I don't remember how long I was silent in the dark.
In 1721, the 60th year of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty.
In September of the same year, Russia and Sweden signed an unequal treaty in the small town of Nystad.
In December of the same year, a pale-skinned, brown-haired, blue-eyed Russian, about thirty-five years old, took two Asian children across the ocean on a boat and came to Estonia, a small country that had been ruled by Tsarist Russia at that time.
The Russians used money to drive the workers to build a manor in the mountains near a small remote village in Estonia, and lived in it with his two "adopted" children.
The Russian name is "Menshak", which means the youngest boy in the family. Actually his full name is longer but hard to pronounce.
The names of the two yellow children adopted by Menshak are even more strange. Although the names are very short, the pronunciation is weird and difficult to learn. One of the two children is named Amu and the other is named Ashin. The former is the elder brother and the latter is the younger brother.
According to Menshaq himself, he picked up these two children of yellow race during the war. They were children picked up by Menshaq on the border of the Qing Dynasty.
The two children wandered and begged with the caravan. They were starving and hungry every day. Menshak felt that the children were very pitiful, so he took them with him.
Menshak has no fixed job. He is an intelligence collector similar to a reporter. He travels around the world, dealing with all kinds of people, recording other people's stories or events that are happening in front of his eyes, and selling them to newspapers and those who need them. Organization of messages.
This is actually a very dangerous occupation, so Menshaq is often attacked by unknown people.
Fortunately, Menshak had some military training, and he always carried a musket with him, and paid a few mercenaries to act as bodyguards every time he went to a new place.
After he adopted these two street children, he realized that he was responsible for the whole of the two young lives. Menshaq, who has been wandering all over the world alone, felt the heavy responsibility and finally began to get tired of his "profession". ".
He decided not to engage in dangerous intelligence gathering, but to find a safe place to raise his children in peace.
So he chose Estonia, which is sparsely populated and has a beautiful environment, but it is a little cold in winter. Menshak led the children here and spent his savings to build a small manor. He thought to himself, if the next days are ordinary and peaceful, with no worries about food and clothing, then he will live here forever and never move his home again.
The situation at the beginning was indeed as beautiful as Menshak imagined. When the long winter ended and spring came, he hired several farmers to work on the estate, plant some suitable fruits and vegetables, and raise livestock.
The two cute little guys he adopted, apart from being shy at the beginning due to their fear of unfamiliar environments, quickly became lively and cheerful after getting acquainted.
The cosmopolitan Menshaq can speak many languages, and his language talent is very good. Many languages are learned naturally by Menshaq during his travels around the world. The language of the Qing Dynasty is no exception. .
Menshalk could communicate with the two children without any obstacles, but the children could not communicate with others, so Menshalk began to try to teach them Russian and the local Estonian language, so that they could learn more knowledge and teach them They befriend people and tell them to call themselves daddy.
These two children are twins.
They were only about eight years old, and they looked alike, almost identical. Dress them in the same clothes, do the same hairdos, and stand side by side, and Menshak bets that even the twins' biological parents won't be able to tell which is which.
The twins are very cute, at least in Menshaq's eyes. The two children have black hair and black pupils and are petite. They are squeezed together like two little black cats. They are so cute. Every time I see Menshaq can't help it, I have to hold two little things in each hand, pick them up and spin them around.
The twins are very close, going in and out together every day. They seem to imitate each other's language and actions. Many habits and actions in life, and even the accents they speak are exactly the same.
The close twins even have the ability similar to telepathy. Often the elder brother Ah Mu just utters a word, and the younger brother Ashin knows what to say next.
They were so much alike, even a little too much alike. As a result, it was difficult for Menshak to tell which of the twins was the elder brother and who was the younger brother for a long time.
To make matters worse, the twins never corrected Menshaq's misidentification. When Menshaq called his brother's name by mistake, the younger brother would answer of course: "Yes, I am Amu."
Similarly, the elder brother will pretend to be his younger brother Ashin when Menshak calls his younger brother.
This made Menshaq embarrassed, so he began to call the twins to him tirelessly, and asked them who was Ah Mu and who was Ashin, and then told them over and over again: "You must recognize your names clearly. , Ah Mu is Ah Mu, Ashin is Ashin, don't replace or pretend to be the other party, is that okay?"
"Why?" The two brothers asked in unison in puzzlement.
"It's not good." In fact, Menshaq couldn't tell what was wrong. He could only express his feelings bluntly: "You are two completely different individuals. You have your own personality and life. Both will be great, so don't copy each other, you can't be one."
The brothers looked at each other, seemingly unable to understand what Menshaq said.
But later, under Menshaq's repeated persuasion, the two restrained themselves, and finally stopped imitating their brother's language behavior and habits too much. The two brothers gradually showed some differences, and their temperaments also became different.
Although they are adopted children, Menshak's care for the twins is no worse than his own. He almost gave the twins everything he could. Menshak has always firmly believed that these two children will have completely different but wonderful lives in the future, and he is full of expectations for this.
But the accident happened soon.
Estonia is a country where 47% of the land is covered by forests.
Out of the back door of the Menshak manor is a huge endless forest. The two children, Amu and Ashin, often play on the edge of the forest. Menshak told them not to go into the depths of the forest, because he cannot guarantee whether there will be There are black bears or other predators.
The twins were very obedient and never went too deep into the forest. Occasionally, they just looked in from the edge of the forest. They could see the darkness in the forest, and there seemed to be something running in the bushes, causing the grass to shake constantly. Howling of a beast.
One day, the twin brothers were chasing and fighting at the edge of the forest as usual. During this process, the younger brother Ashin suddenly stopped, pointed to a bush in the forest and said, "Brother, look!"
Hearing this, Amu moved his face closer, followed the direction of Ashin's finger, and found a scarred and blood-stained reindeer lying in the bushes not far away.
Reindeer can be regarded as a common animal in Estonia, appearing in the highland tundra and coniferous forest areas. They are group animals and start migrating every spring, but this one was left alone for some reason.
Perhaps it was attacked by wolves or bears.
Amu noticed that although the reindeer lying in the bush was seriously injured, it was not dead and was still panting slightly.
Judging from the body shape, this reindeer should be underage. It is much smaller than the adult reindeer seen before, and the antlers on its head are not complete.
As the older brother, Amu was relatively calm. Although the scarred reindeer looked pitiful, he felt that it was better for him and his younger brother not to approach rashly.
But Amu underestimated his younger brother's curiosity. Accidentally, without catching Ashin, Ashin galloped over the dense weeds, bouncing and running to the side of the reindeer.
"Ashin!" Amu called his younger brother helplessly, but Axin had already run to the reindeer, squatted down to observe the lying reindeer carefully, and waved to Amu when he turned around: "Brother, come here!"
Now that the younger brother had passed, Amu followed hesitantly. They gathered around the injured reindeer, watching the reindeer half cover its eyes and face, panting for breath.
The younger brother said: "It looks so pitiful. We should ask Dr. He Erqiu in the village to save it."
"Doctor He Erqiu saves people, not a veterinarian." Amu helplessly reached out and rubbed his brother's head.
"It doesn't matter, they are all doctors." Ashin was very stubborn, and shook Amu's hand, "Brother, save it!"
Amu said: "We should go back and talk to Dad, Dad will have a solution."
"Brother, you go to find Dad, I'll stay here and watch it!" Ashin was elated, and looked at his brother Amu with wide eyes, as if stars were twinkling in his eyes.
"Nonsense!" Amu didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "The forest is too dangerous, you can't stay here alone, who knows if the wound on this reindeer was done by a bear or a wolf? Let's go back and find Dad first."
"But what if the reindeer is eaten by wolves as soon as we leave?" Ashin was reluctant.
"That can't be helped. We can't stay here and be eaten by wolves." Amu told the cruel truth in simple language. He said, "Deer will eat grass, wolves will eat meat, we all If you don't eat, you will starve to death."
Ashin was still not reconciled, and he put forward a new suggestion: "Then let's move it away together, and move it back, and the wolves won't be able to eat it."
Even so, Ashin and Amu, together, do not have the size and strength to move the deer.
Although this deer seems to be underage, it is not a small young deer. It should be a young deer. If it can stand up, it is definitely taller than Amu Ashin's two children.
"Stop making trouble, go back with me to find Dad first."
Ah Mu is still very majestic as an elder brother, and he expressed his opposition to Ashin's various unreasonable troubles. Ashin's coquettish rolling and rolling didn't work, so he had to be wronged and was led by Ah Mu, and temporarily left the reindeer's side.
Afterwards, the two brothers returned to Menshak Manor. They were going to find Menshak, but when they returned, they found that their father was not there. The servant working in the manor said: "Master has gone to the city to do some shopping."
In desperation, the two brothers decided to go directly to the village doctor He Erqiu, whose home was not far from their manor, and they ran there in a short time.
Dr. He Erqiu then interviewed the two children, and after listening to them explain the ins and outs of the matter, the doctor also felt extremely troubled.
First of all, Dr. Herchau is not a veterinarian and has no clue about treating a reindeer. Also, drugs used in humans may not work or even have the opposite effect in animals.
Secondly, even if the injured reindeer can be rescued, the reindeer who have been in contact with humans will be rejected by the group. A single reindeer will not live long, and I am afraid that it will still face the fate of death.
In the end, medicines in this era are quite precious, and He Erqiu didn't want to waste any medicines on a deer.
In this way, it is better to leave it alone in the first place.
But such cruel words, Dr. He Erqiu couldn't say it to the two expectant children, so he thought for a moment, sighed and decided to help the twins.
"Okay, take me to see that reindeer." Dr. Herchau said, "but I can't guarantee that I can save it. I'm afraid I can only do some simple treatment for its wound."
"Great!" Ashin jumped up with joy when he heard that, "Then can we move it home?"
"It's better not." Dr. He Erqiu shook his head and hit him. "There are hunters in the village who specialize in hunting deer. If you don't look down on the deer, it will be caught by the hunters."
Immediately afterwards, Herqiu followed Amu Ashin back to the edge of the forest, and found the blood-stained reindeer still lying there.
Dr. Herchau carried a shotgun with him, because he was worried about attacks by wolves or bears.
Secondly, he also brought a knife and some cloth strips. The level of medical treatment in 1721 was very backward, and extremely primitive methods were adopted to treat wounds—washing, burning, cutting with a knife, and bandaging.
It's that simple four steps. So He Erqiu asked the two brothers Amu Ashin to fetch some water from a nearby stream, and he picked up some dead branches and leaves and lit a fire.
After that, I briefly cleaned the wound on the reindeer with the retrieved water, scraped off the excess fur with a knife, and then burned the knife red to cut off the rotten and pus-filled meat, and then burned it to stop the bleeding, and tied a cloth strip. The wound is almost done.
There were not many wounds on the reindeer, only a few wounds on the side and abdomen, which seemed to be caught by some kind of wild beast, which caused the reindeer to bleed a lot, unable to move and very weak.
Being unable to move is also a good thing, at least it won't move around when Heerqiu is dealing with the wound... The reindeer's hooves are very strong, and being kicked is terrible.
After finishing the treatment, He Erqiu went to the edge of the stream to wash his hands, and prepared to leave with the two brothers. When they left, the reindeer hadn't stood up yet, and was still lying there motionless.
Ashin asked He Erqiu, "Doctor, can it live?"
"Then I don't know, it depends on itself." He Erqiu replied.
After returning to the village, Menshak had returned from shopping in the town. He heard that his twins went to the doctor Herqiu to help treat a reindeer. Realizing that his children were causing trouble to others, he took some fruits and stored them from the manor warehouse. The meat was given to Dr. He Erqiu as a thank you gift.
Early the next morning, the enthusiastic Ashin woke up his brother, and the two brothers came to the location where the reindeer was found yesterday. It turned out that the reindeer was gone, and only some blood was left where the reindeer lay.
"It may have left." Amu said to his brother.
Ashin looked at the place where the reindeer lay for a long time, with a lost expression: "Can we never see it again?"
"No." Amu intentionally described the beautiful scene for his younger brother. "It may have returned to its group. Next time we see a herd of deer passing by, we may see it with cloth strips on its body."
Having said that, Ashin laughed happily again. When Ashin smiles, there are two small dimples on his face, which looks very cute. Every time he sees his smiling face, Ah Mu can't help reaching out to touch the fluffy hair on his younger brother's head.
After touching the younger brother's head, the two brothers were just about to leave. At this time, they heard the rustling of grass and trees behind them at the same time.
So the two turned their heads and looked back, and found that the reindeer they rescued yesterday was standing in the grass, raising its antlers and looking at them.
"It's back!" Ashin shouted happily.
Unlike Ashin's excitement, the keen Amu noticed that the reindeer seemed to have something in its mouth.
The reindeer did have something in its mouth, and it moved closer to Amu and Ashin with this thing in its mouth. Immediately afterwards, the reindeer lowered its head and put the object in its mouth down on the ground.
Then, the reindeer stepped back a few steps, turned around and jumped into the woods, and disappeared in a blink of an eye.
"It seems to have given us a thank you gift." Seeing this scene, Amu said thoughtfully.
"Is it because we saved it? That's why you gave us a gift?" Ashin became even more excited. He jumped up and ran to the side of the "thank you gift" sent by the reindeer. He lowered his head and pondered, and said to Amu: "Brother, come and see, what is this?"
Amu then leaned over to take a look, frowned and said, "This is... a stone?"
"Stones shouldn't be so beautiful, right?" Ashin reached out to pick up "Xie Li", stars appeared in his eyes, and asked expectantly, "Is this crystal?"
The thing in Ashin's hand really looked like a crystal, it was a light blue, slightly transparent, irregular square multi-faceted ice crystal. And this thing is so small that Ashin can hold it in the palm of one hand.
However, this crystal-like square polyhedron is too symmetrical and flat. Every surface on it is carefully measured and polished like a ruler.
When you look carefully, you can also find that the crystal is engraved with tiny characters like rice grains, which are not any kind of characters that Amu and Ashin have learned, and these characters are densely covered on every surface of the crystal. Obviously this crystal is not naturally formed, but an artifact.
Amu felt that this thing might be very valuable. In their era, such exquisite handicrafts could be sold for a lot of money, at least that's what their father Menshaq said.
So Ah Mu told his younger brother Ah Xin, Ah Mu said: "Take this, put it in your pocket, don't let others see it."
Ashin could understand his brother's thoughts: "Is it a very precious thing?"
"Maybe." Amu said, "I don't know, but it's better not to let others see it easily, just go back and ask Dad."
Ashin couldn't help worrying: "If it is very valuable, will Dad sell it?"
Amu laughed: "This is your thing. Our dad is an upright man, so he won't just sell your things!"
"But... it was given to the two of us by that reindeer, not just my stuff." Ashin seemed to be entangled in the strange point.
"No, it belongs to you." Amu looked at his younger brother tenderly, "It was you who wanted to save the deer, not me. So the gift given by the reindeer should also be a gift for you."
"If it's mine, can I give it away?" Ashin asked innocently.
"Of course." Amu said naturally, but felt a little disappointed.
Amu thought to himself: Does my brother already have someone he wants to give a gift to? Who is the one? Some little girl from the village? A Mu remembered that Ashin liked the young lady in the village who was two years older than them, named Su Lier.
Before Amu was lost, Ashin suddenly raised a bright smile, and raised the crystal in his hand to Amu: "Then I will give it to my brother, I like my brother the most!"
Ashin stuffed the crystal into Amu's palm, and then threw himself into Amu's arms.
The younger brother in his arms was fragrant and soft, and Ah Mu's heart softened all of a sudden. He tightened his arms and hugged Ashin tightly, stroked Ashin's back with his hands, and said softly: "I also like Ashin the most." gone."
Amu and Ashin survived the war, their parents died when they were very young. The two brothers have been together since they became conscious, begging everywhere and wandering with caravans.
They have not been able to wear warm clothes since they were young, and their biggest wish is to be able to have a full meal. This wish came true after being adopted by Mr. Menshaq. The two brothers have always been very grateful to Menshaq, and they have truly entrusted their affection for their father to Menshaq.
But apart from Menshaq, Amu and Ashin have the deepest affection for each other.
In the hardest days in the past, they supported each other to survive. The only food left on their bodies, even if they were half starved to death, must be shared with their brothers.
It is precisely because of such a deep bond that Ah Mu and Ashin become more and more similar and intimate, trying to imitate each other's words, habits and actions.
These things that once distressed Menshaq were very important to the two brothers, and their resemblance symbolized the close relationship between them.
…
Mu Qin suddenly opened his eyes and woke up from his sleep.
In fact, he seldom dreams when he sleeps. The things that Mu Qin dreamed of in the last dream have long since faded into his memory.
So this time, having such a long dream really confused Mu Qin's mind.
After waking up from the dream, Mu Qin found himself still sitting on the cold Butterfly Throne, holding Zhou Yue's cold body in his hands.
But apart from these, Mu Qin suddenly realized that there was a person standing in front of him.
Because this person was standing in front of him, the other person's body blocked the light projected from the cracks in the castle above his head, casting a shadow on Mu Qin's body.
So Mu Qin had to raise his head and look at the man in front of him.
A person who can never see his face clearly.