The winter days in Lujiang are a little cold. It was a sunny day, but the sun hanging on the dome was pale and calm, and it was extremely cruel. From time to time, the north wind blows on the face, and the sharpness of the pins and needles makes the eye holes hurt vividly. Although the winter in the south is not cold, the seemingly warm humidity is the most dangerous, and it coincides with the soft snow falling one after another. This snow is the best at deceiving others with its white and soft appearance, teaching people to mistakenly think that it is a pure and lovely fairy, but its inner heart is more ruthless and hard than a poisonous snake. Pedestrians only have to step on the street in the snowy weather, and their feet wrapped in heavy cotton cloth are soaked with icy water, from toenails to bone marrow.

However, snow is the most joyful holiday for children. They are not afraid of the cold, their bodies are filled with vivid warmth, and the sound of frolicking and playing in the street overshadows all the complicated hustle and bustle of the world.

Sima Xian stood in front of the door and looked at them, his eyes a little cold. She wore a cloak that was a little heavy for her, and the dense fluff of the neckline gently scratched her cold cheeks. She painted fine makeup, pink and jade like a bride to be married. The fine snow fell on the neat black bun, like a sporadic point of light in the dark night. The cold wind suddenly fell in front of her, and suddenly turned into a gentleness that passed around her fingers. The passing years stopped in Si, as if they were silently depicting a piece of silence for the beauty of this world.

The New Year has arrived. Zhou Yu went out of the city to pick up his father and went home, intending to spend a happy New Year together as a family. Regarding the marriage between Zhou Yu's son and the niece of Mr. Sima's family, the two families have always been happy to see it come to fruition. Although Sima Xian's father is not on his side, for such a good fate, her uncle, who is responsible for raising her, is also willing to write a letter to Sima Fang on behalf of her niece. It's just that Luoyang, who is the father of Zhou Yu, is busy with Zhou Yi's affairs, and only in the first month can he return to Lujiang, and the parents of both parties set the wedding date for the next year.

It was supposed to be a day of waiting for good news, but Sima Xian's heart was difficult to calm down. Today is Chinese New Year's Eve, the Zhou family and the Sima family have made an agreement to celebrate the New Year together, and Sima Xian is waiting for Zhou Yu to pick him up at the door of the house. She leaned against the wall like a sleepy kitten curled up under catkins at the beginning of spring, to hide her inner restlessness. What exactly he was worried about, even Sima Xian himself didn't know. In terms of common sense, she is just waiting for her future husband, waiting for him to brush away the fine snowflakes that fall on her fur collar for her, waiting for her lover to take her hand and let her step into that home openly.

However, the uneasiness in her heart was like a flock of crows, and it was complicated and noisy in Sima Xian's ears. She stamped her almost frozen feet, put her hands to her mouth to let out hot air, and looked up in the direction of the city gate.

The breath exhaled turned into a snow-white mist in front of him in an instant. Through the gradually lightening mist, Sima Xian saw that the carriage with familiar decorations was slowly driving towards him. The horses' hooves stepped on the snow in the city, the sound of the originally clear hooves was silenced, and the chariot polished its body between the scattered mist, like a gentle old dream floating in the clouds.

Zhou Yu is back. For some reason, the noise in Sima Xian's heart calmed down for the time being, and she involuntarily stepped forward to greet her. But when the mist in front of him dissipated and the carriage was clearly displayed in front of him, Sima Xian's heart trembled suddenly, and the blood that had just been warm suddenly cooled, and even his legs instantly stiffened. She frowned, her eyes trembling with fear and horror, frozen in disbelief.

"How...... How could it be ......"

Sima Xian muttered to himself in a hoarse voice. Her teeth chattered, and her lips, with her delicate makeup, suddenly turned pale.

The coachman pulled the bridle cleanly, and the carriage came to a slow stop in front of her.

This carriage is indeed the carriage she is most familiar with, but it is not the one that Zhou Yu uses on weekdays. Compared with the low-key but extravagant car of the Zhou Mansion, the carriage in front of it seemed a little simple, and the front of the car was simply hung with rings and tassels, and it was not distinguishable from the outside.

This carriage was the one Sima Xian took to take refuge in Lujiang.

And after the entourage lifted the curtain, the young man who slowly walked down from the jade tree in the wind was naturally not Zhou Yu. His eyebrows were clear, his smile was gentle, but there were indescribably complicated emotions in his eyes when he looked at Sima Xian.

"Strings." The young man came to Sima Xian and stretched out his warm palm to caress the top of her head, "Dong Zhuo is dead, I'll take you home." ”

He is the brother who has been absent for a long time, should have been far away in Wen County, Hanoi, but now he suddenly appeared in front of Sima Xian's eyes-

Sima Lang.

On the day of going out, it was also snowing heavily in Wen County. The wind and snow for several days did not stop for a moment, and the dry cold air cut through the face like a flying knife. Sima Yi finished loading the luggage for the eldest brother and climbed down from the spacious car. He clapped his hands and was about to go back to the house, but he inadvertently turned to look at the carriage. The ring pei hanging from the front of the car was swaying in the wind, and the snow swept across the smooth jade surface, and there was an inaudible sound of light rubbing.

For a while, Sima Yi was a little distracted. Sima Lang behind him patted him on the shoulder, and Sima Yi turned his head to meet the warm smile of the spring breeze.

"Want to go with Big Brother?"

Sima Yi nodded, but shook his head seriously.

"It's windy and snowy, big brother be careful all the way." He lowered his eyes and bent over, and respectfully bowed to Sima Lang: "I take care of me at home, eldest brother, don't worry about going." ”

Sima Lang looked at Sima Yi with satisfaction. remembered that many years ago at his age, he seemed to be so old. The children of the Sima family have grown up in a strict discipline atmosphere since they were young, and everyone abides by self-discipline and rigor. Therefore, even if Sima Yi is still young, he can probably be in charge now.

In the past, he would make a childish awkward scene because Sima Xian went to Jiangdong, but now he is as calm and calm as an adult, and his younger brother has really grown up. Sima Lang thought so.

However, behind the cuffs and in the shadows cast by the eyelids, something imperceptible lurked silently, like a python winding in the darkness.

The carriage carried Sima Lang into the distance. Sima Yi put away his salute and looked at the direction of the carriage. The horses' hooves splashed snow as fluffy as sand, burying the figure of the car driving away in obscurity. The purity and clarity in the boy's eyes gradually faded, and the depth hidden in his eyes filled his eyes like the pitch-black waters of the rising tide. Flying snow fell into his cuffs and placket, and in an instant he was killed by the stray undercurrent, dismembered into white debris.

"As soon as the eldest brother goes this time, he will kill the eldest sister alive."

He whispered to himself, his tone of regret seeming to reveal the secret.

The snow in Lujiang is getting heavier and heavier.

Sima Xian's eyebrows were tightly locked, and he looked at the long street that was already empty with hot tea. She has been disgusted with winter and snow for more than ten years. Every year at four o'clock in turn to winter, she always curled up tiredly and fell asleep in the warm and soft bed. Snowy days are the most susceptible time for Sima Xian to get sick, and at this time, her hands and feet are always like the stinging pain and freezing cold of the ice cones. It was like a curse from years ago, and even the movement of turning the scroll became slow and painful, like a needle in the cotton, densely piercing into the skin, and like a ferocious beast baring its fangs, greedily sucking the hot pith fluid in the bone cavity.

Sima Lang sat across from his sister and stretched out his warm, fiery palm over her cold fingers. Sima Xian's hands trembled slightly unnaturally for a moment as if they had been electrocuted, and he instinctively shrank back.

Sima Lang frowned slightly and asked softly, "What's wrong?" ”

In the past, Sima Xian, no matter how long Sima Lang was separated from Sima Lang, who was his brother, never had the slightest estrangement.

"It's the eldest brother's fault that he rushed to visit without telling you in advance. But it's hard to predict the defeat of Dong Thief, I just want to take you home as soon as possible......"

"My eldest brother didn't ask me if I wanted to leave home that day, and now he doesn't ask me if I want to go home." Sima Xian interrupted his explanation, biting his lower lip with a trembling voice. Xu Wei also felt that she was too excited, she was silent for a moment and then spoke again, with a strong sadness hidden in her flat tone as before: "Uncle wrote a letter to my father and asked him if he agreed. Now that the eldest brother is here, is it because my father does not allow this marriage, or do you not know about it, or is it ...... You don't allow it? ”

She looked up at Sima Lang. The snow disappeared in her eyes, and the empty coldness wandered in her sockets, and his heart ached.

“…… Do you really want him not to marry? After a long time, Sima Lang asked slowly and tentatively.

Sima Xian smiled sadly, she held her forehead lower, and her laughter was like a dazzling knock on ice, as if she was laughing at her meager hope. What she knew and should have known, she became overwhelmed after asking. Sima Xian didn't understand that her brother didn't come this time because he didn't know about the marriage contract, but insisted on taking her away from Lujiang.

"Big brother, why do you have to break us apart?" Sima Xian let out a long sigh, and the corners of his lips were still mocking his innocence. "I'll go back, but not now."

"When was that? Five years? Decade? Twenty years? A pair of Yinglang sword eyebrows locked in an instant, Sima Lang slapped the tea table a little angrily, the tea in front of him splashed out of the porcelain rim in panic, and the cups made a fragile sound. His usual gentle and gentle tone in the past also became irritated at this moment: "Marriage should be the order of parents and the words of matchmaking. Dad didn't say a word about the marriage contract, he already gave you enough face, do you really think it's tacit? If you don't want this face, you will tear it yourself, why bother to teach the entire Sima family to laugh at other clans - laughing at Sima Fang, the only daughter, is uneducated, completely disregarding the face of the family, and making a private agreement with others for life! ”

Sima Xian seemed to be shocked by his sudden anger. Sima Lang's words were like sharp ice blades, and the words were engraved on her beating heart. She pursed her lips and looked at Sima Lang, her eyes flashing with grief and indignation. In the past, when she lived under the eaves with her brothers at home, no matter how much mistake Sima Xian made, Sima Lang, as the eldest brother, would favor her without any worries, and the two brothers and sisters never quarreled. But now Sima Lang glared at her angrily, and it was the first time Sima Xian saw his eldest brother showing such a terrifying look to himself. Through the warm mist in front of him, Sima Xian even felt that the brother he hadn't seen for two years was gradually becoming unrecognizable. In her youthful memories, and in the countless dreams she wandered after leaving home, her eldest brother was so gentle on the outside, like a male bird spreading his arms from the storm and sheltering a nest of pheasants under plump and warm feathers.

Sima Xian didn't understand what he had done wrong, so he made his eldest brother so angry, and even broke her heart with such cruel words.

She doesn't understand, she really doesn't. What did you do wrong? Is it wrong to obey one's will, and is it wrong to seek out one's loved ones? Why is the eldest brother so persistent in tearing down the marriage contract that his father did not hinder, and forcibly brought her back to Beijing?

Sima Langzhi is in Sima Xian's heart, and he stands out from the crowd. But in his suitable words, every sentence is the etiquette rules that the family often hangs on the lips, and there is no clear and special appearance in her impression. Sima Xian felt the pain in his heart become more and more intense. Not only from chewing on the sharp words repeatedly, but more like something was being forcibly stripped away, along with flesh and veins, frantically grabbing from her chest.

She seemed to feel that Sima Lang's former tall and majestic image was gradually turning into flying snow in front of her eyes at this moment, and it was in an uproar between the vast world and the earth.

Looking at Sima Xian's eyes that were holding back tears, Sima Lang, who had recovered from impulse, fell into deep self-blame.

How could he say that about her? I haven't seen each other for two years, and it coincides with the Chinese New Year's Eve, which is only once a year, and it should be a time for relatives to reunite after a long absence. What's more, my sister has become a slim beauty, and it is natural for people to pursue it, and it is normal to have love and expectations. Even if he had come to oppose the marriage, he should not have spoken so badly to her.

"I'm sorry, the eldest brother is not selective, I didn't mean to ...... like this" Sima Lang wanted to explain in a little panic. But when he raised his eyes to meet her sad and resentful eyes, this dignified man with a nine-foot body couldn't help but feel like a fish in his throat, and he couldn't even say a word.

In the past, Sima Lang would not have said such vulgar words as family honor and disgrace. He had already placed Sima Xian outside of this overly heavy burden. Although the Sima family is a family that has been passed down from generation to generation, from the father to the servants, no one in the family thinks that Sima Xian should bear this responsibility for honor and disgrace. She should live as freely as a horse, but why should she be the caged bird?

Thinking about it carefully, it was just Sima Lang's desire for family reunion—no, not really, and he clearly understood that his father's silent attitude was not against his beloved daughter marrying far away. It's just that Sima Lang has always been reluctant to marry his sister, and he doesn't want his father, who is about to get old, should enjoy a happy old age, but it is difficult to even see the face of his only daughter.

“…… Big brother, actually, it's not against you. Even Sima Lang, who was calm in front of the evil ghost Dong Zhuo, lowered his eyes like a child who had done something wrong at this moment. He rubbed his hands back and forth a little crampedly, his gaze wandering, and he was too ashamed and guilty to meet Sima Xian's eyes again. "But do you remember? You once said that even if you don't marry for the rest of your life, you have to repay your father's kindness. If you really want to marry far away in Jiangzuo this time, the mountains are high and the road is far away, and it is a time of national crisis, I am really worried that it will be difficult for you to meet your family in the future. ”

"Xian'er, my father misses you very much in Beijing, and my eldest brother and Zhongda miss you very much at home...... We are all waiting for you to come back. Especially Zhongda, that kid, you really don't have to worry about it......"

Sima Lang thought of his father and young brother, and a gentle smile as usual involuntarily appeared on his face. Sima Xian looked at him, and the hot tears were already falling uncontrollably. In the blurred vision, Sima Lang was still the big brother she was familiar with, the good brother who would carefully wash the dust and mud between her fingernails, and rush to lull her to sleep on every extremely cold winter night.

Countless memories are like a galaxy flowing, dreams and reality converge and blend, bit by bit, awakening the smoke-like past in Sima Xian's heart that is obscured by happiness.

How could she forget that she had said that she would rather not marry than repay her father. It was a promise from the heart, and after years of grace, she deserved to keep it.

How could she forget that she was not the biological daughter of the Sima family at all. It was thanks to her father's kindness and her brother's protection that she was able to grow up in such a warm environment.

The sky is full of confusion and unbridled snow, the faint cry of babies, and the mass graves full of corpses. The past that was as vague as a dream, but which had been played out in countless dreams, was now clear in Sima Xian's mind.

That's right.

What should have been such a cruel scene forever was gradually forgotten under that warm shelter.

Outside the door that was piggybacking on closed because of the cold, there was a faint movement that was slightly abrupt, and the consciousness immersed in memories and dreams was suddenly pulled back to reality. Sima Xian suddenly realized that she looked at the source of the sound before she could wipe away her tears, but saw that the door of the room was opened at this moment, and a beam of sky light reflected white by snow shone into her eyes through the figure.

“…… Ah Xian. ”

When the visitor saw her tear-stained appearance, he couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, and then walked forward quickly, knelt in front of her without caring about anything, and raised his sleeve to wipe her tears.

In the vision blurred by hot tears, the figure who carefully wiped her tears for her was particularly clear. Sima Xian looked at his worried face, and it blended with the lonely and bleak scenery in Shicai's heart.

"Gong Jin, Gong Jin......" Sima Xian's long-suppressed sadness and despair finally poured out like a burst of the embankment at this moment. She clutched her beloved's sleeve tightly and buried her weeping face in his shoulder.

For countless days and nights in the past two years, she has been thinking about how to face it, and she has never been willing to face it, and this moment has finally arrived.