Yingniang had been lying in bed waiting for news. It was not until the early hours of the morning that a maid came in and said, "The Sixth Young Master and the Second Young Master both came back late, and we happened to run into each other at the door. The Second Young Master and the Fifth Young Master are staying at the Sixth Young Master's place. The Sixth Young Master said that it was too late today, and he would come to the courtyard early tomorrow morning to greet the Madam and the Fourth Madam."

She heaved a long sigh and gave the old woman a handful of copper coins. She was still thinking about the fight between Jin Ge'er and the inner courtyard was locked. She slept for a while in a daze. When she woke up, it was still dark. She called the maid Shi Yan, who was on duty, in and asked, "What time is it?"

Shi Yan was a personal maid who followed Ying Niang from Yuhang. She ran to the hall in her jacket to check the clock: "It's past three quarters past the hour of Yin. It's still early, you should rest for a while!"

The inner courtyard will be unlocked at 3:00 am on the morning of Mao.

Yingniang sat up and said, "Tell the maid to fetch some water. I'll go to Qingyinju to take a look."

Shi Yan covered her mouth and smiled: "Don't worry, Madam Fifth Young Master. Since Fifth Young Master said he was staying at Sixth Young Master's place, he must be staying there. Besides, he has Second Young Master to keep him company."

The two were close and often joked around. But this time Yingniang didn't laugh. Shi Yan quickly restrained her expression and stopped laughing, kneeling respectfully, and asked the maid to help her wash and dress.

Yingniang went to Qingyinju early in the morning.

The people in Qingyinju had just woken up, and the maids were still sleepy. Hongwen was already married, and although the head maid Ajin had a smile on her face, there was no smile in her eyes.

"Fifth Young Madam." She did not wait for Yingniang to speak, and welcomed her to the empty hall. "What should we do?" Her voice was trembling, tears welling up in her eyes. "Sixth Young Master's mouth corner is cut, and there is a bruise on his forehead. I will go to greet the Madam and the Madam later. How can we make up for it?"

Yingniang asked anxiously, "Are you injured anywhere else?"

"There's a bruise on my shoulder," Jin shook his head, "there's no other injuries."

Yingniang took a long breath and then asked about the aftermath: "What did the Second Young Master say?"

"The Second Young Master went out after sending the Sixth Young Master back. He has not been seen since." A Jin whispered, "It's the Fifth Young Master who has been applying well water to the Sixth Young Master's mouth." There was a hint of dissatisfaction with Xu Siyu in his tone.

Yingniang was stunned.

Suddenly, Jing'er's clear and cheerful voice rang out in the room: "Fifth sister-in-law, why are you here so early?"

Yingniang looked up and saw Jing'er wearing a lotus-colored brocade robe and walking out of the inner room.

His face was as white as jade, and the slightly swollen purple spot at the corner of his mouth was particularly eye-catching.

Yingniang immediately felt distressed when she saw him. She reached out to touch him, but was afraid of hurting him, so she stopped her hand in mid-air and asked him cautiously, "Does it hurt?"

“It doesn’t hurt!” Jin Ge’er smiled, but the smile moved the wound at the corner of his mouth. He didn’t have time to smile before his face turned bitter, and his expression was a little funny. “I didn’t pay attention at the time, and I didn’t feel it afterwards.”

"Are you still trying to be brave in front of me?" Yingniang couldn't help but said angrily, "A gentleman should not stand under a dangerous wall. You actually started a fight with others. Let me see how you can deal with it." Then, she turned around and asked Ah Jin, "Do you have rose powder? I don't know if it can cover it up if I mix it with Hu powder?" Then she said, "I have a box of rose powder," and then shouted to Shi Yan, "...Go and get it!"

Shi Yan responded and left.

"I'm not a woman!" Jing'er was unwilling and said loudly, "What's the point of putting powder on your face? Besides, we are so close, and even if grandma's eyesight is not good, she will probably get suspicious when she smells the powder. Why don't we think of some other way?"

"Then what do you say? What should we do?" Yingniang's eyes widened. "You said you fell? You started squatting at the age of six. No matter who falls, they can't fall you!" At this point, she hurriedly said, "By the way, what happened yesterday? Are Chang'an, Suifeng and the others okay? Who else knows about this? I heard that the other party came from Huai'an, and they said they are not afraid even if they meet the emperor. Have you found out what's going on?"

"Don't worry! Those guys just know a few moves and don't take the people from Shuntian Mansion and Wucheng Military Department seriously. When they find out something is wrong and call for help, we'll have already run away." Jing'er said, with a smug look on his face, "Chang'an and Suifeng are just slightly injured, just apply some medicine for bruises... As for those blind guys, they won't get out of bed unless they stay in bed for a year or two!" He added, "They dare to bully us without even looking at where we are. Even a strong dragon is afraid of a local snake. They deserve it." He looked very disdainful. "The few guards I brought out are the best in our mansion. If they can beat them down, I think we should take down this imperially bestowed plaque and hide it as soon as possible to avoid embarrassment."

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Yingniang was shocked. "Why are you so reckless? It's enough to win the fight. Why did you have to beat him up like that? Forgive others when you can. I heard from the servant that you provoked others first..."

"What do you mean I provoked him first? He provoked me first!" Before she could finish her words, Jin Ge'er jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "I came out of the Duke Dingguo's Mansion and accidentally scared their carriage. I apologized to them, but they still chased me to the teahouse. I saw that they were arrogant, so I beat them up first, and then said that I would set up two tables of wine in Chunxi Tower to apologize to them, make friends, and let the account go. Who knew that they would not appreciate it and called a group of people over... What else do you want from me? I think I have done my best. Can't I just stand there and let them beat me?"

Ying Niang immediately caught the loophole in his words: "Didn't you say you were going out for a walk? How did you end up at the Dingguo Mansion? And how did you startle their carriage? Even if that was the case, you accompanied them, didn't the Dingguo Mansion's doormen not recognize you? When you had a conflict, why didn't anyone in charge of the Dingguo Mansion come out to mediate? And they chased you to the teahouse?"

Jin Ge'er was a little embarrassed by her question. Just as he was about to speak, a deep voice suddenly rang out: "He was wearing the clothes of a servant at the time. He suddenly rushed out from the alley of the Dingguo Mansion, almost startling the guards and making them fall off their horses."

"Second brother!" Jing'er blushed.

Yingniang hurriedly looked in the direction of the sound.

Xu Siyu was still wearing the dark blue brocade robe he wore yesterday, with a hint of fatigue between his brows, looking a little tired.

"He was wearing servant's clothes, the servants never thought it was Jing'er." He said as he walked over, "Grain Transport Governor Chen Bozhi has the final say in Huai'an, and his only son Chen Ji grew up with him in Huai'an, like the moon surrounded by stars, and developed his current pure character. This time he was ordered by the emperor to go to the capital, and Jing'er apologized and ran away without any sincerity. How could Chen Ji let it go?" As he spoke, he looked at Jing'er, "You crippled Chen Ji's two followers as soon as you made a move, and you set up a banquet in Chunxi Tower as soon as you opened your mouth, which stunned them at the time. When they asked you which mansion you were from, you said you were a relative of the Dingguo Mansion - would a legitimate relative of the Dingguo Mansion come out of the alley? How could the servants not know the relatives of the Dingguo Mansion? What did you expect Chen Ji to think? He thought you were teasing them, so he was naturally furious!"

"Second brother," Jin Ge'er laughed dryly, "I saw that the other party was fearless. I was afraid that if I mentioned our name, they would know our details. What if we had a falling out, they would take advantage of us? If I had known that we would fight again because of this, I should have mentioned my fourth uncle's name!"

Was he afraid that his father-in-law would know that he had been fighting outside? Or was he afraid that others would find out his background? Yingniang was very suspicious.

Xu Siyu did not comment, and said thoughtfully: "I have already given instructions to the injured guards - they have been following you every day these days, and the New Year is coming soon, so I asked the guards to give them leave. After the New Year, their injuries will be almost healed. As for your injury..." He looked at Jing'er meaningfully, "Last night, I found a father and daughter who were singing for money, and brought them into the mansion and settled them in the courtyard over on the other side of the East Group House..."

"Second brother!" Jin Ge'er understood immediately. He was overjoyed and took Xu Siyu's arm. "I said, with second brother's ability, how could he not have a backup plan? Sure enough, he came up with such a good idea! When mother or grandmother asks about it, I will say that I saw the singing father and daughter being bullied, and I drew my sword to help them." He smiled so hard that his eyes curved. "Second brother, you put a lot of thought into it, right? I'll invite you to Tingli Pavilion for dinner later." He said to Yingniang, "Fifth brother, come with us. I'll have someone bring over whatever Fifth Sister-in-law likes to eat!"

Xu Siyu looked at her, with a hint of doting in his eyes that no one noticed.

Yingniang was so stunned that she didn't care about Jing'er at all. She asked Xu Siyu directly, "Is this okay?"

Xu Siyu remained silent for a moment, then suddenly asked Jing'er, "Why did you go to Duke Dingguo's mansion? There was a wide, open gate, but why did you change into servant's clothes and rush out from the alleyway of their mansion?"

Jing'er was speechless for a moment after being asked this question.

"Oh, wear the servant's clothes to avoid being targeted by pickpockets! Second brother, you haven't spent the New Year in Beijing for a while, right? You don't know how crowded East and West Streets are? I suspect that all the people in Beijing have flocked to East and West Streets..."

He was talking about all sorts of things.

Xu Siyu just looked at him silently.

Yingniang suddenly had an idea.

Last time she went with her mother-in-law to the Weibei Marquis’s house for a wedding banquet, someone seemed to say that a young man from the Dingguo Duke’s house wanted to marry the eldest princess, and asked her mother-in-law to help intercede…

"Jin'er," she exclaimed, "could it be that you were asked by the eldest princess to go and see the young master of the Duke Dingguo's mansion?"

Jing'er stood there for a moment.

Xu Siyu listened, his face darkening slightly: "Fifth brother's wife, tell me, what's going on?"

Yingniang looked at it and felt a chill in her heart. She said uneasily, "That day, Jing'er and I were playing in my mother's yard..."

"Forget it! Since Fifth Sister-in-law has guessed it, I'll tell you!" He hung his head, as if hit by frost, and interrupted Yingniang weakly, "There are many candidates for the eldest princess's marriage, but the emperor and the queen have been undecided. One moment it was said that the emperor intended to let Ouyang Ming's youngest son marry the eldest princess, and the next moment it was said that the queen had taken a fancy to the cousin of the Crown Princess. The eldest princess has seen both of them, and she said that one has a face full of flesh, and the other is stupid. If she marries such a man, it would be better for her to be a widow. Let me help her find out about those who have been selected, and she wants to choose one from them herself."

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Yesterday I was worried that I would be asked to go on a business trip, so I didn’t dare to write about adding more chapters. In the end, it was really me~~~~(_