In the clouds, heavy snow.

Chu Mingxiu was lying on the bed, and the high heat blurred his vision. Only the girl sitting on the edge of the bed kept holding his hand, making him realize that he was still in the world. Chu Mingxiu exhaled a breath of scorching air, which made his heart and lungs hurt.

"I dreamed of big brother last night." Chu Mingxiu said, "Do you want to know what he told me?" ”

"I don't want to." Chu Zhixia said expressionlessly.

"Hard-mouthed." Chu Mingxiu looked down to himself and said, "I dreamed that when you were a child, you had just learned to ride a horse and secretly ran to the bottom of the Heavenly Haze Mountain alone. As a result, you and Shenzhou didn't know the way, and spent the night at the foot of the mountain. By the time I found you, the two of you were huddled in a hollow in a tree, trembling and hugging each other. It was you who did the wrong thing, but the eldest brother punished me in the ancestral hall, do you think he is partial? ”

"You don't talk nonsense." Chu Zhixia said, "Obviously, you lied to me, saying that there is a white wolf under the mist mountain, and the eyes of the white wolf can cure the eldest brother's illness." I didn't find the white wolf, and I was almost taken away by the she-wolf, and it's light that the eldest brother didn't kill you. ”

Chu Mingxiu couldn't help laughing, laughing so hard that he coughed.

"Is General Xin buried?"

"Hmm."

"It's a pity I couldn't even send him." Chu Mingxiu's consciousness began to blur again, and he muttered, "You know what? General Xin was a native of Qingzhou. ”

"I don't know." Chu Zhixia clenched Chu Mingxiu's hand, trying to regain his senses, "Don't speak." ”

"Actually, nothing special. Xin Jian was an orphan whose parents died at the hands of the Beidi people, and he grew up in Jishan Hall. Originally, he was very good at studying, and maybe he could get a top score, but he wanted to join the army. Chu Mingxiu's voice became softer and softer, "If he had gone to take the top exam back then, maybe he wouldn't have died, right?" ”

"That's not necessarily, in those years, the scientific expedition was controlled by Zhuang Songbai, General Xin was an orphan, did he have the money to worship Zhuang Songbai's mountain?"

"You're so ugly." Chu Mingxiu's eyelids fell down vigorously, and he was weak.

"Hurry up and get better, I'll tell you whatever you want to hear." Chu Zhixia's forehead rested on the back of his hand and said, "Second brother, don't leave me alone. ”

"Changle, I'm sorry." Chu Mingxiu reluctantly raised his hand and stroked her cheek, and said, "In the end, I trapped you here." ”

"There is no such thing." Chu Zhixia gritted his teeth and said.

"You're my pride." Chu Mingxiu said, "I haven't told you all this time. ”

Chu Zhixia shook his head and couldn't say a word.

The room was completely silent.

The maid knocked on the door and could not hear anyone answering, so she panicked and went to find the sunken boat. Shen Zhou kicked the door with people and broke in, but the scene in front of him made everyone's hearts stumped. The maid couldn't help but exclaim, and the things in her hands fell crackling.

Shen Zhou said, "All go out." ”

Chu Zhixia, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, didn't move, she stubbornly held Chu Mingxiu's hand, as if waiting for him to wake up again. Shen Zhou walked to Chu Shixia's side with difficulty, pressed her shoulders and hugged her.

"It was as if he was asleep." Chu Shixia said softly, "It turns out that dead people can also be like this. ”

"If you want to cry, cry." Shen Zhou said, "I'll keep it for you, and no one will know." ”

"I can't cry." Chu Zhixia looked at Chu Mingxiu blankly, and said in a reluctant, "Shen Zhou, I have no strength." ”

Shen Zhou's hand trembled slightly.

His fingertips ran through Chu Zhixia's long hair, inch by inch like snow.

——

In the second year of Xuande, the third day of the first month.

Chu Ming, the king of Zhenbei and the general of Longxiang, stopped the spirit, and the powerful and powerful people from all over the world came to mourn.

Pei Zhang walked into the court, and saw Chu Zhixia under the eaves from a distance, and couldn't help but feel desolate in his heart. Chu Zhixia was dressed in a black and white shirt with a white belt tied on his forehead, and nodded at Pei Zhang from afar.

"What's wrong with your hair?" Pei Zhang's voice trembled and asked.

"It's about heaven warning me that my life is coming to an end, and I have to hurry up on what I haven't done." Chu Zhixia pulled out a pale smile and said.

Pei Zhang smiled with difficulty, but tears fell first. Only a little more than a year has passed, but the old people are no longer what they used to be. Fate seemed to be particularly cruel to Chu Zhixia, carving her into an appearance that she didn't even recognize. The high-spirited girl in the imperial capital in the past was so far away that it seemed like a previous life.

Chu Shixia comforted Pei Zhang in turn and said, "It's okay." ”

"Is there anything I can help you with?" Pei Zhang asked.

Chu Shixia thought for a while and asked, "Do you have money and food?" ”

Pei Zhang seemed to have anticipated Chu Zhixia's concerns, and walked into the inner room with her and sat down. Chu Zhixia glanced at the person who was following Pei Zhang, covering his face with a hood. The three of them sat together at the table before the man lifted his hood.

"Don't come unharmed, His Royal Highness the King of Zhenbei." Bai Ziche said.

"Thank you Your Majesty for your concern." Chu Zhixia bowed his head slightly and said.

"I'm here for the military expenses of the northern part of the country." Bai Ziche took out a stack of silver tickets from his arms and pressed them on the table and pushed them over.

"One hundred thousand taels of silver." Chu Shixia glanced at it and asked, "Has the treasury been so empty?" ”

"The confiscated family property of the Chen family, Xu Delu, and Zhuang Songbai has long been squandered by the first emperor. In addition, the weather in many places this year is abnormal, with severe droughts and plagues emerging one after another, and the imperial court has exempted taxes and has to provide relief to the victims. Bai Ziche felt quite embarrassed, "The treasury doesn't have much money anymore. ”

Pei Zhang took out a box, pushed it in front of Chu Shixia, and said, "This is the 100,000 taels of silver tickets I made up, if the war is tight, I will find a way." ”

"You're hard to keep up, aren't you?" Chu Zhixia shook his head and said, "The Pei clan in Guanzhong is a hundred-year-old clan, and every decision you make involves your clansmen. Even if you have a heart, you are powerless, I understand. ”

"I'll figure it out." Pei Zhang said firmly.

"Money isn't the hardest part." Chu Shixia said, "There are 300,000 elite soldiers in Yongxue Pass, and the military salary can be in arrears, but the sergeants can't skip food, and the most scarce thing is actually food." Even if the treasury has mountains of gold and silver, gold and silver cannot be turned into rice and flour. I sent people to Jiangnan to inquire about the price of rice, but the merchants hoarded grain for huge profits and refused to sell it. Unless it is robbed, even if His Majesty and Pei Gongzi empty their family funds, it will be difficult to fill the demand for the snow pass. ”

Bai Ziche let out a long sigh.

"Or, is it possible to make peace talks for the time being and survive this year?" Bai Ziche asked tentatively.

"There is a big drought this year, and next year may not be smooth." Chu Shixia paused and said, "What's more, I may not have time to wait." ”

Bai Ziche and Pei Zhang both thought that Chu Zhixia was eager for revenge, and they were unwilling to wait any longer, so it was inconvenient to persuade them more. Only Chu Shixia knew that what she was afraid of was the tilt of the Mandate of Heaven. Maybe before Chu Shixia and Erdan went to war, she died in an accident.

"Wait." Chu Zhixia said.

——

A journey of wind and snow has passed.

The white candle on the mourning hall was replaced.

Chu Zhixia knelt in front of the mourning hall, and Shen Zhou stood by her side. Shen Zhou was very worried that Chu Zhixia was alone, he followed Chu Zhixia inch by inch, sometimes Chu Zhixia could see him, sometimes he couldn't. Chu Zhixia didn't say a word, just kneeling so quietly that Shen Zhou sometimes thought in a trance that she had stopped breathing.

"Would you like to hold it?" Shen Zhou stuffed the white cat that had sneaked into the mourning hall into Chu Zhixia's hand, and took her hand to rub the white cat's belly.

The white cat was rubbed comfortably and no longer struggled.

Chu Zhixia lowered his eyes and smiled, his fingers running across the warm and soft belly of the white cat.

"Is there no money?" Shen Zhou asked.

"Hmm." Chu Zhixia nodded.

"There is gold in the Nine Shadows," Shen Zhou said, "but I don't know how much." Luo Shuangyi will go back to her home tonight to count, no matter how many there are, all of them will be shipped over. If not enough......"

Chu Zhixia raised his eyes to look at Shen Zhou, and reached out to scratch his chin, as if touching another cat, "Shen Zhou, are you really willing to die with me in Yongxue Pass?" ”

"Really." Shen Zhou replied seriously.

"Don't you regret it?"

"Never regret it."

Chu Zhixia leaned on Shen Zhou's chest slowly, and his powerful heartbeat sounded in his ears. Shen Zhou put his arm around Chu Zhixia's shoulders and clasped her tightly in his arms, his chin resting on the top of her hair. Chu Zhixia was as light as a fallen leaf, as if he was going to go away with the wind in the next moment.

"Let me lean on for a moment." Chu Shixia said, "I'm so tired. ”

"I'll always be by your side, you won't be alone." Shen Zhou whispered, "I'm not a little monster who doesn't understand anything, I've learned everything you want me to learn." I know you're sad. ”

Hurried footsteps suddenly sounded outside the mourning hall, and Cheng Yuan said from afar: "Your Highness, there are guests coming from Guangling." ”

Chu Zhixia Huoran got up.

Chu Zhixia ran through the deep courtyard, the corridor full of white paper lanterns, and arrived at the faintly lit gate of the palace in one breath. An inconspicuous carriage stopped in the snow, and the man was wearing a plain cloak, like a white plum, and bowed to Chu Shixia Yingying in the fine snow.

"Jiang Qiao of the Guangling Jiang Clan, come to fulfill the covenant with His Highness."

The moment Jiang Qiao saw Chu Zhixia's white hair, his body couldn't help but shake. However, Jiang Qiao quickly calmed down and said to Chu Zhixia, "Please mourn Your Highness." ”

Deng Mian was forced to cry in an instant, with red circles in his eyes, and said with a strong spirit: "Your Highness...... Condolences. ”

Chu Zhixia showed a faint smile and said, "It's just a white head, why is it like the sky is about to fall?" ”

——

"Five million stone grains, five hundred thousand taels of silver, is all the sincerity that the Guangling Jiang clan can give. The grain will go out of Guangling by waterway, take the dry road into the north of the city, and will be able to reach the Yongxue Pass at the end of April this year. Jiang Qiao said lightly, "Your Highness thinks, is it enough?" ”

"According to the number of our troops and the standard of supply, it is enough to support two years." Chu Shixia said, "After entering the north of the city, the grain will be escorted by our army, and the time can be advanced to mid-April. ”

Chu Zhixia pressed his knees, leaned forward slightly, and said, "Thank you." ”

"It's Jiang Qiao's honor." Jiang Qiao bowed his head slightly and said.

"Are you still under Yan Ruhai?" Chu Zhixia asked.

"That was a long time ago." Jiang Qiao smiled and said, "I issued a golden coupon for him, and after defeating his opponent, I cleared up with him." It's just that I didn't expect that the day I reported to His Highness would come so quickly, but fortunately I didn't come late. ”

There was silence between the two.

"Your Highness, you've had a hard time all these years, right?"

Chu Shixia smiled lightly: "Everyone in the world is suffering, and I am not single." ”

"I ...... Didn't kill Mrs. Jiang. ”

Jiang Qiao pondered for a long time and said, "At the beginning, I felt very sorry for my aunt. I hate Mrs. Jiang, I hate it so much that I can't sleep at night, and I dream about how to torture her and make her die in agony. But when I actually pinched her life, I just thought it was ridiculous. ”

When she was a child, Mrs. Jiang was a man-eating demon in Jiang Qiao's eyes and a vicious housewife. However, when Jiang Qiao looked down at Mrs. Jiang, who had to bow to her, and watched her cry bitterly for the death of Jiang Changgongzi, Jiang Qiao only felt that she was pitiful.

"She couldn't even figure out who she was supposed to hate." Jiang Qiao said softly, "The thing she should hate the most is the man who failed her." But she didn't dare, and she couldn't, so she vented her resentment on me and my aunt, pitiful, pathetic and ridiculous. I locked her in the backyard of the Jiang family, and she cursed me every night for not dying well, and I was not worthy of virtue. ”

"Then she killed herself by swallowing gold." Jiang Qiao smiled without any emotion and said, "I always took the Buddha beads that His Highness asked for in Yuanjue Temple, and I didn't go astray. May Your Highness, though white-headed, still be the same as yesterday. ”

Chu Shixia was silent for a moment, as if he was thinking about Jiang Qiao's words, and suddenly laughed. After her head turned white, even if she occasionally smiled, it was faint, like a touch of ink on rice paper that was blurred by water, fleeting.

"Jiang Qiao, you have come out. You have to live peacefully and happily like this, and when you are 100 years old, you will look back at our acquaintances. Chu Shixia said, "Second Prince Huo will also be happy for you." ”

Jiang Qiao's eyelashes twitched.

"And I, on the other hand, am a dying man."

The blood of the imperial capital that has lasted to this day, the undead who cannot be freed from the wind and frost in the north of the country, have repeated the mistakes of the previous life again and again in this life, and they have already delayed Chu Zhi Xia Ling hundreds of times.

——

Shen Zhou sat on the roof and listened silently to Chu Zhixia's sad words. Snowflakes stacked on his eyelashes, heavy, like frosting. Deng Mian clumsily walked over from the other side of the roof and slowly sat down beside Shen Zhou.

Shen Zhou thought for a while, and took the initiative to greet him: "Are you doing well in Guangling?" ”

"Good." Deng Mian said, "I'm learning to settle accounts, it's difficult, but I'm studying very seriously." Jiang Qiao paid me a salary, and I rented a small courtyard to live in. Last year, I picked up a little raccoon cat on a rainy day. When I first arrived in Guangling, I always dreamed that my father scolded me for not taking good care of myself. But lately there have been very few. ”

Shen Zhou didn't know what to say, and it seemed a little inappropriate to say congratulations. People who have lost their loved ones should be dreaming of the deceased night after night, right? Even if it is not such a sweet dream, even if it still hurts after waking up, it is still greedy for a moment of reunion in the dream.

Is it a cause for celebration to forget the dead?

Shen Zhou didn't think about it, so he simply didn't speak.

"Miss...... No, is she okay, Your Highness? Deng Mian felt that he had asked a nonsense.

"Not so good." Shen Zhou shook his head and said.

Deng Mian asked tentatively, "Are you engaged?" ”

Shen Zhou nodded and said, "Mo Xue said that we will get married after the mourning period. ”

"Why didn't I see Sister Yuzhu?" Deng Mian pulled away from the topic.

Shen Zhou was silent for a moment and said, "She's dead." ”

Deng Mian froze in place.

Shen Zhou didn't know where to start.

He rarely spoke, so he spoke every word slowly, as if he was trying to make it clear.

Shen Zhou started from the slaughter of the distant Sanquan Village, and said that Yuzhu asked Chu Mingxiu to resign and returned to Yongxue Pass; Speaking of the last meal that Yuzhu cooked for Chu Zhixia, Chu Zhixia didn't finish it because he was angry; Speaking of Chu Zhixia in the morgue, he pulled out the feather arrows on the back of the jade bead one by one and wiped her face clean; Speaking of the suicide note that came true, the signature was the unfamiliar "Yu Zhu", which erased the last trace of Yuzhu in the world.

Shen Zhou touched his sore and swollen chest, and reacted with hindsight, it turned out that that day, his pain was not only because of Chu Zhixia.

He was also so genuinely saddened by Yuzhu's death that he could recall every detail.

"Shen Zhou, you have to guard her. She only has you. ”