Rebirth, guarding the mute at the tip of my heart

The old couple who were talking in the carriage were Jiang Xin's blood-related grandparents whom he had never met.

General Lu has been guarding the western border for many years and is now nearly seventy years old. This time when he returned to Beijing, he reported to the emperor in advance and prepared to retire and return home.

Jiang Xin's biological mother, Lu Qiting, is the couple's youngest daughter and was once the most favored child in the Lu family.

Although Lu Qiting is a girl, she has loved wielding swords and guns since she was a child, and she has a talent for martial arts. When she was young, she competed with her older brother and was often able to win against Lu Haokong.

General Lu once had high hopes for this youngest daughter, but later, Lu Qiting fell in love with Jiang Zhengchu and stayed in the capital.

General Lu disliked Jiang Zhengchu, and the two families gradually became estranged.

Later, Lu Qiting died of complications during childbirth, and Jiang Zhengchu married a new wife without any problems. Naturally, the Lu family was suspicious.

After all, she was his own daughter, so General Lu secretly asked someone to investigate. However, the result of the investigation showed that Lu Qiting did die of childbirth complications, so he did not pursue the matter further.

At that time, the military situation in the western border was urgent, and there were a lot of things to do at home.

Mrs. Lu had originally mentioned to General Lu whether they should take the child to raise him by their side.

After all, Jiang Zhengchu has already married a new wife, and the child is occupying the position of the eldest son, so he will never end up in trouble.

They have many sons in their family, so they don't need Jiang Xin to feed them.

However, General Lu refused when she first proposed it. He went to see Jiang Xin when he was just born. He looked sickly and it was obvious that he was not cut out to learn martial arts and would probably not achieve much in the future.

Besides, Jiang Xin’s biological father is still alive. If Jiang Zhengchu disagrees, it will not be easy for them to take Jiang Xin away even if they want to.

Later, when he was in the Western Territory, he heard the news from the capital that the child was born dumb, unable to speak, and weak, so he stopped paying attention to Jiang Xin's affairs and asked his wife and son not to meddle in his affairs.

Now he is about to return to the capital, and it was not until he heard his wife talk about it that General Lu remembered this grandson.

When General Lu heard that Jiang Xin was not mute but was framed, his first reaction was not to blame himself for not taking the child to his side to take care of him immediately. Instead, he looked at his wife with some resentment:

"Didn't I tell you that you don't need to pay special attention to the news of the Jiang family in the future? Why are you still asking about him?"

"I didn't deliberately ask..." The old lady felt a little aggrieved. Her husband always kept his word. How dare she disobey him? She just said angrily:

"The Jiang family's matter has caused a big stir. Fu Xuerong's daughter is the fourth prince's concubine. Now the merchants from the capital are talking about this matter. I just overheard it by accident."

General Lu frowned and said unhappily, "When we get to the capital, let your family members check out the current situation first. Anyway, don't take the initiative to contact that guy.

The Jiang family has caused such a turmoil, and he grew up in the Jiang family, who knows what kind of personality he has grown up to be? "

As soon as he finished speaking, General Lu paused, and couldn't help but said sarcastically:

"Your stupid daughter, I asked her to marry the husband I picked for her, but she refused to marry. In the end, she chose such a good-for-nothing man and even lost her life."

"..." Madam Lu opened her mouth, as if she wanted to refute something, but in the end she swallowed the words out of habit, lowered her head, and said weakly: "It's been so long, Tingting has passed away, why are you still talking about this..."

"Isn't this what you wanted to say?" General Lu snorted coldly, then he was too lazy to say anything else. He closed his eyes and began to rest.

The journey to the capital is long, and it will take at least half a month. They are not young anymore, so it is better for them to take care of their spirits instead of wasting time arguing about irrelevant topics.

When Mrs. Lu saw him like this, she knew that he didn't want to talk anymore, so she could only sigh and end the topic.

*

Beijing.

After the monthly report was finalized, Emperor Kang Yuan sent his confidant to discuss the contents of the first issue with Xie Zejiang Xin on the third day.

In addition to these three people, Emperor Kang Yuan also specially instructed each member of the cabinet to write a documentary article in the past two days, asking them to talk about some real experiences in the past.

No matter whether it is interesting things from childhood, or difficulties encountered when studying, or some things done after entering the court as an official, you can talk about them.

The only requirement is to use colloquial language and not be too obscure.

After all, their monthly report is aimed at everyone, not just scholars, so there is no need for too many fancy words. On the contrary, the simpler and easier to understand the text is, the more likely it will be liked by the people.

Several ministers in the cabinet had no idea what was going on when they received such an order. They looked at each other in confusion for a moment.

"What do you think His Majesty's intention is in asking us to write this article?" The runner-up who just entered the cabinet this year asked his senior beside him with some concern.

It was about their experiences as a teenager, and what they did after becoming officials. Could it be that he wanted to investigate their backgrounds? Could it be that they were related to the princes? Did the emperor want to know if they had any contact with the princes in private?

His Majesty said that the content of the article must be true. Does that mean they should tell the truth and not lie? Could it be that His Majesty has already found out something?

However, the old senior who had been in the cabinet for several years did not know what the emperor was thinking, so he could only comfort him dryly: "Since your majesty has said so, we will do as you say. As long as we behave properly, there is nothing to worry about."

Everyone: “…” It was said lightly.

Those who could enter the cabinet were the top three in each imperial examination, so the princes would naturally not miss the opportunity to win them over.

Even if they did not agree to join any prince, they still had contact in private. Who knows if His Majesty would be unhappy and directly accuse them of forming a clique for personal gain?

But it was useless to think too much. His Majesty had spoken, so they couldn't not write. They could only rack their brains to think about what to write and how to write it...

*

Just when all the ministers in the cabinet were getting anxious about writing an ordinary vernacular article, Xie Ze had already written a full 2,000-word article and handed it to Cang Binbai, a trusted minister sent by Emperor Kang Yuan.

Cang Binbai is now the person in charge of "Beijing Monthly". He attaches great importance to the content of the first issue. When he saw that Xie Ze personally wrote an article and handed it to him, he immediately read it carefully.

However, after reading only three lines, Cang Binbai's originally excited expression suddenly became dull. He raised his head expressionlessly and said, "Your Highness, this manuscript... is it the wrong one?"

"You're right, this is it. I just wrote it these two days. You are the second person to read it." Xie Ze took a look and waved his hand and said lightly.

The first one was naturally Jiang Xin. He really had no way to dissuade his highness from using their story as the first page of the first monthly report, so he could only stand aside with a serious face, pretending that he knew nothing.

However, Xie Ze did not let him go. He took his hand and said calmly, "Ah Xin has also read it. The content is basically true. Let's put it on the first issue."

Cang Binbai: “…”Are you serious?

"Is there any problem?" Xie Ze said confidently.

Cang Bin lowered his head with a pale face, took a deep breath, quickly read the article, and confirmed again and again that his understanding was correct. Then he raised his head with difficulty and said, "Your Excellency, no problem."

Anyway, after all the accepted manuscripts are collected, they will be submitted to His Majesty for review, and will only be printed after His Majesty confirms that there are no problems.

Even if there is a problem, it is His Majesty's problem, and he does not want to refute His Highness who is in high spirits.

Having said that, he originally thought that His Highness was truly loyal to the emperor and patriotic, and actually proposed such a good idea to His Majesty. Now it seems...

This guy just wants to show off his affection, right?!

Cang Binbai silently put Xie Ze's manuscript into the schoolbag he brought with him. He was afraid that if he looked at it for a while longer, his eyes would be blinded. He paused before looking at Jiang Xin and said, "I wonder if Master Jiang has prepared some content?"

That being said, Cang Binbai no longer held out much hope. He would be thankful as long as it was no longer just some trivial matter that the prince and his companion had to talk about. This was a serious and respectful publication!

Fortunately, Jiang Xin was more reliable than his highness. The manuscript he gave was some experience in wood carving, and it was written very carefully and in detail.

Although Cang Binbai didn't know much about wood carving, he could see that Jiang Xin had put a lot of thought into it.

Although not everyone is interested in wood carving, Cang Binbai is very satisfied with this manuscript.

His Majesty said that when the first issue of the monthly report is published, a small page should be reserved for soliciting contributions from the general public, so that more people can participate. This way, we can listen more to the people's voices and understand their needs.

Jiang Xin's article was written in the tone of a woodcarver and was very helpful in encouraging people to submit their articles.

So even though not many people might be interested in this, Cang Binbai still decided to put him in the first issue.

After receiving the two manuscripts, Cang Binbai discussed the details of the monthly report with the two of them in detail. They did not leave the palace until the sun was about to set.

On the second day, Cang Binbai came again, bringing articles from several cabinet ministers, and together with the two of them, he selected a few more interesting articles.

After all the articles were initially finalized, Cang Binbai hurried to the palace and handed them over to His Majesty for review.

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, the first article Emperor Kang Yuan read was Xie Ze's masterpiece.

"On a dark and windy night, I passed by the Jiang residence and heard harsh rebukes and humiliations coming from inside. I concluded that something was wrong, so I ignored the Jiang family's servants' attempts to stop me and broke in. Sure enough, I saw the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice, Jiang Xin, privately punishing his son, Jiang Xin.

As soon as I saw Jiang Xin, I was delighted. His eyes were clear and his mind was open. He was so happy at first sight..."

"Nonsense!" Emperor Kang Yuan was in a worse mood than Cang Binbai. He couldn't read any more after reading only two lines. He threw the manuscript away and said angrily:

"What is this all about?! It was a dark and windy night. Did he know he was wandering around during curfew?! Did he know he was trespassing into the residence of an imperial official?!

What I want is an article that can arouse the interest of the people and is true enough to convince the people, rather than just writing about romance!"

"Your Majesty, I also said so." Cang Binbai knelt down quickly and said respectfully, "It's just that His Royal Highness the Wise King said that his relationship with Young Master Jiang perfectly meets your Majesty's requirements.

And I... After carefully investigating public opinion, I found that Your Highness and Young Master Jiang are indeed popular figures now, and many people are very interested in how Your Highness publicly expressed his love for Young Master Jiang in the court.

I thought that if this was used as a starting point, the Capital Monthly would indeed be promoted in the shortest possible time, so I included your highness’ article in it.”

After saying this, Cang Binbai immediately expressed his serious attitude: "Of course, if Your Majesty feels that there is something wrong with this article, we will obey Your Majesty's orders."

"..." Emperor Kang Yuan was so angry that he wanted to throw the manuscript away, but he had to admit that Cang Binbai's considerations were indeed reasonable. After holding it in for a long time, he shook his sleeves and said coldly:

"Even so, he just needs to write about it. Who asked him to express so many unnecessary emotions?!

You, you go find a few people to re-polish these articles, remove all the unnecessary emotions, and don't let me see these awful things!"

"Yes." Cang Binbai responded, and then hesitantly said: "But the fact that His Highness loves Young Master Jiang is already known to everyone. If we remove the emotion, will it not be true enough?"

You have to know that the main theme of their "Capital Monthly" is truth, and only truth can gain the trust of the people.

"..." Emperor Kang Yuan choked again, and finally shouted in intolerance: "Then make your choices in moderation, polish it a little, and keep the core! Do you really need me to teach you such a simple thing?!

If you can't do it well again, I will let someone else do it!"

"Yes, yes, I'll go right away." Cang Binbai responded hurriedly and went downstairs quickly.

Emperor Kang Yuan was so angry that he took two deep breaths and sat back on the dragon throne with a stern face.

"Your Majesty, calm down." Eunuch Wang quickly handed Emperor Kang Yuan a cup of hot tea and said flatteringly, "Your Majesty is straightforward and kind-hearted. He also wants to make your Majesty's monthly report a success."

"Let's not mention him. I get so angry when I mention him." Emperor Kang Yuan snorted coldly and picked up the memorial on the side to read it.

There are still a bunch of memorials I haven't finished reading today. Instead of spending the time reading about that boy's romantic affairs, I might as well read a few more memorials!

Thinking of this, Emperor Kang Yuan calmed down a little. He just read two books and suddenly stopped. He said calmly as if he had thought of something, "It has been a while since Lu Qing submitted his memorial to retire and return to Beijing. Calculating the date, it should be soon, right?"

"Your Majesty, if you take a carriage from the Western Territory to the capital, it will take more than half a month. Now half a month has passed, so it should be these few days."

Emperor Kang Yuan still respected this general who had guarded the border for most of his life. He nodded and said, "I remember that Jiang Xin is his grandson?"

"Your Majesty, yes."

"In that case, let Xie Ze take Ah Xin to welcome them, to show my respect for them."