Favoring concubines and ignoring wives? The mistress of the marquisate remarried a powerful official

Cui Xiaoxiao and Wen Tingbai started quarreling, 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 Wan Ning, "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 plan in mind. Wen Tingbo and Cui Xiaoxiao would definitely not break up over this matter. What he wanted to do was to add fuel to the fire. Song Wanning said calmly, "How is the one 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 now there are a lot of housekeeper issues in the Marquis' Mansion that Aunt Cui doesn't handle, and they are piling up, and the people below are already resentful."

Song Wanning knew that Cui Xiaoxiao had never understood how to manage this large mansion, and could not figure out the twists and turns within. 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 bad advice, "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 the marriage with the Second Master, find a chance to fight with the man from the West Courtyard, and take back the housekeeper's power."

Song Wanning's eyes showed a hint of disgust, and she said lightly, "The relationship between the Second Master and Aunt Cui is stronger than gold, it is really not my place to interfere."

Wen Tingbai requested for a title of nobility in the court. Logically speaking, the Marquis of Zhongping Mansion was a marquisate, and Wen Tingbai had been stationed outside the border 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 criticized Wen Tingbo for favoring his concubine over his wife and taking an unknown girl as his concubine. They also criticized Wen Tingbo for being unworthy of his position and allowing his concubine to humiliate others outside, which was really offensive.

When the emperor heard the ministers' reports, he shook his head again and again. He was extremely disappointed with Wen Tingbai and only granted him the official position of Zuo Sijian, a seventh-rank official, 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 beauty. Wen Qing already has a wife at home. If you still dote on 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 signaled to Wen Tingcheng, the eldest son of the Wen family, to say a few words for him several times, but Wen Tingcheng pretended not to see.

After the court session ended, Wen Tingbo was so angry that he chased after Wen Tingcheng and asked, "Brother, why didn't you defend 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 refute you?" Wen Tingcheng sneered twice, looked at Wen Tingbai and said, "I heard that you brought your concubine to Pingyuan Marquis's Mansion yesterday and made a scene, which led to today's disaster. Isn't this all your own fault?"

Although Wen Tingbai felt a little guilty, he still insisted, "It's not necessary for my brother to make such mistakes when he was young and ignorant. Brothers and sisters should always help each other. If you think I did something wrong, we can discuss it in private. But being so cold in front of outsiders really chills my heart."

"Hello?" Wen Tingcheng seemed to have heard a big joke. "Brother, your sister-in-law got pregnant and asked your concubine in charge to give her more money to support her. But she scolded her, saying that the money for each room is fixed and asked your sister-in-law to use her private money to support her. Don't you think this is a big joke? Do the people in your room care about my wife at all?"

Wen Tingbai found this incredible. He looked at Wen Tingcheng and wanted to explain, "Brother, Xiao Xiao is a weak woman who doesn't understand housekeeping, so there are some omissions. I'm afraid this is not Xiao Xiao's original intention. I'll go back and ask her."

"No need. I don't want to get involved in your second branch's affairs." Wen Tingcheng shook his sleeves and strode forward, saying, "You just rely on the favor of the old ancestor to do whatever you want. Now you have done such ugly things. If you still don't repent, I will find the elders to discuss the division of the family."

When Wen Tingbai heard about the division of the family, he finally became a little panicked and hurried back to Lan Courtyard.

Cui Xiaoxiao was still angry and locked herself in her room, refusing to come out no matter who called her. The maids and servants outside filled the yard, all waiting for Cui Xiaoxiao to come and manage the household.

The woman outside was anxious, looking at the house in the west courtyard and said, "Second Madam, please come out. The gardener, Old Li, 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 soon. We have to prepare the vegetables for tomorrow. If you don't allocate money, we won't be able to buy vegetables and the kitchen will be delayed tomorrow." The nanny in charge of the kitchen also looked anxious. "Let alone other things, if we can't buy the fish that our ancestor likes to eat, I'm afraid he will blame us. Grandma, I kneel down for you, please come out soon."

As the nanny said this, she was about to kneel down, holding her legs, but Wen Tingbo held her back.

"Master Bai, you're back. Master Bai, please think of a solution." The nanny said as she wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.

Wen Tingbai was now furious. He looked at Cui Xiaoxiao who had locked him in the room and said coldly, "You're not coming out, right? If you're not coming out, let two strong men smash the door and snatch the key from her hand."

Cui Xiaoxiao in the room thought something was wrong, so she took out a piece of 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 I left home and came here with you. Who would have thought that you didn't love me sincerely? 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 with tears on her face and looking at Wen Tingbo, "Are you trying to frame me again?"

"How could it be? When have I ever lied to you?" Wen Tingbai hugged Cui Xiaoxiao and whispered to comfort her, "Those people outside don't understand you. Only I understand you."

After hearing what Wen Tingbo said, Cui Xiaoxiao finally laughed. The two of them reconciled again. Cui Xiaoxiao happily went out and took care of the household again.

But she didn't feel happy for long before she found out that the money in the mansion was not enough for this month's expenses. She saw that she had no money left, but the whole family was waiting for her to eat.

Cui Xiaoxiao set his sights on the land deed of the Marquis' Mansion.