The man did not leave until dawn, but Chen was terrified, afraid of being seen. He wore the snow-white crane cloak and stood in the yard for a long time, looking around. After making sure that no one was coming, he urged Lin Xie in the house to leave quickly.
Seeing how nervous he was, Lin Xie couldn't help but feel a little happy. He put on his short boots, walked forward, hooked his neck, and then touched his cheek lightly.
After a sleepless night, Shen was originally listless, but his kiss made him feel refreshed and his whole body trembled.
Now they were in the yard, in broad daylight, but Shen felt even more uncomfortable than in the house. Just as he was about to raise his hand to gesture, he choked on his breath, turned his head away, and started coughing.
Lin Xie pretended to be distressed, pinched his cheeks and tried to pry open his mouth: "Let me see, don't let me hurt your throat."
Shen Que's eyes were already red from coughing, and he was afraid that his voice would be heard by others, so he became anxious and angry, and his heart ached.
However, he used his fingertips to rub and knead the corners of his lips in an ambiguous way, and he was still joking: "It's fine. I did it so gently that even the corners of my lips didn't crack. Why are you so squeamish?"
Taking advantage of the mute's slow sign language, Lin Xie continued without waiting for him to sign: "Besides, I heard there is a folk remedy... With your throat, maybe if I practice it a few more times, it may be possible to heal it."
How could there be such a folk remedy! This person is clearly talking nonsense!
Shen stopped coughing, but his throat was still itchy, so he pushed Lin Xie's back and chased him away.
Lin Xie was a little tired at this moment, so he stopped teasing him, went out from the small door on the side of the courtyard, took a long detour, and strolled back to the bedroom.
After sending the plague god away, Shen Que dared to go back to wash up. Yuanzhi got up early these days and boiled water in the backyard early. He watched the figure leave before he came into the house with hot water.
However, Shen was very grateful for his attentiveness, and accompanied him to fetch hot water. Then he asked him to stretch out his hand, put a handful of pine nut candies in his palm, and stuffed a few silver coins into his other hand.
"I was too busy during the days around New Year's Day, so I forgot to give you a New Year's gift," Chen said gently with his hand language, "Use this money for pocket money, and let Master Eleven accompany you to buy some snacks or small toys in the nearby shops."
Yuanzhi stuffed all the pine nut candies in his hand into his mouth, making his mouth bulge out like a hamster.
But Shen couldn't help laughing, and reached out to rub the top of his head: "Eat slowly, what a mess."
After washing, Shen changed into a clean official robe and walked towards the prince's bedroom with all his strength. Unexpectedly, as soon as he reached the carp pond, the Silla maid who understood sign language came forward to greet him.
"Please stay, my lord," the maid whispered, "Your Highness invited Master Yu to come last night, and he just went to bed not long ago. I'm afraid he won't get up until the afternoon. Please go back first."
Shen was stunned for a moment, nodded helplessly, turned around and walked back.
He had been tormented by that man all night and hadn't slept a wink yet, so he felt a little dazed and dizzy, his heart was bitter and depressed, and a little bit of sadness was overflowing.
He didn't quite understand where the bitterness in his heart came from. It probably started from when His Royal Highness Prince Yan got his first bed partner. Days and nights, candles flickered, and they made love on the couch in the room, while he waited in the hall, separated from the bed by only a screen.
But Shen knew that he had no right to feel sad. He was just a slave bought by the prince, a mute and a monster. He hoped for the best for His Highness. He should be happy that His Highness had grown up.
But he is not a real stone after all. He has a mortal body and a beating heart. How can he not be sad at all?
After so many years, he thought he had let it go, but when he really saw and heard it, Shen still felt dazed.
But after the trance, he let it go. He knew that he was not worthy of His Highness, and he was already content to be able to serve him so closely and look at him so closely.
Back in the Lansheng Courtyard, Chen secretly washed the silk handkerchief that was soiled by Lin Xie. He didn't dare to hang it in the yard to dry, so he had to slowly dry it in the residual heat of the basin of charcoal in the house.
Unexpectedly, when the food was half-dry, Shen heard a series of hurried footsteps. He turned around and saw Yuanzhi coming towards him hurriedly with a red food box in his hand.
Shen hurriedly put the half-dry handkerchief back into his sleeve.
Yuanzhi has been much more calm and steady in his work lately. Even if there is something urgent, he dare not run around in the inner palace.
He came to Shen Que, took a breath, and then spoke: "Sir, there is someone outside, and it seems he is here to see you."
As he spoke, he put down the food box. Chen Que did not go for morning exercise today, so he went to the kitchen to ask for two cakes, thinking of bringing them back to fill Chen Que's stomach. However, he never expected to hear some noise from the outer mansion. The child was very curious and stood there watching the excitement for a while. Unexpectedly, this "excitement" was related to his own adults.
Shen was stunned. Xu Sixian was dead. How could he know anyone outside the mansion now?
"The doorman of the outer mansion saw that he was dressed so poorly and wanted to chase him away with a broom, but he insisted that he was your dear grandfather. When he asked him what your name was, he couldn't answer and just said he was a mute."
"The gates wouldn't let him in, so he just refused to leave. He even yelled for you to come out and see him, saying that if you didn't come out, he wouldn't leave today."
Shen Queren paused, with a look of disbelief on his face: "What does he, that person look like?"
Yuanzhi thought for a moment and answered very slowly, "He is very dark and thin, but tall, with a square face, and he wears a tattered paper fur coat. Oh, and he has a black mole at the end of his eye, which is very conspicuous."
He pointed at his solar plexus and said, "It seems to be right here."
Shen Que's expression suddenly turned cold.
The strange yet familiar shadow became clearer and clearer in his mind. He seemed to be back in that autumn day, extremely hungry and cold. His mother was lying on the couch with a pale face, and no matter how he pushed and shoved her, she did not move.
The cold memories flashed by inch by inch, and then his heart became blank, leaving only endless confusion.
Why did he come? What was he doing here? Didn't he sell him out? Why did he come looking for him? And how did he know... that he was here now?
Yuan Zhi saw his face suddenly change. His originally pale face turned pale almost instantly. He couldn't help but feel a little worried. He asked softly, "Sir, do you really want to go see him?"
However, Shen didn't want to see him. Whenever he thought of that person, he felt nauseous and his stomach ached, as if a pair of hands were grabbing his internal organs and pulling them down.
But he didn't dare not to see him. He knew very well how shameless that man was. If he really hid in the inner palace and refused to see him, that man would definitely make it known to everyone. If that got to the ears of the prince... he didn't even dare to think about it.
After a long while, Yuan Zhi finally saw him raise his hand and sign softly: "See you."
Inside the outer gate, several gatekeepers held up a middle-aged man with wooden sticks. The man was out of shape and showed some signs of weight gain. He shouted at them with a red face, "I want to see my son. Call him out and tell him that I want to see him!"
One of the gatekeepers glared at him coldly and said, "This is the Prince Yan's residence. You don't have a visiting card and you can't tell the master's name. If you make a noise again, we will have to send you to the government office. You can ask the Di Mingfu for clarification."
Hearing that he was going to report to the government, the man finally showed some fear on his face, but after a while, he started to grumble again: "His biological father is here, but he watched his grandfather being sent to the government. This is extremely unfilial. I will file a complaint to the government office, and I don't believe he will not come to see me!"
"Now that he's rich and powerful, he doesn't even want to see me. This is unkind and unfilial. How could I, Jiang Shaoxiong, give birth to such an unfilial son?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw a young man walking towards the door. He was wearing casual clothes, a snow-white crane cloak, and had a tall figure. However, he walked very slowly, step by step, and even looked a little strenuous.
When the gatekeeper saw him coming, he hurriedly bowed and greeted him, calling him, "Master Shen."
Shen nodded slightly, and then his eyes fell on the embarrassed middle-aged man in front of the door.
Jiang Shaoxiong looked at him straight in the eye without any hesitation, but Shen was neither dark nor dirty now, and was not at all like the skinny kid before. Luo Shaoxiong did not recognize him at all and just thought he was the manager of the mansion.
So he stepped forward, showing a somewhat flattering smile on his face, and imitated them and shouted: "Master Shen, I really didn't come here to cause trouble on purpose. My son has been away from home for more than ten years, and now I have finally found his whereabouts. I just want to see him. I pity the parents in the world, so I hope you can be flexible."
Shen looked at him coldly, almost forcing himself to hold back his nausea before he could stand still in front of him.
The psychological damage to him was so great that to this day, he still dreams of the fire tongs, the drunk man, and the woman's crying from time to time. These horrifying images overlapped with each other, becoming a nightmare that would haunt him throughout his life.
"Sir?" Jiang Shaoxiong looked at him like a dog with its buttocks raised. "It's just a matter of you raising your finger. Unfortunately, I am already in my prime years, and my hair and beard are mostly white. If I can't see my son today, I'm afraid I will regret it in the underworld."
The more he talked, the more disgusted Shen felt.
The man at the back couldn't stand it anymore. He had been doing this job for more than ten years and had never met such a daring scoundrel. If he hadn't kept saying that he was the grandfather of Lord Shen in the inner court, he and his colleagues would have taken him to the government long ago.
Now Shen was standing right in front of him, but he didn't recognize him, so he assumed that he was lying and making trouble, and spat at him fiercely: "Open your dog eyes and take a good look. This Lord Shen is the 'son' you keep talking about. What kind of filthy bastard dares to offend Lord Shen?!"
Hearing this, Jiang Shaoxiong stared at the young man in front of him who was almost as tall as him. However, after a moment of daze, a complex light appeared in his eyes. He grabbed Chen Que's hand and called him, "Jiang Guaner, are you my Jiang Guaner?"
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