Song Yixiao was not trying to tear her birth mother down before Jian Xubai. Yet, since she was on the same boat with him, or worse still, he would not share wealth and glory with her, she had to endure hards.h.i.+ps with him if he was in trouble!

The consequence was so serious that she couldn't beat around the bush at all! Of course she must cut to the chase and figure it out directly to see whether there was any remedy!

However, Jian Xubai just pondered for a while and shook his head, “Nothing special happens at court.”

“I went to the inner house just now and Mother's trusted maid told me that she was not awake.” Song Yixiao frowned and thought for a while. Then she told him about the ins and outs of the matter, “I was not suspicious at first. Yet, afterwards, while I was having tea and chatting with the maid in the wing hall, I heard my brother talking outside. The maid went outside to take a look and came back to tell me that my brother had gone away. I used to spend some time with him before. When he is monkeying around, no one can stop him easily other than my mother!”

Even Song Yixiao, the sister much loved by Lu Guanyun, had to coax him with nice words because they had different fathers and she was raised in Prince of Hengshan's mansion. Regardless of his mischievous behaviors, she didn't dare to shout at him in a loud voice.

The other people, including Ms. Bo, could hardly manage Lu Guanyun when he went unruly.

“But I didn't think too much at that time. Then the maid suggested me to go back home for the sake of me. When I told her that I was hungry, she only gave me such a hamper of dessert!” Song Yixiao rolled her bracelet with a gloomy face, “How can I not suspect that you are in trouble? Otherwise, on what ground does my mother treat me like this?”

This time, Jian Xubai pondered for a while and then said, “After we arrive back home, I'll figure it out!”

They urged the carter to speed up. It was almost over the meal hour when they arrived at home in a hurry. The chefs thought the master and mistress would eat outside so they didn't prepare supper. Of course now they were caught off guard!

“I just think it will be too late if we eat in the prince's mansion because Xubai has to attend court meeting tomorrow.” Song Yixiao stared at the kitchen steward with a grave look, “Thus, we rejected the offer to eat in the prince's mansion and came back hurriedly! I was expecting to have a hot meal as soon as we arrived so as not to cause any delay in Xubai's work! Now you are telling that no meal is prepared at all?”

The manager apologized with sweats, “I am so sorry! It is my oversight…”

“Oversight?” Song Yixiao hit the table and yelled, “Now in this mansion there are so many servants, and all of you only need to serve me and my husband. How can such an oversight happen? Tell me what you are doing! Do you think that we are pushovers because we are young?”

The manager did distain the young master and mistress, but he would never dare to admit it and only kept kowtowing, “It's my fault! I'm so sorry!”

“If it were not for what happened today, I could never know that you worked like this!” Song Yixiao kept sneering, “You are kowtowing so heavily. Supposedly, you must have had supper well before? The servants have dined and wined to satiety while the master and mistress are still hungry. Such bold and savage servants are rarely seen!”

She put down the tea bowl heavily, “I have to say that such cubbish people are not allowed in Duke of Yan's mansion! Somebody fetch the indenture of all the kitchen servants and they shall leave tomorrow morning! Never will they be allowed to step into Duke's mansion!”

“Madam, please spare us! Please forgive us!” The manager thought he would be scolded or get beaten at most. Unexpectedly, Song Yixiao should order to drive him away. Worse still, not only him but also all the kitchen servants would be sent away. He was frightened and couldn't believe this, “It is the first time that I've made such a mistake. Please give me another chance and I will do my job well! Moreover, if you drive all the servants of the kitchen away and you can find new chefs by chance, the dishes that they cook may not be able to suit your taste. Please give me a chance to make amends for my fault by good deeds!”

“How dare you threaten me by the difficulty of finding new suitable chefs?” Song Yixiao glanced at him with distain, “As a married woman, I am obliged to cook for my husband! As to servants, I don't need to be so particular about them!”

Rolling her bracelet around her wrist, she continued saying grimly with her beautiful almond eyes full of coldness, “Those who only focus on seeking pleasure rather than work diligently are also not tolerated in the mansion!”

In other words, whoever dared to beg for mercy for the expelled kitchen servants would be driven away too!

Her accusation was so sudden and justifiable that the kitchen manager was caught off guard. It was no use begging for mercy or threatening politely. Before he thought of other solutions, Song Yixiao lost patience first and ordered to drag him away forcibly. Then she really went to the kitchen and started cooking with the help of Qiaoqin and Jinxun. After the dishes were done, she asked them to take the dishes to the drawing room and then sent another servant to the study to invite Jian Xubai for supper.

“You do know how to avail yourself of every opportunity!” Jian Xubai arrived at the drawing room and then asked all the servants to leave. After sitting down, he fetched the tea from Song Yixiao and took a sip, saying with a faint smile, “You took the opportunity of us being turned out of the door of Prince of Hengshan's mansion to get rid of the kitchen servants. Yet, I'm afraid that it will bring trouble instead. After all, it is not easy to find good chefs!”

“Regardless of the cooking skills, the priority is that the food must be a.s.suring!” Song Yixiao replied casually, “As far as I learn, the kitchen servants are all left by your grandfather. I don't have the time to test them one by one, so the best way is to replace them with ones!”

She put some shredded chicken with cuc.u.mber, “The supper is cooked by me today. Try this!”

Jian Xubai stared at her and meanwhile raised his eyebrows. Having looked over the shredded chicken with cuc.u.mber for a while, he finally took a bit of it carefully and put it into his mouth.

His excessively cautious behavior disgruntled Song Yixiao, “While I was at girl's school, I received a lot of compliments from the teachers!”

She was not talented and the dishes she cooked were not amazingly delicious indeed, but how could he act that terrified?

“I am not afraid that the dishes don't taste good.” Jian Xubai chewed for quite a while and didn't swallow it until he made sure nothing was wrong. Then he said casually, “I am worried that you may try to seek revenge on me by adding something to the dishes.”

Song Yixiao never thought of it!

After being reminded by him, Song Yixiao felt extremely depressed and couldn't help glaring at him, “You may not be hungry but I am! I don't want to mess with you now!”

“You can never be too careful!” Jian Xubai didn't find any problem with suspecting his newly wedded wife. After ensuring that the shredded chicken with cuc.u.mber was fine, he continued to try a little bit of the other dishes. Having ascertained that all the dishes were okay, he started to eat in a normal way. At the moment, Song Yixiao was already burning with anger at him!

Of course, Jian Xubai turned a blind eye to her reaction. Amidst eating, he even raised various opinions about the dishes' flavor, “Put less salt into the Fried Bean Sprouts with Leeks next time. It tastes a bit salty now!”

“Too much ginger in the Bacon with Bean Sauce!”

“The Fried Three Slices is not evenly cut!”

“More vinegar should be put into the Lotus Root with Vinegar and Chili!”

“The Fried Shrimps look nice but they are not to my taste!”

Maybe because Song Yixiao appeared really furious, Jian Xubai reluctantly complimented her on the last dish, “The Dried Bamboo Shoots in Sauce is not bad!”

Song Yixiao stared at him in fury, “Since you don't like the dishes, why do you eat them?”

“When the servants come inside to clear the dishes and see them not eaten at all, how are you going to explain?” Jian Xubai put some dried bamboo shoots into his mouth casually, “I must show you some respect, right?”

Song Yixiao looked at him and the dishes. Suddenly she lifted the skirt hem and gave him a kick under the table. Afterwards, she just rose and left. By now, she realized that Jian Xubai never fought back when being hit by her, which made him still look like a qualified husband. However, he would seek revenge by other means.

As expected, Jian Xubai was speechless to her kick. Yet, not fighting back didn't mean that he wouldn't seek revenge!

After returning to the bedroom, rather than put on an indifferent and constrained look, after he closed the door, he carried Song Yixiao in his arms and then threw her onto the bed!

Due to his subtly exerted force, Song Yixiao rolled about for two or three rounds until she leaned against the wall. For the moment, she felt dizzy with her eyesight dimmed. Jian Xubai took the opportunity to give her a pa.s.sionate kiss until she softened herself and found it hard to breathe. The moment she subconsciously grasped his clothes, he turned around, sat up, took off her hands and got off bed himself, “Don't think too much. Go to sleep now!”

Song Yixiao was dazed.

Now she finally understood why the wives always claimed to murder their husband in a quarrel.

She literally felt the same way!

It was not because he stopped suddenly but because his behavior was so childis.h.!.+

It was too irritating!

Jian Xubai, who was having tea by the table, sensed her angry eyes and thus felt even happier.

When he returned to the bed and touched her cheek on purpose, his hand was slapped away as expected with an angry look from her. He got even more delighted.

As Song Yixiao was lying in bed with her back facing him, he grabbed a wisp of hair and played with it by making a fast knot and unknotting it. Then he said, “Recently nothing special has happened at court, but the Dowager Consort entered the imperial palace the other day. I don't know whether they relate. Didn't you just deal with the kitchen servants? Go to tell my mother tomorrow and ask her to take you to meet Grandmother on the ground of learning how to manage the servants. Meanwhile, you can take the opportunity to inquire about what Dowager Consort of Hengshan said upon meeting her.”

When it came to business, Song Yixiao stopped being angry with him and instead, asked about the Empress Dowager's preference and relevant taboos. Actually, Wei Mengying also told her about that before. Yet, in terms of the understanding about the Empress Dowager, Jian Xubai must know more than Wei Mengying.

Besides, she must make an apology to the Empress Dowager tomorrow, “How about Cuipiao?”

“Don't worry much about her!” Jian Xubai comforted her and then said, “After all, Grandmother is the one who shows the greatest support for my marrying you.”

In other words, as long as Song Yixiao acted like a good wife, the Empress Dowager would show special respect for her for the sake of Jian Xubai.

Cuipiao's matter was not even worth mentioning.

Song Yixiao thought for a while and was about to fall asleep when she suddenly recalled Sikong Yiluo and then said, “Luckily, the one who helped us is Mr. Su. Without Yinlian, I wouldn't know that the Empress's nephew was so famous!”

“Su Zhiyong is not a simple man.” Jian Xubai stayed silent for a while and then continued, “His cousin, His Majesty Prince of Zhao is 12 years old… Don't be too close to the Su Family!”

Song Yixiao kept Su Shaoge in mind only because he pa.s.sed the provincial examination at the age of 14. Now as she sensed her husband's unsaid meaning, she felt a bit frightened.