The winter of the third year of Qinghe was exceptionally cold.

Without a few pieces of felt cloth, the cool air penetrated into the joints along the cracks, freezing the bones of people. All the slaughtered forests outside the protective walls were cut down by the poor people and burned to the fire, and even the turf was stripped clean. In this year, the charcoal dealers made much more money than the salt merchants.

One or two of the beggars in the ruined temple outside the city stopped waking up every day, and were carried away stiffly by the officials, who were also unusually quiet, as if as soon as they opened their mouths, a cold chill would penetrate into their teeth. No one cared where the dead beggar was carried, and the frozen eyes in the ruined temple stared greedily at the pieces of cloth on the deceased's body.

Ten miles outside the city, Yizhuang is also full of three, and I heard that there is no place to release people from the mass grave. Fortunately, the weather is cold and freezing, but it is not easy to decay out of the epidemic, and the corpse is so hard that the wild dogs can't gnaw it, but it is also completely saved.

"Damn this weather, I don't even see a snow star, and the ghost is going to freeze to death." Several porters gathered together to knock their teeth, stamping their feet and rubbing their hands in the cold.

"Our days have been settled, my mother's brothers are in the Zhuangzi, they are all worried about next year's harvest, and the owner has no words to reduce the rent."

"The proprietors are too busy to take care of themselves, you look at this little guy jumping all over the street, who doesn't carry the medicine bag, I see that this doctor of Shanhetang is about to break his legs."

"I really haven't seen it this day, it's dry and cold, it's weird and itchy, you have to hold back your illness if you don't get sick, and the old lady of Cui Yushi's family next door has frozen hair, no, I just got out of the funeral two days ago."

"Brothers, haven't you heard of it, a few days ago Qinghe Hou went to Jueming Temple to offer incense, and the old monk there said that this ghost weather is 'against the harmony of heaven'!"

"What do you mean? Don't drag the words, just two words you've read. ”

The two words glanced around, lowered his voice, and said, "Let's just say that he is too tyrannical." He pointed to the sky.

There was a moment of silence. Today is too brutal, killing his father and killing his brother to ascend to the throne, this is something that cannot be said.

After staying for a while, a disciple couldn't hold back and lowered his voice: "I think the great monk has some truth." In the autumn of last year, he exiled several princes and their families, and confiscated many big officials, the Li family in Yajiao Hutong, howled so badly when he raided his house! I heard that the eldest lady of his family was touched by a small soldier when she was raiding the house, and a rope was hanged. ”

"No, I've heard that after winter, the remaining princes will also go to the vegetable market, which is another wave of bloody rain. Isn't it said as the old saying goes, God has the virtue of a good life, and this is a condemnation. ”

"Fortunately, our grandfather is smart, and he followed the emperor early in the morning, so we can have this good life."

"Why don't you shut up quickly, the master's affairs are also something you can discuss? If you're tired of living on your own, don't bring us with you! ”

The man laughed wryly: "Isn't this just a few of our brothers?" ”

The porters spoke vigorously in their voices, but the beggars did not care about this. However, the guard of honor to send the spirit drove through the broken temple, and the beggars in the broken temple were always excited, as if they had come to life, and kowtowed a few times on the side of the road, and there was a well-dressed maid who scattered copper coins. When they were lucky, there were silver bills smashed on their heads, and if they grabbed them, they wouldn't have to starve for a month. The beggars swarmed up, rolling and cursing, arching their weak bodies to the side, their eyes glaring like hyenas snatching food, and holding the silver bills tightly in their hands.

The thinnest beggar didn't dare to squeeze into the crowd to grab the silver, and if he was accidentally punched, he was afraid that he wouldn't survive the winter. She was shrunk in a corner, staring at her eyes, which were unusually large because of her emaciation, and was about to pick up a silver coin that had rolled to her feet, when she saw a beggar with a slender strip and a little neatly dressed pounce.

The tall and thin man obviously didn't take this beggar seriously, and threw himself directly at the silver bill, and the people next to him either didn't see him, or saw him menacing, they all avoided the side, looking for the weak bully. The thin and tall man pounced halfway, suddenly felt a cold crotch, and the cold wind poured in, and subconsciously grabbed his own piece of wind-blocking and shameful jacket, turned his head and saw the little beggar pulling his trouser belt in his hand, picking up the silver coin and running away, and couldn't help but scold.

The little beggar didn't dare to stay long when he grabbed the silver bill, and while no one was paying attention, he quickly stuffed the soil-stained silver bill into his waist and covered the broken felt on his body. After the other beggars finished grabbing, they dragged back to the temple with an indifferent expression, their upper and lower teeth chattering, and cursing the ghost weather.

The little beggar trembled and moved back to the ruined temple, found an unobtrusive corner, skillfully shrunk himself into a ball, turned his back to the main hall, and remained motionless, as if asleep, and still shivered slightly in his dreams. If you don't pay attention, it's really hard to see that her shoulders, which occasionally tremble, are moving slowly under the broken felt. She carefully took out a piece of bread from her arms, listened to the movement with her ears, took a bite lightly, and slowly melted it with saliva warmth. The food in her stomach made her eyes squint in comfort, and her frozen hands were a little warmer because of the cold food.

She was so hungry that she didn't feel it when she knelt on the side of the road earlier, but now she had a mouthful of the bun in her stomach, arousing the hunger all over her body, and the pores and senses all over her body were clamoring for food, she couldn't control herself anymore, swallowing it in a big gulp, and the hard and cold bun had not yet melted, choking her to roll her eyes. At this tinnitus and dazzling eyes, a dry hand reached out and clasped her side, and the other touched her neck, and a sad voice sounded in her ears: "Honestly take out the silver you stole today, otherwise this will be your last meal." ”

The little beggar was a spirit, knowing that the thin and tall man saw that she was a bully, so he didn't give up, so he came over again. His eyes rolled, and he couldn't speak with a whimper. The man behind her couldn't hear clearly, and the hand that was touching her neck loosened, trying to wait for her to swallow the bun in her mouth. She took a deep breath around her neck and shouted, "Who dropped this silver bill!" The man behind her already felt bad when she took a deep breath, but it was too late to cover her mouth, the childish voice was crisp and loud, and the dead and silent ruined temple suddenly became restless, and people shaped like withered trees rushed towards this corner.

The people behind them were squeezed away by the crazy beggars, and their eyes full of light scanned every corner. She pointed at the tall and thin man and shouted, "He picked it up!" After shouting, he squeezed out of the crowd on his stomach, but he might as well be picked up, and his limbs were pulled off the ground a few times, but he couldn't flutter. The gloomy voice sounded behind him again: "The kid doesn't want to live anymore!" Even your grandfather dares to bluff! ”

The little beggar sighed in his heart, gave up the struggle, and obediently took out the silver coin and threw it on the ground. The silver bills rolled on the ground, making a gurgling sound, which was very crisp and beautiful, and attracted the attention of all the beggars at once. The thin and tall man stepped on it and said coldly: "If you don't want to die, come up and grab Lao Tzu's money." No one answered, and the little beggar's gaze sank, and his limbs drooped down weakly.

The person carrying her sneered, threw her to the ground, picked up the silver coin and stuffed it into his waist, but refused to let her go, stepped on her wrist and said: "When Lao Tzu told you well, you kid didn't pay it, you had to play with these hearts, it was really looking for death." With that, with a hard foot, the bones that had not had a few taels of flesh outside crushed against the cold and hard ground, and with a clatter, the whole wrist bent in an extremely twisted posture.

The little beggar screamed in pain, fainted, and soon woke up in pain, and countless fists and kicks fell on his body, but he couldn't tell where it hurt the most. She wanted to faint, but she couldn't, she only gritted her teeth and rolled on the ground, looking at the beggars around her as if she was crying for help. Her whole body seemed to be unconscious, but she could clearly see the indifferent and empty expressions on every face, her ears became extremely sensitive, and she could clearly hear someone muttering "It's finally snowing" amid the muffled sound of punches and kicks hitting the skin and bones on her body.

After some time, she felt herself fluttering, and with a muffled grunt, she was thrown to the ground outside the ruined temple, grunted down the threshold, and rolled a few times. The wind blew through the cracks in the bones, the pain on her body disappeared, there was a thin red snow in front of her, and her face was cold, and she smiled hard: "It's really snowing......"

She felt a part of her consciousness struggle to break free from this heavy, cold shell. Her eyelids became heavier and heavier, and she blinked, and the red in front of her eyes faded a little, revealing the original color of heaven and earth. She tried to raise her head, trying to take this long-lost goose feather snow as her last memory, but unexpectedly saw a dark stone blue robe, and then up, it crashed into a pair of dark jade eyes. These eyes are slightly immature, clean and clear, as if the stars in the sky are sprinkled in them, reflecting her with a blue nose and swollen face and a bloody face very clearly. She thumped in her chest and finally fainted.