Chapter 128 The elder brother is good at coaxing people with nice words

Xie Guanlan looked at the two people beside the coffin, taking in every change in their expressions.

He asked in a businesslike tone, "Why is Miss Mu in the coffin?"

"I..." Mu Zhiqiu's voice was hoarse. The buzzing sound caused by the brain injury became louder again, making it difficult for her to find her own voice. "I fell asleep and didn't know anything. Maybe I was kidnapped by thieves..."

"I see. Don't worry, Miss Mu. Since you were murdered in Rongcheng, I will definitely give you an explanation. Come, take Miss Mu back to the palace to treat her injuries."

The guards brought a stretcher.

Mu Zhiqiu's eyes were blurred with double images. He could no longer hold on and fainted completely on the stretcher.

After she was sent away, Wen Rufeng blinked his eyes, and suddenly remembered something. He slapped his thigh and said, "That's not right! Where did my father's body go?! My Lord, you have to take care of my father!"

Xie Guanlan looked indifferent and didn't bother to care about this kind of trivial matter.

He looked at Wen Xingluo deeply and told his confidant, "Take the young lady back to the mansion."

Canglang Pavilion.

Wen Xingluo sat alone in the study, looking down and playing with his fingers.

It was unknown how long it took before Xie Guanlan returned. "The court doctor said that Mu Zhiqiu suffered a severe brain injury, which caused dizziness and he needs to stay in bed to recuperate."

Rest in bed...

Wen Xingluo pinched her fingertips.

It seems that Mu Zhiqiu has reason to stay in the palace for a long time.

Xie Guanlan lowered his eyes to look at her, "Why?"

Why did he treat Mu Zhiqiu so cruelly?

Wen Xingluo met his gaze and asked instead of answering, "Will you think I'm vicious, brother?"

Xie Guanlan had a blank expression on his face. "You are the sister I recognize. No matter what your personality is, I like you. But, Wen Ningning, you handled things very poorly this time."

Hiding Mu Zhiqiu in a coffin seemed like a brilliant idea.

But Mu Zhiqiu's identity is special, and her disappearance will only cause an uproar. Even if the official who came to handle the case today was not him, others would still dig deep to find her whereabouts. It is only a matter of time before they search the coffin. It will be even easier to find Wen Ningning, after all, she was the only one who spent the night in the mourning hall last night.

She should be glad that she didn't kill Mu Zhiqiu.

Seeing Xingluo hanging his head, his posture weak, cold and pitiful, Xie Guanlan's tone softened a bit, "I punish you by making you copy the family rules twenty times, are you willing to accept it?"

The little girl clutched the hem of her skirt and nodded slightly.

After Xie Guanlan left, Wen Xingluo's thin shoulders trembled slightly.

She slowly raised her head. There was no trace of tears on her fresh and delicate face as rosy as peach blossoms. Instead, she had an extremely unbridled smile. The corners of her eyes were flushed with excitement, and she was extremely beautiful, like a crabapple intoxicated by the sun.

——You are the sister I recognize. I like you no matter what your character is.

This is Xie Guanlan.

As long as he regards you as a family member, you will be taken under his protective wings.

As long as she doesn't hurt her family, she will be forgiven no matter what trouble she gets into outside.

He differentiates between close and distant people, but he will always stand by her and protect her in front of outsiders, and will favor her regardless of right or wrong.

And she really likes the feeling of being favored.

At this moment, Wen Xingluo suddenly thought, it would be great if she could stay in the Zhenbei Palace forever.

In the past, she only planned to run away with her gold and silver after the incident at the Zhenbei Palace, but now, she really hopes that Xie Guanlan can defeat the court in the future.

She wanted to be with her grandmother and mother forever.

She wanted to be with him forever.

…

The family rules of the Zhenbei Palace are very long.

In the past, it was always Xie Shian who was punished to copy the family rules. Wen Xingluo copied them from noon to dusk and only finished copying them seven times. He finally understood Xie Shian's pain.

Cuicui knelt opposite the desk and was punished to copy together with Wen Xingluo.

She shook her aching wrist, wanting to cry but unable to. "Miss, how long are we going to have to copy? I hate writing the most. You might as well punish me by making me chop three hundred pounds of firewood in the yard!"

As soon as she finished speaking, her stomach couldn't help but growl.

Wen Xingluo's wrist moved, and the tip of the pen left a series of small characters on the rice paper. "If you're hungry, go back to Xiejinyuan first. This matter is caused by me, so I will copy the part you haven't finished."

Cuicui burst into tears of joy and rushed to Wen Xingluo, hugging her tightly. "Miss, wuwuwu, I will never be able to repay your kindness in this lifetime!"

After she left, Wen Xingluo looked at the house rules she had copied.

Cuicui's handwriting was ugly and sloppy. She barely drew a few scribbled circles on many of the family rules and considered it as copying them once. Therefore, her copying progress was much faster than Wen Xingluo's, and she only had less than three copies left.

Wen Xingluo finished copying hers first, and then started copying his own.

The moon is already at its zenith.

Wen Xingluo yawned and felt sleepy.

When Xie Guanlan finished dealing with the matters in the military camp and came in with a bag of cakes, the girl had already fallen asleep on the desk.

Under the candlestick, the girl's white skirt looked like blooming and scattered paper flowers. She held his wolf-hair brush, and there were a few traces of ink on her fair face. As he approached, the powder on her body and the scent of ink blended with each other, weaving into an alluring fragrance in the soft moonlight.

In the deep night of Canglang Pavilion, there has never been a delicate butterfly roosting there, and the air has never been filled with the lazy fragrance of cosmetics.

The night wind blew open the window, and the family rules pressed down by the white jade paperweight fluttered in the wind.

Xie Guanlan held onto the skirt that was blown to his face by the wind.

My heart seemed to have become one with the family rules, in such a quiet and deep autumn night, in disarray.

He suppressed the strange feeling in his heart, picked up Wen Xingluo horizontally, and placed her on the small nanmu couch behind the screen.

He covered her with a brocade quilt, glanced at the ink marks on her face, couldn't help laughing, and wet a towel to wipe them clean for her bit by bit.

Wen Xingluo woke up in shock.

Seeing the red clothes catching her eye, she subconsciously grabbed Xie Guanlan's sleeve.

The girl's round almond-shaped eyes were moist and flushed, and her hoarse voice was filled with grievance. "I just dreamed that my elder brother believed Mu Zhiqiu's slander and said that I was not good in every way and wanted to drive me away..."

Xie Guanlan looked at her, "How come?"

Wen Xingluo bit her lip, feeling even more aggrieved. "I've been copying the house rules all day, and my hands are sore."

She showed Xie Guanlan her red palm.

There were shallow indentations between the tender knuckles, left by holding a pen for a long time.

Xie Guanlan frowned.

In the past, it was common to punish Xie Shian by making him copy the family rules a hundred times. At that time, he didn't think the punishment was that severe. But why, looking at Wen Ningning's red palms tonight, did he feel that the punishment was too severe?

After a long silence, he said, "It's Mu Zhiqiu's fault."

If Mu Zhiqiu had not taken the initiative to provoke Wen Ningning, Wen Ningning would never have taken action because of her well-behaved nature.

If Wen Ningning didn't do anything, why would he punish her?

Wen Xingluo hugged the brocade quilt and keenly noticed that Xie Guanlan seemed particularly easy to talk tonight.

Her eyes swept over the sachet on his waist, and she whispered, "Brother, coaxing me like this will give me the illusion that you care about me a lot..."

Xie Guanlan laughed in anger, "Don't you know how I treat you?"

"My eldest brother is always good at flattering people. If you really care about me, why did you throw away the amulet I gave you these days and only wear the sachet my second brother gave me? He gave me treasures, and I gave me grass?"