Chapter 168 - You Can Flirt with Me, but Why Can’t I Do That to You? (1/2)

After hearing her daughter’s suggestion, Jinguo Grand Princess looked displeased. And not until a long time later did she reply, “Elder Lady Duanmu will be in the imperial capital soon after the Spring Festival and your Uncle Limiao is now in a state of nervousness. It’s not a good idea to bother him during this period, is it?”

Song Yixiao heard the clear resistance and even some hidden scruples in her mother-in-law’s voice, feeling shocked. When she was still confused, she heard the explanation of her sister-in-law, “You’ve watched Yourui grow up from childhood, so how could she not understand that you invite her to the imperial capital is to sincerely help her? That she is unwilling to be here is most probably feeling embarrassed. So no matter what we do, I’m afraid she will still be in a dilemma!”

“But your uncle Limiao is from the Jian Family, too!” Jinguo Grand Princess frowned, “Can Yourui accept his invitation while refuses mine?”

Finding she disagreed with her advice, Commandery Princess Qingjiang closed her lips slightly and stopped speaking.

The hall was silent for a moment, then Jinguo Grand Princess said to Jian Xubai reluctantly, “Ask your uncle Limiao tomorrow whether he is willing to give a hand about this.”

The couple took orders and left before it was getting late.

After going out from the mansion, Song Yixiao asked her husband with confusion, “What’s wrong with Mother today?”

“Mother’s second husband, Pei Ze, was a lifelong friend of Uncle Limiao.” Jian Xubai kept silent for quite a long time. Not until they almost arrived at Duke of Yan’s mansion, did he answer faintly, “There was a rumor that Pei Ze’s falling from his horse was because he had found Mother and Father… He was in a bad mood, so he was venting his anger on his horse, but had an accident! The rumor was further supported by the fact that Mother married Father soon afterwards. Originally, Uncle Limiao, who had been raised by Elder Lady Duanmu since he was a kid, had not been very close to my father even though they are brothers. And that incident separated them even further.”

Later, Jian Limiao’s wife and her baby died because of difficult labor.

He was a one-woman man, unwilling to remarry. Therefore, he was alone and was inevitably lonely, “My eldest uncle returned to hometown together with my grandfather and his family. The only children, who he could remove his emotion on, were us, the three children of his second brother. One of them, my sister, was afraid of my mother and had never left the house. And it was impossible for Uncle Limiao to meet her in her boudoir; Yiyou had always stayed by my father and learned literature and martial arts from him. So he didn’t have much time to see Uncle Limiao; only I can stay out of the palace from time to time even though I was raised by my grandmother. Both my father and Yiyou didn’t pay attention to me. Mother was also very busy. Therefore, only Uncle Limiao was willing to coax me!”

Jian Xubai’s plain tone of voice had a sense of loss and loneliness that could not be concealed, “So Uncle Limiao and I became closer, which eased the tension between the two families. But the three of them still didn’t meet each other except in Spring Festival or other festivals. Mother is obviously reluctant for what Roumei suggested just now. It’s said that back then Uncle Limiao was furious at the Grand Princess’s mansion over Pei Ze’s death, which disgraced my mother. Finally, not until Grandfather himself arrived, did my mother was given a way out!”

No one knew if Jian Limiao would love one thing on account of another and make a scene again for Pei Ze’s niece Pei Yourui.

But in the end, Jinguo Grand Princess chose to turn to Jian Limiao, her younger brother-in-law, for help. Apparently, though she had remarried for three times and kept several men so far, she was not an unemotional person after all. She would like to risk her own disgrace to persuade her adopted daughter to stay with her and be taken care of.

Song Yixiao didn’t expect that she would learn such secret of her mother-in-law by just a curious question, so she felt embarrassed and thought, “He even told me the secret of his own mother, which showed that he kept me on his mind indeed. If there is another thing like the thing about Lady Nuan, I can no longer distrust him!”

When she was thinking of that, a little sweetness arose in her heart, and she couldn’t help but curved her lips again and again.

Some time later, they returned to their mansion. The moment they entered, a servant came to report, “A guest from regions south of the Yangtze River has just arrived, and has waited Your Highness for quite a long time!”

“Regions south of the Yangtze River?” Jian Xubai looked solemn after hearing this, “Please ask him to wait a moment, and tell him that I’ve just returned, so I’ll meet him after changing my clothes!”

After entering the inner room, while changing clothes, he told his wife, “It might be sent by Lord Gu!”

Seeing Song Yixiao looking at him confusedly, he knew she had forgotten and added, “It was Gu Shao, a good friend of your grandfather’s when he was alive. He was also my grandfather’s closest rival at court. Originally, he had returned to his hometown of Hongzhou after retiring some years ago, but attracted by the scenery in regions south of the Yangtze River, he built a residence there.”

Only then did Song Yixiao suddenly realize, “Have you sent someone to find him?”

Otherwise, why would this former court magnate send someone from far away to visit Jian Xubai, a junior for him, during the Spring Festival?

Jian Xubai said, “Hum”, took the robe Song Yixiao handed over and put it on. Then he walked towards his wife’s dressing table, checked his appearance hurriedly and said, “I’ll go to see. If it does him, he should not be snubbed!”

After all, the Crown Prince was trying to co-opt Gu Shao. So how could he ignore his emissary?

After Jian Xubai left, Qiaoqin also came to report before Song Yixiao had time to think about it, “Madam, the Yuan Family sent a message over, saying that if you’re not busy tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, Marquis Boling would like to invite you over for a talk!”

“It must be about the marriage between Yuan Xue’e and her close relative proposed by my mother-in-law!” Song Yixiao was clear in her heart. She replied, “I’ll ask my husband later whether we’re going somewhere to pay respects or need to stay at home in case of any visits tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. If not, I will come over!”

Qiaoqin promptly sent someone to reply to the Yuan Family.

The servant who had been sent to the Yuan Family hadn’t come back yet, but Jian Xubai sent a message over first, “His Highness will accompany the guest. Please have dinner yourself, Madam!”

“It seems that the guest was really sent by Gu Shao, otherwise there would be no need for such courtesy.” Song Yixiao thought and said to the servants beside her, “Tell the chef to cook a few dishes from regions south of the Yangtze River, and the taste of which should be lighter!”

That day, it was very late when Jian Xubai came back to his bedroom. Although he looked tired, it could be seen that he was not in a bad mood. He held his wife in the bed and kissed her for a while before releasing her, smiling, “I may not be that busy when spring comes, so I can accompany you in the official holiday. There are quite a lot of places to go for a walk outside the imperial capital during March and April!”