Cui Xiaoxiao and Wen Tingbai had a quarrel, so Wen Tingbai went to stay in the study at night.
Cai Que, the maid, heard the news from outside and hurried forward to tell Song Wanning, "Second Madam, the one in the West Courtyard had a quarrel with Second Master Bai. Second Master went to the study last night and went to court early this morning."
Song Wanning had a calculation in mind: Wen Tingbo and Cui Xiaoxiao would definitely not break up over this matter, and what he wanted to do was to add fuel to the fire. Song Wanning said calmly, "How is the person in the West Courtyard now?"
"A lot of things were smashed, and I'm afraid they're still making trouble." Cai Que recalled what she had just heard in the backyard and continued, "I heard that Concubine Cui isn't handling a lot of the housekeeping issues in the Marquis' Mansion, and they're piling up. The people below are already quite resentful."
Song Wanning knew that Cui Xiaoxiao had never understood how to manage this big house, and she couldn't figure out the twists and turns inside. Now that Cui Xiaoxiao was the housekeeper, he would only make the water in the pool more muddy.
The mother on the other side thought she was doing this for Song Wanning's own good, so she started to offer a bad idea. "Grandma has been married for three years and is still a virgin. Many people in the mansion look down on her. Why not take this opportunity to consummate your marriage with the Second Master, find a chance to fight the one in the West Courtyard, and take back the housekeeper's power?"
Song Wanning's eyes revealed a hint of disgust, and she said lightly, "The relationship between the Second Master and Concubine Cui is stronger than gold. It is really not my place to interfere."
Wen Tingbai requested a title of nobility in the court. Logically speaking, the Zhongping Marquisate was a marquisate, and Wen Tingbai had served on the frontier for three years. Even if he had no merit, he had worked hard, so he should be given a fifth-rank official position.
Unfortunately, the ministers reprimanded Wen Tingbo for favoring his concubine over his wife and taking a girl of unknown origin as a concubine. They also reprimanded Wen Tingbo for being unworthy of his position and allowing his concubine to humiliate others in public, which was really offensive.
When the emperor heard the ministers' accusations, he shook his head repeatedly and was extremely disappointed with Wen Tingbai. He only granted him the official position of the seventh rank Zuo Sijian, which was much lower than that of his classmates.
The Emperor even advised, "Since ancient times, heroes have been unable to resist the temptation of beautiful women. Mr. Wen already has a wife at home. If you continue to favor your concubine and treat your wife harshly, I am afraid there will be endless troubles in the future."
When Wen Tingbai heard this, his face turned red and he wished he could find a hole to crawl into. He gestured to Wen Tingcheng, the eldest son of the Wen family, to say a few words on his behalf several times, but Wen Tingcheng pretended not to see.
After leaving the court, Wen Tingbo was furious and chased after Wen Tingcheng, asking, "Brother, why didn't you speak up for me in court just now? You made me suffer the injustice of the ministers."
"You did such a shameful thing, and you still want me to argue?" Wen Tingcheng sneered twice and looked at Wen Tingbai and said, "I heard that you brought your concubine to the Pingyuan Marquis' Mansion yesterday and caused a big commotion, which led to today's disaster. Isn't this all your own fault?"
Although Wen Tingbai felt a little guilty, he still insisted, "My brother is young and ignorant and made some mistakes, but it's not necessary to do this. Brothers and sisters should always help each other. If you think that I did something wrong, we can discuss it privately. Being so cold and indifferent in front of outsiders is really chilling."
"Hard-hearted?" Wen Tingcheng seemed to have heard something ridiculous. "Brother, your sister-in-law got pregnant and asked your concubine, the head of your family, to give you more money to support her. But she scolded her, saying that each family has a fixed amount of money and asked your sister-in-law to use her private money to support her. Don't you think this is a ridiculous thing? Do the people in your family care about my wife at all?"
Wen Tingbai was incredulous when he heard this. He looked at Wen Tingcheng and wanted to explain, "Brother, Xiao Xiao is a weak woman who doesn't understand the housekeeping business, so there are some omissions. I'm afraid this wasn't Xiao Xiao's original intention. I'll ask her when I get back."
"No need. I don't want to get involved in the affairs of your second branch." Wen Tingcheng shook his sleeves and strode forward, saying, "You've only relied on the favor of our ancestors to act lawless. Now you've committed such shameful things. If you still don't repent, I'll have to consult with the elders to discuss the division of the family."
When Wen Tingbai heard about the division of the family, he finally panicked and hurried back to Lan Courtyard.
Cui Xiaoxiao was still angry and locked herself in her room, refusing to come out even when someone called her. The maids and servants outside filled the entire yard, all waiting for Cui Xiaoxiao to come and take care of the household.
The woman outside looked anxious as she looked at the house in the west courtyard and said, "Second Madam, please come out. Old Li, the gardener, just bought a batch of saplings and is waiting for Second Madam to allocate funds to buy things."
"No matter what, I don't care about anything. I'll let Wen Tingbo know how serious the consequences are of making a mistress angry!"
"Grandma, please come out quickly. We need to stock up on tomorrow's groceries today. If you don't allocate the money, we won't be able to buy groceries, and tomorrow's kitchen purchases will be delayed." The kitchen nanny was also anxious. "Let alone other things, if we can't buy the fish that our ancestors love to eat, I'm afraid he'll blame us. Grandma, I kneel down in front of you. Please come out quickly."
As the nanny said this, she was about to kneel down with the support of her legs, but Wen Tingbo held her back.
"Mr. Bai, you're back. Mr. Bai, please think of a solution." The nanny said as she wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.
Wen Tingbo was now furious. He looked at Cui Xiaoxiao who had locked him in the room and said coldly, "You're not coming out, are you? If you're not coming out, let two strong men smash the door down and snatch the key from her hand."
Cui Xiaoxiao in the room thought something was wrong, so she took out a white silk and hung it on the beam. When Wen Tingbo opened the door, he saw Cui Xiaoxiao about to hang herself.
Wen Tingbai was furious and shouted, "Xiao Xiao, what are you doing?"
"Let me die, I'd rather die." Cui Xiaoxiao said, tears as big as beans falling down, and in a blink of an eye, they were about to hang on the white silk. "I used to think you loved me sincerely, so you left home and came here with you. Who would have thought that you didn't love me sincerely either. I'd rather die."
When Wen Tingbai saw Cui Xiaoxiao so sad, his anger had already dissipated by half.
Wen Tingbai apologized repeatedly, hugged Cui Xiaoxiao and said, "It's all my fault, Xiaoxiao, don't be angry, it's all my fault. From now on, our family will listen to you, you can do whatever you want."
"Are you telling the truth?" Cui Xiaoxiao said, turning around and looking at Wen Tingbai with tears in her eyes. "Are you trying to frame me again?"
"How could that be? When have I ever lied to you?" Wen Tingbai hugged Cui Xiaoxiao and whispered comfortingly, "Those outsiders don't understand you. Only I do."
After hearing what Wen Tingbo said, Cui Xiaoxiao finally laughed. The two of them reconciled as before. Cui Xiaoxiao happily went out and took care of the household again.
But her joy didn't last long, as she discovered that the money in the mansion was not enough to cover this month's expenses. Even though she had no money left, the whole family was waiting for her to eat.
Cui Xiaoxiao set his sights on the land deed of the Marquis' Mansion.
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