20. Do everything in the past, the new year is as beautiful as the old

Pei Nianyu couldn't help being stunned when he saw his younger brother kneeling towards him.

My younger brother traveled here twenty years earlier than me. Pei Nianyu had just come here for a year, and he wasn't used to seeing kneeling people, and he himself didn't kneel down to the emperor.

But Pei Niancheng had been infected in this environment for so many years in advance, and he knew exactly what his kneeling meant.It seems that Lin Han is much more important in his heart than he imagined.

Pei Nianyu hastily put down the teacup, got up and avoided him, not accepting his gift, and then said with a smile:

"You and I are both people who grew up under the red flag, I don't like this..."

Before the words fell, Lin Han picked up the teacup and drank the dark red liquid while neither of them was paying attention.

"Lin Han——!"

Pei Niancheng couldn't care less about pleading with his brother, he stood up and hugged the man he hadn't seen for a long time in his arms.

At this moment, Pei Niancheng even habitually left a trace of instinct to calm himself down. Several first aid methods for accidentally ingesting the poison quickly flashed through his mind: induce vomiting?Or drink a lot of milk?Does CPR work?

However, his messy thoughts hadn't settled yet, but suddenly his mind went blank——

Lin Han gently held his hand.

It was a hand with long, slender knuckles and a slightly dry hand with calluses from holding swords all the year round.

Pei Niancheng shook it back subconsciously, feeling that his hand was so cold.

He felt more pain in his heart, barely wiped away the tears on his cheeks, and asked:

"You...why do you..."

At this time, Lin Han felt that the effect of the medicine was onset extremely quickly, and it was scurrying around in his body at high speed.And his mind was dizzy for a while, as if he could no longer sustain a clear consciousness for too long.

Lin Han first turned to look at Pei Nianyu:

"My lord, this subordinate redeemed me with my life. I don't know if I can ask my lord for forgiveness before I die..."

Although Pei Nianyu knew that the medicine was not poison, he was still moved by Lin Han's determination, his eyes were slightly red, and he nodded:

"Okay, I forgive you, you can go with peace of mind."

A relieved smile finally appeared on Lin Han's pale face.Then he coughed violently twice, and said to Pei Niancheng:

"The master once said...the subordinate has his own sins to atone for, and that's it. The subordinate is alive, and the master and the prince are... in trouble. It is the subordinate...that hinders your brotherhood."

Pei Niancheng burst into tears again, shaking his head desperately, he wanted to say no, how could your existence be a hindrance.However, he suddenly felt that Lin Han's hand was clenched a lot, and he asked quickly:

"What's wrong with you, where does it hurt?"

In fact, Lin Han's internal organs were in pain, and all the old wounds were churning like they were demanding his life.

He held the master's hand, thinking that I, Lin Han, have done a lot of evil in this life, but I was able to die in the arms of the master before I died. I don't know what kind of blessing I cultivated in my previous life.

The darkness in front of him was about to spread to all his vision, so Lin Han exhausted his last bit of strength, and whispered softly in a barely audible voice:

"Master, actually... this subordinate... likes you..."

Pei Niancheng felt a severe pain in his chest, he hugged him in his arms, and told him in his ear:

"I know I know……"

The hand holding him finally lost its strength and let go.

Pei Niancheng felt it, and felt great pain in his heart. He gritted his teeth, and sobbed on him in a very restrained voice.

"Lin Han..."

Pei Nianyu looked at his younger brother's unprecedented grief, and finally shed a few tears.

Then he suppressed his emotions and asked his younger brother:

"Xiao Sheng, let me ask you...do you love him too?"

Pei Niancheng was in so much pain that he couldn't utter a word. Hearing this, he only nodded his head which was buried in Lin Han's clothes.

Pei Nianyu breathed a sigh of relief:

"Looking at it this way, it's not like I'm messing around."

He lifted Pei Niancheng up with one hand, and at the same time asked Lou Yefeng to move Lin Han into the house.

"Okay, don't cry, he's not dead, the one you gave him isn't poison."

"……elder brother?"

Pei Niancheng turned to look at his brother in surprise.

"I decided to forgive him many days ago, so how could I really kill him?"

Pei Niancheng paused for several seconds before realizing what his brother meant.

It was as if a boulder had fallen from his chest, but for some reason, the tears in his eyes flowed even more fiercely.

Pei Nianyu was at a loss for a while, and quickly took his younger brother into his arms:

"What's the matter, isn't it a good thing he didn't die? I fed him Baihuabutianlu, which can help him heal old injuries..."

However, he didn't know what was wrong with his consolation, Pei Niancheng's tears were still quickly wetting his clothes.

"Brother, I just... I just..."

When Pei Niancheng thought that Lin Han had survived and even admitted his love for him, he had mixed feelings in his heart, and felt that the boring life of being an emperor seemed to have changed since then.

He thought, from now on, he must cherish these feelings with Lin Han.

Pei Niancheng couldn't tell what mood he was in, but tears couldn't stop flowing.Fortunately, what he was facing was his elder brother, so he could stop pretending to be rational and strong.

By his brother's side, he wantonly vented all his fragility.

Seeing him like this, Pei Nianyu guessed something in his heart, so he didn't ask any more questions, and just gently stroked his back.

It wasn't until his younger brother had cried enough that Pei Nianyu told him carefully what had happened to Lin Han in the past few days when he came to the palace.

"...Probably that's it. At the beginning, he was deliberately humiliated, but I kept my shadow guards silent when they knew him."

Although Pei Niancheng felt a pain in his heart, he still shook his head to show that he didn't mind.

"Thank you brother for keeping him alive. This is the price he should pay, it's nothing."

But what he thought in his heart was that when Lin Han returned to the palace, he would try to comfort him.

"Okay, he will have to digest the medicine for two or three days, you should go back first. After he wakes up, I will let him go back to the palace to find you."

…………

Three days later, Lin Han woke up in the palace.

When he opened his eyes, he thought he would see Huangquan Road or Hell's Palace, but he didn't expect to see the familiar woodshed.

But the shackles on his hands have been removed, and the traces of wear on his wrists have also been carefully treated with wound medicine.

He lost his mind for a while, did the prince do it?

Lin Han subconsciously circulated his internal energy, only to find that not only all internal injuries were healed, but even the old injuries that hadn't been healed in time also healed a lot.The toxicity caused by overdose has also been uprooted by something.

Now, except for some physical weakness accumulated over the years, there is no serious problem at all.

It seems that what he drank...

Lin Han was thinking about it, but when he went out, he saw Xia Yao.He habitually bowed to the female officer, but Xia Yao avoided it and said:

"Go to the west courtyard to take a bath. There is hot water and clean clothes for you. If you finish your work, the prince will wait for you at Jingxin Lake in the back garden of the mansion. He has something to say to you."

Lin Han nodded:

"I see."

Before Xia Yao left, Lin Han suddenly thanked her.Although the female official of the palace punished him for more than half a month, but he still knew in his heart whether he was careful or not when he did it.Not to mention those subtle care...

Lin Han walked into the west courtyard. In addition to hot water and clothes, there was also a bottle of plaster for wounds in the room.He looked at the scuff marks on his wrist, shook his head, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

The lord became gentle with others, and he was so careful - he clearly had medicine on his wrist, but the lord would have thought that he would wash off the ointment after taking a bath, and put a new bottle here.

After washing up, he picked up his qinggong and flew to the garden of the palace.

Pei Nianyu and Lou Yefeng were already waiting for him at the highest point of Yunyue Tower.

Lin Han stepped forward step by step, and when he reached Pei Nianyu's side, he suddenly knelt down and made a big salute:

"Lin Han thanked the prince...for the grace of not killing."

This time, Pei Nianyu didn't hide, but bent down to help him up after he finished walking.

"But this subordinate is puzzled."

"Why don't you understand?"

"Why didn't the prince really take the lives of his subordinates?"

Pei Nianyu smiled:

"Before you drank the medicine, didn't you think it was poison? Since you thought it was poison, you still drank it without any complaints. This is enough to prove your sincerity of atonement."

"Then why don't you pretend you're really drinking poison?"

Lin Han was stunned.

Pei Nianyu knew that this would not be able to convince him completely, but it would be good if it could help him solve some of his knots.

"So, just treat yourself as if you were drinking poison. I have already said, I forgive you, this king will not say anything about going back on his word."

"……yes."

"I don't kill you because your crime is not worthy of death. This is one of them."

"Secondly, I am for Xiaosheng, or rather, for the sake of the world."

"Subordinate...unknown."

Pei Nianyu turned around and looked into the distance, seeing the continuous eaves under his feet, and the beautiful and green tiles of the imperial palace in the distance.

"Lin Han, let me ask you, what kind of person do you think the late emperor was?"

Lin Han hesitated before saying:

"...It's far worse than the master."

Pei Nianyu smiled:

"I know you want to say a lot of ugly things. Yes, he is not very good. He is not a qualified emperor, let alone a qualified father, or even a qualified person."

"Although I don't want to be an emperor, Xiaosheng and I both know one thing - it is really difficult to be a good emperor. But you still can't give up being a person just to be a good emperor."

"Lin Han, your master is only twenty-one years old now, and it has only been four years since he took the throne, and the days to come are still very, very long."

"But I don't know if he will remember this truth in the next few years. He himself can't guarantee it."

"So, Lin Han, he needs you. Not only Pei Niancheng needs you, but also the monarch of this world needs you."

"—He needs you to be by his side, to help him confirm that he is still a personal fact. He needs to have love and hatred in his heart, to have feelings, to be happy for the person he loves, and to suffer for the person he loves.

"He will be angry for the moths in this country, and he will also see, pity and protect the weak. In this way, he will always know in his heart what can be done and what cannot be done."

"Xiao Sheng has you, so he can continue to live like this, keep him as a person, and continue to be his emperor."

"The palace is too cold and the world is too far away. Few people can maintain their human side in the face of absolute power. Lin Han, you don't want to see your master end up like the late emperor, right??”

Lin Han was silent for a long time, until he had digested all the meanings, and then said:

"Thank you, Lord, for your guidance. I understand."

Pei Nianyu nodded:

"If he is the sword that rules the world, then you are... his scabbard."

"Go back and stay by his side."

…………

Watching Lin Han say goodbye, Pei Lou and the other two used lightness kung fu to leave the palace with their thin and bleak backs, and gradually moved away.

Pei Nianyu sighed:

"Actually, if it wasn't for Shao Yan's sudden revelation, I would never know the truth of the year. My relationship with Xiao Sheng and Lin Han is still the same as before."

"Since life has to go on, why should this matter... Think about it, I just think it's better not to know at the beginning. If Lin Han kept it from us for the rest of his life, he would just live like this for the rest of his life. Knowing the truth, on the contraryIt just adds so many twists and turns."

"Sure enough, the old saying is good, this person... is so rare that he is confused..."

Lou Yefeng looked at the direction where Lin Han left:

"But from now on, Lin Han will obviously not be able to return to the way we were before. After all, he failed to atone for his sins as he thought."

"This is the catastrophe he has to go through. No matter what, I still treat him as a family member. Before he was 20 years old, the pain of the past was deep in his bones. After meeting Xiaosheng, he had a rare new life. I hope that time...can healEverything."

More than half a month later, Pei Nianyu had nothing to do in the palace one day, so he renovated the folding fan that had been stained with blood before.The internal mechanism was not moved, only the fan was removed, repainted and pasted on.

The front of the new fan is still a landscape painting, and the back is written in four large characters:

"Rarely confused"

…………

At that time, it was the end of autumn and winter, and the cold wind swept across the earth.

Not long after Lin Han returned to the palace, Pei Niancheng couldn't bear to let Lin Han continue to work as a shadow guard at the age of thirty-nine.Moreover, he, a shadow guard who has made a big mistake, can no longer hold the position of commander.

However, it is still impossible to choose a new commander, and several deputy commanders still need to be inspected and trained.So Lin Han was asked to temporarily act as the commander, and while gradually handing over the power and responsibilities in his hands, he taught the few candidate seedlings.After a new leader is elected, he will step down from this position.

And his post-retirement errands, Pei Niancheng has already arranged - shadow guard clerical position, from the third rank, attendant around, handling shadow guards and six confidential letters, sorting out information.

Pei Nianyu was also concerned about his younger brother's love life, and sent a letter from the shadow guard to ask him how things were going with Lin Han, and whether he had gotten someone.

And Pei Niansheng's reply was very understated——

"What's so difficult about it? On the day he came back, I asked a few words, and I got it."

Pei Nianyu thought about the many days he had been entangled with Lao Lou, and suddenly felt that this news would shock him for a whole year.

However, when he wanted to ask about the relationship between the two in detail, Pei Niancheng became awkward and couldn't read his brother's note on the pretext that he was busy with government affairs.

Pei Nianyu was a little amused: Xiao Sheng is getting shy now.

…………

However, as Lou Yefeng said, the days when Lin Han regarded himself as a member of their family could never go back.

Pei Niancheng still sometimes took Lin Han to the palace to grab a meal, but Lin Han was much more silent than before, almost turning into a shadow that could not speak but could only move.

——And Lin Han never dared to sit in the dinner table of the palace, the seat that once belonged to him.Instead, he stood quietly by his master's side.

Pei Lou and the two could see clearly, but they just didn't know.Of course they didn't want to humiliate him deliberately, but they didn't show much enthusiasm on purpose either.After all, they knew in their hearts that what they did at this time would only increase Lin Han's embarrassment.

They just strike up a few pleasantries with Lin Han at some inadvertent places.

However, every time Pei Niansheng took him out of the palace, Pei Nianyu would occasionally sigh:

"He looks like... well, forget it."

………………

As winter enters the 39th, the sky is getting colder.As Yuan Ye approaches, another year is coming to an end.

On this New Year's Eve, everyone in the Palace began to be lively early in the morning.Pei Nianyu woke up amidst the endless firecrackers in the streets and alleys of the capital, but first received an item from the shadow guard in the palace.

The shadow guard held two identical rectangular wooden boxes, stacked one on top of the other, and presented them to him.

Pei Nianyu took the wooden box and asked curiously:

"Why does Xiao Sheng come to deliver things at this time? Isn't the palace's annual gifts for the palace already exhausted?"

However, the shadow guard didn't answer, put down his things and left.

Puzzled, Pei Nianyu opened the wooden box and saw a note first.

The note was not signed, but it was clearly written by Lin Han.Pei Nianyu was taken aback for a moment, then picked it up slowly:

"The day before yesterday, I was on duty at the library in the palace. I didn't intend to find an isolated volume of cooking classics from the previous dynasty. I don't know if it will be useful to the prince. If the content of the book is unreadable, the prince will use it as firewood."

Pei Nianyu took the note and read it for a long time.

Lou Yefeng had just finished washing, and came over to ask what happened.

Pei Nianyu smiled, and his tone was inexplicably light:

"It's a New Year's gift from Lin Han, Nuo, the box below should be for you."

Lou Yefeng was very curious, took the wooden box below, opened it, and there was also a note on it:

"The day before yesterday I was on duty at the library in the palace, and accidentally found a single copy of the swordsmanship classics of the previous dynasty. In my opinion, there are still lessons to be learned. Teacher Lou can take a look if he wants to."

Pei Nianyu came over, read his note and said:

"...It's hard to find these two books for him."

Thinking of Lin Han's temperament, Pei Nianyu wondered how much time he hesitated and hesitated to write this note before sending out this year's gift.He could even see the tangled look of Lin Han picking up the pen and ink, and then throwing away the waste letters.

The two looked at each other for a moment, Lou Yefeng asked:

"Then master...how do you want to deal with it?"

"It's Chinese New Year, people have specially sent things here, you can't pretend not to see it. It's not too much to return a gift."

Lou Yefeng shrugged:

"I happen to have something for him too, let's take it with the master's."

……………

At noon that day, Lin Han received a return gift from the shadow guard of the palace.

Pei Niancheng couldn't help being curious when he saw that the circles of his eyes gradually turned red after he opened the box:

"What did brother give you?"

He took a closer look, but saw that the wooden box was sent back as it was, but the contents inside became three pages of medicinal recipes, and a note:

"It's only now that I know that you are almost forty years old. Take this new recipe every day, take good care of your body, and the days to come will be long."

"In addition, the medicinal recipes need to be replaced according to the pulse condition. If you feel that the pulse condition gradually changes in the future, you can come to our residence."

Lin Han's hand holding the note trembled slightly.

Pei Niancheng didn't make a sound to disturb his thoughts, he just held his palm lightly, and said after a while:

"Just do what my brother said. I'm only twenty-one years old. Since you said you want to be by my side all the time, naturally you have to stay with me for a few more years."

Lin Han supported the desk with one hand, and a tear quietly fell on the note.

………………

That night, on the dragon couch.

Only now did Pei Niancheng know what Lou Yefeng's gift to Lin Han was.

He can't laugh or cry:

"...You are...where did you learn this pose?"

Lin Han was a little apprehensive:

"It was taught by the professor in the palace, master...don't you like it?"

"Why don't you like it?"

On the other side, in the bedroom of Prince Yu's Mansion.

Pei Nianyu squinted at Lou Yefeng who had created some new tricks, smiling like a flower:

"Isn't this what you gave Lin Han? This is not so difficult."

Lou Yefeng spoke with some difficulty, intermittently:

"Of course...not. Today this...subordinate only let the master taste...!"

"—that's about the same."

Have a good night's sleep.

The next day, New Year's Day.

When the morning light breaks, the streets and alleys of the capital are gradually filled with the sound of people and firecrackers, making them noisy and peaceful.

A new year begins.

………

"Grateful to the Emperor" volume, finished.