Cui Xiaoxiao placed the account book on the table in a panic and stood up. She immediately revealed a forgiving smile, walked forward, took Wen Tingbo's hand, and said coquettishly, "It's nothing, Tingbo, it's just that the manager did something wrong. I told him I didn't blame him, but he wanted to kowtow and apologize, and I couldn't stop him."
"Yeah?"
Wen Tingbo looked at the manager kneeling on the ground with doubt. Before he could come to his senses, Cui Xiaoxiao had already leaned in Wen Tingbo's arms.
"Of course, Tingbai, don't you believe me?" Cui Xiaoxiao said, pouting and looking at Wen Tingbai, "Tingbai, you don't know how tired I am to take care of so many things for this family by myself."
Wen Tingbai looked at the spoiled Cui Xiaoxiao, his heart melting into water. He didn't even remember the housekeeper who had made a mistake. He just hugged Cui Xiaoxiao and said with a smile, "Thank you for your hard work, Xiaoxiao. What would this family do without you?"
"That's more like it." Cui Xiaoxiao coaxed Wen Tingbo, but secretly worried about herself.
Wen Tingbai touched Cui Xiaoxiao's head and comforted her, "I heard there will be a full moon banquet in the capital tomorrow. The banquet is hosted by the Pingyuan Marquis Mansion in the capital. I will go to the banquet, and Xiaoxiao will wait for me at home."
"Full moon banquet?" Cui Xiaoxiao's heart moved when she heard Wen Tingbo's words. She hugged Wen Tingbo and said, "I want to go too. Can you take me with you? I've never been to a full moon banquet before."
"This..." Wen Tingbai looked embarrassed. "The full moon banquet is usually attended by the wife of the mansion. I'm afraid it would be inconvenient for Xiao Xiao to go."
"Well, Wen Tingbo, you said you only loved me, but now you are going to the full moon banquet with only your legal wife. You are just tricking me into marrying you." Cui Xiaoxiao started crying again and punched Wen Tingbo's chest with her fists.
Wen Tingbo was currently infatuated with Cui Xiaoxiao. Seeing Cui Xiaoxiao's eyes red with tears, he agreed to everything. "Don't be angry, Xiaoxiao. I'll go discuss it with Wan Ning. I'm afraid she might agree."
"Then go quickly, I'm waiting for your news." Cui Xiaoxiao wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and watched Wen Tingbai walk towards the yard where Song Wanning was.
There is a stone table in the south courtyard where Song Wanning is. The stone table is covered by the green shade in the courtyard. Song Wanning is writing calligraphy on the stone table.
Perhaps she had some free time because she no longer had the housekeeper's key. She was only wearing a green robe, and her long hair was tied up with a plain hairpin. A lot of her hair flowed from her back to her chest and fell on the stone table.
Song Wanning was no longer wearing any unnecessary decorations. She lowered her head and wrote the characters very seriously. Her fingers as thin as scallions held the brush and wrote on the rice paper. She looked so elegant, as if she had merged with the surrounding scenery.
Wen Tingbai once again discovered that his wife, chosen by his parents and arranged by a matchmaker, was so beautiful. He could only think of a line from a poem: "Water lilies emerge from clear water, naturally free from any decoration."
Wen Tingbai stood and watched for a long while, until Song Wanning's maid Caique came out of the room and said in surprise, "The Second Master is here."
Song Wanning looked up in surprise when she heard this, and happened to see Wen Tingbai standing at the door.
Song Wanning put down the brush, stepped forward and bowed to Wen Tingbai, saying, "Second Master came but didn't say anything. The maids are neglecting Second Master."
"It's okay." Wen Tingbai felt that his little thoughts had been discovered, and he touched his neck awkwardly.
Song Wanning's expression remained calm as she looked at Wen Tingbai and said, "Second Master, you're here now, I'm afraid you have something important to say."
Wen Tingbai looked at Song Wanning and finally remembered why he came. Now, seeing Song Wanning like this, he found it difficult to speak, but he still said, "Wanning, tomorrow... Xiao Xiao also wants to go with us. Can you take her with you to Pingyuan Marquis Mansion?"
"Tomorrow's banquet will be attended by the wives and children of various families." Song Wanning didn't seem unhappy at all because of Wen Tingbo's appearance. She just said calmly, "If Miss Xiao Xiao goes, I'm afraid the young masters and young ladies of various families will criticize her, which will also be bad for Second Master's reputation. If Second Master insists on taking her, then we can go together."
Wen Tingbai looked at the considerate Song Wanning and felt that what he had done recently was really against the rules. He just looked at Song Wanning and said, "Wanning, thank you for your hard work. Xiao Xiao has a stronger temper, but he has good intentions."
Song Wanning almost laughed out loud.
In her previous life, she had teamed up with Wen Xu to defraud her of her power, and finally falsely accused her of practicing witchcraft and cursing the old lady, causing her to be locked up in the small courtyard until she died. Wen Tingbo actually said that such a vicious woman had good intentions.
Song Wanning thought about it, but didn't get angry. She just looked at Wen Tingbai and said, "These are what I should do. It's not hard."
Wen Tingbai knew that it was pointless to say more, so he exchanged a few words and left the South Courtyard where Song Wanning was.
Meanwhile, Cui Xiaoxiao in the East Courtyard had her eye on the Marquisate's cash flow. She looked at her trusted confidant, Tianxiang, and whispered, "Apart from the mistress of the house, is there anyone else who would come to check on the Marquisate's assets?"
Tianxiang was the maid assigned by Wen Tingbai to Cui Xiaoxiao. She was quite loyal to Cui Xiaoxiao. After thinking for a moment, she replied, "I've heard that the property of the Marquis' Mansion is usually kept by the mistress of the house. When the housekeeper of the South Courtyard was in charge, the old ancestor would check on it from time to time. I estimate that it's only once every two or three months. Grandma, the housekeeper, just checked once before, so the next time is probably a long way off."
After hearing what Tianxiang said, Cui Xiaoxiao finally felt relieved. She leaned over to Tianxiang and whispered, "Give this 1,000 taels of silver to the rouge shop's manager and ask him to take care of Liu Da's matter. Tell him that when I have some free time in a couple of days, I'll go check on the business."
"Yes." Tianxiang said, and went out to the rouge shop with the silver note.
In order to take care of Cui Xiaoxiao's housekeeping, Wen Tingbai specially assigned a few more maids to serve her. Seeing another mother come in to urge her to do housekeeping, "Grandma, the eldest house sent someone to ask when their housekeeping salary will be paid? The eldest house said that their eldest grandmother is pregnant again, and they need to pay more for the pregnancy."
Cui Xiaoxiao's mind raced, and she looked at her mother beside her, furious. "The eldest wife's monthly allowance is what it is, and it's already been allocated according to the book. Do you still want more? What big family doesn't have some private funds these days? If they need to maintain the pregnancy, they should use their private funds. Why do they always think of paying everything into the Zhonggong account?"
When the mother heard what Cui Xiaoxiao said, she just winked at her frantically and whispered, "Grandma, the maids from the main house are waiting outside now. If they hear this and if you offend the main house, I'm afraid they won't let you down."
Cui Xiaoxiao didn't take her mother's words seriously at all. "Just listen to them. I'm the mistress of the Marquis' Mansion now, and they still have the right to speak? In the end, the old ancestor is the master of this family. I'll give you what you want as monthly salary. Don't even think about taking more."
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