Spring is coming, but the war at the border is getting tighter and tighter.

On the official road outside the capital, scouts who rushed back and forth every day were tired and covered in dust.

Several cities in the south of the Mu State were quickly lost, and the army slowly retreated to the north, Li Yu was so angry that he jumped like thunder, and the teams sent out to rescue one after another did not stop the retreat of the Mu army.

The treasury soon bottomed out, after all, the state of Mu was established only a few years ago, and there were a series of incidents, and the treasury did not have much wealth.

The new palace, which was under construction, also stopped.

When Yao Hei'er entered the palace, he saw that Yao Jiu was still ordering the Shangfu Bureau to weave new clothes, and he was immediately angry, and when he was about to say a few words, he was afraid that Yao Jiu would lose face, so he persuaded a few words, Yao Jiu was reactionary and angry, and the mother and daughter broke up unhappily.

Yao Heier returned home and counted all the belongings, leaving only a small part to live, and the rest was donated to the state treasury. Yao Hei'er's behavior made Li Yan very moved, and he personally walked down the palace, thanked his mother-in-law, and promised that when the war is over in the future and the overall situation of Mu is stabilized, he will definitely return his mother-in-law's belongings.

It was raining heavily on this day, and Yao Hei'er sat alone in the empty room, looking through the window, looking at the red of the courtyard that had been beaten down by the rain, and was instantly wrapped in a thick sadness. After thinking about it, she put on her robe, rode a white horse, and went out of the house alone.

When the horses stopped, Yao Hei'er found that Zhong Cuiling's hut was in front of her.

Low thatched huts with gray courtyard walls.

Through the gate of the courtyard surrounded by thorns, you can see a few grapes in the courtyard, which have been climbed with vine trellises, and under the vine trellises is a set of stone tables and stools, without any patterns.

A yellow puppy, waiting for its black round eyes, barked at Yao Hei'er outside the chai gate.

Zhong Cuiling walked out, drank the puppy, opened the firewood door, and said lightly: "It's raining heavily today, I don't want my sister to come." Please come in and sit. ”

Yao Hei'er hadn't come to Zhong Cuiling for a long time, firstly, because she felt that she had no face to see her, and secondly, because there were frequent wars, and she was irritable. She tied her horse to the courtyard and followed Cuiling into the house.

The house was already low, and the windows were very small, and it was cloudy today, so the room was a little dark.

Zhong Cuiling brought the oil lamp and was about to light it, but Yao Hei'er stopped it: "Cuiling, no need, our sisters are just talking, and the black is not in the way at all." ”

Cui Ling didn't speak, put the oil lamp back in its place, and sat down next to Yao Hei'er.

"Cuiling," after being silent for a long time, Yao Hei'er slowly opened her mouth: "Do you hate me?" ”

"Sister's words are strange," Zhong Cuiling's voice was very calm: "Why should I hate my sister?" ”

"Oh," Yao Hei'er suddenly realized that she had lost her words, and hurriedly said, "If it weren't for me and my three daughters, you could have stayed by Tai'er's side all the time, and there would have been no such thing." ”

"Perhaps, it was wrong from the beginning." Zhong Cuiling said softly: "From the beginning, the master shouldn't have promised you to Du ...... Dusin, this man is selfish and indifferent, when the old man is in trouble, if he is willing to help, maybe there will not be so many things later; Besides, Xu Jun back then was too mediocre and cruel, if he was his emperor well and didn't kill innocents indiscriminately, how could he lose the country? ”

Yao Hei'er glanced at Zhong Cuiling in surprise, this woman who has always only been a needle girl red, when will she be able to talk about national affairs?

In the dark, Zhong Cuiling didn't see Yao Hei'er's eyes, she continued to say slowly: "Miss, in this troubled world, we are all just a small mustard, we can only bump back and forth with the turmoil of the world, who should blame whom?" Just like planting vegetables, several seedlings break through the soil at the same time, and what can be left after all is the most vigorous one, and the rest can only be eliminated. How can the other vegetable seedlings complain about the vegetable seedlings that were left behind? I can only blame myself for not being good enough. ”

There was silence again.

The rain began to fall again, hitting the grape trellis in the courtyard, and the verdant vines struggled helplessly in the wind and rain.

Yao Hei'er said faintly: "Cuiling, have you found any news of Lu Chang?" ”

"Nope." Zhong Cuiling replied crisply: "I asked all the neighbors where Tai'er used to live, and they said that when Tai'er was thirteen or fourteen years old, he began to wander around there, and he mixed with a group of people every day, and learned all kinds of problems. I don't know what kind of father he has. Besides, Lu Chang has already married another person, and I found him, which is also embarrassing. Why bother looking for it? But I don't know if his father is gone, so he wanders around, or if his father was separated from him during the war. What makes me sad when I think about it is that this child doesn't know how much suffering he has suffered. When I heard others say that this child is not, my heart is like a knife, and I think it is because he has no teaching from my father and mother that he is like this. He went home that day, thinking that he had also made his sister angry. ”

"Nope! No! Not really! Yao Hei'er hurriedly defended, but felt that this defense was very boring, hung his head, and his voice lowered by three points unconsciously, and reluctantly said: "He didn't make me angry." Cuiling, it's true. ”

Zhong Cuiling smiled lightly: "Sister, how could I not believe your words?" I think this is also his life. When I first went to inquire about him, people didn't know that I was his mother, and they all gritted their teeth with hatred, saying that he was dead. I don't know, what evil things this child has done, it can be regarded as his retribution, but I am his own mother, how can I not be sad? ”

Yao Hei'er didn't dare to answer any further, thought about it, and said, "Cuiling, I came this time, and I still want you to move back." Now that there is a war going on in the south and in the north, there are constantly outcasts flocking into the city, and there is always something unpeaceful in the streets, and I am afraid that you will not be safe here. Will you go back with me? ”

Zhong Cuiling paused and said, "Sister, I thought in my heart, I will always accompany him here for a few more months, and when it gets cold, if my sister wants me to go back again, I will go back to the house, how about it?" ”

Yao Hei'er nodded: "I can't resist you, when I go back, send two strong women to accompany you, you are here alone, I can't rest assured." ”

"Sister," Zhong Cuiling waved her hand in the dark: "You have mentioned this several times, but I want to stay alone quietly, and my sister still doesn't need to send someone here." When my sister mentioned this, I remembered one thing, I was a little uncomfortable that day, so I went to my sister Xianmao to get two doses of medicine to eat, and I talked about it by chance, she said that her sister used to send her silver every month, so that she could use it for free medical treatment, but this month it was not delivered, but what is the difficulty at home? ”

Yao Hei'er choked up and said: "Cuiling, I donated most of my family's belongings, the front line is tight, Your Majesty is worried about military expenses every day, so I don't have a lot of money in my hands now, but the two of us sisters are together, we always have food to eat, take a step back, our family's garden is so big, it's a big deal, we are like when we were in a single village, we farmed by ourselves, and we also had food." ”

The rain stopped, and the sky was getting darker and darker, Yao Hei'er stood up and said, "Cuiling, I'm leaving, you are here alone, be careful." ”