When the Cannon Fodder Meets the Love-Brained Female Supporting Character - Episode 9

The slanting sunlight fell upon Jiang Nan, who lay on a wisteria-woven swing. She had placed a banana leaf over her face and held two walnuts in her hand, drowsing off into a warm, heavy slumber.

Today, Jiang Nan had finally managed to take a day off for herself.

A’Tuo approached, carrying a pot of lush orchids, and woke Jiang Nan.

Jiang Nan lifted the banana leaf and looked at her.

A’Tuo seemed to have something urgent to say, her face anxious as she gestured incessantly with the orchids.

Seeing her like this, Jiang Nan immediately understood. It was either about Xiao Ran or Jiang Huai.

“Don’t rush, take your time,” Jiang Nan said, sitting up.

“Three days from now, at the Kite Festival, Xiao Ran will be coming too,” A’Tuo said gravely. “It was Third Miss who invited her.”

The Jiang family had three daughters: Eldest Miss Jiang Yue, already married; Second Miss Jiang Xuelu, betrothed and preparing for marriage; and Third Miss Jiang Yumin, still unmarried. There were also two sons: Jiang Huai and Jiang Ye.

Currently, the only Jiang family members in the residence with free time were Jiang Huai, Jiang Yumin, and Jiang Nan.

Jiang Yumin, being the legitimate youngest daughter, had always been mischievous.

Her favorite pastime was tormenting her brother’s admirers—for instance, summoning them under Jiang Huai’s name only to keep them by her side, never letting them catch a glimpse of him. Their restless, desperate expressions delighted her.

Or, she would gather a group of girls infatuated with Jiang Huai and deliberately drop hints about the type of woman her brother preferred. What traits did he favor? She’d pick one feature from this girl, another from that one, then watch as they tore into each other, their feigned camaraderie turning to outright hatred.

This was Jiang Yumin’s specialty.

Yet, she was Jiang Huai’s most doted-upon little sister. No matter how many times she summoned those girls, none dared refuse. And so, the farce repeated itself over and over.

Jiang Huai knew about these antics. Not only did he never scold his sister, he actively indulged her whims like deliberately staying out of sight when the girls came calling.

He found it amusing, believing it only made the girls love him more. When he returned from his leisurely outings, he’d even listen with interest as his sister recounted how they had squirmed in agony, pining for him.

After reading the plot, Jiang Nan had been deeply impressed by Jiang Yumin’s twisted sense of fun.

Clearly.

This time, Jiang Yumin’s target was Xiao Ran.

Jiang Nan closed her eyes briefly. A’Tuo, thinking she was upset by the news, hurried over to massage her temples.

She was just exasperated.

In the original plot, it shouldn’t have been Xiao Ran summoned for this torment. It was supposed to be Wang Feifei.

But perhaps, since Xiao Ran had suddenly disappeared and stopped clinging to Jiang Huai, he had grown displeased and deliberately instructed Jiang Yumin to choose her instead. It wasn’t impossible.

Another day passed.

A’Tuo rushed over in a panic to report: “Miss Yuqian has returned!!”

“Wasn’t she supposed to be back in two more days?” Jiang Nan was practicing calligraphy. At her words, the brush paused briefly before she continued writing, her heart utterly unmoved.

If not for the persona she had crafted for the Jiang family and Xiao Ran, she wouldn’t even have bothered asking.

The female lead was back. What did that have to do with her?

“They say trouble arose with that person in the capital, so the Yu family sent their daughter back to Yangcheng early!” A’Tuo had gathered the details thoroughly.

In the afternoon, Jiang Nan visited the Hidden Fragrance Pavilion. Fang Rui had hired over a dozen women to help process tea leaves, and the work was already halfway done.

The once fresh and emerald-green Bantianyao tea leaves had curled up, resembling slightly yellowed silkworms about to shed their cocoons.

She picked one up and held it to her nose, catching a faint, elusive fruity fragrance that was quite pleasant.

Fang Rui exclaimed excitedly, “Boss, foot traffic has dropped a lot lately. If we could introduce this tea, it would definitely attract connoisseurs. With such a unique aroma and being the only one of its kind, they’d surely come back for more.”

Jiang Nan smiled. “Rarity increases value. We’ll price this tea high.”

“How high?”

“Ten times more than other teas.”

“Ten times? Isn’t that too steep? What if no one buys it?”

In the State of Zhao, tea was a shared passion among nobles and commoners alike. As a result, tea prices had become increasingly affordable over time.

Jiang Nan ran her fingers over the leaves. “Remember to write on the promotional cards: Plucked from sheer cliffs, bathed in the essence of sun and moon, a gift from the falcons—Bantianyao tea, unparalleled in all the world.”

“This time, we’re targeting the wealthy!”

Fang Rui was dazzled by the extravagant descriptors, her head spinning.

She carefully set down the handful of tea leaves she had casually grabbed earlier and glanced at the older women working nearby. “Be gentle with these,” she reminded them.

The women, who had been eavesdropping, nodded vigorously like chickens pecking at rice.

Jiang Nan stepped out of Cangfang Tower into the bright, sunny weather. Tender buds had sprouted on many trees, filling the once-bare branches. From higher ground, the entire city appeared lush and verdant.

In high spirits, Jiang Nan decided to take advantage of the fine weather and stroll around.

But luck wasn’t on her side.

Even a casual walk led her to someone she’d rather not see.

Her expression blank, Jiang Nan stared at the two figures in the middle of the road. One was Jiang Huai, and the other was an unfamiliar young woman with a graceful figure, her hair tied in a simple bun, her features delicate and charming.

Jiang Huai’s eyes held a pie chart of emotions. Three parts joy at reunion, three parts resentment at abandonment.

Jiang Nan guessed this refined beauty must be Yu Qian.

She had intended to pretend not to recognize Jiang Huai and slip past them. But Jiang Huai’s sharp eyes spotted her instantly, even with half her face hidden behind her sleeve.

“Cousin Jiang Nan!” Jiang Huai called out.

Jiang Nan’s face fell immediately. Was she about to be roped into some scheme?

She didn’t want to see Jiang Huai.

Her expression was misinterpreted by him as displeasure at seeing Yu Qian by his side.

Forcing a faint smile, Jiang Nan nodded at the pair. “Fancy meeting you here, cousin. And who is this?”

“This is Yu Qian, my childhood sweetheart. She used to be our neighbor.”

“A pleasure,” Yu Qian said, her eyes flickering with a brief spark of admiration before settling back into calm.

“Likewise,” Jiang Nan replied, then turned to Jiang Huai. “I’ll head back now. You two enjoy your stroll.”

Jiang Huai shot a subtle glance at Yu Qian before saying to Jiang Nan, “No rush. The lotus flowers are in full bloom. If you’re free, why not join us for a walk around the lake?”

Jiang Nan remained silent.

Yu Qian, her expression unreadable, stepped forward gracefully and bowed slightly. “Would you accompany us, sister? It wouldn’t be proper for Jiang Huai and me to wander alone as an unmarried pair.”

At this, Jiang Huai’s face darkened.

Faced with the young woman’s earnest request, Jiang Nan had no choice but to agree.

The three of them swam to the deepest part of Xinhu Lake and were on their way back when they unexpectedly encountered a commotion. The crowd ahead was restless, automatically forming a circle and leaving an open space in the center.

Xinhu Lake was located at the southernmost part of the city, and this was the only road back to the estate. Blocked here, no one could pass.

Jiang Huai’s expression darkened as he shouted at the people ahead, “Make way, make way! What’s the meaning of blocking the road like this?”

The people in front turned around angrily, but upon seeing it was the Jiang family’s second young master, they immediately fell silent and shuffled aside, clearing a narrow path just wide enough for one person.

After the three passed through, they reached the center of the crowd.

It turned out there were two gamblers and five burly enforcers fighting there.

To be precise, it was a one-sided beating of the gamblers.

The leader of the enforcers, holding a club, pointed at the disheveled gambler groaning on the ground and said to another man dressed somewhat decently, “In the past, our Fugui Gambling House let it slide out of respect for you, Xiao Li. But this man has repeatedly failed to repay his debts. He owes our Tanshui Pavilion ten taels of gold. Four whole months overdue! We’re just following orders. Today, either we collect the debt, or we break both his legs!”

The man named Xiao Li froze for a moment upon hearing the sum of ten taels of gold.

The gambler, terrified by the enforcer’s words, trembled uncontrollably. Crouching on the ground with his hands over his head, he wept and pleaded, “Don’t hit me, I beg you! I’ll win it all back next time, I swear!”

He crawled to Xiao Li and clutched the hem of his robe. “Brother, help me one last time! We used to be so close. I don’t want to lose my legs, wuuuuhhhh…”

Xiao Li hesitated for a long while as he looked at him.

“Believe me, brother! I was framed. They lent me money and told me to bet big, that it was a sure win. So I did, but it turned out small. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have borrowed from them. They set me up! They ruined me!” The gambler wailed pitifully, putting on a desperate act.

Xiao Li’s heart softened, and he decisively ordered a servant beside him to go home and fetch items that could be pawned.

The servant was quick. In less than the time it took for an incense stick to burn, he returned with what Xiao Li had requested, holding it out in his hands and unwrapping it.

It was a box wrapped in cowhide, containing a set of exquisite and valuable jewelry, emerald bracelets with beads so translucent and perfectly round they gleamed.

Suddenly, a slender figure darted out from the crowd. Frantically, she grabbed the green cloth wrapping the jewelry and snatched it back from the servant. The young girl lifted her delicate head, forcing herself to meet Xiao Li’s gaze. “Father, these are Mother’s dowry. You can’t—”

Xiao Li glanced at his usually inconspicuous daughter and snapped, “Let go!”

“No, these belong to Mother!” Xiao Ran said stubbornly.

Hearing her mention the dead woman, Xiao Li grew displeased. He stepped forward and tried to wrest the jewelry box from Xiao Ran’s hands. “Why bring up the dead? The living is what matter now. Can’t you see your uncle is about to have his legs broken?”

Xiao Ran clung to the box with desperate determination, her fair fingers turning red from the force of the struggle.

“He’s not my uncle.”

This “uncle” had no blood relation to the Xiao family. He was merely a sworn brother Xiao Li had taken in outside.

Back when Xiao Ran’s mother was alive, Xiao Li had often done this. Taking things from the household to give to outsiders, forcing the family to scrimp and save.

They were merely a branch of the Xiao family. After Xiao Li squandered the family’s money before the division, he set his sights on the dowry brought by Xiao’s mother. The mother had hidden some of it, but after her passing, Xiao Li eventually discovered it.

The onlookers recognized Jiang Huai and quickly nudged his arm, whispering, “Hey, hey, isn’t that your sweetheart? Aren’t you going to step in and help her out?”

Jiang Huai glanced sideways at the fierce-looking enforcers from the gambling den.

A few days prior, his father had been deeply disappointed when he failed to bring home the bronze mask, instead spending four hundred taels to win a beauty’s smile. His father had even warned that if he repeated such reckless behavior and neglected his duties again, he would no longer be considered as the heir to the Jiang family.

How could he intervene now?

If he hadn’t disappointed his father that day, he would have gladly taken up the favor for the beauty today. But so soon after that incident, if word got out that Jiang Huai had clashed with gambling den enforcers over a woman that would be disastrous.

What a pity!

Jiang Huai had an elder brother who preferred traveling and had little interest in managing the Jiang family affairs. But if their father forcibly summoned him back to take over, he would have no choice but to return.

Jiang Huai had no intention of handing over the position of Jiang family head that was nearly within his grasp.

He said coolly, “This is another family’s private matter. Why interfere?”

Yu Qian had heard rumors before arriving about Jiang Huai’s dalliances with several women. She also knew about how he had once helped Xiao Ran retrieve her hairpin and how Xiao Ran would learn to make his favorite pastries to gift him.

Hearing his words now, she lifted her gaze slightly, studying his profile with a hint of scrutiny.

Jiang Nan recalled the sweet nothings he had whispered to Xiao Ran not long ago and felt a wave of nausea.

As Xiao Ran struggled with her father, her peripheral vision caught sight of Jiang Nan and the others. She froze momentarily, a faint glimmer lighting her eyes—until it met Jiang Huai’s icy gaze. That glimmer melted away like thin snow under the scorching sun.

Xiao Ran’s hand, crushed and crimson, and her slightly reddened eyes perhaps from the pain glistened with unshed tears. She tilted her chin up slightly, refusing to let them fall.

A sudden, inexplicable surge of emotion rushed through Jiang Nan’s mind.

She stepped forward.