I Am Already A Queen

Chapter 76: Chapter 76: Jiang Suhan Slapped Jiang Chinan

"Sister Yanna, you are way too kind. You don’t have to constantly protect that useless country bumpkin!" Jiang Chinan snorted coldly, his expression twisting into utter disgust. "Ever since she forced her way back into this house, our family has not enjoyed a single peaceful day. She is nothing but a cursed jinx. Honestly, she should have just died out in the countryside a long time ago."

The exact millisecond those vicious, toxic words left his mouth...

Slap!

A loud, incredibly crisp, and resounding slap echoed violently throughout the high-ceilinged dining room.

Jiang Chinan froze entirely in sheer disbelief. His head snapped to the side. Jiang Yanna was equally, profoundly stunned, her breath catching in her throat. The two of them slowly, mechanically turned their heads around to look at the source.

One pair of icy, fiercely furious eyes stared directly through Jiang Chinan’s soul, radiating a terrifying, murderous intent. Beside him, another pair of completely calm, utterly indifferent dark eyes simply watched the entire chaotic scene unfold without the slightest ripple of human emotion.

"Eldest... Eldest Brother..." Jiang Chinan clutched his burning, rapidly reddening cheek, staring at Jiang Suhan in absolute, terrified shock. "Why... why did you just slap me?"

"No matter what personal, petty opinions you might hold regarding another human being. You should never, under any circumstances, possess the malice to curse another person to die." Jiang Suhan said, his voice dropping to a freezing, lethal frequency as he glared down at his younger brother.

"Why are you constantly protecting her?!" Jiang Chinan shouted back angrily, tears of humiliation springing to his eyes. "She is just a random outsider! She is not worth a single shred of your protection!"

"Because she is my biological sister." Jiang Suhan answered firmly, his powerful voice ringing out with absolute, unyielding finality.

Every single time Jiang Suhan emphasised those specific words, biological sister, Jiang Yanna felt a sharp, invisible knife pierce straight through her fabricated pride, twisting deeply.

"You also should protect her, yet you are standing here openly wishing for her death. Tell me, Chinan, what kind of pathetic brother does something so monstrous?" Jiang Suhan continued coldly, stepping closer until his shadow completely eclipsed the teenager.

"She’s not my sister!" Jiang Chinan roared hysterically, his teenage ego completely fracturing. "I will never acknowledge a country bumpkin like her as my family! I only have one true sister, and her name is Jiang Yanna!"

The exact moment he finished shouting his defiance, Jiang Chinan spun around on his heel and stormed violently out of the dining room, nearly knocking over a vase.

Just then, Feng Lan came hurrying into the room, her face pale after hearing the loud slap and the frantic commotion from the hallway. The moment she stepped inside, she saw her remaining children standing in a tense, suffocating standoff.

"What on earth happened here?" Feng Lan asked anxiously.

"Mom," Jiang Suhan spoke up immediately, his tone sharp and authoritative. "You need to have a serious, immediate talk with Chinan regarding his upbringing. He cannot casually curse human beings to die under this roof."

Even though Feng Lan had no idea about the exact dialogue that had transpired moments earlier, her toxic biases allowed her to instantly guess that it was somehow centred around Qiao Meixia. Her sharp eyes immediately shifted toward Qiao Meixia, who was simply standing there with a detached, entirely indifferent expression, looking as though the high-stakes family drama had absolutely nothing to do with her.

For a brief, volatile second, Feng Lan wanted nothing more than to vent all of her corporate and maternal frustration directly at Qiao Meixia’s face. However, remembering her husband’s warnings, she forcibly suppressed the nasty impulse.

"I understand. I will speak with Chinan regarding his words later. But as for you..." Feng Lan nodded stiffly, her voice tight. She shot an disapproving look at Jiang Suhan. "You did not have to be so incredibly harsh and strike him. He is still just a young boy."

"Mom... He is only a single year younger than Qiaoqiao and Yanna. He is a high-school student, not a toddler." Jiang Suhan’s brow furrowed slightly, a look of profound disappointment crossing his features.

"I know. He is just naturally mischievous and hot-headed. He did not genuinely mean the weight of what he said." Feng Lan continued heatedly defending her spoiled youngest son.

"That’s entirely true, Eldest Brother." Jiang Yanna also spoke up softly, injecting herself into the conversation with a gentle, peace-making tone. "You know Chinan’s temper better than anyone else. He speaks before he thinks."

"Precisely because I know his character." Jiang Suhan replied with complete, unbothered calmness, "I find it even harder to believe that he could actually harbour the malice to say something that disgusting aloud."

His sharp, logical retort instantly left both Feng Lan and Jiang Yanna entirely speechless, their arguments dying in their throats. An awkward, suffocating silence settled over the entire luxurious dining room.

Then...

Grrrr...

A distinctly audible, vibrating growl suddenly echoed through the silent room.

Everyone instinctively turned their heads to stare at Qiao Meixia. She remained completely expressionless, her back straight and her face impassive, looking for all the world as though the highly embarrassing sound had not originated from her own stomach at all.

The cold corners of Jiang Suhan’s lips instantly lifted into a helpless, genuinely amused smile.

"Let’s eat our dinner first." Jiang Suhan smiled warmly, completely breaking the icy tension. He then glanced around the sprawling table setup. "Where is Dad tonight?"

"Oh..." Feng Lan answered. "He stated he had some urgent corporate work to take care of at the main office tonight, so he would not be coming home for dinner. He told us to go ahead without him. He is dining outside with clients."

"Mom..." Jiang Yanna asked hesitantly, tilting her head beautifully. "Should we ask one of the maids to call Chinan back down to the table?"

"If we send someone to call him now, his pride would not allow him to come out." Feng Lan sighed heavily, rubbing her temples. "Let’s just eat first. Later on, I will have the kitchen staff bring a premium tray of food up to his room."

The remaining four family members finally took their respective seats around the long table and began eating. As always, Feng Lan immediately began acting the part of the ultimate loving, doting mother, constantly utilising her silver serving utensils to place the choice cuts of food into Jiang Yanna’s porcelain bowl.

Jiang Yanna felt a wave of secret, triumphant delight wash through her. While offering her mother a sweet, dazzling smile, she deliberately and calculatedly glanced at Qiao Meixia from the corner of her eye, desperately hoping the country girl would notice the glaring, painful difference in how they were treated by the matriarch.

However, the very next millisecond, the smug smile on Jiang Yanna’s face nearly shattered into pieces.

Jiang Suhan was doing the exact same thing.

Without uttering a single word of explanation, his long fingers naturally and elegantly moved his chopsticks, selecting the freshest, highest-quality dishes from the centre plates and consistently piling them into Qiao Meixia’s bowl, ensuring she did not have to lift a finger to get plenty to eat.

Watching the two of them interact so effortlessly, Jiang Yanna’s manicured fingers slowly, almost violently, tightened around her expensive silver-tipped chopsticks until her knuckles turned a stark, pale white. The burning bitterness and jealousy in her chest intensified with every agonising second of the silent meal.

Desperate to break the suffocating dynamic, Jiang Yanna suddenly brought up a new topic, masking her probing with a sweet, innocent tone.

"Eldest Brother, didn’t you state this morning that you were going to escort Sister Meixia to register at First Hannan Academy today? Why didn’t the two of you go?" Jiang Yanna asked.

"Who said we didn’t?" Jiang Suhan replied smoothly, setting down his glass without sparing her a glance. "We already went."

"Oh... Then... does that mean Sister Meixia is officially a registered student at our academy now?" Jiang Yanna blinked in genuine surprise before quickly recovering her perfect, radiant smile.

"Not yet." Jiang Suhan answered, his voice smooth and enigmatic. "But she definitely will be."

Jiang Yanna’s perfect brow furrowed slightly. A small knot of anxiety tightened in her stomach.

"What exactly do you mean by that, Eldest Brother?" Jiang Yanna pushed, failing to comprehend his absolute confidence.

Before Jiang Suhan could elaborate, Qiao Meixia suddenly cut through the conversation. She calmly and precisely aligned her chopsticks against the porcelain rest, her expression entirely unreadable.

"I am done eating. I am leaving the table first. You can continue." Qiao Meixia interrupted the conversation.

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