Snow fell in the sky, snowflakes the size of feathers fell, and in less than half an hour, the sky and the earth were covered with snow.

Today is the thirtieth day of the Chinese New Year's Eve, and Yulin City, which has been deserted for many days, seems lively with the arrival of this heavy snowfall.

Although there are no lights and joy, and the closed shops are still not open, there are more pedestrians on the streets, and the streets and alleys are full of people, or wearing umbrellas, or wearing robes, there are vendors carrying burdens, there are strong men carrying pork, and there are decent people visiting relatives and friends.

After the Chinese New Year, the city should be lively, and compared to previous years, this can't be considered lively, it's just that there are more people.

The snow is getting heavier and heavier, and the fire tower outside Pudu Temple is covered with an oilcloth at some point, and the snowflakes fall on the oilcloth, looking from afar, like an ice peak.

Shen Tong stood under the fire tower and looked up at the top of the tower.

This is the first time she has spent the New Year in Yulin, and if it weren't for Xiao Ren's reminder, she wouldn't have known that Yulin had this custom.

I don't know what customs Liujiawan has lived in since she was a child, but unfortunately she doesn't remember them all.

Most of the people in Liujiawan have never seen her, and when she came to that time, she stayed at home with her aunt and didn't go out during the New Year.

Shen Tong thought wildly, turned around and walked into the temple.

In the thirtieth year of the Chinese New Year's Eve, there were no pilgrims in the temple, a few little nuns who were so cold that their shoulders were shrunk and their backs were sweeping the snow, and Shen Tong did not return to Ci's peaceful residence, she walked slowly in the temple.

She was wearing a snow-white fox fur, which was brought from Xi'an by flatbread, and the rare white fox skin was hunted by Xiao Ren in Kanto.

Shen Tong walked through the halls, the ancient pines in the Pudu Temple are towering, the green pines are white and snowy, solemn and solemn.

"Amitabha, is Lord Shen watching the snow?"

A nun in green clothes stood on the steps in front of the temple, her hands clasped together.

"Is Master Ran also here to watch the snow?" Shen Tong asked rhetorically.

"No, there are disciples who say that there is a broken eaves in this hall, so the poor nuns will come to see it."

Shen Tong followed her gaze and saw that a piece was missing from one of the cornices, and that piece was falling on the snow below.

"It's okay, I didn't hit anyone." Shen Tong said.

"Amitabha, Bodhisattva bless." Master Ran said.

As he spoke, Master Ran picked up the piece that had fallen on the ground and carefully placed it under the corridor.

Shen Tong said goodbye to Master Ran, returned the same way, and returned to Ci'an Ju.

"Miss, all the slaves and maids are done." As soon as she entered the door, Fang Fei ran over, her face full of excitement.

Shen Tong nodded, lowered his voice and said, "Be careful, someone has entered the temple." ”

Although the heavy snow concealed the traces, not far from the place where the eaves fell, there was a shrub that fell crookedly, and the shrub fell its leaves in the winter, and then sprouted again at the beginning of spring next year.

Fang Fei was startled, quickly covered her mouth, arched her waist, raised her legs high, and then fell gently, obviously the snow on the ground had been swept over, she still walked into the house with one foot deep and one foot shallow......

In fact, when Shen Tong was inspecting the temple, Fang Fei had already done a lot of things.

In the courtyard of the county lord of Yining, there was laughter and laughter.

A few maids are playing small cards while laughing loudly, Ci'an Juli has been silent for many days, and today it is finally lively, the New Year is over, and the county lord is in a much better mood.

Inside the house, the maids were all worried, when Fang Fei came over just now, they were still crying, the county lord was gone, and they didn't see the county lord after waking up this morning.

The county lord is not alone, and there are also the grandmothers and big girls around the county lord.

They knew that the county lord must have fled.

Although he lived in Pudu Temple, rumors from outside also spread through the mouths of pilgrims. Old General Fan is dead, Major General Fan is seriously injured, the front is already in chaos, the Tartars are coming, and they are about to enter Yulin City.

The county lord is a golden branch and jade leaf, of course, he can't be restrained. But the county lord fled without taking them with him, so they had to stay here and wait for death.

No, I heard that the Tartars would rob women and be slaves as prostitutes, so it would be better to let them die.

Fang Fei told them that as long as they did what she said, there might be a glimmer of life.

Whoever wants to die, who will be willingly snatched away by the Tartars, even if there is only a glimmer of life, they will fight for it.

Shen Tong stood under the corridor, the snow was still falling, a little smaller, and snowflakes the size of copper coins were flying all over the sky.

A palace guard came over from the shadows and said to Shen Tong: "The girl guessed right, there are many more people on the street, and there are people on every street. ”

Shen Tong asked, "Plus you, how many people are there in total?" ”

The guard said, "We have fifty men, and the garrison and government in the city have two hundred and twenty-one people at their disposal. A total of two hundred and seventy-one people. The government said that we could not mobilize the defenders. ”

Shen Tong stood still, she didn't speak.

At noon, the heavy snow finally stopped, the maids and little nuns came out with brooms and shovels to clear the snow, and the outside of Pudu Temple was cleaned, and the tarpaulin of the fire tower was removed, revealing the black body of the tower.

Another guard walked up to Shen Tong and said in a low voice, "Those people began to converge, and now they are concentrated on Chaoyang Street, Babao Street, Wuma Street, Huaihua Street, and Zhenbao Street. ”

As he spoke, he dipped his finger in the coal of the fire tower, stained it with a faint carbon black, and drew a few lines on the ground.

These are the five streets, and the five streets seem to be not close to each other, but in fact they have a common intersection.

Yulin Mansion.

Shen Tong smiled coldly and said to Fang Fei, who was following behind, "Bring the fire." ”

Huo'er is raised behind Ci'anju, and the place in Pudu Temple is very large, and Huo'er will walk for an hour every day to grow fat and strong.

Shen Tong turned over his horse, bypassed the fire tower, and ran forward.

Not far away, Xu An and Lu You rode horses to join her, three people and three horses, and headed towards the garrison camp.

Yulinwei is not in Yulin City, of course the defenders are not there, these horses in the garrison camp are those who stayed in Yulinwei when General Fan went to the front for reinforcements, they are the Fan family's army, they are the Fan family's children's soldiers, and they only listen to the Fan family's dispatch.

After the Fan family released the news of General Fan's death, they entered the city and were ready to be dispatched at any time.

The place where the garrison is located is in the back street of Fan's house, and when General Fan and Fan Guiying were there, the back street of Fan's house was the place where the soldiers were stationed.

The snow on the streets was not cleared, and the horses' hooves creaked the snow and raised a loud sound.

An offering table was set up on the back street of the Fan family, with a spiritual seat on it, and a bowl of wine placed below the spiritual seat.

Shen Tong and the three dismounted in front of the offering table, and Shen Tong took Xu An and Lu You to slowly walk to the spiritual seat and saluted solemnly.