This situation also made some people better understand Xiaoyao and his companions' status in Luo Yunqing's eyes. Otherwise, even if Chi Chi's appearance was bizarre, he wouldn't personally come over to ask.

"What's wrong, Xiaoyao? Not enough food? I'll have people bring more up for you," Luo Yunqing didn't ask directly at first, but seeing the empty plates at Xiaoyao's table, he was stunned and immediately arranged for people to serve more food to Xiaoyao's table.

"It's not enough. Please trouble the family head to have them bring up more, otherwise it still won't be enough," Xiaoyao said.

"Alright, I'll have them bring up more," Luo Yunqing was somewhat puzzled. They had already eaten one table's worth—adding another table should be enough. How was it not enough? He had heard that General Nangong and the others could eat quite a bit, but he hadn't expected them to eat this much.

"Don't just bring a little—at least bring several more tables worth of food. The dishes don't need to be too fancy—ordinary ones are fine. This little foodie just eats a lot and isn't picky," Xiaoyao smiled and patted Chi Chi, who was still licking the plates.

"You're saying all this food was eaten by this little girl?" Luo Yunqing looked at Chi Chi with some surprise. Xiaoyao's words seemed to mean that this little girl in front of them had eaten everything.

This little girl looked only about one or two years old—how could she possibly eat so much food? You must be joking.

"Don't let her small size fool you. She can eat everything here. The few tables I'm asking for will just barely fill her stomach," Xiaoyao said with a smile. He knew Luo Yunqing would have this doubt—any normal person would.

"That can't be right," Luo Yunqing looked at Chi Chi. Could such a small body contain all that?

"If you don't mind the palace food being eaten clean, I don't mind letting you witness her appetite," Xiaoyao smiled and patted Chi Chi's little head.

"Who is she?" Luo Yunqing felt Xiaoyao had no need to lie to him, so he didn't continue on the topic of Chi Chi's appetite, but asked who Chi Chi was. Chi Chi's appearance was somewhat bizarre, and he was very curious.

"My daughter," Xiaoyao said casually.

"..." Luo Yunqing immediately fell silent, and Guxing and the others also felt somewhat strange. Xiaoyao's straightforward introduction of Chi Chi as his daughter was indeed very odd.

"You already have a daughter? Who is the child's mother?" After being stunned for a moment, Luo Yunqing asked, while also looking at the girls nearby.

"Of course it's me," the Young Miss was the first to speak, making others not need to consider whether to speak up.

"Go away. She's adopted and has nothing to do with any of them," Xiaoyao said irritably. Just because I said daughter doesn't necessarily mean biological.

"She's adopted, and I'm her mother," the Young Miss said seriously. Even if adopted, I can still be the mother.

"..." Xiaoyao fell silent.

"Yes, we are too!" Nangong Suxin chimed in.

"..."

"Chi Chi..." Chi Chi called out to Guxing, who hadn't spoken, as if saying she was the one. This made the other girls feel speechless—this little thing really had the same favoritism as Xiaoyao.

However, everyone seemed to notice that besides calling out "daddy," Chi Chi couldn't say any other words—everything else was still "Chi Chi" sounds.

"So she's adopted. But I feel like she's different from ordinary children?" Luo Yunqing asked.

"She's a monster beast," Xiaoyao replied very directly, without concealment.

"What? A monster beast?" Luo Yunqing was stunned. He had thought of many possibilities, but would never have thought Chi Chi was a monster beast. Were there such monster beasts?

"Don't ask me why she's like this—I don't know either. Do you know?" Xiaoyao knew what Luo Yunqing was thinking. Probably no one had seen such a unique monster beast, and precisely because it was unique, Xiaoyao didn't mind telling him. After all, no one could figure out what was going on.

"Well, I'd have to investigate to know. This is quite mysterious," Luo Yunqing shook his head with a bitter smile. You're asking me this question, but who should I ask? Maybe only heaven knows.

Precisely because Chi Chi was a monster beast, Luo Yunqing didn't find her appearance too bizarre. At least compared to her current form, this wasn't much.

"Monster beasts that can transform generally have at least Late Saint Level strength. Why does she seem not very strong?" Luo Yunqing was still quite curious about this point and wanted to understand Chi Chi's strength.

"It's not that she seems weak—she really isn't strong. She has no attack power. Besides eating, she doesn't seem to have any other abilities," Xiaoyao said. However, he didn't mention one thing—that Chi Chi could eat everything, which was a very special kind of eating.

"Oh, that's really interesting... But it seems like anything is possible with you," Luo Yunqing smiled and didn't pay too much attention to this, chatting casually with Xiaoyao and the others. Since there was nothing else going on, understanding Xiaoyao's situation over the past year was quite interesting to him.

What? Qi Bupo was Xiaoyao's uncle? Although it was through sworn brotherhood, since Qi Bupo acknowledged it, this relationship was established. This was a good thing.

Although Qi Bupo was from the Demon Domain, in the understanding of those in power, what did the Demon Domain matter? As long as it benefited them, they would acknowledge it. They didn't care about Demon Domain or not.

Those so-called "acting on heaven's behalf" were just to check the Demon Domain's development. If they were truly irreconcilable, they would have long ago launched wars to eliminate the other side. This was political gaming among those in power—something ordinary people couldn't understand and didn't need to investigate deeply. Xiaoyao never thought about these things either.

Luo Yunqing only knew that if Xiaoyao had a good relationship with Qi Bupo and his wife, it would greatly benefit the Luo family. Now he increasingly discovered that Xiaoyao was a lucky star with connections everywhere.

He still didn't know that Xiaoyao had an even bigger, more impressive connection. If he knew, he would immediately give up the family head position and beg Xiaoyao to take over, regardless of whether Xiaoyao agreed.

Then Luo Yunqing chatted some more, not just with Xiaoyao but also with the Young Miss and her companions. Now the Young Miss and her group were also core members of the Luo family. Their role in the Luo family was most obvious and recognized by everyone.

At the same time, he wanted to know the Young Miss and her companions' intentions about staying or leaving. Now that Xiaoyao had returned, they might leave, and if so, he felt his heart couldn't take it.

Fortunately, their intention wasn't to leave immediately—they would stay here for several more years. Although he knew they meant they might leave after several years, at least it wasn't immediate.

For every year they stayed here, Flowing Stone Kingdom would expand for one year. At their speed, after several years, it would be enough for Flowing Stone Kingdom to have the territory of a great nation. This was the result he felt was best and was already very satisfied.

Having the territory of a great nation was enough—then would come gradual governance and development. This was the path most suitable for the Luo family's development. If too fast, it would actually be bad and might attract siege from other forces.

This was also inevitable—if a force developed too quickly, it would definitely cause others to worry about their interests being encroached upon. Unless they had the confidence to sweep the world, they had to slow down or even stop. They couldn't just think about expansion all the time.

After several years, when the Young Miss and her companions completed Luo Yunqing's desired goals, he planned to focus on recovery and consolidation, strengthening the Luo family's foundation. This might take decades and would be the next generation's business. Even if they really needed to find the Young Miss and her companions, it would be much later. Currently, there was no need to consider it.

Therefore, this result was also what Luo Yunqing was satisfied with!

After chatting casually for a while, Luo Yunqing left. During this time, he also learned that what Xiaoyao said was true regarding Chi Chi's appetite. This could truly be said to be immeasurable like the ocean.

Several tables of food were brought up, and everyone only ate a little—the rest was all handled by Chi Chi, and at extremely fast speed. Most magically, her little belly only bulged slightly, indicating there was still lots of space to store things.

Now even if Luo Yunqing didn't know Chi Chi was a monster beast, he would think so. How could a human possibly fit so much food inside—stomachs didn't have that much capacity.

At the end, Luo Yunqing specifically said to Xiaoyao: "After this ends, come to the imperial study. I have matters to discuss with you."

Some things Luo Yunqing couldn't say in such a public setting, and these matters were urgent to him, otherwise he wouldn't immediately ask Xiaoyao to discuss them.

Actually, Xiaoyao had already guessed these matters—nothing more than alchemy and such. A year had passed, and the previously prepared pills had been consumed quite a bit. Although they could last another year or two, for a family head, one or two years of preparation was completely insufficient—there had to be more.

Especially after experiencing the incident of Xiaoyao being captured, he felt such important matters had to be prepared non-stop, preparing decades' worth.

So in the following days, Xiaoyao was constantly refining pills day and night, making the Young Miss so angry she went to argue with Luo Yunqing.

Xiaoyao wouldn't be in Flowing Moon City for long—he would later go with Hei Xue to the Carefree Sect. This limited time was being occupied by alchemy, leaving little time to go out and play with them. How could this not make her angry?

Originally she planned to go drinking flower wine with Xiaoyao. Yes, this was very important—no one else could accompany her to drink flower wine, only Xiaoyao could.

Of course, this was a later matter. After Xiaoyao finished talking with Luo Yunqing, he returned to his prince's mansion—this estate that belonged to him but which he was visiting for the first time.

Coming with him, besides the four women Guxing and her companions, were also Lingling and her sister who came after hearing the news, as well as Zhuque Leiting. After chatting with the Lingyu sisters about recent circumstances, Xiaoyao had them stay and told them this was also their home—they could come anytime.

(End of Chapter)