comeback [rebirth]

White clouds floated in the sky, suddenly blocking the setting sun in the sky.Almost all light was lost in the imperial prison, only the faint candlelight by the wall reflected two faces with their own thoughts.

Neither of them spoke, as if after a long time, the white clouds finally dissipated slowly, and the afterglow leaked into this dark and damp place again.

Suddenly, Cen Yuan laughed silently: "Looking at the entire imperial prison, only the deepest room has an iron window, which allows people to smell some of the breath of the world, so it can be regarded as the upper room."

It was as if all the previous conversations had never happened, and the corners of Duan Deye's mouth rose slightly following his words: "Indeed, a few days ago was Chinese New Year, and the sound of firecrackers could even be heard here, but it was a bit noisy."

Cen Yuan lowered his head and poured wine into the other empty wine cup, saying: "Duan Xiang should miss his family very much now."

Cen Yuan put the jug aside when the wine was more than half full, and the sound of the bottom of the jug hitting the mud was slightly dull.

Duan Deye's gaze fell on the two glasses of wine almost imperceptibly, and then moved back to the person opposite in an instant.

"Sigh, this trouble has really hurt my wife and daughter." After a while, he sighed, "It's just that this old man has no eyes and sees nothing, and we have been together for more than ten years. I didn't expect that the son-in-law I personally selected would be such a vicious person." .”

Cen Yuan narrowed his eyes and smiled faintly. After a while, he shook his head, and said after a short silence: "This time Duan Meng murdered the prince, raised soldiers in private, and used your name to try to blame you. You, if someone else were to sit next to you, Duan Xiang, it might be an assassination of His Majesty."

Duan Deye sighed again: "People's hearts are really unpredictable."

"Ham, who says it's not." As Cen Yuan said, he suddenly changed his tone and said sincerely, "But Don't worry, Duan Xiang. Although Duan's mansion has been sealed up now, your wife and daughter are only being held in a residential house in central Beijing for the time being. Although this There is no one to take care of food, clothing, and daily life, and people are not free, but as long as they can save one life, it is better than any glory and wealth, don’t you think?”

Duan Deye continued: "That's natural."

Cen Yuan then chuckled, and pointed to the few dishes in front of the two of them: "Duan Xiang is in this prison, and he guesses that he can only chew some cabbage and steamed buns every day, so before I came here, I specially visited Mrs. She made some side dishes to accompany the wine, to give Duan Xiang a full feast."

Before he finished speaking, he pushed the wine cup a little bit in front of Duan Deye, looked at him but smiled without saying a word.

Duan Deye supported his knees with both hands, motionless.

After a while, he asked: "Your Highness is here today, is it just to bring food to the old man?"

Cen Yuan waved his hand at him indifferently, as if he was giving someone some kind of gift, telling him not to be polite.

"Life in Beijing is too boring. Even during the Chinese New Year, there is no place to have fun, but that guy Yan Xuan is very busy recently." Cen Yuan complained, "It's not that there is nothing to do. Suddenly thinking of Duan Xiang, I just Come to catch up with you."

After saying that, he asked suspiciously: "Does Duan Xiang not move his chopsticks?"

For a while, the whole cell fell into silence again, and no one knew which corner was seeping water, and the water dripped on the ground little by little, making a regular sound——

"Tap, tap,"

Not long after, Duan Deye said: "This old man is no older than you young people. If you don't have a good appetite, don't use it."

Hearing this, Cen Yuan had a regretful expression on his face, and it could be seen from his expression that he was struggling a lot in his heart, and then he retreated to the next best thing: "Then drink some wine, this wine is not strong, and a small drink is also pleasant, it really can't , you take it as selling my face."

Duan Deye laughed "haha" twice, and said, "I don't dare to be this old man, Your Highness."

"There's nothing to be afraid of. It's nothing more than coaxing someone to drink, and it's not a big deal."

Cen Yuanyan smiled at Yanyan, his eyes firmly fixed on the other's eyes with a strong smile, and after a while, he suddenly lowered his voice without warning:

"Could it be that Duan Xiang is afraid that I will be poisoned in the wine?"

The voice was too soft, and it fell too fast, only listening to the water droplets in the corner, which did not know how heavy it was, but it was overwhelming, and it hit the ground heavily-"Pa-ta!"

Duan Deye suddenly turned his face to the side and smiled, he stretched out his hand to pick up the wine cup, and said, "It's not like His Highness's style to use such a poor method."

"That's right." Cen Yuan smiled even more, "If I were so impatient, I wouldn't be dealing with the same situation now."

Duan Deye just smiled, raised his head and drank the wine in the glass.

Cen Yuan raised his eyebrows, held up the wine cup in front of him, cupped his hands in a gesture of toasting, and drank it all in one gulp.

"Speaking of which." Cen Yuan refilled the two wine cups, then changed the subject, "Duan Xiang always talks about your wife and daughter, but he forgot that you have a son?"

"Oh?"

"Don't remember?" Cen Yuan said, "Then you don't remember the last time you went to the island, you should remember the person who accompanied you."

Duan Deye seemed to find it funny, and shook his head: "The old man's body, he fainted when he got on the boat, how could he..."

Cen Yuan raised his hand to stop his words: "Hey, Duan Xiang, don't get dizzy in such a hurry. Look at this thing, you should remember it."

"What?" Duan Deye asked suspiciously, and immediately saw the other party take out a pocket sachet from his sleeve.

The cloth of the sachet did not look particularly clean, as if it had been stained with dirt. Duan Deye picked it up and felt that there was no strange smell, so he humbly asked for advice: "What's wrong with this sachet?"

"Duan Xiang, why don't you take a look at Bu Nang again?"

Duan Deye raised his eyes and glanced at the other party disapprovingly, then turned his gaze back to the ordinary-looking cloth bag, scanned it with the remaining sunlight, and then turned it over with one hand.

Cen Yuan seemed to feel that his legs were aching after sitting cross-legged for a long time, so he simply stood up and patted his clothes casually.

"At the beginning, the king of Chu questioned the route of the sea transportation, and the adjustment of the route was left to you, Duan Xiang. You made appropriate modifications and re-planned a route for transporting soldiers to ensure that nothing will go wrong. However, you are in the state of Chu. But that arm still worries."

Cen Yuan paced back and forth in the prison, flipping through the haystacks on the side from time to time, and said unhurriedly: "So in May, Zhao Yu went to Beijing privately, intending to confirm his future plans with you. According to Mrs. Duan So, when he came to the door, he claimed to be the son of an old friend of yours."

Duan Deye was sitting where he was, without saying a word.

Cen Yuan turned back and smiled at him silently: "In fact, he also has self-knowledge, knowing that you have never treated him as your real son from the beginning to the end, and you will not let your wife know of his existence."

Duan Deye still didn't say anything, so Cen Yuan just kept talking.

"At that time, he sincerely wanted your approval, and even gave you the precious sachet he got from Princess Chu, because it was good for the body and mind. It's just a pity, that time you two seemed to break up unhappy. No, you didn't accept the sachet either. So later, before leaving the prime minister's mansion, he had no choice but to give the sachet to Mrs. Zun, and Mrs. Zun saw the kindness of the other party and accepted it."

He paused, and looked at the cloth bag in the other party's hand: "Mrs. Zun is used to embroidering your words on your things to identify them. It's a good habit, Duan Xiang, don't you think?"

Duan Deye casually threw the sachet on the ground, and the word "Xin" was clearly displayed on the cloth pouch.

He snorted: "It's just an ordinary sachet, so maybe Madam bought it herself."

"That's right, I'm afraid there are some things you don't know, otherwise you wouldn't have noticed who this sachet came from at the beginning." Cen Yuan said, "The powder in this sachet is made of a kind of petal called eternal soul flower. It is ground and comes from a place called Amu in the Western Regions. It is extremely rare and is not sold in the market. And this cloth bag did not have this hydrangea in the first place, it was embroidered by Princess Chu herself stitch by stitch."

Duan Deye finally couldn't help curling up his motionless hands resting on his knees.

"On the island where you hid soldiers, a soldier picked up this sachet and said that he saw the scene of your dispute with Zhao Yu with his own eyes." Cen Yuan tapped on the iron railing of the prison, "You said , Is this still an ordinary sachet?"

The lingering rhyme of the knocking sound lingered for a long time, circling back and forth in the prison several times, as if a ghost that had long gone had come back again, and continued to wail horribly around the deepest prison.

Duan Deye remained silent.

"It seems that Duan Xiang doesn't like this story, so I'll change it to another one." Cen Yuan returned to sit in front of Duan Deye again, clasped his hands, as if he was drinking tea and chatting with him.

"Do you still remember a man named Bi Ling?"

Duan Deye glanced at him indifferently.

"That's right, I was confused." Cen Yuan showed a troubled expression on his face at the right time, and then said with a smile, "Such an ordinary chess piece must not be able to catch Duan Xiang's eyes, and it's normal for Duan Xiang not to remember. "

After finishing speaking, he put away the smile on his face: "Then I'll tell Duan Xiang."

"At that time, you wanted to place a pawn in my concubine's bedroom, so you used Jinshang Palace to find someone in the palace. At that time, a palace lady died in the clothing bureau and provided you with a body of identity—that palace lady It's Biling."

"Soon, Zhao Yu sent you a woman named Cui Yu'er through the magistrate of Qingjiang County. She replaced Bi Ling and returned to work in the warehouse, and was forced to wait for your orders. At the same time, you cleared the palace. All the people who have seen Bi Ling, except for one person."

Duan Deye closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Cen Yuan said: "You won't get rid of Duan Zhaoyi for a court lady."

Duan Deye slowly opened his eyes, staring at the fluctuating surface of the liquor, and remained silent for a long while.

"At that time, Bi Ling was bullied after going to Huaining Palace, and was rescued by Duan Zhaoyi. But later, she was framed by jealous people for stealing, and she died innocently and tragically. She couldn't even keep her name."

When Cen Yuan said this, he couldn't help lowering his voice, his tone condensed into ice in the howling wind that pierced through the bars.He picked up the wine glass in front of him, the warm wine had already lost all its heat, making the whole wine glass cold.

"But because of this, two or three years later, Duan Zhaoyi can still clearly remember her appearance, and testify for the two innocent girls, so that they can regain their true identities." Cen Yuan put the wine glass to his lips, with a cool feeling The wine slipped down his throat, "to this day, even I don't know whether Jin Shanggong didn't think carefully when he did this for you, or did it on purpose. But at least, when you know about it, , it’s already done.”

Duan Deye still lowered his head, but suddenly said: "Could it be that His Highness wants to use this today to warn the old man that he should not be soft-hearted when facing his daughter."

Cen Yuan suddenly showed a sarcastic smile, and put down the wine cup in his hand.

"I'm just a little embarrassed." He poured some more wine into the glass, "It is said that a daughter is more like a father, but I didn't expect Duan Zhaoyi to be so different from Duan."

Duan Deye seemed a little tired from dealing with it, and seemed to have heard some cross talk joke, with a faint smile on his face, he leaned against the wall behind him, stretched his muscles, closed his eyes and shook his head.

After a while, he said contemptuously: "Goodwill is the most irrelevant and cumbersome thing in this world."

"But these good intentions have stopped you." Cen Yuan turned cold again, "When I saw Mrs. Zun today, she begged me for a long time, and wanted to bring you more clothes in private, so that you would not be in prison. Suffering from the cold. I came here today to ask Duan Xiang one more question, what is family in your heart?"

The winter sun set very quickly, leaving only the last gleam of light in the prison in a short time.But the time in prison seems to have passed for a long time, as if falling from light to darkness, only relying on the remaining faint candlelight to survive.

Suddenly, I heard Duan Deye say: "It's just a bad chess game."

Cen Yuan lowered his head and pulled the corner of his mouth.

"The matter of Zhaoyi is the old man's contempt." Duan Deye said, "Your Highness just said that, it is a useless chess piece, there is no need to touch it with dirty hands."

Suddenly there were footsteps approaching from far to near, Ting Wei came to a place a few steps away from them, and reminded in a low voice: "Your Highness, it's almost time."

Cen Yuan said: "I know."

"Your Highness, let's go back earlier." After Tingwei left, Duan Deye said again, "If it's later, it's not easy to walk this night."

"I don't need to bother you about this." Cen Yuan looked up at him, "Family will come to pick you up later, so these two people won't lose their way home after leaving."

Duan Deye smiled silently, at this moment he was like a helpless elder: "It seems that His Highness and General Yan Shao really have a deep relationship."

Cen Yuan smiled without saying a word.

"It's a pity that I can't talk about the old days with His Highness because of the inconveniences today." Duan Deye said, "Maybe the old man hasn't seen General Yan Shao for a long time. If you find a better day someday, Duan will definitely come to visit him in person."

Cen Yuan put away the sachet on the ground again, he didn't say whether he welcomed it or declined it, he just raised his eyebrows: "No one who enters this prison can get out intact, Duan Xiang Rather confident."

Duan Deye laughed "heh": "Why don't you tell me first, Your Highness, what is the old man's crime?"

This time it felt like he had heard some ridiculous joke and turned into Cen Yuan.

Almost immediately, he showed a smile that was not a smile, and raised his hand to signal the other party not to worry.

"What's the crime? Wait a minute, Duan Xiang, let me think about it."

Then he snapped his fingers in a decent manner: "First of all, recruiting recruits privately, stealing weapons, secretly repairing warships, and intending to rebel are crimes."

"Secondly, planning to murder the old prince, blaming others, and acting despicably are the second crime."

"Then he didn't know how to repent and intended to harm the harem, attack the prince, and even threaten the safety of the Holy One. This is the third crime."

"Forming a party for personal gain, corrupting the law and breaking the law are the four crimes."

Cen Yuan suddenly broke into a laugh, and shook his head: "Master Duan, it's too much to write down."

Duan Deye remained calm all the time, and when he saw the other party finished counting, he sighed disdainfully, as if showing pity.

"Duan Meng has already pleaded guilty. As for these sachet maids and so on, they are just fragmentary testimonies, empty words without evidence, so there is nothing wrong with accusing them of guilt."

"Your Highness." He yelled casually again, "Which of the things you said can really incriminate this old man."

The sound of footsteps gradually resounded in the prison again, Cen Yuan smiled softly, and suddenly approached Duan Deye, lowering his voice.

"Duan Xiang, the chess pieces are not worth touching with dirty hands, but the chess players still have to remove them with their own hands to be happy."

Duan Deye's face finally changed slightly.

Cen Yuan caught a glimpse of Ting Wei who was walking towards them from the corner of his eye, the smile on his face disappeared after a short while, he got up and straightened his clothes, put on his cloak, then picked up his glass of wine, raised his head and took a sip After that, he threw the cup back into the food box with a cold face.

"One word 'doubt' is enough."