Rebirth, guarding the mute at the tip of my heart

“Oshin!!”

Xie Ze watched Jiang Xin jump down from the city wall, blood staining the ground. He held him in his arms with trembling hands and wiped away the blood that Jiang Xin spat out. For the first time in his life, he felt extremely panicked, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, it's okay, it's okay..."

Jiang Xin didn't feel scared at all, just a little painful and a little relieved.

He curved his eyes like when they first met and gave Xie Ze a sweet smile. Then he struggled to take out an exquisitely carved little wooden horse from his arms and handed it to Xie Ze. His bloodstained fingers still slowly signed in sign language as before: From now on, it will accompany you on my behalf.

Before he finished the gesture, Xie Ze stopped him from moving. He tightly grasped his hand, his eyes red, and said incoherently: "No, no, Ashin, I just want you to accompany me, I just want you..."

Jiang Xin always listened to Xie Ze, but this time, he stubbornly stuffed the little wooden horse into Xie Ze's arms, then he let go as if he had finished something he had been thinking about for a long time and closed his eyes with satisfaction.

It was too uncomfortable to stay alone in the prince's mansion waiting for someone, so he would not wait anymore.

"Ah Xin!!!"

……

"Later, the new emperor ascended the throne. He did not marry or take concubines. Instead, he hung countless portraits of that man in his bedroom. He hugged that man's body every night, calling out his name in his dreams. After waking up from the nightmare, he would sit in front of the paintings for the entire night.

Everyone said he was crazy, but in fact, he was more sober than anyone else, but he just couldn't get what he wanted. "The old man held his grandson in his arms, sat in front of the house in the sun, and swayed as he talked about that old story.

But the eight-year-old grandson didn't understand the pain and despair. Hearing this, he just pinched his nose and said suspiciously: "He holds a dead person every day, isn't he afraid?"

"I'm afraid. I'm afraid that I'll be reduced to dust and never see that person again. So I'll keep him here, and watch him decay and disappear in my arms bit by bit."

"Then the emperor loves him so much, why doesn't he go find him? Mother said that after death, people will go to the underworld and reach the Naihe Bridge. He can go find him!"

"Who knows? Maybe... he wants to punish himself while alive, suffer torture, and die alone, so that he can hope for the possibility that the person is still waiting for him at the Naihe Bridge."

"How can there be such a stupid person?" If living is just to torture yourself, what's the point?

The child didn't believe his grandfather at all. He was the emperor. Even at such a young age he knew that the emperor was the most honorable person in the world.

He curled his lips and said disdainfully: "Grandpa, I think you are just making up stories. You haven't even seen the emperor, how would you know what's going on in the palace?"

The old man just smiled when he heard this, rubbed his grandson's little head, looked at the sky for a long time, and then said with a sigh of emotion: "Because I saw it..."

That year, he was but a young man, full of ambition to achieve great things, and he followed the young Majesty all the way to the capital. Then, in the yellow sand, he saw the young man die in the arms of the Majesty. He watched as their Majesty kneeled on the ground, hugging the corpse tightly, and felt completely hopeless.

Times have changed, the world has changed, the emperor has passed away, and the majesty who has been crazy all his life can finally meet his lover in the underworld, never to be separated.

*

“Ah Xin!” Xie Ze jumped up from his dream in panic, gasping for breath, and fumbled to find the wooden horse beside his pillow, but found that the wooden horse that should have been by his hand had disappeared. His pupils suddenly contracted, and he shouted outside like a madman: “Someone come! Someone come!!”

"Your Highness!" The attendant outside the door rushed in immediately upon hearing the voice. He was shocked to see Xie Ze's crazy and insane appearance, and hurriedly said, "Your Highness, are you feeling unwell somewhere? Do you want me to go to the palace to invite the imperial physician..."

Xie Ze didn't hear what the servant said at all. He just rushed out of bed, grabbed the servant and yelled with bloodshot eyes: "Where is my Trojan horse! Where is my Trojan horse!"

The little attendant was obviously frightened. He trembled and stumbled, "Your Majesty, what kind of wooden horse is this? What are you looking for? Tell me and I will find it for you!"

"You--" Xie Ze had already raised his hand, and only then did he notice that the servant in front of him looked unfamiliar. He was not the imperial guard who usually kept watch for him.

Xie Ze's heart tightened and he kicked the man out immediately. Before he could be on guard, he felt something was wrong again.

After Jiang Xin passed away, he fell into self-loathing and abused his body every day.

Since the beginning of last year, my legs and feet have not been as flexible. Even if I was angry for a moment, I couldn't kick someone that far...

"Your Majesty, please spare me, Your Majesty, please spare me!" The servant was stunned by the kick. He lay on the ground for a long time before he came back to his breath. He quickly knelt on the ground and said tremblingly.

Although he didn't know how he had offended the prince, the prince was his master, and if the master punished him, it must be his fault.

Xie Ze didn't have time to pay attention to him at the moment. He just looked at the furnishings in the room in a daze, and finally lowered his head and fixed his gaze on his hands.

These are a pair of well-maintained hands of a young man. There is only a thin layer of calluses at the base of the thumb, which is caused by practicing martial arts since childhood, but there is not a single wound and no wrinkles of age.

These are not his hands; these hands belong to the young Xie Ze.

"What year of Kangyuan is it now?" Xie Ze looked carefully at his subordinates who were kneeling on the ground and kowtowing. He seemed to have finally found a sense of familiarity from his memory. After a long while, he found his voice and spoke hoarsely.

"...Ah?" The attendant was stunned for a moment, until he saw Xie Ze's expression and quickly answered: "Reply, reply Your Majesty! It is now the tenth day of the eighth month of the fifteenth year of Kangyuan, and in five days it will be Mid-Autumn Festival."

"Fifteen years, the fifteenth year of Kangyuan..." Xie Ze was stunned when he heard this, and repeated it to himself again and again.

He walked around the servants and slowly to the door, repeating these words in his mouth, as if his soul was pulled out of his body and returned to its original place. He moved his almost stiff fingers, lifted them up and opened the door.

It was the hour of Mao, and the first rays of light from the east shone on his body. It was not blinding, but Xie Ze could see the scene in the palace clearly. The Chaowang Palace of forty years ago seemed like a lifetime ago.

He failed to meet Ashin in the underworld, but instead dragged his old and rotten soul back to forty years ago.

Forty years ago, his Ashin was still there.

Still...

Everything is still in time.

*

The Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching, and it should be a time for busy preparations for a family dinner. However, the atmosphere in the home of Jiang Zhengchu, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, is quite the opposite.

The whole family gathered in the living room. Jiang Zhengchu sat at the head seat with a stern expression. Next to him sat his current wife Fu Xuerong. Next to Fu Xuerong stood Jiang Daiyu, the Jiang family's pampered only daughter.

In the middle of the living room, kneeling was a thin young man in simple clothes. This man was none other than Jiang Xin, the eldest son of the Jiang family, who was famous throughout the capital.

However, Jiang Xin became famous not because of his talent or appearance, but because he was a mute since birth.

Because his first child was a mute good-for-nothing, Jiang Zhengchu always regarded Jiang Xin as the biggest stain in his life. He threw him and his wet nurse into a remote courtyard in the mansion and never cared about him again.

It's just that Jiang Xin's deceased mother was the youngest daughter of General Pingxi. Although the old general was old, his eldest son, the brother of Jiang Xin's mother, was quite promising and could not be easily offended.

Therefore, Jiang Zhengchu had done enough superficial work such as giving Jiang Xin the allowance he deserved and attending the school he was supposed to attend.

However, something happened in school today that made Jiang Zhengchu feel even more embarrassed than his son being a mute.

Next to Jiang Xin stood two young men who looked two years older than him. They were his schoolmates, Jiang Xingyu and Jiang Liangcai.

He just glanced at him with disgust, then bowed slightly to Jiang Zhengchu who was sitting in the main seat, and said respectfully:

"Father, Jiang Xin was caught stealing his classmates' belongings in the academy. The teacher has announced that he will be expelled from the academy. Jiang Xin's misconduct outside has ruined the family's reputation. Please punish him severely."

The thin young man looked frightened and excitedly looked at Jiang Zhengchu, gesturing anxiously with his hands: Father, I did not steal Lu Wuliang's jade pendant, please believe me!

Jiang Zhengchu looked at the young man coldly, without a trace of mercy in his eyes. He threw the jade pendant in his hand to the ground and said indifferently: "Lu Wuliang's jade pendant was found in your desk. Do you still dare to lie and deny it?"

"Ahh." I didn't steal it! Jiang Xin wanted to explain anxiously, but unfortunately he couldn't speak and could only gesture desperately.

[This jade pendant, this jade pendant was given to me by Lu Wuliang! ]

But what Jiang Zhengchu hated most was seeing him mumbling and humming, so he immediately shook his hand to shut him up, looked directly at Jiang Xingyu, and said coldly: "Xingyu, you speak."

Jiang Xingyu glanced at Jiang Xin, then lowered his head and sneered, "Yes, after the jade pendant was found, the teacher called Brother Lu to confront Jiang Xin. Jiang Xin claimed that the jade pendant was given by Brother Lu, but Brother Lu did not remember this. It was clearly an excuse made up by Jiang Xin when he saw that the truth had been revealed.

Although Brother Lu said that the jade pendant was worthless and there was no need to alert the authorities, the teacher was extremely disappointed when he saw that Jiang Xin refused to admit his mistake. He reported the matter to the dean and expelled Jiang Xin from the academy.

[Father! Believe me, this jade pendant was really given to me by Lu Wuliang!] Jiang Xin was so anxious that his eyes turned red. Seeing that his father didn't look at him, he quickly took out the paper and pen he carried with him and tried to write down the whole story.

Jiang Xin is a invisible person in the academy. He can't speak, and it takes him a long time to communicate using sign language or writing. In addition, everyone knows that he has a bad relationship with his two younger brothers, so almost no one wants to pay attention to him.

The only exception is Lu Wuliang.

Lu Wuliang came from a poor family and was not very popular among the children of many dignitaries, but he got along well with Jiang Xin.

The main reason is that Lu Wuliang is more patient and willing to communicate with Jiang Xin through writing.

Due to his own defects, Jiang Xin has always been reluctant to cause trouble to others. He usually stays in a corner and reads quietly.

After a long time, it is inevitable to feel lonely.

The appearance of Lu Wuliang made him think that he had made his first friend, and therefore he cherished this friendship very much.

But yesterday, Lu Wuliang suddenly cornered him while it was snowing, saying that he liked him and wanted to give him this jade pendant as a token of love.

Jiang Xin couldn't speak to begin with, and now he was so shocked that he stood there dumbfounded.

Not to mention that he has always regarded Lu Wuliang as a friend, he is now completely focused on this year's college entrance examination and has no time to think about anything else.

He has a serious imbalance in his academic performance and has failed the college entrance examination for two years. If he fails again this year, it will not just be a matter of kneeling in the ancestral hall for two days as punishment.

Therefore, Jiang Xin has been concentrating on reading these days and has no time to talk about love. His first reaction when he heard Lu Wuliang's confession was to gesture to reject him.

Who would have thought that Lu Wuliang had often reviewed lessons with him during this period and had clearly understood some sign language, but yesterday he seemed to have completely misunderstood Jiang Xin's meaning. He simply stuffed the jade pendant to Jiang Xin, turned around and ran away.

Jiang Xin couldn't find the person, so he had to put the jade pendant into his schoolbag, planning to return it to the other party during the break today.

Who would have thought that during the break today, Lu Wuliang ran off to talk to others as if he was deliberately avoiding him. He didn't find a chance, and he felt it wouldn't be good to let others know about his confession, so he put it off until the end of school.

Just when he was about to write a letter to tell Lu Wuliang that he had no such intentions towards him, the teacher hurriedly walked in with Lu Wuliang, stared at him with sharp eyes, and announced in a deep and cold voice that Lu Wuliang had lost a jade pendant in class...

Jiang Xin was labeled a thief for no apparent reason and was expelled from the academy.

Jiang Xin wrote hurriedly, fearing that if he wrote too slowly his father would not listen to his explanation. But the faster he wrote, the more messy and uglier his handwriting became.

Jiang Liangcai only took a glance at it, and then he looked very surprised and said with disdain: "Brother, your handwriting is too ugly. You can't even speak, why don't you write more beautifully?"

Jiang Xin: “…”

Jiang Xingyu also came over to take a look, and saw that Jiang Xin had just written about Lu Wuliang confessing his love to him, and he couldn't help laughing out loud: "Lu Wuliang confessed his love to you and gave you the jade pendant?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Xingyu forcibly pulled the paper out from under Jiang Xin's hand regardless of his wishes, spread it out in front of everyone, and said mockingly: "Everyone come and take a look, Jiang Xin actually said that Lu Wuliang gave him the jade pendant because he liked him.

This is the first time I know that my brother is not only unable to speak, but also secretly has an affair with someone else."

"Ah!"

[It’s not me, it’s Lu Wuliang…]

Before Jiang Xin finished his gesture, Jiang Xingyu interrupted him and sneered, "Why? Do you still want to say that Lu Wuliang has a one-sided love for you? Jiang Xin, Jiang Xin, do you really think you are a peerless beauty? You are a mute, if you don't seduce, who will notice you?"

[I didn't...] Jiang Xin looked at the mocking and contemptuous eyes of everyone in the lobby, and tried hard to tell them that he didn't seduce Lu Wuliang, he didn't steal anything...

However, all his excuses and grievances were blocked by the teacup thrown by Jiang Zhengchu.

"Oh!"

Jiang Xin just felt a "buzzing" in his head, and the next second, he felt warm liquid on his forehead.

Jiang Zhengchu saw that his teacup smashed Jiang Xin's head and made it bleed, but he didn't feel any pity at all. He just stood up and said coldly: "Jiang Xin, you not only steal property, but also like men. You have brought shame to my Jiang family!

I don’t have a son like you. Someone, come here! Take him to the ancestral hall and give him fifty slaps, then throw him out of the house. This will let outsiders know that my Jiang family has a clean family tradition and will never tolerate such a thing…”

Jiang Zhengchu originally wanted to take this opportunity to completely expel this useless son from the family, but before he could finish his words, he felt a strong wind hitting his face. Before he could react, he was kicked away by a foot from the side the next second.

"what!"