For the people of Luoyang City, this New Year is somewhat festive, at least the first year that the new emperor ascended the throne and was driven away from the northern Hulu, and it will also be a time of prosperity in the future. But after experiencing the suffering of war, the people have become a little numb to life, even if the north settles down, it is also based on the background of trauma, there are still many refugees in the upheaval of the displacement, and the Hebei generation can even reach the point of thousands of miles of uninhabited.

The two edicts issued by the imperial court in succession did not cause much repercussions among the people, and no matter how the imperial court reduced taxes and appeased the injured people, it could not get much support. Han Jian used an almost militaristic way to establish a dynasty that was almost militaristic, although the politics were clear, but what Baixin needed was not this, but real life.

At the end of the year, the soldiers and horses in the north were gradually withdrawn, and when fighting with the Xianbei people, the imperial court conscripted troops several times, and the soldiers and horses from all over the country were recruited and transferred to the north, and there were more than 200,000 soldiers and horses along the North Pass, and there were hundreds of thousands of people. After the end of the war, the normal garrison of Beiguan soldiers and horses will be reduced to 50,000, some of these 50,000 horses are still drawn from Jiangdu and Yuzhou, and the soldiers who originally experienced the war in Beiguan will be withdrawn, among which hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians, nearly half of them are Jiangdu's children.

But at this time, Han Jian's plan was not to stop the army, but to continue to send troops south, and the main troops and horses that Han Jian mobilized this time were also Lin Zhan and Su Tingxia, who had just fought with the Xianbei people in the north.

At the beginning of the year, the north was already a country of ice and snow, and in Jinling City, although there were also a few snowfalls, Jiangnan was not as cold as the north. At the end of the year and the beginning of the year, banquets in Jinling City continued every day. Officials and wealthy people of all sizes do not seem to have a premonition that the north is coveting Jiangnan, and are ready to send troops south at any time, even Xiao Ling, the king of Hui, who is in charge of the main military power of the Qi Dynasty, is also feasting in the mansion every day, and he is drunk every day, and some do not know whether it is black and white day and night. The feeling of being drunk and dreaming of death.

On Chinese New Year's Eve, the guests in King Hui's mansion gathered, and in the absence of a banquet in the palace, Xiao Ling's mansion seemed to be the imperial palace of Jinling City, almost full of officials. Everyone knows that Xiao Ling is now in charge of the power of soldiers and horses, which is equivalent to the uncrowned emperor of the Southern Dynasty, and even the empress is supported by him, and his words are equivalent to holy decrees. The officials of the Southern Dynasties have always been not very principled, and whoever is in power is subordinate to whom. Compared with the separation of the four kings and the court in the Northern Dynasty for decades, the contradictions between the government and the opposition in the Southern Dynasty are mainly confined to Jinling City, and whoever is in power will inevitably have a liquidation afterwards, if you don't know how to take sides, it won't take a few years. There will be a new retainer rising, and the next purge is not far off.

Xiao Ling personally came out to entertain the guests. The lights in the palace are brilliant, and the singing and dancing performances are also very loud, and the voices are boiling, and they are also in the midst of singing and laughing, indicating that the first year of the empress's accession to the throne has passed like this.

And in a small courtyard in Jinling City, Sima Yi looked a little lonely, during the Spring Festival. He couldn't help but miss his parents in Jiangdu, as well as his brothers and sisters, and his former friends Han Jian and Ruan Ping. Huan'er was the only one who accompanied Sima to spend Chinese New Year's Eve, and like Sima Yu, Huan'er was also a guest in a foreign land. Compared with Sima Yi, who is still in love, Huan'er doesn't even have relatives, but she is happy, because the person she pins on is in front of her, and she can accompany the person she loves, how can this not be a kind of happiness?

"Sir, Mrs. Li has sent a letter from the north." Just when Sima Yi was still playing chess with him, there was a sound in the courtyard, and a seemingly loyal man walked into the courtyard, Sima Yi couldn't help but look sideways, he didn't expect that on the night of the New Year, someone would also come to deliver a letter to him.

Sima stood up to greet him, and the man saluted respectfully and said, "This is a letter sent by His Majesty to the villain. ”

Sima Yi nodded, but felt that something was wrong, Xiao Zhan almost never sent special people to deliver letters, the people he could see every day didn't even know his identity, those people were just responsible for delivering food, and even boiling water for cooking, and after Xiao Zhan brought Huan'er to him, these things no longer need to be taken care of by others, and Huan'er is completely handled by himself.

Sima Yi asked, "You were sent by His Majesty?" ”

"Exactly." The loyal man took out the letter in his arms and presented it to him, Sima took it with a cautious face, opened the letter in vigilance and read it, only to know that this person was indeed not an assassin, but he was still a little unclear about how this person entered the courtyard, this person entered the courtyard almost quietly, and even the courtyard door was not opened, it should have come in over the wall. But if this man wants to attack him, he doesn't have to speak, just come in and assassinate him.

The letter was sent by Li Fangwei, and it was a letter from Li Fangwei to report his safety after arriving in Luoyang, and some special codes were used in the letter, so even if this letter fell into the hands of others, it would be difficult to detect what was being said in it. Originally, there was nothing particularly important in the letter, Sima found that the wax seal had been opened, indicating that the letterhead had been opened, and there was no word on the envelope, indicating that the letter was passed through the imperial court, and Xiao Zhan may also know the content of the letter.

"There is labor." Sima made a gesture of invitation, meaning that the messenger could leave.

But the messenger had no intention of leaving, and stood there staring at Sima Yi, with some hesitation in his eyes.

Sima said, "Your Excellency is not here just to deliver a message, right? ”

The messenger saluted and said: "Mr. is discerning, although the villain was sent by His Majesty, but he is also a guest of King Hui, he should be relieved to see that Mr. is safe, but Mr. is living in seclusion here and does not have any contact with King Hui, which is really not done by the benevolent ministers." ”

Sima Yi nodded to show that he understood, it turned out that the person Xiao Zhan trusted to send him a letter was originally Xiao Ling's faction by Xiao Zhan's side, although Sima Yi was the military advisor of the Huiwang system, but the intelligence system of the Huiwang system has always been in charge of Huiwang's retainers, so he didn't know how many Xiao Ling's eyeliners were around Xiao Zhan, and judging from the fact that he had been back to Jinling for more than two months before Huiwang came to the door, Huiwang may not know that he is still alive, or this is just a coincidence.

"Your Excellency said that you want to kill me, or are you going to go back and report to King Hui?" Sima asked as he straightened up.

There was some sadness on the sender's face. Said: "The villain knows what is the matter of loyalty, and since it is planned by King Hui, he should not see different ideas, let alone forget his righteousness." The villain has always respected Mr. as a person, and now that he knows that Mr. is still well, the villain's heart is relieved. ”

said. The messenger suddenly pulled out a dagger from his bosom and wiped his neck directly.

"Ahh Huan'er, who had been watching carefully, exclaimed, she was just a woman, and she was very frightened by the killing.

Sima Yi stepped forward to support the man, allowing the blood stains to stain his clothes red, and the man was still calm when he died, and finally closed his eyes and never said a word again.

"Alas!"

Sima couldn't help but sigh, and this man committed suicide in front of his eyes. He didn't have any chance to help, and after all, he didn't trust this person. But he didn't expect this person's will to die so decisively, he actually said that he would die, and he couldn't ask himself about such a bearing.

"Don't be afraid, this is a righteous man, but a little too persistent." Sima comforted Huan'er, but he didn't even convince himself with this sentence.

Sima Yi also had a little guilt for Xiao Ling, the king of Hui, because he watched Xiao Ling fall step by step. He didn't help, when Xiao Ling needed to correct his mistakes. He went to inspect military affairs, and after the assassination on the way back, he simply hid and disappeared, allowing Xiao Ling to gradually lose himself. Now it's a meticulous work in King Hui's mansion who doesn't even know his name, and he is reminding him with his life that the second minister can't do it.

Thinking of this, Sima Yi couldn't help but show a sad smile on his face. Compared with this messenger, he is not only a "second minister", he is not only a small person in the north, Han Jian spies on the intelligence of the Southern Dynasty, and almost blatantly transmits the affairs of the Southern Dynasty to the north, and he is also the military advisor of King Hui who has created the achievement of King Hui who is now in power. And now he is equivalent to abandoning King Hui and defecting to the command of Empress Xiao Zhan, who is plotting for Xiao Zhan.

Sima lay the messenger's body flat on the ground and covered it with a veil, and when he turned his head, Huan'er was still hiding in the corner and shivering. Sima borrowed stepped forward, and Huan'er didn't dare to approach Sima borrowed because Sima borrowed his body was covered with the blood of the messenger.

"Go get me some clothes to change into, this place shouldn't be suitable for living anymore." Sima excused himself.

Huan'er nodded, quickly opened the door and went to the back room to get a change of clothes for Sima Yi, Sima Yi changed into it in front of Huan'er, and said, "Clean up a little, let's go." ”

"Go...... Where to go? Huan'er Zhiwu asked.

Sima Yi shook his head, even he didn't know where to go, it was Chinese New Year's Eve night, and the market had stopped, who would not enjoy the family reunion, but would choose to move in the new Chinese New Year's Eve?

"I don't know, let's take it one step at a time."

Sima sighed and asked Huan'er to clean up the softness and simplicity, in the past he had no long things, but now Huan'er has become his greatest asset. Along with Huan'er, there is also a small baggage, which contains some silver, although the amount is not much, but it is always a little expense, so that she will not sleep on the streets.

After Sima Yi and Huan'er walked out of the house, Sima Yi looked at the dark street, and his heart was a little dazed, if a few assassins suddenly appeared now, he would not have any power to parry.

When the two arrived on the street, the street was not as deserted as Sima Yi imagined, many people were setting off firecrackers, there were many children running back and forth, the annual Spring Festival was the same everywhere, and the excitement would not stop until after the Shangyuan Festival. He and Huan'er walked on the slightly lively street one after the other, but they seemed a little confused and helpless.

After walking more than two miles, I saw that I was approaching the west gate of Jinling City, and it was almost the second watch day at this time, and there were obviously fewer people on the road. Sima Yi saw that there was an inn in front of him that seemed to be still lit up, and walked over with Huan'er, and the treasurer of the inn turned around and looked at Sima Yu, and said, "This guest officer, today is Chinese New Year's Eve, why do you still want to come out and fall into a drift?" ”

Sima said: "I live outside with the cheap guests, and I will return to my hometown tomorrow." ”

The shopkeeper glanced at Sima Yi again, nodded and said, "Okay, it's okay to let you sleep for a night, can Lu Yin take it?" ”

Sima borrowed a handful of arms, and with him as a northerner, the entry and exit were either accompanied by soldiers, or Li Fangwei sent someone to escort him before and after, how could he have his way? And Huan'er was just a singer in Li Fangwei's house, she was originally a lowly person, and now she has never had a way out.

"It seems that there is no more, so I will not be able to entertain it. I think you're looking elsewhere, this guest officer. ”

After saying that, the shopkeeper didn't give any face, turned around and closed the door panel, not letting Sima have a chance to enter the door at all.

Sima sighed, how depressed this is, being in a foreign land, and not even staying in a guest house when he goes out. This made him feel a little depressed.

When he turned around and followed Huan'er back to the already deserted street, Huan'er was still looking at him, and Huan'er had already relied on him at this time.

"I can't live in an inn, so I can only find a random place to pay attention to a night." Sima sighed.

Huan'er nodded, it seemed that she didn't care about sleeping in the open or anything, as long as Sima Yi was by her side, she was already satisfied.

After Sima Yi said this, he looked around, it was all at this time, or in Jinling City, where to find a temporary place to stay? Even if you want to find a broken temple, it is difficult.

The road is bright because of the red lanterns hung out from every house, but sooner or later the lanterns will be extinguished, and when the candles are burned out on the third watch, no one will come out to renew the candles.

Sima Yi took Huan'er to walk aimlessly on the street, fortunately, there was no curfew in Jinling City, otherwise the two of them would have trouble walking on the road, but Sima Yi also knew that this was not the way. Standing on the bridge deck of the Qinhuai River, Sima looked at the river, and there was a small building in front of him, the lights in the small building were brilliant, and the small building was the official prostitute where Li Shanye had invited him before.

Suddenly, the window opened, and there was a woman standing there from the window, looking very familiar, Sima Yu was shocked and thought, isn't this the flower boat woman Qian Su Oak who once made King Hui Xiao Ling dream?

Qian Su Oak looked out of the window and quickly closed the window, Sima Yu didn't know if she saw herself, because the bridge was a little dark, and Qian Su Oak was in the light again.

Just as Sima Yi was about to take Huan'er down the bridge and leave the Qinhuai River, he suddenly heard a voice coming: "Since Mr. is here, why don't you drink a glass of water and wine inside to warm up?" ”

The figure who came out alone and looked a little lonely under the bridge was the talented woman who used to be famous in Jiangnan, but unfortunately now she is the same person as him. (To be continued......)