Not surprisingly, in late November, the first snow fell in the Hexi Corridor.

Dugu Youlan stood in front of the small window and stared at the snowflakes outside the window, life after marriage was sweet and peaceful, Dugu Youlan gradually got used to her role in Guofu, she was the second lady, and the subordinates were very respectful to her, but compared to the hostess Xue Tao, Dugu Youlan could still feel the difference, they didn't have that kind of heartfelt respect for themselves.

But that's nothing, and that respect takes time to develop.

Fortunately, Xue Tao was good to himself, he was not hostile to himself, but regarded her as a friend and a sister, Dugu Youlan later learned from her husband that Xue Tao had no brothers and sisters, so he had always longed to have a sister, which made Dugu Youlan secretly feel lucky.

At this time, a long roar sounded in the sky, Dugu Youlan had a smile on her face, pushed open the window and waved her hand to the sky, this is her neighbor Brother Meng is back, she likes to ride horses and shoot arrows, so she has a natural good impression of the eagle, she calls Mengzi Brother Meng, often feeds it fish and meat, Mengzi also likes this new hostess, and the big tree where Mengzi lives is in the west courtyard, close to the small building where Dugu Youlan lives.

Mengzi looked a little sneaky, didn't say hello to Dugu Youlan, and took another female eagle directly back to the eagle's nest in the big tree, Dugu Youlan recognized it, it was not the same as the female eagle two days ago, and the size was a little smaller.

"You merry ghost!"

Dugu Youlan closed the window angrily, turned around and went back to the room, her room was very simple, there were no superfluous items, just a pair of bows and a sword hanging on the wall were very conspicuous.

The bow is her beloved famous bow 'Flying Goose', which was given to her by her aunt and has followed her for five years.

In order not to disappoint Xue Tao, she also took more than a dozen pieces of beautiful jade and put them on the bookcase.

At this time, her personal maid Xiao Yao Niang said at the door: "Girl, the eldest lady is here, please come over!" ”

"I see."

She put on a scarlet fox fur, and the little medicine lady hurriedly came over to tie the strap behind her.

"Little Yao Niang, don't call me a girl in the future, it's not good, you have to call the second lady, in addition, don't call your aunt, that's the name of my mother's family, now we are in our own house, you have to call the master, the son is called by Aqiu, you can't call it, remember?"

Xiao Yao Niang nodded, "Second Madam, I remember!" ”

"That's right!"

Dugu Youlan nodded approvingly, and walked downstairs with the little medicine lady.

Dugu Youlan West Courtyard and Xue Tao live in the east courtyard are not together, there is a large garden covering an area of more than ten acres in the middle, a long nine-curved covered bridge connects the two courtyards together, under the bridge is flowing water, on both sides are rockeries, planted with all kinds of strange flowers and plants, but at this time the water under the bridge is frozen, and the snow flakes are blowing in the garden, which is particularly crystal clear.

Dugu Youlan sighed in her hands, walked quickly, and entered the east courtyard directly through a small door.

The east courtyard covers an area of five acres, which is equivalent to a medium-sized mansion, the structure is complex, there are many pavilions and pavilions, in fact, the west courtyard is not small, covering an area of four acres, and Dugu Youlan only lives in one corner.

Dugu Youlan finally entered the courtyard, but saw Xue Tao taking his daughter and a few maids to enjoy the snow in the pavilion.

"Erniang, this way!" Guo Weiwei saw Dugu Youlan and waved her hand desperately, her voice was sweet and crisp, Dugu Youlan felt a warmth in her heart, she also liked this child very much.

Dugu Youlan trotted all the way into the pavilion and hurriedly stomped her feet, "I'm freezing to death, this ghost weather!" ”

Xue Tao pursed his lips and smiled, and ordered: "Ah Qiu, take a soft couch for the second lady to sit down!" ”

Ah Qiu hurriedly put a soft couch in front of the brazier, Dugu Youlan nodded in thanks, sat down, stretched out her hand to bake the fire on the brazier, "Eldest sister, I really didn't expect Hexi to be so cold!" ”

Ah Qiu couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh on the side, Xue Tao glared at her, and said softly: "Actually, I didn't adapt to it when I first came, it's really much colder here than Chang'an, but it's not cold yet." ”

Dugu Youlan's eyes widened, "Isn't this cold?" ”

"Not counting!"

Xue Tao said with a smile: "Until the end of December into the middle of winter, the weather is cold, people can't stay outside, they can only live indoors, your small building has too many windows, not warm, I will go back and let Wu Niang clean up the courtyard next door, you will live with me in winter." ”

Xue Tao saw that she was a little hesitant, knowing that she was embarrassed, so he smiled and said: "I'm so big here, it's too cold in winter, it's just right for you to live here, wait for the weather to get warmer, you can move over again, and you will slowly get used to it in the future, so you don't have to move here." ”

Dugu Youlan nodded, "Then thank you, eldest sister!" ”

Guo Weiwei's small body and Erniang sat together, Xue Tao glanced at her and smiled: "My daughter likes you so much, so I gave her to you as a daughter." ”

Dugu Youlan patted Guo Weiwei's little head and smiled: "Move here to live with Erniang, okay?" ”

Guo Weiwei twisted her small body, pouted and said, "I have to get up in the middle of the night to take care of my brother!" ”

Xue Tao smiled dumbly, this little guy sleeps like a pig every night, when did he get up?

"Forget it! You can't even take care of yourself, and you still take care of your brother? ”

Xue Tao got up and said, "Youlan, let's go in and sit!" It's been outside for a long time, and I'm worried that Xiaowei will catch a cold. ”

"Let's go in!"

Dugu Youlan was so frozen that she quickly stood up with a smile, and took Guo Weiwei's little hand and walked towards the house.

.........

Just as the first snow fell, Shi Donglai brought an important news to Guo Song.

In the hall of Jiedu Mansion, Guo Song and more than a dozen high-ranking officials and generals gathered together.

"Just now Shi Stonelai told me an important news, the assassination department of the three tribes of Gelulu and the joint strength of the tribe defeated the Bolu tribe, the Polu tribe fled to the west, and his new khan has been elected, called the assassination of Mitte, this person has always advocated the capture of the North Court, but due to internal constraints, his proposition has not been implemented.

The Bolu tribe, which had been opposing the invasion of the North Court, was defeated and fled, and the Qarlu cleared the last obstacle to the invasion of the North Court, and Stone came to warn us that next spring, the Qarlu tribe is likely to invade the North Court on a large scale, and defending the North Court will become our most important task next year.

"Envoy, how likely is it?" Cao Wannian asked.

"There is a ninety percent chance for Stone, that person has always been very conservative in his speech, he said ninety percent, then the probability of a Qarluku invasion is ninety percent, according to my experience, nomads generally go out to fight in the spring."

Liang Wu raised his hand and asked, "How many troops will there be?" ”

"Shi Donglai told me that the Qarlu people generally fight with their troops and take the entire tribe to fight to ensure logistics, especially the Qarluq people have betrayed the Tang Dynasty, so they will never take the Tang army lightly."

Guo Song asked the soldiers to hang a huge map of Anbeiting, and Guo Song pointed to the west with a wooden pole and said: "Our Broken Leaf Town is currently the capital of the Qarlu people, and their main population is concentrated in the west of Broken Leaf and Jinshan. ”

Everyone looked at each other, and Pan Liao couldn't help but say: "What does the envoy mean that we have to face a two-front battle?" ”

"There is a possibility for you, but I personally think that if the Qarluq people guard against the Hui people, they will not come down from Jinshan, and they will be copied by the Hui people, I am afraid that the Qarlu people will not think of this, so we still have to prepare for a two-front battle, after the beginning of spring, I will personally lead 20,000 troops to Beiting, I hope that everyone here will use this winter to step up combat preparations."

........

Coming out of the lobby, Guo Song turned over and got on his horse to go to the barracks, but Pan Liao caught up with him.

"Is the envoy going to the barracks?"

Guo Song smiled and nodded, "Let's go together!" ”

Pan Liao also got on his horse and went to the barracks together.

"Do you really want to go to Beiting again?" Pan Liao asked.

Guo Song nodded and said with a smile: "Changshi thinks it's inappropriate? ”

"I think that the envoy should let his generals go to Beiting, Yao Jin, Li Bing, and Luo Daxiao can all be on their own, and Liang Wu is not bad, they should be given a chance, and it is better for Jun to stay in Zhangye."

Guo Song smiled and said: "If it is a civil war in the Central Plains, it doesn't hurt to let them stand alone, but against foreign races, it is not only a battle, but also a war, such as Shatuo, at that time, after Yao Jin and Luo Daxiao defeated Shatuo in Shazhou, they both wanted to take advantage of the victory to go to Beiting, but they were stopped by me, they don't know the history and internal contradictions of Shatuo, if they rush in, opposition will lead to internal reconciliation in Shatuo, and be more united, and Shatuo may not be able to extinguish it today." ”

"Do you know that Shatuo will split?"

Guo Song nodded, "I know very well that the Yue Department is squeezing the other departments, and I also know that their internal contradictions have reached a critical moment, and the defeat of Zhu Xie Jinhai will definitely trigger the general outbreak of Shatuo's internal contradictions, so it is a clever strategy to provoke but not provoke at this time." ”

"Kind of understanding!"