wei and Younger Mrs. Li's little darlings were her heart and soul, Zhao Yan was a thorn in her side.
If Younger Mrs. Li had known what Zhao Yan was thinking, she would have laughed out loud. Given how poor the Zhao Family was, Zhao Yan wouldn't even deign to look at their wealth—let alone a share that probably amounted to a mere tenth of the total estate. It was enough to make someone laugh until they cried from poverty.
Although Zhao Yan had only been working for a few years, he understood investing. Between his salary and investment dividends, while he couldn't call himself super-rich, he was certainly quite comfortable. He really couldn't care less about the shabby assets of the Zhao Family.
As Zhao Wei and Zhao Yu took their seats, Zhao Gao also sat down next to Zhao Yan. Although Zhao Gao didn't speak, Zhao Yan sensed that he cast a few glances in his direction before lowering his head again. Occupational habit made Zhao Yan desperately want to remind Zhao Gao not to keep his head down all the time—it was bad for the cervical spine—but this wasn't the time for that, so Zhao Yan remained silent.
Zhao Wei glanced at Zhao Yan. When Zhao Yan raised his eyes to meet his gaze, Zhao Wei quickly looked away, not daring to hold his look.
*You brat, if you're feeling guilty, at least try not to make it so obvious.* Although Zhao Wei's acting was clumsy and poor, bad acting was actually a good thing. It played right into Zhao Yan's hands, making it easier to trick Zhao Wei into revealing the truth.
"Third Brother, I'm truly sorry. If I hadn't asked you to meet me by the river that day, you wouldn't have accidentally fallen in. Your eldest brother's conscience has been uneasy these past few days." Zhao Wei took the initiative, pretending to shoulder the blame himself. Anyway, in this household, he was the eldest grandson of the eldest branch; even if he took the blame upon himself, so what? Before he even had to speak, his mother and grandmother would make excuses for him.
Zhao Yan had always been cowardly, usually keeping his head down and never saying a word. As long as Zhao Wei kept up appearances, no one could say a word against him.
Unfortunately, he was no longer dealing with the original Zhao Yan.
"Eldest Brother, are you really sure you didn't push me that day? It was just the two of us. You say I slipped, but the ground there was so flat—how could I have slipped? I distinctly felt someone shove me from behind that day." Zhao Yan looked at the expressions around the table; everyone wore a dark look. Zhao Yan smiled inwardly and continued to play the pitiful victim.
"I know Eldest Brother dislikes me, but I never imagined you would actually try to harm me. Did I do something wrong?" With Zhao Yan simply playing his part, Zhao Wei cracked under the pressure.
"When did I push you? You fell in yourself and now you're trying to pin it on me!" Zhao Wei had barely gotten the words out before Younger Mrs. Li lost her temper.
"Bah! You cheap, black-hearted wretch! How dare you slander Dalang! It served you right for falling into the river—trying to blame others on top of that? Why didn't you just die back then?" Younger Mrs. Li's words went in one ear and out the other for Zhao Yan, but the expression on Zhao Gao's face beside him darkened until it looked like it could drip ink.
"Sister-in-law, how can you talk to Sanlang like that? Sanlang said Dalang pushed him, so why are you turning around and bullying Sanlang instead?" Although Zhao Gao's voice wasn't loud, everyone present could hear it.
Zhao Yan cast an appreciative look at his father, though his father kept his head down and missed it. Even though Zhao Gao had only flared up in a momentary burst of anger, at least he had taken a stand. Zhao Yan appreciated the feeling of being trusted. While Zhao Gao usually stayed quiet, when he did speak, he hit the nail on the head. He was also learning to fight back, which was a good start.
Seeing that even Zhao Gao dared to talk back to her, Younger Mrs. Li flew into a rage. "What, I can't talk about Zhao Yan? Second Brother, your bias is showing all the way to the heavens! He dares to slander my Dalang, so not only do I dare scold him, I dare beat him too! What do you people in the second branch think you are, acting so high and mighty in front of me?"
Seeing that Younger Mrs. Li and Zhao Wei had been thoroughly provoked, Zhao Yan decided to strike while the iron was hot and fan the flames.
"Aunt, how can you say such things? My father is also Grandfather and Grandmother's son—how can you look down on him like that? I already said Eldest Brother pushed me, yet you still curse at me and my father. Clearly, you're the one playing favorites! Eldest Brother called me down to the river for no reason, and I went because I trusted him so much. I never expected Eldest Brother would try to take my life!"
"You're lying! I didn't push you on purpose that day! I just called you to the river to ask you for the silver. The money originally belonged to the Zhao Family, and when I asked you for it, you refused to give it to me! I did shove you, but you didn't fall into the river—it was the silver for the imperial examination that fell in! You went into the water yourself to retrieve the silver and ended up drowning. When did I ever push you?" Zhao Wei snapped, losing his temper and blurting out the truth of what happened that day.
*So that's how it was.* Zhao Yan hadn't found any memories of the drowning day in the original owner's mind—probably because the trauma of the drowning had caused memory loss for that specific event. But it didn't matter; he had managed to trick it out of him anyway.
Younger Mrs. Li didn't show much expression upon hearing this, which showed she had known the truth all along. Zhao Gao's expression, however, grew steadily uglier.
"You can't just talk nonsense! Clearly, you wanted to go into the river to pick up the silver yourself, and it has nothing to do with my Dalang. Mother, look at how Sanlang's illness has muddled his brain—he's just talking gibberish!" Younger Mrs. Li was still stubbornly refusing to admit defeat. Fortunately, Zhao Yan's acting skills were on point, otherwise he would have laughed out loud. He had never seen anyone so stupid.
Elder Mrs. Li looked around at everyone. "Shut your traps, all of you! You can't even close your mouths when it's time to eat breakfast. From now on, no one is allowed to mention this matter again. If anyone brings it up again, get out of the Zhao Family!"
"Mother—" Zhao Gao barely managed to get the word out before Elder Mrs. Li cut him off.
Hearing this, Zhao Yan thought: *Well, well, this old hag is going to sweep it under the rug. Unbelievable! If Zhao Gao and Elder Mrs. Li didn't look somewhat alike, Zhao Yan would have thought Zhao Gao wasn't even his biological son.* How could anyone be this biased? The eldest son was a treasure, while the second son was mere grass.
Looking at the silent Zhao Gao, the harsh Elder Mrs. Li, and the arrogant Younger Mrs. Li, Zhao Yan felt his fighting spirit truly ignited this time.
*We'll see about this.*