Ma'am, is there someone out there?

The books at the bottom of the box are filled with rosin to repel insects, and when taken out, there is still a faint scent of rosin, steamed by the warm winter sun, exuding the stale air of many years of storage.

There are many kinds of books, ranging from national political history to novels, and so on. Of course, the most common ones are military books and sword books.

Shen Qing casually flipped through a few books, there were some red annotations on them, the handwriting was capable and vigorous, with the free and easy feeling of a seventy-year-old man, Shen Qing thought he had read it wrong, so he asked the housekeeper suspiciously: "These red annotations were written by the general? "

The old butler turned his head, squinted his presbyopic eyes and glanced from a distance, as if remembering something long ago, he suddenly burst into laughter.

"Ma'am, you are wrong. Didn't Madam forget the general's reply letter?"

Shen Qing thought of it all of a sudden, and slapped his head: "I'm so confused." He had seen Lu Chen reply to the letter, the words, with the momentum of a military general, but how good it is to say

, never to mention.

"This is the handwriting of Old Duke Huan."

Shen Qing then spread out another book, rubbed his fingers over the red handwriting on it, the handwriting was particularly meticulously annotated, and he could vaguely see the reader leaning over his desk to pick up his pen.

The old housekeeper recalled: "Old Duke Huan is fond of books. He can read a little about everything from astronomy and geography to poetry and poetry. It’s good to teach the general to read.”

"It's a pity!" Having said this, the old butler sighed heavily, showing a bit of regret, quite a bit disappointed that my son is not good enough.

Shen Qing stopped turning over the books and listened to the old housekeeper.

"Duke Huan was a well-known all-rounder in civil and military affairs back then. His writing was comparable to Song Yu, his martial arts rivaled Su Qi'er, and his appearance was comparable to Pan An. How many women had their hearts attached to Duke Huan. But when it came to the general, Duke Huan taught him poetry and songs Fu, the general can fall asleep after listening to it, and learning the Analects of Confucius Lao Tzu, the general can’t avoid it, and finally he can listen to military books such as grandson Wu Zi Liutao." The old housekeeper suddenly felt that he was belittling the general. Too much, afraid of affecting the general's influence in Madam's mind, he hastily added.

"Of course, although the general is not good at writing, he is good at martial arts. The general's kung fu is very good. He can draw a ten-stone iron bow at the age of ten. It is a few years earlier than Li Bai's swordsmanship at fifteen years. The general is at twelve o'clock. A tie with Huan Guogong's subordinates." As he spoke, the old butler proudly blew his beard and raised his chin.I also want my wife to know that the general is patient.

Just at this time, Xuan Shen brought out another box of books and was walking towards this side.He was wearing the uniform gray and black clothes in the mansion, and he added a bloated and thick padded jacket. If ordinary people wore this clothes, he would have turned into a bloated, ugly, fat ball.But Xuan Shen's skin is fair, tall and thin, and such an ugly dress also has a special temperament.

The old butler thought that Duke Huan's appearance was comparable to Pan An's, looked at the handsome Xuan Shen in front of him, thought of his own general, and groaned a few times.

Xuan Shen blinked his eyes, completely unaware of what happened.

Seeing him blinking, the old butler thought to himself, hum, she looks good but can't be eaten.

The old housekeeper always hummed with him, and Xuan Shen sometimes felt aggrieved.He put down the box, lowered his head, and packed the books in silence.

Now, the old housekeeper began to feel guilty. In fact, he didn't hate Xuan Shen, but...

It's just that Xuan Shen is so similar to the general, about the same height, and only slightly thinner than the general, especially the back view, which often makes the old housekeeper trance, but when he turns around and shows his pretty face, the old housekeeper knows it's not.Xuan Shen's voice is even somewhat similar to the general's, Xuan Shen's voice is slightly hoarse as if on fire, but the general's voice is much clearer.

But Xuanshen has so many similarities with the general, but he insists on having one more good-looking face than the general.

In terms of appearance, Xuan Shen must be of the first class, but his general is a downright ugly man, he was sealed by the former emperor Jinkou, and the world recognizes that he is undeniably ugly.

From then on, the old housekeeper was unhappy when he saw a good-looking person. Even if his son begged for a wife, the old housekeeper would not bring back a beautiful daughter-in-law.The old butler is very stubborn, he just likes ugly ones!

The old butler was especially fond of Xiaobao, and naturally he didn't dislike Xuan Shen, but once he saw Xuan Shen's beautiful face without any blemishes, he would think of a general who was so ugly that the emperor couldn't bear it.

The old butler loves the house but hates the house, and he can't stop berating the beauty, marrying back a wife who is already in trouble, and even getting an extremely handsome entourage, what will he compare the general to in the future.

The old butler thought a lot, while Xuan Shen lowered his head and remained silent.

The old housekeeper didn't like him, but Xuan Shen liked the old man a little bit.Although the old man was chatty and always ordered him to do this and that, and when he and Shen Qing took a closer look, the old housekeeper was about to turn his eyes, but Xuan Shen still didn't hate this old man.

The old butler was still packing the books, but he became absent-minded. He thought, is it too unfair for me to vent my anger like this? Seeing that he was actually a little sad.

The housekeeper coughed a few times and touched Xuan Shen's body, seeming to chatter unintentionally.

"The clothes are new."

Xuan Shen looked down and nodded.

"It's pretty." Pooh, the clothes are so pretty, the old housekeeper wanted to slap himself.

Xuan Shen is also divided into beauty and ugliness, he looked down again, and for the first time had a sense of agreement with the rumors that had been circulating in the house for a long time.One of the rumors in the General's Mansion, the old housekeeper is beautiful and ugly, the uglier the more he likes it, the pretty girls in the mansion have no way out!

After Xuan Shen glanced at it, he continued to do his own thing, this time without even nodding his head.

Seeing that he ignored him, the old housekeeper babbled again: "The monthly money is okay, if it's not enough, you can raise it again..."

Xuanshen's ears pricked up, and he suddenly looked at the old housekeeper seriously, with anticipation in his eyes.

The old butler's face was hot, did they pay less monthly money? Xuan Shen was so looking forward to it.

"Okay, then raise the monthly money." The old housekeeper decided that it didn't count, he turned his head and asked Shen Qing, the master had to agree to this matter.

"It's up to you, the housekeeper, to decide about the monthly money." Shen Qing smiled, he never cared about these trivial matters.

With Shen Qing's consent, the old butler stroked his beard and puffed up his chest: "Then let's raise the monthly money, and pay more... more..."

Xuan Shen stared closely at the old butler, causing the old butler to blush. He waved his hand, "Double!"

Xuan Shen calculated in his mind how much he doubled, and then looked at the old butler with surprised, excited and grateful eyes. The old butler coughed a few times, and hurriedly lowered his head to sort out the books in shame.His old face is so ashamed, is he usually stingy?No buckle, absolutely no buckle!

Shen Qing turned the pile of books onto the bamboo plaque, there were not many books left in the box, and the bottom box was exposed, Shen Qing felt curious and took out the box.

The box was ten inches square, unremarkable and dusty, and it was quite strange to put it in a box of books.The lock of the box was unlocked, and Shen Qing opened it with a light push.

these are?

It turned out to be a mask.

Shen Qing casually flipped the masks from small to large, with the small ones inside and the big ones outside, counting them, there were nearly ten of them.The mask was forged from black gold, and it was painted with paint to form a Rakshasa picture. The Rakshasa's expression is quite fierce. If ordinary people wear it when they go out, they will make the timid people feel afraid. The forehead of the mask and two gold seals are The Treasure of Imperial Order and Changqing Xinbao, if you turn inside, you will find the Treasure of Imperial Destiny and Hongxi Xinbao.

These masks are probably what Lu Chen has worn on his face for so many years.

Shen Qing rubbed the weird and ferocious patterns on the mask thoughtfully, the old housekeeper also saw these masks, he took them over, and wiped them carefully.

"These are the masks that the general has changed since he was a child. The small one was given by the late emperor in the early years, and there is also the private seal of the late emperor. The big one was made over the years. Year after year, it has never stopped. This kind of thing , it is still a palace imperial system, covered by Emperor Xinxi, you can’t even throw it away, you have to put it all away.”

Shen Qing was thoughtful, but the old housekeeper suddenly felt emotional, Xuan Shen was standing a little far away, seeing those ugly and vicious masks, his heart trembled suddenly, he stretched out his hand unconsciously, and touched his face.

The ghost-faced Rakshasa on the mask met Xuan Shen's eyes, as if trying to swallow him up.

Under the bright sun, Xuan Shen broke out in cold sweat, and the darkness approached him...

With a click, Shen Qing closed the box and put it back to its original place.Xuan Shen couldn't see the Rakshasa, and finally breathed a sigh of relief, as if the shackles had been loosened.

They cleaned Lu Chen's study for an entire afternoon, and after all the cleaning was over, it was almost the end of the year.

On the afternoon of New Year's Eve, Qingzhou was snowed heavily again, which was different from the scene a few months ago.The gray sky, the overcast wind blowing, the snowflakes raging, and the deserted streets were almost completely deserted at this time.

All the way in the snow, there are no footprints, no birds and beasts, thousands of people have already closed their doors, or are busy preparing the New Year's Eve dinner, or chatting around the stove, or are already sitting at the dinner table drinking wine ...

All the hard work of the whole year has been rewarded on this day. In the past, the rare fish is served on the table, and the children are looking at the steaming dishes with greedy eyes, and their mouths are drooling.

The General's Mansion is one of the homes of thousands of people.

Following the boundless cloud, go further north, pass through the Wangnan Pass all the way, and arrive at the border barracks.

In the dark tent at night, there was light from the fire. Before the snow covered the flags and sails, the soldiers lit a bonfire to welcome the New Year's Eve together.When the snow was heavier and the flags were blown by a strong wind, the bonfire had already been extinguished, and the unburned charcoal fire was wetted by the snow, and the soldiers who celebrated the festival for a short time returned to their respective camps.

Only the flag sails rolled by the wind rolled.

The soldier who had just added charcoal fire to the tent general returned to his tent, and he was greeted by the soldiers who lived in the same tent who had already lit the stove, heated up scalding spirits, and quarreled with each other.

"Come back." The soldiers in the room waved to him.

"Yes."

"Has the general rested?"

"I've had some wine, I'm about to take a break."

"Hehe. Do you think there will be fake generals?" Someone suddenly interjected.

"how come?"

"Look, the general wears a mask all the year round, if you find someone who has the same height and voice..." The man was talking, when suddenly someone next to him slapped him on the back of his neck.

"Why did you hit me?"

"Are you stupid? The general's mask is specially made. It can't be imitated except in the palace. If you make the emperor's seal privately, you will be beheaded."

"I just said it casually." The person who was beaten was very wronged.

"Misfortune comes from your mouth, be cautious in your words and deeds, do you understand?" Another person gave him a white look, and asked again, "Are you suspecting that the current general is a fake?"

The soldier who was beaten up flattened his mouth, he really thought about it.

"Have you forgotten? A few days ago, the emperor personally sent imperial envoys to negotiate with the general. The people sent by the emperor still couldn't recognize him? Could he even come here specially to make a fake one? What are you trying to do? You, that is I'm young, I think too much. Come on, brother, I'll tell you..."

The speaker dragged the soldier over, and after a long pause, the lively atmosphere in the tent soon resumed.