I just wrote a love poem, how did that make me so powerful?

Xiao Mingyuan tiptoed back to his private room, leaned against the wall, and took a couple of heavy breaths.

Fortunately, the clinking of glasses could be heard from next door, which prevented Xiao Mingyuan from being exposed.

Next door, Xu Danian hurriedly knocked over a cup.

Immediately following was Sun Decai's low-pitched curse: "What are you doing, getting all clumsy!"

Xu Danian's voice was clearly panicked: "N-nothing...it's nothing...I just spilled some wine. Luckily, Young Master Sun reminded me, otherwise we wouldn't even know how we died."

He chuckled and filled Sun Decai's glass with wine: "Come on, have a few more drinks!"

Sun Decai snorted coldly, picked up the cup, and drank it all in one gulp.

Then he pulled a small cloth bag from his pocket and threw it onto the table with a thud.

"This is ten taels of silver given to you by your superiors. After deducting the cost of the wine and their cut, you'll still have seven or eight taels left. Don't be ungrateful! If you fail to do this, you can expect to lose your job at the granary!"

Xu Danian's voice immediately wilted: "Thank you...thank you, Young Master Sun...I dare not..."

On this side.

Xiao Mingyuan listened to the sounds from next door and cursed inwardly:

Damn it, these bastards are truly wicked. Is there no justice left? No, we can't let them get away with this.

He patted his double chin and muttered something to himself.

"I need to tell Xu Qing and then we'll reconsider."

He picked up the teapot on the table, took another sip, put down the silver, and quietly left the teahouse with his servant.

After stepping outside, he finally caught his breath, and the more he thought about it, the more puzzled he became: "Why is Chen Shijin eyeing Xu Qing's fiancée, Song Yao? Aren't the ladies from well-to-do families in the city enough for him?"

He recalled Chen Shijin's fake smile at the Zhuangyuanlou restaurant during the day, and felt a wave of nausea wash over him.

This person appears polite and refined on the surface, but secretly engages in such despicable acts.

……

……

Xiao Mingyuan got off the carriage and ran all the way to Xu Qing's house. When he pushed open the courtyard gate, he was out of breath and leaned against the door frame, panting for a long time.

Xu Qing was tidying up in the study when he heard the noise and poked his head out: "Young Master Xiao?"

Xiao Mingyuan didn't stand on ceremony. He walked directly to the table, grabbed the rough porcelain bowl on the table, and started chugging water.

Xu Qing intended to wash his brushes in that bowl of water. It was a little dirty, but he didn't mind and gulped it down. There were still some ink stains at the bottom of the bowl.

"Wait a minute, Young Master Xiao, that's not water for you to drink." Xu Qing took the bowl from him.

"It's all the same, it's all the same..." Xiao Mingyuan wiped his mouth and said seriously, "Xu Qing, what I'm about to say is very important, so you'd better stand firm."

Xu Qing put down her bowl, pulled up a long bench, and sat down: "Then I'll sit down, you go ahead."

Xiao Mingyuan lowered his voice and recounted everything he had overheard...

How Xu Danian conspired with Sun Decai, how he forced Xu Qing to gamble and visit prostitutes, how he wanted to seize the Xu family's ancestral lands, and that most despicable thing he said...

"They even want Xu Danian to coax you into selling your fiancée!"

Xiao Mingyuan spat, "Pah! That bastard Chen Shijin! He acts all high and mighty at the Zhuangyuanlou Restaurant during the day, but behind my back he's up to this kind of thing!"

Xu Qing listened and remained silent for a moment.

Xiao Mingyuan waited for a while and saw that he didn't slam the table and curse, nor did he jump up excitedly. Instead, he sat there calmly.

He couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong? Aren't you angry?"

Xu Qing's lips twitched slightly: "Actually, I guessed it."

"You guessed it?" Xiao Mingyuan was taken aback.

"I always felt something was off about that cousin of mine."

Xu Qing stood up, walked to the desk, and turned her back to Xiao Mingyuan.

"I used to study hard, and although I was not very bright, I never went astray. Later, he suddenly took me to gambling dens, restaurants, and brothels... At first, he paid the bills, and I thought he was just being kind to me, his poor cousin."

He turned around, his gaze falling on the direction of the courtyard gate.

"Later, he tricked me into constantly selling off my family's assets and spending money. Now it seems that he wanted to completely ruin my reputation and bankrupt my family so that he could legitimately take over the clan's land. I was just a stepping stone for him to climb up the social ladder."

Xu Qing said, frowning.

Xiao Mingyuan comforted him, "There is justice in the world. Do you need my help?"

Xu Qing's expression softened somewhat: "Let me think about what to do..."

He glanced at the sky; dusk was gradually falling, and lights were on in several houses in the distance.

"It's getting late, Young Master Xiao, you should head back now."

Before Xiao Mingyuan could speak, his stomach growled.

Xiao Mingyuan scratched his head and chuckled, "I eat a lot, so I get hungry quickly. I'm afraid I'll be starving when I get back."

Xu Qing laughed and said, "We'll have to eat first, but you probably won't like my family's food."

Xiao Mingyuan said with a carefree attitude, "It's okay, I'm not picky. You can just cook some porridge."

Xu Qing then said, "It'll probably be even later after dinner, and it's not safe to go back. Why don't you stay here for the night?"

Xiao Mingyuan nodded: "Perfect, my dad will keep asking me about my studies when I get home, it's so annoying."

Xu Qing rolled up her sleeves and went into the kitchen: "I'll cook."

There was still a piece of pork left on the stove from the daytime purchase. Xu Qing chopped about half a pound of it, smashed two cloves of garlic, and chopped up the remaining vegetable balls on the cutting board.

He put some lard in the pot, and after the oil was hot, he threw in garlic cloves...

With a sizzle, the aroma of garlic burst forth, filling the entire kitchen with fragrance.

Then he added the shredded meat and stir-fried it. When the meat turned white, he added the vegetable balls and finally poured in half a bowl of water, covered the pot and simmered it.

Before long, a warm aroma, a mixture of meat, oil, and garlic, wafted out from the cracks in the pot lid, making the old kitchen cozy and warm.

Xiao Mingyuan leaned against the kitchen doorway and sniffed hard: "Wow, Xu Qing, your cooking skills... are just as good as my cook's."

"Stop joking around, pick up your bowl."

Just as the two were serving the food, footsteps came from outside the courtyard gate, and then a slender figure pushed the door open and came in.

Song Yao was wearing a newly made plain-colored cloth shirt, made from the same fabric that Xu Qing had bought before.

She worked quickly and efficiently, and had already cut and sewed a garment. The collar was aligned and the cuffs were neatly fitted. Although the style was simple, it accentuated her exceptionally graceful figure.

A few strands of bangs gently swept across her forehead, revealing her pale yet delicate face.

Under the light, the plain-colored cloth shirt wrapped around her body, revealing her slender waist and shapely buttocks. However, the prominent bulge at her chest stretched the shirt into a full curve, causing it to sway slightly as she walked, creating a stark contrast with her slender frame.

Xiao Mingyuan was holding a bowl and eating rice when he caught sight of the person who had come in. His chopsticks stopped in mid-air, and he forgot to swallow the rice in his mouth.

He stared blankly for a moment, then quickly lowered his head and whispered something in Xu Qing's ear.

"Xu Qing... No wonder that guy surnamed Chen was after my sister-in-law. She's a top-tier beauty in the county town."

Xu Qing didn't answer him, but instead looked at Song Yao: "Are the clothes finished?"

Song Yao nodded, then nervously tugged at her hem. "I... I was thinking of finishing it as soon as possible so you could see it sooner... Is that alright?"

"That's fine." Xu Qing picked up her bowl. "Sit down and eat."

Song Yao then noticed Xiao Mingyuan and was taken aback: "And who is this?"

"Xiao Mingyuan, the young master of the richest family in the county," Xu Qing casually introduced. "He helped me a lot today, so please stay for a meal."

Song Yao was slightly taken aback, then nodded, sat down next to Xu Qing, and couldn't help but glance at Xiao Mingyuan a couple more times...

In her mind, rich young men were all arrogant and looked down on others.

But the chubby young man in front of her was holding a rough porcelain bowl, his mouth greasy from eating, and he looked more like a poor child than she did.

Xiao Mingyuan was completely oblivious to Song Yao's scrutiny. He lowered his head and shoveled another mouthful of rice into his mouth, mumbling, "Xu Qing... this rice... smells so good..."

After swallowing, his eyes lit up: "I've eaten my family's eight-treasure duck, crab meat lion's head meatballs, and egg drop soup with bird's nest... but none of them are as fragrant as your lard-fried vegetable dumplings! They're all just ordinary home-cooked dishes, so how come they taste so much better than others'!"

Xu Qing smiled and said, "Everything tastes good when you're hungry."

"No!" Xiao Mingyuan retorted seriously.

"It smells amazing! The lard is just the right amount, and the garlic is fried first before stir-frying the meat. The shredded meat is coated in oil, fragrant but not greasy... With your skills, you could open a restaurant and make a fortune! Why don't you come work as my chef!"

Xu Qing smiled slightly, "No, I want to take the imperial examinations."

Xiao Mingyuan scratched his head. "Right, right, I didn't think about it enough."

He shoveled another mouthful, his cheeks puffed out like a fat hamster, and mumbled, "Can I come over for meals every day from now on?"

"I'm available anytime," Xu Qing replied casually.

Listening to the two talking, Song Yao picked up her chopsticks and took a bite. After eating, she looked up at Xu Qing, her eyes filled with complex emotions...