In the backyard, Song Yixiao wore a homely red short jacket and white skirt, with a light yellow shawl half-drooping. She leaned lazily on the head of the bed. Her hair was loosely tied up in a side bun and the jade hairpin bought from the store near Taoli Restaurant was oblique in the bun.

The hairpin head made of silver wires reflected bright light in a sunset cast through the west window, which was so shining that Jinxun couldn"t open her eyes wide. Therefore, she had to lower her head more and said, “Ji Su cannot stop His Highness. Madam, don"t you really go to persuade him?”

“He"s angry now.” Song Yixiao snorted and said, “Ji Su has been serving him from his childhood. If he can"t persuade him well, what"s the use of my going there? I have just married into this family for a few days. He will vent his anger to me for no reason, so why should I bother?”

“Ji Su is just a servant. How can he compare with you?” Jinxun knew that she was making excuses and anxiously said, “His Highness has always loved you. If you go, he might not be angry?”

She whispered again, “If you don"t go, His Highness will keep being angry. When he comes back here later, won"t he still vent anger to you?”

Don"t forget that you will sleep on the same bed with him. A monk might run away, but the temple remained.

“If I go over to let him vent his anger to me, will he treat me well when we sleep later?” But Song Yixiao had already thought about it. “I"d better wait here instead of suffering loss for twice. Then I shall have to endure his anger only once.”

But you had to endure his anger!

Jinxun almost blurted out, “If you are not going to coax him now, will you coax him well later?”

She was anxious to vomit blood. Fortunately, Li Yu came in a hurry and reported, “Madam! The fifth young lady of Pei Family is here. His Highness asked you to go to welcome her at fore yard immediately!”

“Sister Yourui?” Song Yixiao immediately turned over and sat up. “It is said that Grand Secretariat Pei fell ill after Sister Yourui was taken as a foster daughter by my mother-in-law and has not recovered. She comes here now. Does it mean…”

At the fastest speed, she chose a set of dress for meeting visitors to change. When she quickly walked to the front, Pei Yourui was welcomed into the drawing room and was served tea.

Song Yixiao was surprised when he entered the door. Pei Yourui"s fiancé was taken away by the princess by force and her father was sick. In this case, no matter how haggard she was, it would not be surprising.

But the girl who sat on the guest seat and sipped the tea was well-dressed and gentle, although she was obviously thinner than what she had been when they met last time. Her eyes were bright and piercing when she looked at others. She behaved gracefully without a bit depression.

“Has Grand Secretariat Pei recovered?” Song Yixiao saw her like this and thought that she came here to announce good news. She felt it strange, “Good news is not like bad news. It doesn"t matter whether it is announced earlier or later. It is at dusk and curfew almost begins. Why does Sister Yourui come in person?”

Then she thought, “Probably she is afraid that Jian Xubai will not be there tomorrow morning?”

She thought about it and approached to salute Pei Yourui. Pei Yourui quickly raised her hand to support her and gently smiled to say, “Sorry to bother you.”

“Why are you so polite, Sister Yourui?” Song Yixiao hurriedly said, “We are family members. If you say so, you just regard you as an outsider!”

Pei Yourui smiled at the words. She stopped saying social formula and said directly, “I"m here to ask for help.”

“Please say it!” Song Yixiao spoke in unison with her husband sitting at the upper end.

“My father has been sick for a long time. An old doctor said that probably he wasn"t accustomed to the natural environment and climate in imperial capital.” When Pei Yourui mentioned that her father was seriously ill, her eyes flickered slightly, and some odd expression flashed by. But she quickly hid the emotion and still appeared to be gentle and graceful. “He suggested that father go back to the hometown to live an easy life for some days, maybe he might have chance to recover! So father decided to resign from the official post and take me back to Youzhou. We shall leave in ten days. But many estates are too late to dispose, so I want to ask you to help us to deal with them. Is it OK?”

Jian Xubai and his wife exchanged glances: To trace the origin, the Pei Family was indeed the heir of the former famous Pei Family in Youzhou. The problem was that the branch of Pei He, who had settled in imperial capital since his ancestors, had not gone back except for great ritual activities. At the moment she said that her father hadn"t been accustomed to the natural environment and climate in imperial capital, it was obviously an excuse!

“The sixth day of next month will be the day when Princess Changxing marries Jian Yiyou. Although everyone says that the princess is unrighteous and Pei Yourui is innocent, but as a young lady of a big n.o.ble family, she has descended to be pitied by others. She can"t stay in imperial capital any longer.” Song Yixiao sighed in her heart, but she was helpless, and didn"t know how to persuade Pei Yourui.

“Uncle Pei hasn"t been back to Youzhou for many years, and it will be hard to suddenly arrange to live in the ancestral house over there.” Jian Xubai was also a little unprepared for this matter. After pondering for a while, he said, “Your brothers are all non-local officials and can"t help. Sister, only you accompany Uncle Pei to your hometown, and Uncle Pei hasn"t recovered yet, we will be worried about you.”

He also knew that Pei He wanted to resign from the official post, mostly because he wanted change the environment for his daughter. He didn"t dare to persuade much but just tried to mediate tentatively. “This is in October. After celebrating the New Year, I shall ask for extended leave and accompany you and Uncle Pei to go back your hometown. How about it?”

“Neither of you are outsiders, and I will tell you the truth.” Pei Yourui heard this, and remained silent for a long time before drily saying, “Honestly speaking, I will not mind the marriage on the sixth day of next month. But my father…”

Before she finished, Jian Xubai and his wife were silent.

Poor parents in the world!

Except for a few freaks, most of the parents always loved their children.

When children were wronged, and parents would often be more angry and resentful than their children.

This was the truth when a child got hit and his parents would feel painful in their hearts.

So Pei Yourui could forgive, but Pei He might not be able to do it.

“It"s my fault. I was negligent a few days ago and an ignorant young servant girl disclosed the matter to Father.” Pei Yourui was sitting in a dignified posture. Her expression was still dull, but her eyes gradually were full of tears. “Father vomited blood at that time! I asked the dean of the Imperial Academy of Medicine to cure him in person, so that his condition stabilized! But after the dean made the prescription, he called me out to tell me that my father could not be stimulated again! If we keep staying in imperial capital, when the princess gets married, how loud will the strains of music accompanied by drumbeats be? Princess Changxing"s mansion under construction is only two streets away from the house of Pei Family! On that day, in case my father hears…”

She choked with sobs and couldn"t speak anymore.

Jian Xubai watched his wife pa.s.s the handkerchief, and his eyes were red when turning around his head. He could no longer say anything to keep Miss Pei and her father stay in imperial capital.

He raised his hand to cover his forehead, and closed his eyes for a long while. Then he said in a hoa.r.s.e voice, “Since it is so, please tell us whether there"s something else to need help!”

“There"s nothing more.” Pei Yourui grinned reluctantly. “What my father meant was that my elder brothers were all ordinary, and they might not have the opportunity to become an official in imperial capital in the future. But the house in imperial capital was handed down by my grandpa and should be treasured instead of being sold. So we will ask you to take care of the place where we live now in the future.”

As for other estates, “If we owner don"t stay in imperial capital, though the managers of those stores and farms have worked for many years, they will not necessarily be reliable. I think we"d better sell the estates than to be faked by them with fraud accounts in the future.”

She was a little apologetic, “But my sisters-in-law and brothers are not in imperial capital now, and I"m the only one around my father. So when we leave, I have to take away all the capable staff, and no one will be left to deal with those things. Besides, we have to be busy packing up the luggage. Thinking about it, I can only ask you for help!”

Jian Xubai promised everything one by one. Then he saw that Pei Yourui was relieved and was about to take leave. Knowing that she was worried about Pei He and the curfew was imminent, he realized it difficult to keep her to stay, so he had to call Song Yixiao, “Go to the warehouse to get the two pieces of white jade ginseng!”

This is the last two pieces of white jade ginseng in Duke of Yan"s mansion, but the couple had always been healthy, Pei He needed it more.

Jian Xubai also said, “Sister, make me a list of uncommon medicines that Uncle Pei will take. I will collect some during these days, and you can take them when you leave to prevent inconvenience.”

Pei Yourui didn"t decline the two offers but only nodded gratefully.

After the white jade ginseng was taken, the couple sent her out together. Having watched her leave for a long time, they returned to the backyard with a heavy heart.

They didn"t even think about quarreling anymore, and ignored the meal. They started to discuss how to deal with the matter. “Sister Yourui had put it this way. It seems that Grand Secretariat Pei can"t continue to stay in imperial capital.”

“But it"s October now, and it is cold in imperial capital. Besides, Youzhou is further north than imperial capital.” Song Yixiao was a little worried. “It is said that "Snow will fly in August in North". The weather is so cold that the ground is frozen. Sister Yourui is just a young girl and Grand Secretariat Pei is still ill, so their journey will be very difficult!”

“I would like to persuade them to go to Jiangnan, but the brothers of Pei Family are all just successful candidates in the imperial examinations at the provincial level. Honestly speaking, they are not capable, so the places where they work are all deserted and remote, where are not suitable to live an easy life!” Jian Xubai kneaded his eyebrows and then said in upset, “Tomorrow you go to my mother and talk to her about it. The more grievous and the more pitiful, the better! Try to get my mother feel guilty and shed tears.”

Song Yixiao was speechless. Were you really your mother"s son?

“Then you tell my mother, whichever elder brother of Sister Yourui should be transferred to take office in Jiangnan. Then we shall have an excuse to invite the father and daughter to go to Jiangnan to lead an easy life. Although they leave imperial capital at this time, no matter where they go, they will be extremely down and out. But going south in this season is better than going north any way.” Jian Xubai looked sullen. “Jin Suke has always been arrogant. He even dares to confront with Uncle. So it will be definitely useless to mention the matter of the favoritism to him! Now time is extremely urgent. If my mother comes forward in person, there will be a silver lining!”

Song Yixiao realized his good intentions and nodded solemnly, “I will try my best!”

“Serve the meal!” Jian Xubai waved his hand and summoned the servants in.

Due to the arrival of Pei Yourui, the inevitable battle between them completely vanished. The servants secretly felt lucky while they were relieved.

But though they didn"t quarrel, it didn"t mean that they had made up.

At the time of sleeping at night, they treat each other coldly.

But even so, early in the next morning, when Jian Xubai got up, he still did not forget to shake his wife to wake her up!

Of course, he didn"t forget that they were still in cold war, so after affirming that Song Yixiao sleepily opened her eyes, he didn"t order her to do things like he did before but coldly overlooked her with a sullen face, without saying anything.

Song Yixiao, who hadn"t responded yet, stared blankly at him.

After a while, the former realized the situation and silently sighed. She turned over, got out of the bed, took his official robe to dress him.

This morning, the couple cooperated with each other, but still refused to speak, so that the servants who came up to serve were worried again. They just wanted to kneel down and made kowtows, begging them not to make trouble anymore!

But the servants" grievances were not felt by the masters at all.

Song Yixiao fought to stay awake to send her husband away. Then she returned to the room and fell on the bed to make up sleep for about half an hour before getting up again to wash and dress. Then she ordered someone to drive the carriage to Jinguo Grand Princess"s mansion.

This is about 9 a.m. Normally everyone except the patients should have gotten up.

But after Song Yixiao was ushered into the back hall, the eunuch who greeted her embarra.s.singly reported, “Her Highness was too tired yesterday. She hasn"t gotten up yet. Fourth Young Mistress, please stay here for a while. I will enter to report.”

“Since Mother is so tired, how can I bother her?” Song Yixiao hurriedly said, “I will wait here!”

The eunuch hadn"t spoken yet, and the shadow moved at the door. Jian Likuang strode in. Song Yixiao naturally got up quickly and paid respects to her father-in-law.

“Get up!” Jian Likuang glanced at her lightly, and said after sitting down at the upper end, “You don"t have to stand on ceremony.”

Song Yixiao thought that he was here to find his wife and she just needed to pay respects to him. But Jian Likuang said after her getting up, “I hear that Jinguo asked you for manpower. You promised, but you never sent them. Is there any problem?”

So he was here to ask her for manpower for Jian Yiyou!