It is already spring in the south, and there is still snow in the north of Shuo. The weather in Shuobei has always been cold, and it seems that only summer is a little warm throughout the year. Snow covered everything, lift the curtain and look out, the fields on both sides of the road are covered with white snow, and a few thatched huts stand abruptly in the distance, like a lost child. There were not many people on the road, and only occasionally did I see a few farmers picking firewood, walking deep and shallow in the snow, with their backs hunched deeply. Heaven and earth are silent, Mingyue came all the way in a carriage, only to hear the screeching sound of the chariots, and the hooves of the guards, the world of wind and snow is full of desolate smells.
In front of the house is a house with an earthen wall. There are two black wooden doors in the middle of the earthen wall. There are door gods on the doors, and the colors are still very bright. They stopped the carriage, and Captain Yun, who was guarding, dismounted and knocked on the door.
"Is there anyone? Borrow the ground to drink a bowl of water and rest your feet!"
Mingyue got down from the carriage, turned around and hugged Sister Yu. Sister Yu was wrapped in a scarlet cloak, and her small white face was half buried in the rabbit fur collar. She was still holding Situ Jin's spirit card in her hand, and when she got out of the carriage, the cold wind blew her face, and she suddenly asked, "The wind is so strong, will Daddy be cold?"
Mingyue put her on the car, "Then go and help daddy get dressed."
Jie Yu responded with a crisp answer, and got into the carriage with the spirit card in her arms. When she came out, the spirit card was already wrapped in her own little jacket.
Someone from the room came out and opened the door. It was a woman with a round face, wearing a duck blue jacket and a floral apron around her waist. There was a man with a dark complexion squatting on the dirt steps behind her, holding a cigarette in his hand, and a few round circles of gray and white smoke came out of his mouth.
The woman welcomed them into the house diligently, and they were well-dressed, so they were not afraid of being bad people. The entrance is a square yard. A low shed is built against the wall. The earth wall on the side of the shed has collapsed. Looking out through the crumbling hole in the wall, you can see their fields, covered with snow. Snow.
"Come in and have a fire." The woman led them into the main room. The house was bare, with a pit dug in the middle and a small stove burning. A crescent table was placed against the wall, and there were many broken crocks and messy grass stalks.
The woman dragged out some black wooden benches from under the table for them to sit on, and took an old red-painted armchair from the back room to Mingyue. The main room is not big, more than a dozen big men came in, and it was packed all at once. A few captains simply didn't go in, and squatted at the door to talk to the smoking man.
"Where did you come from? Our place is poor, and no foreigners have come for a long time." The woman asked.
Before Mingyue could answer the woman's words, the woman raised her head and shouted to the back room, "Bao'er! Boil a pot of water and roll some noodles!"
Someone in the back room responded.
Mingyue thanked her gratefully, hugged Sister Yu and bowed her body and said, "We came from the south and went back to Maguan to visit relatives. My master came out of Maguan."
The woman caught a glimpse of the tablet in Sister Yu's arms, and she understood everything in her heart. She sighed for a while and said, "It's poorer than us here. It's not easy for your master." She picked out the caramel from the dustpan and handed it to her. Sister Yu, "How old is the baby?"
"I'm four years old!" Sister Yu replied loudly.
Women have a natural affinity for children, especially Jie Yu's cute appearance. The woman felt pity for her, and pulled over the bench to ask the bright moon. Mingyue smiled and answered them one by one, and was reciting the common words, the boy named Baoer brought out the noodles to share with everyone. I thought this place was poor and I could only eat batter and the like, but I didn't expect it to be genuine white noodles.
"Sister-in-law had a good harvest last year." Captain Yun said with a smile, "The only people in front of us are steamed buns, which are as hard as iron. Several of my brothers have broken teeth."
"Yeah, I stopped eating it later and kept it to fight the bandits." A captain of the school said beside him.
"You can't, poor." The woman covered her mouth and smiled, "You rich people don't know, it's cold in the north, and it's hard to grow seedlings in the fields. In the past, our family used to eat iron buns, but only when people were crazy can they eat them. flour."
"People are crazy?" The captain turned his head and looked at the fields outside the house, "I thought you were also planting wheat seedlings."
The man outside gave a rough laugh, "Wheat can't make money."
The woman took off the dustpan hanging from the top beam and showed it to Mingyue and the others. Inside are sun-dried flowers, the color is rusty red, and the stamens are curled up like a clenched fist. There was a special scent close to it, Mingyue scratched and sniffed, and there was surprise in his eyes.
Seeing that Sister Yu wanted to catch her too, the woman patted her hand lightly, and said with a stern face, "Don't touch baby."
Mingyue asked a captain to take Sister Yu, smiled and said, "It's just an ordinary flower, how can it be more valuable than food?"
"This flower is very wonderful," said the woman with a smile, "to shape it into a pill, or just burn it like this, smell the smell, feel comfortable all over, like a fairy. We can't afford it, the city Master Li likes to use it."
"Master? Which masters, the prefect of the county magistrate? Or the resident officer of the guard?" Mingyue asked.
"Hey, I can't explain this clearly, the master is the master," she pointed to the spirit card in Sister Yu's arms with her chin, "It's the same as your master."
Mingyue and the captains looked at each other and smiled again: "Listening to my sister-in-law, I didn't grow this kind of flower originally."
"Yeah, a few years ago..." The woman lowered her head and thought for a while, then shouted to the man outside, "Dad, did you slap your foot that year?" The man answered yes, and the woman said, "Yes Well, five years ago, a group of Jianghu tourists came down from the north and asked us to change the species. At first, Li Zheng didn't agree, saying that people can't sell money. The man gave each family five taels of silver, and said that they would send people every year. When I came to buy it, everyone agreed. No, it is true that people come down to collect it every year, and it is a good price every year. Now people who eat iron buns eat white noodles, and people who eat white noodles in building new houses are all good luck. "
"Sister-in-law," Mingyue looked at the woman sadly, "Look, I have lost a new man here, and I have to support Sister Yu. I am afraid that remarrying will not be good for my sister, so I want to go out and make a living by myself. It's so easy to sell, can you tell me those people in the rivers and lakes, I will buy him a few acres of land, and I will also plant this flower and let them collect it."
"It's not that my sister-in-law doesn't tell you, and it's my sister-in-law who doesn't know who they are. They wear black clothes every time they come back, and some even wear masks. They are weird and don't look serious. But when they come down every New Year's Day, you don't know. Come and see, maybe you will meet them."
"Okay. Sister-in-law, thank you."
Mingyue looked back at Captain Yun, who took out a handful of silver from his arms and stuffed it into the woman's hand, "Don't talk about it, we'll be bothering you, you keep it and buy something fun for your kid."
The woman refused at first, but she couldn't take it anymore, so she accepted it. Seeing that Mingyue was going to leave, she stayed for a while, so she hurriedly asked Baoer to pack a bag of white-faced buns for them, and insisted that they take it with them. Mingyue thanked her and went out to board the carriage. The carriage was getting farther and farther. She looked back and saw that the woman had been standing in the snow for a while, then turned around and entered the house.
After leaving the village, I felt a chill all over my body, I lifted the curtain and looked out, and my eyes were full of snow-covered stalks of flowers, stretching across the sky, as if it were endless. If the sky is warm and the flowers are in full bloom, it will be a wild red, and it will burn to the sky like a raging fire. How many such villages are there? How many officials in Shuobei are smoking bliss fruit
Mingyue's hand trembled a little while supporting Che Weizi, "Master Yun, don't go back to Beijing."
Captain Yun leaned down from his horse and said, "Madam, this is too slow. Let's go to the official post and let the postmaster quickly send a message to the supervisor."
"No." Mingyue said categorically, "Master Yun, don't you understand? The factory guard claims that the family's misdeeds of rice and salt are hard to escape. Why is it that the director has never heard of the flower that has been opened in Shuobei for five years."
Fear slowly appeared in Captain Yun's eyes.
"That's right," Mingyue said softly, "More than a thousand guards, large and small, in Shuobei, have all fallen."
The group of fans all looked at each other in dismay, and the cold wind whistled from all around, as if a demon was approaching, someone shivered, and the horse under his crotch was uneasily stepping on the snow.
Mingyue hugged Sister Yu'er and Situjin's spirit cards tightly, and the spirit cards were pressed against her heart, as if there was a faint warmth.
Ajin, you will bless me and Yuer, right
Mingyue closed her eyes and ordered sharply: "Change horses and refit from now on, and return to Beijing as soon as possible."
——
Shen Jue stayed in the palace for ten days in a row and did not come out. In the past few days, scouts from Liaodong have rushed into the capital, all of them are disheartened. Xia Houlin received a new report today, which said that the battle situation on the front line was not good, and the Tuman almost broke into the city several times. The imperial court planned to move troops from the south to the north, but the treasury was empty and military spending was insufficient. Shen Jue resisted the public opinion and levied the Jiangnan tax, and half of the officials in the DPRK and China were sparsely impeached Shen Jue. If Zuo Shu had spit on Xingzi, Shen Jue would have been drowned in the palm print duty room.
Xia Houlin wanted to enter the palace several times to see him, but on the one hand he thought about him and on the other hand he was angry. Xia Houlin had been in pain for several days in a row, and it was uncomfortable to ride a horse. At the very beginning, blood was drawn out from the hut, and he could not wait to punch Shen Jue's head hard. Now that he has grown a heart, Shen Jue doesn't want to touch him again in the future.
But the most important thing is that Garan is still stumbling on this side and can't open the air. Recently, the newly caught underground gangsters in the capital, specializing in fake household registration, colluded with the officials of the household department, and helped the black households without household registration to install yellow books. Xia Houlin followed the vines and went to arrest according to the fake household registration directory, and caught a lot of Jialan dark piles, but unfortunately there was still no news of Seventeen.
As the sun went down, Xia Houlin was in a bad mood. He rode on a horse and stepped on the orange sunlight to return to the house. He threw the reins to Chang Sui. He opened the door and leaned against the door frame to look in. The swastika pattern of the sunlight penetrating the window pane reflected on Shen Jue's desk and the ebony official hat chair. He remembered the appearance of Shen Jue sitting there reading a book with her hair loose, her fair cheeks, her calm expression, and the years flowing slowly among them, as if there was no end.
For no reason, he suddenly wanted to see that bastard.
"Xiao Lian!" Lian Xiang slapped her waist and walked out the door, "Young master has sent a letter out, it's on the table, remember to read it."
Xia Houlin responded and looked at the desk, and sure enough there was a flower note under the paperweight. Not a few words were written on it, but it said: "The day before yesterday, I passed through the four places in Ganxi, and the pears in the courtyard were like rain. I put my sleeves up for a night, and the sleeves gave birth to fragrance. I specially found a few Yuqing."
A sachet was placed on the side of the flower note. Xia Houlin opened the sachet, and there were several pear flowers in it. They were white and beautiful. It's just that Xia Houlin doesn't understand Shen Jue very well. He has never had the habit of incense, so why give him this
I always feel that men smoke incense mothers...
"Xiao Lian!" Lian Xiang said from the window, "Forgot to mention, the young master said you must write a reply to him."
"Okay, I see!" Xia Houlin replied.
Is this the meaning of Hongyan's biography? It's embarrassing for the two men to do these things. He touched Shen Jue's flower note, which was printed with uneven patterns of flower veins. Gorgeous, Xia Houlin felt helpless.
Forget it, I haven't seen you for ten days, just follow him.
Xia Houlin took out a pen and paper, and the tip of the pen hung in the air for a while before writing. This is really difficult for him. He is used to holding knives. He doesn't even have to think about fighting and hacking. He closes his eyes and knows what posture and strength to use. But he is really bad at writing, especially writing letters. What should he write? What did you eat today? In the morning, I ate a drawer of pork buns, and at noon, I ate the braised pork trotters and scallion pancakes made by Lianxiang. But writing it like this is like reporting the name of a dish. Why do you write it
Xia Houlin thought about it for a long time with his cheeks supported, and wrote: Eat a good meal, don't eat such a small half bowl all day long, like a chicken pecking at rice. A big man should eat at least three bowls for a meal.
After writing for a long time, I couldn’t do without eating, but Xia Houlin felt that he couldn’t do it, so he crumpled the paper and threw it back to write a new one. This time, Xia Houlin reported on the pursuit of Jialan, and also talked about the recent relocation and demotion of the East Factory, but this thing has its own official document from the factory guard to report to him, and it is unnecessary to say it again in the letter.
After thinking about it for a long time, he didn't know what to write, the room was getting dark, the setting sun moved silently by his hand, the night was thick, and the moonlight entered the room at some point, and fell on his fingertips, as if touching Shen. Jue's cold hands. Xia Houlin tugged at his hair, and in a blink of an eye, he caught a glimpse of Shen Jue's sachet resting on the desk, quietly, with a short wisp of fragrance wafting to the tip of his nose.
He held his head and poked at the sachet with a faint smile, and finally picked up the pen again, and the dense ink fell on the paper.
"Si-jun is too much, when will you return home?"
He dried the ink, spread the rice paper flat on the table, and looked with his face. Moonlight sprinkled on the paper, sketching his handwriting. It was the best word he had ever written in his life.
Outside the window, there was a loud sound, and a long string of small pieces floated out with the wind. He suddenly remembered what happened many years ago. The two jars of dry lotus in Qiuwu Courtyard, the gleaming sword light of Ganxi No. 4 Institute, and the blood and rain in the past ten years seemed to be destined. Invisible threads, pulling them together. He put away the sachet in his arms, blew out the candle, stood up and prepared to go to the knife stove to make iron for a while. Zhao Ye is about to be finished, casting her whole body with meteorite iron, she will be a peerless killer.
Just walking to the door, the moment his hand touched the door panel, his legs suddenly became weak, he almost fell to his knees, and barely stood up against the door, but his calf couldn't use his strength, and that part of the image turned into a ball of softness. Mud, gradually lost consciousness. He didn't know what was going on, he walked back tremblingly, supported Duobaoge and the table and chairs all the way back to Luohan's bed, and lay down with difficulty.
The feeling of numbness was like a thin snake swimming in the body, and it quickly spread to the arms, and the warm liquid dripped down from the face, dripping on the pillow, and it was not clear in the dark, only the black stains the size of copper coins could be seen. son. He gradually came to understand that it turned out that it was not good in July and a half, and Shen Jue's prescription didn't work, it was just lurking, like a snake, and now it came out, bit him hard, and it was too late.
He wanted to be called Lianxiang, but blood came out of his mouth, and he was speechless.
Reached out to reach the vase on the flower table, it was too far to reach. He swallowed blood in pain, the smell of rust filling his throat. The night was quiet, he listened to the ringing of the bells and tings, and slowly came to his senses, is he going to die? But he still had a lot of unfinished business. Seventeen couldn't be found, and Chian also disappeared. The letter he wrote to Shen Jue was still on file. However, there was no other way, he was finished, and he had a hunch in his heart that darkness was approaching silently from all directions, and the retribution for his sins finally came tonight.
There is no fear in my heart, just a little regret. If you commit murder, you will be killed. He knew that he should have died a long time ago. After escaping for so long, God finally woke up and sent Master Impermanence to collect him. He turned his head to the side and looked at the moon outside the Linghua window. The round circle hung on the treetops and looked at him quietly.
I'm so sorry...
He wondered why Shen Jue liked him? He thought about it for a long time and couldn't figure it out. He wanted to take the time to ask, but unfortunately he never got the chance. That fool, how crippled can he be to like him? But it's good, he thought, being liked by Shen Jue like this is the best thing he's ever encountered in his life.
He stretched out his hand, and the faint moonlight hooked on his fingertips, as if holding Shen Jue's longing from the wind. There is a little sadness in his heart, but also a deep nostalgia. Dark clouds floated over, Yuehui silently pulled away from his fingers, his hand fell from the air and landed on the edge of the couch.
In the quiet night wind, only the ringing of the jade bells was left.