Song Yixiao led her maids, including Qiaoqin, to the drawing-room. It was not until she confirmed nothing was wrong with the sealing tapes that she let them open the boxes.

Among the three boxes, two ones were filled with t.i.tle deeds and antique treasures respectively. While dazzling collections of ornaments made of pearl and jade filled up the remaining one.

The ancestors of the Pei Family came from an aristocratic and distinguished clan, which was well-known in the historical record for its glory and prevalence throughout several dynasties in a row. It was not until the imperial examination started to gain popularity in the previous dynasty that the Pei Family started to be on the decline gradually. Even so, as a legitimately collateral branch, the Pei Family, having no notorious wastrels, still got a profound foundation.

Of course, such three boxes certainly couldn"t accommodate all the acc.u.mulations the Pei Family had got all over these years. Based on Song Yixiao"s estimation, these items in front of her should be what the Pei Family had got in the capital city ever since the current dynasty had been established.

Even so, the maids, including Qiaoqin, were all astounded as they said, “Is the Pei Family so surprisingly rich?”

“The Pei Family gets a foundation acc.u.mulated by several generations, which surely can"t be underestimated.” Song Yixiao looked over the items roughly. Knowing that any random item out of the last two boxes could be considered as a hereditary treasure by the average rich family, she was quite surprised as well.

However, thinking back on what she had seen in Jian Limiao"s dwelling place last time, she was relieved and thought, “Those items seem to be not so good as what I saw in Uncle Limiao"s place last time. I am afraid that the authentically supreme ones were sent back to Youzhou early!”

In Song Yixiao"s opinion, never should the Pei Family, which was currently less powerful than the Jian Family, be underestimated. Caring about his reputation, Jian Pingyu, who was quite impoverished in his childhood, acted discreetly. People thus had called him an “uncorrupted official” when he was overwhelmingly powerful in the royal court. Even so, his son, Jian Limiao got a large number of valuable items in his dwelling place. Consequently, it was understandable that the Pei Family, whose ancestors had all acted as officials in the royal court, had sent three boxes of treasures here.

On the contrary, Duke of Yan"s family was not that wealthy at all. Compared with those items in the three boxes, what they got in the storage room was far worse, which was surely a far cry from those in Jian Limiao"s dwelling place. The relative reason should be that Jian Likuang and Jinguo Grand Princess, who were both alive, hadn"t divided their family a.s.sets to their descendants yet.

Song Yixiao told the maids about what she had seen in Jian Limiao"s mansion roughly. After everybody on the scene, who had been astounded at first, came to their senses, she promised that she would take them there by turns to expand their horizons if there was a chance. After that, she got down to business, asking them to take out every item and compare the items to the attached directory one by one.

After the maids confirmed nothing had gone wrong, they put the items back to where they had been in the boxes and resealed the seals. After that, Song Yixiao ordered, “Put them back to the storage room. Send people out separately to inquire about the market quotation. After that, figure out the detailed situation of those t.i.tled deeds. In the end, report to me!”

If they sold so many items out at one time, they surely would suffer great losses. Otherwise, Pei Yourui would not have entrusted Song Yixiao with these items. Only after they worked out a plan gradually could they avoid being bargained. If they intended to sell these items based on a long-term and carefully stipulated plan, they should keep an eye on the market quotation closely. The maids, including Qiaoqin, acknowledged her order simultaneously.

As it was getting late, Jinxun went forward and said, “Madam, you should have a rest after looking over the items for the whole afternoon!”

As Song Yixiao heard her words, she glimpsed at the copper water clock in the corner. Knowing that Jian Xubai would be home soon, who surely would ask what had taken place to her while visiting her mother-in-law today, she nodded and said, “I am a bit hungry. Tell the chef to bake some cakes.”

Song Yixiao had enjoyed her lunch at Jinguo Grand Princess"s mansion today. The lunch surely was a delicate and sumptuous one. Unfortunately, before that, she had run into Ji Mingfei. Moreover, her parents-in-law had confronted each other in front of her. She dared not leave without her mother-in-law"s consent. Otherwise, she would have headed for the hills.

In this case, she certainly had not got any appet.i.te at all after her mother-in-law had invited her to stay there for lunch.

After Song Yixiao had some Single-caged Golden Diary Cake and Madam Red fetched by Jinxun, she picked up the lukewarm rose syrup and took a sip of it. As she was about to say something, she glimpsed Jian Xubai walking in as well as pulling his two-piece collar. Rubbing her fingertips with the handkerchief hurriedly, she stood up and greeted him as she said, “You are home! Is it hot?”

However, Jian Xubai glimpsed at her indifferently and said, “You are the culprit!”

Song Yixiao found what he had said baffling. He asked the servants to retreat and stopped hiding his neck. It was not until she saw the bruised wound on his side neck that she got his point. Biting her lips in a hurry, she refrained from smiling and said as gently as she could with concern, “Oh my G.o.d! How come you end up like this! Let me check on it now!”

“No need!” Jian Xubai sneered and shoved her away as he said, “Will the wound be healed after you check on it? Fetch me the medicine quickly!”

Knowing she was in the wrong, Song Yixiao obeyed his order and asked the servants to bring him the medicine. After that, she went outside and asked the servants to bring the hot water inside. Taking the hot water in by herself, she dipped the handkerchief and helped him wash his face. Although she treated him attentively, the look on Jian Xubai"s face was indifferent as usual. He didn"t even look her in the eye. It was not until he went into the internal room, got changed with homely clothing, let down his long hair to cover his wound that he walked out. He asked coldly, “What did Mother say?”

“Mother said she would get it done by herself.” Song Yixiao pushed the remaining two Single-caged Golden Diary Cakes towards him and said, “Are you hungry? There is some more time to go before the dinner is ready. Would you like to grab a bite first?”

Jian Xubai ignored her and snorted as he said, “Did you ever tell Mother that we were so pressed for time that if the transferring order couldn"t be issued within 10 days, Sister Yourui and her father would head for the north?”

“Of course, I did.” After Song Yixiao told him everything about her communication with her mother-in-law, she mentioned her father-in-law conveniently and said, “By the time I got there, Mother hadn"t gotten up yet. So I waited outside for a while and ran into Father accidentally. As he saw me, he asked me about how the manpower transferring was going on.”

“Just say some pleasantries to blind him.” Jian Xubai added casually, “If he talks to you in a private manner, you can put everything on me and tell him to turn to me in person!”

Song Yixiao smiled and said, “I told Father that Grand Secretariat Pei, who had retired from the government, planned to take Sister Yourui back to Youzhou and asked us to help him sell off his properties. So I probably wouldn"t have time for other things these days. After Father heard me out, he just left without saying anything at all. However, when Mother knew what he had said to me, she was so angry that she asked Father back to see her, where I was also present. They did argue heatedly with each other. I was stuck in a dilemma at that time, feeling quite embarra.s.sed.”

The reason why she described what had happened between her parents-in-law as an argument was to maintain her father-in-law"s pride.

In fact, it was Jinguo Grand Princess who had unilaterally scolded Jian Limiao. As Song Yixiao recollected the look on her father-in-law"s face at that time, she also felt frightened.

However, as a daughter-in-law, she certainly wasn"t qualified to meddle in her parents-in-law"s issue.

Thinking that if Jian Xubai was willing to mediate between her parents-in-law, she would kind of help her father-in-law out subtly. So she brought this issue up specifically.

“As usual, Mother doesn"t want Father to interfere in her business, which Father also knows well. Even so, he still interfered. No wonder that Mother intended to get back at him!” After Jian Xubai heard her out, he added gently, “If you see them arguing with each other next time, feel free to leave them alone and turn to Wuying. Mother will send someone to inform you to come to her side if she has other questions for you. Otherwise, you can just leave there after talking to Wuying.”

He continued, “As usual, Mother isn"t strict to her juniors, including us. As long as we don"t commit any mistake when it comes to the formalities, she won"t argue with us because of the petty issues. After all, she, who doesn"t live with us, needs to attend to a large number of issues in her mansion. In that case, she surely has no time to keep an eye on how you behave all the time.”

“Mother is indeed quite busy!” As Song Yixiao thought of how she had run into Ji Mingfei today, she felt gloomy in secret as she thought, “I thought previously that the reason why Mother never took the initiative to interfere in Duke of Yan"s business was to maintain my pride. Based on what happened today, it is more likely that she doesn"t have time for me at all.”

Sensing that Jian Xubai didn"t intend to convince his parents to make peace with each other, and even tried to instigate her to be an on-looker, of course, she would not go on with the current topic. Since Jian Xubai was not concerned about his biological parents" relationship, she, who was simply a daughter-in-law, didn"t have to be anxious.

Consequently, she stopped talking about Jian Likuang as she said, “According to Mother, she would figure out a way this afternoon and inform us immediately once there was some update.”

Jian Xubai nodded gently and planned to call the servants in to take care of him. As he glimpsed at the weird look on her face, he asked curiously, “Are there any other issues?”

“…No.” Originally, Song Yixiao had planned to ask him about Ji Mingfei. After all, what Ji Mingfei had done was kind of shocking. n.o.body else in the world could beat him when it came to behaving smartly and boldly. Most importantly, he was a relative of Jinguo Grand Princess, who was different from Mr. Qiao, the musician, last time. Feeling curious as well as confused about Ji Mingfei, of course, she intended to ask Jian Xubai about him. However, as the question was on the tip of her tongue, she thought twice, thinking it would be better for her to drop her question. After all, it was related to Jinguo Grand Princess"s privacy. She decided not to say anything at all.

“What on earth is it?” As Jian Xubai saw the hesitant look on her face, he knew she certainly had something on her mind. Squinting slightly, he planned to get to the bottom as he asked, “Look yourself into the mirror. Do you look like someone who has nothing else to say?”

Sensing that she couldn"t dodge him, Song Yixiao said cautiously, “I saw a man named Ji Mingfei in Mother"s place today. It is said that… he is one of our relatives, right?”

As Jian Xubai heard the name of “Ji Mingfei”, he was also at a loss. After that, the look on his face changed dramatically, indicating he felt disturbed. He said vaguely, “Kind of. He is Cousin Ji. I mean that he is Ji Zifu"s legitimate cousin by blood. Since his parents died in his infancy, it was the previous Marquis Fuyang who had brought him up in person. In order to tell him apart from Cousin Zifu, both Wuying and I refer to him as Cousin Mingfei.”

“Well, based on my observation, the way he acted was out of the ordinary.” Song Yixiao tried her best to think of complimentary wordings as she said, “Since I never heard of him from you before, I was just curious. I don"t have any other concerns now. Look at your sweaty forehead. How about you take a shower right now?”

Jian Xubai was also relieved in secret after Song Yixiao diverted the topic. It was clear that he also knew the relationship between Ji Mingfei and Jinguo Grand Princess. Having no time to hold a grudge against his wife, he took advantage of the situation immediately and said, “Tell them to prepare the hot water in advance. I will go to the shower room later.”

Song Yixiao obeyed his order and went out of the room. It was not until the autumn wind blew across her that she realized that she was in a cold sweat. Holding a handkerchief and wiping her forehead randomly, she collected herself, called servants over, and gave her order out.

After she went back to the room, she constantly sensed that something had gone wrong.

Holding a teacup with his slim and white-skinned fingers, which was made from the lovely white glaze and engraved with inky bamboo forest, Jian Xubai sat there augustly while enjoying the tea. At first sight, the young man got black hair and fair skin. His face was as flawless as the jade and his lips were of red color. As the black, white, and red colors radiated against each other, even all the magnificence across the whole hall could not overshadow his startling brilliance.

However, besides looking indifferent, he was also somewhat reserved. The look on his face was a calm one.

Song Yixiao cast her doubt aside as she thought, “Is it an illusion?” She sat down and spoke to him, “They already went to the kitchen to fetch the water. Everything should be done within half an hour.”

Jian Xubai put down the teacup and nodded flatly.

A while later, the servants reported that the shower room was ready for use. After Jian Xubai stood up and went to take a shower, Song Yixiao asked the maids to come in and clean up the remaining snacks. She was enlightened all of a sudden and thought, “There were two dairy cakes and one Madam Red left a moment ago… How come they all disappeared now?”

The maids certainly had dared not sneak a taste of the cakes, which were still on the table at that time. Moreover, back when she had talked with her husband a moment ago, n.o.body else had been on the scene!

Consequently, it was self-evident as for where the three remaining cakes had gone.

“How should I speak of him?” As Song Yixiao figured out the ins and outs, she didn"t know whether she should laugh or cry. Waving her head, she sighed in secret, “Did he think that he would look bad while enjoying the snacks in front of me, which I pushed to his side?”

He must forget how he had requested to “borrow” half of her bed boldly and self-confidently before they officially got married.

“Sometimes, he is cheeky. While sometimes, he is determined to maintain his pride!” The more Song Yixiao pondered on it, the more she was convinced that how she had spoken of Jian Xubai previously turned out to be true. “n.o.body else in the world can be moodier than he!”

Song Yixiao felt so insecure while relying on the kind of man like Jian Xubai for her living. She thought, “As expected, I certainly need to find another way out!”