It can be said that most of the officials of the imperial court were angered by the attack on the honorable children at this stall. Even those officials who were not so high-ranking and had no Huns in their homes felt a little scared.
If something happens to the children and grandchildren, then what is the use of them sitting in a higher position.
The officials who were afraid of the Huns before didn’t talk about peace any more. They all came to Kyoto with their knives in their hands. Today, the lords practiced martial arts and escaped. If those people break into them in the future In the house.
At that time, even if Longyan was furious and went to war against the Huns, his life was gone, but nothing was left.
The direction of the wind in the court has never been as consistent as it has been in the past few days, and everything is going on in full swing.
The people in Beijing didn't know what happened that night, but they were a little surprised that the new neighbors or tenants who moved in a while ago disappeared.
February officially arrived, and the real cold winter came. In such weather, people dare not even go out to solve their physical problems.
Even the young gentlemen who used to go to practice in the martial arts field were too cold to go out. Although they practiced martial arts, their bodies were better than before, but they were also raised by rich clothes and fine food. How could the thin skin and tender meat stand such a cold wind.
Fortunately, many guards with high martial arts skills have been hired at home, and they are also busy stealing teachers to learn skills, and they don't like to go out of the house to get together.
Naturally, no one noticed that in the mansion, the two lords who were locked up in the mansion to practice martial arts under the order of His Majesty never appeared again.
In the middle of the capital, there are no playful little gentlemen, and everything is quieter. This winter is too cold, and the peddlers don’t like to go out. Walking on the street, it seems that they can be frozen if they take a breath. into ice cubes.
Fortunately, although it is colder this year, the lives of the people are better than those of previous years. There are kapok quilts that have been eliminated in the official residences, and the kapok quilts are all spread in the Emperor's Courtyard. But people who hide from the snow just need to go to the Emperor's Courtyard. In heavy snow days, they just need to stay in the house and wait quietly for the winter to pass. Although it is still cold, at least it is better than wandering outside. better.
I heard that all the places of the Emperor's Grace Courtyard have been built, in order to provide shelter for those homeless people who had nowhere to go and could only freeze to death outside in the past.
And in the distance, in Rongcheng, where it was also snowing heavily, the people who were born in the Liu Kingdom couldn't even get a kapok quilt, let alone the emperor's grace.
Everyone had the same expression on their faces, numb and stiff, and they were driven to squeeze into the airy wooden house. Even if they were squeezed together, the cold wind that kept blowing in still made them unable to feel the warmth.
They have frostbite on their hands, feet and even their faces, and the clothes they wear are smelly and thin, and they don't keep warm at all. They have lived under the hands of the Huns for more than ten years, and there is not a single year. The winter is as cold as this year.
Some older people stared blankly at the heavy snow falling from the gap, feeling a trace of despair in their hearts.
This winter, they might not be able to withstand it.
Originally, the Huns still counted on them to work, but since some time ago, the Huns began to frequently capture people from outside for some reason, these old people knew that their time of death was coming.
Imprisoned here, without access to outside news, and doing hard work day after day, the only thing that can infer the outside situation is the attitude of the Huns towards them.
But now, they could clearly feel the eyes of those Huns looking over like dead people.
They are not afraid of death. In the past ten years, which day is worse than death? What is terrible is that even after death, they cannot return to their roots.
The land under their feet is no longer Liu Guo, even if they die, they don't want to die here.
But now, it seems that their wishes cannot be fulfilled.
The people huddled together didn’t get warmed up, they had been frozen for a long time, and even if they warmed up, their whole body would soon be cold, it’s better to just be frozen like this, no one speaks, as if one more word can take away the vitality of the whole body .
In the farthest corner was a young man in ragged clothes. His hair was messy, his face was black, and he was curled up and trembling slightly. Beside him, an old woman was anxiously holding him in her arms, trying to make him less cold. .
He had been ill for a long time, and if he continued like this, he might not even be able to survive this night.
The wooden house was obviously full of people, but there was not even a sound. In the huge room, there was only silence left.
Suddenly, the sound of the Huns cursing came from outside, and these people's eyes were a little more panicked. They had been enslaved and whipped by these Huns for a long time, which made them tremble and shrink back when they heard the Huns' words.
After staying for such a long time, they all understood some Hun language, knowing that the two Huns outside were scolding the people they brought for walking too slowly.
Liu Guoren's already dark eyes darkened again. It seems that a new Liu Guoren has been arrested.
With the sound of cursing, the chain outside was opened, and the light came in. A young man in patched clothes and straw sandals was pushed and thrown in. He seemed to be shaking with fright, and fell to the ground with his head on his head. Did not dare to lift.
The two Hun soldiers seemed to be amused by his appearance, laughed and mocked a few words, and went out to lock the door from the outside.
The cold wind blowing in through the door opening just now made the young man from the Liu country shiver, but the other people who had long been used to it were numb and did not move.
In the present, when there is little food and clothing, it seems that as long as he does not move, his life can be prolonged.
The young man raised his head, and his eyes covered by messy hair calmly scanned the scenes of numb Liu people in front of him. When he saw clearly, he lowered his head firmly, moved his feet, and reached the corner. Through the gap between the logs, I looked out at a vast snow field.
***
"Soldiers enter the enemy's belly first."
In the room with a burning brazier, two figures, one tall and one short, knelt and sat at the table facing each other. Wei Mingyan picked up a chess piece with small characters on it, and followed the narrow path to the middle of the black chess pieces on the opposite side.
"But Xiaobing is so small, any enemy soldier can spot him."
Zhao Shujiu is still dressed in white winter clothes today, on her black hair, apart from the original jewelry, there are also two small white balls pinned, which swing left and right as her head shakes, making her even more agile.
"Although the soldiers are small, the enemy country has no regard for arrogance and has no defense at all. What's more, here..."
The emperor stretched out his white fingers, and lightly tapped the soldier not far from the small soldier with the word "Big" written on it, "The inside should be combined with the outside, as long as the big army is put in, the rest will be easy."
Although Zhao Shujiu was smart since she was a child, she was born as a girl and had never been exposed to the art of war. He only felt that the man sitting across from him was so powerful that he could come up with such a solution.
When Zhao Shuqing came back from the outside, he saw his good sister moved the pawn into the black chess piece he was obsessed with.
Zhao Shuqing held the chess pieces in silence for a moment, "Jiuer, that's not the case in the rules."
"Brother Shuqing, why do you have to be obsessed with the rules? Isn't this rule set by you and me? If you want to win, you need to be flexible."
Looking at the emperor who was laughing and laughing, Zhao Shuqing stared at him for a few seconds, and when his smile gradually fell in embarrassment, he threw the persistent black pawn in his hand directly in front of the king chess surrounded by white chess pieces.
"Then I will change it once and let the soldiers assassinate the monarch of the enemy country."
Seeing the white king chess on his side being swallowed by the black chess, Wei Mingyan didn't make a fuss, but just smiled more cheerfully, "You're a rascal, there are so many masters around the king, how can it be so easy."
Zhao Shuqing asked calmly, "Soldiers are of low rank, how can they have the ability to cooperate inside and outside?"
"Hey, brother Shuqing, why don't you think more about it, if this little soldier has high martial arts skills?"
Ah.
Anyway, no matter what, the shameless emperor opposite could find a reason.
Zhao Shuqing withdrew his hand and decided to read the book by himself.
"Aren't you going to play now? Come on, Jiu'er, let's play together."
Watching the younger sister obediently start to collect the chess pieces, Zhao Shuqing sat back silently.
At worst, he would just read here, anyway, he would never give the two of them a chance to be alone.
Rongcheng
Lang Su had been sitting silently in this corner for a long time. He kept scanning the snow outside, looking at the Huns patrolling back and forth. But it keeps moving on the wood.
Fortunately, although the wooden house is big enough, it has been in disrepair for a long time. Lang Su has great strength in his hands. After going back and forth a few times, this piece of wood was cut in half by him with a knife.
All the people around closed their eyes numbly, and no one noticed Lang Su's movements at all.
As long as it was night, he would be able to escape from here smoothly and open the city gate to let the soldiers hiding outside enter.
He was working hard when he suddenly felt something was wrong. He stopped and turned his head to look, but saw a young man with a dirty face staring at him silently. He was small and thin, but his eyes were black and bright.
Lang Su was startled. According to the information, most of the teenagers in Rongcheng were driven as slaves when they were young. Compared with those Liu people who were imprisoned here as adults, these children who lived here since childhood were not as good as slaves. So many emotions of missing his hometown, if he saw his actions, if he shouted out, all previous efforts would be in vain.
He was afraid that the boy would yell out, so he quickly took out a candy from his pocket, and he actually took out a piece of candy from inside the ragged clothes.
Carefully handing the piece of candy to the young man's hand, Lang Su made a gesture of silence, but he didn't know if he could understand it. He always held the piece of candy and watched Lang Su make a move, but he never Make a little noise.
It wasn't until the sky was getting dark that Lang Su had finished everything. His hands, which had never suffered so much, were so cold that he carefully put them in his arms, silently waiting for the night to come.
Unexpectedly, before it was night, there was the sound of the chain being opened outside. The two Huns who came in looked at the Liu people who looked like dead people here, laughed a few words, and then set their eyes on Lang Su , walked towards him with a clear goal.
Lang Su had learned the language of the Huns in the mansion, so he only listened to what they said, as if he wanted to catch a Liu countryman out for fun.
It is said to be for fun, but in fact it is to whip the people of Liu Guo and watch them scream and struggle for mercy.
As a newcomer from the Liu Kingdom, Lang Su naturally became the target of this whipping.
If they were taken out, the knives hidden on the body would be at risk of being discovered, and even if they went out at night to report the news, they would be delayed.
But if he turned his face now, how could he alone resist the Huns who are still awake.
His heart trembled, his fists hidden behind his back were tightly clenched, and he lowered his head tightly, so as not to show his cold eyes.
The two Huns approached this way, talking and laughing, and from time to time kicked the other people who were sitting on the ground and had been frozen stiff from time to time.
Just when they were about to reach this side, the young man with a dirty face suddenly fell to the ground, his whole body twitching and rolling on the ground.
The old woman beside him was startled, and hurriedly stepped forward to hold down the boy, while kowtowing to the two Huns, begging for forgiveness.
"My lord, my son is sick, please don't argue with him, please don't argue with him..."
The two Huns looked at the rolling and trembling young man on the ground, and then went to Lang Su, but saw that he was also half-dead, and suddenly lost interest, cursed a few words, with a look of disgust on his face walked out.
The door was locked from the outside again, and the boy who was still twitching violently just now, as if he was going to pass away in the next second, silently got up from the ground, curled up in the corner again, and never met Lang who was staring at him dumbfounded. Su stared at each other.
The old woman looked at Lang Su a few times, but didn't say anything, she just hugged the young man in her arms, patted him on the back gently as if he was afraid of being frightened.
That night, Lang Su quietly slipped out of the hole he dug out. When he was leaving, he suddenly wanted to take a look behind him, but saw a pair of black eyes quietly looking at him under the dim moonlight.
Thinking that he might be forced to become a slave of the Huns when he was a baby, Lang Su hesitated for a second, then turned around and said softly, "You wait quietly, I will pick you up soon."
The young man who hadn't spoken all this time nodded his head, silently watching Lang Su leave lightly and quickly.
That night, Rongcheng was lit with fire.
Dressed in cotton clothes, covered with armor, and armed with long knives, the resolute soldiers rushed in.
The Huns have long been used to the Liu people who were robbed and blackmailed by them and still dare not resist. Even if the Liu country issued a document, they did not take it seriously.
Will the Liu people call? How can it be.
The head of the Liu Kingdom has long been frightened by them, how could he fight against them, isn't he afraid that they will directly enter the capital and take his head off
Until the last second before death, the eyes of these Huns were full of disbelief.
In the light of the flames, the originally numb people of the Liu Kingdom stood up one after another, frantically looking at the people who were fighting outside through the gaps in the wood.
They have expectations in their eyes, but also can't believe it. What's more, it's still a dream like a dream.
Until the shouting and beating outside subsided, the sound of the chain being chopped off by a knife came from outside.
— Bang!
The heart of every Liuguo person thumped with the sound of the lock falling to the ground.
The door opened, and outside the door, someone held a torch and shouted inside, "But the people of my country of Liu?"
boom-
Almost immediately after hearing Liu Guo's words, the people in the house collapsed and burst into tears, and even the gray-haired old man who was still struggling to hold on until now fell to the ground and let out a cry of grief and relief.
They can finally go home—
One by one, the people of the Liu Kingdom walked out of the house supporting each other. Their hair was messy and knotted, and their clothes were all in rags. Everyone was skinny, but their eyes were full of gratitude and love. hope.
Even though they were not related by blood, the Liu Guojun who was in charge of registering their names showed intolerance and sympathy in their eyes.
"The people who come out first go there to line up, tell him your name and place of origin, and after recording, go to the room over there to rest."
The little soldiers who had been arranged earlier were afraid that they might not hear clearly, so they repeated several times, "Those who are hungry go there first to get food, and come back after eating and then queue up!"
"Are there any children, those with children come to my side first to get cotton coats!"
A few soldiers were making a big pot, and there was fragrant porridge in it. It was a smell they hadn't smelled for a long time. Everyone was not full, but everyone didn't eat porridge, but cautiously, in the There was a long queue at the table where their identities were recorded.
The skinny young man followed behind the old woman. He didn't know how long he had waited in line before he got to the front. He looked at the person who registered his name. He was dressed like everyone else. He was dressed in cotton clothes and armor outside, and his appearance was pretty. Although slightly mellow, his expression is extremely serious.
He dipped his ink and asked skillfully, "Name, where is the family name?"
After waiting for the people of the Liu Kingdom who were queuing up to answer, they wrote it down quickly. They wrote two copies in total. One was put aside and the other was given to the common people. His voice was a little hoarse, but he still urged in a warm voice, "Take Take this piece of paper and go to rest in the house over there, if you are hungry, there is porridge here, don’t run around.”
"Yes, yes, thank you sir."
The commoner was a white-haired old man, wiping his tears and carefully took the paper he handed over. He was very hungry, but instead of eating porridge, he ran quickly into the house.
Because there are soldiers standing there, Liu Guo soldiers wearing Liu Guo armor.
Fan Yuan took a look at the paper he had written just now, and he sighed sadly when he saw Xu Chengren's family on it.
Rongcheng was so prosperous back then, and there were countless people coming and going to work, but now, only these people are left, and even among these people, there are not many locals in Rongcheng.
Based on what he recorded just now, most of them belong to other cities.
Think about it too, if it weren't for the blood relatives in other cities, how could they have survived for so many years.
Two more records were recorded. There was an old woman standing in front of her. She carefully protected the skinny young man behind her, and said impatiently, "We are from Rongcheng. This is my young master, surnamed Qiu, called Qiu Jiuniang."
fur
Fan Yuan was startled, looked at the girl dressed as a teenager in front of him, and asked softly, "Does the magistrate of Rongcheng have anything to do with you?"
The girl who had been silent all this time opened her mouth and said in a crisp voice, "It's my father."
Fan Yuan's hand holding the pen trembled, his eyes turned red almost immediately, and he asked hoarsely, "Then, is there anyone else alive in your family?"
The girl shook her head and replied calmly, "When the thief entered the city, my father was at the city gate to resist being killed. My mother committed suicide because of the humiliation. The rest of the brothers and sisters didn't survive, only my nanny led me to escape."
Fan Yuancai's hand holding the pen could no longer support it, and the prefect of Rongcheng was his real grandfather.
He died fighting against foreign enemies, but his grandson didn't know his existence until more than ten years later.
Lang Su was patrolling, and found something wrong here, and hurried over, "Fan Yuancai, what's wrong with you?"
He said, looking at the old and the young standing at the table, and paused for a moment on Qiu Jiuniang.
Only then did Fan Yuan wipe away his tears, and handed over the pen in his hand, "Lang Su, write it down for me, I will take me first..."
He paused, barely restraining his crying, "Take my aunt to settle down."
Lang Su was startled, he only found out why Fan Yuan was studying martial arts so hard on the road, and just now he took the record of the names of the people in the Liu Kingdom for the convenience of finding his family members, but he did not expect to find them so soon.
He hurriedly saluted the old woman, "This is my aunt, my nephew is very polite."
"No no no."
Fan Yuan quickly grabbed him, pointed to Qiu Jiuniang and said, "This is my aunt."
Lang Su met Qiu Jiuniang, who was a little shorter than him and looked like a man no matter what.
Very good, another elder who is younger than me.
He paused for a few seconds before saluting again, "...Lang Su has met my aunt."
When will he be worshiped by others as an elder...
***
The people of the Liu Kingdom who have lived in hell for more than ten years gathered in the house, and a warm brazier was lit here. They were wearing the clothes issued by the Liu Guojun, which obviously didn’t look very thick, but they could be worn on their bodies. But warm from head to toe.
They even put on shoes called cotton shoes, and finally they could feel the heat on their chilblained feet. Perhaps because no one dared to eat porridge, the soldiers in armor pushed a pot of porridge over on a flat cart. , Urging the people in the house to eat.
When the warm, fragrant and soft porridge entered the abdomen, while eating, someone held the bowl and chopsticks and started to cry, but this time, they were crying with joy.
Their country did not give up on them, and in the end, rescued them.
It can be seen that these rescued people are still very cautious, and eloquent soldiers were sent to take care of them.
These young soldiers are not very old, and they are more relaxing than the serious-looking veterans. They are also talkative. They sit on the brazier with a bowl of porridge and start talking while eating.
"You don't have to be so careful. These quilts will not be hardened. They are called cotton quilts. They are made of cotton grown in the greenhouse in the palace. Even if they are shriveled now, they will be dry when the sun comes out." good."
"Look, the cotton coats we wear are made of cotton. These are rare items, His Majesty is willing to use them, and they were specially transported for us to wear."
As he said that, he said with emotion, "In the future, you don't have to worry about those Huns anymore. They can't beat us at all. We Liu people don't have to worry about being treated as slaves anymore."
Wearing warm clothes, a comfortable brazier underneath, and the first taste of fullness in their stomachs in such a long time, these rescued people are all grateful.
While listening to Xiao Bing talking, there was a sudden exclamation from outside.
"The red sun, it's actually a red sun!!"
The curtain was lifted, and the red sun was peeking out from the edge of the sky.
Lang Su just yawned, and when he turned around, he saw a room full of terrified faces.
Isn't it just that the sun is a little red, why are you so scared.
He rolled his eyes, knelt down towards the red sun, and shouted, "God bless my country of Liu! Long live your majesty!!"
In an instant, all the generals and the people in the house were infected and knelt down.
Especially the white-haired old man, with trembling lips and tears streaming down his face:
"God bless my country of Liu!!!"
"Long live Your Majesty! Long live! Long live!!"