Chapter 261 Leak
The master paused for a moment, ignored Xiao Jun, and continued walking forward, holding the old lady.
After leaving the second door, Xiao Yun hesitated for a moment, looking at her grandmother and father who looked worried, then stopped and said:
"Grandma and father go back first, and I will go and persuade my second brother."
The old lady and the master nodded after hearing this, and the master said:
"Okay, Yun'er will go and try to persuade him. I also know that Jun'er is filial and is worried that it's not safe for me to stay in Pingyang, but he doesn't understand that the Xiao family is really in trouble. How can I, as the head of the family, escape? What's more, I am old and half buried in the ground. It's worth dying. You and Jun'er are still young. The future of the Xiao family depends on you three brothers..."
After hearing his father's words and looking at the white hair on his temples, it seemed as if his father had aged a lot overnight. Xiao Yun suddenly felt a tightness in his chest and a sore nose. He cried out in a muffled voice:
"Father……"
The master didn't say anything else, just patted him on the shoulder, turned around and helped the old lady walk towards the sedan chair.
After watching the old lady and the eldest master get on the sedan chair and leave, the third master turned around and returned to Xiaoxiang Courtyard. When he came to the study, he saw Cuiping, Hongyu, Xiaoxia, and Xiaoyan still standing at the door. When they saw him coming, they hurried forward to greet him. The third master stopped, thought for a moment, and said:
"All of you go down! There's no need to keep anyone here. Xiao Xia, go and tell them that no one is allowed to approach the study!"
After hearing the Third Master's nonsensical words, everyone was stunned, but seeing his serious expression, they hurriedly responded and left. Aunt Cui took a few steps, her eyes lit up, she glanced back at the Third Master, and saw him standing at the door looking at them. She rolled her eyes and walked briskly towards the second door.
After watching the figures of the few people disappear, he glanced around and saw that there was no one at the door of the study. Then he turned around and pushed open the door of the study. He saw his second brother continuing to write. When he heard the footsteps, he looked up at him and said:
"Sit down for a moment, Third Brother. I'll be there soon!"
After writing the last word, he put down his pen, breathed a sigh of relief, and was about to put away what he had written when he noticed that the surroundings were unusually quiet. He raised his head and found that his third brother was standing in front of the desk with an angry look on his face. He shouted:
"Third brother..."
Looking at the haggard second brother, the dim eyes of the second sister-in-law when she left, the gray hair on his father's temples, and the pale face of his grandmother flashed before his eyes. A surge of anger surged in his heart. When he saw his second brother calling him, he opened his mouth and said word by word:
"Brother, please take back what you just said and go to Shouxi Hall to apologize to father and grandmother!"
"Third brother, it's not your place to interfere in family affairs. Just prepare to protect father and eldest brother as they head south."
Seeing that his willful and stubborn second brother was still insisting on his own way at this time, Xiao Yun suddenly became furious. She raised her hand and punched him hard. Xiao Jun leaned back and almost fell off the chair. He swung back but remained motionless, as if the punch did not hit him. He looked at Xiao Yun expressionlessly.
"This punch is for grandma!"
Xiao Yun finished speaking, and then followed up with another heavy punch.
"This punch is for my father!"
Seeing that his second brother still didn't react, Xiao Yun couldn't control herself anymore and started beating him. In a blink of an eye, blood was flowing from the corners of Xiao Jun's mouth and nose. He leaned against the wall, but still didn't move and let Xiao Yun beat him.
After a violent coughing fit, Xiao Yun came to consciousness. Looking at his second brother who was gasping for breath and blood constantly oozing out of his mouth, an inexplicable sadness surged in his heart. His second brother really wanted to stay here and wait to die!
After panting for a while, he stepped forward and grabbed Xiao Jun's collar, saying angrily:
"Aren't you the master of this family? Don't you have the final say in this family? Why don't you dare to fight back, you coward, you are afraid, right! If you are afraid of the prince's power, then give your second sister-in-law to him! Let her go south with the prince alone! Have you ever thought about what will happen to your second sister-in-law if the prince is deposed!"
Xiao Jun, who had no reaction at first, looked up angrily at Xiao Yun after hearing this.
As Xiao Yun was talking, she thought about how the Medicine God in her mind was being abused by her second brother. She was furious and pointed at Xiao Jun's nose and said:
"I'm teaching you a lesson on behalf of my second sister-in-law. If you like her, try your best to keep her. If you want to abandon her, just write a divorce letter! Doesn't my second sister-in-law have any feelings or thoughts, and you can call her here and there at will? You think you gave her the best, but have you ever asked her if she wants it? You gave my second sister-in-law to the prince, but have you ever asked her if she likes him? What do you think of my second sister-in-law? She's just a toy in your hands, and you can give her away at will!"
Hearing the word "plaything", Xiao Jun couldn't help it anymore and punched Xiao Yun. Xiao Yun was caught off guard and her nose started bleeding. She was stunned for a moment and then punched back. Xiao Jun dodged and punched him again... The two brothers started fighting in the study room. After a while, the study room became a mess. In the end, they were both exhausted and stopped, sitting on the ground and gasping for breath...
Tired of fighting and venting enough, Xiao Yun sat on the ground and spoke calmly:
"Second brother, you heard that Second Sister-in-law is the God of Medicine and felt that she had deceived you, right? Do you know why Second Sister-in-law tried so hard to leave the mansion? It's not because she has someone else in her heart, but because there is no way for her to survive in this mansion. You thought that in this mansion, having your love and tolerance was enough, but do you know that it was because you were domineering and forced Second Sister-in-law to stay by your side that made her feel suffocated..."
Xiao Yun told the story of how her second sister-in-law was shocked by the ancestral teachings and knew that she could not stay in the Xiao Mansion, so she used her dowry to open Yichun Hall, how her second sister-in-law was trapped in Qingxin Temple and almost died, etc. Xiao Jun was stunned and murmured:
"Xi'er knew that the Xiao Mansion couldn't accommodate her, so why didn't she tell me? We could have found a solution together! She never mentioned the Qingxin Nunnery to me. She never told me anything and never trusted me."
As Xiao Jun spoke, he started coughing violently again. Seeing blood coming out of the corner of his second brother's mouth, the third master took out a handkerchief and threw it over, then said:
"Do you know why no one is left in Zhuyuan? Because Aunt Zhang didn't commit suicide at all. She was silenced by someone in the mansion!"
Seeing that his second brother was looking at him seriously, Xiao Yun continued:
"At that time, you were horrified by your second sister-in-law's fake death. No one dared to tell you this. Now I tell you that there was someone else who was the mastermind behind Aunt Zhang's poisoning... You thought you were so affectionate to your second sister-in-law that she didn't want to be the head of the family. Have you ever thought that, except for you, no one in this family can accept her? Have you ever thought that in the eyes of your grandmother, father, and mother, anyone stands in your way of becoming the head of the family must die? Your second sister-in-law desperately wanted to leave the mansion, not only because her life was threatened every day in this mansion and she lived in fear, but also because the people who wanted to harm her were not your enemies, but your closest relatives, making it impossible for you and her to settle scores. Think about it, if one day you become enemies because of her and her son, and bear the stigma of being unfilial for her, will she be happy? Will she be at ease with you..."
"I, I wrongly blamed her..."
Seeing that the second brother had come to his senses, Xiao Yun continued:
"You blamed your second sister-in-law for not telling you anything. Two years ago, your second sister-in-law fainted in the pavilion after hearing the ancestral teachings. You were by her side at the time, but you walked away. After your second sister-in-law was sent back to Xiaoxiang Courtyard, did you go to see her?"
Xiao Yun's words reminded Xiao Jun of the time when he suspected Mengxi and his third brother had an affair and how he had said bad things to her in the pavilion. He also remembered the wedding ceremony and suddenly realized that it was not the half-month period that the Taoist priest had said would cure his illness, but Mengxi who had spent half a month to cure his illness. On the first day of her marriage, she personally went to the kitchen to make soup for him. She must have put the medicine in the soup, but he went to the kitchen and said bad things to her because she ignored her status...
After the fifteenth day, he went to the backyard, and she still brought him porridge regardless of the weather. It was not porridge, but medicine, her heart... She once held her heart in front of him, but she hated that he was blinded by Yuanpa and rumors, believed in Aunt Li's instigation, and rejected her without any cherishment. It was his own fault that he was left with a root of illness today!
She originally wanted to be with him wholeheartedly, but her own bad words and evil deeds chilled her heart, and the ancestral teachings blocked her from doing so, so she froze her heart. Thinking of this, Xiao Jun felt heartbroken and started coughing violently again.
Seeing Xiao Jun like this, Xiao Yun, who originally thought that the blood in his mouth was just from being beaten and didn't care, suddenly became suspicious and grabbed Xiao Jun and asked:
"Brother, tell me, are you sick?"
Seeing his third brother's face turn pale with shock, Xiao Jun trembled, and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve while saying:
"No, it's just that I caught a cold from the heavy rain last time, and it hasn't healed yet."
Seeing that his second brother was evasive, Xiao Yun's heart began to beat fast, and he asked:
"Brother, don't lie to me. How can you cough up blood if you caught a cold? Do you have... Oh, right, you suddenly changed your mind about going south and wanted to stay in Pingyang for father. Is it because of this? Tell me!"
Xiao Jun was about to explain when he heard a bang outside the window.
There is someone outside the window!
The two brothers were both startled and looked out the window at the same time. After looking at each other, they suddenly got up and rushed to the door. They opened the door of the study. There was no one outside. Then they looked in the yard. There was no one in sight. They squatted on the ground, picked up the broken bowl residue, and said:
“Second brother, maybe someone came to bring you porridge and eavesdropped on our conversation!”
Upon hearing this, Xiao Jun's body shook suddenly. Just now, the two of them had mentioned in the room that Mengxi was the God of Medicine. He wondered if anyone had overheard it . This matter must not be leaked out, and Mengxi must not be in any danger!
Thinking of this, Xiao Jun quickly walked down the steps and hurriedly looked around the yard, but did not find anyone. He came to the second gate again, and the servant at the gate replied that he had been watching the door and did not see anyone entering or leaving.
The maid who brought the porridge must be someone from this courtyard. She must have already hidden in a house. Standing in the courtyard, looking at the houses around, the doors were all tightly closed, and there was no sign of any abnormality. When Xiao Xia ran out and looked at him in surprise, he asked casually:
"Did you see anyone come into the study just now?"
"My Lord, I was in the room the whole time and didn't see it."
"Hongzhu, Hongzhu!"
Hearing the Second Master's call, Hong Zhu hurried out. When she saw the Second Master's appearance, she was startled. Without waiting for Xiao Jun to speak, she asked:
"Second Master, what happened to you? Who beat you up like this in just a short while?"
"Who did Hongzhu just tell to bring porridge to the study?"
