Xie Mulin struggled to maintain a calm expression and faced his eldest brother Xie Xianzhi, his mind spinning rapidly, trying to come up with a reasonable reason to prevaricate the issue.

But she couldn't think of any suitable reason in a hurry, unless she was willing to reveal to her eldest brother that she had a private relationship with Xiao Rui. Then it is bound to expose Xiao Rui's ulterior thoughts.

Is Big Brother really not going to get angry?

Xie Mulin was hesitating, but Xie Xianzhi kept staring at her: "You are a girl who has not been out of the cabinet, and you don't have much contact with Xiao Rui." Since he has the heart to tell us the news from Beiping, he should write to me. I had several dealings with him when I was in Huyin, and although I was not as familiar with him as my third brother, I still exchanged letters. Why did he write a letter to your second sister? ”

Xie Mulin gritted his teeth and simply turned his heart sideways: "Big brother, don't you remember?" Soon after I arrived in the capital, I met Xiao Rui once, and I heard the news of the Cao family and the two mansions from him. I know that he is going to be transferred to the northern border, and I wish him all the best for the rest of the journey. He was probably grateful for my blessings, so he sent me a letter as soon as he found out about Daddy's attack, right? I remember mentioning this to my eldest brother, have you forgotten? ”

Xie Xianzhi frowned and was silent. He remembered that his second sister Xie Mulin seemed to have indeed mentioned that he had met Xiao Rui outside, and learned the news that he was going north, and said that Xiao Rui was going to invite him to drink candied wine, but he felt that he and Xiao Rui were not all the way, so he ignored it. But at that time, the second sister spoke plainly, and it didn't seem that she had any friendship with Xiao Rui, why did she even communicate with letters now?

Xie Mulin didn't wait for him to think about it, and continued: "He knew at that time that I and the eldest brother and you entered Beijing, and the second brother and the third brother were not in the capital, but he didn't know you very well, probably because he felt that he didn't agree with you and was a little estranged, so he simply wrote to me directly." Anyway, the person who sent the letter is his confidant, and he is not worried that the news will leak or anything, which will affect my reputation, so what is there to avoid? ”

She showed a smile, stepped forward to hold Xie Xianzhi's hand, and said, "Big brother, don't worry about it so much." Dad had an accident in Beiping, and Xiao Rui also heard the news by chance, so he sent someone to send a letter to inform me. How important is this, aren't you glad and happy that Xiao Rui wrote a letter, but only stared at him to write a letter to me, is it in line with etiquette? If he was concerned about etiquette, he didn't send me the letter, but directly sent the letter to the third brother he was most familiar with. Then wait for the third brother to know the news after receiving the letter in Huyin, and then send someone to deliver the letter to us, how troublesome it is! The three of us brothers and sisters are in Beijing, just knowing that my father had an accident, but I don't know his specific injury, how long do we have to worry?! ”

It sounds reasonable, but Xie Xianzhi is still a little vigilant: "This time it's a serious matter, that's it." I'll write this letter. I have to thank him for his kindness, but there should be no more correspondence between you and him, privately. ”

Xie Mulin opened his mouth to dismiss it, but he felt that there was no need to quarrel with his eldest brother about this kind of thing. When she was in the capital, she could ask Gu Niangzi to help deliver the letter, and when she returned to Huyin, there was also the third brother Xie Huizhi who could help. Isn't the shop that Xiao Rui opened in Huyin County a very convenient contact point? It's a big deal to ask Xie Huizhi to help her cover up when the time comes, so that her letter will be sent to the north with his name.

Besides, it won't be long before she will go to Beiping with her mother Wen to meet her father Xie Pu. When the time comes, it shouldn't be difficult to find another way to contact, and there is no need to ask the eldest brother Xie Xianzhi to know.

So she smiled and vaguely brought the topic: "The eldest brother is really strict now, and he is getting more and more like an eldest brother!" ”

Xie Yinghui sneered beside her: "My brother just loves to worry about it now, but whenever he encounters something serious, he is always in a hurry, and he often has to count on his second sister to help him get ideas." You can show the majesty of your eldest brother on these trivial things. ”

Although she doesn't look down on Xie Xianzhi's style, she doesn't agree with the second sister Xie Mulin's correspondence with Xiao Rui: "Although General Zhuguo is the emperor's confidant, his wife and children are all biased towards Xiao Guifei and the third prince. This Xiao Rui is even more small and loyal to the third prince, and he is also a famous gentleman. The second sister still pays little attention to him, their family may not be a good person! ”

Xie Mulin laughed dryly, because of the suspicion of communicating with Xiao Rui privately, it was inconvenient for her to defend him.

This time, Xie Xianzhi said fairly: "Xiao Rui is not a gentleman who does not learn and has no skills as rumored, and he often mixes with the gentlemen, and he has to do it as a last resort. The three princes did not treat him sincerely, and he was not a die-hard loyalist of the three princes, and now he would rather go to the northern border towns to seek military merits than stay in the capital to be the arms of the three princes. He is still a good person, but he has pretended to be a gentleman for many years, and his words and actions are inevitably a little frivolous, and his character is still trustworthy. If it weren't for my disagreement with him, I would have been willing to make friends with him. The third brother had more contact with him, and I didn't stop him. ”

Xie Yinghui was a little surprised when she heard this, and then smiled: "Since my brother thinks he is a good person, why did he stop the second girl from communicating with him?" As long as it doesn't leak out, it's not a big deal. Others are thousands of miles away, can they still hurt the second girl? ”

Xie Xianzhi glanced at his sister helplessly, and really didn't know how to reason with her. Thinking that Xie Yinghui and Cao Wenheng were also childhood sweethearts, and she fell in love with her cousin early, and almost broke off the relationship with her family, he knew that there was no way to convince his sister from the differences between men and women, etiquette and rules, etc., so he could only vaguely say: "It is not a good reputation to let people know that the second sister communicates with a foreign man." As an elder brother, how can I not think about my sister? ”

Xie Yinghui pouted and said, "This doesn't sound like a good thing. You might as well say it directly, our family doesn't deal with the three princes, and it's better to stay away from the people in the General Mansion of the Pillar Kingdom. At least the second girl may still be concerned about her father's position and stay away from that Xiao Rui. However, Xiao Rui is just a concubine who is not valued, and now he has left the capital directly, even if our younger brothers and sisters have dealings with him, there is nothing taboo or taboo. Brother, you just love to worry about it! ”

Although Xie Yinghui is completely estranged from the Cao family, she has long been accustomed to leaning towards the prince of the East Palace, and she really has no good impression of the third prince, who used to be friendly with the prince and showed a "second or five boy" tendency as he gets older, so he still lists him as a refusal to come and go.

Xie Mulin was listening to the two brothers and sisters who seemed to be arguing again, and in order to prevent them from continuing to stare at Xiao Rui's affairs, she quickly changed the topic: "Stop arguing." I still think it's better to go to Luorong Lane to say hello to Shopkeeper Mao in person. He's been really busy lately, and if he asks him to come over and talk, he may not be able to make time, and he will delay his business, so why bother? It was also convenient for me to walk, and I was back in less than two hours. After saying that, he immediately went out and went back to his room to change his clothes.

Xie Yinghui hurriedly left her brother and chased after her: "Second girl, what are you anxious about?" Haven't you eaten lunch? It's almost time for dinner. ”

Where did Xie Mulin dare to eat lunch? What if at the dinner table, Xie Xianzhi asked Xiao Rui again, what should I do?

She could only smile dryly and wave her hand, while quickly rushing back to the room: "No, no, no, it's important." I have to hurry up and ask Shopkeeper Mao to book a boat to the north, and I can't delay for a moment! ”