Chapter 713: Disaster (Part 2)
The news soon reached Xu Lingyi's ears. He was secretly surprised.
Although my son was young, he had trained himself both internally and externally. Normally, three or five people could hardly get close to him. How could he be beaten by street thugs? Moreover, those street thugs were the most discerning. Seeing that he was dressed in extraordinary clothes and had guards, how could they just attack him so easily? Or was it that the arrogant brother took advantage of this incident to provoke him?
He was silent for a moment, then asked Denghua, "When did the singing father and daughter enter the mansion?"
Denghua said respectfully, "After the Sixth Young Master and the Second Young Master met, the Second Young Master went out for a while, and when he came back he brought the singing father and daughter with him!"
"Second Young Master?" Xu Lingyi was slightly stunned.
"Yes!" Denghua said, "I heard that the Sixth Young Master asked the Second Young Master to find a place for the father and daughter to stay, and the Second Young Master didn't have any good places, so he brought them back!" Xu Lingyi was silent for a moment, and ordered Denghua: "Where are the father and daughter who sing for money? Bring them here so I can see!"
Denghua went to the group room and called the singing father and daughter over.
The father was no more than thirty years old, with delicate features. Although his face was pale and skinny, he had a hint of pride between his eyebrows. In the middle of winter, he wore an autumn jacket and carried a pipa on his back. He stood there straight, not like a singer, but more like a scholar. The daughter, who was about twelve or thirteen years old, followed closely behind her father, lowering her head, trembling, and looking very scared.
"Raise your head and talk!" Xu Lingyi's voice was neither high nor low, with a faint sound of thunder. His daughter raised her head in panic.
The father and daughter had similar facial features. The daughter had a pale face and clear eyes like autumn water. She looked at Xu Lingyi pitifully, looking very pitiful and indeed quite pretty.
"What's your name?" Xu Lingyi asked calmly.
"We have fallen into such a state and have brought disgrace upon our ancestors. I dare not mention our names." The father's seemingly neither humble nor arrogant voice trembled, revealing his fear.
Xu Lingyi said: "From your tone, you seem to be a scholar!"
The father said nothing, but lowered his head, looking very ashamed.
Xu Lingyi asked again: "I heard that you are from Jiangnan, how did you end up in Yanjing? And how did you get into a fight with others?"
"I have no relatives to rely on, so I have no choice but to sing." The father said, his face flushed, "The gang insisted that my daughter sing, and since she couldn't sing, they asked her to accompany them drinking. After all, I am an educated person, and letting my daughter show up in public is already a last resort, so how can I let her accompany them drinking?" As he said this, his eyes showed anger, and the daughter's eyes were full of tears, "So there was an argument..."
"The lady gave you some silver as a reward for making a gift." Xu Lingyi did not ask any more questions. "Go and get it from Denghua and take your daughter back home!"
My father's face was full of surprise.
"Dad, can we go home now?" the daughter asked her father excitedly. The father seemed to be overwhelmed by the great joy. After a while, he came to his senses and nodded to his daughter: "We can go home!" Then he bowed to Xu Lingyi and said, "Thank you for your kindness."
From the beginning to the end, he maintained a dignified demeanor even as the lights faded.
Xu Lingyi called Chief Butler Bai in and said, "Go check who are the people who fought with Brother Jian?"
Manager Bai left immediately.
I'll reply to Xu Lingyi's letter this afternoon.
"It's Chen Ji, the son of the Grand Canal Governor Chen Bozhi." Chief Steward Bai said after careful consideration, "He made great contributions to the dredging of the Huitong River, and the emperor specially favored his son to be the deputy commander. Chen Ji was ordered to go to the capital to thank the emperor."
Xu Lingyi nodded, his expression calm: "What do the people in Shuntian Prefecture say?"
"The battle was over when they arrived," said General Bai. "They didn't see anything!" He added, "The people from the Wucheng Military Command said they arrived later than the people from Shuntian Prefecture."
Xu Lingyi laughed and waved his hand: "Got it!"
Manager Bai did not retreat immediately as usual, but looked hesitant and asked, "What else do you want to say?" Xu Lingyi asked with a smile.
Chief Steward Bai hesitated for a while and whispered, "My Lord, do you think you should say hello to Shuntian Mansion..." "Although the Sixth Young Master has a somewhat reckless temper, anyone who sees such a thing would probably be filled with indignation... After all, he did a good thing..."
Xu Lingyi did not express his opinion, but suddenly said: "After the New Year, the head treasury of Shanxi will be 63 years old. He mentioned the issue of pension again this year. I think you should discuss it with Brother Zhuo and decide on a few candidates for me to review. The person for the head treasury of Shanxi will be decided in the early spring of next year."
The butler knew that Xu Lingyi was telling him to stop interfering, so he quickly said "yes," "I'll go discuss this with the Fourth Young Master."
Xu Lingyi said nothing.
After Manager Bai left, he stood by the window with his hands behind his back, watching the snow for a long time before replying, "Where's Brother Jian?" He sat down and asked his son.
Eleventh Lady took the hot tea from the maid and placed it next to Xu Lingyi: "It is said that someone is looking for trouble with the singing father and daughter, and they want to send them out of the city in person!" She sat next to Xu Lingyi, "Why do I always feel something is wrong! With Jin'er's temper, if he saves someone, he will most likely leave money and let the servants deal with the aftermath. But this time, because the singing father and daughter had no place to live, they returned to the mansion." She shook her head, "No matter how I think about it, I feel that this is not his style. And Yu'er. He has always been stable, but on the first day he came back, he knew that the lady would hold a banquet for him to welcome him back, but he did not return home all night for his classmates..." As she spoke, she looked at Xu Lingyi with some worry, "Marquis, do you think there is something strange about this?"
"It's New Year's Day, the children are all back, it's a rare family reunion, don't think too much." Xu Lingyi said with a smile, "Go change your clothes, we'll go to mom's place for dinner."
Am I just too sensitive?
The thought flashed through my mind.
Eleventh Lady changed her clothes and went to see the lady with Xu Lingyi.
Except for Xu Siyu and Jiange'er, everyone was present.
"We asked him to come back earlier for these two children, why hasn't he come back yet?" the lady coughed.
"Grandmother, my sixth brother is afraid that the other party will not give up." No one said anything. Xu Siqi, who was usually quiet, suddenly laughed and said, "You should start and end things. My sixth brother is also doing a good thing to the end. As for my second brother, it's the New Year and he came from such a far place. He must have something to ask for. We can't just leave him alone!"
Everyone's eyes fell on Xu Siqi.
The lady just nodded: "That's what you said!"
Yingniang saw Xu Lingyi giving Xu Siqi a sharp look.
Her heart was pounding. Could it be that her father-in-law had figured out something?
"Grandma," she hurried to the old lady, "last time you said you wanted to embroider a glasses bag. I made a green vine flower and a bright red folded flower. Do you like the green one or the red one?"
"I like them all, I like them all." The lady smiled, "But your mother made me a royal blue one with gold all over it, it's so beautiful." Then she asked the maid to get it and handed it to Yingniang proudly, "Look, it's beautiful!"
Just as Yingniang was about to compliment him, Xu Siyu and Jian Ge'er walked in one after the other. The lady immediately put the matter of the glasses bag behind her and hurriedly carried the two people over. She took Jian Ge'er's hand and asked, "Did you send the person away? Is he frozen?" She then asked Xu Siyu, "Have you finished your business?"
The two of them answered in unison, one answered "the person has been sent away", and the other answered "the work is done". Xu Lingyi stood up and said, "Let's eat!" Then he went forward and hugged the lady. The big family carried the two of them to the east side room.
Xu Sizhen pulled Xu Sizhen aside and asked him quietly, "What happened? Why are you covering up for your second and sixth brothers?"
"I'll tell you later!" Xu Siqi answered quickly.
Xu Sizhen did not ask any more questions. After dinner, everyone went to the west room to drink tea. Xu Sizhen and Xu Sizhen were the last ones to arrive at the table.
"I can't tell my fourth brother now." Xu Siqi whispered, "I'll tell you after I ask my second and sixth brothers. If they agree!"
Xu Sizhen never criticized others behind their backs and was always sincere and trustworthy to others. Xu Sizhen admired this quality of Xu Sizhen.
"Okay!" He didn't ask any more questions. While everyone was talking about how to celebrate the New Year this year, he kept his attention on Xu Siyu and Jiang'er.
After half a cup of tea, Xu Siyu got up and went to the clean room. After a while, Jian Ge'er also came out. "How is it?" Xu Siyu waited for Jian Ge'er at the corner next to the ear room, "What did Fifth Uncle say?"
"Uncle Wu made me laugh."
Jiangeer was a little embarrassed, "There's no need to go through so much trouble. If the people from Shuntian Prefecture can't find anything, then forget it. If they do find anything and no innocent people are harmed, they can't afford to offend either family, so they have to play dumb. There's no need for us to look for anyone, which would not only alarm the enemy but also weaken their momentum. Let's just leave it alone and do what needs to be done. We'll deal with it when something goes wrong!"
Xu Siyu couldn't help shaking his head: "This is too pessimistic! Now we are in the dark and they are in the light. We have the upper hand. We can't let them get to our door like this."
"I think so too!" Qin Ge'er whispered to Xu Siyu, "Second brother, what do you think about me bringing a name card to the palace tomorrow?" Then he said, "I have been helping the eldest princess to look for a boyfriend these days, and it is time to go to the palace and tell the eldest princess the result of the match." "Good, good." Xu Siyu smiled, "Just say that you were beaten by Chen Ji and left a visible injury. Although you found a reason to make it go, I am afraid you will not be able to go out as casually as you do now. The eldest princess will definitely ask you how you ended up, so just tell her the truth." He added, "It is best to tell Prince Yong about the matter of the nephew of the Minister of Rites. It is much better for Prince Yong to intervene than for you to make a small fuss like this."
Jiange'er nodded.
Seeing that Jiange'er no longer insisted on helping the princess, Xu Siyu breathed a sigh of relief.
Jianger asked Xu Siyu: "...the singing father and daughter, will they reveal their true intentions?"
"No!" Seeing that Jian Ge'er agreed, Xu Siyu said, "What happened to them is true. It's just that the person who saved them has changed from Fang Ji to you. Don't worry!"
Seeing that the problem was solved, a look of joy appeared on Jiang'er's face.
"Second brother, you should go back first! We are missing two people at once, and we need to be careful not to let them find out what's going on!"
"Okay, you should go inside early too, it's too cold outside."
Jiang'er nodded, stood outside for half a cup of tea, and then went into the house.
It's a little late to add more content, why don't you all get up tomorrow morning and read it?
O(∩_∩)O~
Post the draft first!