Chapter 186 Chapter Thirty: Yan Feng is Coming

For a moment, Chu Qiao even thought she saw Yan Xun again. There was no moonlight outside, only the wind and snow whistling all over the sky, blowing on people's faces like cold knives.The man stood there with the cloak covering him, only revealing a pair of deep eyes, looking at her steadily through layers of wind and snow.The candles in the room were all blown out by the wind the moment the door was opened, only a faint white light of clear snow flickered in the dark night, reflecting the heavy and oppressive figure more and more. It seemed like a long time passed, and it seemed that it was just a moment. The man slowly raised his foot, lowered his head slightly, his walking was faintly exhausted, and a bony hand moved to his mouth, coughing softly.

The door was closed, and the three of them stood in the narrow mourning hall, which seemed a little cramped.The hunchbacked servant in blue swiftly re-lit the white candle, and the faint light slowly illuminated the surroundings, and also illuminated the gray hair hanging quietly under the man's cloak and the pair of wrinkled hair under his sleeves. hand. The low stool that Chu Qiao had just used to reach the door was wiped clean by the servant. The man sat down coughing, his back bent, and it was faintly visible how weak his body was hidden under his clothes. Chu Qiao was still standing there, not speaking since the moment they entered.She was even a little puzzled, why such a sick and weak person shocked her so much at first, she even thought it was Yan Xun who came personally.

The servant stepped back and stood by the door, his whole body was hidden in the shadow of the lamplight, his head was lowered, like a stone that could not speak. The ignorant light cast down softly, the wind poured in from the roof of the dew tile, whistling, and the candle flame flickered, as if it would be extinguished at any moment.The man suddenly raised his head, looked at her with a pair of deep eyes, and said abruptly: "The snowstorm is really heavy tonight." Chu Qiao was taken aback for a moment, but for some reason, facing this person, she felt an indescribable nervousness.It seemed that there was a low-pressure momentum flowing out of his body little by little, gradually filling the whole room, and even breathing became low.

"Yes, it's really big." She nodded and said quietly. "It has been many years since there has been such a heavy snowfall." The man should have been very old, and his voice was full of oldness and exhaustion: "It seems that there was such a big winter in fifteen years ago. Even the old pagoda tree in front of the governor's gate in Kyoto was blown off by the snowstorm." fifteen years ago... It was the year when Yan Xun's family was ruined, and in that cold winter, they were still huddled in the dilapidated posthouse in the south of the city, burned everything in the house, and were still covered with chilblains from the cold.

"Is this year's Lantern Festival lively?" The man asked very naturally, as if they were friends who had known each other for a long time. Chu Qiao tilted her head slightly, and said: "The weather is not good, and a good lantern festival was disturbed. Did the old man also come to see the lantern festival blocked by the wind and snow?" The man smiled softly and said, "With my body, why do I still watch the lantern festival?" Chu Qiao raised her eyebrows slightly, and asked in a deep voice, "Then, sir, are you here specially to pay homage to Lord Yan?"

Although she couldn't see his face, Chu Qiao could still imagine his silent smile. Suddenly there was a long sound of bells and drums in the far distance. It was the eighteenth drum of the Shangyuan Lantern Festival. It was on the Tiancheng Pagoda in the Holy Gold Palace. It was presided over by Qin Tianjian and burned incense by famous monks. Prostrating to the Buddha, reciting the scriptures of peace, praying for the wind and rain next year, the prosperity of the country and the safety of the people. When Chu Qiao heard the voice, she turned her head slightly and looked in the direction of the voice, feeling a little lost.

"This Yi Zhuang is so desolate. Aren't you afraid that your daughter's family will stay in this spiritual room?" Chu Qiao turned her head to look at the old man, knowing that the person who could easily walk into the Yizhuang without being noticed by Yue Shisan and the others was by no means an ordinary person. Several people who could come here at this time filtered one by one in her heart, but they always Can't find such a character, can't help but become more confused.But he didn't show it on the face, he just smiled and said: "If you are open-minded, you will have nothing to fear. Compared with the human heart, the so-called wandering ghosts, I don't know how much kinder they are."

"Frank in heart?" The old man raised his voice slightly, and said with a quiet smile, "How many people in this world can really afford these four words?" "I think it's enough for me to bear it." Chu Qiao stood where she was. She was dressed in snow-white long fur and looked beautiful under the light. Her cheeks were smooth and there was a halo of halo. I have been an upright official all my life, loyal to the country, not taking anything from the people, and have a clean hand, and I have been magnanimous all my life. Some people have been doing nothing all their lives, working hard to support their families, but they have not committed any crimes, so they have no guilt or debt in their hearts, and they can afford to be magnanimous Two words. The peace of mind depends on oneself, not on achievements."

The old man raised his eyebrows slightly, a gust of wind rolled up the silk dust on the ground, and it fell lightly on the hem of his robe. He pondered for a moment, then smiled and said, "You are right." "It's so windy and snowy outside, the old gentleman came here late at night, but is there any bondage in his heart?" "When people are old, it is inevitable that they will easily recall some past events." When the wind suddenly picked up, the door was rolled open, and all the candles in the house were extinguished immediately.The servant was startled, although he was old, but his skills were very agile, he closed the door with two strokes, and wanted to light the lamp again.The old man raised his eyes and looked at the rows of coffins in the dark and deep. He withdrew his smile and waved his hands: "That's it."

The room was very quiet, only the sound of the wind whistling overhead could be heard, and the eyes gradually adapted to the surrounding darkness, and through the snow light outside the window, people could already be seen clearly. The old man took off his cloak and said, "Maybe he doesn't want to see me." "I brought wine, you can have a drink with me." Before Chu Qiao could answer, the old slave behind had already stepped forward, spread a layer of silk cloth on the ground, placed two wine glasses on it, and a translucent white jade pot, which shone slightly in the dark.The cup was full and the aroma of the wine overflowed. The old servant offered Chu Qiao a glass of water and wine with both hands. Chu Qiao sniffed it and said, "It's Qingqiu's young girl."

The old man smiled and praised: "A good nose." Chu Qiao smiled: "I don't drink very much, but I'm good at smelling wine." After finishing speaking, he took a silver hairpin from his hair, put it into the cup, took it out after a while, sniffed it, then raised his head and drank the wine at ease, and praised: "It really is a good wine." The old man didn't feel annoyed when he saw that she was taking a drug test in front of him in such a grand manner, but said with great interest, "Lend me your hairpin as well." Chu Qiao was slightly taken aback, and asked, "Aren't you worried that you brought the wine yourself?" "It never hurts to be careful." Following Chu Qiao's example, the old man stuck the silver hairpin into the wine glass, then took out a fire pocket from his bosom, lit it and looked at it for a long time before raising his head to drink. Chu Qiao laughed: "You look like this, but it is actually even more unsafe." The old man was slightly surprised and asked, "Why?" "Not all poisons can corrode silverware. Besides, when I handed you the hairpin just now, there are many ways to poison. Even if you don't use poison, you are so close to me, aren't you afraid that I will be an assassin?" ?” The old man looked at her, not in the slightest panic, but asked seriously: "Then are you?" "I said no, would you believe me?" The old man frowned, as if he was thinking hard, and after a while, he said, "I don't really believe it." Chu Qiao laughed and said, "Yes, the farmer wants to eat chicken today, so he doesn't kill pigs, but that doesn't mean he won't kill pigs tomorrow." "You compare me to a pig?" "No no," Chu Qiao shook her head, "A person like you is three points like a wolf and three points like a snake. I can't see the other four points, but it's not easy to serve." The old man smiled and said to the old slave at the door: "Look at this girl's mouth, it is comparable to hundreds of poisonous pens and iron teeth in Yushitai." The old man seemed to be very happy, and he relaxedly asked Chu Qiao to sit and drink with him.The snowstorm outside was getting heavier, Chu Qiao pulled a chair, wiped it clean, sat down, and drank glasses of wine with him. It was pitch black all around, with only a few rays of light peeking out from the roof. The wine has an alluring aroma, as long as you take the first sip, it will tempt you to drink the second sip.Even if it is not poisonous wine, drinking too much will cause dizziness.After an unknown amount of time, Chu Qiao's head gradually became dizzy. She lay down on the chair, put her hands on the armrests, leaned on her head, and slowly closed her eyes.Talking to the old man one after another, they seem to have said a lot, but she gradually couldn't remember it.Her heart was very peaceful, as if there were large snow-white waves passing by layer by layer, gently sweeping over her pure white fingers and cheeks. She seemed to be back when she was a child again. Grandpa hugged her and taught her Taizu's long fist, battlefield grappling hands, acupuncture point recognition, and various weapons and daggers. He also held the chairman's quotations for her to repeat of recitation.She had to stand under the party emblem every morning to swear an oath. She was only a few years old at that time, but she also felt solemn and solemn. Standing behind her old but still tough grandfather, she said loudly over and over again: "Loyal to the chairman, loyal to the party, loyal to The people, who voluntarily gave their lives when the country and the people needed it..." Then the picture changed, and they came to a cold and deep palace, the big moon shone above their heads, the boy stood stubbornly in front of her, biting his lips angrily at the new hairpin on her head, and hated refused to speak.She was so frightened that she quickly took off the hairpin, and nervously went to coax him, saying that Zhao Shisan forced it on her, and she didn't like it at all.It took a long time before I saw him take out an ugly hairpin in his hand. It seemed to be polished by himself with a copper bar, but it was just a bare one without any decoration.His fingers were a little torn, and some of them were already bleeding, and they were wrapped in silk cloth indiscriminately. Then, a pair of fox-like eyes protruded from the water waves, and the man was wearing a bright red dress, sitting on the water pavilion and blowing his flute.A group of colorful girls surrounded him, their eyes fascinated, as if they had drunk two jars of girl red.He saw her from a distance, stood up suddenly, waved vigorously at her, and shouted loudly: "Qiao Qiao! Qiao Qiao! Come quickly..." Then, as soon as the picture was turned, the waves of light in the sky disappeared, and clouds of smoke wandered on the long ancient road.The light and shadow poured down, fluttering, as if drifting through that long life, and turned into that lonely and handsome man. It was the Shangyuan Lantern Festival three years ago. He was angry with himself because she didn't want to go to Qinghai with him.He walked ahead angrily, ignored her, and even scolded her as a determined idiot before leaving.Angrily, she picked up a clod of soil, threw it from behind, and happened to hit him on the head. His cheeks were livid with anger, and he turned his head and stared at her fiercely. Then, the boat swayed, and the two of them hugged each other in the fine rain. He murmured in her ear: "I am very happy, I have never been so happy..." At this moment, a childish voice suddenly echoed in my ears: "In the end, he died, and he died too. She was sad alone, so she left, and finally died, leaving him alone." Yes, yes, she was dreaming, Li Ce was already dead, had been killed by her own mother, and died in her arms, she saw large swathes of bright red blood spilling from his chest, she After touching his cold body and closed eyelids, he leaned on her shoulder and died, never calling her name with a smile, never stretching out his hand to pinch her cheek, never turning over at night She jumped into her bedroom by the window, and never secretly read Zhuge Yue's letters to her again, never looked at her tenderly when she was sad, held her in his arms, and then told her, don't Don't be afraid, there is me, and Zhuge Si, even that kid Yan Xun won't really hurt you. The sky and the earth are filled with the boundless north wind, and heavy snow dyed red falls from the sky. She sees Zhuge Yue and Yan Xun fighting against each other on the battlefield, she sees the spirits of thousands of people floating in the sky, she hears the wailing of the earth, and the sound of the wind I saw a piece of the sky cracked, and heavy crimson blood slowly overflowed from the gap and fell on the bloody and bloody ground.She saw Zhuge Yue fell down, his back was split open, it was still the same wound she stabbed many years ago, and a sharp sword pierced through his body, she saw Yan Xun holding the three-foot blood sword, standing On top of the piles of blood corpses, tens of thousands of arrows shot over, and the sky and the earth were pitch black. He stood at the top of the sky and the earth, with bright red liquid oozing from his feet, and his body was full of sharp arrows, but he did not fall down. Thousands of troops and horses swept in, and all the pictures were shattered. Quanrong's wolf knife slashed Simon's territory. She knelt on the ice field of Qianzhang Lake, watching the world collapse in an instant, and he rang in her ears. whispering over and over: Live, live, live... Her tears poured out line by line, flowing over the pointed chin, and falling drop by drop into the snow-white fur. The old man stood in front of her, his face no longer had the smile just now, and he became indifferent and lonely.He turned to the old slave and said, "Is it her?" The old servant bent over, always looking humble, and whispered, "It's her." The old man smiled slightly, but there was no trace of a smile in his eyes: "I didn't expect to meet you here." The old servant bowed slightly, but did not answer.The old man pondered for a while, then suddenly stretched out his finger, brushed his fingertip across Chu Qiao's cheek, touched a drop of icy wetness, he was stunned for a moment, put his fingertip in his mouth, and slowly licked it with the tip of his tongue, it was bitterly salty. "Anfu, will someone cry after drinking yellow rice wine?" The room was dim, and the old slave didn't seem to notice that the woman sitting on the chair was crying quietly.He hastily lit a candle, moved closer to Chu Qiao, looked carefully, and was stunned for a while. Tears fell line by line, rolling down so silently, like pearls with a broken thread. An Fu's voice was somewhat shocked, and after a long time, he said slowly: "I have never heard of someone crying after drinking yellow rice. This woman must have a lot of pain in her heart." After saying this, An Fu frowned slightly, as if he was a little puzzled. "With such a noble status, will there be suffering?" The old man smiled slightly when he heard the words, and said lightly: "The more I think I have grasped happiness, the more I fear that there will be a day when I will lose it. In this child's heart, I am afraid that there is a fear that even she can't control." "Your Majesty, it's getting late, we should go back." The old man nodded, put on his cloak, walked to the door, and suddenly turned around, staring fixedly at a coffin placed in the middle of the ground. "Shicheng, how many years do you think Daxia still has Guozuo?" With the cold wind blowing, his figure looked so thin, and he suddenly coughed a few times.With a chuckle, he opened the door and walked out. A bean of remnant lamp, emitting a pale light, shook in the wind several times, but it still didn't go out. The woman was dressed in white, leaning on the back of the chair, tilting her head slightly, tears flowing out in a row, quiet, like a peaceful lake. I don't know how long it took, someone seemed to be talking beside her, she frowned slightly, the bright lights were a bit dazzling, Mei Xiang's voice rang in her ears, she said cheerfully: "Wake up, it's great." Chu Qiao frowned, only Mei Xiang was standing beside her, and Huan'er was holding a lantern on the other side, looking at her nervously. "Miss, what's the matter with you?" Chu Qiao looked around and saw that the old man had long since disappeared, so she couldn't help feeling a little lost. She said lightly, "It's nothing, I just fell asleep accidentally." Mei Xiang immediately complained: "It's so cold here, how can miss sleep here?" "I think Ma'am is too tired. The wind and snow outside are much lighter. Let's go back home quickly." A group of people got into the carriage, Rong'er was still sound asleep, and Mo'er was also curled up in Jingjing's arms, unable to open his eyes. A snowstorm disrupted the lively Shangyuan Lantern Festival. All the way back, I saw broken lantern fragments everywhere, and the streets were empty and desolate.She opened the curtain of the carriage and looked out from a distance, only to see that it was cold everywhere, without a single light, only a white lantern hanging in front of the door of Yizhuang, intact, and she didn't know how it happened just now survived the storm. It was already late at night when we returned to the mansion, Yue Liu stood guard in front of the door, and when he saw them, he let out a long breath.He went forward and said that Zhuge Yue had come back a long time ago and had already gone out to look for her several times. Chu Qiao hurried back to her room, walked into the main hall, took off her coat and handed it to the servants, then tiptoed into the bedroom. Returning home from such a gloomy and cold place, a warm breath blows over my face, and the incense burner is burning with fine agarwood incense, which curls upwards and circles straight up.The room was very quiet, without a single sound, she walked over quietly, only to see that his face was slightly flushed, he was lying on the bed with his clothes on, already asleep, but his brows were tightly frowned, as if in a dream There is nothing angry about the same thing. His breathing was a little heavy, and he could smell a strong alcohol smell.He has never been a very good drinker, he must have drunk a lot tonight to fall asleep like this. On the mahogany bedpost, hung a delicate and small lantern, with red eyes and long ears, in the shape of a vivid rabbit. She took off her shoes and lay on his side like that, smelling the smell of his body, listening to his deep breathing, a cold heart gradually warmed up. She stretched out her arms around his waist, waving away that desperate dream. No, absolutely not. They'll be together, they'll have a good life, they'll have a baby, they'll get out of here together, and start their lives somewhere new. It must be so, it must be. After the Spring Banquet, the weakness of the Great Xia Dynasty became more and more obvious. Disaster victims were all over the Longxi area. Walking on the post roads, people could be seen everywhere selling their wives and children for food. Although the imperial court had already issued a disaster relief statement.However, although Emperor Xia has tried his best to mobilize the treasury's gold and silver, Daxia's national strength is insufficient after all. War is like a beast that eats people, opening its bloody mouth. In just a few years, a once prosperous empire Tow skinny. However, Yanbei's life is not easy after all. Although the food and grass snatched from Bian Tang temporarily survived the cold winter, it is still difficult to survive now.Under such circumstances, there was no large-scale battle at the border at the beginning of the year. Whether it was Yanbei's eastward advance or Daxia's northern expedition, they were all slowed down by this natural disaster. On the first day of March, Emperor Xia enfeoffed the North Hu generation to Zhao Che as a fief. Although everyone knew that Zhao Che was the lord of the Northland, after all, there was no official canonization from the imperial court. The barbarians who suffered from the disaster, the government and the opposition immediately had a lot of intense speculation. On the seventh day of March, Grand Sima Zhuge Yue finally ended his days at home and returned to the Presbyterian Church.The seventeenth prince Zhao Qi also expressed his affection to Zhao Che, and for a while, the seventh prince Zhao Che rose to power in the court, and his power grew day by day.Zhao Yang stayed in the palace all day long, complained to his superiors that he was sick, and did not go to the court to govern for two consecutive months. However, on March 13th, a post report from Yanbei to the capital made Chu Qiao worry. In fact, the main content is not much, but Yan Xun wants to do business with Daxia on the border, and exchange horses and iron ore for Daxia's grain, tea, salt, and silk. This incident naturally aroused laughter in Daxia's court, and Daxia's officials laughed at Yan Beiqiong for being crazy, thinking of doing business with Daxia.Although they also lack war horses and iron ore, they can still do business with Bian Tang and Huai Song. Unlike Yanbei, as long as Bian Tang blocks the pass, there is only one road like Daxia. Naturally, Da Xia would not talk to Yan Bei, but it was the first time that Yushitai and Zhong Shuling joined forces and wrote a large article full of ridicule, scolding Yan Xun for his whimsy and ignorance. For the two countries, this incident was not a major event, but it clearly showed Yanbei's decadence and embarrassment.Although Da Xia was not much better, but seeing his enemies look worse than themselves, the Xia officials became arrogant again, and a group of scholastic mad officials shouted wildly to destroy Yan Bei all day long. The arrogant look seemed as if Yanbei would disappear if they waved their hands.Even some royal relatives and nobles who were far away in the territory also wrote to Zhuge Yue, asking him to lead troops into Yanbei immediately and completely eradicate the beggars in Yanbei. Zhuge Yue looked coldly at the crowd of demons dancing in the court and the public, couldn't help sneering, and taunted in private: "Yan Xun's method is not very clever, but he really prescribes the right medicine. Just a few words made Zhenhuang's court and the public collectively lose heart." Crazy." When he said this, Chu Qiao only felt terrified.Zhuge Yue was already a level deeper than ordinary people thought, knowing that this was Yan Xun's intentional show of weakness, and wanted to lure Xia's army out of the pass to fight.However, Chu Qiao and Yan Xun have lived together for many years, but they are well aware of his nature. Even if he dies in battle, he will never show weakness to the enemy. He just numbs the enemy and wants to fight. It is really worth his doing Such a big sacrifice? Winter goes to spring, and it is another year of warm spring and flowers blooming, but the cold wind on the cloudy side lingers, and when you open the window, you can still see unmelted ice. This winter seems to be very long.