Chapter 8

Chapter 8

I woke up very early the next morning.

To my surprise, the Cui Family didn’t lack food. After all, even a starved camel is bigger than a horse. But if that was the case, why did Cui Shao and his sister look so gaunt?

Looking at the half-pot of undercooked rice left over, I understood.

I added some water to turn it into a pot of congee. Noticing a bag of white flour, I kneaded it into dough to make flatbread. Then, I sliced some of the hanging cured meat and stuffed it inside the bread.

Qingshan helped me set the table. Seeing Cui Zishu get out of bed, he called her over to eat.

Whatever thought crossed Cui Zishu’s mind made her curl her lip in disgust. “I’m not eating.”

“The servant didn’t make this; Madam did.”

Cui Zishu sneered. “She knows how to cook? Does a ‘young lady’ of the Chen Family actually have to do such chores?”

I didn’t want to make things difficult for Qingshan, and I had heard everything from the kitchen anyway. “Of course. My brother and I were treated little better than servants in the Chen Family. What ‘young lady’ or ‘young master’? As long as we can stay alive, what does cooking or labor matter? Only by living is there hope. Look, haven’t my brother and I finally reached that hope?”

Qingshan lowered his head and remained silent, while Cui Zishu glared at me with hatred.

“Chen Yu, don’t think you can do whatever you want just because you married into this house. I will make you pay for your ignorance!”

The Chen Clan of Qinghe had once been so magnificent. Especially after the death of the Cui patriarch and Cui Shao’s entry into the imperial court, the Cui Clan had become the preeminent Noble Families in the world.

Whether it was the sharp-tongued Cui Zishu or the reserved and self-controlled Cui Shao, both possessed an air of lofty, unyielding pride.

That pride was the hallmark of the Noble Families, nurtured by power and status.

But for ordinary people, such pride was a burden – the most useless thing of all.