The male reader who mistakenly transcribes the birth child can't afford to be hurt

Shen Zhou was startled by his sudden discovery, he suddenly didn't dare to look into Lin Zaozao's eyes, he lowered his eyes, and then echoed softly: "The prince said so."

Lin Zaozao paused for a moment when he heard this, calmly looked away, the corners of his mouth twitched, and he asked softly with a half-smile: "Young Master Shen came to find me on purpose, just to know how I lived Is it? Now that I have finished what Mr. Shen asked, is there anything else Mr. Shen wants to know?"

Shen Zhou shook his head slowly and said: "Caomin didn't mean to offend His Royal Highness, but Caomin really didn't expect that Ah Yan would be the little brother who is said to be favored by the East Palace. As a brother, I...I really have some Surprised, but I don't know how to bring up these things with His Royal Highness, after all, it is related to Ah Yan's reputation, so I made such an excuse, I hope the prince will not blame him."

Lin Zaozao laughed like that, and said in a neutral tone: "Mr. Shen is sincere in this regard. Does Mr. Shen want to know how Shen Yan saved me?"

Shen Zhou froze for a moment, then nodded suddenly.

Lin Zaozao thought about it and said in a deep voice: "Actually, I thought I would die that time." The moment he fell off the cliff, Lin Zaozao was naturally terrified. At that time, his mind was blank. One thought was that Lin Jinwen and Gu Qinglin might be sad to hear the news.

When he woke up again, his whole body was in severe pain, his leg was also injured, and his eyes were even darker.At first, he thought it was because of the darkness, but then the sound of someone walking around gave him a very bad premonition.

He could feel someone moving in the dark, but he couldn't see who it was.

He moved his mouth and wanted to say something, but his throat hurt badly. The man seemed to have hesitated for a moment and walked up to him to give him a sip of water.

After drinking the water, he asked the man who was holding the wrist, and asked him where it was and what time it is now.

The man seemed frightened and struggled violently.

Lin Zaozao touched his hand calmly, feeling that this person should be a man, or a little brother.In order to avoid this person getting emotional, he said very sincerely: "Thank you for saving me, don't be afraid, I just want to know where I am and where the nearest county is."

A sincere tone and a sincere expression are the most beneficial way to dispel a person's guard, of course, the premise is that this person is harmless to oneself.

Under Lin Zaozao's tone, the man gradually stopped struggling.He hesitated for a while, and slowly wrote a line in Lin Zaozao's hand, saying that this is a cave on the mountain of Wangjiacun, about a dozen miles away from the nearest county town, Wu County.

Lin Zaozao knew the boundaries of the western region by heart. Wu County is very close to the western camp in a straight line, but this very short distance is separated by cliffs, and it will take a few days to get here if you go around.But the only bad thing is that this village is very close to the border with Rongxi.When the relationship between the two countries was peaceful, there would still be merchants from Rongxi in Wuxian County who would go to sell fur.

This kind of situation also means that Lin Zaozao's identity and whereabouts cannot be revealed at will, otherwise it will be easily spread to the ears of the people of Rong. Hearing that, his situation is not good.

If he was caught by Rong Xin's people first, it would be unacceptable to Da Zhou, Lin Jinwen and Gu Qinglin.

However, under such circumstances, Lin Zaozao was relieved to know that he was still in Dazhou.As long as Rong Xin is not sure where he is, as long as he is in Dazhou territory, it will be easy, but he will have to wait for a while.

The most important thing is that he wants to figure out his current situation now. It's not like he hasn't been in the dark before, and judging from the behavior of this man when he walked just now, it doesn't look like a dark place.

So Lin Zaozao pursed his lips, with an innocent expression on his face, and asked with a hint of panic that he didn't even notice: "Is it late now, is there no lamp, I can't see anything."

The person who was holding his hand shivered. He was silent for a long time until Lin Zaozao's beating heart calmed down. The man finally moved. He wrote in Lin Zaozao's palm that it was daytime.

Maybe it was to appease Lin Zaozao, who was feeling a bit lost at the moment. This person wrote that he might be temporarily invisible due to a head injury. The person promised that when Lin Zaozao recovered from his injury, he would be sent to the county seat Find a local famous doctor to see his eyes.

Lin Zaozao patiently waited for him to finish writing, and then he let go of the man's hand. He tried his best to suppress the fear and various thoughts in his heart, and expressed his gratitude to this stranger with a slight smile.

It was at this time that Lin Zaozao let go of his guard a little bit. If this person had changed a little bit earlier or was someone who planned to do something wrong, he would have done it just now.

Lin Zaozao's skill is quite good, which is what Lin Jinwen requested.When he was young, he actually didn't want to practice martial arts.But Lin Jinwen said with a serious face, he is the prince of a country, if he only relies on other people's protection, he is really too weak.

In this world, the only one who can protect oneself is oneself, and the most reliable one is also oneself, not to mention that a man is not afraid of suffering or tiredness.

Lin Zaozao was quite easy to deceive when he was young, and because of these exciting words, he started his time career of studying martial arts hard.Of course, it turned out later that learning martial arts is indeed useful. On the battlefield, with swords and swords, a habitual squatting or tilting of the head may save one's life.

However, some people also said that as the prince and emperor, there is no need to go to the battlefield to take risks in person.Lin Zaozao also had such doubts in his heart, so he asked Lin Jinwen whether he, the prince, must follow Lin Jinwen's example and go to the border to fight on the battlefield and become a hero in people's hearts.

Lin Jinwen said at the time that people are different, and choices are also different. Not entering the border or entering the battlefield does not mean that he is not a good prince or emperor.

This evaluation is given by the world. As the future emperor who is in charge of the life and death of the people in the world, it depends on whether he is willing to have a clear conscience.

Lin Zaozao's attitude towards people was greatly influenced by Lin Jinwen, and his way of doing things was somewhat calm and indifferent like Gu Qinglin's.In a comprehensive comparison, everyone's evaluation of him as the prince is still quite high.

Thinking of Lin Jinwen, Lin Zaozao, who just learned that he couldn't see, sighed deeply.This time when the news of him falling off the cliff reached the palace, his father and queen would probably be in fear for a while.

Gu Qinglin's worry was sleepless, Lin Jinwen was afraid that he would be blamed for it.

Of course, this is not to say that Lin Jinwen doesn't feel sorry for Lin Zaozao, Lin Jinwen does too.It's just that there will be two objects of his distress. In the same way, he made Gu Qinglin worry, and Lin Jinwen will definitely express his attitude about it afterwards.

Thinking that he hadn't been cleaned up by Lin Jinwen for a long time, Lin Zaozao felt sore and looked forward to it for some reason.

Lin Zaozao's expression changed quickly back and forth, but he also packed up and hid his mood as quickly as possible.He knew very well that his eyes were blind, and he didn't know where to go if he wanted to leave a mark.

He needs to heal his injury first, and then plan other things.

Lin Zaozao, the savior, was probably soft-hearted, he hesitated and wrote down in his hand that it was getting late and he wanted to go back.

In order to appease Lin Zaozao, he hesitated and wrote down that he would come early tomorrow to deliver food to Lin Zaozao.

Lin Zaozao took the opportunity to ask what his name was. The man's fingertips trembled slightly but he didn't write a single word.Lin knew that he had an inside story early on, so he talked about his youth. After learning the age of his savior, he smiled and said, "It's fine if you don't want to mention your name. I will call you my younger brother in the future."

This is a test. If this person is a man, the address of younger brother is not offensive. If it is younger brother, then this person will have other reactions.At that time, the man only wrote a good word in the palm of his hand.

Lin Jinwen also felt relieved. After he left, he was the only one left empty in the cave.The calmness on Lin Zaozao's face was broken, and he looked a little decadent.

He has changed from a good person to what he is now, and he is naturally hated, angry, shocked and afraid in his heart.It's just that he never shows his emotions, and rarely blames others for his own affairs.

After the stranger left, Lin Zaozao felt uneasy.

Lin Zaozao remembered very clearly that he kept his eyes open that day and didn't feel sleepy at all, until the slight sound of footsteps sounded again.

That day, he ate a small piece of steamed bun and half a bowl of porridge. The steamed bun was cold, and he heard the panting sound of his younger brother walking too fast, and he felt a little sour and extremely grateful.

Lin Zaozao had bank notes and broken silver on her body, which were sewn into the interlayer of her underwear.Lin Jinwen, who taught him how to do this at the time, said that, with silver and banknotes, you don't need a lot of silver, and the denomination of banknotes doesn't need to be large, but as long as you have these, you won't starve to death no matter where you go.

Lin knew that the younger brother would be responsible for his food, so he gave the younger brother the broken silver.

The younger brother takes a shortcut to the county every half a month, and then buys Lin Zaozao a roast chicken or something.Every time he bought roast chicken, Lin Zaozao would let his younger brother eat it too, but he didn't eat it.

But even so, one time when the younger brother came, Lin found out that he was injured on his arm early.

At that time, his face turned cold, and under his repeated questioning, the younger brother told him that his family felt that he had gone to the mountains to dig too little wild vegetables these days, and this time he smelled the smell of roast chicken, and thought he ate the chicken alone Yes, that's why I took a heavy hand.

Speaking of these past events, Lin Zaozao looked a little complicated. He looked at Shen Zhou and said, "Later, I found out after I asked Shen Yan carefully that you lived at the nanny's house at that time, and your nanny was a good person, but her family was not. It was sold. When you go, it means that the family has two more mouths to eat, and in the end, because you are younger brothers, I have other ideas in my heart to support you."

But maybe the younger brother couldn't trust him, or maybe there were other reasons, but no one told him in the end.

There are always people in the village who find it difficult to marry a daughter-in-law, and the nanny's family has a son who is useless.Later, he thought that Shen Zhou and Shen Yan were younger brothers, and he felt that he could match his useless son, so he raised him by his side.

Shen Yan and Shen Zhou also understood this, but the two younger brothers had no money or relatives, and they didn't know when someone would kill them, so they didn't know what to do all day long.

Together with these bad people from the nanny's family, they live in fear every day.

Lin Zaozao didn't know about this when he was ill, but he knew that his younger brother was having a bad time at home, and he was in a hurry every time he came here. Lin Zaozao had seen partial parents, so he could only use words to tell him not to let go of his thoughts in that home.

In addition to these troublesome and trivial family backgrounds, Lin Zaozao and his younger brother spend a very relaxed life on weekdays. The two may not speak for a long time, but when they want to talk, the younger brother carefully writes what he wants to say in his palm, and the atmosphere is warm and calm. It makes people happy again.

Lin Zaozao told his younger brother that his name was Lin Zaozao, a name that only Lin Jinwen and Gu Qinglin often called out in private, it was very intimate.

While waiting for his leg injury to heal, Lin Zaozao made a wooden flute, which he would play when he was free.

He knows a lot of tunes, sometimes he plays the gentle and fragrant tunes of the capital, and sometimes the rough and unrestrained tunes on the frontier. When he is in the mood, he will even play a random tune.

At that time, he even asked his younger brother if he liked it, and if he liked it, he could play a few more songs for him in the future.Lin Zaozao didn't think about anything at the time, he knew that sooner or later he would repay this lifesaver.

He can become a brother with his younger brother and let Lin Jinwen reward him with money and seal him a title, so that he will never have to live such a hard life again.

Time passed day by day, and the younger brother became thinner and weaker. Lin knew early on that he was not doing well at home.One day, Lin Zao gave him all the bank notes and the jade pendant he had carried with him for many years. He said that he should not be afraid.

In the eyes of the wealthy people in the capital, the 50 taels of silver bills are not as valuable as the objects thrown on the stage by those people listening to a scene, but to my younger brother, it may be life-saving silver.

When Lin Zaozao's relationship between the two became more peaceful, he asked his younger brother to help him leave a mark in the county town that his own people could understand. Next to the mark was his current location.

Knowing that his younger brother was having a bad time at home, he even decided to take the risk and go to the county seat. He could find someone to take care of him, and quietly waited for the Imperial Forest Army to come and find him.At that time, Lin Zaozao proposed to let the younger brother go with him to the county town to take care of him, and asked the younger brother and his family to find an excuse to say that he found a job to earn money in the county, but the younger brother refused without hesitation.

Lin Zaozao thought that the younger brother was afraid that he would be implicated, so he comforted the younger brother and said not to be afraid, as long as his identity is recognized, he can be given the peace and freedom he wants.His family will only support him and will never do anything to him.

But the younger brother still didn't agree, he was very stubborn, which made Lin Zaozao feel angry and helpless.

"It was only later that I realized that with such a background, how could he trust a stranger." Lin Zaozao said lightly, "Maybe if I reveal my identity earlier, he won't have so many worries."

"He is afraid that His Highness the Crown Prince will be hurt. He has a vengeance to destroy the family. If the enemy finds him, he can only die. Even if the Crown Prince reveals his identity, so what? What about proving the identity of the crown prince? If the villain has murderous intentions, wouldn't it be his fault?" Shen Zhou said softly, "What's more..."

"What's more, he was already prepared to escape." Lin Zaozao said calmly.

During those days, the younger brother brought a lot of things into the cave, saying that he had something to do at home, and he was afraid he would not be able to go up the mountain for a while, so he left these things for Lin Zaozao, so he didn't have to worry about him starving.

Lin Zaozao asked him what happened, and the younger brother said it was nothing, but the house has been under strict supervision recently, and he was afraid that others would find out where Lin Zaozao was, so sometimes he might not come in time.

Then the younger brother left.

Then, Lin Zaozao was found by Xiao Rugui, but the younger brother never appeared again.

According to Xiao Rugui, Lin Jinwen was afraid that there would be aliens in the Yulin Army, so he deliberately transferred Xiao Rugui from the northern border after he got the news that he had fallen off the cliff.Lin Jinwen couldn't trust others, but Xiao Rugui trusted him extremely.

The most important thing is that Xiao Rugui has been with Liu Junxi for many years, and Liu Junxi knows the situation in the western region. With him, it is easier than others to find Lin Zaozao.

When Xiao Rugui arrived, Lin Zaozao asked him to check if there was anything unusual in the Wangjia Village at the foot of the mountain. At that time, Lin Zaozao discovered that his younger brother was quite wary of him.

After getting along for so many days, he only vaguely knew that his younger brother lived at the head of the village, surnamed Wu, and there was an ineffective older brother who needed to go up the mountain to dig wild vegetables for food for the family all the year round.

Xiao Rugui naturally sent someone to inquire, but he didn't find out the specific whereabouts of the younger brother, only saying that he had escaped.At that time, Lin Jinwen came to the western region in person and killed Rong Xin on the grounds that Rong Xin had killed the prince of the Great Zhou Dynasty. The situation was very critical.

Even if they found Lin Zaozao, they had to find a safe place in the shortest possible time.

Lin Zaozao felt that Xiao Rugui was hiding something from himself, so he went to Wujia Village in person.What happened in Wujia Village can't be hidden from people at all. It's nothing more than someone adopted two younger brothers. The bully in that family wanted to marry them, but the older brother drugged the whole family and chopped off a piece of the bully's head. Legs left Wujia Village with his younger brother.

Lin Zaozao's mind was blank at the time, he thought that if the little brother revealed that the house was not his, and he was just borrowing it, then even if he was blind, he would take him away.

He was afraid that something might happen to his little brother, and he wanted to stay in Wujiacun to investigate the situation, but the reality didn't allow it.When Xiao Rugui repeatedly promised that he would send someone to find the little brother he was talking about, he could only leave first.

When Lin Zao left, he left the Yulin Army guarding Wujiacun, waiting for his younger brother to arrive.He thought that his identity had become clear in Wujia Village, and if the younger brother really heard about it, he would definitely go to the capital to look for him.

If he has any grievances, he can help him.

"Young Master Shen probably knows everything about it." Lin Zaozao looked at the man in front of him with a smile that was not a smile, and said, "Shen Yan entered the capital, but I don't know how he and you got separated, and how did you leave Wujia Village at that time?" escaped."

Shen Zhou pursed his lips, and he said in a hoarse voice: "At that time, the grassroots deliberately chopped up the man. The man was drugged and he was still awake. He wanted to kill us, but I blocked it with my hand. This scar was left behind. After Cao Min left with Ah Yan, we wanted to avenge the ten members of the Shen family, so we thought about going all the way to the capital, but we were afraid of being hunted down, so we had to go to remote places. We didn't know that the emperor was in the west at that time, and even if we knew, we didn't dare to go. It's just that on the way, Cao Min fell ill, it was malaria, and I couldn't walk anymore. Ah Yan didn't want to leave me. In desperation, I could only hide, Let him go to the capital alone, thinking that once he enters the capital, he will always find rescuers to save me."

"Did you ever hear about the prince's stay in Wujia Village?" Lin Zaozao immediately asked.

Shen Zhou frowned and nodded: "The prince was rescued in Wujia Village, so such a big thing can't be hidden. We were also surprised when we heard the news, and Ah Yan told me those things. I think the prince is always tolerant A person who is a savior will not refuse to save his savior. It is also my luck, "

Lin Zao heard these words in a long voice, and after a long time, he said: "So that's the case, but since you know that the younger brother is in the palace, and you know that he is looking for you everywhere, why have you been hiding in this Yufeng Villa? How did you come to this place? What happened to the vermilion mole between your eyebrows?"

Shen Zhou smiled, with a sad expression on his face, he said: "His Royal Highness, the grass-roots people hurt people, and according to the law, they will be imprisoned. Ah Yan lives very well in the palace. And why go to the capital to trouble him. As for how to come to this Yufeng Villa, it shouldn’t be said that Cao Min died, not long after Ah Yan left, Cao Min met a businessman."

"He treated Cao Min and brought me to Lingnan. In order to avoid his wife's misunderstanding, Cao Min dug out the mole with his own hands. Later, he probably thought that Cao Min was useless, so he wanted to sell Cao Min. It just so happened that the young master of Yufeng Villa went to buy servants, so he bought back the grass-roots people."

Lin Zaozao fixedly looked at Shen Zhou, but Shen Zhou looked at the ground.

Lin Zaozao smiled and said softly: "Mr. Shen, do you know that my eyes were not healed in the capital at that time, but when I heard that someone went to Liu's house with a jade pendant and said that he was my savior, I was really happy Understand."

The throbbing of being dependent on each other in the dark, even when they return to the capital, is always on the heart, written on the apex of the heart.When he could see the light, he really wanted to see the person who saved his life.

Shen Zhou was shocked all over, and he suddenly raised his head to look at Lin Zaozao.

The corners of Lin Zaozao's mouth curled up slightly, and there was a hint of joy in his eyes, as if he was recalling the original scene.

Shen Zhou moved his mouth, but he didn't say a word in the end. His eye circles seemed to turn red, and he turned his head.

Lin Zaozao was silent for a while, and he said: "Actually, I still have a question, why didn't he speak at that time?"

His voice was very soft, but Shen Zhou still heard it, he hesitated and said: "Ah Yan's throat was injured at the time and he couldn't speak, and when he could speak later, he didn't know how to speak."

"Or maybe he doesn't want to speak at all." Lin Zaozao said: "He hides what he doesn't want to do, and I can't get a definite answer even if I am a prince or an emperor."

Shen Zhou pursed his lips and wanted to say something, when Lin Zaozao's personal eunuch Shuangxi came over and said that the Bai family had prepared a banquet, and came to invite them to the table.

Lin Zaozao nodded calmly, then looked at Shen Zhou and said, "How is Shen Yan? Is he okay?" When Shen Yan is excited, he always falls ill. Although he is better now, his physical condition is not optimistic.

Shen Zhou hurriedly said: "He has taken the medicine, and he is fine. It's just that you, the prince, came all the way from the capital, and the journey was tiring. He is not in good health, and he fell asleep just now. Bai... Good rooms are provided.”

Lin was relieved early: "That's good."

Shen Yan's body was indeed very weak, if it wasn't for the various medicinal materials in the palace and the best imperial doctor to help him take his pulse, he might not be able to make it through.

Physical impairment is not a good thing after all, Shen Zhou and Lin Zaozao didn't mention it again, it was quite tacit in it.Because they were going to the banquet, the conversation between Shen Zhou and Lin Zaozao ended temporarily.

The banquet was divided into seats, but because Shen Yan fell asleep, even though Shen Zhou was the younger brother, he still sat beside him after Lin Zaozao's signal.

At the banquet, Master Bai learned of the relationship between Lin Jinwen and the Shen family, and was quite sad.Afraid of Lin Zaozao's reprimand, he said to Shen Zhou with a bit of reproach: "Mr. Shen, this is your fault, you should have said this earlier, so why not be a guest at Yufeng Villa. "

Shen Zhou only used the initial excuse, saying that he didn't know that the one Shen Yan rescued was the present prince, and that he was in Yufeng Villa just to avoid being hunted down.

Bai Jinyin said resentfully: "You want to avoid being chased and killed, why didn't you think of going to find your brother? Are you not afraid that he will encounter any danger?"

Shen Zhou's face darkened, and he said softly: "I wanted to save some money so I went to the capital to inquire about him."

With his words, Master Bai gave Bai Jinyin a hard look, and Bai Jinyin showed embarrassment and remained silent. He said that he couldn't look for his younger brother because he was a servant of the Bai family.

How could a servant be so comfortable, he could leave at will.

Lin Zaozao hooked the corners of his mouth and ate quietly with chopsticks.

Everyone at a banquet was a little bit clueless.

After dinner, Lin Zao left to rest in the wing prepared by Master Bai on the grounds that he was tired.The place where Lin Jinwen rested temporarily was very close to Shen Yan.

Shen Zhou looked at his back, then went to visit Shen Yan.

When he went, Shen Yan was already awake and was drinking soup, when he saw Shen Zhou, Shen Yan's eyes lit up.He drank the porridge as fast as he could, and then asked the waiters to leave.

After there were only two brothers left in the room, Shen Yan looked at Shen Zhou and called softly: "Brother."

Shen Zhou walked over, took him a thin towel and wiped the corners of his mouth.

During this period, Shen Yan kept carefully looking at Shen Zhou's face, he opened his mouth, the words "I have something to say" were written all over his face.

Just when Shen Yan wanted to ask out the words in his heart, Shen Zhou said, "Do you like the prince?"

Shen Yan was taken aback for a moment, then his face flushed, and he said, "Brother, I..."

In fact, Shen Zhou could see what Shen Yan was thinking at first glance, but now he still asked.

Shen Yan secretly glanced at Shen Zhou again, and then he said: "Brother, Your Highness... His Highness likes the person who saved him back then. You were the one who saved him, and I...and I am A thief who stole something that belonged to my brother."

Knowing that he made a mistake, Shen Yan still spoke, his face was pale and he said: "At first I didn't think about it, but at that time the crown prince's eyes were being healed and the imperial doctor said that he couldn't be stimulated, but later... Then it was me I have bad thoughts in my heart, so I have such an embarrassing situation today. Brother, I like him, but I never thought about marrying him. I just want to stay by his side in this false identity for a few days before you come back. day."

Shen Zhou looked at Shen Yan firmly, and said, "I promised my father will take good care of you."

Shen Yan grabbed Shen Zhou's arm and said, "Brother, let's go and clarify with His Royal Highness, this matter is all my fault."

"No need." Shen Zhou covered Shen Yan's hand and said, "Let's leave this as it is, don't bring it up." Although, Lin probably already knew this fact early on.

Lin Zaozao's question just now was very straightforward, but his answer was full of loopholes but he still refused to admit it.

People like Lin Zaozao may have sensed that there was a problem. He didn't say it directly, but he just wanted to save some face and room for each other.

Lin Zaozao did not expose Shen Yan in the palace, and probably did not want to embarrass him too much.Speaking of which, this person is as gentle as when he was in the cave. Even in desperate situations, he will always think of others.

It would be fine if such a person was an ordinary person, but he happened to be a prince, someone who would become an emperor, and someone Shen Yan liked.Destiny goes round and round, and you can play with people as you like.

"But brother, if you steal something, you have to return it. I can't always be a thief." Shen Yan said in a low voice, "Stolen happiness is frightening. You can’t just accept it with peace of mind.”

Shen Zhou looked at Shen Yan, he was about to open his mouth to say something, but he heard a commotion outside the door.

Shen Zhou listened carefully and said, "It seems to be from the direction of the prince."

Shen Yan said: "Then let's go and see what happened."

Shen Zhou looked up at him: "But is your body okay now?"

"I'm fine, brother don't need to worry." Shen Yan smiled and said: "I'm not feeling well today, it's just because I saw my brother suddenly, I was afraid that my brother would blame me, and I was a little excited, so I fell ill. Usually my body is fine. The problem is already gone.”

Seeing Shen Yan's insistence, Shen Zhou finally agreed to his request, got up and helped him out of the room.

When they walked to Lin Zaozao's wing, they saw a maidservant from the Bai family standing in front of the door holding tea from a distance, her expression innocent and panicked.

And the court lady beside Shuangxi and Lin Zaozao kneeling in front of the door was slapping her face.

Lin Zaozao didn't show up, but there were not a few people watching.