After Yan Xiao conveyed the message she wanted to send, she bid farewell to Ma Youcai and then signaled Zhao Qian to take the ashen-faced Liu Xiangu with her and leave together.

When the play ended, the audience dispersed, and the road was cleared.

Zhao Qian watched from outside the carriage as Liu Xiangu was bound hand and foot, while Yan Xiao led the flushed and excited Shen Qiyue into the carriage.

Shen Qiyue had been holding back for a while. As soon as she sat down, she moved closer to Yan Xiao, blinked her starry eyes, and looked at Yan Xiao with admiration, saying:

"Sister-in-law, you are really amazing. I have been learning from Brother Lou for so long, but if you hadn't pointed it out, I would never have been able to tell that Manager Ma was infected with Yin Deficiency Gu."

Yan Xiao looked at Shen Qiyue with amusement: "What's so special about this? This is the lowest level of Gu, it's quite easy to identify."

"But I didn't realize it at first. I was right next to Brother Lou when he was talking about this."

Shen Qiyue sighed in frustration, but she was still a child at heart, and before Yan Xiao could comfort her, she was back to her old self.

Then, pulling Yanxiao aside, he asked curiously:

"Sister-in-law, what you just said, did you mean you want to open a clinic?"

"Running a clinic is so boring, isn't it?"

Yan Xiao smiled knowingly, took out the two silver notes he had just earned from Ma Youcai, patted them lightly in his hand twice, and slowly replied:

"Your sister-in-law is going to be a miracle doctor who's hard to come by even if you pay a fortune. You can just wait and count your money with me from now on."

Shen Qiyue was a little confused and didn't quite understand, but there was one thing she understood: her sister-in-law would earn a lot of money in the future.

The two silver notes in her sister-in-law's hand made her words particularly convincing, which made her rub her hands together involuntarily.

"Really? Okay! I'll follow your lead, hehe~"

Yan Xiao, who was already in a good mood, was amused by Shen Qiyue's adorable antics and laughed without realizing that her attitude towards Shen Qiyue had changed from what it was at the beginning.

As the two women chatted, the carriage finally arrived at their destination: General Shen Muzhi's mansion.

Shen Muzhi's General's Mansion was the residence of the former prefect, and it can be said to be quite grand.

As soon as Yan Xiao followed Zhao Qian to the gate of the mansion, servants who had received advance notice came to greet them.

Shen Muzhi's domineering act of protecting his wife on the ship, at his instruction, had already reached the ears of these people.

This made them both fearful and curious about Yanxiao, the newly appointed mistress.

However, Yan Xiao was still wearing a cap, so they couldn't see her clearly at all, nor did they dare to stare at her for too long.

"Sister-in-law, this is our new home? It's so big and grand, it's so beautiful!"

Shen Qiyue's mind was rather simple. When she saw the mansion in front of her, her eyes were full of joy, and she didn't pay any attention to the servants.

As soon as she entered, she excitedly grabbed Yanxiao's arm, skipping and hopping as she walked inside, cheerfully saying:

"My brother said he would let us live in a big house in the future, and he really didn't lie to me. I no longer have to worry about where to stay at night."

Yan Xiao just smiled and let Shen Qiyue pull her along. After a while, she heard Zhao Qian tentatively ask:

"Madam, what do you think we should do with these Miao people?"

Yan Xiao stopped in her tracks upon hearing this, and Shen Qiyue finally calmed down a bit from her previous agitation.

When she turned around, she saw a row of servants with their heads bowed behind her and her sister-in-law. This made her belatedly realize that there might not just be the three of them in the family from now on.

Her face flushed slightly, feeling that she had just embarrassed her brother and sister-in-law, and worried that they might be laughing at her for coming from a small town and being unsophisticated.

Yan Xiao noticed her sudden embarrassment and restraint, raised her hand and gently patted her head reassuringly, saying softly:

"This will be your home from now on, and all these people will have to obey you. You can do whatever you want, or even make them do whatever you want."

You don't need to consider anyone else's opinions. Here, you are the mistress, and only they obey you.

When Shen Qiyue heard such remarks for the first time, her eyes widened, revealing a hint of bewilderment, but the feelings of inferiority and restraint she had just felt had faded considerably.

Yanxiao has never taught children and doesn't know if her teaching method is correct.

She just knew that she didn't like seeing Shen Qiyue being so cautious and watching other people's expressions. She looked better when she smiled happily, like she had just done.

After teaching the child, she looked at Zhao Qian, whose expression was somewhat stiff, and answered his question:

"You should ask your general how to deal with this person. Didn't I tell you? This is a military merit awarded to you, a gift for joining me."

Upon hearing this, a look of surprise flashed in Zhao Qian's eyes. He had originally thought that Yan Xiao's words were just casual remarks, but he did not expect them to be true.

"Thank you, Madam!"

Zhao Qian wasn't after military merit, but the appearance of Miao people in Jiangbei City was a serious matter that required careful questioning.

He had been thinking about how to persuade this eccentric lady to hand over the Miao man to the general, but he never expected that all his efforts would be in vain.

He now felt that although this lady acted strangely, she was quite reliable when it came to important matters.

Yan Xiao had no idea how Zhao Qian viewed her now. She did this simply because she remembered that in the original story, there had been infiltrations of Miao people into Jiangbei City, and quite a few of them.

In order to undermine Shen Muzhi's standing among the people and distract him from the war, these people carried out many underhanded tricks in the city, causing many people to suffer from the poison.

Yan Xiao didn't remember the exact timeline of this incident, but roughly calculated that it should have been around this period, which is why she thought of handing over the hot potato that was Fairy Liu to Shen Muzhi.

As for how to handle the aftermath, she couldn't care less. She had done all she could, and now it was time to focus on her own business.

That is, to make money! To make lots and lots of money.

Thinking about her future plans, she stopped arguing with Zhao Qian about the Miao people and changed the subject:

"Alright, you and your general can handle this. Now introduce these people to me; I need them to do something later."

Zhao Qian immediately understood Yan Xiao's meaning, and hurriedly had someone take Liu Xiangu away first, then pointed to the row of waiting servants and introduced them to Yan Xiao.

Standing at the very front was a man in his forties, Zhang Qi, the steward of the mansion. Next to him were some stewards and old women, and at the very back were some maids and servants.

After Zhao Qian finished his introduction, he asked the people to come forward and greet the Madam and Miss. Once they had all paid their respects, he turned to Yan Xiao and Shen Qiyue and said respectfully:

"Madam and Miss, these are all veterans of the household. If you find any of them pleasing to the eye, you can choose one to be your personal maid."

If none are satisfactory, tomorrow I'll have Steward Zhang go to the slave trader and select some new girls, then you can make your choice. How about that?