After Shen Muzhi and Lou Guyu finished dealing with the Miao people, it was already dark, but the person he was waiting for never came to find him.

He turned to look at his subordinates guarding the door, his eyes filled with doubt, and asked again, still unconvinced:

"Has no one come looking for me? Have you left?"

The subordinate lowered his head, inwardly groaning, but forced himself to answer honestly:

“I haven’t left since you went in, General. No one has come to invite you.”

Upon receiving this answer, Shen Muzhi's previously slightly furrowed brows immediately tightened, as if he were pondering some difficult question.

He looked up at the sky; it was already late, well past dinner time. If they wanted to call him for dinner, he should have arrived long ago.

'Was it because I was so rude in the carriage that I scared them so much that they didn't dare come looking for me?'

After much thought, Shen Muzhi could only come up with this one possibility.

At this moment, Lou Guyu, who had been standing beside him, couldn't help but ask:

"Brother-in-law, are you waiting for someone? Is there something urgent that you need my help with?"

He could tell from the moment they were dealing with things that Shen Muzhi seemed somewhat distracted and impatient, as if he was in a hurry to do something, which is why he asked that question.

"It's nothing. You did a good job today, you must be tired. I'll have someone..."

Shen Muzhi originally intended to suggest having Lou Guyu taken to a guest room to rest, but when his gaze fell upon Lou Guyu, a sudden inspiration struck him, and he changed his tone, saying instead:

“You haven’t seen your sister for a day, you must miss her terribly. Now that you’re here, you can go see her. I can take you there.”

Lou Guyu, looking completely bewildered: ? ? ? ? ? ?

It's only been a day since we last saw each other, what is there to miss about him?

She's not his biological sister. Even if she were, no one would miss her after just one day apart, right? He's not a one- or two-year-old baby who hasn't been weaned.

Lou Guyu was completely stunned, even wondering if he had misheard or if his brother-in-law was joking with him.

Does this person seem like someone who would joke around?

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but Shen Muzhi didn't give him a chance to speak and walked ahead first.

She took a couple of steps and, seeing that he wasn't following, she thoughtfully stood there waiting for him, only using her eyes to signal him to hurry up.

Lou Guyu was not a stupid person, and he had already seen through some of the clues.

This isn't about me wanting to see my stepsister; it's clearly about my brother-in-law wanting to see his wife, but for some reason I don't know, he can't go alone, and I'm just an excuse to be dragged into this.

After figuring this out, Lou Guyu immediately became interested and quickly gave Man Yi a look, signaling him to come with him to watch the show.

He was genuinely curious how his sworn sister, who had only been in Jiangbei for a day, had managed to subtly and secretly make this decisive and cold-faced general so timid and hesitant.

Yanxiao's meal was nearing its end; the two women, aunt and sister-in-law, were burping from eating, their hands and mouths covered in the oil from the crayfish.

"Sister-in-law, this spicy crayfish is so delicious, burp~, I can't eat anymore, but I still want to eat more."

"If you can't eat, then don't eat, otherwise you'll feel uncomfortable from indigestion tonight."

Shen Qiyue, a young girl who hadn't had a proper meal in years, had no idea what indigestion meant. But she knew one thing: what her sister-in-law said must be true.

So even though she still wanted to eat, she obediently nodded and stopped.

Yan Xiao couldn't eat anymore either. He looked at the still plenty of spicy crayfish left in front of him, turned to Qian Qiu and Wan Dai, and asked:

"Are you full? If not, take this and eat it."

As maids, Qianqiu and Wandai usually only ate until they were seven or eight tenths full so as not to affect their work. Today, however, because it was their first time eating crayfish, they made an exception and ate until they were nine tenths full.

Hearing Yan Xiao's words, they were tempted, but still said they couldn't eat anymore.

This time, there were indeed too many crayfish. Seeing that they didn't want any, Yanxiao instructed them:

"Since you're all full, let's put it away. It might not taste as good if we reheat it tomorrow, but it'll still be edible."

It was only at this moment that Shen Qiyue suddenly remembered that she had an older brother and recalled the purpose of her trip to the kitchen.

Her hand-wiping motion froze, and her expression became somewhat conflicted.

She glanced at Qianqiu Wandai, who had already started cleaning the crayfish, then at Yanxiao, who was slowly wiping her hands, hesitated for a moment, and then tentatively said with a forced smile:

"Sister-in-law, look how much is left here. It won't taste as fresh tomorrow, what a waste! Why don't we have someone send some to my brother so he can try some too?"

Yan Xiao had eaten her fill and was in a much better mood, but when she heard Chen Qiyue mention the big pig's trotter, her slightly curved lips immediately straightened.

It wasn't that she was reluctant to part with the things, but rather, she had just mentioned divorce, and then she went out of her way to send food to the person she was trying to win over. What was going on? Was she playing hard to get?

But given her current status, if she were to refuse directly in front of the servants, it would truly be a sign that she wasn't going to give the big jerk any face.

After thinking for a moment, she replied in a serious tone:

“Your brother is different from us. He’s very precious now. How can he eat just anything? If he gets sick and it interferes with his work, we can’t bear the responsibility.”

The joke had barely faded when Shen Muzhi's unreadable voice came from the doorway:

"I never knew that I would become such a precious person in Madam's heart."

The people inside looked over at the sound and saw Shen Muzhi stride into the house, followed by Lou Guyu and Man Yi, who were also peeking in.

As soon as they entered the courtyard, they smelled a scent they had never encountered before. Just as they were wondering about it, they overheard Shen Qiyue and Yan Xiao's conversation.

Shen Muzhi was thinking all the way here that Yan Xiao was probably feeling pretty bad right now, and didn't dare to call him over even though he had cooked. So when he came over, he had to be nicer to him and not scare him again.

When they arrived at the door, they overheard the conversation between the two women. Upon entering the house, they saw the two women, who were clearly stuffed, with a small mountain of crayfish shells piled on the table.

Yan Xiao's hands and mouth were still covered in grease, and she would occasionally let out a couple of burps. In this state, how could she possibly remember her husband?

Whether Shen Muzhi believes what Yan Xiao just said is another matter, but the two onlookers, who know Yan Xiao's ruthless heart, are determined not to believe it.

Yan Xiao was surprised that Shen Muzhi would suddenly arrive at this time. She was somewhat glad that she hadn't said anything inappropriate, otherwise her image would have been completely ruined today.

She composed herself, avoiding Shen Muzhi's gaze, and said, half-jokingly, while wiping her hands:

"General, you jest. You are now the most important person in Jiangbei. If you are not precious, who is?"

After speaking, he bypassed Shen Muzhi and looked directly at Lou Guyu and the other two, asking:

"Why are you here?"