Chongxi [rebirth]

The people in the room were still talking, but Ye Wan didn't dare to listen any more.He staggered to his feet, and stumbled towards his yard.

The maid in the room heard the movement and vigilantly opened the door to check, but saw nothing, so she could only close the door again in doubt.

Ye Fan went back to the yard with a pale face, as if he had lost his soul, the maid who was waiting on him came up to meet him: "What's wrong, young master?"

"Everyone go out." Ye Wang waved back and locked himself in the room alone.

He recalled those short conversations over and over again in his mind, but he couldn't connect these words with his mother.He always knew that his mother had a bad temper, but his mother was the jewel in the palm of the Yin family. But I rarely go to my aunt's yard.On the contrary, it is the mother who occasionally sends some rewards.

In his opinion, his mother was short-tempered, but never bad-hearted.

But he heard those words with his own ears, and they were true and indisputable.He didn't even have the courage to rush in and question him.

Because he knew that his mother did all this for him.

Ye Wan covered his face, slumped on the ground with his back against the wall.When he came to look for his mother today, he was originally told by his servants that his father and mother were going to see Ye Yunting at the Yongan Palace. He was very happy, but he was afraid that the servants would spread the rumors, so he wanted to go to his mother to confirm. If it was true, he asked them to bring him with him. Let's go together, so that King Yong'an can't stop him from going outside again.

Unexpectedly, he was caught off guard to hear such words.

He thought of Ye Yunting again.

When he was young, he was very envious of others having an older brother to protect him. Later, when he found out that he also had an older brother, he was very happy.But both parents said that the eldest brother was weak, and if they didn't ask him to disturb him, he could only go to see the eldest brother secretly.

Later, as he grew older, he went to home school.I also saw that everyone else went to home school with my brother. After school, my eldest brother took his brother to the horse race for a drink.He was also surrounded by some cousins, but when he looked at those people, he always felt that they only liked the Duke's Mansion and the Yin family behind him.Talk and do things submissively and timidly.Besides, none of them are as good-looking as Ye Yunting.

It's just that Ye Yunting never came to the family school, and later when he occasionally mentioned Ye Yunting in school, those cousins ​​always looked down on them, and even other people in the family school looked down on him very much.He gradually stopped mentioning it.

But he still goes to Ye Yunting's yard occasionally.He found that Ye Yunting was not an illiterate idiot with an empty belly as those people said.At least he has seen him practice calligraphy in the yard, and the handwriting is much better than his; he will also teach the bookboys around him to read and practice calligraphy. Teach him to write carefully, much more patiently than the teachers in the family school.At that time, he felt that if Ye Yunting came to teach him, his handwriting would definitely be much better than now; he even saw him making snacks in the kitchen. The light yellow osmanthus cake was very fragrant. Four yuan for the book boy.At that time, he just felt very angry. He was so kind to a book boy, but why he ignored his younger brother.

Later, he stopped watching secretly, and would show Ye Yunting any good things he got, but Ye Yunting's expression was always indifferent. look no different.

Obviously he smiled so gently at that stupid book boy, why couldn't he give it to him better?

In the past, Ye Wang always had a lot of complaints in his heart. He wanted to get along with Ye Yunting better, but he couldn't swallow it. He felt that he was not even comparable to a book boy.

But today he suddenly understood that the truth that had been hazyly covered by a layer of veil before was torn apart bloody after these words.

Ye Yunting should really alienate him, and maybe even hate him.

He is obviously the young master of the Duke's Mansion, he lives in the best yard in the mansion, but Ye Yunting lives in the most remote and poorest yard; he spends the best on food and clothing, and will never wear the same clothes twice; but Ye Yunting had the same clothes, but he saw that he had worn them for three or four years; he was educated at home when he was young, and went to the Imperial College when he was old, but Ye Yunting rarely even stepped out of the gate of the palace, and could only read and practice calligraphy in the yard ...

He had doubts in the past, but his parents always said that Ye Yunting's health was not good, his fate was weak, he could not receive too many blessings, and he had to rest and cultivate his mind.

He heard a lot, and he believed it.Later, I stopped asking, just taking it all for granted.

Thinking about it now, he was ridiculously stupid.

Ye Wan covered his face, tears flowed from his red eyes, dropped to the ground, splashed, and quickly dissipated the traces.He shrugged his shoulders, and let out a hoarse and dull laughter from his throat, laughing at his naivety and stupidity.

He remembered that day when he went to the palace to look for Ye Yunting, and blamed him for not resisting, but a man accepted his fate and married someone, making him ridiculed by his friends.But it all turned out to be because of him.Ye Yunting didn't resist, not because he didn't want to, maybe because he couldn't.

Ye Wang stayed alone in the room for a long time, recalling those words like masochistic, at first he still shed tears, but after a long time, his eye sockets became dry, and then he died, and he could no longer shed tears.

He didn't know how to face all this, he was caught in the middle, he didn't dare to question his parents, and he couldn't deceive himself anymore.

If the maid hadn't come to call him, maybe he would have hid in the house and kept running away.

"Master, Master." The maid's voice became more urgent: "Madam is outside, please open the door."

Immediately afterwards, Mrs. Yin's voice also sounded: "Wang'er, what's wrong with you? The maid said you didn't eat dinner, and mother asked the cook to cook your favorite eight-treasure duck. Come out quickly, it's cold. It won't taste good."

Ye Zhu wiped his eyes indiscriminately, stood up from the ground staggeringly, tried to make his hoarse voice sound normal: "I don't want to eat, I've already fallen asleep."

Yin Hongye frowned, lowered her voice and asked the maid: "The young master locked himself in the room as soon as he came back?"

The maid nodded: "Yes, her face is pale and miserable, and she looks like she has lost her soul."

Yin Hongye frowned, and continued to knock on the door: "Wang'er, have you been wronged outside? You speak out, and mother will vent your anger on you."

"No." Ye Wan's headache was splitting, he covered his head and said loudly: "Mother, just leave me alone, I don't want to eat anything, and I haven't been wronged."

He squatted on the ground with his head in his arms, and buried his head in his lap as if trying to escape.

Ye Wang has the temperament of a little bully, he has never locked himself in the house like this before, Yin Hongye was frightened by him, and dared not knock on the door again.He only quietly ordered the personal maid to keep two women to listen to the movement in the house, and called all the servants in Ye Fan's courtyard out to inquire one by one.

……

Ye Yunting didn't know what was going on in the Duke's mansion.

After sending Xue Ping away, he and Li Fengqi went to greet the old concubine.

The old princess believed in Buddhism and was a vegetarian, so she didn't have breakfast with them.After the meal, we will chant sutras and Buddhas in the small Buddhist hall.They could only go to pay their respects after the old princess had finished reciting the scriptures.

When the two passed by, the old princess had just come out of the Buddhist hall.

Today she was wearing a very dark dark green long jacket with a light-colored beige on top, with Buddhist beads wrapped around her wrists, and the smell of incense burning all over her body.

Seeing the two of them, she nodded slightly and ordered Yiqiu to serve tea.

The three sat on two sides, the old concubine sat on the head, and Ye Yunting and Li Fengqi sat on one side.Yiqiu came over with the brewed hot tea, and said with a smile: "I came back from Rongyang in a hurry, and I didn't have time to clean up a lot of things. There are only these old teas left in the courtyard. Please don't dislike them."

Ye Yunting took the teacup, and saw that the teacup was full of round tea, he looked at the old concubine in surprise.

Tuancha is also called tea cake, which is divided into five categories of fine color and seven principles of coarse color.The production process is extremely complicated and delicate. Almost all the top grades are supplied to the palace, and the rest are also flowed into the noble families. The quantity is scarce and the price is expensive.Of course, for the mighty Yong'an Palace, a small group of tea is nothing.

Ye Yunting was surprised because the old concubine even noticed such a small hobby as Li Fengqi. He really couldn't understand why the relationship between the mother and son was so cold.

——Li Fengqi only likes to drink round tea when drinking tea, and he would rather drink plain tea than loose tea.This is a little habit he accidentally discovered when taking care of Li Fengqi.He didn't know it at first, but when Li Fengqi was in a coma, he fed him ordinary tea several times by accident, and every time Li Fengqi woke up, he had to drink a lot of water to rinse his mouth. Only then did he realize that King Yong'an was very picky about tea.

"I'll ask someone to bring over some new tea this year." Li Fengqi took a sip of the tea and said, "If there is anything left in Rongyang, mother can just order Wu Geng to send someone to fetch it."

The old concubine gave a "hmm" when she heard the words, and slowly twisted the beads in her hands.

The hall fell silent again.

Ye Yunting found that the mother and son spoke surprisingly little.Every meeting ends in silence.They seemed to be used to this kind of pattern, but he, an outsider, was fidgeting on the sidelines, trying to think of something to warm up the scene, but he was new here, and it seemed inappropriate to say anything, so he could only follow in silence.

After a cup of tea, Li Fengqi spoke again: "I have something to ask my mother."

"What's the matter?" The old concubine paused, and the spinning beads stopped.

Li Fengqi: "It's inconvenient to talk about old things here."

The old concubine was silent, and slowly got up: "Go inside."

Li Fengqi turned the wheelchair and followed closely behind. When passing in front of Ye Yunting, he pressed on Ye Yunting's arm: "I'll come back as soon as I go. There are some things... I will tell you later."

Ye Yunting nodded, he was not dissatisfied.Although he and Li Fengqi were on the same boat, they had actually only cooperated for half a month. If it was an important matter, even if Li Fengqi didn't say anything, he would take the initiative to avoid suspicion.

Sometimes the less you know, the longer you live.

Li Fengqi followed the old concubine to the small Buddhist hall behind.

Incense is lingering in the small Buddhist hall, and the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva enshrined on the altar holds a jewel in his left hand and a tin stick in his right, with a solemn appearance.On the left side of the Bodhisattva statue is the tablet of the old prince Li Huaiqu, and on the right side is a blank tablet.

The old concubine lit three sticks of incense to worship, and Li Fengqi stood side by side with her and also lit three sticks of incense.

After the worship, the old concubine spoke slowly, her voice seemed a bit empty in the lingering smoke: "What do you want to ask?"

Li Fengqi looked at the enshrined tablet, closed his eyes, and said, "My life experience."

His eyes fell on the blank tablet, and since he could remember, he had seen that blank tablet enshrined here.No name, no date of birth, nothing.

He had once guessed that this tablet might belong to his twin brother, but he was afraid of his mother being sad, so he dared not ask.Now I have to speak.

When the old princess heard the words, there was a little turmoil in her eyes, and she calmed down again after a while, she knelt down on the futon, and said in a calm voice: "I don't know where you heard the gossip, but you are indeed me and Huaiqu A biological child. If you don't believe me, you can go to find the old woman Wen, and the medical officer will check them out one by one."

Li Fengqi clenched his fists, his voice was low, and his emotions were suppressed like a flood, and he turned into a calm question: "Then what's the matter with this blank tablet?"

"This is your younger brother." The old concubine flicked the prayer beads: "When I gave birth, I found out that I was pregnant with twins. After you were born, your younger brother died because he was held in the womb for too long. I’m angry.” The prayer beads in her hands became faster and faster: “Because it’s twins, and there’s another stillborn, it’s unlucky, so I didn’t publicize it.”

Li Fengqi wanted to continue asking, so why is there no engraving on the tablet?

However, seeing her shoulders trembling and her thin body crumbling, she couldn't bear to ask further.

He closed his eyes, looked at the enshrined tablet on the Buddhist altar, and said shyly, "I understand."

The old concubine didn't look back, she just whispered: "I have been unable to get over this hurdle these years. Whenever I see you, I think of your dead brother. I know that I have failed to fulfill my mother's duties. You can blame me, hate me Either way, I deserve it."

"Mother... treats me very well." Li Fengqi subconsciously touched the peace talisman on his waist, and retorted in a harsh voice, "My son never complained."

He remembered that when he was very young, whenever he acted like a baby with his mother, her mother always taught him not to be a delicate man with a calm expression.Occasionally, he would envy other mothers who treated their children tenderly and intimately, but then he fell seriously ill and his father was not in the house, so it was his mother who took care of him in disarray and sleepless nights.When the father came back, his illness was cured, but the mother collapsed.

Later, my father told him in private that my mother was calm and unaccustomed to saying many things, but it was not that she didn't care about you.

Since then, Li Fengqi has gradually accepted the fact that his mother is different from others.

He had many doubts, but he never complained about her indifference.

The old concubine's fingers twirling the prayer beads paused, and she clasped her palms together: "Don't take others' words to heart, just remember that you will always be your father's proudest child."

"I see," Li Fengqi didn't insist anymore knowing that there would be no other results if he asked again.He looked at the two tablets on the altar again, folded his hands together and bowed three times before leaving.

After he left, the old concubine's straight back bent down.She staggered up and walked to the altar, brushed her fingers gently over the three characters "Li Huaiqu" on the tablet, and said in an inaudible voice: "Huaiqu, I tried my best..."

Li Fengqi went in for a while, then came out.

Ye Yunting heard the sound of the wooden wheel rolling over the ground, got up to meet him, but saw his face was heavy, so he didn't make a sound, and followed him back to the main courtyard.

On the way, Li Fengqi didn't say a word, he didn't know what the old thing he asked was, and whether he had an answer.But looking at his expression, he also knew that it must not be a pleasant thing, so he made a pot of tea and put it in his hand, and stepped lightly to get out, leaving him alone.

When he walked to the door, he heard the people behind him say: "If Eldest Young Master is fine, please sit with me for a while."

Ye Yunting paused for a moment, then stopped.Turning back, she sat down opposite him, rolled up her sleeves and poured him a cup of hot tea.

In the curling water, he heard Li Fengqi say: "I have another name, Hanzhang."

Ye Yunting didn't understand why he suddenly mentioned this, but still nodded and said: "Yesterday I heard the old concubine call me, is it the prince's name?"

Li Fengqi shook his head: "It's another name."

Fengqi was named after his father, but Hanzhang was given by his mother.

His father called him "Fengqi", but his mother always called him "Hanzhang".He is used to two names when he urinates, and the people around him don't know it, and they only think that "Hanzhang" is his character, and he has never explained it to anyone.

"What kind of situation do you think a mother would give another child's name...to his brother?"

What he said was a bit convoluted, and Ye Yunting understood after some reasoning, but he hadn't heard that King Yong'an had brothers and sisters.

"Maybe it's because of nostalgia?" He actually wanted to ask if the brother was no longer alive, but he felt that it was too abrupt, so he changed it to a euphemism.

Li Fengqi shook his head: "If this is the case, isn't that brother who has no name too pitiful? If the mother loves this child very much, how can she bear to do so."

People die, but they can't even leave a name, and they can't even engrave their names on the tablets. For a mother.How much torment should it be?

Ye Yunting was faintly startled, but he still said truthfully: "It may also be the dead child, who cannot have a name."

Li Fengqi's hand holding the teacup tightened, then he laughed, his eyes were filled with tears: "You're right."

The name cannot be engraved on the tablet because there cannot be a name.

The old concubine gave birth to a pair of twins, and the other one was stillborn, which was unlucky, so according to the custom, the dead fetus could not be buried or engraved with a memorial tablet.Even if the name had been chosen long ago, it could not be used, and could only be given to another living child.Only in this way can it be proved that this dead child has ever been here.

Li Fengqi lowered his eyes, almost sure that what Han Chan said was true.

That day Han Chan came to look for him and said that he was not the old prince's biological child, but his biological parents were murdered by Li Zong's father, Emperor Xianzong Li Gan.It just so happened that the old princess was pregnant with Liujia and was about to give birth, so the old prince took him in and raised him as his own son.Although he did not produce substantial evidence, he listed many doubtful points, and asked him to go to the old princess to verify the truth.

Han Chan said to him at the time: "Li Qian's position is wrong, and Li Zong is following in his footsteps. The North Zhaojiang Mountain has already decayed like a big ship and is about to sink. If the prince is willing to cooperate with me, with our strength, it will be easy to change the dynasty. It will be done. Afterwards, I will tell you all about your life experience, and then you will be the emperor and I will be the prime minister."

The suspicious points mentioned by Han Chan coincided with some speculations of Li Fengqi.Although he was dubious at the time, he rejected his proposal because of Li Zong.

Li Zong was his younger brother who had been protected since he was a child, and he would never betray Li Zong just because of Han Chan's words and his illusory life experience and hatred.

Han Chan walked away in a huff, saying only that he would regret his choice today.

Later, he was conspired to be poisoned, and Li Zong took advantage of his tendons being damaged by the poison and was unable to move, so he was imprisoned in the palace to be humiliated and wait for death.

Every move Han Chan makes is forcing him to give up Li Zong.At the same time, it was also reminding him that there was something hidden about his life experience.

Li Fengqi had been unable to figure it out. Li Zong had been in power for three years, and during that time he hadn't shown any sign of fear of him.He didn't believe that Li Zong's disguise could fool him.Now that Li Zong is attacking him suddenly, one reason is that he is weak due to poisoning, but it is more likely that Han Chan said something to him.And the thing that can provoke Li Zong to attack him immediately is very likely to be related to his life experience.

He lowered his eyes, recalling the known clues.

Both the old prince and the old princess are not sticklers. If he really had a twin brother who died after birth, with their character, they would never burn the ashes of the child because of such absurd reasons as "unlucky". in the wilderness.What's more, if they really did such a thing, with the power of the palace, such dirty things would never be revealed, and it would be impossible for him, who was still young, to step aside after more than ten years. Inquired.

Then there is only one reason for them to do this, and that is to deceive people.

There are no twins at all, and he is not the real child of the old princess. In order to hide his identity, they had to put on such a scene to make everyone believe that the old princess really gave birth to a pair of twins. One unfortunately died young.

So the old princess gave him the "Hanzhang" that she had taken a long time ago, so the old princess chanted sutras to the tablet without engraving every day.

This is a mother's last remembrance, or confession.

Li Fengqi was so immersed in his thoughts that he didn't even notice that the tea in his hand was completely cold.

Ye Yunting saw that he was about to bring herbal tea to his mouth, raised his hand to stop him, took the teacup, and handed him another cup of hot tea.

"Actually, the prince can think in a good direction." His voice was light and faint, and his pair of dark eyes were transparent, as if he had seen through Li Fengqi's heart knot that he had never said: "The child's name contains the parents' wishes. If this The name was carefully chosen by the mother, and she gave it to another child, perhaps in the hope that this child can live a good life with this prayer."

Li Fengqi had never heard such a statement before, he was stunned for a long time, but his mind flashed all kinds of things in his childhood, and after a long time, he just drank the tea in one gulp, with a slightly relieved look on his face.

"The eldest son sees more clearly than I do."

He remembered the last sentence the old princess said.

"You will always be your father's proudest child," she said.