In the winter of the twenty-eighth year of Hongwu, Beiping City had just entered Layue.

In the evening, Yao Biao walked out of the Duanli Gate of the Yanwang Palace. Tiny snowflakes floated in the sky again, and gradually grew to delicate snowflakes, falling on the coat and hat, and the six corners were clearly recognizable. The snow on the ground had not yet cleared, and had been turned into grayish-yellow translucent ice by pedestrians and horses, and soon covered with a layer of white.

He decided to walk home to enjoy the snow and see the streetscape, especially the pedestrians, vendors and customers along the street. He sent away the carriage and the servants who were waiting outside the Duanli Gate, and alone, turned onto the street where he went home, and walked in the direction of his home.

The street is still the same. Twenty-seven years ago, the army of Xu Da and Chang Yuchun drove the Mongolian iron cavalry of Emperor Yuan Shun from the capital of Yuan, and today, the city has undergone earth-shaking changes. However, Yao Biao did not see the private horses of the Mongolian nobles and the official horses of the Yuan court in the city of Beiping at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, arson and looting, and expropriation and expropriation; The Beiping in his memory can be traced back to fifteen years ago, when he had just arrived in Beiping with Zhu Di, the king of Yan. Before that, he had been traveling in the beautiful mountains and rivers of the south of the Yangtze River, and the cities he saw were as prosperous and rich as Jingzhou, Wuchang, Nanchang, and Beijing. In the north, however, the battlefield was at the beginning of peace, and the northern frontier was like the southwest, which was always turbulent; The barren and dilapidated city of Beiping, the depressed market, and the poor livelihood of the people all deeply touched him, making him remember it vividly until now, and making King Yan at that time unforgettable.

Everything is very different now. Beiping has become more and more stable and prosperous over the years; As far as the eye can see, the people are thriving, and the bazaar is noisy; It's almost the Chinese New Year, the streets and alleys are full of lights, and there is a lot of traffic, but it is orderly; Occasionally, officers and soldiers passed by on horseback, but they all carefully watched their feet, and never let the horses step over the stall. The road surface is smooth and safe, and the snow on the first night has been cleared by the government, which has not affected traffic in the slightest. Snow covered the eaves of the streets and alleys; The walls, columns, and windows under the eaves are all exposed with bright new paint. The tea and rice in the winery shops on the street are fragrant, and the stalls selling cooked food on the street are also steaming. Ice and snow are cold, but the heart is warm. After fifteen years of careful maintenance by Zhu Di, the king of Yan, Beiping has become very prosperous and peaceful.

When it comes to Lord Yan, the people of Beiping admire and support from the bottom of their hearts, even far better than the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty who unified the country in Yingtiandu City, thousands of miles away. Zhu Yuanzhang snatched back the people of this important northern town that had fallen under foreign rule for 400 years back into the territory of China, and since then there was no longer national oppression and racial hierarchy, and the Han people were no longer fourth-class pariahs under the rule of Mongolian, Jurchen, Khitan, Semu and other foreign races. However, for the Han emperors who were far away in Yingtian, Beiping was only a military stronghold on the frontier; After all, Hongwu Tianzi couldn't save it, and he didn't care too much about the poverty in Beiping; The people of Beiping could no longer enjoy the honor of the imperial capital, and struggled on the hunger line, until the king of Yan entered the domain, and the situation improved with lightning speed. Today, the people of Beiping live a stable, prosperous and prosperous life, and they have indescribable gratitude and love for Zhu Di, the king of Yan. In their eyes, Beiping has restored the style and bearing of the imperial capital, the former Yuan Palace is still the imperial palace, and the palace is still inhabited by the emperor of the Ninety-Five, although King Yan is actually only a vassal king, and cannot enter the succession; Although Beiping is only a vassal and the royal palace is just a palace.

In the blink of an eye, another year has passed; Hongwu has been almost thirty years old. A lot of things happened this year: after the general Fu Youde, the Duke of Yingguo, and his son Fu Zhong, the princess of Shouchun, were given to death last year, Zhu Yuanzhang gave the death of Feng Sheng, the last remaining general of Song Guogong, this year. And Xinguo Gong Tanghe, who was paralyzed in bed, soon died of old age. At this point, there are no generals in the DPRK who can command the whole army to sweep the world. The kings of Jin and Zhou were ordered to send troops to the north to build the city of Tuntian. King Yan was ordered to send troops to Liaodong to hunt down and suppress the Jurchen rebellion. Not long ago, Beiping received an edict to reserve troops; Duoyan Sanwei was tight, and the saint ordered King Yan to speed up the rest of the army, and sent troops to Liaodong again after the year. Zhu Zhang, the king of Qin, fell ill at the beginning of the year; The emperor's grandson, Zhu Yunwen, also got married this year and married the daughter of the Shaoqing Ma family of Guanglu Temple as a concubine. News came from the capital that the sixty-eight-year-old emperor had just recovered from the cold and contracted a head disease again.

In the dark, there seems to be a force, an all-powerful and invisible hand, controlling everything behind the scenes, so that all seemingly chaotic occurrences are quietly going in an unknown direction and becoming a step-by-step execution; Everything seems to have some kind of fatal connection with each other unconsciously.

Yao Biao felt an instinctive uneasiness in his heart; So intense, yet so inexplicable. Where is the unknown direction? Where does the power behind it come from?

The world is like a chess game; In the dark, is everything really providential?

He reverie all the way, and before he knew it, he came to the door of the house. The sun has set; But it was not yet dark. When the doorman saw him come home, he greeted him happily, dusted off the snowflakes that had fallen on him diligently, and said excitedly:

"The lord is back; It's snowing outside, so why don't you take the car? Coincidentally, Uncle Yang is here today, and our Yao Mansion is the most lively time of the year. ”

"Brother Yang has arrived?" Yao Biao was overjoyed, and the restless thoughts along the way were suddenly swept away, as if the snowflakes flying all over the sky were his flying joy, only joy and longing, without the slightest sense of cold.

"Where are the people? Are you all settled? Why didn't you tell me sooner; I knew that I would never come back. ”

"Sir, don't worry, the chief butler has already arranged everything, and the people are now living in the wing, and the dinner party has already been ordered, and the lady is in charge of the stewed broth. Uncle Yang brought two pheasants, a fox skin, a basket of pine mushrooms, a bag of wild ginseng, and a pair of antlers. ”

"Bringing something again? I said no, but I always didn't listen; My old brother is really dead-eyed. The people in the mountains are sincere. Yao Biao laughed: "Shen'er is here too, right?" Did Xiang'er come with him this time? ”

"The eldest lady came with her; The eldest prince did not come with him; This time, there was a strange young man who had never been seen before. ”

Yao Biao was slightly stunned: "Strange young man? - How old are you and what do you look like? ”

"About fifteen or sixteen years old, looking like a girl, shy to answer, always keeping her head down, and not looking very carefully."

Yao Biao couldn't suppress the intense excitement and curiosity that rushed in his heart; He laughed and said:

"This newcomer is Shen Gongzi, who is the fourth oldest in their clan, and the grandson of my fellow disciple. The first time he has grown up to come out of the mountain, you must be careful not to scare him. ”

"Don't worry, sir, our family can't do anything bad."

"I'll go back to my room and change my clothes; Tell Yao Gui to bring the guests to the hall and serve the best tea; Tell the men to start the meal at the same time. Go down. Pack up your carriage and horses tonight; Tomorrow, I'm going to lead the guests around. ”

When the housekeeper Yao Gui led the three uncles and nephews of Zhenshuizhai into the living room, Yao Biao had already changed his clothes and was waiting there, and when he met him, he greeted him and said:

"Brother Yang, don't come to harm? Time is really fast, and it is the New Year in a blink of an eye. ”

Yang Zhiding, the owner of Zhenshui Village, bowed his hand and smiled: "It's not like that, I feel like I've only been back in the mountains for two days, and I've run out again." Annoying the old brother to think that the younger brother is all right. ”

He is deeply familiar with the way, following behind Yang Zhiding, and has already worshiped Yao Biao. Yang Zhiding dragged out a young man from behind him and said with a smile:

"Xiao'er, why don't you ask Uncle Yao how you are, what are you hiding?"

Yao Biao was able to see the person he was most looking forward to seeing in the past fifteen years, the only son of Shen Rufeng and Du Yunjun, and the only grandson of his fellow disciple Du Nanshan. Soon after he was born, Yang Zhiding told himself the baby's name: Shen Ruoyu.

Everything is far from being as simple as these three words; The only son of Shen Rufeng and Du Yunjun - what kind of definition is this? The only grandson of the third junior brother - what does all this mean to him?

He didn't know if he was thinking too much at the moment, or if the young man in front of him was thinking more. Shen Ruoyu just saluted in a panic, called "Uncle Yao" in a catly manner, and then froze in place, and there was no more follow-up, just standing in confusion, neither daring to look at himself nor Yang Zhiding, I don't know what I remembered, or what I was afraid of, and his face was full of confusion and anxiety.

Yang Zhiding didn't seem to be surprised, and reminded him with a smile: "Xiao'er, this is the first time you've seen Uncle Yao, right?" ”

Shen Ruoyu was taken aback and replied, "Yes, that...... I ......"

He spoke incoherently, his voice as thin as a mosquito, and said indiscriminately, "I am ...... I'm Shen Ruoliao......"

He bit his lip deeply and hard before he held back his laughter.

Yang Zhiding said with a smile: "Brother Yao, this child has grown so big, it is the first time he has gone out, and he rarely sees a living person, so it is inevitable to make jokes." It's good to exercise, you have to take care of it. ”

Yao Biao smiled generously. He walked up to Shen Ruoliao, grabbed the nervous hands that the young man was twisting in front of his chest in a strong embarrassment, held them in his palms, and carefully examined him from head to toe.

He was a little disappointed – already a little disappointed. The young man in front of him was thin and small, and he looked weak, without the tall and straight figure of Shen Rufeng back then; That's the shape of a real northern man. There is no handsome and sassy like Shen Rufeng; The child's lines are too soft, and there is not the slightest stiffness. He raised his head and looked at Yao Biao; The kindness of concern in the eyes of the superior dissolved his doubts and uneasiness for a while; Soon, however, he realized that the other man's gaze would not be removed for a long time, as if there was a burning heat in his gaze, and he immediately became more embarrassed, and hurriedly lowered his head again.

Yao Biao felt a powerful contradiction in his heart in the brief moment when he raised his head, which made him instinctively hold his breath and suppress his crazy heartbeat.

This is clearly Shen Rufeng's face, but at the same time, it is clearly Du Yunjun's face. The same dark and slender eyebrows, the same dark pupils, and the same long and dense black eyelashes half-cover and half-penetrate the night-like eyes, making them even more unfathomable. A dark red scar between the eyebrows seemed to direct all one's attention to those dark eyes. After all, this is not Shen Rufeng's eyes; There is not the slightest cold pride, there is not the slightest murderous aura, there is not the slightest cruel indifference. On the contrary, he saw too much cowardice, indecision, nervousness, restraint, and fear; Perhaps the only trace left by Shen Rufeng in these eyes is the innate melancholy and loneliness.

But who can say that this is not from Du Yunjun's legacy? Growing up in front of your own eyes from an early age; The only daughter of his brother, whom he was already too familiar with, the only granddaughter of his master—her fragile health, and her stubborn bigotry that was completely out of step with her physique; The melancholy and loneliness that she insisted on staying in her imaginary world, and the desperate moths to the fire once she made up her mind; Maybe if it weren't for her character, there would be no intersection between her and Shen Rufeng, and all the stories between Fengyun would not have happened like that. In the past 20 years, Yao Biao has always remembered it, just as he saw this face again at this moment, he didn't know where it came from, and he didn't know whose eyes it inherited, the indignation and injustice of the year, the shame and hatred of the shame of the teacher, and the love and regret for the only daughter of the junior brother, all rolled up at the same time.

In the end, the child is like his mother. He was born as a man, but he was born so delicate. In the past 20 years, Yao Biao has always thought that he has not forgotten Du Yunjun's appearance for a moment; He is as convinced as his contemporaries that there is no man in the world who, after seeing Du Yunjun's face, may have a time to forget from life to death. However, just after being glanced at by Shen Ruoyu in confusion, he suddenly realized that he had already forgotten Du Yunjun, and forgot the peerless face that had made Lushan cry rain and the heavens and the earth overturned. After all, that peerless face grew up in front of his eyes since he was a child, and it is too easy for outsiders to be unforgettable, and it is too easy to be forgotten and ignored by relatives.

This is the master's great-grandson, his only bloodline.

It is also Shen Rufeng's only bloodline.

After all, he is a man who has been in the court for a long time; Yao Biao only shook for a moment, and quickly regained self-control. He sighed, let go of his hands, looked at Yang Zhiding, and said with a smile:

"I can't believe that this will be Shen Rufeng's son. Looking at this appearance, it is very similar to his mother. ”

He looked at Shen Ruoliao again and asked:

"Xiao'er, if I'm not mistaken, you should have been born in March of Gengshen?"

"Yes." Shen Ruoyu replied, raised his head and glanced at Yao Biao in a panic, completely without a master.

Yao Biao said: "My eldest grandson Yao Jizhu is half a year older than you, and he is studying with his two younger brothers in the study at this time. He will come over in a while, and you will treat him as if he were your own brother, and if you want to go around or play whatever you want in the past two days, just ask him to accompany you, and don't see him everywhere. ”

"Thank you, Uncle Yao," Shen Ruoyu finally came up with a human sentence.

Yao Biao put one hand on Yang Zhiding's shoulder and said, "The sun has set, and you have been running for two days, and you are all tired." I asked Madame to prepare some simple meals, and we can eat a little as you like, and we will not delay your rest. ”