When Wang Fei's heart was turning over the river and the sea, he heard the crisp sound of horses' hooves and the melodious ringing of silver bells coming from the side door of the main entrance of Ashina's house. As soon as Wang Fei's heart moved, he saw a little white horse shining with silver shining all over his body, rushing out of the side door, dazzling the guards of the door.

"Scarlet, let's take a look at Bai Lianju's outfit?" Ashina Xiaoyun, who was dressed in silver rat skin, rode on top of the silver glittering white horse, and immediately became the most dazzling star.

"Tsk, Xiaoyun, are you going to watch the lanterns or walk the horses? Bai Lianju with a silver saddle sheath must be more attractive than lanterns! Wang Fei lifted the window screen and said with a smile: "You still sit in the car and talk with me, don't be so ostentatious." ”

"Don't dare to live up to Mrs. Pei's love! I don't want to treat Bai Lianju badly! Let's let Wenxia accompany you in the carriage! Ashina Xiaoyun was naturally reluctant to abandon the horse and ride the car.

"Sister is trying to let Bai Lianju overwhelm the little red horse, right?" Before Ashina Xiaoyun's voice fell, Ashina Wenxia's gloomy voice came from the side door.

"Wenxia is right, you must be angry that Bai Lianju can't compare to the little red horse, so you have to borrow this saddle sheath to add color to Bai Lianju!" Wang Fei wanted Xiaoyun to get on the car and ride together.

"Hmph, Bai Lian Ju is the first in Tingzhou, how can he not compare to the little red horse!? Where else do you need to resort to external forces!? Wang Fei, do you think that's the case? Ashina Xiaoyun lightly clamped the horse's belly and came to Wang Fei's side, and the jade finger pointed to the little red horse and asked.

"Xiaoyun is what it is." Looking at the face that was brighter than the moonlight, Wang Fei muttered.

Ashina Xiaoyun stretched out his hand and patted Wang Fei's head: "How can you call my name!?" You have to call my sister! I'm two years older than you! Scarlet, take care of your brother, why is it not big or small now! ”

The moment Ashina Xiaoyun made a move, Hao Rumingyue's wrist was only a few centimeters away from Wang Fei's nose, and a wisp of a girl's fragrant fragrance like Mei Rulan suddenly came and drilled into Wang Fei's nostrils, making him dizzy, completely ignoring the embarrassment of being slapped on the head by a little girl.

Wang Fei's embarrassment only lasted for a few seconds, but it was enough to be noticed by an attentive person.

Ashina's face was slightly red, as if she realized for the first time that this boy who was the same age as her younger brother was not just a child, but also a member of the opposite sex.

Ayitengna, who has been paying attention to Xiao Langjun, feels fun at the same time, but her mood is slightly complicated, and she suddenly remembers the Kudulu who loves her the most, and looks at the little grievances of other girls.

Ashina Wenxia, who was standing behind her sister, stared at Feixia on her sister's face, her eyes flashing with a cunning light.

"Sister, wait for me, don't go first!" Ashina Jiang rode a brown fruit dismount and slowly appeared in the side doorway. Behind him, he was followed by dozens of domestic servants and Li Dingbang, the general of the North Court.

Ashina's appearance rescued Wang Fei from his embarrassment. Wang Fei hurriedly turned over and got on his horse and shouted to Ashina Jiang: "Ji Ang, come over quickly, let's ride forward together!" ”

The howling north wind became tighter and tighter, blowing the stars in the sky to the ground, and the lights in the streets like rippling ripples.

But no matter how tight the north wind is, it can't stop the enthusiasm of the people of Tingzhou to watch the lanterns on New Year's Eve!

Wang Fei knew that all cities in the Tang Dynasty implemented a strict curfew system, and every evening when the "daytime" of the yamen was exhausted, he sounded 600 "closed-door drums"; Every morning after five or three o'clock, 400 "open door drums" are sounded. Anyone who walks on the streets of the city without reason behind the "closed door drum" or in front of the "open door drum" is guilty of "committing a night crime" and is to be given 20 lashes.

The only exception to the curfew system is three days before and after the Shangyuan Festival, that is, from the 14th to the 16th of the first month.

The expulsion ceremony on the night of Chinese New Year's Eve is that the market is not open, and there is no restriction on movement between the streets, but the markets in various places are not open, so it is not as lively as New Year's Eve.

Looking at the bustling crowd on the street, Wang Fei remembered the poet Cui Li's famous "Shangyuan Night": "The jade leaks the silver kettle and does not urge, and the iron gate and gold lock are open." Whoever sees the moon can sit idle, and where they don't see the lights. ”

In previous lives, people's nightlife had already developed to the point of variety and unimaginability, and unless there was a special period, curfew was unimaginable.

Before the Song Dynasty, a strict curfew system had been implemented in China's cities, which made the Yuan Xi carnival particularly tempting.

During the three days of the Shangyuan Festival, whether it is princes and nobles, ordinary people, literati, monks and Taoists, geisha who advocate excellence, and women from good families, they can have fun on the street "regardless of whether they are noble or low, men and women are mixed, and there is no distinction between vegetarians and vegetarians", temporarily forget how difficult and hard life is, put aside all worries and unsatisfactory, and enjoy the freedom of festival carnival.

The joy of the New Year's Eve, the first is the curfew, and the second is to watch the lanterns and admire the moon. Surrounded by a group of soldiers and horses, Wang Fei rode a small red horse, followed behind the carriage, and marched towards the inner south gate of the inner city of Tingzhou City.

Along the way, I saw that the streets of the inner city of Tingzhou, which were quiet at night in the past, became crowded and crowded. Inside and outside the squares, there are lights, and everywhere is the sound of dancing flames and crackling grease burning.

Wang Fei sniffed it carefully, and there was not only the heavy burning smell of beef and mutton fat, but also the plant fragrance of pine olein resin.

After Wang Fei crossed, the first city he knew was naturally the Broken Leaf City in the middle of the river. However, since the Tang army had no plan to garrison Broken Leaf City, Wang Fei was only briefly familiar with the famous city in the west of the moraine, and did not have the opportunity to live in it.

Tingzhou City, the residence of the Beiting Metropolitan Protectorate, is where Wang Fei currently lives. The constant pressure of danger since the crossing made the otaku change the nature of the road idiot in his previous life, find various opportunities to consult the map, field survey, and finally figure out the general structure of Tingzhou City.

Tingzhou City, as a famous palace on the Silk Road and an important town in the west of the Silk Road, was built on the Jinman River, a tributary of the Jiaohe River. The Jinman River flows from northwest to southeast, and is divided into two sections, east and west, near the northwest corner of Tingzhou City, and then converges in the southeast to become the natural moat of Tingzhou City.

The location of Tingzhou City holds the north road in the middle section of the Silk Road, which is the main road for Longyou and Mobei to enter and exit the west of the moraine. When the Han Dynasty hollowed out the Western Regions, this place was the location of the royal city at the rear of the Cheshi.

During the Zhenguan period, Emperor Taizong sent Hou Junji to conquer Gaochang, and set up Tingzhou here; Emperor Gaozong expanded and renovated Tingzhou City on a large scale in the third year of Xianqing, and built this rectangular city with a length from north to south and short irregular from east to west according to the trend of the east and west canals, which is very different from the boxy and similar to the broken leaf city of Chang'an.

Because Tingzhou Castle is the location of the Beiting Metropolitan Protectorate, an inner city was built in the northeast corner of the city, relying on the east and north sections of the city wall. The Jiedu made the yamen, the official offices of the North Court at all levels, and the inner residences of the officials of the North Court all in the inner city.

The inner city not only has a taller and thicker city wall than the outer city, but also has a Beiting elite army of more than 600 people, which provides all-round protection for the safety of the Beiting dignitaries. This inner city can be described as a city within a city in Tingzhou, and non-dignitaries are not allowed to stay.

In order to protect the safety of the inner city to the greatest extent, there are only two gates in the inner city, one is the east city gate shared with the outer city, and outside the gate is the thoroughfare leading to Longyou and leading to Chang'an.

There is also an inner south gate on the south wall of the inner city, which is the only passage connecting the inner and outer city. The inner south gate is built very solidly, like a fortress guarding the frontier, and the outside of the gate is a river diversion canal, forming a moat.

If there is chaos in the city, the soldiers stationed in the inner city can attack and defend as long as they hold the inner south gate, which is enough to guard the safety of the important people in the north court.

At this moment, Wang Fei and his entourage in the north courtyard "Yanei" are to pass through the inner south gate and go to the outer city.

After checking the waist plates of Wang Yong and others, the soldiers at the inner south gate turned the winch and lowered the drawbridge.

Although it was the night of the first day of the carnival in the whole city, the soldiers stationed in the inner city were still meticulously loyal to their duties.

When Wang Yong was talking with the chief of the city guard, Wang Fei glanced at Li Dingbang, who was closely following Ashina, and secretly sighed: "It is still the early year of Tianbao, and there are signs of soldiers in the border army. The dignified generals appointed by the Ministry of War are willing to bow to protect the deputy protector of the Yanai, and the authority of the future feudal town can be imagined! ”

Of course, when complaining, the little otaku obviously automatically ignored Wang Yong's personal protection of him, and also forgot that he was also an out-and-out "little Yanei"!

After crossing the suspension bridge, Wang Fei and his entourage came to a horizontal street more than 50 meters wide and running east-west.

When Wang Fei saw this side street, he couldn't help but think of the guillotine road that repeatedly appeared in the news of later generations. The side street starts from the west gate of the outer city in the west and ends at the east city wall in the east. Since the east gate is shared by the inner and outer city, the east and west gates of the outer city of Tingzhou are not completely opposed, which also leads to the wide side street is actually a dead end.

While communicating the east and west urban areas, Hengjie also plays a role in distinguishing the north and south cities.

As an important town with both military and commercial functions, Tingzhou City not only stationed more than 10,000 Han Navy, but also Silk Road merchants who traveled back and forth.

To the north of Hengjie, in a vast area other than the inner city, there are dozens of military camps, where most of the officers and men of the Han Navy serve.

Due to the large number of horses in the Han Navy, outside the north gate of the outer city, there is also a low sheep and horse city, which is dedicated to grazing the horses, cattle and sheep of the Han Navy.

The families of the Han Navy and various personnel related to the military mostly live in other neighborhoods in the northern city.

Due to the large number of sergeants, the entire northern city was filled with a solemn and solemn atmosphere.

In the south of Hengjie, the atmosphere is very different from that in the north city. The first to bear the brunt is the most prosperous city in Tingzhou City.

Different from the structure of the east and west cities of Chang'an City, Tingzhou City only set up a south city in the west of the south city due to the narrowness of the east and west, which is smaller than the east and west cities of Chang'an City.

However, due to its location on the Silk Road, the frequent visits of Hu and Han caravans from east to west, and the establishment of shops by various forces, the prosperity of Tingzhou Chengnan City is not much inferior to that of Chang'an West City.