Strings of red lanterns and colorful silk flowers hang from the flowers and trees under the eaves.

A few children were frolicking and running around in the yard, and the sound of firecrackers crackled.

Old lady Zhang, who was standing under the eaves of the porch, nodded with satisfaction.

"This is called the New Year. He said to Master Zhang, who was standing next to him, "How can you not hang lanterns and not let you have fun?"

Master Zhang responded, stretched out his hand to support Mrs. Zhang: "Father, go in cold outside." ”

Old lady Zhang turned inward, crossed the threshold, and entered the warm room.

"There is martial law in the city, and there are officers and soldiers all over the city, but it is a search for traitors, and we are not traitors who are afraid of anything. He continued, "Now that Emperor Baozhang has returned to the court, this is a great joy, don't make it like a funeral." ”

Master Zhang replied and said, "The Liu family has already sent someone to ask Liu Chunyang to return to Chang'an Mansion." ”

Old lady Zhang sat down and said, "What reason?"

Master Zhang said: "Old lady Liu is seriously ill. ”

The elders are seriously ill, and the younger generations should be able to take leave and return to their hometowns to serve the sick.

Old lady Zhang snorted, frowning and seemed worried: "I was preempted by Liu Laoqi, these old guys in our Chang'an Mansion can't all be seriously ill and call the children back." He laughed.

Master Zhang also smiled and said, "Liu Chunyang cut off the news of the Liu family's capital. ”

Old lady Zhang snorted and said, "Okay, this kid is really ruthless, no wonder they couldn't win easily in the Liantang of Wuling Society back then." ”

Master Zhang smiled bitterly: "Father, although Liantang did not prevent our business house in the capital from sending news back, he did not send anything back. ”

At this time, silence is tantamount to resistance.

And not only did he not write about the court, but he didn't say what he was doing, and the firm didn't mention it at all, obviously, Zhang Liantang still did something.

Mrs. Zhang picked up the teacup and said, "Then what did he do?"

Master Zhang said: "The capital said that after the curfew was lifted in the capital, he often went against his colleagues in the teahouse restaurant, and also played Keju with his colleagues at private banquets, in short, they were all unprofessional..."

Old lady Zhang took a sip of tea and said, "This is not a serious business, so I can inquire about a lot of news." ”

Important decisions of the imperial court were decided by the important ministers, and even if a young new official was fortunate enough to attend several court meetings, he would not hear all the movements of the imperial court.

Eating, drinking, and having fun is the most intimate place to get closer, and it is also the most important thing to talk about, and what officials can talk about, the trend of the DPRK is inevitable.

"Except for Liu Chunyang, except for our Liantang Shuangtong, those boys who stayed in the capital, whether they were bold enough to cut off the news of their family, or they seemed to be honest and diligent to go to the yamen to study, none of them had a safe life. ”

"People outside only know that they are fellow villagers and classmates, and fellow villagers and classmates are the most guarded against in the officialdom, but Xue Qing suddenly became a woman, a woman, and she will not enter the court, and the relationship between those fellow villagers and classmates will not be counted. ”

However, they didn't know that these people were not just fellow villagers, classmates, and that Xue Qing was not just a woman. ”

"The friendship of studying together and taking the imperial examination together is also broken, and it is different to have trouble together, it is a friendship of sharing joys and sorrows, and Xue Qing is still the core of their cohesion. ”

Mrs. Zhang stroked the handrail and looked at the courtyard with a warm atmosphere during the New Year's Festival.

"Although these boys don't say that Liantang also pays for the maintenance of Zhizhitang, I know that Zhizhitang is not our Zhang family, not the Liu family, nor any of the four major families and eight families of Chang'an Mansion, it is Xue Qing's. ”

Master Zhang was silent for a moment and said, "Do you want to tell everyone about these things, after all, many people's sons and nephews may be involved." ”

When something happens to a young man, everyone will be implicated.

Old lady Zhang waved his hand and took a sip of tea again, and said, "None of them can think of it, they can all think of it, but this is not a trivial matter against a Liao Cheng at the beginning." ”

Yes, this is involving imperial power, and Master Zhang was silent for a moment again.

"So what now?" he asked, "you can't watch the young people mess around." ”

Mrs. Zhang said: "Write a letter to Liantang, ask him to come back with Shuangtong, and show our attitude, he knows the importance of the matter, don't say anything else, it has nothing to do with us." ”

Master Zhang responded yes, did not immediately get up and walked out, sat on the chair and was silent again for a moment.

"Father, what do you think about that?" he couldn't help but ask.

Old lady Zhang looked at him and said, "What is the matter? Is it true that Song Yuan is a fake daughter?"

It was said so bluntly, and it was this way of elaboration, at most, others would say whether Xue Qing was a traitor or not, and Old Lady Zhang actually said..... Who's true or fake!

The nature of this is quite different.

Master Zhang was startled, stood up and shouted Dad.

Old lady Zhang smiled, and her old face was a little childlike naughty.

"What are you afraid of, I'm not the only one who thinks like this now. He said.

Master Zhang said helplessly: "Dad, you can't say it." ”

Old lady Zhang smiled and waved her hand and said, "Don't say it, I won't say it now, you go get busy." ”

Master Zhang retired with a salute, and when he walked out, he was blown by the cold wind and felt that something was wrong, so don't talk about it now?

Conversations such as the Zhang family's father and son were carried out more or less in many houses in Chang'an Mansion, and then people kept passing through the heavily guarded city gates of Chang'an Mansion, and the sound of firecrackers on Chinese New Year's Eve did not stop them from leaving their homes and going to the capital and other places.

Although there were still officers and soldiers scattered on the street, the entire Chang'an City was shrouded in the joy of the New Year's Festival, and the night was red.

In front of a dilapidated low house in a remote alley that did not even have a courtyard wall, a young man leaned over and lit the red lantern hanging outside the door.

"Leting. A woman's voice came from the room, "It's time to eat." ”

Le Ting walked in in response, and the dim oil lamp illuminated the two figures inside.

"Everyone in the city is saying that Young Master Xue has become a traitor? Is it true or false?"

"Mother, the government will do whatever you want, don't be afraid. ”

"Mother is not afraid, mother thinks it is a pity, how can that child be a traitor?"

"Haha, mother, you are really not afraid to dare to say such things. ”

"I'm a blind woman who is afraid of anything, and if I say anything, that's fine. ”

Compared with the big families, their meals are simple, and the conversation between the mother and son is also simple, and soon after eating Leting, they cleaned up the dishes and chopsticks, and the shouts of the children sounded outside the door.

Leting opened the door and saw four seven or eight-year-old children smiling and huddled in the doorway.

"Do you want to read today?" asked Leting.

"The family said that you can go to bed late during the New Year, just for reading. The children said, holding up the oil pot in their hands, "The one who gave the lamp oil." ”

Leting smiled and let them in, the oil lamp became brighter, and several figures in the small room sat at a table, accompanied by the figure of the woman holding the soles of her shoes, shaking their heads and reading.

He became a teacher first.....

"Who's out there?" the woman's voice suddenly sounded, stopping the needle and thread in her hand.

The sound of reading stopped, the door was opened, and I stood under the red lantern and looked out, the night was shrouded, and the neighborhood lights were empty.

"Mother, no one. He said.

The woman sighed inside: "Maybe I heard it wrong, there are many people walking around outside during the Chinese New Year." ”

There weren't many people walking around outside tonight, Le Ting didn't say anything, suddenly raised his head to look at the night sky, and stretched out his hand.

"It's snowing. He said.

The children behind him suddenly squeezed out.

"Really?"

"Ah, it's snowing. ”

The woman also walked out with a touch on her face, and her face could not hide her surprise.

"Great, it's finally snowing. ”

There was no snow in the winter, and there was no need to worry about the crops this time, the snow particles soon turned into snow flakes and flew away, and the children stopped reading and laughed outside the house, Leting did not stop looking at it with a smile, and the smile gradually dissipated.

It's snowing, and it's even harder to escape.

......

......

The joy of Chinese New Year's Eve and the arrival of Ruixue made the entire Chang'an City jubilant, and the lights were more full of fireworks, like a fairyland.

The flakes of snow covered the ground in the cold wind, and only the bonfire remained the same under a dry bridge hole, and a cold wind blew, and some people rushed in with snowflakes, and the beggars sitting by the campfire made hi sounds.

"Don't put out my fire. He shouted dissatisfied.

The person who came in wrapped his cloak and hurriedly stepped back and apologized: "Borrow a fire, borrow a fire to rest." ”

The voice was hoarse and seemed to be old and young, and the beggar glanced at the visitor, his body was thin under the shabby cloak, and his hood covered his head and face to see his appearance, and he was also a beggar for food.

There is only a homeless begging person, or this New Year's Eve will go to the bridge to rest something.

During the New Year, the beggar moved to the side and raised his chin generously: "Sit down." ”

The visitor sat down as if it was very cold, stretched his hands and feet in front of the campfire, roasted and sighed comfortably, and then said thank you.

Such a thank you was so sincere that the beggar couldn't help straightening his back, thought about it and took out a treasured flower bun from the side, and hesitated to break it again.

"Good luck today, the old men in the city are giving alms, I grabbed two, and Shicai has already eaten one. He said, patted his stomach, and reminisced, "This is going to be eaten tomorrow, and I will give you half of it, and it will be the New Year." ”

The person who came seemed to be in disbelief, stretched out two hands to take it, and bent down: "Thank you, thank you." "Don't wait for the beggar to speak, hold half a piece of steamed bread and gobble it up.....

"How long have you been hungry?" the beggar shook his head and said, "Originally, the New Year was not so sad, and the rich and noble men in Chang'an Mansion were in no mood to do good deeds, but there will definitely be food to grab at the City God's Temple tomorrow, and we will go early then." ”

The people who came nodded again and again, still gobbling it up.

The beggar also ignored it and wrapped the tattered blanket around him: "While there is still a fire to warm up, I will sleep first." ”

The beggar did not have time to fall asleep, and a moment later there was the sound of footsteps and the barking of hounds.

The footsteps approached the bridge with the sound of hounds, and as soon as the torches were lit, officers and soldiers probed into the bridge in the snow, and the hounds pounced on the beggar.....

There was a sudden chaos in the bridge and cave, until the hound that bit half of the flower bun was stopped by the officers and soldiers.

"It's not meat!" said the officer and soldier, knocking off the bun with one hand and stuffing it with a piece of jerky to the hound, and no one looked at the two shivering beggars in the bridge and walked away.

The footsteps faded away, and the beggar who was cowering in the corner hurriedly rushed over to pick up the half of the bun that had been gnawed by the dog that had fallen on the snow....

"Great, not eaten. He said happily, and looked at the frightened man who shrank even more, "Lucky enough, the officers and soldiers didn't beat anyone, and the food was still there, and it was a good year." He happily returned to the campfire, wrapped in a torn blanket and went back to sleep.

This time the beggar fell asleep, the snow fell heavier and heavier, the bonfire became smaller and smaller, the snow flakes gradually approached and gathered around him, the back of the cloak was also covered with snow, the shrunken figure suddenly stood up, the snow on the cloak suddenly flew away, and the person who came raised his head and the bonfire reflected the girl's face.

Not long ago, the officers and soldiers who pursued were equipped with hunting dogs, and the imperial court finally understood that the reason why they had only seen a trace for so many days was because Xue Qing's appearance had changed, and they no longer relied only on portraits.

"It's been a year. She said, tossing the remaining bun that was still clutched in her hand into her mouth, "It's not as good as a dog." ”