Rebirth, guarding the mute at the tip of my heart

Light and regular breathing came from below, and Xie Ze knew that his Ah Xin had fallen asleep.

Only when Jiang Xin was asleep could Xie Ze finally look at his lover without any scruples and greedily, kissing Jiang Xin on the forehead tenderly and restrainedly, and gently holding Jiang Xin in his arms.

Only here, only by Jiang Xin's side, the Emperor, who had been mad for decades, finally calmed down, gained the long-lost peace, and closed his tired eyes.

Two pieces of drifting wood in the sea, drifting with the waves, ups and downs, finally found each other again.

*

Perhaps it was because he had just been reborn, and the unreal feeling of finally seeing his lover again after many years, Xie Ze woke up frequently in the night, until he saw Jiang Xin nearby, and then he calmed down again.

The next morning, without waiting for Jiang Xin to wake up, Xie Ze quietly put on his clothes and prepared to go to court.

Although he had returned from a victorious battle, His Majesty allowed him to rest for a while, but such a big commotion last night could not be concealed. He had to give an explanation to the Emperor, and most importantly, clear Jiang Xin's name.

Ah Fu, who was on night watch, saw his own prince actually go outside to put on court robes, and he hurried over to help, saying distressedly: "Prince, why did you come out so early? You'll catch a cold! I'll help you..."

"Shut up!" Xie Ze, who was in a good mood because of seeing his lover sleeping, immediately turned cold and scolded in a low voice.

Ah Fu shut up instantly and looked at Xie Ze with trembling fear. He always felt that his prince had become more majestic after going to the battlefield.

Xie Ze put on his clothes with a cold face, and waited until he was a little further away before he coldly warned Ah Fu: "Don't disturb him, go and ask the doctor from Huichun Hall to come over and wait for him. Also, the breakfast in the kitchen is warm, bring it over when he wakes up.

Don't tell him to worry about the academy, I will take care of it for him."

"Yes." As soon as he said this, Ah Fu naturally understood the status of the young master in the room. Thinking that his own prince had to come out even to put on clothes for fear of disturbing the other party, Ah Fu was shocked in his heart, but on the surface he said respectfully: "I will definitely serve that young master well."

At this point, Ah Fu asked again, "Where does the prince plan to arrange your room?"

Male homosexuality was prevalent in the Dali Dynasty. When the previous emperor was in power, he had several favored male concubines in the harem. Naturally, the people below followed suit, especially the aristocratic families, many of whom kept male favorites at home.

The young master was taken home by his own prince last night and stayed in the prince's bedroom for one night, so he must have a place to go.

The prince has never been interested in the affairs of his children, and the backyard has been vacant until now. But now a young master is finally going to move in, and he seems to be quite favored, so naturally they have to serve him carefully.

However, what Ah Fu did not expect was that his considerate inquiry did not receive the appreciation of his own prince. Instead, he only received a sinister, murderous look from Xie Ze.

Xie Ze's face was full of gloom and murderous aura. He looked at Ah Fu coldly: "His room is not in the backyard."

Ah Fu was startled and quickly knelt down to beg for mercy: "Yes, yes! I presumptuously speculated on the prince's thoughts, please forgive me!"

"From now on he will be your second master."

"Yes, yes! I understand. I will serve the young master well and will not slack off in the slightest." Ah Fu was shocked, but he bowed his head and replied hurriedly.

After Xie Ze finished his instructions, he glanced in the direction of the dormitory and then quickly left the palace.

The sooner I can resolve the problem, the sooner I can come back and be with Ashin.

*

There are no secrets in Shangjing City. Just as Xie Ze expected, the news that he broke into the residence of the Minister of Justice last night, caused a big commotion at Jiang Mansion and injured Jiang Zhengchu soon spread.

The civil officials in the court who were worried about not being able to find any evidence against Xie Ze suddenly became active like flies smelling blood. They wrote memorials overnight, waiting to criticize Xie Ze harshly when they attended court the next day.

Xie Ze's identity is sensitive, and now he has made great contributions, and he is the talk of the town for a while. I believe that even His Majesty, who has always been lenient to him, would like to find an opportunity to teach him a lesson.

The so-called clean stream in the court would certainly not miss such a good opportunity to curry favor with His Majesty and to demonstrate their reputation of not fearing power and giving honest advice.

"Your Majesty, the virtuous prince is arrogant and broke into the residence of Lord Jiang, the Minister of Justice, at night and injured Lord Jiang for no reason. His words and actions have violated the laws of Dali. As a prince, he should be punished even more severely. Please punish him!"

"Your Majesty, I second the proposal!"

The leading minister, Wei Daxueshi, was the most favored concubine of the current emperor and the mother's family of Concubine Lan. As soon as he opened his mouth, the ministers seemed to have received a signal and immediately agreed.

The emperor sat on the high dragon throne and his expression could not be seen clearly. When most of the ministers had already knelt down, he saw Xie Ze standing aside with an icy expression and no strange expression. Then he said calmly, "Come here, send someone to the Jiang Mansion to ask if what you said is true."

"Yes."

Jiang Zhengchu was beaten into a pig's head by Xie Ze last night, so he could only take sick leave today, so he was not among the ministers at the moment.

Even if we send someone to ask now, they won't be able to get back in time.

Therefore, the emperor only gave some instructions and then looked at the culprit who was being sued today: "Jingrong, do you have anything else to say about this matter?"

Xie Ze, whose courtesy name is Jingrong, was a courtesy name bestowed upon him by the current emperor himself.

Xie Ze bowed slightly, calmly and confidently: "Your Majesty, I did go to Lord Jiang's residence last night, but the so-called beating of Lord Jiang is pure rumor. You gentlemen just heard it from others, but you believed it without a doubt and even brought it up in the court. It's quite interesting."

"Ridiculous!" As soon as Xie Ze finished speaking, the ministers who had just taken the lead immediately lost their temper and glared at Xie Ze: "The prince made such a big fuss in Jiang Mansion last night, and Lord Jiang's screams were so loud that even the two lords next door could hear it. Could it be that they heard it wrong?!"

As soon as the voice fell, as if in response to their words, the two old ministers who lived next to Jiang Zhengchu walked out of the queue and said respectfully to the emperor: "Your Majesty, although it was unintentional, I heard with my own ears that Lord Jiang was beaten and screamed, and I also heard someone shouting the word "Prince". This is absolutely true, and I dare not hide it.

Lord Jiang's voice was so tragic that I was worried that someone might have died, so I went out to take a look. I saw the prince grabbing someone and leaving the Jiang family with a ferocious look on his face.

After the prince left, the Jiang family cried loudly, and the servants hurried out to find a doctor.

I wanted to go visit him, but Lord Jiang must have been injured too badly and has gone to bed. "

As he spoke, the old minister knelt down and bowed, saying with tears in his eyes: "Your Majesty, everything I said is true, not a single word is false. Please do justice for Lord Jiang, Your Majesty!"

"I didn't know that Lord Liang and Lord Jiang have such a good relationship. When Lord Jiang was injured, Lord Liang cried as if his father had died." Xie Ze sneered and coldly interrupted the old minister's emotional catharsis.

"You!" The old man was choked by Lian Hetai. He was about to explain that he was just out of friendship as a fellow official and didn't want Lord Jiang to suffer such a great humiliation, but he saw Xie Ze had already passed him by and bowed to the emperor, saying:

"Your Majesty, I just happened to pass by the Jiang family on my way back home, and stopped by to have some tea and rest. Unexpectedly, I ran into Lord Jiang interrogating his eldest son Jiang Xin for stealing his classmates' property.

Lord Jiang was biased and ignored his son's defense and wanted to resort to lynching. I felt that there were many suspicious points in this matter, so I spoke up to stop Lord Jiang. The two sides argued for a while, but I didn't expect that it would arouse the suspicion of the gentlemen. I hope Your Majesty will take a closer look. "

The ministers: “…” What the hell, we had an argument. Is your argument just to throw it in other people’s faces?

But before everyone could raise any objections to Xie Ze's shameless remarks, they heard the emperor speak with some doubt: "The eldest son of the Jiang family? But the child who can't speak?"

Although His Majesty the Emperor was not interested in the children of his ministers, he had heard of the famous mute in the Jiang family.

"Your Majesty, that's right." Xie Ze bowed slightly and said righteously, "Not to mention that Jiang Zhengchu is the Minister of Justice, it is unreasonable to use private punishment before the matter is thoroughly investigated.

Then he said that this matter involved Baishan Academy, which is a place for students to study and learn. Now that a theft has occurred, it should be investigated thoroughly and announced to the capital to avoid damaging the reputation of the academy and its students.

The emperor nodded upon hearing this and said calmly, "Theft in the academy is a serious matter and it really shouldn't be hastily closed without investigation. In this case, the matter will be handed over to Xie Ze for investigation, and Liang Yihe will assist. The case will be solved within three days. Do you have any objections?"

"The minister obeys the order."

"...Your humble servant obeys Your Majesty." Liang Yi and Wan Wan, who were still kneeling on the ground, did not expect things to develop like this. No matter how you look at it, it was Xie Ze who was causing trouble in the Jiang family. It would have been fine if the emperor did not take the opportunity to punish Xie Ze, but why did he make him Xie Ze's subordinate and help Xie Ze investigate the case?

The emperor nodded, then smiled at Liang Yihe and said, "Mr. Liang can go and verify whether what Jingrong said is true. If he is suspected of deceiving the emperor, I will never tolerate it."

"..." Liang Yihe had no choice but to reply respectfully, "Your Majesty, please rest assured. I will help you investigate this matter thoroughly and will not miss any details."

"Okay, if you have nothing else to do today, then you may adjourn the court." After saying this, the emperor waved his hand, stood up and left the dragon throne.

After the emperor left, Liang Yihe stood up with some difficulty, holding his knees, and looked at Xie Ze who was standing beside him with a gloomy look. Thinking that they would have to cooperate for the next three days, he was about to say a few polite words, but he saw that the other party didn't even look at him and left with a flick of his sleeves.

Liang Yihe: "..."

Jian, it's so rude! He doesn't believe that the emperor can continue to tolerate him with such arrogance. He wants to see how long he can laugh!

*

After Xie Ze left the court, he did not return home immediately, but went directly to the imperial study.

It's okay to fool the ministers about some things, but he still needs to explain things to his uncle.

Emperor Kangyuan, Xie Hongyi, the only emperor in the history of the Dali Dynasty who was known for his benevolence, was a real good man.

It was not like what everyone thought, that they were wary of Xie Ze because he had returned with merit and held military power. On the contrary, as the only child of his brother, he truly treated Xie Ze as his own child.

However, it was precisely because of his kindness and weakness that the arrogance of the Empress and Concubine Xian's mother's family was encouraged, and the power of the foreign relatives was strong. Over the years, the court became increasingly uneasy.

"Aze, you're here." When Emperor Kang Yuan saw Xie Ze coming, a relieved smile appeared on his tired face, and he waved to Xie Ze: "Come and sit down, no need to be polite."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Xie Ze paused, bowed slightly to Emperor Kang Yuan, and sat aside.

"I have nothing to do today. Come have lunch with me before going back. We haven't had lunch together as uncle and nephew for a long time." Emperor Kang Yuan said with a smile. Ever since the power of his foreign relatives grew and the princes grew older, he became less and less willing to go to the harem.

However, Xie Ze did not give him this face and directly refused: "There are people waiting for me in my mansion today. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

"Oh? Someone is waiting for you? You, this blockhead who doesn't understand romance, have finally come to your senses and are bringing someone into your house?" This statement aroused the interest of Emperor Kang Yuan, and he looked at Xie Ze with some curiosity.

You know, he has mentioned the matter of getting married to this brat several times. Xie Ze is his brother's only child, so he naturally wants Xie Ze to get married and have children as soon as possible.

But this kid Xie Ze always refused with various excuses, and later he even ran directly to the battlefield. This matter has been delayed until now. I didn't expect that he would take the initiative to bring it up now.

Xie Ze paused, shook his head and said, "It's Jiang Xin who is visiting the mansion."

Although he really wanted to admit that Ashin was the partner he had chosen, he couldn't do that yet. Now was not the right time...

"Jiang Xin?" Emperor Kang Yuan frowned, somewhat surprised: "Are you an old acquaintance of him?"

If not, he really couldn't understand why his nephew, who was so cold-hearted and afraid of trouble, would go to the Jiang Mansion and make a scene, and today he even begged him to thoroughly investigate the case in the court.

However, Jiang Xin was a mute, and it was said that he seldom went out. How did these two people who had nothing in common know each other?

"We have met a few times." Xie Ze did not elaborate, but said, "I just saw that he was alone and helpless in the mansion, and I felt sorry for him.

I lost my father at a young age but I still have the protection of my uncle. But Jiang Xin is in the Jiang Mansion. Although he has a biological father, he has no one to protect him. He can't even defend himself because of his speech disorder. I want to help him."

Emperor Kang Yuan was stunned. This was the first time he saw Xie Ze showing such emotion. Hearing him mention his brother's early death, he felt sad. For a moment, he nodded in understanding: "He is indeed a poor child. If the theft is confirmed to have nothing to do with him, I will definitely seek justice for him."

"He definitely didn't do this." Xie Ze replied without thinking, then stood up and saluted Emperor Kang Yuan: "I came here to ask for your Majesty's order. When this matter is settled, please let Jiang Xin be my companion."