Xiao Huaiwu's weird aura successfully made the person who was about to get off the carriage stiffen his hand for a moment.

But soon, she came down again.

The woman was about twenty-five or twenty-six, with a small, delicate oval face and outstanding appearance, but her expression was particularly cold, with her eyes slightly drooping. From the moment she got out of the carriage to the moment she landed, her movements revealed a sense of coldness. She didn't look at anyone and stood beside the carriage in a cool blue dress.

She waited until another boy, about twelve years old, got off the carriage before she followed him over.

"The daughter-in-law has met mother, sister-in-law." The woman spoke, her voice as cold as broken jade, and then looked at the people around her: "Third sister, fourth sister, Wan'er, Dongdong..."

The young man, on the other hand, looked simple and honest, and laughed heartily, revealing a mouthful of white teeth: "I have met my grandmother, my aunt, my third aunt, my fourth aunt..."

He greeted each one of them. Unlike his mother who ignored Yan Qiushu, he looked directly at her. Since he didn't know her, he used his eyes to ask politely. After getting the answer, he quickly greeted her: "I've met Aunt Yan."

The alternative Shouli is similar to but different from the kid Shen Pingyu.

One is that the reserve that seems to be engraved in his bones does not allow him to be impolite.

The other is to think that it should be so.

After the meeting, the woman frowned slightly and asked, "Ping Yu left?"

Madam Xiao and the others looked a little strange, with an indescribable feeling. When they heard the question, they did not reject it, but said, "He just left. If you want to find him, it's not too late to send someone to stop him now."

"I was wondering why you came back today, it turns out it was for the Shen family?" Xiao Huaiwu suddenly realized and couldn't help but complain again.

Song Mingdai looked straight ahead and said calmly, "I have this thought, but it's okay if I miss it. After all, the Xiao family is my daughter-in-law's home. My husband married me in a formal ceremony. Now my son is the eldest grandson of the Xiao family. Why can't I come back?"

"Hmph!" Xiao Huaiwu snorted coldly and strode away.

She had taken leave to come back to send the child off just for Ping Yu's sake. Now she had no chance to communicate with this man, so it was better for her to leave early.

Xiao Huaiwu left in anger, and walked very fast, like a gust of wind. He brushed past people and was already far away, out of the Xiao family's sight.

But when she walked to a certain street, a little girl who looked like a maid came over and knelt in front of her, crying, "General Xiao, please help my wife. My husband always beats people when he comes back drunk. This time he beat my wife so hard that she vomited blood. My wife wanted a divorce, but he refused and even beat her..."

Xiao Huaiwu's face suddenly turned worse, and he followed her without saying a word: "Lead the way!"

"Yes!" The maid got up and took her to an alley.

Passersby saw this and shook their heads in the same way, sighing, "The Xiao family is still the best. They are always willing to help us when we encounter problems. My relatives were the same before. My husband's family had to sell his wife for gambling, and they also asked the Xiao family for help to solve the problem..."

Others may not care about these things, but Xiao Huaiwu, the fourth daughter of the Xiao family, has been caring about them whenever she encounters them in recent years. As a result, the atmosphere in Kyoto has become particularly good, and there are fewer men beating their wives, and everyone is used to it.

I just didn't expect things to turn out like this on the second day of the Chinese New Year.

But what no one expected was that when Xiao Huaiwu followed the maid through several alleys, the person she finally saw was not an ordinary woman, but the third prince's wife.

This side.

Mrs. Xiao couldn't help but sigh when her daughter left in a tantrum, but she couldn't bear to blame her daughter-in-law. Her second son died in the war five years ago. Although her daughter-in-law has been staying in her parents' home for the past two years, she has never thought of remarrying and has taught her grandson very well. Even if she offended her with words, she just ignored it and said slowly, "Let's go, go back."

"Yes." Everyone followed Mrs. Xiao and walked into the house.

Yan Qiushu naturally followed.

But she was a step slower and secretly turned her head to glance at the woman.

The woman was walking at a leisurely pace, as if she completely disdained other people. There was a vacuum zone around her. At this time, Dongdong, who was very close to his family, moved from Yan Qiushu's left side to the right side and moved away from her.

It's not like I'm afraid, but I feel like I don't dare to provoke.

Her gaze had no effect on Song Mingdai.

But the boy next to her noticed it, and immediately gave an embarrassed smile and nodded at her.

Yan Qiushu also smiled subconsciously and quickly looked away.

When they arrived at the inner courtyard, everyone went back to their own courtyard.

The boy followed his mother back to the home he had not been home to for a long time.

The closer he got, the more depressed he could feel his mother's mood. The boy frowned and racked his brains to think of something to make his mother happy, but he was tongue-tied and couldn't say anything, so he said dryly, "Mom, I heard that Aunt Yan, whom I just met, is very good at cooking. Dongdong has gained weight. I just saw Dongdong, and he has gained a lot of weight! Does he look like a ball?"

The woman nodded calmly: "Yes."

The young man lowered his eyes in disappointment and continued walking dejectedly.

Mom is so hard to please!

Song Mingdai, the cold and beautiful woman just mentioned, is the wife of Xiao Huaian, the second son of the Xiao family. Her father is an official of the Dali Temple, but his position is not high. She relied on the relationship with her son-in-law to enter the Dali Temple and hold real power.

At that time, people in Kyoto were very envious when talking about Xiao Huaian and Song Mingdai, and many of them were a little jealous.

Because most of the men in the Xiao family are Confucian generals. They may not be the top scholar in both civil and military affairs like Xiao Waiting, but they are definitely well-educated in literature, have good figures, good looks, good family backgrounds, good personalities, and are handsome. They are the ideal husbands of many women's dreams.

The fact that Song Mingdai married him and the couple lived in harmony is a beautiful story.

But the good times did not last long. In the battle five years ago, Xiao Huaian died, along with his two brothers-in-law. No one envied him anymore, and he was filled with sighs.

Yan Qiushu didn't know the other information.

Because all the original owner knew were very superficial information, which the women in the back house would occasionally talk about.

In fact, before the male members of the Xiao family died one by one, Xiao Waiting was considered an excellent son-in-law by many ladies. Unfortunately, too many people in the Xiao family died, and the emperor was now clearly suspicious and wanted to control the military power, so no one dared to get close to him, which led to Xiao Waiting being alone at the age of twenty.

Yan Qiushu's thoughts froze. Why did she think of this? She calmed down and looked at the courtyard of the second house again, feeling very surprised.

When I think of Song Mingdai in my memory, she is described mostly as gentle and talented, and also as a man of few words. I never expected that after these five years, she has become so aloof and unconcerned with worldly affairs.

It seemed as if it wanted to isolate everyone.

But the way she spoke seemed...she was focusing on the backyard, on the women in the inner chambers who were fighting for status.

The eldest grandson of the Xiao family.

This was the first time Yan Qiushu had heard these four words. What did the eldest grandson mean?

Xiao Waiting is unmarried now. The country is now in a transition period. The old emperor is old and weak, and the young and strong princes are ready to make moves. The enemy will not miss this time when the internal affairs are most chaotic. The next few years will be the busiest time for Xiao Waiting.

Not to mention that he was fighting the entire battlefield alone, and everyone knew what the chances of him surviving were. He was not married and had no children. Once he died, the title of Duke would naturally fall to his eldest grandson.

It's a bit uncomfortable to hear these words at this time.

But inexplicably, Yan Qiushu just couldn't dislike this person. A woman like Song Mingdai shouldn't behave like this.

Every word he said this time seemed to reveal a strong sense of discord.

"Sister Shu!" Dongdong shook her arm.

Yan Qiushu came back to her senses and asked with a smile, "What's wrong?"

Dongdong chuckled: "What did you just give Brother Pingyu to eat? Can Dongdong eat it?"

Yan Qiushu was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. She pinched the little face angrily. The round head was full of food. How happy!

She said: "Since our Dongdong wants to eat, of course it's okay."

Dongdong smiled happily, holding her face in her hands, and offered her chubby face to her hands: "Sister Shu, you have worked hard, pinch me more..."

"You're so kind to me. Tell me, what's the matter?" Yan Qiushu slapped him on the face and asked with a smile.

The past few months of getting along were very effective. She saw through the child at a glance. As expected, Dongdong smiled shyly and said, "Brother Pingsong just came back and hasn't eaten the food made by Sister Shu yet. Can you bring him some?"

Yan Qiushu smiled and said, "I saw that you didn't even dare to approach us, so I thought you didn't like your second aunt and brother Pingsong."

Dong Dong rubbed his fingers together and whispered, "Second Aunt is so strict and scary, but Brother Pingsong is very nice. He used to take me out to play, but later on, when I went to school, he didn't have time to take me with him."

Yan Qiushu pursed her lips and smiled. Oftentimes, children are a mirror of their parents. The Third Prince was not likable, and Zhou Zhaoqin had learned his domineering side from him. If he hadn't been so young, he would have been very unlikable.

Xiao Pingsong looked gentle and Dongdong also said that he had a good personality, so Song Mingdai must not be as she appeared to be. She smiled and said, "I see. I also need to make lunch. I might as well send it to them."

"Wow! Sister Shu, you are so nice!" Dongdong jumped three feet high with joy.

Yan Qiushu then limped and said, "Let's go to the kitchen first to see if there are any fresh dishes."

"Coming!" Dongdong followed quickly.

The kitchen was already used to their arrival. When they saw them coming, they immediately took them to the kitchen where all kinds of fresh ingredients were kept and said, "Miss Yan, these were just delivered this morning. Which one do you think is suitable?"

Yan Qiushu glanced over. She had cooked so many dishes that as soon as she saw the ingredients, many cooking methods would appear in her mind. It just depended on which method she liked the most at the moment.

After reading it, she only had two thoughts in her mind: "Dongdong, we've eaten enough meat and fish this year, why don't we just eat some vegetarian food?"

Dongdong just wanted something delicious, so he nodded readily: "Okay!"

Yan Qiushu took two pieces of tofu and a few eggplants and left.

She wants to eat... minced meat, eggplant and pan-fried tofu!

These two dishes are home-cooked, not very spicy, and the taste is completely different from the previous ones, but they are delicious!

The most important thing about minced meat and eggplant stew is to fry the eggplant.

First, cut the eggplant into strips of appropriate size, fry in a pan until both sides are golden brown. At this time, you can take some time to prepare a common sauce, vinegar, soy sauce, salt, sugar, starch, and water.

At this time, remove the eggplant, add minced garlic to the remaining oil and stir-fry until fragrant, then add the minced meat. The ratio of fat to lean meat should be 3:7, so that there will be no over-oil. After the minced meat changes color, pour in the eggplant and sauce, and cook on medium heat for half a cup of tea.

Pan-fried tofu is even easier.

Take two-thirds of the tofu, cut it into cubes, and put them flat into a pan with hot oil. When both sides are golden brown, take them out and put them on a plate. Slightly break each piece of tofu in the middle so that the soup can stick to it better.

The next step is to mix the white sesame seeds, the previously made cornel chili oil, peppercorns, salt, sugar, soy sauce, chopped green onions and a little water into a pot, bring to a boil over high heat, add a little water starch, wait until it becomes thick, serve and pour on the tofu that has been prepared in advance.

The thick brown soup slid onto the tofu as it was tilted, flowing into the tofu through the broken parts. Most of it flowed out of the tofu, staining every piece of tofu with the thick and slightly spicy soup.

After everything was done, there was still a little tofu left, so I made crucian carp and tofu soup.

There is nothing more comfortable than drinking a sip of hot soup in winter.

After the two dishes and one soup were ready, the maids in the courtyard were asked to deliver them to other courtyards one by one as usual. Mrs. Xiao's condition had been getting better recently, and her appetite was getting better and better. She loved spicy strips very much. Fortunately, Nanny Huang was holding the spicy strips in her hand, which could shock her, otherwise Yan Qiushu was really afraid that she would get angry.

Xiao Huaiqi and Xie Qingyun were also very supportive of the dishes cooked by Yan Qiushu.

The third daughter of the Xiao family doesn't eat much heavy flavors, so the amount of rice Yan Qiushu sends to her is the smallest each time. The fourth daughters Xiao Huaiwu and Xiao Huaiting are basically not at home during the day, so it doesn't work. Now there is a second wife, and Yan Qiushu doesn't know her appetite, so she sends two people's portions.

Hope they find it delicious.

Yan Qiushu thought about it and sat down in the restaurant with Dongdong. She tasted the eggplant first. The long strips of eggplant had been fried and were soft but not rotten. When they were put together, they were folded into two pieces. Thick soup was dripping on it, and there was also a little minced garlic and minced meat.

When you take a bite, the eggplant seems to be full of juice, with a salty aroma and a sour and spicy taste, and a soft and tender texture.

Yan Qiushu took just one bite and then immediately took a big mouthful of rice.

Dongdong next to him also took a bite of the vegetable, and subconsciously took a mouthful of rice. Within two bites, only half of the rice was left in the palm-sized bowl.

Dongdong's nanny was surprised and asked, "But the rice has been changed to new rice today?"

"This goes well with rice." Yan Qiushu explained with a smile.

Dongdong doesn’t dislike rice, but normally he prefers vegetables. One bowl of rice is enough for him, and he always puts it in the middle before eating. He never eats rice from the beginning.

And he is still eating now, one bite of vegetable and two mouthfuls of rice!

I've never seen anything like this when I've eaten other spicy dishes before.

The nanny was worried and asked, "Miss Yan, I have the guts to ask, is this dish too salty?"

Yan Qiushu said hurriedly: "No, Madam, can you tell me?"

She asked, and seeing that she didn't object immediately, she asked Shui Xuan to get a pair of chopsticks.

The wet nurse didn't expect Yan Qiushu to really let her try it. She was a little hesitant. The main reason was that Dongdong's food had never been so strong-flavored except for spicy strips. The amount of spicy strips was controlled and she was afraid that the child would eat something too strong.

Doctors nowadays are all Chinese medicine practitioners, and Chinese medicine emphasizes a light diet. Eating spicy food occasionally can warm the body in winter, but if it is too salty, it is not good to just eat it with rice, so she naturally has some concerns.

The chopsticks were right in front of her. The nanny felt it would be awkward whether to take them or not, but she took them anyway and carefully came over to pick up an eggplant.

It is indeed salty when you take a bite, but not too salty, just normal saltiness. But in addition to the saltiness, there are other flavors, a slight sourness, a subtle sweetness, and a slight spiciness. Combined with the soft texture of the eggplant, it is delicious and really appetizing and goes well with rice!

The nurse said shyly, "That's just what I thought. I hope Miss Yan won't be offended."

"No, no." Yan Qiushu smiled and shook her head. There was nothing strange about this. Parents of children care about their children and should not forget to be polite. She understood it very well.

The embarrassment on the wet nanny's face was much gone. She stood behind Dongdong again, wanting to continue waiting for the young master to eat without looking away.

But this time she was not as stable as before.

I just said that this eggplant is quite appetizing. Now her mouth can't help but drool. When she smells the aroma of the minced meat and eggplant in the air, she can't help but swallow her saliva with a "gulp".

The restaurant was quiet, and the other maids were doing their own things, so the sudden movement was a little noticeable.

Dongdong, who was eating vigorously, moved his ears and looked over with sparkling eyes, as if he had discovered a new continent. His voice was loud and clear: "Mammy, do you want to eat until you drool?"

Nanny: “…”

Yan Qiushu covered her face.

What a bad kid!