Chapter 28 Family Dinner: The family eats together.

The princess's residence remains unchanged.

Butler Wu led them inside, and this time Di Ting, who was always freeloading, also came along.

Ever since he angered Jiang Yuzhi last time, the fat dog has been clinging to her like glue, following her everywhere.

The old farmers in the manor were extremely fascinated by Di Ting, and they all gathered around, wanting to touch its long, white fur, but afraid that the mud on their hands would dirty it.

The Di Ting was praised by the old farmers, and it became extremely proud. It puffed out its chest, wagged its tail rapidly, and spun around in place to show off its superior figure.

"This dog is quite good-looking."

"Oh my, she looks like she was raised in a wealthy family."

"But when it comes to guarding the house, you still have to be like my dog, Big Yellow."

"You don't judge a good dog by its breed. Look at how sturdy it is, it might even be stronger than Big Yellow."

"This fur is so nice, so glossy and smooth."

Listen carefully and automatically reject any statements that imply you are incapable.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Zhizhi had walked far away. Without waiting for her for a moment, I reluctantly hurried after her.

"Didn't Your Highness say that your family was reunited? Is it inappropriate for me to come?" Jiang Yuzhi only remembered to ask after she was already in the princess's residence.

She was captivated by Bai Yan's pitiful expression as he sat on the couch looking up at her. By the time she realized what was happening, she had already agreed to Bai Yan's request to have dinner with him.

"How could that be? You know how much my mother likes you. If she only wanted to call me, she wouldn't let A-Zhao call out in the yard."

Bai Yan said with certainty, just as Xiao Yao clearly knew what her son was thinking.

With one more person and one more dog, the dining area was moved from the small kitchen to the main hall.

The cook specially prepared dog food for Di Ting, which was served in a wooden basin about a foot in diameter. Even if Di Ting buried his entire snout in it, he could still scoop it up several times.

The cook, with her amazing arm strength, put down the rice bowl with one hand, and with the other hand, she quietly touched the back of the dog a few times. Amazed by the smooth feel, she excitedly returned to the small kitchen.

Perhaps fearing that Jiang Yuzhi would feel uncomfortable, Xiao Yao and Bai Wulan were not in the main hall. After she was seated under the guidance of the housekeeper, the couple walked over from a distance.

"Yuzhi, it's been so long! Let your auntie see if Mingze has been taking good care of you." A clear female voice took the lead.

Jiang Yuzhi turned her head and saw that Xiao Yao was not dressed in cotton clothes as usual. She had obviously dressed up specially, wearing silk and satin, with a simple gold hairpin in her hair, but it still couldn't hide the heroic spirit between her brows.

Bai Wulan was quite different from when she was in Zuo Huai. Her eyes never left Xiao Yao, and her eyes and brows revealed a gentle warmth.

She was about to stand up and greet them, "Uncle, Aunt."

"What are you doing? It's been months since we last met, and you're already acting like we're strangers?" Xiao Yao quickly stepped forward to help her up. "Sit down, let's eat."

The furry touch on her leg made Xiao Yao look down. "Is this Yu Zhi's dog? Its name is Ating?"

Jiang Yuzhi nodded.

As if it were a routine matter, Di Ting finished eating with Xiao Yao as a greeting, then buried his head back in the rice bowl.

In the large main hall, there was a small round table. Jiang Yuzhi sat to the left of Xiao Yao and to the right of Bai Yan.

Once the masters were seated, the servants began to serve the dishes one after another.

Xiao Yao: "Your father and I just came out of the palace. Your uncle wants to see you."

Bai Yan paused in his hand as he was putting food on Jiang Yuzhi's plate.

"Uncle, have you not given up yet?" Bai Yan said this disrespectfully, seemingly unconcerned.

It seems that the Emperor and His Highness's family have a very good relationship. That makes sense, after all, they came together from the border to where they are now.

Jiang Yuzhi chewed her food while listening to their unreserved conversation.

“Helping him won’t do any good. Your uncle’s reign as emperor isn’t easy either. He’s so busy he hasn’t had a good night’s sleep, and he looks terrible.”

"Mother, Uncle is still young. Why doesn't he have his own child? Why does he insist on making me learn how to handle state affairs from him? If I really listen to him, do you think those ministers will let our family off the hook?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuzhi choked on a mouthful of rice and coughed uncomfortably, turning her head to the side.

The amount of information was too much for her to comprehend.

As far as she knew, since the Emperor ascended the throne, he had not established an Empress, leaving the harem empty and without an heir. Unexpectedly, he was planning to let Bai Yan inherit the throne.

"Look, even Yuzhi doesn't agree." Bai Yan hurriedly patted his wife's back, and a cup of tea was on the ground.

"You child, Tamori didn't say anything. How are you, Tamori? Drink some more water."

Jiang Yuzhi waved her hand to indicate that she was fine, and Xiao Yao continued speaking.

“You know your uncle is still young. Just fool him for now. He might change his mind eventually. Don’t let him work himself to death in that position.”

The more she talked, the more outrageous it became. Jiang Yuzhi didn't know whether she should continue listening. She racked her brains and came up with a reason to go out and rinse her mouth. The mother and son worriedly let her out.

As Xiao Yao watched her departing figure, a sudden inspiration struck her.

“Mingze, if you agree, you can easily help Yuzhi with whatever she wants. That’s how your father got me in the first place.”

Hearing his wife praise him, Bai Wulan couldn't suppress the smile on his face, and sat up even straighter.

Bai Yan was speechless, but his father had indeed become more ambitious after falling for his mother.

Xiao Yao originally had no intention of getting married; her mind was full of thoughts about helping her younger brother build a successful career. However, she ended up meeting Bai Wulan.

The Bai family originally only dealt in cloth. After their marriage proposal was rejected, Bai Wulan shamelessly asked for the reason. He was told that "the world is not at peace yet, and I have no interest in romantic love."

Bai Wulan was dejected for two days, and then spent most of her family fortune to become the war supplies supplier for the Xiao siblings.

They spent a fortune searching for iron ore and hired countless blacksmiths to forge weapons and armor.

At that time, the world was in such a chaotic state that no one cared about making money by mining, but Bai Wulan actually succeeded.

Originally, the Bai family was so angry that they wanted to expel him from the family genealogy, but now they wish they could write the three characters "Bai Wulan" in the most conspicuous place on the first page.

Bai Yan wavered.

What Mother said makes a lot of sense.

When Xiao Yao saw her son frowning in thought, she knew he had been persuaded and it was only a matter of time before he verbally agreed.

My son and my younger brother are both my flesh and blood.

Previously, Mingze was in poor health, and she was reluctant to part with him, fearing that her son would not live much longer.

My son is visibly getting better, but my younger brother seems to be failing.

Xiao Yao accompanied Bai Wulan to the palace today to report on Zuo Huai's affairs.

She watched helplessly as her handsome younger brother's eyes were covered in bruises, his brows furrowed, and he had lost a lot of weight, with his face becoming sunken.

Xiao Yao then considered her brother's earlier suggestion.

Out of sight of the main hall, Jiang Yuzhi waited anxiously, calculating the time and wondering if His Highness and the others had finished speaking. She didn't want to stay outside for too long, as that would be impolite.

Slow down and move at a snail's pace toward the main hall.

Fortunately, no more of the things she couldn't bear to hear came from inside.

"Why did you take so long? Come quick, the food's getting cold." Xiao Yao grabbed Jiang Yuzhi at a glance.

Jiang Yuzhi casually remarked that the vegetables in the flowerbed looked delicious. After looking at them for a while, she buried her head and sat down again.

Xiao Yao loved hearing people praise her vegetables, and kept saying that she would pick some to take with her when she went back.

After finishing their meal, it was getting late, so Jiang Yuzhi put a rope around Di Ting's neck and prepared to leave.

If it weren't for Butler Wu's reminder, she would have forgotten that dogs in the mortal realm are supposed to be leashed. To avoid any unnecessary trouble, she decided to just let Di Ting stay.

Bai Yan escorted Jiang Yuzhi to the door, then hesitated before asking, "Yuzhi, are you free before we go to the Ghost Market tomorrow evening?"

"Is there something you need?"

"I have to go to the palace during the day, would you... would you like to come with me?"

"Me? Together?" Going to Zuo Huai together, riding in the same carriage together, having meals together at family banquets, and now even going to the palace together.

Is Bai Yan being a little too clingy?

Jiang Yuzhi had no experience dealing with this kind of person. She didn't know the official and had no relatives or friends there. What was she supposed to do there?

Moreover, she has never had any goodwill toward emperors, since the previous emperor had killed her entire family.

"I don't like the atmosphere in the palace. Every time I go there, I suddenly feel palpitations. I think Yuzhi would feel much better if she were with me." The palpitations were real, but more than anything, he wanted to be with his wife and let his uncle and his close relatives meet the woman he liked.

Jiang Yuzhi replied solemnly, "I can go, but is it appropriate?"

"Of course! Yu Zhi did a lot for the people when she was in Zuo Huai, so Uncle might reward her with something."

"Alright then." It's just a trip to the palace, nothing serious, so Jiang Yuzhi finally agreed.

When they returned to the shop, the Zhou family mother and son were not there; they were staying in a house near the back door.

The weaver looked at the shop.

After being away for a while, the shop had changed, and Jiang Yuzhi hadn't had a chance to properly look around.

Several more shelves were set up, displaying paper offerings, incense sticks, candles, joss paper, and other funeral items.

There has been no revenue lately, and the funeral clothing shop is likely to go bankrupt if it only sells funeral clothes. Ah Zhao is trying to find other things to sell in the shop and also teach Zhou Yong how to read the books.

The revenue is somewhat there, but it's better than nothing.

As soon as Diting got home, it broke free of the rope with great joy, complaining that Jiang Yuzhi should loosen the rope next time, as it was too tight and it could hardly breathe.

Jiang Yuzhi gave a perfunctory "uh-huh" and tossed the rope to Zhiyi, indicating that she should put it under the counter for easy access next time.

Xiao Jin, whom we hadn't seen for a long time, suddenly appeared out of nowhere and squatted on the counter, dutifully reporting on the activities of the Zhou family mother and son.

"Meow, meow meow meow." The attitude was very good, but Jiang Yuzhi couldn't understand the cat's meows, and Xiao Jin couldn't speak human language either.

The troublesome listener reluctantly translated.

"It says, Zhou Yong is bad, Zhou Niangzi is good."

"Meow meow meow meow meow meow, meow meow meow meow!" Little Gold became excited as it meowed.

"Zhou Niangzi's cooking is delicious, so Zhou Yong always has to give her a bath."

Jiang Yuzhi felt ashamed, wondering if Xiao Jin had actually observed anything useful.

"Meow meow meow meow meow."

"What did you say?"

Before this sentence could be translated, Di Ting couldn't sit still any longer.

“Zhizhi said that Zhou Yong doesn’t like sunbathing because he gets sunburned but doesn’t bleed.”

It seems there's something wrong with his body, which isn't surprising, since the soul and body are not naturally in harmony.

Zhou Yong had never been to school, yet he could read. When I first met him, he spoke clearly and was very polite.

Jiang Yuzhi thought, "Let's not delay any longer. If Zhou Yong really has an accident, how will Madam Zhou cope?"

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Author's Note: [Exaggerated praise][Exaggerated praise]