Chapter 234 Habit Becomes Nature
Seeing the servant helping the second master into the hall, the eldest master stepped forward and checked the wound while asking:
"Who dares to be an enemy of the Xiao family in Pingyang? Don't worry, Jun'er, I will get to the bottom of this matter. Based on their martial arts skills, can Jun'er tell where these people came from?"
After hearing what the master said, Mengxi trembled, and pressed his hand to his chest, trying to calm his mind. He was about to step forward to greet the master and interrupt his question, but he heard the first wife say:
"Master, there is no rush for this matter. We can talk about it later. Jun'er is injured. Let him go back to the house to rest first."
After hearing this, the old lady spoke without waiting for the master to speak.
"Yes, yes, I forgot in my haste. Help Jun'er into the house."
Seeing that the eldest wife had gotten rid of the conversation, Mengxi breathed a sigh of relief, took a step forward, bowed lightly, and said:
"Greetings, old lady, and greetings to the master and mistress!"
As soon as she saw Mengxi, the eldest wife's face turned cold. She had been forcing herself to smile in front of Mengxi these days and had reached the limit of her patience. Today, her son was injured because Mengxi had arranged to leave the house. Her people said that the second master could have avoided it, but he was hit by the sword because he was saving the second mistress.
This made her hate Mengxi to the extreme. Her son had been hurt again and again these days, which made her feel that this daughter-in-law was born to be a disaster for her son. With her by her side, her son was in trouble. When she saw Mengxi coming forward to pay her respects, her resentment instantly erupted. Without waiting for the old lady and the eldest master to speak, she shouted sternly:
“Kneel down!”
After hearing this, Mengxi was stunned for a moment, then fell to his knees with a plop. Zhixia and Zhidong were also frightened and knelt beside him. Mengxi said:
"My daughter-in-law is ignorant, please teach her a lesson, Madam!"
"Do you know that what happened today was all caused by you?"
"I know that the Second Master's injury was caused by me, and I am willing to be punished."
This was indeed her own plan. She originally just wanted to leave the house and didn't want to hurt anyone. But she didn't expect the Second Master to follow her and not only was he accidentally injured, but her four bodyguards also lost their lives in vain. Mengxi has been deeply blaming herself for this, so she did n't defend herself at all against the First Madam's words.
Seeing Mengxi kneeling down to answer, without waiting for the First Lady to speak, the Second Master pushed away the servant who was supporting him and struggled to kneel beside Mengxi.
"Jun'er, you are injured, get up quickly, what are you doing?"
"Jun'er, get up quickly. Go back to your room and settle down first."
Seeing the Second Master kneeling down, before she could speak, the old lady and the first wife said in unison, and the first wife stretched out her hand to pull her. Only to hear the Second Master say:
"Grandma, father, mother, what happened today is not Xier's fault. Judging from the looks of those people, they are here for Juner. Over the past year, Juner has offended many people in the south. Today, Xier was implicated because of Juner. Mother wants to punish Juner, and Juner is willing to accept the punishment. Xier did nothing wrong and should not be punished!"
"Second Master, please stop talking. Your injury was indeed caused by me."
Mengxi saw that the Second Master was speaking for her, and she knew that it was not proper. Besides, it was indeed her fault, and she felt guilty. As soon as the Second Master finished speaking, she quickly spoke to stop him. Xiao Jun saw this and said:
"Xi'er, don't talk nonsense!"
Seeing Xiao Jun kneeling on the ground and voluntarily accepting the punishment despite his injuries, the old lady frowned. Xiao Jun's behavior was extremely against the rules. In Da Qi, when parents scolded their daughter-in-law, even if they were wrong, the son could not speak for her. That was extremely unfilial.
But today Xiao Jun did it, and it wasn't the first time. For him, it seemed that everything became natural after getting used to it. This made the old lady, the eldest master, and the eldest wife feel very uncomfortable. The old lady wanted to scold her, but when she saw her grandson kneeling there with a pale face and beads of sweat on his forehead, she remembered the last time he was injured and almost died. She swallowed the words that were about to come out of her mouth and said,
"Jun'er, Xi'er, get up quickly. Today, we were attacked by an assassin while out. Although Jun'er was injured, it's good that he came back safely. As the saying goes, accidents happen. No one is to blame for this. No matter who is punished or not, get up quickly."
This son is really outrageous. Not only does he protect his wife again and again, but he is also getting worse and more assertive. In the past, he would ask his mother to exempt him from punishment, but this time he was even more outrageous. He directly said that Mengxi was not wrong and would not be punished. Looking at her son kneeling there seemingly respectfully, but the tone was full of unquestionableness. Her son has really changed. He is no longer the Jun'er who is filial and obedient to her in everything. Seeing that the wound that her son had bandaged was bleeding again, the eldest wife felt like a ball of cotton wool was blocked in her chest. She couldn't spit it out or swallow it. She stood there, her face flushing and then turning pale.
Seeing his son kneeling there in pain, the eldest master looked at the eldest wife reproachfully and said to Xiao Jun and Meng Xi:
"Your grandma said that no one is to blame for this. Jun'er, get up and go back to the room. Xi'er, get up too and serve Jun'er well."
"Yes, get up quickly. Xi'er doesn't need to go to pay respects these two days. Just serve Jun'er. "
After the old lady finished speaking, she turned to the servant beside her and said:
"People are dead, why don't you help the Second Master and Second Madam up quickly?"
Seeing that grandma said that she would not punish him, Xiao Jun turned around and saw that Mengxi had been helped up by Zhixia. He then stood up with the help of the servant and came to the inner room with the help of the servant. After a flurry of activity, they quickly settled the Second Master, the old lady and the others. Mengxi saw that it was getting late, so he stepped forward and said:
"Old lady, it's almost noon, and I want to prepare some lunch for you, Master."
"Okay, okay, I forgot that the medicinal food Xi'er made is very nutritious. Let's go."
"Xi'er..."
"Second Master, what's the matter?"
Seeing Mengxi was about to cook, Xiao Jun thought that she must be exhausted after being frightened all morning, and he couldn't bear it, so he hurriedly called her to stop, wanting her to go and rest, and let the cook arrange lunch. But as soon as he called out, he saw his grandmother and parents looking at him, and then he realized that he was reckless, so he hurriedly stopped talking, and when he saw Mengxi asking, he hesitated for a while and said:
"The colorful shrimp porridge Xier made yesterday was delicious. Xier, make some more for lunch. I don't want anything else."
Hearing that the second master wanted to drink colorful shrimp porridge, the old lady said hurriedly:
"Jun'er, if there's anything you want to eat, Xi'er, go make it. If there's anything missing, just ask the chef to bring it over."
After hearing what the Second Master and the Old Lady said, Meng Xi hesitated for a moment and then stepped forward and said:
"I read in the Food Classic a few days ago that shrimps and crabs are all irritants and are not conducive to wound healing. Second Master has just been injured and has lost too much blood. Why don't I make you some peanut and pork liver porridge first? Second Master, try it . Pork liver and peanuts are both good for blood supplements, which are very suitable for you now. Second Master wants to drink colorful shrimp porridge. After the wound heals, I will make it for you. What do you think?"
Xiao Jun was anxious just now, and couldn't think of anything else for a while. He just remembered the name of the porridge he drank yesterday, so he said it out. After hearing Meng Xi's words, his face became hot, but seeing Meng Xi was so considerate of him, he couldn't help but feel infinite tenderness in his heart, and said softly:
"Just do as Xi'er wants."
After hearing this, the old lady also spoke:
"After listening to Xi'er's words, I also remembered that I once heard someone say that you can't eat shrimp, crabs and other seafood when you are injured. Xi'er is thoughtful. I didn't think about what Jun'er can eat and what he can't eat when he is injured. I will do as Xi'er said. Jun'er wants to drink the colorful shrimp porridge, so he can eat it later. Xi'er, go quickly."
Mengxi listened, responded, and helped Zhixia out. When the master saw that no one was talking, he asked:
"Jun'er, did you see the martial arts techniques of those people today?"
Xiao Jun thought for a moment and said:
"One of them used the Three Purities Sword Technique, and his skills were extraordinary. The others were all mediocre in martial arts, with no special moves, and they just relied on their numbers."
"Three Pure Swordsmanship?"
"Yes, that person used the Three Purities Sword Technique quite skillfully."
"Even if he didn't bring a weapon, Jun'er's Phantom Fist shouldn't have been defeated by the Three Purities Sword Technique. How could he have suffered such a huge loss?"
After hearing his father's words, Xiao Jun's face turned slightly hot, and he said after a moment of silence:
"In theory, although that man is skilled in swordsmanship, he is no match for my son. It's just that the serious illness my son suffered two years ago seems to have left him with sequelae. After every long fight, his limbs become sore and his strength is running out. Today was no exception. My son heard the wind behind him and knew that he was stabbed by a sword. He wanted to jump away, but he only moved half a foot before he could no longer exert any strength. Fortunately, the guards arrived, otherwise, I'm afraid my son would really be dead this time."
The old lady heard this and became anxious. Seeing that the father and son had stopped talking, she asked:
"Jun'er's illness left a root. Why have I never heard Jun'er mention it?"
"Grandma, this is what Jun'er discovered after fighting with others twice when he went to the south. I didn't tell you because I was afraid that you and my parents would worry. When Jun'er came back this time, he looked for Doctor Li, but he couldn't find out the reason. Doctor Li asked his son to find the God of Medicine to try. Jun'er asked the prince to come forward once, but unfortunately he was unsuccessful."
"Yichuntang and the Xiao family are not on good terms. I'm afraid they may not help even if they see the Medicine God. Jun'er is still young. What should we do?"
"It may be that the Crown Prince's persuasion worked. Yichuntang's attitude towards the Xiao family has changed. This time Jun'er was injured, so he went to Yichuntang nearby. The old shopkeeper actually treated Jun'er's wound himself, using the best healing medicines that are not sold over the counter. Shopkeeper Li said that because the wound was very close to the heart, he was afraid that ordinary medicines could not save it, so he gave it to Jun'er. Grandma, don't worry. Jun'er has survived several disasters in the past two years. I think he is a blessed person. Maybe one day he will really be lucky enough to meet the God of Medicine and cure this disease."
After hearing this, the old lady sighed and stopped talking. The master pondered for a long time and then asked:
"From Jun'er's point of view, could it be that the Prince of Yan ordered the sudden attack on Jun'er by the masked man? Over the past two years, although Emperor Jin has tried his best to support the Crown Prince, the Queen Mother has been obstructing him, and Emperor Jin can do nothing about it. Now the Queen Mother's relative, General Zhenbei Situ Sen, has military power and is guarding the border. The Prince of Yan is even more powerful. He and the Crown Prince are already incompatible, and the situation is about to explode. Recently, there have been reports in the palace that the Queen Mother's condition has worsened. I'm afraid that the Prince of Yan is worried that once the Queen Mother dies, the Queen Mother's relatives will be suppressed by Emperor Jin, and he can't wait to take action in advance?"
After hearing what his father said, Xiao Jun shook his head and said:
"My son was also suspicious at first, but then he changed his mind and realized that the King of Yan is surrounded by many experts. If he wants to take action, he will not send a few fools. From Jun'er's point of view, they look like the guards or bodyguards of ordinary families. It's a pity that there are no clues left on the body."
