Xiao Rui avoided the others and walked into his yard, but unexpectedly found that his father Xiao Mingde was sitting in the middle of the courtyard, with a straight face, obviously waiting for him to come back.

Xiao Rui stopped, bowed his head and walked forward to greet him.

Xiao Mingde glanced at him: "Follow me into the house." Then he got up and walked into the house.

Xiao Rui looked at his face, guessed what he was looking for himself this time, and obediently followed into the house.

Xiao Mingde sat down at the table, motioned for him to sit down on the chair opposite, and asked him, "You came back from outside late last night, right?" I usually only ask you about your whereabouts outside, but it's too unreasonable to come home so late. Where the hell did you go yesterday? Isn't it fooling around somewhere?! ”

Xiao Rui paused for a moment, and then replied in a calm tone: "Back to my father's words, my son went to Lion Rock yesterday." The aunt told her son to go to Jinghai Temple to pray for the deceased, and the son went to take a trip. ”

As soon as he heard the word "old man", Xiao Mingde's nose suddenly became sour. He felt a little uncomfortable in his heart, so he took two deep breaths before he calmed down and lowered his voice: "It's not that there is no arrangement at home, why did your aunt let you run so far?" ”

Xiao Rui glanced up at Xiao Mingde, lowered his eyes again, and did not answer.

Isn't the reason obvious? Naturally, because the "old man" was buried on the Lion Rock, the ceremony arranged by Xiao Mingde's wife Lu at home was just a small ritual held in an inconspicuous small nunnery on the outskirts of the city, which was just a fictional story.

Lu Shi did this, naturally there were a thousand or ten thousand reasons to do so. But in the minds of Xiao Rui and his aunt, this is far from enough, so they would rather be absent from the ceremony at home and go far to the Lion Rock to pay respects. There happens to be a ritual in Jinghai Temple, and they pray for the deceased through the ritual ceremony, isn't it more attentive than the arrangement at home?

Xiao Mingde knew what his wife had done, but he had nothing but to sigh. Lu Shi was very disgusted with what his deceased eldest sister had done, so he almost said that he was ashamed of her. He didn't dare to expect his wife to be of the same mind as himself, as long as she could maintain the etiquette on her face, don't really let his sister be desolate behind her, and even the incense was broken, it was enough.

Xiao Mingde didn't want to continue the topic, so he brought up another thing: "I heard that King Yan secretly returned to the capital again?" Did you see him on the mountain yesterday? ”

Xiao Rui replied expressionlessly: "I met in front of my aunt's grave and said a few words." It seems that he has returned to the capital for the sake of military rations and military supplies, and he will return to Beiping in a few days, but because he does not want the officials of the DPRK and China to know what he has to say, he has never made a noise. ”

Xiao Mingde sighed again: "Can the emperor still lack his military rations and military resources?" No one will be without him. This is clearly an excuse for him to return to Beijing...... Well, I don't want to say much about their brothers. ”

He looked up at his second son: "It's you, you met King Yan in front of your eldest aunt's grave, just say hello, don't make friends with him if you have nothing to do." Don't listen to what your aunt and cousin say. The entanglements of those dragons and phoenixes, and the calculations of fighting for power and profit, have nothing to do with you, so don't get involved. ”

Xiao Rui was stunned for a moment, looked at his father, and replied slowly: "Yes, my son understands." ”

Xiao Mingde paused again, and then continued: "Today I heard that King Yan asked the emperor for a person, who was to be sent to Beiping to send the political envoy to Xie. I remember...... You also saw this person when you were on an errand in Dali Temple before, right? ”

Xiao Rui continued to answer expressionlessly: "I have met a few times, and I have spoken a few words to him." This person is not bad, he is also talented, and it is extremely rare to be a magistrate, but unfortunately he was unlucky and was targeted by the Cao family. ”

Xiao Mingde sneered: "Do you know what bad luck is? If you want to get ahead in officialdom, you naturally have to pay some price. Since he chose to become the son-in-law of the Cao family back then, he has nothing to complain about if he suffers any hardships today. In the officialdom, there are many people like him, but there are really not many who are more fortunate than him. If he was really unlucky, he would not even be able to save his life a long time ago, and his reputation would be ruined. But not only did he get out unharmed, but the family was not harmed, but only lost some foreign possessions. Do you know how many officials are looking forward to good luck like him?! ”

Xiao Rui was silent.

Xiao Mingde didn't want to get any response from his second son, so he continued: "King Yan didn't know Xie Pu before, but when he was young, he almost married the Cao family. The two of them have neither friendship nor contact, how did King Yan think of asking the emperor for someone? When you met King Yan in Lion Rock yesterday, did you hear what he said? ”

Xiao Rui shook his head: "My son has never heard His Royal Highness King Yan mention Lord Xie. However, Lord Xie's case is well known in Beijing for most of the month, and gossip is flying all over the sky. No matter how deep and simple His Royal Highness King Yan is, it is impossible not to hear about it. Maybe he took a fancy to Master Xie's talent? There is indeed a shortage of people in Beiping. If Master Xie can go there, he will also have a good opportunity to display his talents. ”

Xiao Mingde glanced at his son thoughtfully: "You still seem to have a lot of respect for Xie Pu?" Didn't he just stay in Dali Temple for about 20 days? You are an official in the yamen, how many times can you see him? How do you know that he is really talented? ”

Up and down Dali Temple, I'm afraid that there are few people who don't know, right?

Xiao Rui didn't say much, lowered his head and said: "There are also Kaizhou people in Dali Temple, my son listened to them, Lord Xie has served as the prefect of Kaizhou for three years, and the Kaizhou Mansion has changed." If you are not really talented, how can you get to this point? ”

Xiao Mingde sneered: "It sounds like he does have some talent, otherwise he wouldn't have both good luck and a good reputation, and even hearsay strangers would have said good things for him." ”

Xiao Mingde didn't have any prejudice against Xie Pu, the other party was just a stranger to him, and he was habitually open to everything related to the Cao family. In the court and in the army, Xiao Mingde, the general of the Zhu State, was notoriously incompatible with the temperament of Chengenhou.

He said to his son: "I don't know where His Royal Highness King Yan heard about Xie Pu, since he does have some talents, as long as he can help His Royal Highness King Yan, I will not be too lazy to meddle." I only hope that Xie Pu and the Cao family are really broken, if he repairs the plank road in the open, secretly crosses Chencang, breaks the connection with the Cao family, and affects the military affairs of Beiping, I will never sit idly by! ”

Xiao Rui replied calmly. On the surface, this matter has nothing to do with him, and he doesn't need to express anything.

Anyway, he knew in his heart what was going on.

After Xiao Mingde finished speaking, he taught his son a lesson: "Don't be idle all day long, and go to Dali Temple to do an official errand." My son Xiao Mingde actually went to work as an errand soldier, and he really lost my face! If you want to find a serious mission, I will recommend you to Jinshanwei. The commander there is my old department, and he will be able to train you with all his heart. If you are bored with life in Beijing and go to Jinshanwei, you can also breathe a sigh of relief. ”

Speaking of this, he repeated what he had said before: "I know that you have some dealings with the three princes, but you can't do what they can do!" You are different from the Three Princes! You know what? It's not the same!

"Our Xiao family doesn't expect to fight for any power or profit. Don't listen to the instigation of your little aunt and the third prince and get involved in the mess in the palace. Even if they really get any benefits, can it still be your turn? But once something happens, how many lives do you have to pay?!

"Pack your bags as soon as possible, and I'll have someone take you to Jinshanwei in a few days." Those fox friends and dog friends in Beijing, you have cut them all off for me! In the future, you are not allowed to communicate with them again without my permission, or I will discount your legs, do you hear?! ”