That's better. Xu Ying nodded and was about to leave when she heard her eldest brother's voice behind her. She immediately stopped, turned around and called out "Brother".
Xu Rui was also dressed very formally, and it seemed that he had just returned from a banquet. He responded and then frowned and looked at his brother: "It's so late, who did you go drinking with?"
Here it comes again. Xu Ying was most afraid of her elder brother. Seeing him asking questions non-stop, she coughed and winked at him.
"What's wrong with your eyes?" Xu Rui stood there and glared at him: "What's that look like? Speak to me properly!"
"The prince is here again!" A woman's gentle voice came from behind. Xu Ying looked in the direction of the voice and saw her sister-in-law Zhang slowly getting down from the footstool, looking at Xu Rui with a reproachful look, and smiling at her.
He immediately laughed too, and greeted her respectfully: "Sister-in-law!"
Zhang agreed gently and turned to look at Xu Rui: "Your Highness, why do you always look so cold and intimidating? It's a good thing that my second brother is well-behaved and sensible. If it were someone with a mean heart, he would be angry with you, right? Is there anything that can't be said in a nice way?"
Xu Ying immediately agreed and laughed: "That's right, sister-in-law is still the one who cares about me."
Xu Rui felt helpless. He glared at his brother, then turned to look at his wife gently: "Okay, I still have something to say to him. You should go back to your room first. You must be tired after sitting in Fenyang Palace all day. Have a good rest."
The Fenyang Palace held a banquet, and the couple went together. They stayed there for a whole day before returning.
Zhang smiled sweetly in obedience, and personally straightened Xu Rui's crooked hair crown, whispering, "Come back early. Before I left, I asked the kitchen to stew some soup for you. I'll wait for you to come back and drink it."
She walked away holding the hand of the maid like a weak willow. Xu Ying then made a sound of "tsk tsk tsk, brother, your sister-in-law is so gentle and virtuous, and so beautiful, and has a good family background. No wonder that cripple can't stop thinking about her."
Speaking of the cripple, Xu Rui's face darkened. He reached out and hit him on the head, and scolded him coldly: "What are you talking about?!"
After being hit, Xu Ying was not angry at all. She covered her head with her hands and moved closer to her elder brother with a smile: "That's right. That cripple really brought shame upon himself. Tsk, it's almost time for the outing again. Every time it comes, that cripple will always be pulled out and laughed at. In previous years, he was lucky and avoided going to the academy, but this year he didn't go..."
Xu Ying has always been a playboy among the playboys in the capital.
Even Cheng Dingan had to behave himself in front of him. In his eyes, there was no such thing as restraint and he dared to say anything.
Xu Rui heard him talking more and more outrageously, so he reached out and hit him again: "You are so outspoken!"
But he didn't say that what he said was wrong.
After a pause, Xu Rui saw that he was being careless, so he reminded him: "Don't cause trouble for me. Have you forgotten how you embarrassed yourself last year?"
When this matter was mentioned, the smile on Xu Ying's face suddenly disappeared, and the whole person became a little gloomy.
Song Heng had just returned not long ago, and because he and Song Zhibin were good friends, he wanted to vent Song Zhibin's anger. They originally wanted to stop Song Heng's horse, but who knew that Song Heng was so skilled that not only did they fail to stop Song Heng, but they were thrown into the Jinshui River by Song Heng.
The incident caused a big stir. Song Heng held down his head and refused to let him float up, almost suffocating him to death. In the end, he passed out. Later, his father went to the emperor to complain about the incident.
Who knew that the emperor didn't blame Song Heng at all.
To this day, whenever he thinks of this incident, he still feels resentful and feels it is a great shame and humiliation.
Thinking of this, he snorted.
As they were talking, the two brothers had already crossed the stone path and arrived at Xu Ying's yard. He invited Xu Rui in and asked the maid to make tea. Then he pursed his lips and said, "He doesn't need to be so proud too soon. I will get this place back sooner or later."
This was his brother's character. He would never give up without a fight. Xu Rui was used to it. He did not comment. He waited until everyone had left and only the two brothers were left in the room before he asked him, "Have you finished everything? Don't leave any evidence for others to catch you."
This is no small matter. If they are caught, not to mention others, the emperor's wrath will be enough to burn all the brothers to ashes - that's the emperor's uncle's family!
"Don't worry!" Xu Yingzhi was very proud. "Song Zhibin and I have been friends since we were young. I know his character best. He is arrogant and selfish. He is no match for Song Heng. He has been controlled by his mother since he was a child and only wants to protect his own little piece of land. I just used a little trick and he really fell for it. Now he poisoned Song Shiyi and framed Song Heng himself. If it is exposed, he will be the first one to suffer. He must be stupid to let me out. Don't worry, brother."
After saying all this in one breath, Xu Ying leaned back in her chair, looked at him and said, "By the way, brother, have you ever thought about why His Highness asked us to test the Song family? Could it be that... Song Heng's background..."
"Be careful with your words!" Xu Rui slammed the table to prevent his brother from saying more things he shouldn't say, and said calmly: "Everything is still unknown now. No one can say for sure whether it is true or not. We are just giving it a try. What does Song Zhibin say?"
Xu Ying felt a little bored, but she still had to answer her brother's question, so she raised her eyebrows and said, "It's all according to your instructions. I just met him. After my reminder, he must have gone back to guard the backyard. After all, the Crown Prince's wife has been in control of the backyard for so many years. If it is really as Your Highness and the others suspect, then the Crown Prince's wife must not know everything. She must have heard some rumors, right? Song Shiyi is dead. If she is a woman, she can't bear it. She must have fallen out with Song Xiangyu. With such a mess, it will be easy to find out if there is something fishy going on."
It seemed that his younger brother really saw it clearly. Xu Rui nodded with satisfaction: "You should keep a close eye on it. This method is actually too vicious. If Song Heng is really the one, then it's fine. But if not... we can't let the Song family know that we are behind this. Otherwise, not only us, but also His Highness will suffer."
Xu Ying's attitude became serious, and she solemnly agreed. When she saw Xu Rui standing up and about to leave, she hurriedly called out to him, "Brother, did you invite that girl from the Su family here because Song Heng and the son of Guangping Marquis ran to the Su family a few days ago? Or is it because Mrs. He..."
Xu Rui looked at him in surprise: "How do you know everything? What are you asking about in the backyard?"