CHAPTER 359: CHAPTER 361: HUSBAND AND WIFE (PART 2)

Fourth Master Xiao stayed for his own reasons, she couldn’t let inner household matters affect him!

"Fourth Master!" Xiqiu smiled lightly, relaxed: "I think living here is quite nice. A bit of conflict between sisters-in-law is common, we can’t just avoid it because of this, right? If we encounter difficulties, we solve them... Let’s stay here for now, and move when the time is right, shall we?"

Fourth Master Xiao looked at Xiqiu’s slightly playful expression, racking his brain to find comforting words for her. His heart softened inch by inch, almost melting, as he gazed at Xiqiu lovingly, furrowing his brow: "So tell me, how do we solve the problem?"

Women’s issues naturally require women’s solutions. After all, he was a man wielding swords and spears, perhaps skilled at court intrigues with decisive action, but when it came to inner household matters, he was inevitably not as perceptive as Xiqiu.

"Fourth Master doesn’t need to worry!" she laughed, not wanting to discuss this topic further with Fourth Master Xiao: "Fourth Master, you don’t have morning court today, do you?" Morning court starts at 3AM to 5AM, and by now it should be over.

Fourth Master Xiao paused, knowing Xiqiu didn’t want to talk about inner household matters with him. He gave her a deep look and shook his head in reply: "I’m not going out, I’ll stay and help you prepare for tomorrow’s decree reception."

Xiqiu raised an eyebrow and asked: "Receiving decree?"

Fourth Master Xiao sipped his tea, still a bit displeased: "The Ministry of Rites’ document has arrived, tomorrow someone from the palace will come to announce the decree."

Xiqiu listened, raising an eyebrow. The Second Madam being a Commandery Princess was already a supreme honor, and the Grand Dowager and First Madam were both bestowed with a first-rank imperial decree, then what Fourth Master Xiao requested for her must be a second-grade imperial decree?!

As the thought flashed through her mind, outside, Chunliu called through the door: "Fourth Master, Madame, Fifth Young Master is here!"

Xiqiu was stunned and looked at Fourth Master Xiao, who had already stood up: "I called him!" Saying this, he had already opened the door and strode out.

His silhouette was heavy, as if emitting a chill, carrying authority without anger!

After Fourth Master Xiao left, Xiqiu called Biwu: "Go to the front courtyard and see what Fourth Master said in Grand Dowager’s room earlier!" She wanted to know if he quarreled with the Grand Dowager again.

"Yes, Mistress." With that, she dashed out.

Biwu, looking dazed, always thinking of food when confronted with anything, appearing clumsy, but in reality, she was quite sharp. For matters that could be shared, if you asked her, she would tell you everything without holding back. For those that couldn’t be discussed, no matter how you asked, she would play dumb and gloss over it.

This was also true when she sought information. In just a few days, she had become familiar with the maids in each courtyard. In any conversation, she could always find something to discuss that you enjoyed, so Xiqiu always let Biwu gather information!

And each time, she could bring back the news that Xiqiu wanted to know!

Xiao Yanting stood in the courtyard with his hands hanging, and when he saw Fourth Master Xiao come out with a sullen face, his body instinctively shrank...

Fourth Master Xiao didn’t even look at him, striding past him, up the winding corridor. Since Fourth Master Xiao said nothing, Xiao Yanting dared not speak, merely following in his footsteps into the study. Fourth Master Xiao still said nothing, coldly sitting behind the spacious yellow rosewood desk, looking at Xiao Yanting with dark, unreadable eyes.

His eldest brother was steady and mature, following their father since childhood. The second brother was gentle and never lost his temper, the third brother was quiet, they weren’t close, so Xiao Yanting feared this Fourth Brother the most.

Even if he said nothing, just like now, staring at him coldly, it was enough to make him break into a cold sweat. He looked at Fourth Master Xiao nervously and called out: "Fourth Brother!"

"Don’t call me Fourth Brother!" Fourth Master Xiao’s eyes were cold and sharp: "Do you think the second brother is mild-tempered, always close to you, so no one in this mansion can control you, allowing you to stir up trouble?"

Xiao Yanting stiffened and dared to only glance stealthily at Fourth Master Xiao with the corner of his eye, murmuring: "No... no!"

"No?!" Fourth Master Xiao looked at his timid appearance and burst into anger: "No? A single flower house can cause so many problems? All this nonsense about Feng Shui formations, does the Marquis Mansion need these things to hold it up? If Feng Shui formations worked, why don’t others use them? Everyone could just set up formations at home and succeed in everything?!"

Xiao Yanting was rebuked speechless, merely shaking his head in disbelief...

Fourth Master Xiao slammed the table and continued: "From today on, don’t let me hear such baseless matters again. If they happen again, even if the second brother intervenes, I won’t spare you!"

"Four... Fourth Brother." Xiao Yanting thought of how, when he secretly took silver to gamble as a child, Fourth Brother found him at the gambling house... Even smashed the place, dragged him by the collar from West Street to East Street, and made him kneel at the ancestral hall for three days and three nights until he swore before the ancestors that if he gambled again, he’d break his fingers, only then did Fourth Brother let him out.

"I... I didn’t know about this matter, it was..." Xiao Yanting wanted to say he didn’t know the Fifth Madam caused all this trouble, but then realized, how could he explain away his wife’s actions to others, he clenched his fists, resentment towards the Fifth Madam reaching its peak.

"Don’t tell me these things!" Sure enough, Fourth Master Xiao ignored him: "Handle your household matters yourself, I only care about the results!"

Hearing this, Xiao Yanting immediately nodded: "Rest assured, Fourth Brother, I will manage it well when I return!" Finishing, he cupped his hands in salute and prepared to leave.

"Wait!" Fourth Master Xiao suddenly went to the desk, took out a box, tossed it to Xiao Yanting, and without a glance, left the room, returning to the main room with a gloomy face!

Xiao Yanting was left alone in the study, staring dazedly at the box in his hand.

It was widely known that Fifth Young Master of the Xuanning Marquis Mansion loved brushes, and the one Fourth Master Xiao gave him was a wolf hair brush set with an ebony holder. Xiao Yanting stared at it in silence for a long time...

As Xiqiu saw Fourth Master Xiao enter, she smiled and approached: "Has Fifth Uncle gone?" Fourth Master Xiao nodded solemnly without speaking.

"Fourth Master!" The inner study wasn’t far, and standing at the door, Xiqiu could see what happened inside. Xiao Yan yelled at Xiao Yanting like a mouse seeing a cat, afraid to say anything back. She smiled and said: "Fifth Uncle is married with children now, won’t he lose face if you talk to him like that?"

"You don’t know." Fourth Master Xiao accepted the tea she handed over, took a sip, and said coldly: "He’s always soft-hearted, if I don’t speak sternly, it won’t do any good, he’ll soon forget it!"