After vaguely reading a few lines, I recognized that it was the Lotus Sutra of Wonderful Dharma, and then asked casually: "Why did my uncle remember to read the sutra?"
"I've been feeling a little restless in recent days." Xu Yun paused and whispered, "I'm a little worried about your grandfather."
He has been dreaming about his father lately.
And in the past, in his dreams, his father always chased him with a big ear scraper and beat him, but in these recent dreams, his father actually stopped beating him, and just sat down and talked to him quietly.
He's not used to it.
Very uneasy too.
Xu Mingyi paused slightly while grinding the ink and said: "Second uncle, don't worry, my grandfather will come home safely, very soon."
Xu Yun nodded. His niece had just told him a lot about his father's arrangements for going to Dongyuan City. His niece was very careful and worried, and she did many things that he didn't even know about.
With his niece here, he was indeed relieved.
But his previous intention to go to Dongyuan with his father was not just a casual comment. He really wanted to accompany his father.
But who made him dissatisfied?
If he had been more successful over the years, he would not have caused his father to dislike him so much.
And his father must not be the only one who looks down on him.
Everyone in this world seems to have something serious to do, but he is the only one who is confused.
Xu Yun suppressed the rare surge in his heart. He had not had much time to think in recent years, but he suddenly felt that he had not been so clear-headed in a long time.
Seeing his second uncle writing a letter, Xu Mingyi's eyes fell on his writing.
"Second uncle's handwriting is really beautiful and tight."
Xu Yun smiled and sighed: "What's the use? It can't be used to help my father kill the enemy."
Xu Mingyi disagreed and said: "It has many uses."
The ink dried quickly. Looking at the second uncle folding the letter paper and stuffing it into the envelope, Xu Mingyi noticed that he seemed to have very complicated emotions at this time. Xu Mingyi asked softly: "Second uncle... still can't let it go?"
Second uncle looks particularly sober today.
She wanted to talk to such a second uncle.
Xu Yun raised his head and looked at his niece in confusion.
What?
Xu Mingyi: "The Queen——"
Second uncle still can’t let go of the queen?
Xu Yun understood what he heard this time. After being stunned for a moment, he immediately asked: "Girl...where did you hear that?!"
Xu Mingyi pursed her lips subconsciously - just looking at her second uncle's worried look, she couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed, and actually forgot that she 'should' not know this secret.
Xu Yun frowned and said, "But did you listen to your father's nonsense?"
This old incident was the last thing my father wanted to mention, because he thought he had lost a member of the Xu family, so he would never be his father.
He must be the eldest brother!
But why does the elder brother talk about his affairs?
No need to think about it, Zhaozhao must have asked a few questions, and the eldest brother told her everything - using his gossip to please his daughter, what are you waiting for if you don't just throw it out?
However, it seems that I can’t carry it...
Xu Yun was so angry that the voices in his head were in chaos.
Xu Mingyi hurriedly said: "My father didn't say it, I guessed it myself."
"...?" Xu Yun was truly confused.
Is the lie that comes out of my niece's mouth a little too perfunctory?
She guessed it, how could she guess it so accurately?
But then I thought about it, if he had the status of his niece, why would he worry about not being able to "guess" all the big and small things in the house?
"Second Uncle, don't be angry." Xu Mingyi took a teacup from the tea table and said, "I just want to have a heart-to-heart talk with Second Uncle."
Looking at the tea brought to him, Xu Yun suddenly felt flattered and frightened.
It was impossible not to pick it up. After all, I didn’t have the guts, so I could only pick it up and say in an elder’s tone: “Children should stop asking about adults’ matters...”
There was a hint of helplessness in Xu Mingyi's tone: "Second uncle, I am no longer a child."
Looking at his niece who simply sat down in a chair nearby, Xu Yun hesitated.
How to say...
My niece is now able to take charge of business matters on her own, and she has someone she likes with in matters of love. To be honest, except for the fact that he is more than ten years older than her niece, everything else is far behind her.
Behind me...
After a moment of silence with complicated emotions, Xu Yun took a sip of tea and said: "What can't be let go... This is called daring to love and dare to hate. It's something that our Xu family has inherited from our ancestors."
He hadn't mentioned this terrible incident for seventeen years.
This is also my niece.
If it were anyone else, he would never be able to say this.
Xu Mingyi listened very carefully.
Dare to love or hate?
"Then do you hate it?" She looked at her second uncle and asked.
I always feel that my second uncle doesn’t look like he hates people.
"..." Xu Yun choked inexplicably.
Hate it?
"How could I not hate it?" He took another sip of tea and put the tea cup down with a bang.
Xu Mingyi looked at the tea cup and felt that the fate of this cup of tea was also strange. It was just an ordinary cup of tea, but it tasted like wine after being drunk.
"What I hate the most in my life is people who wait to break their promises!" Xu Yun's tone really had a hint of hatred.
Of course he wants to hate such a person!
But from the very beginning, he couldn't help but think, what if she had her own reasons? - He was unlucky in this life because he knew her character so well!
So she always thinks, if after she finishes her work, she looks back and finds that he is gone, will she still cry secretly?
It’s not that he can’t wait!
But she didn't say a single word from beginning to end, leaving people unable to make up her mind whether to leave or stay.
Is she afraid that if she tells the truth, he will cling to her and her lies will not be fulfilled?
The more this happens, the more he insists on spending time with her like this, making her have such a troubled conscience all the time!
But let's just waste it, he doesn't have time to think about these things now.
She has business to attend to, and so does he now!
With this idea in mind, Xu Yun subconsciously wanted to do something, but he felt that his hands were empty and he didn't know what he could do. He looked at the girl who was now the head of the family: "Zhaozhao, in the future, everything in the family, big and small, will not matter.
If there is anyone who can help me, just tell my uncle that he will never be lazy again."
He had this idea not because he was angry with anyone.
He has been looking at himself in recent days.
Whether it's when talking to my father in a dream, or when I'm awake and alone.
In the past, everything was fine at home, with his father supporting him outside, and his brother and sister-in-law taking care of the house in an orderly manner. There was no place where he could get involved, so he just lay there, thinking that as long as he didn't cause trouble, he would do it.
But now he noticed a difference.
The current situation at home is no better than before. As a member of the Xu family, he can't do anything except support the family.
The topic changed a bit suddenly. Xu Mingyi was still thinking about what to say about the Queen, but when she met those eyes that said, "Hurry up and give your uncle some work," she couldn't help but smile.
It’s great that my second uncle has grown up.
"Is there anything that my second uncle can do now?" Xu Yun asked again.
The niece looked at him with a smile, looking very pleased.
Then he shook his head: "No."
Xu Yun suddenly felt defeated: "Are you afraid that your second uncle will be a disservice?"
"How could it be possible? It's not possible now, but in the future, I might need my second uncle to handle a big event." Xu Mingyi said with a smile: "Now, my second uncle just needs to try his best to be as open-minded as possible and make himself feel more at ease."
There has always been no distinction between strong and weak in this place called home.
Just learn from each other's strengths and take care of each other.
And if there is anything that is most valuable, in her opinion, a complete and happy family is the best.
She thought that the reason why her grandfather sometimes blamed her second uncle for not living up to expectations was not because he wanted his second uncle to make contributions and shine on the family tree. The reason why her grandfather said he was not living up to expectations was because he didn't want to see his second uncle being in a state of self-loathing.
Just like the second uncle's marriage, if my grandfather really wanted to force her to do it, is there any reason why he couldn't do it?
In the final analysis, marrying a wife is only secondary, and wanting my second uncle to get over his sadness is the real thing.
Xu Mingyi thought in his mind and said it.
"Second uncle knows..." Xu Yun's voice was slightly hoarse and his nose was sore.
The greatest blessing in his life is that he was born into the Xu family and became his father's son.
If it were an ordinary person, with his appearance all the time, he would have been carried out and thrown away with his bed.
The uncle and nephew talked for a long time.
Until Xu Mingshi found him.
Xu Mingshi entered the study and saw his second uncle's red eyes. He couldn't help but look at Xu Mingyi subconsciously - why did he bully his second uncle like this?
…
Qiao Tian came here early the next morning.
After entering the Zhenguo Duke's Mansion, he was invited into Xu Yun's courtyard. Seeing his good friend sitting leisurely in the hall, with tea already laid out, Qiao Tian couldn't help being secretly surprised: "Qinghu... was that letter really written by you?"
How could Qinghu take the initiative to invite him and even ask him to meet him early in the morning?
"Since you suspect that it was not written by me, why did you come here?" Xu Yun asked jokingly.
"I thought your handwriting was not something ordinary people could fake, so I came over to take a look."
There was one more thing he didn't dare to say.
After confirming that it was his friend's handwriting, he even doubted whether his friend had been kidnapped.
Fortunately, he was overthinking it.
Looking at his friend who was sitting there drinking tea and who seemed to have trimmed his beard, Qiao Tian couldn't help but feel very strange, but he still had business matters: "Why are you so anxious to come to me?"
Xu Yun said bluntly: "It's my niece who wants to see you, so she asked me to write a letter to invite you to come and talk."
A girl from the Xu family?
Qiao Tian raised his eyebrows in confusion.
What did the Xu family girl do when she saw him?
as well as--
This was indeed not much different from what he thought. Qinghu was indeed held hostage.
Looking at his friend sitting there, Qiao Tian couldn't help but feel that there seemed to be an invisible knife hanging on his friend's neck.
During the years when he was preparing for the exam in Beijing, he also tutored Mr. Xu's homework, so he knew how much of a deterrent this girl from the Xu family was in the family.
This does not mean that someone said something in his ears, such as the girl at home being unruly and domineering.
It was precisely because no one dared to say anything, and everyone in the family regarded anything unusual as ordinary, that he became more and more aware of the status of the Xu family girl.
"I wonder why Miss Xu wants to see me?" Qiao Tian couldn't help but ask when his friend asked someone to invite his niece.
After hearing this, Xu Yun thought about it for a while and then said: "We'll wait until my niece arrives. You can sit down first."
Facing his friend's eyes that said "my niece didn't ask me to tell you, please be considerate", Qiao Tian sat down with a complicated mood.
He felt that the chair behind him was a little bit irritating.
After all, judging from his friend's cowardly appearance, even if the Xu family girl were to harm him later, his friend would probably have to quickly pass the knife to his niece.
It seems a little hasty to come here this time...
Xu Mingyi came over soon.
As the girl wearing a thousand-year-old green horse-faced skirt walked in, the boy guarding the hall consciously stepped out, and then the two hall doors were closed behind the girl.
Qiao Tian's eyelids twitched.
What is this for?
At this time, even with the door closed, the hall was still bright, but this action still made Qiao Tian's heart beat.
After thinking about it, it seems that I have never done anything to offend this girl Xu...
"Mr. Qiao."
The girl came to him and saluted him.
Qiao Tian stood up and returned the greeting. When he sat back, he asked, "I wonder why Miss Xu wants to see Qiao?"
Xu Mingyi said bluntly: "It's for your father's sake."
Qiao Tian was slightly startled, he never expected such a sentence.
Then he looked puzzled and said: "My father has been dead for many years... Qiao doesn't understand what Miss Xu means."
Seeing that he remained calm, Xu Mingyi continued: "Recently, I was investigating an old incident from eighteen years ago, and happened to get some clues about your father. From this, I suspected that there might be something fishy about your father's death - because I knew that Mr. Qiao was also interested in it.
I have doubts about this, so I invited you to come here to talk about it."
Qiao Tian looked slightly startled.
Miss Xu is suspicious of his father's death?
And do you know that this matter is a knot in his mind?
"...I wonder what this old incident that Miss Xu mentioned is about?" Qiao Tian asked tentatively.
His defense was not against the Xu family, but because he couldn't trust anyone in this matter.
"This is a family matter of a good friend of mine, and the truth is still unknown, so I cannot make the decision on his behalf and directly inform Mr. Qiao of the involvement."
Xu Mingyi did not disclose the incident of the former Princess Yan, but only said: "The reason why I want to find out your father's death is because I suspect that your father may still be alive. If you are secretly coerced, your father's skills and methods may be used."
Deal with my grandfather."
After first listening to the first half, Qiao Tianshang was calm, and he even thought to himself that this Miss Xu had a bottom line, or was a trustworthy person——
However, all these thoughts were suddenly buried completely the moment I heard the words "Your Majesty may still be alive."
His father...maybe he's still alive?!
Qiao Tian was shocked: "This...how is it possible!"
Could it be that this girl Xu was telling such unrealistic lies to trap him into the game and get other clues from him?
But the eyes of the girl in sight are extremely magnanimous: "Now it's just a guess, and even if the person alive is not your father, he must be someone deeply involved with your father, and among this, there must be the truth about your father's death that year.
