Ye Miaoyun was about to ask further when she heard her second sister-in-law Tian's voice.

"Miaoyun, the lard is all rendered. What's next?"

"Thank you, Second Sister-in-law, I'm here!" Ye Miaoyun rushed into the kitchen.

Qi Chengshuo looked at Jiang Xianya sitting by the well and was about to say something when he noticed that the little girl had already gotten up and gone into her room.

Jiang Xianya didn't seem like a young girl to him at all.

"This girl is quite formidable; you'd better not mess with her," Qi Jiu said in a low voice, patting Qi Chengshuo on the shoulder.

Qi Chengshuo was taken aback upon hearing this, and after a moment he said, "What are you thinking, Uncle Jiu? I just think she's a bit mysterious, different from ordinary young girls."

"Of course, she has been enlightened by immortals and learned the profound arts of the Taiyi Sect. As long as she is willing, she can become a disciple of the Taiyi Sect at any time. Anyone who treats her as an ordinary little girl is a fool."

After Qi Jiu finished speaking, a smile appeared on his face: "Cheng Shuo, how about... I go and talk to my father-in-law and ask you guys to move here too, so you and those guards don't have to run to my place every day. Don't you get tired? I get tired just watching you. Anyway, there are no students in the school, and the dormitories prepared for the students in the front yard have been empty. You can give him some money, and he will eat and sleep here. My father-in-law won't refuse."

His nephew was ordered to protect him, which was already a hard job for him. Qi Jiu was very grateful and couldn't bear to let the boy run around and hide in the tree.

In such hot weather, sitting in a tree for an hour or two is unbearable. Luckily, this kid is highly skilled in martial arts; if it were him, he wouldn't be able to stand it for even a quarter of an hour.

"Then how will Ninth Uncle explain your identity? Tell them that you were a prince before, and we are here to protect you?" Qi Chengshuo said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Qi Jiu touched his nose, unsure of what to say.

"Among those in this courtyard who know your true identity, only Miss Jiang and her daughter should know. If others knew, they would probably have already treated you like royalty, and wouldn't let Aunt Ye... Ninth Aunt order you around!" Qi Chengshuo said with a smile.

Ye Miaoyun and Uncle Jiu are now husband and wife, and in name, she is indeed his aunt.

Although Qi Chengshuo still felt it was a bit unreal, he couldn't deny it.

"Ninth Aunt..." Qi Jiu murmured softly, her expression a little off.

"Is Ninth Uncle thinking about your former princess?" Qi Chengshuo deliberately rubbed salt into the wound.

"Who said I missed her? A woman who abandoned me, I don't care about her at all," Qi Jiu sneered.

Qi Chengshuo smiled upon hearing this but remained silent.

In the past, he also thought that Ninth Prince's wife was quite good. Not only was she from a prestigious family and well-educated, but she was also virtuous and elegant. She treated everyone very well. When she met the younger generation, she was gentle and polite. When everyone visited their residence, Ninth Prince's wife also treated them warmly. No one could find a single fault with her.

Unexpectedly, after Uncle Jiu was sentenced to exile, Princess Jiu quickly divorced him.

He had heard that the Ninth Princess's family had already sided with the Fifth Prince.

After His Highness the Crown Prince's death, the Fifth Prince is the most likely candidate to become the heir apparent.

They have completely abandoned Uncle Nine.

Of course, Uncle Nine did not participate in the struggle for the throne from beginning to end.

To be precise, it was after the Crown Prince's death that the Ninth Princess and her family abandoned the Ninth Uncle.

In Qi Chengshuo's eyes, they were all ungrateful people.

"Tell me... wasn't I good enough to her? Although I was exiled, it doesn't mean I can never return to the capital or reclaim everything that should belong to me. I never expected her... to be so eager to divorce me." Qi Jiu was still resentful about this, but he had kept quiet about it before.

Because it's too embarrassing!

He, a member of the royal family and the son of the current emperor, was actually dumped by a woman.

"Of course, Ninth Uncle treats Ninth Princess very well. This is common knowledge. Almost all the women in the capital envy Ninth Princess, saying that she is the luckiest person in the world," Qi Chengshuo said with a smile.

"Then why did she treat me like this?" Qi Jiuzhen couldn't understand it.

His princess was a bit spoiled, but her character was impeccable; otherwise, he wouldn't have married her in the first place.

On the day he was exiled, he wasn't actually too heartbroken, because he knew the princess would definitely stay with him. But reality dealt him a heavy blow.

She threatened suicide to force him to divorce her.

"I don't know either!" Qi Chengshuo shook his head.

If Uncle Nine were to ask him about something like this, he would definitely be asking the wrong person!

He's not married, so how would he know what women are thinking?

"I really don't understand. I've been so good to her, always going along with her wishes. I'll buy her anything she sets her sights on, no matter how expensive it is. I would never do anything she doesn't like. We've been married for fifteen years, and she's only given me one daughter. I couldn't bear to see her sad and heartbroken, so I didn't take a concubine. I never expected her to do this..."

Before Qi Jiu could finish speaking, Ye Miaoyun's voice suddenly came from behind him.

"Qi Jiu, hurry up and keep an eye on the stove. If that clam shell gets burned to ashes and falls into the stove, I'll beat you up."

Upon hearing this, Qi Jiu turned around and saw Ye Miaoyun standing at the kitchen door with a knife, staring at him. He was so frightened that he quickly ran away.

Qi Chengshuo was speechless when he saw Qi Jiu, who had looked heartbroken, actually running to the stove and carefully using tongs to pick up the cooked clam shells and put them into a basin.

"Chengshuo, this thing is a bit slippery and hard to grip. If I use too much force, I'll crush it. Come and help me..." Qi Jiu waved to Qi Chengshuo and whispered.

Qi Chengshuo shook his head helplessly upon hearing this, but still went.

A moment later, Qi Jiu snatched the fire tongs from Qi Chengshuo's hand and pushed him aside: "Go away... I thought I was the only one who was clumsy. Turns out you're clumsy too, you can't even do this little job well."

That brat Qi Chengshuo crushed three clam shells in a row. If Ye Miaoyun sees him like that, he's in big trouble.

Ye Miaoyun, that woman, looks gentle and pretty, but she's incredibly fierce when she opens her mouth.

No one cared about his previous status. Ye Miaoyun had already swung a feather duster at him twice since early this morning.

He doesn't want to get beaten up!

"This... I didn't expect the clam shell to be so brittle after being thoroughly heated in the oven. How about I try again? I promise it won't break this time," Qi Chengshuo said awkwardly.

He had never done these kinds of jobs before, so it was inevitable that he was a little rusty.

In addition, he was a martial artist and naturally had great strength. After the clam shell was burned through, it was not easy to pick it up, so... he put more force into his hand, but unexpectedly... it broke.

"Go away, go away, don't drag me into this and get beaten up." Qi Jiu pushed him away, carefully holding the clam shell between her fingers.

“Actually… it’s quite simple for Ninth Uncle to find out why Ninth Princess abandoned you,” Qi Chengshuo suddenly said.

"Simple?" Qi Jiu stopped what he was doing.

"You can ask Miss Jiang to calculate it for you; perhaps you'll know the answer soon."