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The snow was falling, covering up all the filth on the surface of the earth, turning it into a snow-white world. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

Suddenly, the silence of the day was broken by the sound of cannons, and although the cannons rumbled, there was no shouting of killing.

And under the towering walls of the capital, there are corpses everywhere in the snow, which are the corpses left by the Taiping army besieging the city, which lasted for more than 20 days, making the Taiping army outside the city suffer heavy casualties.

Xu is casualties are too large, although the cannon has been constantly sounding in the past few days, but no longer send troops to climb the city, which makes the Qing army commander in the city breathe a sigh of relief.

However, this does not mean that they can really breathe a sigh of relief, although the bullets fired by the Taiping army are not accurate, but occasionally there will always be a few shells hitting the city, or flying a battlement, or hitting a soldier, and the most fatal thing is probably the cannonball that will explode in the air.

Compared with other shells, the moment the volley exploded in the air and a cloud of smoke exploded, there was an instantaneous storm of blood on the city wall—hundreds of bullets flew like rain to the head of the city, hitting the bodies of the soldiers lying behind the battlements. Just like at this time, a cannonball that exploded in the air above the city took the lives of dozens of people in an instant.

The soldiers who were lucky enough to escape the catastrophe, listening to the screams in their ears, were all the brains of the dead who were hit by more than ten shotguns, the brains of the dead who were smashed by the projectiles, and the splashing brains, and the gray brick road on the city wall, which was enough to run horses, was completely dyed red and black by the blood of the wounded and dead at this time, and the wounded soldiers who were hit by several shotguns were lying on the city wall struggling and howling in pain.

In the midst of this miserable cry, the soldiers on the wall desperately pressed their bodies against the battlements, and now they had learned how to dodge the flowering bullets, as long as they were close to the battlements, they could always dodge. Of course, more importantly, we should pray for the blessing of the gods and Buddhas, and pray that the cannonball of the bandit will hit the head.

This prayer is always more spiritual than dodging shelling. After all, the shells of the Taiping army were always inaccurate.

At this time, the city not only lived in the capital of the 24 banners of nearly 110,000 households, but also lived in the three banners of the internal affairs of the three banners of thousands of people, together with 19 banners in the suburbs of Beijing nearly 50,000 households also withdrew into the capital in order to save their lives, at this time the nearly one million banner people were all besieged in the capital.

At this time, the gates of the surrounding capital were closed. The capital with a population of one million was surrounded by nearly 100,000 Taiping troops, and almost became a dead city, but fortunately, the winter grain from all over the country was relieved from all over the country a few months ago.

However, despite this, the banner people in this city are nervous all day long, firstly, because they are afraid that the capital will be conquered by the Taiping army, and secondly, because the bullets the size of children's fists that fall from time to time, if they smash in, not only will the roof be smashed through, but if they are in a hurry, they may also hit a person, and they will be dead and crippled at that time.

Compared with the former, the latter, which fell at some point, was even more terrifying, but after a long time, everyone seemed to be able to listen to the sound and tell where the bullet fell.

Miss Ning, who was wearing a padded jacket, looked into the distance at the gate of the courtyard. There is no difference between her family and other banner people, it is a small courtyard, and all the living benefits of the banner people are obtained under the Eight Banners system, and housing is no exception. The size of the house was customized, but the wing room on the west side of the courtyard was punched by a cannon with a big hole, and through the branches of the plum tree in the courtyard, the opening in the roof looked like a mouth with its front teeth dropped.

For many days, she would stand at this gate every day, staring blankly at the street, she was looking at her grandfather, now in the capital with a population of one million, all the young and strong have gone to the city, and even many women have packed up their knives and guns, once the city is broken, they will fight hard with those long hairs, as for the old man who is like her grandfather, who no longer has a difference many years ago, this will also patrol the city with knives and guns.

Suddenly, the whistling sound in the air made Miss Ning quickly hide, and the next moment, she heard the sound of things being smashed in the courtyard.

When she climbed out, she found that the window of the hall had been smashed wide, the green bricks in the house were broken, and there was an iron in the corner, and she found that there seemed to be no loss, so she quickly found a piece of rice paper that her grandfather used to write and pasted it on the window.

A rapid cough came from Grandma's house, causing Miss Ning to quickly close the window and turn around and walk towards Grandma's house.

I saw my grandmother sitting on the bed, her head full of silver threads swaying slightly to the rhythm of the chanting, and the rosary moving one by one in an orderly manner between her trembling fingers, as if she was completely immersed in another world. The leather-collared garment draped over the shoulders would have drooped down.

Hearing Xiuning's footsteps, Bai Ling'er in the hanging cage jumped around happily. On weekdays, it was grandpa's beloved thing, and he never put it down easily.

Xiuning leaned against the side of the bed and put her hand in her grandmother's hand. She opened her eyes, lowered the rosary in her hand, and held her hand tightly.

"Grandma, you're not warm enough."

Xiu Ning said softly, now that there is no firewood for heating, this room is naturally not as good as in the past.

"It's fine."

The old woman muttered, with a slight asthma in her voice, she had been sick for almost three months.

"Are you hungry, Grandma?"

"No...... A little. ”

"Then I'll go make breakfast."

When Xiu Ning turned to leave, Bai Ling'er jumped in the cage a few more times. Greet me? Xiuning stopped. Bai Ling'er tilted her little head, and her round eyes like beanbeads stared at her, flashing with childlike curiosity and anticipation.

"Sing me a song, little one? Sing and feed you first. Words count. ”

Bai Linger shook her head, flapped her wings, and grunted a few times. Round, pleasant to the ear.

"It's not easy, is it, Grandma?" Xiuning giggled.

"It's a golden voice! Your grandfather used two months of money to buy this bird, your grandfather, a lifetime is not good for anything else, just write a word, draw a picture, by the way like a bird, a bird, a bird, when you are young, you don't like to dance a gun and make a stick, who would have thought, old and old, but picked up a knife and gun. ”

Grandma's wrinkled face will be full of melancholy, Xiuning listened to grandma's words, comforted a few times, then went out into the kitchen, opened the lid of the rice bowl in the corner of the wall and took some rice, returned to grandma's bedroom, and put the rice in a small wooden dish in the cage. Bai Ling'er jumped happily, her mouth grunting. Grandma turned her head and watched Lark pecking happily, and from time to time her mouth let out a contented, loving sigh.

"Want to get up? Breakfast was fine for a while. ”

"Okay."

Grandma lifted the quilt and carefully moved her legs to the side of the bed, one hand on Xiuning's shoulder, and her hand trembled. Xiuning held her grandmother's waist with her right hand, moved her grandmother's thin legs with her left hand, and led her foot to the cotton shoes on the ground. Grandma finally stood up, gasping for breath.

"Okay, Grandma?"

Grandma nodded.

Xiuning helped her grandmother button her cotton clothes, helped him walk step by step to the dining table in the hall, and then brought a basin for her grandmother to wash her face. By the time she returned to the kitchen to bring breakfast, Grandma had already washed her face, and her wrinkled face was a little red. Grandma's hand holding the small bowl trembled incessantly, and it took a long time to bring the porridge to her mouth.

"Grandma," Xiuning chuckled, "you've got porridge stuck to your chin." ”

"Really?" Grandma asked, as if disbelieving. She put down the spoon and tried to wipe off the millet grains stuck to her chin with her fingers.

"I'll wipe it for you, grandma."

Xiuning got up and gently wiped her grandmother's chin with a towel.

"Grandma is getting less and less useful."

"Don't move."

Grandma sat motionless like a child.

"Not really." After she finished wiping, she said comfortingly to her grandmother,

"Grandma, look at your complexion today, how good."

She turned to get the mirror on the windowsill.

"Excuse me."

The old woman laughed softly.

"Okay, but you're looking great today."

"You want me to feel better, don't you?"

Grandma suddenly coughed, gasping for breath and turning purple.

"Don't talk while eating, or you'll choke."

She hurried behind her grandmother and patted him gently on the back.

"Are you better?"

"Hmm." Grandma's cough eased a little, but at that moment, there was a dull whistling sound in the air, which made her face change, and her wrinkled face flashed with helplessness, and finally sighed again.

"Xiuning, you should get out of here."

"Where are you going?"

Yes, where to go?

If the Han people don't want the banner people to live here, then where can they, the flag people, go?

Go to Kanwai?

Although the imperial court often said that the white mountain and black water were the hometown of the Manchurians, what was that hometown like? Even an old woman in her 60s didn't know what the white mountains and black waters looked like.

For the old woman, she has long regarded this capital as her home, this is the home of the banner people, her people, and Xiuning's home, but now, there are hundreds of thousands of long-haired thieves outside the city. Those long-haired thieves wanted to kill all their banner people, saying that they wanted to avenge the Han people.

"Hey, yes, go there......"

Murmuring on her lips, the melancholy on the old woman's face became even stronger, this rumbling cannon has the appearance of breaking the capital, in case the capital is breached, what will be done then?

"Xiuning, go get a mirror and scissors."

"What?"

Xiuning looked at her grandmother in surprise,

"Your hair has to be cut off, you have to braid it and dress up as a man."

Grandma looked at Xiuning's black hair and said, seeing that she still seemed a little puzzled, she said again.

"You are a girl's family, if this city is broken, you will definitely not be able to live in peace, and it is better to pretend to be a man!"

"But, didn't the imperial court say that it could hold the capital?"

"Hold? Even the emperor is hunting in the north, what are you still guarding, go quickly, get scissors and ......" (to be continued.) )