"Let's not talk about her anymore." Qi Jiu forced a smile and held Ye Miaoyun's hand: "Where is Xianya? If she hadn't reminded me yesterday that there would be bloodshed today, and hadn't packed up early to come back and protect me, I would have been seriously injured today."

His biological daughter wanted to kill him, but his stepdaughter saved him.

Qi Jiu couldn't describe his feelings at that moment, and he just wanted to go to Ye Xianya to thank her in person.

From now on, he will only have one daughter, Ye Xianya!

If he can regain his princely title one day, he will surely make sure that the mother and daughter live a life that everyone envies.

Even if he cannot regain his title, he will do his best to treat them well.

"Chengshuo said there's a century-old shop in the south of the city that makes the best braised beef. He took Xianya there and said he'd bring you two jin for a midnight snack," Ye Miaoyun said softly.

"He must be talking about Danyunlou. Their braised beef is limited every day, and you can't get any if you go late. Chengshuo must have sent someone to order it a long time ago." Qi Jiu really wanted to say that his nephew had ulterior motives, otherwise why would he invite Xianya to eat there alone?

That brat treats Xianya much better now than he treats him.

"Wife, let's eat a little less for dinner tonight, and wait for Xianya and Chengshuo to bring back braised beef for us as a midnight snack," Qi Jiu said with a smile.

Ye Miaoyun: "..."

This man is really thick-skinned. He was almost stabbed in the chest by his own daughter just now, but now his eyes light up when he talks about food.

But it's good that he's like this, otherwise she wouldn't know how to comfort him.

She had racked her brains to come up with a few words of comfort, but in the end, she got herself into a mess.

Anyway, if she had a daughter who wanted to kill her, she would never forgive her.

"Husband, I was planning to make braised chicken tonight. If you want to save room for the braised beef, then eat less later," Ye Miaoyun said with a smile.

Qi Jiu felt troubled upon hearing this.

On one side was braised beef, which he hadn't eaten in a long time, the kind that made his mouth water just thinking about it.

On one hand, there was his wife's specialty dish, which he had tasted once before and had been longing for ever since. Now that his wife had finally made it a second time, he didn't want to miss it.

"Wife... how about we discuss this? Let's make braised chicken tomorrow. I'll help you. Xianya isn't here today. She really likes braised chicken, and she must be very sad that she didn't get to eat it today. Let's make it tomorrow," Qi Jiu said with a smile.

"Then husband, hurry to the kitchen and stop my second sister-in-law. I've asked her to kill a chicken for me," Ye Miaoyun said anxiously.

"Okay." Without saying a word, Qi Jiu immediately ran towards the direction of the kitchen.

Ye Miaoyun watched his departing figure and couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh.

He's fine as he is; there's no need for him to get angry over that kind of unfilial daughter.

When Qi Jiu arrived, he found the kitchen completely empty.

He even went to count them again, and there were still sixteen chickens in the chicken coop at the very back of the yard, not a single one missing.

Hehehe!

It turns out his wife was just teasing him.

Qi Xuan, that brat, even said it was shameful for him to marry a widow, but in his heart, Ye Miaoyun was kind-hearted, hardworking, and capable, and she didn't look down on him at all because he had nothing now.

On the contrary, his beloved princess and daughter, whom he had cherished for many years, could only share wealth but not hardship. They not only abandoned him but also humiliated him.

As long as he's not mentally unstable, it's impossible for him to separate from Ye Miaoyun.

"Wife, something terrible has happened! Second Sister-in-law isn't in the kitchen, and one chicken is missing from the coop. There are only fifteen left!" Qi Jiu shouted as she ran towards the central courtyard.

Upon hearing this, Ye Miaoyun rushed over and said urgently, "One of the chickens is missing? You didn't miscount, did you!"

"No, I counted three times, there are only fifteen. Second Sister-in-law must have killed one and put it in a separate room in the kitchen. I'll go check."

"Don't go, I was just teasing you. I didn't ask my second sister-in-law to kill any chickens for me. These are all laying hens. My mother specially bought them to lay eggs for the family. If one of them were to go missing, she would be heartbroken." After Ye Miaoyun finished speaking, she ran to the cage and started counting. She counted sixteen chickens in total.

"Qi Jiu..." Ye Miaoyun turned around and shouted.

There was no sign of Qi Jiu in the courtyard; he had long since slipped away.

"You can run away, but you can't hide. I don't believe you won't come back to your room tonight. You just wait..."

...

It has to be said that the world is a small place. When Ye Xianya went to Danyunlou with Qi Chengshuo to eat braised beef, she happened to run into Jiang Mingtao's family.

Jiang Mingtao and the county magistrate of Rong'an, along with their three children, booked a table of fine food at Danyunlou Restaurant to improve their lives.

In order to drive away the Jiang family, Princess Rong'an began to pretend to be poor after her parents-in-law came to live with her.

For the past two days, no meat or fish has been allowed in the household, but she herself couldn't take it anymore and brought her husband and children to Danyun Tower for dinner.

Ye Xianya didn't recognize Jiang Mingtao and the others walking in front of them at first, until Princess Rong'an spoke up.

“Husband, when will your parents and your second brother’s family return to Qingya Village? I can buy them a house in Weiyang County. As for your mother’s wish to stay in the capital, don’t even think about it. I won’t agree. Don’t forget, although the house we live in now has the words ‘Jiang Mansion’ written on it, it was built by my father according to my preferences. This is my dowry.”

She has the right not to let her in-laws live here.

"Madam, please calm down. In a few days they won't be able to hold out, and we can send them away with some money," Jiang Mingtao quickly said with a smile.

He was very handsome when he was young, and Qi Fangya liked him very much. She didn't marry a noble family's son, but insisted on marrying him, a poor scholar. As for now, he can't compare to his younger days, and after looking at him for more than ten years, he's just so-so.

Therefore... Qi Fangya remained unmoved.

"Don't give me any more nonsense, Jiang Mingtao. Let me tell you, if you don't get rid of him, I, the county magistrate, will kick you out too." Qi Fangya was furious and didn't give Jiang Mingtao any face at all.

This has been the case for years; she has the final say in everything in the mansion, and she also makes the decisions about everything, big and small, that happens around Jiang Mingtao.

"Okay, okay, I promise I'll get rid of them within three days," Jiang Mingtao quickly coaxed.

"If you can only talk the talk but not walk the walk, then get out of here too." Qi Fangya said, glaring at Jiang Mingtao, before entering the private room where they were dining.

Ye Xianya naturally wouldn't go in. She chose the private room to the left of Jiang Mingtao and the others, intending to use a special talisman to listen to what they were saying, but she found that the eavesdropping talisman she had made was gone.

Fortunately, the soundproofing here was only so-so, so she released a little bit of her soul power and could hear it clearly.

It turns out that after that awful Liu went to Jiang Mingtao's residence, she not only imitated those old ladies of official families, having maids serve her and eating big fish and meat every day, but also couldn't do without bird's nest and shark fin.