Ten miles away on the riverbank, a thin figure was struggling to climb under a huge banyan tree, leaning against the banyan tree pole and gasping for breath.

Liu Fengyan's ancestors had two jinshi in this dynasty, and the highest official was a scholar of Wenge University.

With the blessing of his ancestors, all the way to Liu Fengyan's father's generation, they can be regarded as orthodox scholars.

And Liu Fengyan himself has become a martial artist, he claims to be a swordsman, but no one has ever taken him seriously, he has lived for nearly thirty years, and the more he lives, the more depressed he becomes, and now, he can't even eat enough.

Liu Fengyan clenched the thick broken knife wrapped in linen cloth in his hand, and the sour and bitter feeling from his stomach made him have no strength to stand up again, he knew that this was syncope and was about to commit again.

It's not a serious illness, but once he can't eat, he will be very tired, his forehead will break out in cold sweat, his hands and feet will tremble and he can't even hold the handle of the knife, and he will even fall into a coma in serious cases.

Liu Fengyan has searched for countless Langzhong over the years, and they all said that they can only regulate, not cure, and a doctor with excellent medical skills told him that this is a heart disease, and no one can cure it except himself.

The soaked clothes made Liu Fengyan's body even colder, the huge umbrella-like canopy of banyan branches could not shield him from all the wind and rain, and the cold feeling on his face made Liu Fengyan inexplicably afraid, he seemed to smell the familiar smell of blood on his face again, and the blur of consciousness seemed to take him back to the nightmare that he could not wave away for twenty-five years......

At that time, Liu Fengyan's father, Liu Junsheng, was still the general judge of the Jiangfu in Chongzhou in the northwest, holding real power such as soldiers and civilians, money valleys, household registration, servitude, prison lawsuits, etc., and the accumulation of several generations of ancestors, the family was well-off, and even the prefect of a state had to give seven or eight points of thin noodles.

Liu Fengyan still remembers that in November of that year, Chongzhou had an unprecedented heavy snowfall, the snow was nearly two feet thick, it was difficult for cars and horses to travel, when the snow stopped, it was just in time for the winter solstice, the winter solstice is also called Ya Sui, every time at this time, the imperial court will allow officials at all levels to rest for five days, change new clothes, and worship ancestors. As the saying goes, 'When the winter solstice arrives, hundreds of officials will never do anything, and they will not listen to the government, but if they have affairs, they can choose an auspicious time and then save it'.

Perhaps it is because of this that Liu Fengyan remembered that his father was in a very good mood that day, invited a few peers, roasted charcoal, cooked wine and gossip, and was extremely happy.

When he was in the mood for drinking, a guest came outside, not an important guest, just a messenger, and handed over a sealed letter to Liu Junsheng, saying that it was a letter, but it was actually an invitation.

Liu Junsheng rewarded the messenger, and then twisted the letter back to the house with a puzzled face, and the peers of Liu Junsheng in the house were curious, and only said: "At the winter solstice, the yin and yang are delivered, the farming is over, everything is silent, and life is closed, who will invite at this time?"

Liu Junsheng shook his head, a little uncaring, no matter what, there is an invitation, it is always a happy event, so he opened the letter casually, only looked at it twice, the smile on Liu Junsheng's face froze, and after reading it in a hurry, he threw the invitation into ashes in the furnace.

A few peers didn't open their mouths to ask, and when they saw Liu Junsheng serving tea, they knew that this was the meaning of sending off guests, so they said goodbye to them and made an appointment to cook wine another day for fun.

After the others left, Liu Junsheng was alone for a long time, and after instructing the housekeeper to go to the street to do it, he called Liu Fengyan and his wife Liu Huang.

As soon as he heard that he was going to the banquet, Liu Huang's family was naturally happy, the woman's family had nothing to do all day long, and it was rare to show her head, which was naturally reasonable, but Liu Junsheng's face never showed half a trace of joy, but the frowning brows made Liu Fengyan a little afraid to approach.

Liu Huang was going to take Liu Fengyan with him, but Liu Junsheng vetoed it.

After the housekeeper who went out to purchase came back, the joy on Liu Huang's face was gone, and he only asked Liu Junsheng with a frightened face: "Master, obviously you are going to the wedding banquet, you are ......."

What the steward brought back was all yellow paper, incense, and candles, things that only the dead could use.

Liu Junsheng didn't explain, but only said to Liu Fengyan: "Go sleep in your nurse's house at night!"

Liu Fengyan cowardly agreed, and when the carriage was prepared outside, Liu Junsheng went out with Liu Huang.

When they left, on the street outside the Liufu mansion, groups of children set off firecrackers in groups of three or five, singing nine songs in their mouths: "Sing nine songs: "1929, no call to make a move; 3927, the fence blows; 4936, the eyes of the night are like sleeping in the open; 5945, the sun opens the door; 6954, the poor children fight for their will; 7963, Buna has two heads; 8972, cats and dogs seek the shade and ......."

When singing "Cats and Dogs Looking for the Yin Land", the group of children were scolded by the steward of the Liu family, and when the door was closed, the old man Wang who was in charge of the house also scolded and scolded the sky and the ground and spit twice, saying that he wanted to refute these unlucky words.

Liu Junsheng and his wife left two ruts on the snow, and they went away, and Liufu was extraordinarily quiet, but in the evening, there were two people outside the door, one of whom Liu Fengyan knew, was his own nurse's man, Liufu has always been benevolent and righteous, and he is not mean to his subordinates, and the maids and cooks at home are allowed to visit their relatives, and they live in Liufu for a day or two, and they are nothing.

The other one, a monk, with his hair and temples high, was a scholarly body, and there was a thick layer of snow on the cotton robe, and the man heard that Liu Junsheng and his wife had gone out early, and for some reason, he shook his head and sighed, saying that he would stay at Liu's house for two days to avoid the cold and hardship of the past few days.

The head of the family is benevolent and righteous, and the people of the Liu family are naturally not bad, besides, that person may know Liu Junsheng and his wife, so the steward readily agreed at the moment, and asked about the person's name, and the person only said that his surname was Zhang, and his name was Sanhui.

When Zhang Sanhui came in, Liu Fengyan noticed that this person was carrying a heavy basket on his back, and every time he took a step, there was the sound of a bell shaking in the bamboo basket, which was crisp and crisp on that silent snow day.

In addition, there is a handful of things that are thickly wrapped in green cloth.

Zhang Sanhui noticed that Liu Fengyan was looking at him, and said with a smile: "Go and get me some wine!"

Liu Fengyan stuck out his tongue and ran away disobediently.

At the winter solstice, the days are short and the nights are long, and the darkness is exceptionally early, and the housekeeper at the house hangs two red lanterns at the door, and then he is drunk and snoring in the gatehouse, Liu Fengyan stands in the yard to build a snowman to play, and the cold wind blows the snow foam into his neck, which is a little cold.

When the snowman was piled up, a gentle voice sounded behind him: "It's cold, and today is the weakest time between heaven and earth, go back to sleep early!"

Liu Fengyan shrank his hand, and saw Zhang Sanhui carrying a pot of wine leaning on the fence in front of the corridor, only to think that the posture of this person drinking wine was much better than that of the old man Wang who was in charge, and the old man Wang was either snoring when he drank wine, or babbling with a mouth, "The little lady doesn't know that the empty window is cold, brother, I want to take my heart from the ...... tonight"

And this person drank too much, but he looked more comfortable.

Liu Fengyan was not familiar with this person, so he didn't bother to pay attention to him, but he was curious, and pointed to the red candlelight reflected through the crack in the door: "Why hang red lanterns!"

Zhang Sanhui said: "Ask for good luck, hang up the red lantern, and your father and mother will not be stopped by demons and monsters on the way back!"

Liu Fengyan shuddered and pouted: "Nonsense!"

Zhang Sanhui didn't care, and smiled lightly: "You don't go to sleep?"

Liu Fengyan was a little disappointed: "Father Wang of the porter said, my nurse has a man tonight, I can't go to sleep with her!

Zhang Sanhui said, "Then why don't you go to the concierge to sleep?"

Liu Fengyan hesitated a little, but finally shook his head: "Don't go, his body stinks very much! The bed board is also hard, and people who talk in their dreams at night and disturb them can't sleep well!"

Zhang Sanhui walked over, sighed, and took his hand: "In this case, it is better to come to sleep in my room, and sleep peacefully......

It's strange that when Liu Fengyan first saw this person, he didn't have the slightest disgust when he was dragged into the house......