Chapter 157 Silver

Hongshan felt a pang of sympathy seeing Xiao Jue like this: "Your Highness, the Princess Consort... she was only doing it for the young master's own good."

"I know."

"Call Lu Hua here."

Xiao Jue took a deep breath and looked straight at Hongshan.

Lu Hua was Xiao Jue's former deputy general in the army. He had been idle at home since Xiao Jue's accident, and now it was time for him to come out of retirement.

Sequoia nodded immediately and turned to walk outside.

Xie Qingran returned to the storeroom and looked at the mess on the floor with a helpless expression. She patted the sobbing Baozhu and said, "These are all my things. I haven't even started crying yet, so why are you crying?"

"Miss, this is too much! These are all top-quality materials, worth several thousand taels of silver, and they're just gone like that?" Baozhu said, sounding as aggrieved as a child.

Xie Qingran looked at the scattered pieces of cloth, thought for a moment, and said with a smile, "It's no big deal. We can turn trash into treasure. Go and send a message to Shen Wenyuan, and tell him that I'm going to hold a banquet at home to thank him for helping me invite Mr. Liao to teach at my home."

"Miss, what should we do with all these things?" Baozhu felt more and more distressed as she looked at them.

Xie Qingran waved her hand: "Put all of these away, I have a great use for them."

"What good is this?"

Baozhu really didn't understand. How could it be used after being ruined like this?

Xie Qingran smiled without saying a word, turned around and went back to her room to look at the account books.

The family's accounts have become much clearer recently, but there's still something wrong with the farms and shops outside.

Xie Qingran took out all the land deeds and house deeds. It has to be said that although the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion is not as good as before, all its assets are still there. As long as it is managed well, it can definitely be restored to its former glory.

When Xiao Jue returned to the room, he saw Xie Qingran doing accounts, showing no trace of her previous anger.

He hesitated, then turned the wheelbarrow forward: "This time, it was A-Yu's fault. I apologize to you on his behalf."

“He made a mistake, and he will apologize on his own.” Xie Qingran raised her eyes and looked at Xiao Jue: “Your Highness doesn’t want him to become a useless person who runs away from problems in the future, does he?”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Jue nodded in agreement.

“A man should be responsible, but A-Yu is still young, he…”

Xie Qingran finally put down the wolf-hair brush in her hand.

She looked at Xiao Jue quietly: "What was the young master doing when he was this age? I know you love your younger brother, but have you ever thought that what you're doing is unfair to the child? He longs to be like you, but you're breaking his wings and preventing him from flying?"

"I just want him to have a better life!"

Xiao Jue was getting anxious, his eyebrows furrowed tightly.

He had experienced a real battlefield, so he knew what a battlefield was like. He just didn't want his younger brother to face such cruelty. What did he do wrong?

Seeing Xiao Jue's expression, Xie Qingran snorted: "He has to feel good to be truly happy. He wants to be a great general with outstanding military achievements, but you insist on turning him into a spendthrift. Isn't that selfish of you?"

"you!"

"Unreasonable."

Xiao Jue snorted and turned to leave, but the cart got stuck at that moment. He was so angry that he roared, "Redwood, are you dead out there?"

Startled, Hongshan forgot all about gossiping with Baozhu and hurriedly went inside, pushing Xiao Jue out. She also had some questions in her mind.

He didn't understand what was going on. Xiao Jue had clearly come to apologize, so why did he end up blushing?

As she left, Sequoia cautiously observed Xie Qingran's expression, only to find that Xie Qingran had no expression at all, as if she had nothing to do with the matter.

This made Hongshan even more puzzled. He had never seen Xiao Jue suffer a loss in an argument before. Xie Qingran was truly remarkable.

Once outside, Xiao Jue was still angry, gritting his teeth as he said, "Did I give her too much face? What right does she have to boss me around? That's my brother, not hers!"

"Your Highness, are you alright?"

Seeing that Xiao Jue was so angry he was about to fly away, Hong Shan tentatively asked a question.

Xiao Jue then realized he had lost his composure. He snorted, "It's nothing, it's completely fine. You tidy up Biluoxuan next door, we're not staying with her anymore!"

Looking at Xiao Jue's childish behavior, Hong Shan was reminded of the time before his accident.

At that time, Xiao Jue was a truly passionate young man.

Although only three years have passed, Xiao Jue has completely become a different person.

Hongshan lowered her head and chuckled, but dared not let Xiao Jue see, so she could only order her subordinates to clean up Biluoxuan.

Baozhu looked at Xie Qingran with some concern: "Miss, did you really quarrel with the young master?"

"No."

Xie Qingran put away the account book and glanced at Baozhu indifferently.

"Pack up, and after the banquet, we'll go tour the estate."

Baozhu originally wanted to ask more questions, but seeing Xie Qingran's reluctance to say more, she could only nod and turn to walk outside.

Watching Baozhu's retreating figure, Xie Qingran clenched her fist.

She wasn't unable to understand what Xiao Jue meant, but she couldn't allow Xiao Jue to be weak because of the past.

But soon, Xie Qingran realized something was wrong.

"We're just living together as partners, why should I care so much?"

Xie Qingran gave a self-deprecating laugh, shook her head, and sat there, her inner peace gradually shattered.

At dinner time, Qin was holding her child and looked at the empty seats, momentarily stunned.

Ever since Xie Qingran married into the family, they've all been eating together. What's going on?

Why is everyone so absent today?

Just as Qin was wondering, she saw Xiao Jue arrive in a carriage with a blank expression, seemingly carrying suppressed anger.

She thought for a moment, then asked, "Where's Qingran? Why isn't she here for dinner?"

"have no idea!"

Xiao Jue replied coldly, picked up his chopsticks, and began to eat.

Qin was even more confused, but the child in her arms was so frightened by Xiao Jue that he started crying loudly. Helpless, Qin could only take the child back first, leaving Xiao Jue alone at the table to eat.

Before Xie Qingran married into the family, Xiao Jue ate alone almost every day. But for some reason, he was not used to it now. Even the food he ate didn't taste the same as usual.

On the other side, Xie Qingran had someone prepare a delicious meal in the small kitchen and specially invited Xiao Yanran to join her. The two chatted and laughed, thoroughly enjoying themselves, completely unaffected by Xiao Jue and the argument.