After exiting from the head of the family's study, Xi Yan strolled alone on the way back to the Begonia Courtyard.

On Chinese New Year's Eve, although there is no bright moon, the Xi Mansion is full of red lanterns. At this time, the lamps all emitted a hazy brilliance. Although it is extremely beautiful, I feel that the huge Xi Mansion is even more deserted. The maids and servants were rarely allowed to drink in the house, and only a few guards kept patrolling the house at night.

Xi Yan walked on the road alone, and as soon as the cold wind blew, the originally weak alcohol suddenly became a little more sober.

In a trance, Xi Yan seemed to catch a glimpse of a figure flashing in the dark. Before he could fix his gaze, the figure retreated into the darkness again.

There are thieves!

As soon as Xi Yan was excited, he quickly chased after him. Unexpectedly, that man's skills were also extremely athletic, and seeing that Xi Yan was about to catch up with him, he accelerated his pace again and struggled to escape.

A team of guards on duty at night was patrolling, and suddenly saw a figure flash suddenly, and saw Xi Yan following closely. Only then did they all react to what was going on.

For a time, the entire Xi Mansion was full of loud noises, and many guards came from all directions with torches and weapons, searching along the entire Xi Mansion one by one.

But the thief was extremely cunning, constantly wandering around the Xi Mansion, and even Xi Yan almost lost his trace several times.

What Xi Yan didn't expect was that the thief was not only athletic, but also had excellent physical strength. The guards behind him gradually lost their strength, and only Xi Yan was still in hot pursuit.

The thief saw that there were fewer and fewer people behind him, and in the end, only Xi Yan was alone, so he took the initiative to stop and reflexively attack him. Xi Yan didn't expect this move, and hurriedly retreated to block the thief's fierce blow.

Both of them were bare-handed, their eyes were like frost, and everywhere they attacked, they were oozing with killing intent, and their moves were close to the thieves' weak points. But the thief is not weak, his fists and feet are wide open and close, and he does not fall behind at all. After a few rounds, both of them received each other's punches and kicks, but they both gritted their teeth and held back silently.

Just when the two were inseparable, there was a rush of footsteps not far away, although the thief had no intention of fighting, he couldn't get out for a while. Xi Yan also heard the sound of the guards coming, and he was even more determined to leave the thief here, and attacked the other party with all his might, sweeping his body like a thunderbolt, and his body was strange like a phantom, which was even more difficult to capture in the night.

Although the thief was not to be outdone, his eyes were gloomy as the footsteps got closer and closer, and then, the two sleeve arrows flashed one after the other and flew towards Xi Yan. It was just a trance, Xi Yan's body froze, and the originally sharp move suddenly slowed down, allowing the thief to take the opportunity to fly away.

Xi Yan was angry and swept around to chase after him again, but he could only capture his afterimage, and he couldn't touch a corner of his clothes at all. Suddenly, the thief suddenly dodged and hid over the wall into a courtyard in Xifu. And the corner of Xi Yan's eyes also happened to catch a glimpse of this scene.

rushed to the gate of the courtyard in three or two steps, and Xi Yan found that this was his brother's other courtyard. And Xi Luan's little servant was guarding the door as if nothing had happened.

"Let me ask you, did anyone go in just now?"

The little guy looked at him blankly, shook his head and denied: "Only Master Hou is inside, no one has ever gone in." ”

At this time, the guards of the Xi Mansion came here out of breath. Xi Yan looked at these guards hesitantly, and ordered: "You are waiting outside, I'll go in and have a look." ”

With that, Xi Yan strode into the courtyard.

The courtyard is not like other places in Xifu, there is no decoration related to the New Year's Festival, and it looks very deserted. Only in Xi Luan's house, there is still a lone lamp.

Xi Yan settled down, walked to the front of the room, raised his hand and knocked on the door.

"Brother, there are thieves in the mansion just now, are you okay?"

After a moment of silence, Xi Luan's slightly deep voice came from inside the house, "I'm fine, you can come in." ”

Gently pushing the door open, Xi Luan was sitting at the desk, holding a wooden tablet in his hand, wiping it very gently.

Through the dim light, Xi Yan could clearly see the line of words written on the tablet: the position of the deceased wife Xie Lingjun.

The handwriting is very neat and atmospheric, and it is written by Xi Luan himself. It's just that this kind of content is really unbearable.

Xi Yan looked at the spiritual position in Xi Luan's hand, and his heart suddenly felt a little sour, and he said with feeling, "Brother... This is missing my sister-in-law. ”

"Hmm." Xi Luan didn't deny it, but her tone was very indifferent, "In a blink of an eye, she has been gone for so many years... She's a poor person, she doesn't have a mother, but I can't protect her. ”

Hearing his brother say this, Xi Yan could only comfort him, "Brother doesn't need to blame himself too much, when your sister-in-law had an accident, you were still recuperating in bed, how could you expect it?" ”

"Hehe..."Xi Luan couldn't help but laugh bitterly a few times, but this smile was full of sarcasm, "Yes, I just came back from the Northwest Rebellion, and I was seriously injured to protect the prince. And they were so impatient to take Lingjun's life..."

Xi Yan knew that he couldn't persuade his brother, so he listened to him quietly.

She was invited to the Fangling Princess Mansion for a banquet, but she never came back. At the banquet of Princess Fangling, how could she mistakenly eat Heding Red? I just couldn't imagine that people's hearts could be so cold. ”

Xi Yan has been listening, and it happened more than ten years ago. At that time, Xi Yan only knew that his brother was injured and his sister-in-law died, but he didn't know that there was such an inside story.

"If you haven't experienced it, you don't know how disgusting it is. Although she is the daughter of the Xie family, since she is married to me, she is a member of my Xi family. Then... The Xie family has been wiped out for four years, and even I never thought that they would be at that time... Chop the grass and eradicate the roots. ”

Xi Yan saw that Xi Luan's eyes were already a little red, and his heart was a little sour, so he said, "Then my brother moved back from the Huan Guohou Mansion later, is it also because of this?" ”

Xi Luan looked at the line of words on the tablet with great attachment, and said: "The day she left, I couldn't get up yet, and when the news came back..."

Speaking of this, Xi Luan closed his eyes painfully, unwilling to think about those past events again. Although he closed his eyes and didn't think about it, Xie Lingjun's gentle and agile face when he went out, and his cold and cold body when he returned, kept appearing in front of Xi Luan's eyes.

Later, although they executed all the suspects in Princess Fangling's mansion that day. But how could I not see such a botched murder... It's just a plug in your mouth. Even her funeral was secretly organized by her father......"

Seeing his brother so sad, Xi Yan felt very uncomfortable in his heart, so he had to say: "After so many years, brother... Let's keep my sister-in-law in my heart. ”

……

When Xi Yan was discharged from the hospital, all the guards were still waiting outside the door. Looking at the flickering torches and festive red lanterns outside the courtyard, Xi Yan only felt a little like a world away.

Walking all the way back to Begonia Courtyard, Xi Yan was thinking about the past that Xi Luan said. Thinking of the sister-in-law named Xie Lingjun, I couldn't help but think of An Ruofei in Si Le Fu. She is also a descendant of the Xie family, although her brother did not protect her sister-in-law, but she... Be sure to take care of her.

There is no moon on the night of Chinese New Year's Eve, but the night sky is brighter than ever. In the sky above Chongdu City, fireworks bloomed all over the sky.