In the eighth winter of October in the 22nd year of Dading, the eight generals in the Turkic Khan's tent had already knelt on the ground, swearing by blood, and a great war had begun.

Ili Khan Ashina Tumen, sitting in the sweat tent, holding blood wine in his hand, shouted loudly, "Turkic warriors, take up your scimitars, ride your war horses, show your bravery with the heads of the Wei people, and use their grain and grass to raise our Turkic descendants." ”

"The king can't wait to celebrate the most brave soldiers in the city of Wei. Remember, you are the descendants of the wolf god. Be brave and fight! ”

"Long live the Khan! Long live the Khan! The cheers came and went, and the blood boiled inside and outside the sweat tent, compared to the Wei generals who frequently looted the people, the Turkic soldiers had already regarded death as home.

"General Mohe, you bring 50,000 warriors as the vanguard, and this king wants you to take Xuanwu County of Wei within ten days."

"The last general commands." With Mohe's kneeling and receiving the order, the Turks officially declared war on Wei.

At the same time, in the south of the state of Wu, in the Jinluan Hall of the Imperial City of Jinling, the emperor of Wu sat in the center on the throne of the golden carved dragon, looking at the civil and military officials below arguing endlessly, and he was displeased. The civil servants have lived a peaceful life for a long time, and they are more content with the old customs and indulge in the old news. And the military attaches are so happy that they only think about adding officials to the knighthood, and there is no one in the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty who can share their worries.

Coldly swept away His Highness's ministers one by one, and only one person stood quietly among the ministers.

"Pingnanhou!"

"Wechen is here!"

"As for whether to cut Wei and how to cut Wei, as the minister of the humerus, do you have a good plan?"

"Back to the emperor's words, Wei occupies the vast Central Plains north of the Yangtze River, originally densely populated, economically developed, and far stronger than my Wu and the west of Shu, if you don't take advantage of its internal strife and capture it in one fell swoop, wait for Wei to recuperate, it is difficult to guarantee that other days will not be on my Wu State to raise troops, the world is disturbed, the heroes are chasing the deer, they must be divided for a long time, they must be divided for a long time, and they will allow others to sleep soundly next to the couch, and now the Shu soldiers have moved, and the Turks have also sent troops, and now the Wei State is suffering from the enemy, and its civil strife is rising again, the time is ripe, and it is imperative to attack Wei, The city of Wei has been destroyed. The minister is willing to lead the troops to take Luoyang directly. ”

"Okay, the Marquis of Pingnan deserves to be a loyal and good general of my Wu State."

"Pingnanhou took the order. Ren Pingnanhou was the general of the hussars, and led an army of 200,000 to take Wei directly. ”

"Commandment." The appointment is imminent, the smoke of gunpowder is imminent, and the death of the Northern Wei Dynasty is imminent.

The will was soon transmitted back to the Hou Mansion from the palace, and Mrs. Pingnanhou endured her uneasiness and dressed up for Pingnanhou. Duanmu Xuan, the prince of the world, sat in the study, looked down carefully at the map of Wei State, which he had already memorized, and discussed the route of the army with his staff.

Mu Yi, the seventh prince, was allowed to fight and went out with the army together.

In Lijia Village, Xinchang County, Liaodong County, Youzhou in the north of the Wei Kingdom, the first snow after the beginning of winter fell all night. The next morning, the sky was overcast, and the villagers looked at the white expanse outside the house, and their hearts were cold.

After digging for nearly a month, the wild vegetables and weeds, and even the bark and grass roots, were dug up and stored, but it was not enough to eat for the winter.

These days, the wild animals on the mountainside are almost extinct, not to mention hunters, even snow wolves can only go into the deep mountains, and sometimes they will hunt for three or five days.

After the heavy snowfall, Li Dalang went into the stove room early in the morning to discuss with Situ Yan, "Xiao Wu, I want to go into the mountains to have a look." If you don't hunt some prey and store it, you won't even have any meat at home this winter. ”

"Okay, big brother, let's go, just take the snow wolf with you, and you can be more stable. There is also bacon and bacon that were hidden before at home, so I am not afraid of hunting prey. The eldest brother must put his own safety first. ”

"Okay, I remember, Xiao Wu don't worry, I'll go."

"Wait. Big brother bring more cakes and leave. Situ Yan filled Li Dalang with twenty cakes, and let the snow wolf have a good meal, and then sent him and the snow wolf out.

As soon as Li Dalang left on the front foot, Li Sanzhu came to the door on the back foot, "Third Uncle of the Li family, my eldest brother is not at home at this time, what is the matter with you, the same as me?" ”

"What, that, where did Da Lang go? Is Saburo at home? Li Sanzhu was most afraid of dealing with Situ Yan, and he hesitated again and again to discuss with San Lang.

"Here, wait a minute." Situ Yan didn't want to tell Li Sanzhu that Li Dalang went into the mountains to hunt. and didn't invite anyone into the hospital, but directly called Saburo out.

"Third uncle, what's the matter with you, can you say?" Li Sanlang didn't let anyone into the house, but just spoke through the threshold.

Li Sanzhu was angry in his heart, but how dare he get angry at San Lang at this time, "San Lang, your second aunt went last night, and I came to deliver a message to you." Your milk has been sick for so long, you can't even get up from the kang, and you are chanted every day, although our relationship is broken, but this blood relationship can't be broken, right? You can go home and see it when you have time, and help your father and him fulfill their filial piety. ”

Li Sanzhu played this card well, his voice and appearance, even Situ Yan was a little moved, but this Li Sanzhu had already injured a few people ruthlessly, and how could the compassion that he showed warm his broken heart.

Saburo just nodded and said, "Got it." And he sent them away.

"Little Five, the eldest brother is not at home, you are the housekeeper at home, how do you think this matter is done?"

"What does the third brother think?" Situ Yan felt that it was time for a few people to learn to face things independently, she couldn't always protect them, a few people could grow up earlier, and even if she left in the future, she could feel at ease. She has been very anxious these days, and she will feel this way every time danger is approaching in her previous life, and she has already begun to prepare for this feeling these days.

"I don't think about it, my eldest brother was sick and I only went a few days ago, and they can't say anything if they don't go, but the second aunt went, we don't want to go, I'm afraid that some can't say it, I live in the same village, even if someone next door goes, we will also go to see it, but this funeral, I don't know what to send?"

"Third brother, I am really happy that you can think like this. People die greatly, no matter how wrong she did before, people have already gone, so why should we bother with a dead person. As for the Li family's grandmother, since she is the godfather's mother, she has to go and see it. As for the funeral, food can't be sent, and there is a chicken that the eldest brother hunted a few days ago, but the meat was made by me, and there was a chicken rack left, so I boiled it into chicken soup and added some wild vegetables. ”

"Okay, I think it's okay to just send some wild vegetables, I'm afraid there are no people in this village who want to go."

"Just take it as a filial piety to the Li family's grandmother! I'm going to prepare, and the third brother will go to the backyard to call the second and fourth brothers, so that they don't have to store snow water, and it's not certain whether they can farm next year? ”

"Little Wu, what do you mean, what are we doing if we don't farm next year?"

"Wait a little longer, there should be a letter in a few days." Situ Yan looked at the gray sky, feeling a little bitter in her heart, if what she was worried about really happened, what would they do on such a cold day. Do you really want to move your family south, but where can you move and what can you do? sighed, and then came back to his senses from his contemplation, "Okay, third brother, go quickly!" "Since it's superfluous to worry about these things now, let's do our best and listen to the fate of heaven!

Li Erzhu's daughter-in-law passed away, and the mourning was only one day away, and only Li Erlang took San Lang and Shiro to the funeral to take a look at the funeral, and the other villagers didn't even go to the door. Because there was no money to buy a coffin (in fact, there was a shortage of money nowadays, and there was no way to buy a coffin), so the person was hastily buried with just a straw mat. Even if Li Erzhu had some conscience, he buried his daughter-in-law next to Li Zhaocai's grave.

Cao's illness was a little more serious because of this incident, and he thought that he could take advantage of this incident to get some food from the villagers, but everyone was buried, that is, he only got a bowl of vegetable soup sent by Li Erlang. Although you can see some oil stars inside, it is not enough for a family to eat, and even wild vegetables at home are not enough to last for ten days, how can this be good? The more I thought about it, the more angry I became, and finally vomited a few mouthfuls of blood in a row and fainted.

Li Dalang came back three days later, because of the snow wolf, nothing happened to the deep mountains this time, but there were very few things hunted, only a rabbit and a pheasant. It's the snow wolf, but this time it's full. In fact, if Situ Yan and the snow wolf enter the mountain, the snow wolf will definitely share the things he hunted with Situ Yan, but Li Dalang is not its master, for this person, it is only regarded as the task given to him by Situ Yan, and when there is danger, it will not share it with Li Dalang.

"Big brother, are there any more victims in the mountains?"

"Yes, I saw a few playful little babies on the side of a cave, like a mountain where several families got together, and I didn't dare to get too close, I didn't see too clearly."

"Well, this heavy snow has sealed the mountain, and these people are afraid that there is nowhere to go."

"Little Five, I still have five cakes left." Li Dalang handed the cake he was carrying to Situ Yan.

"Why doesn't the eldest brother eat all, how can he eat so little body?" Situ Yan felt a little sorry for Li Dalang's savings.

"I'm fine, I'm not hungry at all, I don't know how long it will take for such days, I don't know if the food at home will be enough to eat until next autumn's harvest, it's better to save a little."

"Big brother, I said, there is a lot of food at home, why are you disobedient." Situ Yan read while giving Li Dalang a hot meal.

watched Li Dalang eat a bowl of gnocchi soup and eggs, and then let him go to wash and rest. waited until before dinner to call people up and told him about Cao's and Li Erzhu's daughter-in-law.

"Second brother, they have already gone to the funeral and also seen the Li family's grandmother, if the eldest brother is not at ease, let's go over after dinner!"

"No, I can't help anything, they still have the second and third uncles!" When Li Dalang first listened, he really wanted to go and see it, but when he thought about it, he didn't know what to send, so he stopped thinking about it again.

"The rabbit that the eldest brother hunted back today has been picked up and saved, and the chicken has been divided into several parts, I use half a chicken rack to boil a chicken soup, and then add some black-faced wild vegetables to make a paste, and the eldest brother will send it!" Situ Yan saw the hesitation in Li Dalang's eyes, she knew that this person was kind-hearted, and she didn't want him to have any regrets. lest it become a knot in the future.

"Xiao Wu, it's okay to send some vegetables, only the village family, Uncle Aniu, and the fourth uncle's family in the village know that our family has some food to store, if you let others know about it, I'm afraid that there will be more people who come to borrow food." Li Dalang finally didn't disappoint Situ Yan, and he didn't have a heart to help the old house.

"That's okay, just listen to the eldest brother and don't put a black face. It's just these three, I still want to send some more food, and the eldest brother thinks it's good for the family to give a pound of black noodles? Li Dalang thought about it and felt that it was okay, these three families knew that their family had food, and they were close to each other on weekdays, if they didn't send some, they couldn't say anything. Only then did he nod his head.

"That's okay, when it's dark for a while, I'll let the second brother and them go, and it will save people from seeing it during the day." After the matter was discussed, the two went to work separately, and when it was dark, the five of them went out together.

Li Dalang went to the old house with a basket of pickled vegetables and chicken soup, and Erlang went to Murazheng, Li Aniu and Li Si's house respectively. And Situ Yan went to Liangzi's house with a pound of black noodles and a pound of bud grain noodles.

"Little Wu, what are you doing here, your family finally hid some food, I can't ask for it." Although Liangzi is hungry, this food is used to save his life, Situ Yan has saved their whole family, he can't take the food that others save their lives.

"Brother Liangzi, I still have some left at home, I dug a lot of wild vegetables a few days ago, it is not difficult to eat together for a few days, not to mention that my eldest brother can also go into the mountains to hunt, this idea of black noodles is eaten by adults, this handful of Zibud Valley noodles is for Xiao Bao'er, I also brought two eggs and a chicken leg, and put some for the baby when the time comes." Situ Yan is very fond of this little baby she gave birth to herself, and every time this little baby sees Situ Yan, she always smiles, which is very painful.

"Little Five, thank you." Liangzi and his daughter-in-law knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Situ Yan three times before they were willing to get up. Situ Yan persuaded a few more words, and then got up and went home.

Mura Zheng had been waiting for Situ Yan to come to the door at home, thinking that it was snowing, although he was still recuperating at home and couldn't go into the mountains to hunt, how could this girl come to see him. But he didn't think that no one would come to the door for a few days, so he felt that he had done something too much, and I was afraid that it was really as his father said, and it hurt the girl's heart.

But he also had resentment in his heart, thinking that he was a village leader anyway, but he called a baby to take it. At this time, when he saw Li Sanlang coming to the door, his face was not good-looking, and he only asked a few words, and when he heard that Da Lang had come back from hunting in the mountains, he was even more angry, so he only responded in a daze, and sent the person away.

Li Aniu and Li Si were very grateful, and they sent people out of the door with a thousand thanks. At dinner in the evening, San Lang told Situ Yan what he saw when he went to Muramasa's house, "Little Wu, why do I think Uncle Muramasa seems to be a little unkind to see me today?" ”

"'If the human heart is not enough, the snake swallows the elephant', and if the greed is insufficient, it will be harmed by one's own desires." Situ Yan's words were not true, and several people couldn't understand them at all.

"Brothers, although we don't ask others for anything in return, if you are good to others, that is, if you are treated as due, then this kind of person doesn't help."

San Lang suddenly understood, that day the village is a few doors, others are concerned about them, only the village is there something to say, these days the little sister does not even go to the door of the village is the house, and even the village is injured She did not see the injury, it seems that this matter is afraid that the little sister has already been alert, it is a few of them who can not see the world clearly, and feel very ashamed.

"Little Wu, I understand." Situ Yan saw that San Lang understood, and looked at Da Lang and the others again, and saw that Da Lang and Shiro lowered their heads, thinking that they had also thought of something, only Erlang stared, looking completely unknown.

"Okay, brothers, don't think about it anymore, let's live our own lives." Situ Yan doesn't ask a few people to understand at once, it's good to have one who understands.

After dinner, Situ Yan made the remaining two bags of black noodles into cakes, and then went to sleep.