The snow piled up on both sides of the street only melted for a while at noon, and then froze into a dark brown uneven ice road at night, which was full of human footprints and the hooves of horses, donkeys and mules.

Qian Du received two letters from Dunmin and Duncheng one after another, asking him to go to Zhangjiawan to see Cao Xueqin, but he didn't leave, because it was a long way to go; Second, he is now a minister of the ministry, and someone in the inner court is studying "whether Cao Zhan is Cao Xueqin", and he also released a rumor that ""Dream of Red Mansions" is an evil word", and at this moment, Cao Xueqin felt a little inconvenient. In fact, what he is most worried about in his heart is Cao Bustard and his son, whether Beijing will spread pox, Jiangnan or not? Did the Cao family have anything to do with Yi Ying's case? I have to find a way to get rid of the child and get rid of this old bustard. These bad things linger in my heart all day long, and even the envoys in the ministry are perfunctory. It was not until the seventh day of October that he saw from Huang Tangguan, the prison department of the Criminal Department, the list of bandits in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces to clear the "Yizhihua" bandits, and the Xiangtang hall masters, law enforcement elders, guardian Wei Dao, and King Kong apprentices from all over the country, a total of 1,000 and 40 people, in accordance with the constitutional orders of Liu Tongxun and Yin Jishan, only detained 246 hall masters, Wei Tuo, and elders in prison, and the rest were all released on bail. Huang Sitang is an old Beijing official who is very familiar with Qian Du, and joked: "Lao Heng Don't mess with Yi Ying and Lei Jian, what did they do?" Rest assured, none of the important ones have been caught, and it doesn't matter what has been caught. Lao Liu and Xiao Yin Shengjun are so good, they have all been punished! But this time, 'a flower' is considered to have collapsed to the end, there are no eggs under the nest, Liu Yanqing is not incompetent, you have to live with her 'that', hurry up and raise it as soon as possible! Qian Du smiled: "Don't talk about your father's old egg, I still have something to do - I'll talk about it another day!" Then he went back to the yamen. But when he saw the little king in Fu Heng's mansion coming in, Qian Du was stunned for a moment and said, "Aren't you in Chengde with the sixth master?" The sixth master is back? ”

"Fu Xiang didn't come back," Xiao Wangtou was originally a very easy-going person, but he was trained by Fu Hengjun's rule of law, and he handed a letter to Qian Du with both hands, and said: "This is a letter from Xiangye to you, please write me a receipt." I went back to Beijing to bring medicine to my wife, and the young master of my family is out of taboos. Fu Xiang got some treasure medicine from the Mongolian doctor - yes, your name is signed here, okay, little farewell! Qian Du smiled: "It's really a rule of the military book." Don't even want money for tea? Kang'er has a pox, tell your housewife, I will go over tomorrow to say goodbye. Xiao Wang said: "Please go back later, the house is dedicated to the pox god Niangniang, even I, a family member outside the country, is not allowed to cross the threshold, our old man personally guards the door!" "That's it.

Qian Du only then opened Fu Heng's letter, and in addition to reporting to Sheng'an, he asked him to allocate 200,000 stone fodder grain to escort Wang Yetun, and Horqin had more cattle and sheep in the winter than in previous years, so as to prevent starvation. He also asked him to go to see Ji Yun, and put the amount of money requisitioned from the books on the book and present it to the royal reader, not to wait for Ji Yun to urge. There are also governors and governors in various places who are recommending Confucianism and Confucianism, and the carriages, horses, sedan chairs, and Sichuan capital should also be prepared in advance, and the distance should be determined, and the price should be calculated according to the mile, and it must be sufficient, and it cannot be wasted, etc., and wrote three pieces of paper, all of which are in the tone of instructions. At the end, he asked, "Do you see Xueqin?" Very much. You can go on my behalf, or give me some silver taels. In such weather, I am afraid that they will be hungry and cold. Qian Du suddenly remembered Dun's Kunzhong's entrustment, and felt uneasy. Immediately came out to paging the sedan chair, and carried the road to Ji Yun's private house in the Xizhimen. But they were kept out of the door. Menzi said: "Our young master also has a pox, please go back." Another day, the lord personally apologized. Qian Du couldn't help but be stunned, and said in a daze: "This year's acne is so bad?" I have important business to see Xiao Langong! ”

"I didn't make it clear, our lord is not at home." Menzi looked left and right, lowered his voice and said: "There is a secret decree, ask the master to go to the Temple of Heaven to pray for the prince, and the seventh elder brother (Yongcong) will also produce flowers!" ”

"Really!"

"Of course it's true!" The family said mysteriously, "Banzai has dropped out of the dynasty since yesterday. Wait until the prince's flowers are all in place before he looks at politics. The Empress Dowager of Cining Palace, Lafayette, went to the pox god Niangniang Temple to incense, and the emperor decreed that Jiangxi Longhu Mountain and Beijing Big Buddha Temple should be dojos at the same time, the name is to dispel plague for the world's patients, in fact, it is also for the seventh master! The queen has asked for a decree, and Yi has ordered the release of prisoners for minor crimes, and even a major case like 'Yizhihua' has been suspended - you come all the way, and every family in Beijing hangs red cloth charms, pigtails, and crabs. In the pox god Niangniang Temple, those who stuff money into the merit box have to queue up from the first day, and the incense ash is so piled up that even the incense tripod can't be seen! - This is a catastrophe, it is really an iron wall that cannot be stopped, the prince and the common people alike! After the rapper finished speaking, he actually folded his palms to the sky and read: "Amitabha, my Buddha is merciful!" Nan Wu has great compassion, saves the suffering, and the vast Willing Guanyin Bodhisattva! "When I was still chattering, Qian Du had already gone.

Since even Fu Heng has come to the letter, the matter of visiting Cao Xueqin cannot be taken lightly. Qian Du no longer returned to the ya, went back to the house in a sedan chair, took twenty taels of broken silver, saw that there was a Ning silk brought back from Nanjing in the box, and also took out a horse, and ordered the family to be stuffed into the horse coat, and did not call the servant, he changed into civilian clothes, only said "Rush back after dark", and then rode the mule out to the north, rushed to Zhangjiawan to visit Cao Xueqin. Passing by the Jade Emperor Temple, Qian Du looked at the mule from afar, only to see the crowds of pilgrims crowded without moving, more than a mile long along the street, all of them were selling gold and silver paper foil, the incense candles were surrounded in front of the stalls, most of them were the old women and women who came from the far countryside outside the city, there were those who made wishes, some who repaid their wishes, some who were sad and those who were smiling, and the buzzing voices came, all of them were chanting Buddha and chanting Guanyin, and the sound of praying for illness and blessing...... Holding the pergola in his hand, he sighed and was about to hurry, when he suddenly saw Fang Qing staggering over from the side of the pox temple, and Qian Du shouted: "Fang Qing's sister-in-law!" "Busy with the mule.

"Yes...... It's Mr. Qian! ”

Fang Qing was surprised that someone called her here, she was stunned, looked up and saw that it was Qian Du, and asked, "I heard from your family, you went to Chengde and came back?" As he spoke, he squatted down. Only then did Qian Du see that Fang Qing's face was blue and white, with stasis under her cheeks, as if she hadn't slept for a few days, and as if she had cried, with a thin dizziness under her eyelids, and her eyes were a little dull, because she said, "Xueqin is at home, right?" Are the kids alright? I'm going to your house! He beckoned to a sedan chair and said, "Look at your body and bones are so weak, you are walking?" If you are poor, why do you come to this point? Please get on the sedan chair, and I will ride the animal and go together. ”

"We won't be able to live, and there will be no errand in charge." Fang Qing lowered her head embarrassedly, looked at the sedan chair timidly—she really couldn't move anymore—and said, "Newly moved to Zhangjiawan, the old Cao family has to be taken care of, and there are neighbors...... There is a lot to be owed to others. It's not what it used to be, it's really poor......"

"What are you doing all the way into the city? Borrowing money? ”

"I came here yesterday...... Big hair and small hair have acne, can't see through the blisters, and the whole body is hot. I...... I'm here to make a wish......"

Qian Du was stunned: It's suffering from this again! But he'd heard too much to be surprised. He only stomped his feet and sighed: "Weasel single bite - ho! This Xueqin is also yes, also believe this? Let you run this long way and do this useless thing! Fang Qing said: "He didn't call me to come, I said to go into the city to borrow money and grab medicine before coming out......" "Don't say it," Qian Du said: "Let's go quickly!" ”

So a sedan chair and a mule rushed to Zhangjiawan in Tongzhou, Qian Du only wanted to have forty or fifty miles, who knew that after Tongzhou asked Fangqing, there were twenty miles, Qian Du calculated, afraid that he could not catch up with the sedan chair before dark, so he sent the sedan chair back, and found another horse to ride by himself, and let Fangqing ride the mule. Fang Qing pointed to the north of the village with her hand: "Master Qian, that is!" "Pull out your feet and go. Qian Du counted the horse's foot money, and chased after him, only to see a small stone bridge over the frozen mirror-like Tonghui River, beside the birch forest, there were three lonely grass houses, the door was closed, a black hole window was open under the low grass eaves, and the dry grass on the roof was shivering in the wind. The rooster does not crow, the dog does not bark, and there is a dead silence. Suddenly, an ominous premonition hit Qian Du's heart, and when he looked at Fang Qing, he also seemed to have a sense of terror, and shouted at a trot: "Big Mao, Little Mao!" Qian Du threw the reins away, and ran inside, and as soon as he stepped into the courtyard, he saw Fang Qing silently and slumped on the ground along the door frame! Hurry in. Qian Du was also stunned in the local area.

What a tragic scene! The three small thatched huts in the cold ice do not even have a boundary wall, they are opened, and there is a statue of last year's stove king hanging on the smoked wall, and the white eyes are permanently staring at the four walls that are filled with cold wind in the cracks, and there are two sauerkraut jars along the north wall, and the old porcelain bowl on the lid of the jar is buckled with leftovers, and there is a bowl of boiled black beans as a dish, and there is a slight musty smell in the sour smell emitted from the jar. Cao Xueqin sat against the wall on a broken board bed, with a full beard, unkempt braids, and a puppet-like motionless, the bed was against the "window", and two hairs, one large and one small, fell side by side, and her face was covered with paper. The little toes are stiffly cocked...... The charcoal in the brazier had long been extinguished, except for the two flickering ever-bright lamps at the head of the bed, there was no smoke at all, and there was a woman wearing patched clothes, sitting on a small stool next to the bed without saying a word, folding paper foil ingots, only looking up at Qian Du and burying her head in her own business.

"Xueqin, Xueqin!"

Qian Duhuo seemed to have entered a scary empty temple in a dream, as if he was shouting Cao Xueqin and wanted to wake himself up from his dream, he shouted a few times and said: "I am Qian Du, Qian Du, Qian Laoheng!" Heavens, you ...... What's wrong with you? While shouting, he dragged the half-paralyzed Fang Qing to the side of the bed and said to the woman: "This kind sister-in-law is here to help, right?" Fast...... Find a way to get some hot water...... It's too cold in this room, and the living can't stand it-" Before he finished speaking, he stopped, and he recognized that this ragged woman was Zhang Yu'er! The family lives outside the front door, and Qian Du doesn't know how many times she stepped on the threshold of her house, ate pig's head meat, and drank pork liver with Le Min and Cao Xueqin. Le Min and Yu'er broke up in frustration, and Qian Du also intended to propose to her...... It's only been a few years since everyone has suffered such a huge disparity! At this time, we will meet again in this place, in this situation, and in this scene, and we will meet again, and we will be created, and we will count...... How to arrange the law like this!

"Brother Cao, what this master said is that he doesn't dare to sit down so hard." Yu'er stood up, supported her waist with her hands, and said tiredly: "This is the marriage left in the previous life, and it is fate. You just swallow it. Those who have gone have gone, and those who are alive are still alive, Zhangjiawan alone, this catastrophe has gone more than 20 times, God's will is like this, what can people do? My sister-in-law is not a good body, so she is so bitter, it is better to cry well...... Alas, I'll go home and bring you a pot of hot water......" After that, he glanced at Fang Qing and Qian Du indifferently, and walked on the residual snow.

Yu'er's home is only a few dozen steps away from Xueqin's house, as soon as she enters the door, she scoops water from the jar to the pot, silently smokes firewood and ignites the fire, her husband squatts on the kang table and smokes, and says: "I saw a mule at the door of Cao Ye, I'm afraid it's a visitor, right?" I just went to the owner to fetch water, and the shopkeeper gave me a few pieces of cake, you can take it when you send boiling water - don't be angry with your sister-in-law, she is also from everyone, like Cao Ye, if you have money, you can make it, and you don't know how to live a long life...... On such a cold day, running to Beijing, she is a woman, doesn't she feel sorry for men and children? You go first, I'll put up the pigsty at home, and I'll help with the cooking. Yu'er seemed to breathe a long breath from the bottom of her heart, her gloomy face eased up, and in the crackling sound of firewood, she said: "I am also angry with Fangqing's sister-in-law, and also angry with the third master of the Cao family, that god's 'master' is always a family of brothers, an ancestral tomb, and Qin Ye has not even taken care of it at this point." Qin Ye gave them less things when he came?! What the hell is it! She was a willful woman, so angry that she threw the fire stirring stick aside. When the man saw that the water was boiling, Yu'er didn't move, so he hurriedly jumped off the kang, scooped water into the pot, and said with a smile: "Your temper is really impossible." Send the water! ”

"I'm not going! Going to go, you're going! ”

"It's not like I can't get on the stage......"

Yu'er got up at this time, sighed helplessly, carried boiling water to Xueqin's house, and listened to Fangqing's mourning and crying from a distance, Xueqin also made a howl of choking and comfort, and when she entered the door, she saw that Qian Du was comforting, because she sighed: "This cry comes out, I am relieved, I am afraid that I will be sick in my heart...... Alas...... Big hair, little hair...... What two treasure dolls...... In a blink of an eye, it went...... God, why are you so blind-eyed......" she cried as she spoke.

"So there's still a lot of famine owed to people outside the celery garden." Qian Du had something in his heart, and he was in a hurry to rush back that day, and Xueqin was not suitable to stay in this situation at the moment, so he said: "This idea money, don't pay it back first, put the child into the soil first, and it will be close to the New Year." When I go back, I'm afraid I'll have to go outside the mouth and ask for a little from Ah Gui. Now I'm not a small official, and I can't get a single foreign money - it's always on me. It doesn't matter, it's all surnamed Cao, so can you even have this kind of burden? Look at you, even the tears are dry, you have three disasters and two diseases, what should you do if you call Fangqing? I have to go back. Although Liu Xiaolin went back to the south, they were still in the western suburbs, so they asked them to come and see you. After surviving this for a while, and then finding an errand, it will slowly become alive again......" Seeing that Xueqin's family was so sad, Qian Du was moved, his heart was hot, and he also fell into tears, and he hurriedly comforted a few words, went out to play a mule, and left Zhangjiawan as if he was running away.

Xiao Wangtou rode a fast horse and sent back Tang'er's letter to Fu Heng, Fu Hengzhan read it, and knew that "Kang'er's pox has come out, his body is not burning, and he can eat porridge, and Lang Zhong said that the danger has passed." Immediately, he breathed a sigh of relief, but the seventh elder brother's pox couldn't come out, and he was still worried. My sister has been married to Qianlong since she was sixteen years old, dignified and virtuous, not only Qianlong respects and loves, but there is no one in the six palaces who is not respectful, but Zixi is up and down, which makes people helpless. The first born second elder brother Yonglian, at the age of nine, was infected and went to Huangquan. It was easy for the seventh elder brother to grow to two years old again, and when he saw that he had smallpox again, he was pardoned and relieved, he made a wish to set up Jiao, dropped out of the dynasty and dismissed the government, invited famous doctors, exhausted good medicines, and tried every means to treat them, but there was no effect. His uncle just watched and couldn't help it. I'm worried about the resurgence of Fucha's old illness, and I'm faintly afraid of the change of grace, how can I put my mind at ease? Because he was ruthless and clueless, Fu Heng was afraid that his words would be wrong, and he would never meet the minister in Chengde, but he wrote letters one after another, instructing the Jiuqing of the Six Ministries in Beijing, and asking the old master to read each letter carefully before sending it out. Because he saw Zhang Tingyu send a letter to ask for an excerpt, Fu Heng pondered for a while, and then went to the Yanxun Mountain Pavilion of the mountain villa to send a sign to ask for a meeting, just after the Yanyu Building, he saw the eunuch Bu Yi trotting over, the color was not the color, and he gasped and said: "Sixth master!" The master is at the back of the mountain pavilion, call over! ”

"Seventh brother!" Fu Heng slammed in his heart, didn't dare to ask, strode meteor and followed in, just past the Yanxun Mountain Pavilion Ritual Gate, he heard a faint cry from the west hall of the Buddha Hall, Fu Heng's heart shrank suddenly, his feet stepped on a piece of skate, staggered a few steps, almost fell on his back, and staggered into the hall, sure enough, he saw the seventh elder brother Yongcong lying softly in the arms of the dumb nurse and did not move, his eyes were wide open, as if he was staring at the caisson on the top of the palace, but the pupils were scattered. Several imperial doctors were so frightened that their faces turned pale and knelt straight at the door of the hall. Queen Fucha's face was not bloody, half lying on the big kang pillow, not speaking, not moving, not crying, her eyes were wide open, and she was so dry that there was not even a single tear. Gao Jia's and Nala's were crying loudly, and their handkerchiefs were wet. Suddenly, the nurse suddenly woke up, and her voice roared, covering everyone's sobbing and crying: "Ouch ho ho...... My little master...... My little dear son...... How could this happen? What...... I didn't even dare to step out of the temple gate, which god brought the sick man in? Yes...... I've taken care of my heart in vain...... Hey-ho-ho-ho...... I'll go with you, my dear master......"

Qianlong could still hold on, but he only frowned and stared at his son, listening to her crying miserably, suddenly his heart was sour and hot, and tears rolled down like beads. Fu Heng ordered with tears rolling in his eyes: "Carry my brother down to make a bed." It's not a matter of trouble here, long live the body of the master and the master's mother, and they can't be too sad. The imperial doctors also knelt down in peace......" and said to the two concubines and Wang: "Your lords, please also go back to the room to rest." You cry like this, how can the master comfort the master? The Nala clan and the Gao Jia clan, and the Wang clan also stopped mourning, gave a salute to Qianlong and the Fucha clan, and came out with their heads down. Outside the gate of the hall, Nala peeked at Gao Jia's family, and Gao Jia's family also turned his face, looked at each other, and avoided it.

"Niangniang," Fu Heng turned around and saluted the Fucha clan and called softly. Seeing that Fucha's eyelids only blinked, and his body did not react, he raised his voice slightly at first glance and said, "Sister! You must not be so sad. You are the mother of the world, and your mother's demeanor is also extremely important, not to mention this layer, how much the emperor feels sorry for you. When my brother returned, he was already in extreme pain, and he was worried that you would break your body and bones, and you would have to think about it for the emperor if you didn't think about it...... And brother, I can't stand it when I see you like this, so I will send an envoy to the emperor, and I will think about my good sister......" He said, choked up and couldn't speak.

Two large teardrops rolled down Fucha's cheeks to her ears. After a long time, she said ** and said, "Good brother...... For the sake of the emperor, I will support it. Fu Hengqiang endured the grief in his heart, and comforted him for a while, and he didn't dare to reply to Zhang Tingyu's request for such trivial things, so he endured the sadness and retired. Qianlong followed, took him to the small study of Yanxun Mountain Pavilion, sighed and sentimentalized for a while, and asked: "I heard that your family Fukangan also has smallpox, how is the situation now?" Fu Heng knew that Qianlong was sad at the moment, how could he dare to tell the truth? Because he said: "Tang'er has a letter, and it is also very dangerous!" However, he went to the pox god Niangniang Temple and said that he drew a good lot, and it only depends on his luck. ”

"The governor of Zhili came to report that this time there was a plague, and 100,000 people were killed in the whole Zhili realm." Qianlong's tone was slow and his expression was gloomy, and he said, "My beloved son is also ...... Alas! I thought that he was different from other sons, and he was actually my crown prince. It is still necessary to soothe the living, so it is necessary to add a knighthood. It's inconvenient for you to come forward in this matter, so I issued an order to Ji Yun and Zhang Tingyu, and let them discuss and draft a nickname to be crowned prince. You just know it. ”

"Yes...... This is the emperor's extraordinarily generous grace, the seventh master and the nine springs have knowledge, and they will definitely be graceful......"

Qianlong sighed: "Don't say this kind of thing, this is still to comfort the queen's heart." He paused, but he had a vague feeling in his heart that someone had done something to infect smallpox. First in the Shunzhi Dynasty, someone brought the clothes of smallpox patients into the palace in an attempt to harm Kangxi. This time, the palace was cautious and cautious, but it still couldn't escape this catastrophe. Wang's and Gao Jia's have no children, so they can't doubt this. But it is suspected that Nala's son, Yongxuan, is also infected with smallpox, and is still in danger, and she can't do this evil thing...... Thinking about it, he shook his head. He also said: "I haven't listened to the government for more than ten days, and from tomorrow onwards, I will still look at the court." When you get things done, your mood will gradually improve. You are my most trustworthy and dearest relative, in addition to running errands, you also have to come in and talk to the queen more, divide her heart, and slowly come to rest. ”

"Slaves can be saved, master rest assured!"

“…… Kneel down! ”

"Yes......"

Qianlong waited for Fu Heng to withdraw, and Fang slowly paced back to the Fucha family's room, and saw that Lai Niang was feeding ginseng soup to the queen spoonful by spoonful, and he was already relieved. The queen drank half a small bowl, and when she saw Qianlong coming in, she stopped drinking, and said in a weak voice: "No need, Lai Niang helped me up." Qianlong hurriedly caught up, put his hands on Fucha's shoulders, and said, "Don't, what are you and I doing with this ceremony?" You just lie down and we'll talk. ”

"Yes, I'll do it......"

……

For a moment, the couple was silent.

"Empress," Qianlong looked at the winter clouds outside the window, and his voice seemed to come from a long distance: "A few days ago, I gave Liu Tongxun and Yin Jishan a self-impeachment recital, and I said, 'It is rare to be perfect'. Now that it's my turn, I have to reflect on it. Not only the courtiers and slaves, but also the king's masters, it is difficult not to regret something! The queen frowned slightly and asked with concern: "Liu Tongxun and Yin Jishan also made a mistake?" What is the punishment? "A small demotion, it's not a big deal." Qianlong replied, following his train of thought, and said: "If today, the population is more than twice as large as when the Holy Ancestor is exceeded, and the income of the imperial court is more than ten times. Although it cannot be said that the country is rich and the people are rich, and every household is well-off, it can also be said to be a rare wealth since the Tang Dynasty. The four libraries are under repair, the erudite Confucianism is to be opened, and there are no robbers and bandits in the world, these can already be compared with the holy grandfather. In a few years, it will be even better, this is the overall situation that has been decided. He patted the back of the queen's hand, clenched it tightly, sighed, and said: "But I also have regrets, one is that the rich and the poor are too rich, the poor still rely on relief, and the people's business is still unstable; The second is that the use of troops is ineffective, Qingfu has been defeated again and again, the mediocre ministers have misled the country, lost their teachers and humiliated the king, and spent a lot of unjust silver, and the big and small Jinchuan are still restless, not to mention the Western Regions; The third is ...... You. ”

The queen's eyes widened and she said in astonishment, "Me? ……”

"yes!" Qianlong let go of her hand and nodded heavily: "You have to have a number, you are still young, and you can still give birth to an elder brother, but you can't be made a prince, you can only be crowned a prince with a son-in-law - just like Cong'er, I am only posthumously crowned as a prince - why?" I saw you like this today, and I thought a lot, I have been from Taizu Taizong, and none of them are the sons of the Yuan Dynasty to inherit the unification. I have forcibly violated the will of heaven, I want to do what my ancestors did not do, and invite the great blessings that my ancestors could not obtain—this is what Grandmaster Shi also said, but I didn't really listen to it, so that I died in front of Prince Duanhui Yonglian, and today I cut off the seventh elder brother, this is not my fault: I tossed you to death, and my heart is restless all day long, so why bother! ”

The queen lowered her eyelids, pondered for a long time, and said, "Your Majesty, this is really for my sake. How can I be unthankful? However, I feel that my hard work has been exhausted, and I don't need to think about it again. I don't understand the big things that the emperor said, but the world is getting richer and richer, and the blind can see it. If I can live a few more years, it depends on which general you send to send troops to Khalkha, it depends on your Wufenglou military parade, and it depends on you hearing the red flag to report victory, and the edict is all over the world! So I don't want to die, I just want to accompany you to see Jiangnan again. Yin Jishan's excerpt in front of him said Nanjing so well, I really want to go! Her eyes shimmered, and she suddenly smiled and sighed, "I'm afraid I'm not so blessed that I won't be able to see the moon in Stone City!" Again, if I want a filial nickname, I'll die-"

"Don't talk about that!" Qianlong covered her mouth with one hand.

Liu Xiaolin rushed back to Beijing from Jiangning, and it was nearly a year old. The northerners are the heaviest New Year, since the twenty-third day of the month to send the god of the stove, regardless of the rich and poor families are busy with the year, sticking Zhong Kui, making rice cakes, boiling sacrificial meat, sweeping the house, steaming dragon steamed buns, hanging holly cypress branches, making a lot of fun, until the twenty-ninth year was busy rushing to Zhangjiawan, bringing many New Year's goods, this only to know that since the death of big Mao and Xiao Mao, Cao Xueqin has a fever, does not think about eating, and has been bedridden for more than a month. After entering the wax moon, the symptoms of hemoptysis were added. Liu Xiaolin himself is also an elderly person, seeing that Fangqing is helpless, and he has to deal with the uncle and brother of the Cao family's own family who came to ask for accounts, his heart is not a taste, and he stayed in Zhangjiawan Station Qiaojiadian for a night, and together with Yu'er, he bought some incense candles and Buddha statues, fresh fish and fruits, lamps, grass and stoves in the market last year, and watched Yu'er help Fangqing chop meat and slaughter chickens. The people of the Liu family were already in a hurry, and sent his brother to take him back to Beijing in a car, so they came to say goodbye to Xueqin.

"Xueqin," Liu Xiaolin asked Fang Qing to move the brazier against the bed, told his younger brother to wait outside, sat next to Cao Xueqin, and said: "Today is Chinese New Year's Eve, the store is closed, you are like this here again, I have to go." You have so much knowledge, you don't need me to find cheap words to comfort you, you really have to take care of yourself. People, there is a time when you have a lucky back in your life, I see that you are now at the bottom of the pot, and wherever you take a step, you are always going up...... I came here yesterday to see that you didn't look good, and I was really a little scared. Looking at it now, my spirit is much better, and my face is bloody. It can be seen that this is a temporary disaster. The few taels of silver owed to them are nothing, Fang Qing just stands in the way, seventy or eighty taels is not enough to impoverish me now. After the Lantern Festival, I made an appointment with them to see you. ”

Cao Xueqin's eyes were deep-set, her skinny arms were on the outside of the quilt, her dry and dull eyes stared at Liu Xiaolin, and she said in a turbid voice: "Don't bother here, there is Fangqing to take care of it, and the two Yu'er over there also said to come and accompany me for New Year's dinner." I'm not lonely, I'm not sad...... It's so far away, and it snows from time to time, so it's called...... Tell friends not to come. I want to not die in the spring, and return to the city, and our Peach Blossom Poetry Society will continue...... Lin Daiyu is Lin Daiyu, Cao Xueqin is Cao Xueqin, your boss likes to pull together and say. Qia Yuer came in with a basket of frozen pears, threw the basket to the ground, and said: "Sister-in-law, the red candle I brought is placed outside the doorway, and the air-dried eggplant Ti'er, you take it in and put it on the candlestick, and the snow is falling outside, look wet—I said Cao Ye, old Tanhua'er, you can't pick the auspicious and say: Chinese New Year's Eve, dead and alive, bare-mouthed and white-toothed, what are the words?" The more you live, the more confused you become! Liu Xiaolin was also familiar with Yu'er, and said with a smile: "Yes, yes!" What you're saying is, don't talk about that! He leaned down and said, "In that bag is the whole book of "The Book of Stones", and there is not a word of our criticism. The one I copied was left in Nanjing. Boss Jia of Yongmao Bookstore valued this book very much, and asked me to transcribe even the comments, saying that it should be printed exquisitely, so that he could become famous and make a fortune. However, now books are being collected everywhere, and the governors of several provinces have issued notices, and the barnyard officials generally do not dare to print novels, and it is good to print such a large book, and it will cost 3,000 strings of money, and it will not be able to raise it for a while, so it is necessary to wait for a while. You don't have to be in a hurry, when you get well, I will tell you to read a neat and neat sample book! Cao Xueqin swallowed saliva while listening, and said with a slight bow: "I understand, my heart is clear...... It's hard for you to make up a few of our spare money and go to Nanjing. Not enough money...... It was expected, and there are many unexpected, and I am also very happy. Remember Yiquan's poems? 'The sound of the piano wrapped in the sac is indifferent, and the sword breaks through the shadow of the box', that is only a temporary thing, a momentary feeling. I'm afraid, for a while, what do I have—" He glanced at Yu'er, who was putting fruit on the case, "—unforeseen things, this sentimentality, so I had no choice but to 'Cuidian Empty Mountain is cool at night'." Liu Xiaolin smiled bitterly and said, "I'm older than you, and I don't want to think so cranky, so I will be here soon." After a few words of comfort, he went out and rode away.

"Xueqin, we can't do it, but we still have a few good friends." Fang Qing peeled the cabbage in her hand, looked at the cart that was getting farther and farther away in the snow, sighed, and said: "As long as we can make money, we won't drag down Yu'er's family." Yu'er dipped her hands in noodles and said with a smile: "What are these words - scoop out the hot water in the pot and sit on the basin for a while to get up - Qin Ye is a great talent, you have also read a lot of books and is a female talent, this is a person!" We are the people of the grass and trees, and we have a hard life - that little water does not pour, and the door god is brushed while the pot is hot - I look at your eyes when you read and chant poetry, and see that the life you could have lived has been turned upside down, and I feel sorry for you and angry with you, that's all. Fang Qing was stirring the batter - putting the batter in a small wok, and just said, "It's really a loss to the two of you", when she said this, she suddenly stopped, with a panicked look on her face, looked outside the courtyard, and said to Xueqin: "The third uncle is here again!" Xueqin was also silent. After a while, he sighed deeply and said, "Fang Qing is going to greet him, please come in, I'll talk to him." ”

Yu'er didn't wait for Fang Qing to stand up, pressed Fang Qing, and said, "Don't go out, I'll come!" He grabbed the painting of the door god who was placed on the god case, took the paste basin, and went out in a hurry. Cao Xueqin listened carefully:

"Yo! Isn't this the third uncle? You have this good mood, and you will return to your nephew for the New Year in Chinese New Year's Eve! - Be careful, be careful, you see, the paste is thrown on the robe, isn't it?! ”

Third Uncle Cao muttered a few words without knowing what, and then Yu'er's crisp laughter came: "Look, the evening flags of Fanyin Temple are all hung up, it's still early?" You say me? When Qin Ye and I were neighbors, I didn't know where your uncle was facing! Uncle can't live in the New Year, tonight there will be a fire in the temple, and the food will be eaten......" Ge Geer couldn't stop laughing. Listening to the third uncle's whispered hatred, Yu'er said loudly: "This god was posted by my aunt!" - What kind of virtue do you have? It's also a notch off to pick up shoes for Qin Ye! This is Zhangjiawan, not Caojiawan, and it's better than you to find a man! If you dare to move the corner of the paper, I will shout it out! Our old man is the patriarch, don't you want to celebrate the New Year, do you want to go to Zuojiazhuang to make a human field? Then I listened to Yu'er's chirping and the footsteps of Uncle Cao staggering away. Fang Qing clasped her hands together, closed her eyes, breathed a sigh of relief, and said softly, "Amitabha! ”

Cao Xueqin, who was lying on the bed, heard all this outside, he was first upset, and then he felt chills all over his body, as cold as being immersed in a glacier, like being thrown naked in the empty snow. He struggled hard, wanted to move, wanted to speak, but the cold air seemed to be poured into his limbs, slowly, but without hesitation, it soaked into his internal organs, freezing his heart, and everything in front of him became more and more blurred and ethereal, the statue of the god of the stove on the wall, the statue of Zhong Kui, the inkstone paper and pen on the desk, the dazzling snow outside the window and the poplar forest in the snow were all reversed, and even the busy figures of Fangqing and Yu'er were spinning and drifting away, he only had time to sigh slightly, and murmured: "It's so cold......" Since then, there has been no more speech or movement.

The bell of Fanyin Temple rang, melodious and dull, echoing in the snow. The murky twilight and edelweiss of the Tongji River quietly descend to the sound of the bells. Zhangjiawan, which is filled with evening cooking, seems to melt into this bleak and joyful Chinese New Year's Eve. As the bell rang, the streets were full of children who had escaped the smallpox plague, chasing and playing, shouting happily, and setting off all kinds of firecrackers to celebrate the arrival of Qianlong's new year.

September 18, 1994