The streets of the city were noisy, and the merchants on the road were driving cattle and horses, and the carts behind them were carrying all kinds of goods, some of which were brought from the Western Regions. Commodities always need some gimmicks, saying that they are novelties from the Western Regions, and their things will be easier to sell.

It's already winter, and the farmer's fields have already been harvested, so they will be much more relaxed in the winter season, and they will come to the market when they have time. It's a new year, and they have to buy something new.

Under a room on the side of the road, a child was sitting by the door, holding a book with a sad face. Books are not so scarce today, and a few years ago they were in vogue. Nowadays, there is a bookstore a few streets away, where you can read a book every day and buy a copy for a few copper coins.

Judging by the child's age and appearance, it should be that he is about to take the exam in his hometown school, and he hasn't prepared much, so I'm afraid he won't be able to go home and be boarded.

Several young scholars walked down the street with a smile, all of them wearing uniform blue and white robes, and the passers-by on the side of the road would show some envy in their eyes when they saw their clothes.

If you have children, you will tell your own children that they will learn like those people in the future.

This is Xuchang, and there are hundreds of academies of Chinese culture nearby, and those scholars are wearing the uniform clothes of the academy. The students of the 100 academies are all students who have been admitted from various state institutions, and the best ones can be directly appointed by the DPRK. Therefore, in the eyes of the people, they will be big officials in the future.

And the students of those colleges are also proud, they are at the best age of their lives, they also have their own longing for the future, and they have the enthusiasm to fight and serve for it. What they have at this time, everything is the best.

The street is really lively, after a few days it will be the Lantern Festival, when then each family will hang a light in front of the door, the city will not be closed all night, open the night market, celebrate and sacrifice all night.

That's why the merchants rushed back to the city at this time, and the academy was closed for the scholars to go sightseeing.

A man dressed in gray and white with a hat, walking among the crowd, holding a black stick in his arms, seemed out of place in the noisy street around her, and she walked quietly through the street.

Sometimes she would look at the smiling farmers walking by the side of the road in a daze. Sometimes she would stand by the merchant's shop and see what was on it. Sometimes she would stand silently outside the door of a bookstore and watch the scholars inside. The shopkeeper of the bookstore saw her and smiled and invited her in, but she just smiled and shook her hand.

On the way, Gu Nan inquired about a lot of things, and she knew that it seemed that only twenty years had passed since the Battle of Chibi at this time.

But everything has changed so much.

She asked a passer-by about the way to Baijia Guoxue and walked there.

The academy is built on a hill, and in the middle of the mountain path is a long stone staircase, which is called the Shushan Road.

There are a lot of people in front of the mountain road, and the selection of schools in various states has ended a year ago, so it is the time when students from all over the world come to enroll.

Gu Nan didn't approach, but just stood under a tree from a distance, watching those students receive their enrollment signs in front of the mountain, stepping over the stone steps step by step, and walking towards the mountain.

Their bodies are very straight, their eyes are full of yearning and expectation for what they want, and their faces are full of spirit. It's their pride because they've learned what they've learned, and that's their ambition because they have to start doing something about it.

Gu Nan, who was standing under the tree, smiled to himself, turned around and walked towards the bottom of the mountain in the opposite direction to them.

At a separate intersection at the foot of the mountain, Gu Nan stopped at the intersection, and a young scholar walked in front of her, carrying a bag, dusty, sweating on his forehead, and looking a little anxious.

He's here to report, but he's taken the wrong path.

The scholar saw the fork in the road in front of him, and his face became more anxious, he couldn't tell which path was correct.

At this time, he saw Gu Nan at the intersection, walked up, bowed down and asked.

"This gentleman, dare to ask you if you know how to go to the Hundred Academies?"

"Oh." Gu Nan chuckled and turned around and pointed to a path.

"There."

The scholar thanked him and hurried towards the academy.

And Gu Nan stood in place, watching him gradually walk away.

As she said, she will not be the one who will reach the end and be watched by thousands of people and praised for generations, all she can do is the person who stands at the intersection and shows the way to everyone who comes.

She hopes that this academy will be that crossroads, and everyone who passes by will eventually be able to reach their end and achieve what they have learned and wanted.

Perhaps what every predecessor did was nothing more than that, all the sons of the hundred schools, whether it was right or wrong, what they did was just for the sake of future generations, pointing out a path that might be able to be taken.

Maybe they were wrong and were reviled by thousands of people, or maybe they were right, but few people traced back to the source.

But they have always stood there, for generations, paving the way for the right road to heaven that will eventually appear.

Gu Nan put down his hand and prepared to leave.

But suddenly a voice appeared in her ear, and Wen Sheng asked her.

"Don't you take a closer look at this prosperous world that you have begged me with death."

Instead of being surprised, she turned her back to her hands, looked up at the clear sky, and said with a smile.

"No need, Shengshi, you don't need someone like me. One look at it is enough. ”

After speaking, on that road, silently walked away.

At the intersection, there was silence for a long time.

It was probably a gust of wind that made the voice appear again, and it sighed.

"Why bother?"

The voice is very soft, far away in the middle of the country.

Even if it is a prosperous era at this time, it will be a chaos again in hundreds of years. It is said that heaven and earth are not kind, but those who are not benevolent and make trouble are obviously just people's hearts······

The festival of the Lantern Festival begins at night, and the lights illuminate the entire city, making the night like day, and the firelight and the stars in the sky reflect each other, reflecting a beautiful scenery on earth.

Guo Jia was about to go out, but when he reached the door, the guard suddenly reported to him that a strange person had sent a letter today. The man was wearing a hat and a white robe.

He took the letter in a daze, and the flickering light in front of the door illuminated the four words on the letter that had not yet been opened.

Filial piety.

The streets of the city are very lively, except in front of one house, which is a little deserted.

A woman sat in front of the door, she was wearing a military robe, it was rare to see a woman dressed like this. There was only one lamp lit in front of the house, and the light was dim, shining on the woman's face.

She is also middle-aged, but because of her martial arts practice, she doesn't seem to have aged too much, her face is heroic, and she vaguely seems to be still in her prime.

She sat by the door and watched the lights of the city come on.

"Z." The door was pushed open, and another woman stood in the middle of the door, looked at the person sitting in front of the door, lowered her eyes and whispered.

"Qi'er, go back to the house early, it's cold outside."

The woman called Qi'er turned around and responded: "Well, I know, Sister Xiu'er, go back first." ”

"That's good." The woman in the door nodded helplessly and closed the door gently.

The winter wind blew a little cold on the face, and the woman sat in front of the door, not knowing what she was thinking.

A footstep came towards the cold door of the house, and slowly stopped when he walked to the front of the house.

After a while, a somewhat jerky voice asked.

"Girl, what are you doing sitting here?"

The woman sitting in front of the door looked at the lights of Wanjia with fascination in her eyes and said, "I'm waiting for someone." ”

A person who won't come.

"Hmm." The sound answered, and the footsteps seemed to be about to go further, but finally stopped.

On the street, Gu Nan took off his hat and looked at Lingqi.

"Qi'er."

Lingqi's body paused, half loud, and turned back in a daze.

Gu Nan stood there and smiled at her.

The man in front of the door, red-eyed.

There is a lamp left in the door, waiting for the people to come as before.