At noon, Xu Yuehuai brought out a large table of delicious dishes, all of which looked and smelled wonderful, including sweet and sour pork, braised pork ribs, and boiled tofu. As soon as they were served, they attracted the attention of everyone in the entire mountain village.

These villagers had been holding back for a long time, and upon seeing this, they immediately tried to rush forward, but were struck by Tonglingyan's braid and fell to the ground groaning incessantly!

He shouted, "This food is for our boss, what's there for you!"

Meng Tu had been putting up with these bandits for a long time. Upon hearing this, he rushed forward to fight back, but the bandits immediately drew their knives!

Meng Tu's henchmen rushed forward and pulled him back!

Xu Yuehuai frowned and said, "Forget it, we can't compete with them anyway. If they don't give us food, we can't work, so they can't blame us."

Meng Tu was taken aback and looked at Xu Yuehuai strangely, only to see Xu Yuehuai wink at him gently.

Meng Tu felt a chill run down his spine and immediately obeyed being dragged away by his underlings.

Liu Cuiming didn't understand Xu Yuehuai's gaze, and she said with dissatisfaction, "How could you... um?!"

Before she could finish speaking, Xu Yuehuai suddenly stepped forward and covered her mouth, whispering a warning in her ear: "Don't speak if you don't want to die!"

When Chief Li arrived, he happened to witness this scene and narrowed his eyes.

He tapped the rim of the bowl and said, "You, come here."

"Take a bite of each of these dishes first."

Liu Cuiming gasped in shock. Had Xu Yuehuai poisoned the food?!

Before she could even react in surprise, Xu Yuehuai casually released her mouth and stepped forward, saying, "Coming right now."

Liu Cuiming was suddenly uncertain again. If it wasn't poison, why wouldn't she be allowed to speak?

Xu Yuehuai took a bite of each dish with a natural expression.

Only then did Chief Li feel relieved and take a bite.

It seems he was indeed overthinking things.

Xu Yuehuai learned to cook from her father and possessed master-level culinary skills. After taking a bite, Chief Li's expression relaxed: "Not bad, you should all try some."

Xu Yuehuai secretly curled the corners of her lips. She had already taken the antidote in advance, so of course nothing happened to her.

The bandits ate and drank heartily, and soon the entire mountain stronghold fell silent.

Ignoring the villagers' wide-eyed stares, Xu Yuehuai opened the gate of the mountain stronghold. Outside the gate, Qi Guze stood with a group of officers carrying swords.

He wore a long, crescent-white robe, and had a handsome and refined appearance.

He nodded slightly to Xu Yuehuai and waved for the soldiers to go in and capture the bandits.

Just as Xu Yuehuai was about to say something, a sudden burst of sound came from behind her. Her pupils shrank slightly, and she was about to dodge when a white expanse suddenly appeared before her eyes!

Qi Guze flew forward, pulled Xu Yuehuai into his arms, lightly touched the ground with his toes, turned around gracefully, and struck Tonglingyan, who had woken up at some point, on the back with a palm, sending him flying five zhang away and crashing heavily into the stone wall!

Copper Bell Eyes fell to the ground and suddenly reached out, about to throw the small knife in his hand. But Qi Guze, as if he had expected it, drew a palm-length dagger from his waist. With a burst of energy, he pinned Copper Bell Eyes' arm straight to the stone wall!

Xu Yuehuai's eyes widened in surprise. Could this be the ancient internal energy?!

At this point, some officers and soldiers reacted and stepped forward to detain Tong Lingyan.

Copper Bell Eyes was dragged along, shouting and cursing, "You government bastards! You actually conspired with insiders to poison me! As long as one of my Black Mountain Village brothers is alive, we will definitely take revenge!"

The two ignored him, and after Tonglingyan left, Qi Guze put Xu Yuehuai down.

Xu Yuehuai cupped his hands and said, "Thank you for saving me, sir."

Qi Guze shook his head: "We need to resettle these refugees together. Do you want to come with us?"

"No, I want to go to Chang'an."

Qi Guze was taken aback. After a moment of thought, he took out a spiral jade pendant from his sleeve and handed it to Xu Yuehuai: "If you can get to Chang'an, you can take this jade pendant to the innkeeper in Lin'an. He will arrange accommodation for you, which is much better than you finding it yourself."

Xu Yuehuai was surprised by this, and immediately nodded happily: "Then thank you, sir."

Qi Guze was going to settle the refugees, so he handed over the belongings and left.

Xu Yuehuai also led the Jiang family members northward.

After crossing a high mountain, we came across a large village at dusk, almost as big as a town.

This village was lucky; it didn't suffer from floods, it was situated on high ground, and there was even an inn called Sansheng.

Xu Yuehuai then decided to rest and recuperate here.

But the one or two taels of silver she had were taken from her in the bandit's den and were never found. Now she is penniless.

Seeing this, Zhou Wan gritted her teeth and said, "Mother, you and Chen-ge'er rest here. I'll go and think of a solution."

After Zhou Wan finished speaking, she turned around and went to a pawnshop. Jiang Shichen didn't want to be alone with Xu Yuehuai, so he followed her there.

Xu Yuehua frowned and followed.

As soon as they entered the shop, Zhou Wan took out a smooth and translucent jade pendant from her pocket and handed it to the shopkeeper, saying, "Would you mind taking a look and telling me how much this is worth?"

"etc."

Xu Yuehuai's sudden voice startled Zhou Wan, who turned around blankly and asked, "Mother, why are you here?"

Xu Yuehuai stepped forward, took Zhou Wan's jade pendant, and handed it back to her, frowning as she said, "You hid this jade pendant so well that even the bandits couldn't find it. It's our family's only possession, and you're just going to pawn it like this?"

She remembered that this jade pendant was the only keepsake left to her by Zhou Wan's mother. The original owner wanted to take it for herself, but she was unwilling to do such a morally reprehensible thing.

But fearing that Zhou Wan would notice something was wrong, Xu Yuehuai said, "Keep it safe. It's not time to use it yet. You can pawn it when you're really desperate for money later."

Despite her words, Zhou Wan still sensed a deep-seated concern hidden within her.

Her mother was very dissatisfied with her when she knew that she had this jade pendant but did not give it to her as a gift. Now that she took it out on her own initiative, her mother told her to keep it safe and not to sell it casually.

Sure enough, after going through so much, Mother has changed and is much better than before!

But Zhou Wan still worriedly asked, "Mother, if we don't sell this, where will we stay tonight?"

Xu Yuehuai said, "Come with me."

Xu Yuehuai led Zhou Wan to the Sansheng Inn in Huanglian Village. As soon as they entered, he said to the innkeeper, "Innkeeper, I see that although your inn is large, there is not much good food. This is not going to attract many customers. How about I cook for you tonight, and the money from the sale can be used as our accommodation and meal expenses for today?"

The shopkeeper sized up Xu Yuehuai and asked doubtfully, "You can cook?"

"You can try it first."

The shopkeeper pondered for a moment and said, "Alright, let's give it a try."

His guesthouse did indeed lack good food; many people who came once would rather squeeze into a villager's house to sleep next time than come back.

If this problem can be solved, then the cost of their meal for one night can naturally be waived.

It was dusk, dinnertime, and many villagers were passing by the Sansheng Inn. Their noses immediately caught the rich, fragrant aroma from inside, and they couldn't resist coming in to inquire.

Just then, Xu Yuehuai finished making the last batch of sweet and sour pork ribs. As soon as he took it out, the shopkeeper drooled and couldn't wait to pick up a piece with his hand and eat it.

One bite and the sweet, sour, and savory flavor explodes on your tongue!

The shopkeeper nodded repeatedly: "Excellent! Delicious!"

Someone outside called out, "Manager Huang, don't just eat by yourself! Have the new chef make us a portion too!"

Manager Huang's eyes immediately lit up with a smile!

That night, Manager Huang made a fortune, and Xu Yuehuai also got a place to rest as she wished.

Since transmigrating, she had been outdoors and had never slept with a pillow before. In addition, she had cooked too many dishes that evening, so Xu Yuehuai was so tired that she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

As night deepened and the dew thickened, the entire Sansheng Inn suddenly began to shake.

Someone shouted in panic, "The earth dragon has turned over! Run!"

Xu Yuehuai and Zhou Wan woke up at the same time!

The two met outside the corridor, and Xu Yuehuai said, "You take Chen Ge'er and go first! I'll go see if they've woken up yet!"

Zhou Wan was also in a panic. Upon hearing this, she didn't have time to think and ran out with Jiang Shichen in her arms.

Just as I staggered out of the guesthouse, a loud bang came from behind me, and the two-story house collapsed into ruins!

Zhou Wan's pupils contracted, and she turned around abruptly, only to find no one behind her!

"mother!"

She shouted and tried to rush inside with Jiang Shichen in her arms, but at the critical moment, her wrist was grabbed by a jade-like hand.

Zhou Wan looked up in a panic and saw Qi Guze. Tears immediately streamed down her face as if she had met her pillar of support. She knelt down and cried, "Sir, my mother is still inside. Please save her!"