Guanshan Muyu

Xia Wen panicked all of a sudden, and turned around anxiously: "What should I do?? I'm afraid I'm scared stupid?!"

He shouted outside: "Jailkeeper? Jailkeeper! Come on! Get a doctor for my brother! Is there anyone?!"

Same as Xia Xing at that time, there was no response from outside the cell.

Xia Wen was so anxious that he surrounded Xia Xun and kept calling him louder and louder. In the end, they almost all called his name close to Xia Xun's ear.

Xia Xun's condition did not improve, Xia Wen looked at him, and felt that he was paler than the paper figurines in Xia Xing's mourning hall.

He knelt beside Xia Xun, took his hand, and said in a panic: "Xia Xun, don't scare me! There are only two of us left in the Xia family! You can't make any more problems! Brother now—now only is you!"

When he was at a loss, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration and remembered a vague memory from his childhood.

Xia Wen once had a classmate who was good at playing. When he saw people killing pigs in the market, he was frightened and became stupid, just like Xia Xun now.

His parents invited all the doctors in the capital, but no one could cure him. Later, the old lady who was in charge of shopping at home found a witch from her own village. The witch clamped his fingers with two red chopsticks, and then hit him in the face with a peach branch. .

After hitting him a few times, he cried "Wow", and he became normal again.

The sorcerer said that he was splattered with pig's blood and was possessed by evil spirits.

There were no chopsticks in the prison, let alone peach branches. Xia Wen didn't care much, so he used his fingers as chopsticks, clamped Xia Xun's middle finger, and pinched hard.

Xia Xun seemed to react, her eyelashes trembling slightly.

Xia Wen was afraid that his hands would not be strong enough, so he simply lifted Xia Xun's finger to his mouth, and bit it hard with the strength of breastfeeding.

Two rows of tooth marks suddenly appeared on Xia Xun's knuckles. His originally dull eyes suddenly moved, his eyelids blinked slightly, and he slowly looked in Xia Wen's direction:

"...It hurts..."

Xia Wen was overjoyed: "It hurts! It's right! It's right! Look at me, do you know who I am?!"

Xia Xun said in a dreamlike trance: "You are... big brother."

Xia Wen grinned, but the smile didn't last long, and without him noticing, it quickly turned into a crying face.

He held Xia Xun's hand, choked up and said:

"...Great...Great...Parents are gone, I thought...I thought you would be gone too..."

He was a seven-foot man, squatting in front of Xia Xun, weeping loudly.

Xia Xun stared at him blankly for a while.

Xia Wen cried a few times, gradually calmed down, wiped the tears off his face with his shoulder, and held Xia Xun's hand and refused to let go.

Xia Xun also seemed to feel sad, he murmured, "Brother, did I cry...?"

This is the first time he called him "brother". He used to call him "big brother" respectfully.

Xia Wen sniffed.

"No, you... are very brave, besides..." He paused, and said: "Furthermore, in fact, your family has treated you badly these years, you don't have to, you don't have to cry for them, but they... are troubled you……"

Xia Xun nodded and stopped talking.

He stood up on the ground, floated to the corner of the cell like a wandering spirit, sat down with his knees folded, buried his face in his knees, and shrunk into a small ball.

He stayed in this corner for three days without a drop of water entering, until the fourth day, when Xia Wen's wife came.

Madam looked haggard, her face was withered, her eyes were bloodshot, and her frail body became even thinner. She was wrapped in heavy robes, like a piece of dry wood.

After the accident in the Xia family, she ran around, trying to win a chance for her husband.

In three days, she searched all the people she could find, and even went to ask to see Qi Yan in person, but she still couldn't find any room for change.

She spent a lot of money and bribed the jailer of Dali Temple to get a short chance to meet Xia Wen.

As soon as she saw Xia Wen, two streams of tears immediately dropped down her helpless face.

Xia Wen also had tears in her eyes, holding her hand tightly through the fence:

"Madam... Madam... I made you suffer!"

With tears in her eyes, Madam took out the pen and paper she had hidden in advance from her bosom, and handed it to Xia Wen:

"Husband, husband...the concubine has inquired about it, and they all said that if the husband is willing to write a confession to confess the crimes committed by the father-in-law, and then hand it over to His Majesty, I might be able to save my life! Wait here, when the husband finishes writing, the concubine will enter the palace!"

Xia Wen took the pen and paper but didn't move. He wiped away her tears and said bitterly:

"It's not as simple as you think."

Madam said: "My husband is worried that I will not see your majesty? Don't worry, my husband, even if I give up my life, I will go to the palace to face the saint!"

Xia Wen shook his head:

"Even if His Majesty wants to see you, it won't help."

Madam asked sadly: "Why?"

Xia Wen smiled bitterly:

"Because I remembered who Qi Yan was."

When the Qi family's accident happened, Xia Wen was already 14 years old, a half-grown boy. At that time, he had heard some rumors that his father Xia Hongxi got his current official position by framing the Qi family.

He vaguely remembered that there was a child in the Qi family who was the same age as Xia Wen, and his name was Qi Yan.

"If he is really the child in my memory, he will definitely not let me and Xia Xun go. After all... my father is his father-killing enemy, and we two are the sons of his enemy. He hates my father now If you can cut off his head with your own hands, how can you let our brother go? His father's corruption case will be tried by him, and it will definitely be closed. It might have saved our lives..."

Madame would not believe it:

"No... no! This concubine will definitely save you—!"

Xia Wen told her not to say any more:

"Since you brought a pen and paper, it happens that I have something to write for you."

He spread the paper on the ground, picked up a pen and wrote a few lines quickly, without thinking or pausing, it can be seen that what he wrote had been brewing in his mind for a long time.

After scribbling, he threw the pen and paper out, walked to the depths of the cell, turned his back, and refused to look at her again:

"Take it and go! In the future... don't come again!"

The lady hurriedly picked it up, glanced at it twice, and raised her sad eyes helplessly:

"He Lishu... Husband doesn't want to be a concubine anymore...?"

With her back turned to her, Xia Wen said coldly:

"Go home, it's not the Xia mansion, it's your own home! I've already written that after my death, if the Xia family still has property that hasn't been confiscated, all of it will be handed over to you, and it will be treated as... Our Xia family's compensation to you, you can go, from now on, don't appear in front of me!"

After that, no matter how hard Madam begged, Xia Wen never looked back.

But Xia Xun could see clearly that Xia Wen raised his fist to his mouth and bit it tightly, just to keep himself from crying and being discovered by his wife.

Xia Xun thought blankly, Xia Wen liked her so much, and she must be sadder than her when she said such a thing, right?

He slowly spread his left hand.

The bandage that Qi Yan personally wrapped for him had fallen off, exposing his deformed and twisted fingers.

He was burned so badly before, but the severe pain brought to him by the fire was far less than what Qi Yan inflicted on him.

Madam was tired from crying, and she gave up under the constant urging of the jailer.

The He Li book written by Xia Wen herself was deformed by her grip. She shook every step and stumbled out of the prison.

After she left, Xia Wen's disguise suddenly collapsed. He squatted on the ground, grabbed the straw spread in the cell, and wept bitterly like a child.

Xia Xun wanted to help him up, but he moved a bit, the collar loosened, and something fell out of his arms.

Xia Xun picked it up and saw that it was a comb given to him by Qi Yan.

That morning, he was sitting at Qi Yan's house, eating pagoda leaves parfait, and felt that he was the happiest person in the world.

Who would have thought that a few hours later, the person who combed his hair with his hands would destroy his family and be imprisoned.

He gradually tightened his hand holding the comb, and the comb teeth made deep impressions on his palm.

He seems to be asking Qi Yan, but also seems to be asking himself:

"My father really killed your parents...? Then what you said to me and what you did for me are all false... Could it be that you only approached me for revenge... ...?"

Xia Xun didn't believe it, even if his death was imminent, he wouldn't believe it either.

That night, after Xia Wen fell asleep, he called the jailer:

"My lord, please pass me something for me. I will reward you."

Xia Xun still had a few silver ingots in his pocket, and he stuffed them all to the jailer.

The jailer weighed it twice and pocketed it:

"Tell me, what? To whom?"

Xia Xun handed him the comb and said to him:

"You give this object to Master Qi Yanqi, and say that Xia Xun asked him to meet him in the prison, and he will definitely come when he sees it."

The jailer asked suspiciously, "Who is Qi Yan?"

Xia Xun told him: "It is the adult who presides over our Xia family's case. He has a handsome face and a mole at the end of his eye. He will definitely come to Dali Temple to retrieve files in the next few days. I hope you will take care of me and treat him well." When you come, give this thing to him."

The jailer left with the comb, and Xia Xun began to wait for a long time.

He waited for ten days.

Ten days later, he didn't wait for the Qi banquet, but only waited for the returning jailer.

The jailer said to him:

"The adult you mentioned has indeed been here several times. The first two times, there were always people around him. I didn't find a chance to approach him. Last night, he was finally alone. I quietly went to him and showed him the comb. Who ever thought that he didn't respond at all, and I asked him if he recognized you, and he said, he didn't recognize this thing at all!"

Xia Xun was stunned: "...what...?"

The jailer said:

"It's not that I don't want to help you. I'll tell you what to say. If someone ignores you, I can't help it! That lord is out of luck. If you want to survive, find someone else to intercede!"

Xia Xun's face was ashen, as if killed by lightning:

"That's right, that's right... Why didn't I think of it? I am Xia Hongxi's son, and he hated me for not being able to come in time... How could he come to see me... How could he be half-sincere to me..."

The jailer sticks the comb into the cell:

"Return the things to you first, and you don't have anyone else to send a message to? I can make another trip for you, and I won't charge you more, and the price is the same as last time."

Xia Xun showed a bleak wry smile, and retreated into the shadow of the cell:

"No need...you can take it with you..."

The jailer took a look and saw a few small jade stones inlaid on the comb, so he happily accepted it.

Before leaving, he said to Xia Xun:

"I don't take your things in vain. I'll let you know that the case of the two of you is about to be sentenced. Based on my many years of experience as a jailer, the result of the battle may not be very good. If you still have a relationship , take advantage of these few days to move around."

Xia Wenben was in a deep sleep, and the conversation between the two disturbed him just now. He just woke up and heard the last sentence.

He jumped up, rushed to the railing, and asked eagerly:

"Master Jailer, Lord Jailer! Why are we going to be sentenced in these two days? No one has interrogated us yet?!"

The jailer scratched his head:

"I don't know either. I just overheard a few words yesterday. The adults who presided over the case said that the evidence is solid and there is no need for another trial."

Xia Wen's whole body went limp, and he leaned against the fence, sweating profusely.

Xia Xun murmured to herself:

"...He must hate us so much..."

The jailer had seen too many prisoners on death row, so he was used to this scene. He muttered "It's so cold, so cold", rubbed his arms and left.

A few days later, the emperor issued an edict in his own handwriting.

The two people who were prepared to die did not lose their lives. The emperor ordered them to be exiled for three thousand miles and sent to Lingnan.