Xue Rui had a calm face, walked briskly all the way, and went straight from the gate of the Prime Minister's Mansion to the backyard.

Xue Lingnan was in the study to report on the affairs of the house, when he heard the little servant reporting outside the door, he turned his head to look at the figure outside the window, gave instructions in two short sentences, and asked the people in the house to go out, and Xue Rui then walked in from outside the door.

"Grandfather."

Xue Lingnan raised his hand and motioned for his subordinates to close the door, and looked back at him:

"At this hour, you are not on an errand in Dali Temple, what are you doing when you come back."

Xue Rui said expressionlessly: "I heard that you have set a marriage for Jin Xun, and the other party is the little son of General Zhou's mansion commanded by Jin Wuwei, is it true?" ”

Xue Lingnan folded his hands in front of his chest, and was not displeased by his sudden questioning, and nodded:

"It's true, General Zhou mentioned it to me last year, I see that Jinxun is also older, so I agreed to this family, a few days ago, the matchmaker came to the door, you are handling a case in another county, so I didn't let anyone send you news."

Xue Rui's face did not improve, this was clearly a pretext, he had not heard the old man mention his sister's marriage in the past few days, and even none of the people in the family came to him to say anything, obviously deliberately hiding it from him.

"This family business is not proper, please grandfather think twice."

Xue Rui has never talked back to Xue Lingnan, let alone when he did it against him, the rebellion and unruliness of his youth were squandered as early as three years ago, and now he knows how to advance and retreat, even if he is picky Xue Xiangguo, he rarely says that he is wrong.

In the face of Xue Rui's opposition, Xue Lingnan's eyelids did not blink: "The marriage between the two families has been decided, so we can't give up halfway." ”

Xue Rui secretly clenched his fists. Holding back his anger, he whispered:

"General Zhou's youngest son, Zhou Ni, is twenty years old this year, the same age as me, but all day long with An Ling's unlearned and unskilled gentlemen, last year he received an errand in the Criminal Department, at the end of February, he was dismissed and investigated because he was drunk and beat a prisoner to death, and last month he was still fighting with people in the Qinglou Chu Pavilion for prostitutes, and he fought hard. Such acts of character. Do you want to marry Jin Xun? ”

Zhou Yede is a military general of the second rank of the dynasty, and he was a confidant when he was still a prince, and he was deeply used when he became the queen of the country. Later, he handed over the command of the Jinwu Guard, which was guarding the Anling Fortress, to him. This term is seven years.

On the big family. Even if the Zhou family is not as good as the Xue family, it is not inferior to others, but when it comes to children and grandchildren. Zhou Yede's son Zhou Ni is really a bastard.

So as soon as Xue Rui heard about this, he immediately ran home, trying to persuade Xue Lingnan to change his mind.

Half of Jin Xun's life has been ruined by him, and he will never allow that other half to be ruined as well.

"The old man knows what you said," Xue Lingnan was calm, "But have you ever thought that with Jinxun's reputation, if it weren't for my old face, how many good people would dare to ask her to be her daughter-in-law." ”

Three years have passed, but when it comes to the third lady of the Xue family, anyone has to shake their heads, after all, it is the princess born to the queen mother who died.

"Don't worry, that little boy Zhou's temperament was a little arrogant, but I had a word with Zhou Yede first, and their family didn't dare to bully my granddaughter."

After listening to his words, instead of calming down, Xue Rui's face became more and more gloomy, and he blurted out:

"Is my grandfather thinking about my sister, or is he interested in the military power in the hands of the Zhou family."

The room was quiet for a moment before I heard a sneer:

"You think about her, how did you ignore me all over the house for the sake of a little children's personal affection. Jin Xun fell to this step of the field, wasn't she affected by you? ”

Xue Rui stiffened his back, slowly raised his head, and looked at Xue Lingnan's aging face, what remained unchanged was his majesty.

When he was a teenager, he took it for granted that his grandfather was strict and harsh to him, and he also took it for granted that Zhuo Ran, who was the eldest son of the Xue family.

However, when such an unbearable truth was exposed, he realized that what he thought he had was never what he deserved.

After he returned to Beijing last year, his grandparents and grandchildren have been avoiding talking about something, as if it had never happened, but Xue Rui knew that he would have to face it sooner or later.

"It's me who has failed the nurturing grace of the Xue family, I will bear the wrong things, I just ask you not to involve Jinxun, after all, she is the only blood left by my father."

Xue Rui lowered his head and knelt in front of Xue Lingnan, unable to see his expression clearly.

Three years ago, it was here that he knelt in front of the old man and confessed his mistakes, repenting that he should not have done it - because he insisted on going his own way, his sister became the murderer of the princess, his mother was terminally ill, his aunt lost the dragon fetus in her arms, and the prince's cousin stayed in the mountains for three more years.

And then, in response to him, it was not the grandfather's understanding, nor the lesson, but the bloody puncture:

'Just because you are such a bane of unknown origin, poor my son lost his life early, I knew that you would still affect my family today, and the old man should have ended you with his own hands! ’

This sentence caused him to leave Anling.

"You're going to take it? What can you bear," Xue Lingnan saw that the layer of window paper between the two of them was punctured, and he no longer concealed the hatred in his eyes:

"Everything you have, whether it is status or Saint Longen, is given to you by the Xue family. Jin Xun is my own granddaughter, don't I feel sorry for her, but she doesn't settle down as soon as possible at this time, but it won't be long before the saint will find an opportunity to give her a name and marry her to the northeast to appease King Dongjing, isn't it more sinister than in the capital. ”

Xue Rui was stunned, he never expected Xue Lingnan to be in a hurry to find an engagement for Xue Jin, and for this reason.

"Isn't the emperor going to marry the county lord of Xiwen?"

Xue Lingnan sneered:

"You have only been walking in front of the emperor for a few days, do you think you understand the holy will, the saint said that he was going to marry the lord of Xiwen far away, and let go of the wind, but it was just to test whether the king of Xiang had the heart of disobedience, where would he really send the beloved daughter of the king of Xiang as a hostage, and the saint already had a substitute in his heart, and your sister was among them. What you said is right, the old man values the military power in Zhou Yede's hands, but if it wasn't for Jin Xun's catastrophe, why should I be in a hurry to plan for her. ”

Looking at the young man kneeling on the ground, he vaguely seemed to have returned to many years ago, the child who knew that Lu Dao would be severely punished, but still secretly ran to the east chamber behind his back to see his mother's child, and it was the same, he would rather kneel for him, but not for himself.

"Chengbi, Chengbi, I have personally raised you for so many years, watching you grow up, do you know where you are the most unsuccessful?"

Xue Rui pursed his lips tightly and didn't say a word.

"Those who achieve great things must be thick and thin-hearted, you have too many distracting thoughts in your heart, and you are thicker."

Xue Lingnan said coldly.

"Get up, Jinxun's marriage doesn't allow you to do more. If you have time, go to visit King Jing more, what to say and what to do, you don't need me to talk about it, you have to remember that your life is my son's life in exchange, as long as you are still the eldest son of my Xue family, don't forget who you are for a day. ”

Xue Rui stood up silently, with a dark expression, and walked out.

Xue Lingnan didn't look at him again, picked up the half-annotated official document on the table, and read it line by line

Xue Rui walked out of the upper courtyard and walked aimlessly for a while, and before he knew it, he came to the door of Xue Jinxun's small courtyard.

He stopped, looked at the courtyard door, which was also closed during the day, and waited outside for a while before he had the courage to push the door in.

Unexpectedly, he went into the yard and saw his sister, who usually stayed at home, sitting under the tree doing needlework, instead of hiding in the house in a daze.

"Jin Xun."

Xue Jinxun looked up and saw others, a little smile appeared on his timid face, and although his voice was small, it still reached Xue Rui's ears:

"Brother, why are you here?"

Clearly feeling that she was a little more cheerful than before, Xue Rui swept away the clouds in his heart, walked over and stood beside her, looked down at the needle and thread in her hand, it was a plain and pure square scarf, and asked softly:

"Who is this embroidered for?"

Xue Jinxun replied very honestly and softly: "It's a birthday gift for my brother." ”

The maid who served tea on the side said quickly: "Miss embroidered a total of eight handkerchiefs for the four seasons, which are used by the eldest prince for a whole year, and it doesn't fit your eyes if you don't knock it at night these days." The eldest prince will talk about our young lady, this is the last one, and I have time to finish the embroidery, so go to bed early today. ”

Hearing that the maid was complaining, Xue Jinxun's face turned red, and she shrank her head embarrassedly, afraid that Xue Rui would blame her, but she didn't blame the maid around her for being too talkative.

The subordinates around her were all changed after Xue Rui returned to Beijing last year, one is more clever than the other, and he is capable, although he loves to take care of this and that, but she knows that these are all for her good.

Unlike those slaves and maids in the past, they always spoke ill of her behind her back, and relied on her to speak badly, so they were lazy and slippery.

Xue Rui looked at her quiet and well-behaved appearance, a touch of regret flashed in his eyes, touched the top of her head, and said:

"My sister is older, I still remember that when you were a child, you walked unsteadily, and you always bumped and cried at me, who knew that so soon, you would reach the age of getting married."

Xue Jinxun's face was a little dazed, and he didn't quite understand what Xue Rui meant by this.

Xue Rui didn't expect her to respond, as if talking to himself:

"Once my daughter's family gets married, it will be a new life, how can my brother see you suffering, I want to help you find a different man and take care of you, otherwise, you might as well not marry anyone, I can't take care of you for a lifetime, I will find you a good sister-in-law in the future, one day, you will get better."

Xue Jinxun craned his neck, he could only see Xue Rui's chin, and he couldn't see the expression on his face, because he couldn't understand too complicated words, he tugged at his sleeve with some anxiety, and whispered:

"Brother, what did you say?"

Xue Rui retracted his thoughts of walking away, lowered his head, and smiled at her:

"I'm free tomorrow, I'll take you out and go to Sister Yu to play, okay?"

Xue Jinxun's stunned eyes lit up, and he nodded slightly, afraid that Xue Rui wouldn't see it, and whispered:

"Okay." (To be continued......) (To be continued......)