Because most people ride in carriages, they naturally can't keep up with horseback riding in terms of speed.

  On the side road, Zhuo Ping'an made another scene - he suddenly rushed out of the carriage and fell to the ground on the side of the road. Although he didn't get hurt because of the thick snow, it scared Qingjiang Junzhu quite a bit. After much coaxing, he finally returned to the carriage, but from then on, they dared not go any faster for fear of something similar happening again.

  So it was almost at the time of closing the city gate when I entered the city.

  After entering the city, Qingjiang Junzhu hurriedly took her son back to the mansion to avoid any more twists and turns, so she entrusted Song Yixiao to send Nie Wuyan back to the Long Princess's mansion.

  Song Yi Xiao had arrived at her mother-in-law's residence, so it was only natural that she would pay her respects to her mother-in-law - after this delay, by the time they returned to the Yan Guo Gong Fu, night had already fallen.

  Earlier, the guards had galloped ahead to report back, so Zhao's mother, Jin Xun and others were all waiting at the second gate. Seeing Song Yi smile, they all came up with joy to pay their respects: "Madam has finally returned!"

  "What's wrong?" Song Yi smiled and asked sensitively, "Is something going on in the mansion?"

  "It's not a big deal, it's just that Cui Lian has been making a fuss about going on a hunger strike for the past two days, saying she must see Master or you." Zhao Mama looked around and saw no one idle, then whispered, "But Master is now busy like crazy, who dares to report such trivial matters? And you, were not here before."

  Song Yixiao understood her intention: it was intentional not to inform Jian Xubai, so that when she herself was not in the mansion, Jian Xubai's heart would soften and be taken advantage of by Cui Yu, causing trouble.

  She was satisfied with the wet nurse's caution and smiled slightly: "Has this situation been told to her? It's cold today, and skipping one or two meals won't be like it doesn't matter in summer."

  "It's only natural." Zhao's mother frowned, "However, she has become even more determined not to eat - the servant girls think that since you're not here, if something happens to her, they won't be able to explain it to Master!"

  Song Yi thought for a moment and said, "Investigate whether someone has leaked the news of my absence from the mansion to her. Otherwise, she has been under house arrest for some time now, why would she suddenly go on a hunger strike at this particular moment?"

  "Shouldn't be the case, right? Cui Xian has always been confined to the backyard, and now the backyard is all our people. We're not familiar with her, nor do we know much about what she's doing. As long as we don't bully her, that's already good enough. Who would leak information to her?"

  Actually, Song Yixiao also thought so, but always felt a bit suspicious, and said: "It's possible that the bigger ones won't, but those little maids who are only ten years old may have soft hearts and be easily deceived. Look at her being locked in the courtyard and not allowed to come out, thinking that I, this mistress, deliberately punished her!"

  "I'll go and take care of it right away!" Madam Zhao said sternly, "If there really is such a thing as someone who eats inside and peels outside, they absolutely cannot be allowed to stay in the manor!"

  Song Yi smiled and nodded slightly before asking: "Is your husband at home now? Is he in the front or back?"

  "If Master Gong were in the mansion, he would know you've returned and would personally come to greet you, no matter how busy he is." Jin Xun heard this and smiled secretly, "Master Gong doesn't know you're back today, but instead went to the He manor to freeload a meal!"

  Also, "Two days ago, the He family sent someone to deliver some wild game from their estate. The person also joked with our gatekeeper, saying that because Master has been having dinner at the He residence every other day and only returning after three days, the cooks in their household have been trembling with fear lately, not daring to be lazy or sloppy, lest Master gets used to good food and dislikes their craftsmanship, causing Mr. He to lose face and certainly get punished!"

  Song Yi scolded with a smile: "Director He is your husband's superior, and every time he goes to the He Mansion, it's all about official business. How can you say that he only went there for meals? Besides, your husband is not someone who doesn't know etiquette, no matter how unappetizing the food may be, he wouldn't dare to openly show disdain for the food in his superior's household! You little thing, stop spouting nonsense here!"

  Jin Xun heard the words and didn't get angry, smiling and saying: "As long as the lady knows that if you weren't here in this mansion, Master wouldn't even bother to come back! I'm happy to be scolded a few times!"

  "Stop talking nonsense, and pay attention to your salary next month!" Song Yi smiled and pointed at her forehead, scolding with a smile, "Zhao Mama, you're getting more and more spoiled by her!"

  Mrs. Zhao had never spoiled Jin Xun - she actually always thought that Jin Xun was not as steady as Zhi Qin, and upon hearing this, she called out to Qu: "If it weren't for the mistress giving her courage, how would she dare tease you?"

  The master and servant walked to the back hall, laughing and chatting. Cuiyan presented tea, Song Yi smiled and took a sip, asking about recent events inside and outside the mansion. Zhao Ma and others put away their smiles and reported one by one.

  The backyard has been relatively quiet during this period of time, except for Cuī Qiáo's hunger strike, everything else was just some trivial matters.

  Jin Xun deliberately said, "At Zhiqin's place, we go to see her every day. This time the little maid who is serving us is quite discerning. I went there several times suddenly and saw that they were all serving Zhiqin, unlike the previous two who were lazy."

  Song Yi smiled and nodded: "Go back and reward those two little maids for their good work, teach them to continue serving with diligence, I won't treat them poorly. Otherwise, don't blame me for teaching them a lesson!"

  Everyone responded, and Zhao's mother said: "Nothing happened before, it's just that Miss Xie didn't know you went to Zhanchun Hall, she came to visit two days ago but missed you - when leaving, she mentioned in passing: Li Buqiu Shangshu from the Ministry of Rites seems to have taken a liking to our young master recently, which is why he has been particularly busy these past few days."

  "What's wrong with this old guy being so annoying?" Song Yi smiled, but upon hearing this, she didn't feel happy. Although she still didn't dare to completely trust Jian Xu Bai, after all, he was her husband, and his cousin was being so unreasonable and quarrelsome, how could she not feel disgusted?

  She furrowed her brow, fiddling with the bangle on her wrist and asked: "Do you know what excuse he's come up with this time to bother your husband?"

  "The slave and servant vaguely heard that it was impeaching the public master for being unfilial to the old master!" Zhao's mother's face didn't look good either, as a couple, if Jian Yu Bai was impeached successfully, their reputation would be ruined, what face would Song Yi Xiang have then?

  "Filial piety?" Song Yi smiled incredulously, "In the past, we got married just to bring good luck to our grandfather, let's not mention that. Just talking about Grandfather, although he is far away in his hometown, the annual gift was sent long ago, and it was doubled compared to previous years - the letter of inquiry was also revised three times before being finalized, can be considered as doing one's best, how can this be unfilial?"

  Mrs. Zhao showed a helpless expression: "Prime Minister Qiu said that although the old master has three sons and four grandchildren, the title was passed to the Duke, obviously because the Duke succeeded him - so the Duke should be the most filial! Previously, when the old master's body was not suitable, the Duke simply got married by crossing over his elder brother, it was simply perfunctory! He thinks that the Duke should immediately resign and take you back to your hometown to serve the old master until the old master dies, then guard the mourning period, before he can be an official again!"

  "He's good at talking about my husband! He was so filial, why didn't he immediately die and follow his parents to the afterlife to serve them when they passed away?! He's been afraid of death for so many years, but still has the face to say others are unfilial!"

  If this Qiu was just an ordinary court official, Song Yi would absolutely go confront him in person and ask him like that!

  Unfortunately, this man was not only a distant relative of Jian Yu's family but also the nephew of the Empress Dowager. Song Yi Xiao could only say some angry words to him at this moment!

  She scowled and said: "This old man is so wicked!"

  Qiu Xiangxia's words are harsh, but strictly speaking, they also make sense - in the ancient story of "licking wounds and sucking ulcers", the emperor asked his lucky minister: "Who loves me most in the world?"

  Xing Chen replied: "Nothing is better than the Crown Prince."

  Although this answer has the suspicion of flattering and selling well to Cun Jun, it is also unstoppable: The emperor king passed on the entire world to the crown prince, the crown prince received his grace most deeply, and the heart of respect and love was the strongest, which is also reasonable.

  For the same reason, Jian Pingyu had three sons and four grandsons, but he passed on his title to Jian Xubai. How could Jian Xubai not be most filial to this grandfather?

  If Jian Yu Bai were in a high position and holding important posts at this moment, he could say that it's difficult to be both loyal and filial since ancient times. However, as a 17-year-old fifth-grade official, he was far from being indispensable to the imperial court!

  Although Zhao's mother didn't say it, Song Yixiao thought that Qiu Xixia would definitely seize this point and strongly criticize Jian Yu Bai for being able to stay in the court but refusing to return home to fulfill his filial duties.

  "No wonder he said that the next day's morning meeting was a must-attend, he must be afraid of being caught by that old guy if he didn't show up! Song Yi smiled as she thought about it more and felt even more heartache. "The situation is so tricky, but he still personally led people to occupy Chun Guan and stayed overnight, even if he's in his prime and full of energy, how could he not be exhausted?"

  After a long silence, Song Yi smiled and asked: "When will you be back, husband?"

  Just as Mother Zhao was about to respond, footsteps were heard outside the door, and Jian Yu's voice echoed in the corridor: "The mistress is back? When did she return? Why didn't anyone go to the He manor to inform me?"

  "Just got back!" Song Yi smiled and hurried to welcome him, seeing that he took off his fox fur coat and handed it to the servant as soon as he entered the door. With a sharp eye, she saw that there were many snowflakes on his coat and couldn't help but scold, "You're covered in snow! You must have ridden your horse without wearing a raincoat, right?"

  "That thing is so troublesome, the quilt is in the way, and the clothes inside can't even get wet." Jian Yu Bai smiled and walked over to hold her hand, his eyes scanning the surroundings - the servants around immediately retreated - he sat down with a swoop of his robe, pulled his wife onto his lap, pressed her into his chest and kissed her fiercely for a while, before raising an eyebrow and smiling, "Miss me?"

  Song Yi Xiao playfully clenched her fist and tapped it against his chest: "Not at all!"

  "Really not?" Jian Yu Bai smiled with a hint of playfulness as he stroked her cheek, but his hand suddenly became less innocent and slid down - Song Yi Xiao laughed and pouted, refusing to give in. However, the gap in their strength was too great, and after struggling for a while, she realized she would be at a disadvantage, so she quickly surrendered: "Not even a bit! Who are you kidding? You're so impatient! Can't even let me finish speaking!"

  Jian Yu Bai nodded in satisfaction, pointing to his own cheek with a hint of a smile: "Am I impatient? I'm about to lose my temper, and you're still here teasing me?" As he spoke, he deliberately glanced towards the inner room.

  "You're so ridiculous!" Song Yi's face turned crimson as she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, then smoothed out her collar which had been messed up just now, composed herself and asked, "I just heard that Qiu Xixia is not getting along with you again?"

  Jian Yu Bai heard this and said indifferently: "When did he ever get along with me?"

  "This time you've even dragged filial piety into it to attack me?" Song Yi smiled, her tone barely concealing her worry, "How is this matter now?"

  "It's been several days since then." Jian Yu Bai smiled and said, "It's hard for him to think of such a reason. But when I asked him on the spot, if I returned to Sangzi to serve my grandfather, what should the Queen Mother and parents think of me? After all, the Queen Mother has raised me with kindness, and my parents have given birth to me with kindness. Is it that these three people's kindness to me is not as important as Grandfather passing on his title to me? Or does he want to chop me into four pieces, one for each person?"

  Song Yi laughed and cried, unable to help herself, saying: "Then what did he say later?"

  "At that time, in the imperial court, the emperor's uncle came out to mediate and it was not mentioned again." Jian Yu pinched her cheek and smiled, "Don't worry, I have my own way of dealing with these things, we won't suffer any losses!"

  The two of them frolicked for a good while before getting up to tidy their clothes and ordering someone to come in and attend to them.

  After the people came in, Ji Su stepped forward and reported: "Master, just now, a message was received at the gate that Duanmu's old lady is suffering from wind stroke and will come to the imperial capital for medical treatment after the New Year!"

  Jian Xū's faint smile at the corner of his mouth suddenly froze, and after a long while, he said, "I understand."

  Note: Everyone should know the story of Deng Tong and Emperor Wen of Han, right?