The crown princess, the whole country mourns, the marriage is forbidden during the national filial piety, the singing is prohibited, the Qinhuai River, which was lively on the summer night in the past, has also stopped the hustle and bustle, and the lotus flowers are lonely and self-appreciating.

Even the business of the rouge shop is light, on this day, the sun is shining, the wild dog is paralyzed in the shade under the eaves and sticking out his tongue to pant, suddenly the dark clouds are pressing the city, the sky is thundering, Song Xiuer, the female boss of Tianxiang Pavilion, saw that the rainstorm was coming, and there was no business, so she simply ordered the new account room to close in advance.

The new recruit is none other than Miss Luan's younger brother Luan Hachiro. Since his sister died in vain, Luan Balang was taken to Jinling incognito by Mao Xiang and protected. Hidden in the city, Luan Balang is here in Song Xiu'er as a bookkeeper to watch the shop, with the protection of the pro-soldier Captain's Mansion, he is still very safe.

Luan Balang was diligent, and soon closed the door and window of the store, and said to the boss Song Xiu'er: "I will go to the warehouse to guard, so as not to leak water in the rainstorm and damage the goods." ”

Song Xiu'er nodded, "The tiles that leaked last time have been replaced with new ones, but it's better to be careful, you can go." ”

Luan Hachiro picked up the account book and abacus, intending to settle the accounts while looking at the warehouse.

Song Xiu'er handed him a set of books, "This is a collection of articles made by all the nominated tribute students in this year's Spring Festival, I heard that it is excellent for the imperial examination, you have to think about it." ”

Luan Balang lowered his head and cleaned up the account book, and said: "Thank you boss, but I don't know if I can save my cheap life, and I have long since extinguished my desire to gain fame, so I won't read this book." ”

Song Xiu'er got angry and said, "What is a cheap life? Your parents gave birth to you and raised you, and you are a cheap life, so what are they? Life is in the world, ups and downs, no matter how ordinary, how can you give up on yourself for a moment of frustration? It's a shame that you're still a reader, you don't understand this truth, and you can't read books into the dog's belly? This book is for you, if you want it, it will look good, if you don't want it, I will tear it up as window paper. ”

This is a set of new vermilion ink overprinted books, ink color printed Gongsheng's articles, Zhu pen is the Jiangnan celebrity to the article annotation and evaluation, exudes a burst of ink fragrance, is a rare rare book.

Literati love books, and when she heard that Song Xiuer was going to tear up the pasted window, Luan Balang instinctively put down the account book, held this set of books in his arms, and said: "I'll look at it well, don't tear it up." ”

After that, Luan Hachiro fled to the warehouse.

As soon as Luan Balang left, Mao Xiao came out of the secret room and said, "Knife mouth, tofu heart, you are still the same." ”

Song Xiu'er turned around, looking at Mao Xiang's pale face and haggard eyes full of red bloodshots, first dumbfounded for a while, and then asked: "You have been busy investigating cases recently, have you never closed your eyes?" ”

Mao Xiang and Song Xiu'er were very familiar with each other, and they were not polite, so they fell on the chaise longue in the store with a plop, closed their eyes and said, "Go next door and order a bowl of wonton noodles for me, and put the red oil chili pepper you made yourself." ”

Song Xiu'er was quick with her hands and feet, and immediately complied, Mao Xiang snorted and gobbled up for a while, then lay back on the chaise longue to rest, closed her eyes and said: "I interrogated Shen Rong for three days and three nights in a row, and his body and consciousness collapsed, so I called a doctor to treat him." ”

Song Xiu'er had a clear grievance, and said: "I forced Miss Luan to death, and I want to set fire to my sister, he deserves to suffer!" ”

Mao Xiang shook his head tiredly, "He had a nervous breakdown and did everything." But for Miss Xu, he only admitted to stalking, not to set fire to the mountain, I think he shouldn't be lying, there are other people who set the fire. ”

Song Xiu'er asked, "What did he recruit?" Except for Shen Rong, who dislikes setting fire to my sister? ”

Mao Xiang closed his eyes and said: "The new and old cases have been merged into our personal military governor's mansion for inquiry, and it is inconvenient to spread them." ”

Song Xiu'er said angrily: "I'm also a member of the Captain's Mansion!" ”

Mao Xiang said: "There is no need to hide other cases from you, except for this case. You and Miss Xu are sworn sisters, if you know, it means that Miss Xu also knows. ”

Song Xiu'er is a straightforward person, and immediately jumped to her feet and said, "What do you mean?" Do you suspect that my sister is a bad person? ”

Mao Xiao opened his eyes and said, "Xiu'er, sooner or later you will understand that people actually do not distinguish between good and evil, good and bad. If people have different positions and interests, there will be estrangement and disagreement, and there is no distinction between good people and bad people. I never think that Miss Xu is a bad person, on the contrary, I admire her for her strong personality, ability and perseverance, and her decency and righteousness, but I am a person from the Governor's Mansion who is pro-soldier, and I only obey the emperor's orders and do the things the emperor explains. Miss Xu affects my work, so she is the opponent I need to guard against. ”

Song Xiu'er said angrily: "You...... You are ruthless! ”

Mao Xiang seemed to have expected it, he spread his hands indifferently, and said: "Look, it's right not to tell you, it's actually protecting you." Once the news leaks, the emperor will blame you, and even I can't protect you. ”

Song Xiu'er knew what was wrong, she knew that Mao Xiang was embarrassed, in fact, it was also to protect herself, she straightened her chest and said: "I'm not afraid, my sister and I are good people, so many winds and waves have survived, and this level will pass." ”

Mao Xiang said: "You believe in Miss Xu too much. In fact, if you think about it carefully, Xu Miaoyi saved you from the beginning, why did she appear so timely? Your father died escorting their mother and son, is it just a coincidence that she saved you? We have created so many coincidences that we never believe in coincidences. I don't think Miss Xu has ever had amnesia, and there are all kinds of indications that since she disappeared when she was a child, she has actually been secretly investigating the truth. ”

Song Xiu'er said: "I'm stupid, I don't have any heart, I don't understand your twists and turns. But I know very well that my sister has never been malicious to me, and without her protection, I would be a prostitute who leans on the door and laughs at the door in Yangzhou. ”

Mao Xiang suddenly stood up from the chaise longue and said, "With me, you will never fall into such an unbearable situation." You believe in her so much, don't you believe me? ”

Song Xiu'er was stunned, as if she was frightened, shook her head slowly, and said, "It's different, you and your sister are different." ”

Seeing a hint of horror flashing in Song Xiu'er's eyes, Mao Xiang was also stunned and said, "I'm sorry, I've been under a lot of pressure recently, I haven't slept for several nights in a row, and I'm out of shape." ”

Song Xiu'er hurriedly said: "It doesn't matter, the king's fate is like a mountain, I know your difficulties, and I won't force you to inquire about the news." I just hope you treat my sister fairly, my sister is so bitter, how sad it should be to see my mother die in front of me and my grandfather's family to be destroyed, even if she lied to me and coaxed me before, I won't mind. ”

Bang!

The lightning flashed and thundered, the rain was pouring down, and the wild dogs that had just taken refuge under the eaves were drenched into soup chickens, shivering in the torrential rain and lightning. Mao Xiang seemed to have a heart, he opened the door, beckoned the wild dog into the house to take shelter from the rain, and also found some snacks to feed the dog.

"My parents died in the war, and I was so hungry that I didn't even have the strength to dig a pit to bury them, so I could only watch their corpses in the wilderness. I followed the hungry people everywhere to beg and wander, and ate the bark and the dirt, and one day, it was also such a rainstorm, and I took shelter from the rain in a ruined temple with the hungry people, and they were all crazy, so they made a fire. ”

Mao Xiang closed his eyes in pain, then opened them, and said lightly: "I am the weakest, so they discussed cutting me down and roasting me to eat." Survival is a human instinct, and I braved the wind and lightning to rush out to escape, thinking that even if I starved to death and froze to death on the road, it was better than being flayed alive. But I was too young and weak to run a few steps before I was caught, and they tied my hands and feet, and just as I was about to do so, a group of Red Turbans marched to the ruined temple, and the man at the head drove away the hungry people and saved me. ”

didn't expect Mao Xiang's experience to be so miserable, Song Xiuer instantly felt that the hardships she suffered by her stepmother in her childhood were nothing, "The leader of the Red Turban Army is the current emperor." ”

Mao Xiang nodded, there was a hint of warmth in his cold eyes, "The emperor saved me, accepted me as a righteous son, taught me to read and write, and learned martial arts, which changed my life from then on." ”

"The grace of a drop of water should be reciprocated by a spring." Song Xiu'er seemed to have an understanding and said: "So the weight of the emperor in your heart is equivalent to my sister's position in my heart." ”

Mao Xiang shook his head and said: "It's not just about repaying the favor, the emperor is to me, a benefactor, a king, and a father, I only obey the emperor's orders, be loyal to the emperor, and put the emperor's interests first, I will never betray the emperor." ”

The wild dog was full of snacks and licked Maoxiang's palm obediently.

Mao Xiao said: "Okay, thank you for your hospitality, I'm going back to continue my errands." ”

Song Xiu'er felt the separation between her and Mao Xiao, and said, "Let's wait for the rain to stop before leaving." ”

Mao Xiang said lightly: "I'm going to Xujiazhan Garden to ask Miss Xu about it." ”

The scene immediately became colder. Song Xiu'er paused and said, "I'm a light-hearted person, I don't have any skills, I can't help my sister, and I can't stop you from investigating the case." If...... I mean, if my sister needs me one day, I'll do whatever it takes to help her. ”

Mao Xiang said: "Just for this sentence, you are not suitable to stay in the Governor's Mansion, we can only be loyal to the emperor." ”

Song Xiu'er asked, "Are you driving me away?" ”

Mao Xiang said: "People's hearts cannot be forced. I understand your feelings for Miss Xu. I hope that Miss Xu will not do anything unfavorable to the emperor, otherwise you will only have to leave the Captain's Mansion. ”

Mao Xiang put on a rainproof coat and hat, and disappeared in the wind and rain without looking back.

Walking to the Qinhuai River, Mao Xiang took out a set of ruby head jewelry he bought from the silver building in Suzhou, Xu Miaoyi said that Song Xiuer liked the jewelry of this silver building the most, but unfortunately there was no silver to buy, he picked out a set of the most exquisite, and wanted to give it to Xiu'er to confess his heart.

Hurriedly returned to Jinling, busy day and night, unable to close his eyes, this set of jewelry has never had a chance to be sent. But now it seems that this set of jewelry can only sleep forever, and the hostess cannot be found.

Do you like Song Xiu'er? Yes.

Can I betray the emperor for her? No, I will always betray my father.

Since the answer is yes, and you can't have both, you can only give up one side.

Mao Xiang walked by the Qinhuai River, watching the torrential rain shoot the river surface out of an egg-sized whirlpool, he took out the ruby head jewelry, wanted to throw it into the river, hesitated several times, his mind was full of Song Xiuer's pure and innocent eyes, he was reluctant after all, and hid the jewelry in his arms.

He walked a few steps, then suddenly stopped again, suddenly took out his jewelry, threw it in the river, and hurried away as if he were fleeing. 166 Reading Network