HNYWEF -Chapter 83 Rare Guest

The third day of the first lunar month, in the third year of Zhenguan.

Zhou Xiong slept in.

With no work to do, he stayed in bed until the sun was high in the sky.

Thinking back to New Year’s Eve, the old brothers had all drunk themselves into a mess. In the end, it was Cheng Yaojin who sent people to hitch up a carriage and haul them home one by one.

Zhou Yi had already been up for a while, practicing morning drills in the courtyard.

He was in a horse stance, thinking about what Uncle Cheng had said that night, thinking about Uncle Qin’s simple “mm,” and those uncles and elders bragging loudly after getting drunk.

After the New Year, he would be fourteen.

He could no longer really be considered a child.

While he was thinking, he suddenly heard knocking at the door.

“Bang, bang, bang.”

Not heavy—just three knocks.

Zhou Yi stood up and went to open the door.

The moment he opened it, he froze.

Four people were standing outside.

Leading them was a man in an ordinary dark robe, smiling gently.

Uncle Li.

Beside him was a woman in plain, modest clothing, who nodded slightly at him.

She was Uncle Li’s wife. He didn’t know her name, only that she was always quiet whenever she came, and seemed very gentle.

Behind them stood two half-grown boys—one tall and straight as a pole, the Crown Prince, and the shorter, rounder one, Li Tai.

He stood there, momentarily unsure what to do.

Li Shimin also didn’t rush him. He simply stood there, waiting.

Zhou Yi came back to his senses and quickly stepped back.

“Unc—Uncle Li, please wait a moment. I’ll go call my father.”

With that, he turned and ran into the inner room.

Behind him, Li Shimin’s lips curved slightly upward.

Zhou Yi rushed into the room. Zhou Xiong was still lying on the heated brick bed.

“Dad! Dad! Get up quickly!”

Zhou Xiong rolled over, not even opening his eyes.

“What are you shouting for…”

Zhou Yi panicked.

“Uncle Li is here!”

Zhou Xiong didn’t move.

“Which Uncle Li?”

“The one… the one who always comes!” Zhou Yi said urgently.

Zhou Xiong opened his eyes.

He looked at Zhou Yi, staring for a couple of breaths.

“Who did you say?”

“The one! And his wife, and two kids about my age—they’re all standing outside the door!”

Zhou Xiong sat up.

He sat on the edge of the bed, stunned for a long moment.

The emperor actually has time to come and pay New Year visits… truly a rare event through the ages.

Zhou Yi stood beside him, watching his father’s expression.

“Don’t be rude. Call her Aunt.”

Zhou Yi was caught off guard.

“Dad, what did you say?”

Zhou Xiong looked up at him.

“Nothing.”

He stood up and began dressing.

His movements weren’t fast, but each step was precise. After putting on his clothes, he straightened his hair, adjusted his collar, and smoothed out his robe.

Zhou Yi watched from the side and suddenly felt that his father was different today.

Usually, when guests came, his father would just go out casually—take it or leave it.

But today, he was actually taking care to tidy himself up.

Zhou Xiong finished and glanced at him.

“What are you standing there for? Are you going to let guests wait outside forever?”

With that, he lifted the curtain and walked out.

Zhou Yi hurried to follow.

In the main hall, Li Shimin had already walked in on his own and was looking around.

Empress Zhangsun was seated on a stool nearby, while Li Chengqian and Li Tai stood beside her.

Zhou Xiong entered and stopped in the center of the hall.

Li Shimin looked at him.

He looked back.

The two of them met eyes.

Li Shimin spoke first.

“Happy New Year.”

Three simple words, spoken as casually as visiting a neighbor.

Zhou Xiong looked at him, expressionless.

“What brings you here?”

Li Shimin replied, “To pay a New Year visit.”

Zhou Xiong paused slightly.

Li Shimin continued, “You all gathered on New Year’s Eve, and I didn’t want to intrude. Nothing to do on the third day, so I thought I’d stop by and sit for a while.”

He said it lightly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Zhou Xiong stood there, unsure what to say.

He glanced at Li Shimin, then at Empress Zhangsun.

Empress Zhangsun stood up and nodded slightly.

“Mr. Zhou, Happy New Year.”

Zhou Xiong nodded back.

“Happy New Year.”

Li Chengqian walked over and bowed properly.

“Uncle Zhou, Happy New Year.”

Zhou Xiong looked at him.

The boy had grown a little taller since last time. He stood very straight, eyes steady, but still a bit restrained.

He nodded.

“Good.”

Li Tai also came forward, grinning.

“Uncle Zhou, Happy New Year! I brought you a gift!”

He pulled a small cloth pouch from his chest and held it out with both hands.

Zhou Xiong looked at him.

Li Tai was smiling so broadly his eyes were nearly narrowed into slits.

“I bought it on the way.”

Zhou Xiong looked at the cloth bundle, then at that round face.

For a moment, he didn’t know how to react.

Li Shimin stood nearby, the corners of his mouth curled up high.

Zhou Xiong put the bundle away and tucked it into his chest.

“Thanks.”

Just two words.

Li Tai grinned like he had just found a treasure.

Empress Zhangsun gently patted his head from the side.

Li Shimin glanced around.

“Where’s your son?”

Zhou Xiong pointed to the side.

Zhou Yi was standing there, not daring to move since earlier.

Li Shimin waved at him.

“Come here.”

Zhou Yi walked over.

Li Shimin looked him up and down.

“You’ve grown taller.”

Zhou Yi didn’t know what to say, so he just stood there.

Li Shimin suddenly took out a red envelope from his chest and handed it over.

“New Year’s money.”

Zhou Yi froze.

He looked at the red envelope, then at his father.

Zhou Xiong didn’t say anything.

Li Shimin said, “Why are you looking at your father? It’s for you.”

Zhou Yi still wasn’t sure whether he should take it.

“Thank you, Uncle Li.”

Li Shimin smiled.

Empress Zhangsun suddenly motioned for Zhou Yi to come closer.

“Come here. Let me take a look at you.”

Zhou Yi walked over and stood in front of her.

She studied him for a long while.

That gaze… Zhou Yi couldn’t quite describe it.

Not the way one looks at a child.

Something else.

She suddenly reached out and gently touched his face.

“Good child.”

Zhou Yi stood there, motionless.

He didn’t know what to say.

But suddenly, he felt that this person… seemed very gentle.

Zhou Xiong spoke from the side.

“Sit.”

Li Shimin nodded and sat down on a stool.

Empress Zhangsun also sat down.

Zhou Xiong sat on another stool.

Zhou Yi stood nearby, unsure whether he should stay or leave.

Li Chengqian walked over and stood beside him.

Zhou Yi suddenly felt a bit strange.

His father and Uncle Li were sitting together, neither of them speaking.

Empress Zhangsun also said nothing, just sitting quietly and occasionally looking around the room.

Why was it so quiet in this room?

Li Tai couldn’t sit still. He kept looking around, touching things here and there.

His mother glanced at him, and he behaved for a moment—then started again after a while.

Zhou Xiong and Li Shimin just sat there like that.

They drank a cup of tea, then had it refilled.

After it was refilled, they kept drinking.

No one spoke.

After a long while, Li Shimin finally spoke.

“Alright, we’ve had tea, seen the people. We’re leaving.”

He stood up.

His wife stood up as well.

Zhou Xiong also stood.

Li Shimin walked to the door, then suddenly stopped.

He turned back and looked at Zhou Xiong.

“I’ll be coming here often in the future.”

Zhou Xiong froze for a moment.

What kind of way was that to say it?

Li Shimin didn’t wait for a reply and pushed the door open, walking out.

Empress Zhangsun followed behind him, nodding slightly at Zhou Xiong before leaving.

Zhou Xiong stood at the doorway, watching their group walk away.

Li Chengqian and Li Tai hurried after them—one walking steadily, the other running awkwardly.

Li Shimin turned back and waved at Li Tai.

Li Tai ran even faster.

The family’s figures slowly disappeared into the end of the alley.

Zhou Xiong stood there for a long time.

Zhou Yi walked over and stood beside him.

“Dad?”

Zhou Xiong didn’t turn around.

“Hmm?”

Zhou Yi asked, “Why did Uncle Li and the others… come here?”

Zhou Xiong was silent for a moment.

Then he said,

“They were bored.”

Zhou Yi blinked.

Zhou Xiong turned and walked back inside.

“I’ve never seen someone come to pay New Year’s greetings like this…”

Zhou Yi stood in the courtyard, looking at his father’s back.

The curtain at the doorway swayed once, then went still.

He suddenly smiled.

A light smile.

Then he turned his head and looked toward the alley entrance.

That family’s figures were already long gone.