Wu Xian had temporarily stabilized Xu Xie.
However, he knew Xu Xie wasn't the biggest problem.
Carrying a heart full of worries, he returned to the rear courtyard. Consort Mi was the concubine he had doted on most over the past two years. When a maid announced his arrival, she came out early with a gentle smile, holding out a towel and tending to him attentively. Relying on Wu Xian's favor, Consort Mi occasionally dared to ask about matters in the front courtyard. "Xian Lang, did something distressing happen while you were out? Why do you look so gloomy?"
"It's nothing major, just..."
Wu Xian took the wrung-out towel and wiped his face.
Consort Mi turned and took a copper basin of comfortably warm water from a maid, then crouched to set it down. Wu Xian slipped off his shoes and put his feet into the water. He raised a hand to signal Consort Mi to get up. Let the servants handle such menial work; she was a side consort and didn't need to do anything dirty or tiring.
Consort Mi pursed her lips and gave him a winsome smile.
"How could serving Xian Lang and making you smile count as dirty or tiring work?" she said gently, but still obeyed Wu Xian and rose to sit beside him. Then she returned to the subject. "You still haven't told me who upset you, Xian Lang."
Wu Xian hadn't planned to hide it.
It wasn't anything particularly important, after all.
He also wanted to learn from Consort Mi and ask her how to coax someone. At his words, her plump, oval face stiffened for an instant, but she suppressed the pang of jealousy and cautiously asked, "A new favorite, Xian Lang?"
Wu Xian: "...No, it's Gongsu."
Consort Mi: "..."
Though she