Where his husband could shut the Herbs & More shop for a little bit he couldn't do the same to the stables. Not when the horses still needed to be taken care of. Sure, he'd give his brother and Geralt time to themselves if need be, but he couldn't just abandon the horses. They needed taken care of even if the people around Madison Valley made absolutely no sense whatsoever.
He keeps Chenqing close because, if anything, he can communicate with music. Maybe. Or by raising the dead but he's trying not to raise the dead. That would just be something that no one wanted to deal with. Besides, who said they'd be able to talk after being raised? So, he'd avoid that.
He twirls his dizi in his fingers and gives his husband a soft smile and cants his head at those words. He has no clue what in the world his husband just said to him. All he'd heard out of that was his name.