The crackling of firecrackers resounded crisply and joyfully in the white snow, and the crisp laughter and noisy applause also rang out.

There is a raging fire burning outside a magnificent mansion, the house slaves put bundles of bamboo knots filled with saltpeter into the flames, the bamboo knots explode when they encounter the fire, make a huge sound, this is the so-called "firecrackers" in the folk customs of the Great Zhou Dynasty, it is a kind of entertainment activity for the people to welcome the New Year's Festival.

On the high-rise building next to the mansion, there are house slaves standing on the railing and throwing all kinds of paper-cut red flowers in the wind, and there are all kinds of paper butterflies, paper birds, and paper chrysanthemums, all of which are gilded and painted red.

People who have seen the firecrackers swarm to grab those flying paper flowers, and uncover them, some of them are inscribed with the words "30 baht for spring money" and "50 baht for spring money", and some have blessing verses to congratulate the New Year.

Most of the onlookers applauded were the ladies of the family, although it was a harsh winter, but they were wearing luxurious palace skirts, all kinds of fox fur and ermine fur, but calmly exposed their snow-white chests, holding the skirts, and they didn't care that the skirts and hairpins were scattered in the scramble, only to see the slender jade arms waving in the air.

Which unbearable lustful children of the family secretly mixed in the crowd and secretly touched their hands up and down, and the onlookers did not stop them, but just lowered their heads and snickered secretly.

The sound of firecrackers, the hustle and bustle, the squeamish exclamations and the snickering laughter are just what makes this hilarious, and no one wants to turn their faces and get angry and scold on this festive day.

"Fried rice cakes! Delicious rice cakes! It's only 5 pennies! ”

"Come, come, come! Take a look! Good rouge gouache! ”

"Walk by, come in and have a look! The best spirits on the Hokuriku, taste it, taste it! ”

The streets and alleys of the world's largest city are filled with the festive atmosphere of the New Year, with hawkers busy shouting and pedestrians strolling around in groups.

But the hungry and poor people were not allowed to go near the luxurious mansions, nor the lively streets, or they would be driven away by the men with big shoulders and thick waists.

They shivered, shrunk up, clinging to the corners of the alleys that no one cared about, and from time to time they had to pay attention to the soldiers patrolling the streets, who were out of step with the bustle of this majestic city.

At the corner of the alley, a few vicious house slaves set up a porridge shop, and there were hot porridge and soft dough cakes for relief.

The long queue was a mile away after a while, and the hungry people who got the porridge and bread still remembered to lick their smiling faces and nod their heads and bow their waists and say, "Thank you, Lord for your life, I dare not forget each other in my life."

Then immediately he found a no-man's corner and swallowed the porridge in a big gulp.

Occasionally, someone would cry out in pain while chewing, but then it would turn into a sound of surprise, and then sneak away like a thief, that is, when he took a big bite of the bread and bit the hidden gold baht inside.

A small gold baht is enough for the poor people to eat for two months, even if they lose all their teeth in their mouths, they are happy.

"It's snowing again."

A young man dressed in a black coat stood on the street at the mouth of the alley, muttering to himself.

"Are you familiar with what they look like? Fighting for a little porridge and cakes, and even fighting, if you are lucky enough to pick up one or two copper baht, you will be robbed of your head and bleed!

All I think about all day long is how to survive until tomorrow, like a wild dog, and I can't see a trace of bright shine in my eyes. ”

The handsome scribe standing beside the young man in black was silent for a long time and slowly spoke.

"There are many people in this world who live like wild dogs, struggling to survive."

"I thought that when I came to this Great Zhou King City, I wouldn't see such a person, but I didn't expect that such people could be found anywhere!

Jia Xu, do you say this is the fault of this world? Or is it the fault of some of the big people who are high up in the sky? ”

The delicate scribe who was called Jia Xu didn't look at him, he just tightened the cloak behind him, but he didn't speak, he knew that the person in front of him understood everything, and he wasn't asking him, but wanted to say it.

"How can those big people know that Qingzhou is a state of barrenness and bitter cold all year round, the one-year-old agricultural endowment is not as good as a city in Zhongzhou, and there are so many people who starve to death in the old and young, and in the winter, they can only satisfy their hunger with bark and grass roots, and it is not uncommon for Yizi to eat each other."

The young man's voice was not fast, his tone was extremely flat, but he wept blood, and the beautiful scribe standing on the side couldn't help but clench his palms when he heard this.

"Because of this, they Da Zhou people call us barbarians, and Qingzhou is a barbarian land, hahaha, what a barbarian land!"

"I also want the people of Qingzhou to plough the fields and weave cloth, and teach each other husband and children, instead of fighting with swords!

I also want them to have something to support their old and young, instead of dying of starvation while being displaced!

I'd also like to hear the people of the Great Three Continents call us a gentleman instead of a barbarian! ”

"The world says that we are not afraid of death, and the iron riding is unparalleled in the world, hahaha, this is all caused by being forced, if you don't rob, you will starve to death, and if you don't kill, you will be killed.

We are not afraid of death, because we know that hunger is even more terrible than death! ”

The young man in the big hat turned his head to look at the eyes of the delicate scribe behind him, with a solemn expression, and said word by word.

"Which big people I want to tell are right in this world, the people in this world are right, they are wrong!"

Braving the fine snow, one black and one white, Shi Ran entered the Taiqing Palace, and the road was unimpeded!

"Xuan! In the winter and December of the third year of Tianyuan, the emperor said! ”

"The court's kindness to scholars is nothing more important than praise; The Son of Man repays his relatives, and he is not eager to show off.

Qingzhou Dong Zhuo, the righteousness of his nature, the goodness of his deeds, the grace of his writing, and the luck of the country to be able to meet Qing in my young and weak years.

Dong Qing was specially named the king of Zhaowu in Qingzhou, and received the title of general of the left, hereditary replacement, and sealed ten thousand households.

You should be loyal and diligent, to be a competent envoy, the official is not noble, and he is not ashamed to be admired! ”

One person bowed lightly, his expression was calm, and he said lightly.

"Thank you, Your Majesty! Dong Zhuo's order! ”

Decades of rare snowfall shrouded the imperial capital Tianyuan City, and some ministers wrote that it was a prosperous era that was not encountered in a hundred years, so there would be heavy snow auspicious rain, but the diviners of Qin Tianjian were silent.

Under the prosperous appearance, but after all, it can't hide the surging undercurrent, a giant hand has covered the canopy of the Great Zhou, and some people under the dim sky are eager to appear with longing in their eyes.

"What's your name?"

"Xiang Zhuang"

"Where did it come from?"

"Far away."

"Why don't you quit the long road and get so bumpy?"

"I hope to be able to hold a broom and serve Mr. around."

"What about serving me?"

"I hope to learn the art of dragon slaying from Mr."

"Then you can go back."

The withered old pine branches above their heads creaked and squeaked, and suddenly there was a shock, and a large expanse of snow scattered in the air and fell on the disheveled long hair of the young man under the tree.

The young man stood under the ancient pine, his tattered and messy white clothes covered with mud spots, and his expression was silent, standing quietly, as if carved from ice and snow.

In the cold winter of December, the cold wind on the top of the mountain is like a steel knife scraping bones, which can lift up the thin body of a young man like a dead leaf at any time, and blow him down to the bottomless cliff in front of him.

But the boy had stood there for a day and a night, and had no intention of leaving, and there was not a trace of fear on his pale face.

A rudimentary wooden bridge over the cliffs of the peaks on both sides is frightening in the cold wind.

On the opposite side of the wooden bridge, on the leeward side of the peak, there is a valley, and there is a thatched yard that is not too big or small, and the wooden door is ajar, and an old man sits in front of the door.

He was covered with a thick blanket, with a huge oil umbrella on top of his head, and a small wooden table in front of him, on which was warm wine and steaming meat.

Neither of them said anything more, the atmosphere froze, only the howling of the cold wind in his ears was heard, and the old man raised his glass and drank the rest of the wine in the glass, and turned around and went into the courtyard.

The boy did not stand up, but still knelt, and turned with his arms propped up, and the young man's legs had been motionless for a long time and unconscious.

In the courtyard there were strangely dressed servants stepping out of the snow, their steps were gentle, and they did not make a sound when they stepped on the snow.

Two slaves supported the old man on the left and right, and the other held an umbrella and a wooden table under his armpit.

The courtyard door slammed shut, and no one looked at the kneeling boy again, as if he didn't exist at all, like air.

After a long time, the young man raised his head in a daze and glanced at the wooden door on the other side of the wooden bridge that had been closed for a long time, and then sat down and trembled in his arms and felt out the already cold and hard cake and chewed it slowly in his mouth, wanting to drink water, but found that the water bladder he was carrying had frozen like a stone, and his expressionless face was not a trace of abnormality.

After throwing away the water bladder, he leaned down, gently picked up the white fine snow on the side with both hands, and ate a large mouthful, the snowflakes mixed with the residue of the cake, and after the cold and hard cake was swallowed hard, the young man only felt as if there was a biting cold air circulating between the five internal organs, and he felt that his blood was cold at that moment.

He chewed a few more bites, poured a few mouthfuls of snow, and then straightened up again, staring silently at the tightly knit wooden door.

The snow fell again, and there was no end to it, and the whole world seemed to be snow-white.

Looking through the crack in the door, the young man's figure was gradually engulfed by the dim sky and snowflakes.

"It's going to be snowing more tonight, isn't it?"

The old man muttered, not looking back.

The slaves knelt silently behind him without making a sound, all dressed in black, like crows in the darkness.

The old man did not expect anyone to answer his words, he knew that they were like dead people.

"Why haven't you gone back yet, it's snowing hard!"

"I'll wait for my husband to change his mind."

"Why should I change my mind? You and I don't know each other, what does it have to do with me if you torture yourself like this? Do you think I'm going to be merciful and compassionate? ”

"I'm sincere!"

"You are not the only one in the world who is sincere."

"I'm more sincere than they are!"