The news soon reached Xu Lingyi's ears.

He was secretly surprised.

Although my son is young, he has practiced both internal and external cultivation. Three or five ordinary people can hardly get close to him. How could he be beaten by street thugs? Moreover, those street thugs are the most discerning. Seeing that he is dressed in extraordinary clothes and has guards, how could they just attack him casually? Or was it that Brother Jin was arrogant and 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?"

Deng Hua 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. The Second Young Master didn't have a good place, so he brought them back!"

Xu Lingyi was silent for a moment, then ordered Denghua, "Where are the singing father and daughter? Bring them here for me to see!"

Denghua went to the group room and called the father and daughter who were singing over.

The father was only about thirty years old, with delicate features. Although his face was pale and skinny, he had a hint of pride in his brows. In the middle of winter, he wore an autumn jacket and carried a pipa on his back. He stood there straight, not like a street singer, but like a scholar. The daughter was about twelve or thirteen years old, following closely behind her father, lowering her head, trembling, and looking very scared.

"Raise your head and speak!" Xu Lingyi's voice was neither loud nor low, with a faint sound of thunder. The daughter raised her head in panic.

The father and daughter had similar facial features. The daughter had a very pale face, and her eyes were as clear as 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 that it is a disgrace to our ancestors. I dare not mention our names." The father seemed neither humble nor arrogant, but his voice was trembling, revealing his fear.

Xu Lingyi asked, "From the tone of your voice, you are still a scholar?"

The father said nothing, lowered his head, and looked 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 couldn't find my relatives, and I had no money, so I had to sing for a living." The father said, his face flushed, "The gang insisted that my daughter sing, but she couldn't sing, so they wanted her to accompany drinking. After all, I am an educated person, and letting my daughter show her face is already a last resort, how can I let her accompany drinking?" As he said this, his eyes showed anger, and the daughter's eyes were even more tearful, "There was a dispute..."

"Madam Tai gave you some silver as travel expenses." Xu Lingyi did not ask any more questions. "Go with Denghua to collect it and take your daughter back home!"

The father's face was full of surprise.

"Daddy, then, can we go home now?" the daughter asked her father excitedly.

The father seemed to be overwhelmed by the great joy. He came to his senses after a while and nodded to his daughter: "We can go back!" Then he bowed to Xu Lingyi and said, "I am grateful for your kindness."

From the beginning to the end, he maintained a dignity that was strong on the outside but weak on the inside.

The father and daughter retreated along with the lantern.

Xu Lingyi called Chief Butler Bai in and said, "Go check who were the people who fought with Brother Jin?"

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 carefully, "He made great contributions to the dredging of the Huitong River, and the emperor specially appointed his son as the deputy commander. Chen Ji was ordered to come to the capital to express his gratitude."

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!"

Butler Bai did not retreat immediately as usual, but looked hesitant and wavering.

"What else do you have to say?" Xu Lingyi asked with a smile.

Chief Steward Bai hesitated for a while and whispered, "My Lord, do you think we should say hello to the people in Shuntian Prefecture? Although the Sixth Young Master has a somewhat reckless temper, anyone who sees such a thing would probably be filled with righteous indignation. After all, it was a good thing..."

Xu Lingyi did not express his opinion, but suddenly said: "After the New Year, the chief manager of Shanxi will be 63 years old. He mentioned the issue of retirement this year. I think you should discuss it with Zhun Ge'er and decide on a few candidates for me to review. The person for the chief manager 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 right away."

Xu Lingyi said nothing.

After Manager Bai left, he stood by the window with his hands behind his back, looking at the snow for a long time before returning to the main house.

"Where's brother Jin?" Xu Lingyi asked his son as he sat down.

Eleventh Lady took the hot tea from the maid and placed it next to Xu Lingyi: "He said he was afraid that someone would cause trouble for the singing father and daughter, so he wanted 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, after saving someone, he would most likely leave money behind and let the servants deal with the aftermath. But this time, he had no place to take the singing father and daughter back to the mansion." She shook her head, "No matter how I think about it, I don't think that's his style. And Yu'er. He has always been steady, but on the first day he came back, he knew that the lady would hold a banquet to welcome him, but he didn't come back all night for his classmates..." As she spoke, she looked at Xu Lingyi with some concern, "My Lord, do you think there is something strange about this?"

"It's New Year's Day, the kids are back, it's a rare family reunion, don't think too much." Xu Lingyi said with a smile, "Go change your clothes, we're going to eat at mom's."

Am I 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 Jing'er, everyone was present.

"We told these two children to come back earlier, why haven't they come back yet?" the lady muttered.

"Grandmother, my sixth brother is afraid that the other party will not give up." No one said anything. Xu Sijie, who was usually quiet, suddenly laughed and said, "You must finish what you start. My sixth brother is also doing a good thing to the end. As for my second brother, it's almost the New Year, and his classmates 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 Sijie.

The lady nodded: "That's what you said!"

Yingniang saw Xu Lingyi look at Xu Sijie sharply.

Her heart was pounding.

Could it be that my father-in-law has figured out something?

"Grandma," she hurriedly came up to the old lady, "last time you said you wanted to embroider a glasses bag. I made a green one with twined flowers and a bright red one with broken branches. 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 say a few words of praise, Xu Siyu and Jing'er walked in one after another.

The lady immediately put the matter of the glasses bag behind her mind, and hurriedly called the two people over. She held Jin Ge'er's hand and said, "Did you send the person away? Is he cold?" Then she asked Xu Siyu, "Have you finished your business?"

The two answered in unison, one answered "the person has been sent away" and the other answered "the job is done."

Xu Lingyi stood up and said, "Let's eat!" Then he stepped forward and supported the lady.

Everyone gathered around the two and went to the east room.

Xu Sizhun pulled Xu Sijie aside and asked him in a low voice, "What happened? Why are you covering up for your second and sixth brothers?"

"I'll tell you later!" Xu Sijie answered quickly.

Xu Sizhun did not ask any more questions. After dinner, everyone went to the west room to drink tea. Xu Sizhun and Xu Sijie were the last ones to arrive at the room.

"I can't tell Fourth Brother now." Xu Sijie whispered, "I'll tell you after I ask Second Brother and Sixth Brother. If they agree!"

Xu Sijie never criticized others behind their backs and was always sincere and trustworthy. Xu Sizhun admired this point of Xu Sijie.

"Okay!" He didn't ask any more questions. While everyone was talking about how to celebrate the New Year this year, he kept paying attention to Xu Siyu and Jing'er.

After half a cup of tea, Xu Siyu got up and went to the bathroom. After a while, Jing'er also followed him out.

"How is it?" Xu Siyu was waiting for Jing'er at the corner next to the ear room. "What did Fifth Uncle say?"

"Uncle Wu laughed at me." Jing'er was a little embarrassed. "He said there was no need to go through so much trouble. If the people from Shuntian Prefecture couldn't find out, it would be fine. If they did, and no innocent people were hurt, they couldn't afford to offend the two families, so they had to pretend to be deaf and dumb. There was no need for us to look for anyone. Not only would it alert the enemy, but it would also weaken their momentum. He told us to just leave it alone and do what we need to do. We'll deal with it when something goes wrong!"

Xu Siyu couldn't help scratching his head: "This is too passive! Now we are in the dark and they are in the light. We have all the advantages. We can't let them get to the door like this."

"I think so too!" Jing'er whispered to Xu Siyu, "I will have someone tell that little eunuch tomorrow to ask the princess to summon me to the palace. I have been helping the princess to look for a man these past few days, so it's time to go to the palace and tell her the result of the match."

"That's right, that's right." Xu Siyu smiled, "Just say that you were beaten by Chen Ji and left with visible injuries. Although you found an excuse to make it go away, I'm afraid you won't be able to go out as freely as you do now. The eldest princess will definitely ask you what happened, just tell her the truth." He added, "It's best to tell Prince Yong about the nephew of the Minister of Rites. Prince Yong's intervention is much better than your petty fuss."

Jing'er nodded.

Seeing that Jing'er no longer insisted on helping the eldest princess, Xu Siyu breathed a sigh of relief.

Jing'er asked Xu Siyu: "Will the singing father and daughter be exposed?"

"No!" Seeing that Jing'er agreed, Xu Siyu breathed a sigh of relief, "What happened to them is true, but the person who saved them has changed from Fang Ji to you. Don't worry!"

Seeing that the problem was solved, Jing'er showed a look of joy between his brows.

"Second brother, you should go back first! We are missing two people at once, and we need to be careful not to let them figure out what's going on!"

"Okay, you should go inside early too, it's too cold outside."

Jing'er nodded, stood outside for half a cup of tea, and then went into the house.

※

The update is a bit late, why don’t you all get up tomorrow morning and read it?

O(∩_∩)O~

Post the draft first!