The next morning.
I had a sleepless night last night. My eyes turned pale and I felt dull. I was filled with weariness and tiredness.
Even at this moment, he was still frightened by what happened last night. When people are in despair, they will always have some thoughts of wanting to die, thinking that as long as they die, all problems will be solved.
He no longer has to worry about it or be frightened.
But that thought was only a fleeting one. Thinking back on the dejected and self-deprecating words he said last night, Shen felt that he was really stupid.
He died in Lin Xie's hands for no reason. The coroner would certainly find something strange on his body during the autopsy. His shameful secret would be exposed to the public. He would die, but he was afraid that His Highness would think he was not clean, just like everyone else.
Fortunately, Lin Xie let go at the last moment, and he finally broke free from his shackles, leaned against the head of the bed, and gasped violently.
Only when his life was hanging by a thread did he realize how much he didn't want to die.
He wanted to live. Even if it meant living a miserable life, he wanted to live well. As for the child in his belly, since he was pregnant, it was his destiny, a disaster that he was destined to have. He couldn't avoid it, so he had to accept it.
It's not that Shen hadn't thought about it before. If he took a year off, hid in a village where no one knew him, gave birth to the child and then returned home, but as long as he thought about it carefully, he knew that this method would not work. He had no family for a long time. What kind of lie could he make up to take such a long leave? How could His Highness not be suspicious?
Besides, even if he takes leave, where can he go?
After thinking it over, there was probably only one way left for him to go - he had to leave here, and leave quietly.
But he couldn't bear to leave the prince, nor could he bear to leave his senior brother. Ever since he was brought back to the palace by His Highness that year, Shen Que thought that the Yan Palace would be his home for the rest of his life.
Unfortunately, fate was as cruel as water and fire, and he had no control over it.
Chen held onto the bed frame and stood up weakly, then walked barefoot to the suitcase to take the bronze mirror on it.
His face was immediately reflected in the crude bronze mirror, and further down was his neck which was covered with purple bruises. The bruises were so heavy that they could not be ignored no matter how hard you looked at them.
Therefore, Chen had to wear a double-breasted, stand-up collared top that he seldom wore, and this barely covered up the mark.
On this day, Shen Que went to Chongtai Courtyard early in the morning.
Chen Luo had just returned from the training grounds. When he saw him, the corners of his eyes curved immediately: "Why are you here so early today? How are you? Are you still sick?"
Shen Que first handed him the wet towel in his hand to wipe his sweat, and then signed: "Much better."
"Really?" Shen Luo wiped his sweat while looking at his face, "You look so bad, don't lie to me."
"I didn't sleep well last night," Chen Que hastily signed, and then handed him two sugar cakes wrapped in oil paper with a plain paper, "Eat while it's hot."
Shen Luo hurriedly took the two things and was a little surprised: "Are they all for me?"
There was nothing special about the sugar cake. When Chen Que had time, he would often buy him breakfast. But he had never seen this piece of plain paper in Chen Que's hand before.
Shen nodded.
"Can I open it and have a look now?" Shen Luo's face was clearly filled with anticipation.
Shen continued to nod, and then gestured a little unconfidently: "I wrote it randomly, don't laugh at me."
Chen Luo was not willing to laugh at him. The big and strong man opened the plain paper envelope slowly and gently. The next moment, he saw two big, childish and neat characters on the short paper:
sink.
Shen had only just learned to read, and he had trouble controlling the strength of his pen grip. He practiced many times, but could only write these two words satisfactorily.
I originally wanted to add something else to it, but the ink was almost dried up, and Shen couldn't think of what to say.
In his opinion, he had only ever brought trouble to his senior brother. If he left, Chen Luo would surely live a better life.
But even with just these two words, Chen Luo seemed very moved. He folded the short note carefully and put it into his bag. Then he gently patted Chen Que's shoulder and said with a relieved tone: "Our Ah Que has also made progress."
He had heard Eleven say that His Highness had allowed Shen Que to learn to read and had personally taught him for half a month. Such an honor had never been granted to any of the guards in the mansion.
He was truly happy for Shen Que.
After that, Shen Luo took out a short velvet box from his bosom and opened it to show Shen Que. Inside was a longevity lock and a pair of small and exquisite bracelets. "Ge Da's wife gave birth to a chubby little girl last night. I haven't seen her yet. Let's wash our hands and hug her to share in the good fortune."
Shen Que showed a somewhat embarrassed look on his face: "But... I haven't prepared any gifts."
He was not close to these bodyguards and didn't even know that Ge Zheng's wife had given birth last night. How could he think of preparing a gift for the child?
"What's missing?" Shen Luo held his waist lightly and led him to the door of Ge Zheng's room. "Here, this pair of silver bracelets is it."
Shen looked at him gratefully, and then used sign language: "How much did it cost? I'll call you Yuanzhi later..."
Before he could finish his gesture, Chen Luo interrupted him: "It's just a small amount of money, why are you being so polite to me? If you really want someone to bring the silver over later, I will chop you to death."
Listening to him talking, Shen's anxious mood inexplicably improved. He smiled slightly, with a few faint dimples on his cheeks.
As they reached the door, they heard a woman's voice coming from the room: "Have you washed yourself? You just came back from the training ground, and you are covered in sweat. How dare you hold the child? What if the child gets choked by the fumes?"
"How can it be so easy to be smoked?" the man muttered in a low voice, "You were not so careful and particular about the first two."
Shen Luo laughed, then took a step forward, knocked on the door gently, and whispered, "It's me, Shen Luo."
The door was immediately opened by a man. The man holding the baby had a smile on his face. He slowly rocked his daughter and gestured with his head for them to come in.
Those of them who were married would be assigned a larger bedroom. The small living room and the bedroom were separated by a curtain, otherwise Shen Luo and the others would be embarrassed to enter.
"Look," Ge Zheng pointed at the baby in his arms with his chin, "What a pretty girl! Not everyone is so lucky."
Shen Luo leaned over to take a look, and saw a red, wrinkled little face with small eyes and a flat nose, which was exactly like her grandfather, so he smiled and said "tsk", "From this little appearance, you can tell at a glance that she is your Ge Zheng's biological daughter."
"What do you mean?" Ge Zheng raised his chin, "Are you beating around the bush and calling my daughter ugly?"
After saying this, he looked down at the baby in the cradle with an unconfident look. After careful consideration, he realized that the baby really looked like him, so he became worried again, muttering to himself, "Anu Anu, Yeye's little Anu, you must not take after your father's eyes and nose, or imitate your mother's. Do you hear me?"
The child is sleeping soundly, why would you pay attention to him?
Chen Luo was laughing so hard that he could hardly stand up straight. Ge Zheng was so angry that he stuffed the child to Chen Que and chased him to beat him: "Chen Luo, what are you laughing at? What's so funny!"
"God knows what I am talking about," Chen Luo dodged and said to Chen Que, "Ah Que, brother just said that his daughter is not ugly at all, right? He said it all by himself."
Shen was forced to hold the child in her arms and had no time to respond to him. At that moment, she felt that this thing was like a piece of tender tofu. She had to be careful even when breathing, for fear of accidentally breaking her.
He didn't know if the child was woken up by these two people, but the child in his arms suddenly opened his eyes, without crying or making a fuss, but just stared at him quietly.
They were small and soft, with two black grapes bubbling in their narrow eyes. They couldn't be any softer or cleaner.
Shen was suddenly aroused by this glance. If he could give birth to the fetus in his belly smoothly, then there would be such a little thing in this world, connected to him by blood.
When he grows up a little more, he will be able to chase after him and call him "Aye" in a baby voice.
Unfortunately, not long after, the little thing in his arms started crying loudly. Shen was frightened by her loud voice. He was so flustered that he felt like he had a hot potato in his arms. He didn't dare to throw it away. He could only look at Ge Zheng for help.
Ge Zheng caught his gaze and immediately laughed, then came over to take the child: "It's just crying because it's hungry. Look how scared you are. You'll have children tomorrow too. Giving birth to one is still a novelty, but if you give birth to more, you'll naturally become familiar with it."
The baby went to the other side of the curtain to drink milk, and the two of them didn't want to stand around and watch, so they gave the gift to Ge Zheng and went out.
There were raindrops falling in the yard, so the two of them had no choice but to stand under the eaves.
After watching the rain in silence for a while, Chen suddenly tilted his head and then said in sign language: "Senior Brother..."
"What?" Shen Luo still had a smile on his face, and whispered to him, "Ge Da's daughter looks like his own sister, just like a shrunk Ge Zheng, she looks just like her father's face, this child is really not picky."
Shen also smiled, and then gestured with some guilt: “But brother, we can’t talk about others behind their backs.”
Before he finished his gesture, he heard a head sticking out of the window in the back room: "Chen Luo, if you dare to say that again, just try it!"
As soon as the voice fell, another woman's voice came from inside: "Anu just went to bed, what are you yelling about?"
Even after being scolded by his wife, Ge Zheng still looked unconvinced, staring at Chen Luo with narrow eyes: "Tell me again, who does my daughter look like?"
Shen Luo quickly begged for mercy: "Girls change a lot when they grow up. Naturally, she will be like her mother when she grows up."
Ge Zheng at the back snorted coldly, then shrank back and closed the window.
"What did you want to tell me just now?" Shen Luo asked him with a smile after teasing the man in the room.
Chen Que raised his hand and moved it slowly: "The little slave in my courtyard... please help take care of him more in the future, senior brother."
The only three people in the mansion he couldn't bear to leave behind were Xie Shiguan and Chen Luo. It didn't matter if he lost the first two, but Xu Yuanzhi was still a child and only relied on him. If he ran away like this, His Highness might make things difficult for Yuanzhi.
Chen Luo was a little surprised: "What happened? Why do you suddenly say such things? How could anything happen to the little slave you raised in the yard?"
Shen was panicked and said in a low voice: "I am a mute after all, and I have a dull personality. It is boring to have him stay with me all the time. I thought that if I let him learn from my senior brother, he might be able to become more lively."
"You bought him to serve you, but you really treated him like your son," Shen Luo was a little unconvinced, "If I take him away, won't your courtyard be even more boring?"
"Tell me the truth," Shen Luo looked at him, "What happened? Otherwise, you can't suddenly say such things to me."
Chen Que also knew that this matter was difficult to explain, so he thought for a while before saying: "I couldn't sleep well last night and had a nightmare. I dreamed that I was dead. I have no relatives or friends, and there are only one or two people like this who can care about me. I..."
Before he could finish his gesture, Shen Luo frowned and interrupted him: "Pooh, pooh, pooh."
"It's so unlucky to talk about death out of nowhere," Chen Luo said, "I'll take care of the kid for you some other day. Don't mention this dream again."
Shen was filled with mixed feelings, but could only nod obediently.
He was not talking nonsense. If he succeeded in escaping this time, he would still have a chance of survival. But if he was unfortunately caught, he would have no way out.
If that day really comes, he just hopes that Chen Luo won't feel sad for him. It's all his own fault, and he is not wronged in any way.
"Brother," he raised his hand, "I'm leaving."
Chen Luo thought he was going back to work, so he nodded and said, "The road is slippery on rainy days, and the ground is still wet. Be careful with your steps. Wait, wait, go to my room and get an oil-paper umbrella. The rain may not seem heavy, but it's very cold."
He paused and said in a slightly reproachful tone: "You, you knew it was going to rain but you didn't even bring an umbrella. You are so lazy."
Although Shen's hands and feet were cold, his heart was warm. If he had not been forced to do so, he would never have been willing to leave.
Shen Luo took the umbrella and turned back to hand it to him.
Chen Que lowered his head slightly, took the umbrella and opened it, and immediately hid the face, so Chen Luo couldn't see it. Although the mute had a smile on his face, his eyes were actually wetter than the rain and fog outside.
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