Song Yi Xiao didn't intentionally try to badmouth her mother-in-law in front of her husband, but now she shares the same joys and sorrows with Jian Yu Bai - in reality, things are even worse: Jian Yu Bai may not always share his successes with her; but when he falls on hard times, this wife who has been married to him since childhood will inevitably have to suffer along with him!

  With such severe consequences, how could she have the mood to beat around the bush and ask slowly? Of course, it's better to get straight to the point and figure things out, see if there's still a chance for redemption!

  But Jian Yu Bai heard this and thought for a long time before shaking his head: "Recently, there has been nothing unusual in the imperial court."

  "I had just gone to the inner house, and my mother's trusted maid told me that Mother hadn't woken up yet." Song Yi furrowed her brow in thought, then recounted everything that had happened. "I wouldn't have suspected anything - but not long after, I was drinking tea and chatting in the side hall when I heard my brother talking outside. That maid went to take a look and said he had left. I've spent some time with my brother before, and when he gets upset, aside from Mother, there really isn't anyone who can calm him down quickly!"

  It was Song Yixiao, the sister who was very much liked by Lu Guanyu, and also because of different fathers, she was raised in Hengshan Wangfu. No matter how naughty he was, she would coax him with gentle words, and never dared to scold him loudly.

  Others, including Bao's mother, couldn't control Lu Guanyu who had become more and more willful.

  "But at that time, I didn't think much about it. However, the old lady soon told me to go back openly, saying she was thinking for my own good. But I said I was hungry, and she only gave me this box of pastries!" Song Yi smiled as she fiddled with her wristlet, her face darkening. "Can you say I wouldn't suspect that something happened in the previous dynasty? Otherwise, what reason would my mother have to treat me like this?"

  This time, Jian Yu's expression was as if he had something on his mind. He said, "After returning to the mansion, I'll ask the servants!"

  Two men urged the carriage driver to hurry, rushing back to the Yan State Duke's mansion. At this time, dinner hour had almost passed, and the kitchen thought the master would be eating out, so they hadn't prepared dinner at all, leaving them caught off guard!

  "I was thinking that husband will attend the court tomorrow, if we have dinner at the Wang's residence, it will be too late when we get back!" Song Yi smiled wryly and looked at the kitchen manager in the hall, "So I declined the Wang's invitation to stay for dinner and hurried back to our residence! I thought that as soon as we got back, we could have hot food immediately, without delaying husband's official business! But you're telling me there's no food in the kitchen?!"

  The servant wiped away cold sweat and begged for forgiveness: "I'm doomed! I was momentarily careless..."

  "Negligence?!" Song Yi laughed and slammed her hand on the table, "Nowadays, the masters of this house are only my husband and I, how many servants do we have?! And yet you can still be negligent, what are your minds preoccupied with?! Do you think my husband and I are young and easy to bully?!"

  Although they indeed looked down on the masters who were only just over thirty years old, Guan Shi did not dare to admit it in person and kept kowtowing: "I was wrong! I deserve to die!"

  "It's not just today that I've returned, and yet I still didn't know you people were serving like this!" Song Yi laughed coldly, "I see you're kowtowing with such spirit, dinner must have been served long ago, and it was quite good, wasn't it? The slaves are full of food and wine, while the master is left starving - for slaves to bully their masters to this extent, truly a rare sight in the world!"

  "Bang the tea bowl down heavily, 'The Yan Guo Gong Fu cannot accommodate such an unscrupulous thing! Come on, bring me the contracts of the people in the kitchen and send them away early tomorrow morning! Never let them set foot in the Gong Fu again!"

  "Grandma, forgive me! Grandma, forgive me!" The manager originally thought that getting scolded was the worst of it, at most he would get hit with a few slaps. Who knew that Song Yilao would actually give an order to drive him out - and not just him alone, but also everyone in the kitchen, from top to bottom. He was shocked and didn't dare to believe it. "Please, Grandma, have mercy on me for my first offense, and give me another chance. I will definitely not be lazy again! Moreover, if you drive all the people out of the kitchen, even if we find new cooks in a short while, they may not necessarily suit your taste or that of Master's. Please, Grandma, give me a chance to redeem myself!"

  "You can't find a suitable new wife to threaten me?" Song Yi smiled disdainfully and glanced at him, "As a woman, washing her husband's hands and making soup is my duty! As for the servants, where did you get so many scruples from!"

  She fiddled with the bangle on her wrist, and under the lamplight, her eyebrows and eyes were as beautiful as a painting scroll. However, her extremely pretty apricot-shaped eyes were filled with cold air, "A useless servant who doesn't do his job properly, only knows how to eat, drink and have fun, this mansion can't tolerate him either!"

  This is equivalent to saying that whoever dares to plead for the people in the kitchen who have been driven out of the house will also pack up their things and leave together!

  She was too abrupt this time, and the handle was full of ten, the kitchen manager was caught off guard. Begging to no avail, subtle threats also failed, and before thinking of other tricks, Song Yi Xiao had already become impatient, ordering someone to drag him away - she personally went to the kitchen, drove people away, and brought Cui Quan and Jin Xun to make a few small dishes, instructing them to take it to the flower hall, only then did she send someone to the study to invite Jian Yu Bai to come and have dinner.

  "You're really good at finding fault!" After Jian Yu Bai came over, he let all the servants go down. After sitting down, he took the tea water handed over by Song Yi Xiao and took a sip, with a smile that was not quite a smile, "Today we were driven out of the Hengshan Wangfu, and the kitchen was cleaned up - it's just that you didn't do a good job cleaning, but instead cleaned the kitchen. It's really hard to find a good cook!"

  "No matter how good the craftsmanship is, what's most important is to have peace of mind." Song Yi smiled and said, "I heard that the people in the kitchen are all leftovers from grandfather's time. I don't have the energy to investigate one by one, it's better to just replace them all!"

  She picked up a piece of chicken and cucumber with her chopsticks for him. "I cooked this dish today, try some!"

  Jian Yu Bai watched her movements, raised an eyebrow, and measured the chicken silk and yellow cucumber slices for a moment before carefully picking up a small amount and cautiously putting it in his mouth.

  His actions, as if testing poison, made Song Yi laugh unhappily: "When I was in girls' school, I was always praised by the teachers!"

  Although limited by her talent, the dishes she made can't be said to be stunning, but they shouldn't make people feel like they're facing a formidable enemy either?

  "I'm not afraid that the dish you made is bad." After savoring it for a long time and confirming there was no problem, he calmly said, "I'm afraid that if I keep losing to you in your hands, you'll take advantage of me here!"

  How could I have forgotten?!

  After being reminded by him, Song Yi was so gloomy and angry that she glared at him: "You're not hungry, I'm starving! Who's patient enough to deal with you!"

  "Be careful!" Jian Yu Bai didn't think it was suspicious at all to doubt his new wife, and after confirming that the chicken and cucumber were fine, he still wasn't done. He then proceeded to taste a small mouthful of each of the other dishes on the table, and only when he didn't notice anything wrong did he start eating normally - by this time, Song Yi Xiang was looking at him with an expression that could have smashed her rice bowl over his head!

  Ziran Jianxu Bai didn't care, he was eating while commenting on the dishes: "This leek has too much salt, it's salty!"

  "The ginger is too salty!"

  "The knife work for stir-frying three shreds is not very even!"

  "The vinegar for the pickled lotus root should be added a bit more!"

  "The fried shrimp looks good, but I've never liked eating this!"

  Perhaps seeing his wife's face had already turned extremely difficult, Jian Yu Bai forced out a compliment for the last dish, "The cold mixed bamboo shoots aren't bad!"

  "You dislike it so much, why did you still eat it?"

  "Later when the servant comes to collect the dishes, if he sees that these dishes haven't been touched at all, how can I save face?" Jian Yu Bai leisurely ate a bamboo shoot, "I have to give you some face, don't I?"

  Song Yixiao glanced at him, then at the dishes, and suddenly lifted her skirt corner. Under the table, she kicked him hard with all her might. Then she stood up, turned around without looking back, and walked away - She figured it out, this guy, apart from not fighting back when beaten, looked like a husband in every other way, but he would double his revenge for any means!

  "...Jian Yu Bai indeed had no words for her this time — but he didn't fight back, it doesn't mean he won't take back the initiative!"

  After returning to the house at night, he changed his cold and reserved attitude when they were alone together for the past two days. As soon as the door closed, he swept Song Yixiao off her feet and tossed her onto the bed!

  Due to the clever use of force, Song Yi laughed and rolled over after falling, rolling all the way onto the bed before stopping. For a moment, she was dizzy and disoriented - Jian Yu Bai didn't even wait for her to come back to herself, pouncing on her with an extremely passionate kiss, kissing her until she was weak in the knees and almost out of breath. Unconsciously, she grabbed his lapels, then flipped over and sat up, brushing off her hands, and calmly got off the bed: "Don't think too much about it, just rest!"

  Song Yi smiled: "......"

  She now deeply understands why city women call their husbands "killers of a thousand knives"!

  She wants to cut off one thousand useless whites!

  It wasn't him who stopped it, but this behavior - simply intolerable!

  Can this day be survived?

  Jian Yu Bai felt a murderous gaze on her as she poured tea at the table edge, and she became even more delighted.

  When he returned to the couch, he deliberately reached out to touch her cheek, and as expected, she slapped him away and gave him an angry look. His mood actually improved because of this.

  While his wife was lying on the couch and couldn't see, he secretly grabbed a strand of green silk in his palm to play with it, mischievously tied a dead knot, then untied it, and said: "Recently, there is indeed nothing in the court, but the Empress Dowager came to the palace two days ago to ask for peace, I don't know if it has anything to do with this - you just scolded the kitchen staff, didn't you? Tomorrow, go tell your mother to take you to see the Grand Empress Dowager, and ask her to teach some strategies for serving the emperor, and by the way, find out what the Empress of Mount Heng said when she came to pay respects?"

  Speaking of which, Song Yixiao also temporarily did not bother with him and seriously inquired about the Empress Dowager's preferences and taboos when responding. Actually, Wei Mengying had also taught these things, but compared to understanding the Empress Dowager, Jian Xubo, who was raised by the Empress Dowager, was obviously better than Wei Mengying.

  Especially when she saw the Empress Dowager tomorrow, she had to ask for a crime: "What about Cui Yu's case?"

  "Don't worry too much!" Jian Yu Bai said casually after a while, "After all, the Empress Dowager is the one who most approves of my marriage."

  The implication is that as long as you play the role of a virtuous wife well, the empress dowager will also give you face for my sake as her grandson.

  It's nothing, just trivial matters, not worth mentioning.

  Song Yi thought for a moment, just about to fall asleep, suddenly remembered the matter of Si Kong Yiruo, and also mentioned a few words: "... Fortunately, the household that sought help was Su Er Gongzi's separate courtyard, if not for Wei Jiejie mentioning it, I would have been ignorant and didn't know that the Emperor's nephew was so famous!"

  "It's not that simple." Jian Yu Bai heard this and fell silent for a moment, before speaking in a light tone, "His legitimate younger cousin, Zhao Wang, is already twelve years old... Don't get too close to the Su family!"

  Song Yixiao originally only remembered Su Shaoge because of "fourteen-year-old jinshi", now hearing the unspoken meaning in her husband's words, she secretly felt a chill on her heart.