The ninth day of July is Xue Rui's birthday.

The young masters and ladies of the Xue Mansion have never been extravagant in putting on banquets, even Xue Rui, the eldest son and grandson, is no exception, last year he returned to Beijing and crowned, Xue Lingnan presided over a banquet, this year according to the convention, only three or five tables of good tables were prepared in the mansion, and colleagues and friends were invited.

In the morning, Xue Rui got up, and there was a housekeeper in the hospital with a group of people kowtowing outside the door to say goodbye, and the little maids and maids who got on the table all gave birthday gifts with their own hands, and they were all rare things, all of them were a piece of mind, Xue Rui smiled and accepted it, and let Baode return to the back of the house.

"Has Grandfather come back from the next dynasty?" Xue Rui called the housekeeper who guarded the second gate to ask, Xue Lingnan was ranked first-class, except for the cold and summer holidays, the court had to enter the palace as a counselor, the so-called Son of Heaven and close ministers, it was exactly like this.

"The eldest prince said that the master has not returned to the house yet."

"Go, let people come and see, and my grandfather will pass it on to me when he returns."

Xue Rui stood in the corridor at the door, glanced at the red sun rising in the sky, and thought in his heart:

There is one thing that needs to be clarified today

Xue Lingnan returned home from the palace, and as soon as he changed out of his official uniform, he heard that Xue Rui had come to ask for peace.

"It's Chengbi's birthday, right?" Xue Lingnan turned his head to ask Xu Li.

As the second head of Xue Mansion, Xu Li is Xue Lingnan's right-hand man, Xue Lingnan led troops outside the border in middle age, this Xu Li was a military general under him at that time, and later because of violating military discipline, Xue Lingnan's life was saved, and he failed to continue his career, so he stayed in Xue Mansion.

"I'm not mistaken." Xu Li took the soup tea from the maid's hand and lowered his head to smell the tea. only to give it to Xue Lingnan.

"The subordinates have already prepared a gift, it is a military book that you mentioned last month that you wanted the eldest prince to read, and it was sent to the East Chamber early in the morning."

Xue Lingnan nodded, looked sideways at the white sideburns in the basin mirror, and sighed lightly:

"In the end, I am old, and I am not as energetic as I am every day, and I can't remember things."

Xu Li bowed his head and said: "The master is responsible for state affairs, sharing worries for the saints, and worrying about everything, how can he take everything to heart." ”

Xue Lingnan was noncommittal. After rinsing your mouth. asked people to call Xue Rui to the room.

Xue Rui entered the big room and saw Xue Lingnan sitting on the couch, and greeted him first.

Although the ancestors and grandchildren are in the same house, they do not see each other every day. The second master of the Xue family was at the beginning of his tenure in the military department. Just obey Xue Lingnan's arrangement. moved to Xifu to live, this move is in the eyes of outsiders. It is clear that Xue Lingnan has determined that he will pass on all the family business to Xue Rui in the future.

"Sit down." Xue Lingnan pointed to a chair not far from him.

Not long ago, the two grandparents had a dispute in the study over Xue Jinxun's marriage, but after the incident, they started to be Yan Changshun and young again as if they had nothing to do.

"Today, you are a year older, and you must act more steadily in the future, on the outside, on the inside, you must not insult my Xue family's style."

Xue Lingnan admonished a few words, seeing that Xue Rui listened carefully, and did not show impatience, his expression gradually eased, and said:

"You're in a hurry to come over this morning, what else is there to do besides saying hello?"

Humanity is the father of Mo Ruo, who knows his son, because his son was taught by Lao Tzu, and Xue Rui, who was also raised by Xue Lingnan as a son, how could he escape Xue Lingnan's eyes with his every move.

Xue Rui looked at Xue Lingnan with both eyes and said:

"It's for my marriage."

Xue Lingnan glanced at him, and guessed what she was going to do, so he said: "The young lady of the Earl's Mansion is both talented and beautiful, what do you have to be dissatisfied with?" ”

"It's not that Sun Er is dissatisfied with Miss Rui, but—" Xue Rui turned his head to look at the open door.

Xue Lingnan understood, waved his hand and asked Xu Li to disperse the people outside the door, close the door and wait outside.

There were only two grandchildren left in the house, and Xue Rui slowly spoke:

"Some time ago, I dreamed of the ghost of the Ten Princesses."

Xue Lingnan frowned violently, and said in a deep voice: "How long people have been dead, you still can't forget." Why, do you want to tell the old man that it is her ghost who wants you not to marry a wife? ”

Xue Rui held the armrest, bowed his head and said, "The tenth princess only said that she died unjustly, and asked me to help her find the real culprit." Grandfather also clearly understands that it is impossible for his sister to kill the princess back then, and the murderer is someone else, the picture is the concubine Niangniang and my Xue family, doesn't my grandfather want to know Lu Dao, who is behind the plot? ”

Hearing this, Xue Lingnan was unmoved, and said coldly:

"Time has passed, what are you still doing to pursue these, even if you find the murderer, do you still want to rehabilitate Zhaoxue in front of the Holy Lord?"

Xue Rui looked at Xue Lingnan's expression carefully, and suddenly a touch of self-deprecation appeared on his face:

"It turns out that my grandfather has long known that the whole thing was instigated by King Ning."

He has always wondered why the Xue family suffered such a big loss back then, and Xue Lingnan would be so indifferent, and even acquiesced to Xue Jinxun being the murderer of the tenth princess.

It turned out that he had known the truth for a long time, so he kept silent.

It is no wonder that as soon as he returned to Beijing last year, Xue Lingnan insisted that he break off his righteousness with Liu Hao, and did not hesitate to turn his face, saying that Liu Tan was returning to Beijing, but in fact, he saw Liu Hao's sinister nature and kept him away.

"Is this your claim, or is it the meaning of the Holy One?" Xue Rui asked, thinking in his heart that it was the latter, if the emperor was kept in the dark and did not show it, wouldn't Xue Lingnan just grab this handle and knock Liu Hao down.

But he chose to swallow his anger, nothing more than he had to swallow this breath.

Hearing Xue Rui's two words in succession, Xue Lingnan's expression finally changed a little, he put one hand on his knee, looked at him with his eyes, and said:

"You're so big."

Every time he saw Xue Rui, he remembered the eldest son who died young, sometimes he felt hate, sometimes it was a pity, what he hated was that the child in front of him made his beloved son die, but it was a pity that this witty child was not the blood of his Xue family.

"Tell me, how did you know that Lu Dao was King Ning?"

Xue Rui said: "Grandfather forgot, my sister-in-law Yu Shu is good at using death thaumaturgy." ”

Xue Lingnan looked at him and sat up slightly: "Can the thaumaturgy of breaking death really determine life and death?" ”

He thought it was just an exaggeration of rumors, but the death of the tenth princess was so strange. It's unbelievable.

"It's broken, but I can only calculate an approximation, for example, I can know that the tenth princess committed suicide that day, I can know that she had a personal affair with someone before her death, and I can know that the villain behind her is a man with Xiao Ji, and then I can infer and trace it from it."

Xue Rui didn't want Xue Lingnan to mistakenly think that Yu Shu's death-breaking thaumaturgy was really omnipotent.

Xue Lingnan could see that Xue Rui didn't hide it from him, and a trace of disappointment flashed in his eyes.

After the incident came out that year, the old man used some dark lines to investigate the ten princesses' dealings with people during her lifetime. found that she had a secret relationship with Kong Qi of Wenhua Palace. And that Kong Qi, because of a life lawsuit, was subject to King Ning, so he knew the real murderer. ”

A cold light flashed in Xue Lingnan's eyes. told Xue Rui about this secret.

Xue Rui sighed in his heart: Sure enough, it is still ginger and old spicy. The Xue family has a century-old foundation. has a deep foundation in the DPRK, and even he doesn't know how big the hole cards Xue Lingnan holds in his hand.

But I didn't say anything. Just wait for the saint to fall - you need to know that the princess has an affair with the courtiers, and the prince murders his sister, how can such a scandal see the light. Sure enough, the saint did not intend to pursue the matter, and it was hastily closed. ”

The emperor neither pursued nor severely punished the Xue family, which in the eyes of people at the time, was the grace of the Xue family, who knew that this was the emperor's own weakness.

"So grandfather endured?"

"What if you can't bear it?" Xue Lingnan sneered, "The king is the king, the minister is the minister, the king wants the minister to die, and the minister has to obey, not to mention the black pot for a prince." ”

Xue Rui's face sank like water, although he guessed the truth, it still sounded chilling, and his back was cold.

Everyone envied their Xue family's power, who would have thought that even if Xue Lingnan was as beautiful as the surface, there would be times when he knocked out his teeth and swallowed blood.

At the feet of imperial power, everyone is like an ant.

Xue Lingnan looked at his expression, and felt a little relieved, although Xue Rui was not his own grandson, but this child valued love and righteousness, only with the nurturing grace of the Xue family, one day, he would not do anything sorry for the Xue family.

On the contrary, if Xue Ruisheng had different intentions, he would never tolerate him.

"King Ning has a city in his heart, and he is a person who has achieved great things, and the saint favors him, which shows that he may have the heart of establishing a reserve. However, King Ning is narrow-minded, and once he ascends to the great treasure, it will be the time when my Xue family will be destroyed. ”

Xue Lingnan lowered his voice, his eyes were spicy:

"At this point, it is necessary to prevent the Holy God from appointing him as a prince."

Xue Rui thought that if the Xue family wanted to live, King Ning could not be the king.

"It's just that King Jing is not familiar with his mind, and he is still young, and he is very lacking compared to the full-fledged King Ning, so it is difficult to make the saint change his mind."

Hearing this, Xue Lingnan restrained his complexion, patted his knee with one hand, and said to him:

"The old man knows in his heart, with my old bones, it's not your turn to worry about it."

"Yes."

"Okay, this matter is over, don't mention it again," Xue Lingnan changed his words:

"As for your marriage with the Earl's Palace, you have to use the death of the tenth princess as a prevarication and give a legitimate reason, I may consider it separately, otherwise, the marriage with the Earl's Court is not negotiable."

Xue Rui struggled for a moment, sighed secretly, stood up, and said softly:

"Maybe my grandfather sounds ridiculous, but my grandson already has someone he likes, and she won't marry in this life."

Xue Lingnan squinted his eyes with a "whoosh", and his voice was a little cold: "The person you said you liked, but the so-called righteous sister?" ”

Xue Rui's face was stunned, he looked at him with some astonishment, and said:

"How could my grandfather think that the person I am talking about is not a righteous sister."

Xue Lingnan stared at him and said, "Who is that?" ”

Xue Rui lowered his eyes and hesitated for a moment before he said cautiously:

"It's the sister of Jiang Huaiying, the king of Dongjing, and the county lord Jiang Huan."

This time, Xue Lingnan was surprised, "King Dongjing? What's going on, when did you recognize Jiang Huaiying's sister? ”

"I have been away from Beijing for three years, and I have been in the Northeast for two years, because I have befriended the king of Dongjing, Jiang Huan is the daughter of a military general, she is hearty and informal, plus she has saved her grandson's life, and she is kind and affectionate, I will not let her down."

Xue Rui looked directly at Xue Lingnan, his eyes were stubborn, sincere, and there was no flaw. (To be continued......)