After being mistaken for a fellow by Long Aotian

On the third day of the first lunar month, the ice and snow were steep, but the Duke's Mansion was the busiest place in the capital.

The chariots and horses gathered at Duke Huguo's mansion, and the [-]th birthday of Duke Huguo added a bit of festive decoration to the whole bird clothing alley.The bright red warm lamps against the white snow still accumulated on the eaves make it look as colorful and crystal clear as a world of glazed glass.

"After so many years, the Li family is still so luxurious." The old man Shen said in the sedan chair. He looked at the Duke's Mansion in the distance outside the window. There were many people coming and going in front of the mansion. "I remember when I came back for the first time. When the Li family lived, Lao Li was still a young idiot who ran around the yard with a stick. He wanted to flatten the Northern Wei Dynasty and fight for the country. I still remember the pine tree in his yard, which was so tall and lacked a branch. It was beaten down by him with a stick, at that time, what kind of stick technique was he learning..."

Zhou Xun overlapped the old man he described with the majestic and stubborn old man in his mind, and said with a smile: "I didn't expect the Duke Protector to be like this when he was young."

"Everyone has a time when they are young, and then they also have a time when they are old. It is normal to be different when you are young and when you are old." Old man Shen shook his legs and said, "When I was young, I was also the brightest in the whole capital." boy..."

He paused, then continued: "I still remember the artificial lake of the Li family. The lake is full of rocks, which is very slippery. There is also the wall of the Li family. There are always servants patrolling the bottom with lanterns. The wall is so high, and you can climb over it. , I looked at it and thought, if my foot slips, I will fall..."

He just babbled about what he saw when he was at Li's house.Zhou Xun looked at him, was silent for a while and said, "Master, don't you talk too much today?"

"Is there? Is there too much?" Old man Shen said indifferently, "Is there not?"

After speaking, he continued to look at the wall over there, as if recalling what he had seen in the past.But Zhou Xun clearly noticed that the old man's hands were shaking slightly, and he didn't know what he was thinking.

The carriage stopped at the gate of Duke Protector's Mansion.When they learned of the identity of the visitor, the servants on both sides and the juniors in charge of entertaining the Duke Huguo stepped forward to greet him.Zhou Xun never knew that this strange old man would appear so arrogant and cold in the eyes of others on such an occasion.Even he, the junior who was introduced to everyone as an apprentice, was praised as "really a good-looking talent".

This is the so-called "circle". If he walked in here alone, these people would never praise him unanimously.Zhou Xun thought.

However, what he thinks now is a bit biased. The reason is that Zhou Xun doesn't have a good impression of the Huguogong's mansion.But even if old man Shen is not here, for a handsome and talented young man like him, except for a few people who step on the high and praise the low will feel a little disdainful because of his unknown family background, the vast majority of people, as long as they see him, Still can't help but be amazed.

Of course, Li Miao was definitely not among these people.When Li Miao saw Zhou Xun appearing here, his face was extremely displeased.He was originally here waiting for Mr. Shen's arrival, but he didn't expect that there would be an extra Zhou Xun here.

But what he didn't expect was that when he asked the servants around him why Zhou Xun appeared here, he came to the conclusion that "he is Mr. Shen's apprentice".

Li Miao:? ?

This discovery made him feel sour and numb as if he had eaten the wrong fruit.When he was young, he admired Mr. Shen for a long time, relying on his father's relationship, he also explored the possibility of apprenticeship, but was rejected by Mr. Shen.

He couldn't tell what he was feeling in his heart at this moment, envy, slight jealousy, curiosity, disbelief, curiosity and awe born of the undetectable, even if he himself refused to admit it, but slowly rising...

With this complicated state of mind, Li Miao welcomed Zhou Xun and old man Shen into the hall together.Zhou Xun didn't care what the suddenly silent young man was thinking, even if he knew what he was thinking, he didn't care.

Old Shen Shen entered the main room, and the Duke Protector, who was chatting with others, immediately greeted him.But when he saw Zhou Xun, he froze for a moment and said, "This person is..."

"This man is my apprentice."

"Oh, apprentice, apprentice...is he your apprentice??"

"What, can't you?"

"No, it's not...haha."

The Lord Protector quickly shut up.Even if he knew who Zhou Xun was, there was absolutely no reason for him to embarrass Zhou Xun in front of old man Shen—what's more, behind Zhou Xun was not only old man Shen, but also the emperor.In addition, he also asked old man Shen.

He very politely invited the two to sit down.Zhou Xun is a junior, so he naturally sits with the young people, while old man Shen goes to chat with Duke Huguo.There were people sitting in twos and threes in the hall that belonged to young people. They saw Zhou Xun and greeted him politely, but they didn't know his background, and they didn't go up to talk to him.

Zhou Xun didn't take the initiative to pay attention to them, but just sat in the corner by himself.According to old man Shen, today he only needs to leave an impression on these people.

Standing behind Zhou Xun, the guard remembered the drastic change in Duke Hu's attitude, and snorted coldly, "Hmph, that expression just now..."

"This is the benefit of today." The old man Shen actually came here again, patted the back of Zhou Xun's hand and said, "In the past, you needed to explain to others, and prove your innocence to others after careful consideration, but now, You don't have to say anything."

Needless to say, needless to say.

"So you understand why so many people have 'ambition'? What many people want is the power of 'unnecessary to say'." Old man Shen smiled.

It seemed that he just said it casually, not expressing his feelings on purpose.But at that moment, there was indeed something that moved very subtly in Zhou Xun's heart.

But he didn't take old man Shen's words, but asked him: "Why did master come here?"

"Come and see you." Old man Shen patted Zhou Xun's shoulder, "Don't think so much."

Zhou Xun: ...I haven't said anything yet.

Just as he was about to say something, he heard lively voices coming from the hall outside on the other side.It seemed that a distinguished person had come, and everyone inside and outside the house enthusiastically went to see him.Even Duke Hu stood up and went to greet him warmly.

Zhou Xun turned his head to talk to old man Shen, but found that old man Shen's figure disappeared at some point.

Zhou Xun: ...

He briefly "..." for a moment, and then he heard the discussions of young people around him.

"It's Princess Fukang..."

"The elder sister of the first emperor, Gaozong's most beloved daughter..."

"I didn't expect Princess Fukang to come today? I have never heard that she is coming..."

"Princess Fukang never likes to socialize with people, maybe she hasn't been to Duke Huguo's Mansion for a long time..."

"..."

Through the screen, Zhou Xun saw the middle-aged and elderly woman outside who was called Princess Fukang.The woman has a dignified demeanor, and she can still vaguely see the brilliance of her youthful days in her gestures.It is said that this Princess Fukang seems to be Lu Xiandao's biological mother, but she came out of the cabinet very late and gave birth to this child very late.However, between the brows, one can still see that the looks of the two people seem to be somewhat similar.

However, for some reason, the embroidered flowers on Princess Fukang's skirt attracted Zhou Xun's attention.It's a pity that the distance is too far. When he wanted to take a closer look, Princess Fukang took a step towards the other side, but...

"Young Master Zhou? Presumably this is Young Master Zhou?"

A young man's voice rang in Zhou Xun's ear.Zhou Xun turned his head and saw a rather sunny young man smiling at him: "My surname is Xu, and my name is Mingrui. Everyone is going to the garden, let's go together?"

Only then did Zhou Xun come back to his senses.It turned out that someone suggested just now that sitting in the hall and being idle is idle, it is better to go to the backyard to recite poems and enjoy the snow.The other young people either heard and followed, or didn't hear and didn't bother to move.This young master named Xu Mingrui's family used to be an official in the southwest, and he only came back to the capital this year, so he didn't know anyone.He looked around and felt that Zhou Xun had a good face, so he dragged him to the backyard together.

Zhou Xun shook his head and declined politely, "Thank you Brother Xu for your kindness, I'm a little chilly..."

"Brother Zhou declined. Didn't he disappoint Brother Xu's kind invitation?" Li Miao's voice came from behind the two of them. He stared at Zhou Xun and said, "Brother Zhou is Mr. Shen's apprentice. , it’s not possible to hide talents, and don’t even give this little face?”

Xu Mingrui can't read the air.He could only hear that Li Miao was participating in the conversation and echoed his suggestion, so he became even happier: "Yes, Brother Zhou, shall we go together?"

There was a sneer in Li Miao's voice, he stared at Zhou Xun intently, to see if he lived up to his reputation.Seeing that Zhou Xun seemed to be frowning, he put down the stove in his hand and stood up——

Zhou Xun: "No."

Li Miao:? ?

...Wait, this doesn't fit the routine?How about "frown but stand up, follow a few people to the backyard, and then shine because of a poem"? ?

Li Miao was already prepared to be slapped in the face by Zhou Xun's talent - of course, what he hoped to happen was that Zhou Xun was not as good as him and became his own defeat.But Zhou Xun really didn't even give him any face.He just said to the boy next to him: "Where is the place to wash your hands?"

Li Miao:? ?

"Wait, you..."

"Brother Li, don't you want to go with me?" Zhou Xun said.

Li Miao: ...

Zhou Xun passed Li Miao and left the hall alone.He didn't plan to wash his hands either, but he was bored in the room and planned to walk around the yard.

But when he turned around the corridor and walked to another place, Zhou Xun saw old man Shen.

Old man Shen stood outside. He seemed to avoid the crowd and was walking in one direction.He walked quickly, but also very stealthily, walking in a hurry.Zhou Xun looked at his actions and became suspicious.

What is old man Shen going to do?

He thought about it for a while, and then remembered the strange behavior of old man Shen today - originally, he didn't intend to come to the Duke Protector's Mansion, but he didn't know why, but a few days ago, he changed his mind again.

But this is old man Shen's private matter after all... Zhou Xun wanted to turn around and leave, but found that after old man Shen left, there was another person walking in that direction.

The man was wearing a dark gray cloak, and he didn't know who he was.But it could be easily seen that he was indeed following Old Man Shen's direction, and Old Man Shen didn't know anything about it.