Zhui Xu

Chapter 157: Light and darkness

Views:

The clouds in the sky are still thick, but the sky and the earth have become clearer. It's already mid-November, and it's snowing in Tokyo these days. It's snowing at the beginning of the winter, and the white looks like it has settled down on the ground. The city is like a cushion outlined in a piece of white snow. The white is slightly lighter, and lines are drawn in the city.

After getting down from the tea house on Yujie Street, Li Pin looked back at the towering palace wall in the distance, and let out a breath of heat.

For the past two months, I have been running around Tokyo, and two days ago, I finally got the document from the Ministry of Personnel Tribunal. It also means that the shadow of offending Fu Ying, the minister of the Ministry of Personnel, is gone, and he finally has the first real job vacancy, officially entering the official career, and can start to show his strengths.

He will take office in February next year. He will go north to Xingzhou to serve as the county magistrate. Nanhe is a good place, and even has the reputation of "the granary of the south of the Yangtze River". release results. It is not easy for a newcomer to fill this gap. It seems that the letter that Qin Siyuan wrote for him when he came here should have played a role.

Thinking of Qin Lao, I can't help but think of the trouble Ning Yi encountered when he left Jiangning - when he left Jiangning, Huangshang had just decided to belong - the Su family was put in such a crisis by the Wu family and didn't know how to solve it, Liheng was originally As a son-in-law, after this incident, it must be more difficult to live in the Su family. It's just that it is difficult to travel in winter, and I will take office in February next year, so I can't go back to Jiangning again in such weather.

Thinking of this, I always feel that I owe the other party favors. Now that the other party is in trouble but I can't help, I actually feel a little guilty. Now that he is a county magistrate no matter what, he is an official, if he can go back and help, he can always make a difference. Although he always feels that there is something strange about this matter subconsciously, Ning Yi may not need to help him, but it is at least a friendship. .

Being able to become the county magistrate of Nanhe, Ning Yi's introduction of Qin Siyuan played a big role, but some of the joints made him feel very strange.

Qin Siyuan was a big man. Although Ning Yi understated him when he introduced him, he already understood at that time and remembered the name of this great scholar who had served as minister of officials. After all, for many students, among the three provinces and six ministries, only the personnel ministries are most concerned with personal interests. Among the six ministries, only the personnel ministries are important. They are the first of the six ministries. In the middle, it can be said that it is below one person, and there are only a few people who can compare with it.

But the reason for his retirement was quite complicated. If it wasn't for Ning Yi's introduction, Li Pin would not have known that such a big man lived in seclusion in Jiangning. After the Black Water Alliance, Qin Siyuan quietly retired from the court, and in the following years, the old man was even stigmatized as "traitor". When he got the letter of recommendation, Li Pin actually doubted whether the old man still had any influence. In other words, even though some people in the court were nostalgic about their old relationship, they might be the enemy because of the Black Water Alliance. There are many, and I came here with Qin Siyuan's recommendation letter, and I don't know if it will have the opposite effect.

But the subsequent reaction was very intriguing.

It seems that many links are convenient for him. It took more than two months to open the back door. It seems that it is also to arrange a good position like Nanhe for him. During the two months of activities in the capital, I always felt that all the results were not due to my own activities. The smiles of those high-ranking officials were quite interesting. I even heard vaguely that the sage had an opinion on him, and later gave up his idea. It's kind of scary.

It was only a few years ago that he was a jinshi, and he was not the top three, and he had no achievements. He would rather believe that this was fake.

At some point, though, I can't help but relate these messages to something I've heard recently.

The North is not calm, everyone is brewing war, this is something that has been felt in Jiangning, but the gathering of Tokyo officials, similar feelings seem to be more nervous. In addition to this, some people are digging up the matter of the Black Water Alliance, saying that the court has a deep meaning, and it has laid the foreshadowing as early as six or seven years ago. It was due to the conflict between the two sides that Xiongcai was unwilling to subdue, but at the same time, there was also a reason for the Wu Dynasty to operate from it, secretly trading various materials with the Jin people, attracting their greed, almost conspiracy, these things are just like words. Same story.

But... The atmosphere he felt in Tokyo recently made him want to guess that such a fantasy might be true. The sense of smell of the officials in Beijing is much more sensitive than those in other places. Since this time, the outside world has been spreading rumors about the conspiracy between the Wu Dynasty and the Jin people, and the Liao people continue to send envoys to the Wu Dynasty for help. If it was said that this foreshadowing was really buried seven years ago when Qin Siyuan passed away with the crown, and now that his recommendation letter went to Beijing to receive this treatment, it is really possible to explain it.

In fact, someone secretly spread this in Jiangning last year. The Black Water Alliance seemed to be humiliating, but in fact, it was to sow discord, drive away tigers and swallow wolves, and reclaimed the sixteen states of Yanyun through the confrontation between the two powers. Of course, at that time, no one would believe such a situation Dream talk... After all, this matter is too big, and Li Pin can't believe it now. But between Jin and Liao, there must be a battle. If Wu Chao joins, Xingzhou is on the way to the north, and Nanhe is rich. At that time, it will be a transit point. It is a sure thing to do business well in the past.

Thinking like this for the past two days, I can't help my blood boil, and if the rumors are true, maybe... Qin Siyuan, who has lived in seclusion in Jiangning for seven years, will also wash away all his guilt and return. From now on, I am afraid that one aspect will not be able to escape, just look at the left phase or the right phase. At that time, I am afraid that Liheng will also take advantage of the trend to enter the court, which is really a good thing.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help laughing. In this rare sunny day in the winter of Jinghan's eighth year, Li Pin looked up at the sunlight on the imperial street and narrowed his eyes slightly.

Drive away the strong enemy, collect Yanyun, restore the rivers and mountains of the Han Dynasty, and wash away the humiliation of a hundred years. The current situation in the world has been chaotic, and the next may be a magnificent era.

I always feel... I can achieve something great in this era...

On this day, the small county magistrate, who has not yet taken office, thought so in his heart...

********************

Ning Yi has actually noticed something recently. The number of guests in Qin's hometown seems to have increased recently.

The time is approaching the end of November, and Ning Yi has been busy recently. Like last year, I mainly accompanied Su Tan'er to visit all kinds of merchants, old and new. Last year, it was just a walk-through process. At that time, his identity was only the son-in-law of the Su family. This year, he already has the reputation or notoriety of "ten steps and one calculation". No one dared to despise him. Trouble, but doing these things with the "newly-wed" wife is only natural, everyone is asleep anyway, and there is nothing to complain about.

It's only been a month since we had the same room, and now everyone is in the honeymoon period. Like all newlyweds, the place they love to stay should be the bed. Su Tan'er has her own restraint and self-cultivation, but with her temperament that she can burn down a building in order to further the relationship between the two, when certain relationships are normalized, she is actually less fickle.

Dealing with business affairs in the room in the afternoon and at night, I felt like a strong woman. After I was done, I dragged Ning Yi to talk about things that are a little less feminine. It was similar to the date I had with Ning Yi for a few days before, except for this. The conversation at that time has become more personal, including the layout of the place where they will live in the future, the name of the baby to be born, etc., the parents also talk about it briefly, and also talk about business matters. Yi took off his clothes. In winter, rolling the sheets is good for physical and mental health, and the next step can be imagined.

On the one hand, she has been able to adapt to these things. In front of Ning Yi, she is not shy or even likes it. On the other hand, her body is actually quite sensitive. When the stimulation is strong, she frowns and gritted her teeth as if she were being tortured, but she held back and refused to make a sound. The feeling of torturing a strong woman is very interesting. Sometimes Ning Yi deliberately stopped, she glanced at Ning Yi for a while, and then punched Ning Yi a little, her mouth was flattened in anger, and then her eyes closed and her head turned away, Grab the sheets with both hands and continue to be tortured: "Hurry up, hurry up..."

She would take a little initiative, and then she would be so shy as if she had done something big. Ning Yi also liked this feeling.

There are a lot of interesting things about the boudoir. After all, Su Tan'er's embroidered bed has been used for many years. The two men slept for half a month. One night, they suddenly started to make some small noises. The next day, Ning Yi returned. When I got home, I found that the bed had been dismantled, and a few housekeepers lightly brought in a new bed that seemed to be very strong and would never move, and lightly assembled it. The reason why they kept their hands lightly was because Su Tan'er was sitting at the desk next to her and dealing with things, probably instructing this group of people not to disturb her, so these people had to slow down their movements as much as possible.

In this way, it was Su Tan'er who ordered to change the bed, but she pretended not to be able to see it at all, so the helpers had to painstakingly assemble the bed. Ning Yi thought it was funny, he moved a stool and sat beside him to watch, and then found himself in the way, bang bang bang moved to Su Tan'er's side without speaking, but Su Tan'er's face was all red, still Busy on business. Thinking about it, the first time the two of them passed in this kind of pretence.

In addition to getting along with Su Tan'er and visiting everywhere, there is actually a lot of rest of the time. During this period of time, Ning Yi and Kang Xian asked a group of craftsmen to conduct research in the direction of cement, mainly to prepare for building their own houses.

He didn't put too much effort into this matter, just gave a general direction, such as the mixing of lime and clay, using different raw materials to do more experiments, and the rest will be left to those craftsmen slowly alley.

The difficulty of this matter is neither small nor great. Nowadays, there are also a number of alternatives to cement for building houses and city walls. As long as the direction is determined, it is not difficult to get a batch of cement. It’s just that there is no very specialized production line, and the cost of research and production must be very high, but it doesn’t matter, just spend the money on it, build a small villa first, and then talk about it. If Kang Lao is interested, or the group of craftsmen are interested, let them develop it.

During this period, Ning Yi went to Qin Lao's place twice. Both times, there were guests in Qin's hometown. It seemed that they were officials who came to Jiangning from other places, either passing by or returning to Jiangning to visit relatives. old. This matter is very different from last year's situation, which shows that something is starting to change significantly now.

The second time I went was on November 21st, it was still snowing, but this time I saw Qin Hui.

At this time, Jiangning had banned alcohol, and the first batch of high-quality wine began to be brewed in the small workshop on Yunzhu's side, and there were results. He came over from Yunzhu's small building and took a jar to send. To Qin Lao. When he went there, he was entertaining guests. He handed the wine to Mrs. Qin, and specially warned that the alcohol was high and was ready to leave, but Mrs. Qin had long regarded him as a trustworthy child and nephew, and left him at this time. : "Wait a minute, I'll go get something for you to take back."

The old lady knew Ning Yi's character, and she didn't want to let Ning Yi meet Qin Siyuan, and then she went over to inform the old Qin secretly, and just dragged him in to meet people. Mr. Qin was originally a high-ranking official, and the old lady actually knew a little about the affairs of the officialdom. She knew that it would always be beneficial to let Ning Yi meet these officials. With Mr. Qin there, Ning Yi couldn't bear the loss. This way of bringing him here is actually a very intimate expression. Ning Yi had to appreciate it for a while. Under the recommendation of Old Qin, he passed the names of the two middle-aged people inside.

One of them was called Qin Hui, the word was Huizhi, and he was the imperial censor at that time—Old Qin didn’t say this, but Ning Yi probably knew it was this person—he was tall, handsome in appearance, quite wise in his eyes, and had a good manner of speaking. All seem very calm, very good and reliable. Both of them are high-ranking officials. They probably think that Ning Yi is the son and nephew of Qin Lao. They talked a few words, but they were friendly. Then they poured a few glasses of wine in the small cups and tasted them. Very happy.

That's probably how they met, and Ning Yi had nothing to comment on.

on the other hand. When the school was about to have a holiday, Zhou Pei and Ning Yi mentioned the matter of the apprenticeship ceremony. King Kang's original plan was to do it with great fanfare, that is, to pull a large group of people to visit the Su family under the banner of the prince, to make a ceremony of apprenticeship very grand, and to give the Su family and Ning Yi face. , Since then, the Su family has had a big backer in Jiangning, but Ning Yi seriously refused.

Human relationships are sometimes very interesting. When you are at a low level, high-level people will not take the initiative to look at you, but if you suddenly appear to be at a high level, people's eyes will change. have to be active. Just like last year's attitude towards Ning Yi compared with this year, with this kind of initiative, grudges will gradually arise. Although grudges are a probability, since there is such a high-level relationship, Ning Yi I don't want to take the initiative to show it off. It's meaningless. After all, these things can be saved as bargaining chips. If the Su family encounters any trouble again, they can use the relationship of the palace to sweep it away, but if the relationship between the palace is revealed now, The problems that will be encountered in the future will only be at this level.

However, although he refused such a grand apprenticeship ceremony, at the end of this year, Ning Yi planned to take his wife to visit the concubine's house and Qin Lao's house. Su Taner was very uneasy and prepared for a long time, but in fact, later The meeting is also an ordinary chat at home. A place like the Concubine's Mansion is very high-level for Su Tan'er. Later, when asked why Ning Yi had friendship with the Concubine, Ning Yi smiled and said, "Because we are all married people." Su Tan'er He punched him lightly.

Although Ning Yi didn't mind, Su Tan'er didn't like him talking about his status as a son-in-law.

The wind and snow seemed to have never stopped. In the white snow, the fire in the room in the small courtyard was always warm and yellow. The five people seemed to be snuggling here to spend this winter. On the city side, the small building beside the bend of the Qinhuai River is always warm. Ning Yi often passes by in the morning, and the woman waiting by the steps is wearing a cloak, her face is flushed with cold, rubbing her hands and breathing out the heat. She refused to let her go in and wait for her. Sometimes there would be another energetic woman jumping up and down the steps. They built snowmen one by one next to the small building, and the energetic woman would see Ning Yi. Will be busy provoking and arguing with him.

The Qinhuai River is frozen, and occasionally the energetic woman can be seen skating on it. But this is a very cold winter after all. Most of the time, Yunzhu and Jin'er will still stay in the room, snuggling up to the fire, not knowing what they are talking about, they feel quite dependent on each other.

It would be better if that man didn't come... Jin'er, who wanted to monopolize Sister Yunzhu, would think like this...

December is fleeting in such a breath, and the year is coming to an end. When the sound of firecrackers resigned from the old age, the eight years of Jinghan's reign in the Wu Dynasty finally passed away, and it was replaced by the ninth year of the reign of Wu Jinghan.

This year, the prosperous places are still peaceful, and the places where the people are not living has become even more difficult for the people.

This year, the world is in a state of turbulence, and natural and man-made disasters are frequent.

This year, uprisings broke out in various places and were immediately suppressed.

This year, war broke out.

*********************

North, north, north.

The sky was dark, the wind and snow whimpered, and the stirring wind and heavy snow drowned everything on the grassland. In the bad weather with visibility barely less than three meters, there were some faintly dissonant sounds, like hallucinations.

Our line of sight cruising forward, close to the ground, the corpse and blood come into view, the person died not long ago, but the blood was already cold, and it began to congeal in the wind and snow.

It is not just a corpse, the corpse that comes into view extends out in various tragic situations, the hands and feet are cut off, the body is pierced, the arrow is shot into the forehead, the blood and minced flesh are gathered together, the battlefield There were two carts in the center, and the people around were dead. A corpse even had a spear pierced through his chest, nailed to the cart, and his feet were off the ground.

The field of vision continued to expand. In the snowstorm, the three people fled forward desperately. They were wearing Liao State clothes. Fly out of the snow. With a puff, the man running on the side was shot through his chest by an arrow, his body flew up, and slammed to the ground.

In the vague vision, there was a huge silhouette in the snow on the side. The two had already run over, but there was no way to escape. They knew that more people were still coming here.

The man running behind waved the knife in his hand and looked behind him. He looked like a Liao general: "Who are you! Which tribe! How dare you kill... an angel."

Suddenly, the wind and snow rolled in, the war horse neighed, and there seemed to be a sound of thunder falling behind him. At the same time, there were the screams of his companions and the sound of his body being crushed into flesh. Turning his head to the front, the huge black warhorse kicked up and stepped down, crushing his companion's entire body, and he couldn't finish his words. Something came from his body. through the past!

He felt the wind and snow stopped. However, this was not the case. The silhouette of the black warhorse was like a mountain, and it blocked the roaring blizzard in an instant. However, he felt his body rising, and his chest was very painful. Out, the man on the horse picked him up with one hand.

"You Liao Kingdom, it's over."

He heard the figure on the warhorse say so. More figures gathered here, like the demon's entourage.

"You, who are you..." He spat out blood, trying to grab the barrel of the gun with both hands, and just subconsciously repeated, "Which... tribe, dare to kill... an angel..." And the demon on the horse was cold looking at him.

"Bo'er only weighs..." The blood was really cold, this was the last voice Liao heard, Feng Xue howled, his pupils dilated, he couldn't hear the last three words in Feng Xue.

"… Iron! Wood! True!"

Darkness has come.

********************

Lu Liang.

The snow covered the mountains, but the snow has stopped. Lu Hongti was sitting on the big stone that had been brushed off the snow next to the stockade, looking at the white-capped piece that stretched far and near. There were mountains everywhere. It looked so wild. I wonder what the winter in Jiangning would be what is it like.

But there are some things in the mountains too. She listened to the sound of the children playing, and a snowball hit her head. Hey, it didn't hit. Yesterday, Erhong married the sixth son, and it is still very lively today. You can feel it everywhere inside and outside the village.

She recently rejected the court’s invitation for security, as well as the invitation of Tian Hu, the “Hebei Tiger King” who occupies the Mianshan area. People in the stockade don’t quite understand what she wants. , but why refuse to rebel, I really don't know, what everyone is doing is rebelling.

The superior is to have a sense of mystery.

The setting sun shone down on the foothills of this mountain, reminding me of the scholar in Jiangning City who should have tied him up the mountain. She narrowed her eyes slightly.

Ruixue Mega Year, this year is a good year.

As long as there is no war, in fact, every year is a good year.

I hope there is no war...

*************

Episode 2 *The Pool of Dark Battles*End

Episode 3 *Dragon Snake.

- The killing intent was launched, and the dragon and snake came to the land. "easy"