Duan Chengzhang was stunned by Duan Xu's words. One of them stood under the eaves, and the other knelt in the snow. The snowflakes flew across them, as if there was an invisible, bottomless chasm between them.
In fact, they look very similar, and their stubborn and unyielding personalities are also similar. People on both ends of the divide are inexplicably closely connected by the rope of blood.
Duan Chengzhang was filled with anger and sorrow, and could only say: "Kneel here and don't get up without my permission!"
Snow fell on Duan Xu's eyelashes. He blinked and smiled gently.
The sunlight dimmed little by little, the wind became more and more bleak, snowflakes floated between sky and earth, and landed on Duan Xu's hair, shoulders, and sleeves. His body was gradually covered with a thin layer of snow, his face became paler, and his gaze was fixed far away in the distance.
Duan Chengzhang sat in the room, looking at Duan Xu with a sullen face, as if waiting for him to say something - to apologize or beg for mercy.
But Duan Xu didn't, he didn't even look at Duan Chengzhang, his eyes fell on a plum tree in the courtyard. The plum blossoms on that tree bloomed early, a few red flowers bloomed on the branches, the flowers contained snow, cold and moving.
The sky is about to get dark, the snow is dancing wildly, half is plum blossoms and half is floating willow catkins.
"He Simu..."
He murmured, his eyes gradually lowered, and his body leaned to one side.
Amid the exclamations of the people in the court, he landed on a man's shoulder. The man's body was cold, so he brushed off the snow on his body and then reached out to hug him.
He closed his eyes and whispered into her shoulder, "Simu, I'm so tired."
He Simu put his arm around his shoulders and stood up. Duan Chengzhang reacted and asked in shock and fear: "Who are you?"
He Simu raised her eyes and looked at Duan Chengzhang. She thought for a moment and said calmly, "I am the Ghost King."
Her face was pale, and the veins on her neck were purple and blue. She appeared out of nowhere in the courtyard in broad daylight, and she certainly didn't look like a living person.
Hearing what He Simu said, Duan Chengzhang was even more surprised. He said, "Let Xu'er go! He is my son!"
"Is it your son?" He Simu laughed. She suddenly put her hand on Duan Xu's neck and said, "Otherwise I will strangle him to death now. If he becomes a ghost, he will no longer be your son."
Duan Chengzhang was worried that she would really do it, so he stepped forward and said anxiously, "Don't hurt him!"
He Simu's hand fell from Duan Xu's neck, then she lifted Duan Xu's chin, turned her face to the side and kissed him directly on the lips.
The whole room was in uproar. Duan Jingyuan, who had just rushed over, paused, covered his mouth, and was so frightened that his heart almost stopped beating.
This was a deep kiss. Duan Xu closed his eyes and obediently opened his mouth to accept He Simu, entwining his lips and tongue with hers, and even slowly raised his hand to hold her arm. They exchanged such a lingering kiss in the courtyard. When they separated, Duan Xu's breathing was even a little hurried. He still closed his eyes and leaned on He Simu's shoulder.
He Simu turned around and looked at Duan Chengzhang who was speechless, and said calmly: "Do you understand? I won't hurt him. Duan Xu is in poor health now. You want him to kneel in the snow. I think you want to hurt him. If you really care about him, don't let your self-esteem get in the way and pretend."
Duan Chengzhang was almost choked by her, but before he could say anything, she and Duan Xu disappeared in the yard in broad daylight, leaving everyone in the Duan Mansion speechless with astonishment.
He Simu didn't take him far away. He put him directly in the room of Haoyue Residence, changed his clothes and covered him with a thick quilt.
"The doctor Feng Yi found will be here soon." He Simu leaned over and hugged him, saying softly.
Duan Xu had suffered too much physical and mental damage, and his mind was a little fuzzy. He raised his arm with great effort and placed it on He Simu's back.
"When I was a kid, I fell into a hole in the backyard of our house..." He said in a soft voice, as if mumbling, "The hole was so dark, the walls were slippery, and the hole was so high. I was so scared that I cried and called for help."
He Simu patted his shoulder and listened quietly.
"Then I saw my father. He was standing outside the cave entrance, looking down at me. He said he would not pull me up, nor would he let anyone come down to save me. I had to learn to climb up by myself. If I couldn't climb up, I would starve to death in the cave..."
"I cried and begged him for a long time, but he left without paying any attention to me. Later, I crawled many times and fell to the ground countless times, and finally I really crawled out of the hole by myself. I thought, it turns out that I don’t need to ask for help, I can save myself... No one else will come to save me, not even my father..."
He Simu thought, no wonder he never blamed his father for not saving him when he was kidnapped to Danzhi, their estrangement had already started earlier.
"When I came back at the age of fourteen... almost no one remembered this incident." Duan Xu rubbed He Simu's cheek and said softly: "I talked about it with the housekeeper once, and he remembered it. He told me that in fact, on that day, my father had been guarding the cave entrance not far away, standing under the sun for several hours, and only left when he saw me crawling out of the cave..."
He Simu stopped patting Duan Xu's shoulder. Duan Xu sighed deeply. He hugged He Simu and said, "Maybe he does love me. He should love me."
Compared to his mother who almost never paid any attention to him, at least his father was sincere to him during those few hours under the scorching sun.
"But it's too late. All opportunities are too late."
There is a blood connection between father and son, and their love is as heavy as a mountain, but there is a rift in their hearts, and their desires are different.
Too late.
He Simu kissed his forehead and said softly, "Have a good sleep and take a rest. Don't think about these things."
Duan Xu nodded slowly.
When Fang Xianye was visiting Master Songyun at Jin'an Temple outside the city, he received a letter from Duan Jingyuan, who asked her maid to bring it to him. The letter said that Duan Xu had returned, but was currently in a coma.
He burned the letter on the candle flame and whispered, "You disappeared for more than a month and caused trouble for others."
Now he finally didn't have to go to Duan's house every now and then to pretend to be Duan Xu, Fang Xianye breathed a sigh of relief, one thing was over and another came to mind. The imperial edict that he still kept at home was stuck in his heart, like a thorn in his throat.
"Master, what should I do?" Fang Xianye looked at Master Songyun opposite him and asked.
Although he did not say what it was, Master Songyun knew it. The old man, who had remained calm for many years, twisted his Buddhist beads and sighed, "Amitabha, the fire is burning, the consciousness and the nature are fighting, how can there not be danger? Just have a clear conscience."
"I have no regrets..." Fang Xianye murmured.
But human hearts are complicated. Even if it is one's own heart, how many people can see through it
Fang Xianye said goodbye to Master Songyun. When he returned to his mansion from Jin'an Temple, he saw the housekeeper running towards him in a panic and said, "Sir! Sir, something bad has happened. The house was robbed while you were out!"
Fang Xianye was stunned for a moment, and asked hurriedly: "What was lost?"
"Your study and bedroom were turned into a mess. You normally don't let us clean them up, and we didn't dare to..."
Fang Xianye's eyes fixed, and he immediately strode across the hall and went straight to the bedroom. After closing the door, he touched the secret box under the bed, opened the box and took out the secret decree hidden in it. He opened it to confirm that it was safe and sound, and his wildly beating heart finally settled down.
A servant outside the door asked, "Do you need me to clean the room?"
Fang Xianye said, "No need," and then put the secret decree back into the secret box and embedded it back under the bed.
The room was in a mess, and many of his valuable paintings and porcelains were missing. While Fang Xianye put everything in order, he wondered if this theft was just an accident.
In this current situation, every accident must be treated with caution.
He cleaned up the bedroom himself and then went to the study to check the damage. As soon as he looked around the study, he felt something was wrong and ran back to the bedroom, looking under the bed.
The secret box containing the secret decree has disappeared.
This is a trap! Use the theft to arouse his anxiety, so that he will go to check his most important secrets. Then he will know where his secrets are hidden, and then he will carry out the real theft when he leaves again.
Fang Xianye felt a chill in his heart. He slowly stood up by holding onto the bed. A servant who followed him asked, "Sir? What's wrong?"
"No." Fang Xianye said coldly.
Who is targeting him? Did that person know about the secret decree before
Should he go find Duan Xu? But Duan Jingyuan's letter said that Duan Xu was unconscious, so even if he went to find Duan Xu now, he would not be able to discuss the matter.
Fang Xianye heaved a sigh of relief when he thought that he didn't have to tell Duan Xu about this matter, but he became even more anxious because of his own escape. He sighed and rubbed his temples, punching the table. The teapot on the table collided with the porcelain plate, making a harsh sound, just like his restless mood at the moment.
The news that Duan Xu's condition worsened and he lost consciousness spread. It was said that he had invited a very skilled doctor from afar to treat Duan Xu in Haoyueju, and no one was allowed to approach him casually on weekdays. Fang Xianye tried to send a message to Duan Xu in the way he and Duan Xu had agreed on before, but there was no response. It seemed that he was really seriously ill and lost consciousness.
After four or five days, news came that Zhao Chun committed suicide on the front line, shocking the government and the public. However, after Zhao Chun committed suicide, the Daliang army fought even better than before and took back the land of Fengzhou.
When the court was dismissed that day, Lin Jun suddenly called Fang Xianye and said that the emperor had something to ask him and summoned him secretly.
Lin Jun was no longer as reserved as he was when Fang Xianye brought him from the north bank. He had already been promoted to the rank of Fourth Rank Tongyi Doctor and Minister of Personnel. When he came to the Southern Capital, he was just a minor official who could not attend the court. However, because he loved flowers and birds, he became good friends with the then King Jin and quietly became the King Jin's confidant. After the King Jin seized power and succeeded to the throne, he rose straight up the ladder and is now a favorite of the Emperor. The ministers in the court had to curry favor with him.
However, Lin Jun had long intended to distance himself from the ministers of the Ji Wang and Su Wang factions, and Fang Xianye was demoted to an idle position, so the two had not had any contact in the past year.
Fang Xianye glanced at Lin Jun and bowed, saying, "Please lead the way, Lord Lin."
He was not the emperor's confidant, and the emperor had deliberately ignored him before. Why would he suddenly and secretly summon him at this moment
Lin Jun walked side by side with him towards the Emperor's Ningle Palace, and said with a smile: "Master Fang brought me from the North Bank to the South Capital back then, and was very kind to me. I have no way to repay you, so I can only do my best. Congratulations to Master Fang on his rapid rise to prominence in the future."
Fang Xianye turned his head and looked at Lin Jun, and said calmly: "I don't understand what Lord Lin is saying."
Lin Jun looked relaxed, and said with a hint of meaning: "Didn't Lord Fang have an imperial edict? An imperial edict to support gentlemen and punish traitors."
Fang Xianye stopped and stared at Lin Jun, gritted his teeth and said, "... Is it? You?"
"What is me? Now I don't understand what Lord Fang said. Lord Fang has an imperial edict for me to pass on to His Majesty to fulfill the late emperor's last wish. Isn't that right? Would Lord Fang keep the imperial edict secret and not send it out?"