Chapter 60 Owe You Two Meals

Chapter 60: I Owe You Two Meals

Yang Xingxian returned to the residence looking utterly disheveled, startling everyone.

"Who was it? Why did they hit you?"

Seeing her precious son beaten to such a state, Madam Wu was furious.

Yang Luo boldly speculated: "Could it be the Xi family had someone beat you?"

Yang Yao shared the same sentiment and nodded in agreement.

Yang Xingxian shook his head. Although Lady Xi was quick to resort to violence, she would only do so within the residence. She wasn't crazy—why would she hire someone to beat him outside for no reason?

"It shouldn't be her. She's already left the city to enjoy herself at the estate. Why would she have someone beat me for no reason?"

Madam Wu thought it over carefully and agreed it wasn't her.

But then Yang Xingxian suddenly wondered: could Lady Xi have had him beaten because she saw he'd developed feelings for Bai Zhining and was furious?

Oh no, if that were the case, would Miss Bai be in danger of getting beaten too?

Still unable to make sense of it, Yang Xingxian returned to his courtyard with his injuries, where Xi Jiaojiao naturally took care of him.

Xi Jiaojiao had the same thought: "Could it be my elder sister had someone beat you? But there must be a reason, right? What did you do to make her angry?"

She was hoping Yang Xingxian would confess on his own about fooling around with that vixen outside.

"It wasn't her who had me beaten... I just ran into a madman. Perhaps he'd run into some trouble and had no way to let off steam, so he took it out on me. Unfortunately, even if I wanted to report it to the authorities, there's no one to catch—the guy ran off faster than a rabbit."

Xi Jiaojiao could only soothe him gently and urge him to stay home and focus on his studies.

"If you can pass the autumn imperial examination this time, it will bring me honor too."

Yang Xingxian nodded in agreement, then remembered he'd finally found out today who the Great Scholar Yancan had chosen to mentor. After finding out, he was so angry he nearly blew his top.

It turned out to be Qi Jing of all people.

He and Qi Jing weren't even nodding acquaintances—they barely knew each other's names.

But why had Qi Jing won the Great Scholar Yancan's favor?

Wasn't it just because Xi Qianyue had hired him as Xun Geer's tutor? And because she'd gifted Yan Can that famous inkstone he liked!

In plain terms, Qi Jing was riding on Xi Qianyue's coattails.

That was what infuriated Yang Xingxian the most—he, the rightful husband, hadn't gotten any benefit, so why should that pretty boy be living off his wife?

He had even planned to teach Qi Jing a lesson, but he ended up getting beaten first himself!

He'd have to deal with it later.

After hearing his shadow guard's report, Qi Chengyun, though still bedridden and unable to move after having his medicine changed, felt much better inside.

The next day, Qi Chengyun went for a stroll through the fields with several guards. Yuan Lin grumbled to himself—surely his master wouldn't stroll all the way to Miss Xi's estate, would he?

Sure enough, exactly as he'd predicted!

His master pretended to run into Miss Xi by chance—and she happened to be fishing!

"Caught any fish?"

Xi Qianyue turned around and was pleasantly surprised: "Oh, it's you, Sixth Young Master Qi! Do you have an estate around here too?"

"Yeah, I've been recuperating around here lately. Didn't expect to run into you."

Xi Qianyue looked cheerful, with no sign of being upset about being kicked out of the residence.

She added, a little regretfully: "Unfortunately, I haven't caught any fish, or I could have invited you to a meal. Come to think of it, if you hadn't spoken up just now, I might've caught one by now."

Qi Chengyun chuckled: "So it's my fault then?"

Xi Qianyue laughed too: "You do look a bit pale. You should eat well and build yourself up. Make sure to have plenty of good food."

The two chatted casually while fishing. Predictably, after half an hour, they still hadn't caught anything.

Seeing Xi Qianyue look a bit disappointed, Qi Chengyun ordered outright: "Go down and catch two fish."

Xi Qianyue watched as a guard jumped into the pond without hesitation. Before long, he surfaced—having actually caught a large fish with his bare hands!

"Wow! Your guard is really skilled. He must be great at martial arts too!"

Xi Qianyue was truly envious.

"Do you like that? If you need one, I could give you a guard too."

Qi Chengyun was sincere. Though his guards were costly to train, he seemed more than willing to give one up if Xi Qianyue needed it.

"Absolutely not! How could I take something you treasure?"

But Xi Qianyue refused outright.

She then said smugly: "I have guards of my own too. And don't underestimate my maidservants—every single one of them can fight. They're more than enough for the household."

Every single one of them can fight.

The maidservants were all a bit embarrassed.

Qi Chengyun couldn't help laughing out loud: "How do they fight?"

"Uh... they can handle the maids and the older servants well enough."

Xi Qianyue certainly couldn't say they could beat up the other masters of the house...

"Actually, last time thanks to you, the restaurant didn't charge me. I should've treated you to a meal in return. But then you insisted on treating me instead, so now I owe you two meals."

Yuan Lin couldn't bear to watch. Master, you're so obviously mooching off her! You're shamelessly grabbing onto her polite words and making her treat you!

Xi Qianyue, however, went along with it readily: "Since you had someone catch fish, of course I'll treat you to a meal. If there's anything else you'd like to eat, as long as my estate has it, I'll have it prepared for you."

The group chatted as they walked to the courtyard the estate steward had prepared. Seeing quite a few outsiders arriving, the steward knew at a glance they were all distinguished guests. He quickly led his wife and the others off to prepare the meal.

"Since I'm treating you to a meal, I can cook a dish myself. Can you handle spicy food?"

Qi Chengyun was delighted: "Am I really that lucky to get to taste a dish cooked by Miss Xi herself? I love spicy food—I like..."

Before he could finish, Yuan Lin cut in anxiously: "Master, you're not in good health right now. Perhaps you should avoid spicy food."

Xi Qianyue raised an eyebrow: "Then we'll skip the spicy food... But I do enjoy spicy food myself, so I'll make two portions—one mild and one spicy."

Han Xiang said in a low voice, "Mistress, you shouldn't be cooking yourself. Let me do it instead."

"It's fine. Doing it occasionally doesn't matter."

The maidservants could hardly believe it—the Mistress had never cooked before. How could she possibly know how to make a dish?

Moreover, the dish she intended to make was Sichuan pickled cabbage fish!

After the maidservants washed and chopped all the ingredients, to their surprise, Xi Qianyue actually made the fish—it wasn't just free of any fishy smell—it was actually delicious!

Han Xiang, who was skilled in cooking, was especially astonished: "Mistress, you truly have a gift! How did you manage to make fish this good on your first try?"

Xi Qianyue feigned surprise: "Is it really that good? I was just messing around with it."

The estate's vegetables were all incredibly fresh, and the Estate Steward, being sharp, had bought meat and slaughtered chickens, which made for a pretty lavish meal.

Han Xiang noticed that Sixth Master Qi was feeling unwell, so she stewed the chicken and added some ordinary tonic herbs.

Yuan Lin quickly brought over some ginseng and told Han Xiang to throw it in the stew as well.

Han Xiang saw that the ginseng was at least fifty years old and was secretly astonished—who was this noble, carrying something so valuable on him?

As soon as Xi Qianyue sipped the chicken soup, she praised, "So delicious! Wonderful!"