son-in-law

Chapter 666 Waking of Insects ([-])

Dark clouds, desert snow, city walls.

Bianliang.

The city where millions of people gather, in this winter, no longer the hustle and bustle of the past.Separated by a wall, under the northern city wall, thick ice quietly formed in the moat. Half of the blood, corpses, and objects thrown from the city wall sank into the bottom of the river, and half protruded from the ice surface. During the cooling process, they gradually merged into hideous ice sculptures. At this time, together with the Jurchen camp in the distance, they also became quiet.

In the thick and towering city walls, gray and white colors render everything, and the occasional flame red does not look bright.The city was immersed in the sorrow of death and could not recover. The bodies of most of the dead had been burned at one end of the city. The family members of the victims took a handful of ashes back, put them in the coffin, and used them as spiritual tablets.Due to the tight gates of the city, there are more small doors and small households, and even coffins cannot be prepared.The sound of the suona, the sound of the suona, and the sound of the suona stopped, and every household was crying, and the sadness was so deep that they couldn't even cry.Some old people and women, after hearing the news of the death of their children or husbands at home, either died of cold or hunger, or were too sad, they also died quietly.

This kind of grief and desolation is a scene that has never been seen in the entire city.And even though the offensive and defensive battles had stopped, the tension shrouded inside and outside the city hadn't faded away. Since the division of the Western Army was annihilated in the battle with Zongwang, the day-to-day peace talks outside the city were still going on.The peace talks have not ended, and no one knows whether the Jurchens will come to attack the city.

At the beginning, everyone's spirit of dying with the city has passed, and after a little relief, the pain has come up, and not many people have that kind of vigor anymore.The people in the city were anxious, paying attention to the news from the north of the city, and sometimes they couldn't help but slow down their footsteps, for fear of disturbing the Jurchen beasts over there.In the winter that has been besieged for a long time, the entire city is gradually turning into giant ice.

The undercurrent is quietly surging.

Wintersweet blossoms were blooming, showing a bright red color in the corner of the yard. The servants walked through the porch as carefully as possible. In the main hall of the yard, the gentlemen were talking.The leader is Tang Ke and Tang Qinsou, and the guest next to him is Yan Zhengyan Daozhang.

The charcoal fire was burning in the animal-patterned copper furnace, and the two talked in a low voice, but there were not too many disturbances.

"...The battle of Bianliang has resulted in countless deaths and injuries. These dead ones cannot be worthless...Although Tang tried his best to make peace before, he had the same thoughts as Li Xiang and Qin Xiang The Jin people are as fierce as tigers and wolves. Since they have already started a war, they can force peace, so the peace talks should not be retreated. Otherwise, the Jin people will come back...I have been discussing with Brother Xidao these days..."

"...Mr. Tang and Mr. Geng think about it, and Yan will naturally understand that the peace talks should not be hasty, but... Mr. Li, Mr. Li, is too cautious. I am afraid that he only wants to deal with errands and deal with failures. And this matter should not be too slow. If the delay continues, the Jurchens will have no food and grass, so they will have to plunder hundreds of miles away. At that time, the peace talks will definitely fail...It's not easy to handle..."

"...Cai Taishi Mingjian, but according to what Tang thinks... there is Wu Ruijun outside the city, the Jurchens may not dare to act rashly, and now we are gathering the defeated troops of the Western Army. I believe that Wanyan Zongwang does not want to stay here for a long time. The matter of peace talks The core, the other is still second, one is the elite soldiers, the other is Taiyuan... I have elite soldiers, so I can deal with the Jurchen's next trip to the south. With Taiyuan, this war will not cause any serious losses. As for Qian Wusui Instead, we might as well follow the Wu Liao precedent..."

"Unfortunately, this matter is not up to me..."

"...That's right. In this battle, those who contributed the most are the left and right prime ministers, the western army, and the prime minister... We, the master and the first line, really have nothing to do. However, at this moment, Up and down the court, the strength is going to be used together. Tang Mou discussed with Prime Minister Qin yesterday that the Right Prime Minister's House contributed the most in this battle. The second son in his family, Shaohe Yu Zonghan in Taiyuan, and Shaoqian retired in Xiacun The army is a meritorious service. But the right minister seems to have the idea of ​​​​retiring in order to avoid suspicion..."

"... Qin Xiang, a hero of the first generation, if he can retreat completely at this time, it will be a good story..."

"...For the sake of the country and the people, even though tens of thousands of people are coming to me, when the country is in crisis, how can we allow them to retreat lightly because of slander. Tang Mou understands what the right minister thinks. At the beginning, for the sake of war and peace, I and him There have also been disputes many times, but the disputes are only for the family and the country, not personal grievances. Qin Yuyuan avoided suspicion this time, but it is not a blessing for the family and the country. Brother Daozhang, Wu Ruiying should not be easily replaced, and Taiyuan must not be lost. These things all fall on the right minister On me..."

"...Since Brother Tang said so, Yan and Brother Tang will advance and retreat together..."

While the charcoal fire was burning, the whispered words gradually came to an end. Yan was getting up to say goodbye, and Tang Ke sent him out. In the courtyard outside, wintersweet was set against the white snow, and the scenery was beautiful and pleasant.After saying goodbye to each other, Yan Zheng said with a smile: "This year, there is a lot of snow, and there are many things to do. I hope that the coming year will be peaceful, and it will be considered a year of auspicious snow."

"Auspicious snow heralds a good year, I hope so." Tang Ke also cupped his hands and smiled.

He sent Yan Zheng out, and then turned back, under the eaves outside the hall, there was already another old man watching the snow with a teacup. This was Xu Xiangxuan, a staff member of his mansion.

"Advance and retreat at the same time, it is generous to say that Yan Daozhang is a boneless person."

"May he bring these words to Grand Master Cai..."

In the imperial court, Yan Zhengfeng was well-received. On the one hand, he has an upright personality, and on the other hand, he has always been in contact with Tang Ke, who has both talents and virtues, but in fact he is Cai Jing's pawn.On weekdays, he tends to be the peace faction, but at critical moments, he is nothing more than a messenger.

"Just now, Mr. Geng and the others sent someone to send a message, and the Duke of the country was also a little hesitant. It seems that he is unwilling to stand out..."

"Recovering Yanyun and retiring after success, the Duke of Chu has already been famous before and after, so it is reasonable to not show up."

The two chatted for a few words, then fell silent for a while, the charcoal fire in the room erupted with sparks, and the snow outside was so cold.Tang Ke watched the snow scene for a moment and sighed.

"Winter hasn't passed yet..." He closed his eyes and let out a breath of white air.

"The Waking of Insects is coming..."

****************
Xue Changgong was wrapped in a bandage, and he was sitting on a chair. The two superiors from the army who came to visit him, one from Hu Tang and one from Shen Jue, were all applauding the middle and high level of the Japanese army.Been talking for a while.

"...Now that the Jurchen battle line has retreated, we can rest for a while in defense of the city. Although Brother Xue's position is critical, we can rest assured to cultivate at this time, so as not to cause any delay."

"...As long as the peace talks are over, everyone can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Brother Xue will definitely take the lead this time, but it will be a huge fortune. At that time, Brother Xue's family will have to change all these things."

"The small family of the Han family relies on the love of the superiors and brothers. The items sent by them have not been counted at this time. After a big battle, the bones of the brothers are not yet cold. Thinking of this, Xue feels very sorry." Xue Changgong was a little weak smiled.

Hu Tang waved his hand: "Hey, that's not the way it is said. I was a martial artist, and I got my fame from the sword, and my head was tied on the waistband. Brothers in the underground have no blessings. Those who are lucky enough to survive should eat, drink, and enjoy themselves. I have to enjoy all the fun I have. Those scholars scolded me after hearing this, but this is the case in the army. It is a good thing that Brother Xue misses his brothers, but you should not lose a cent of what you should enjoy. In this way Ah, brothers can follow you to the death."

Shen Jue said with a smile: "If you can survive this time, you can get promoted and get rich. At that time, brother Xue, you have to invite me to the building, and my brother will definitely come, haha..."

What they said is right, Xue Changgong smiled, nodded and said: "...just, what's the situation outside the city now? I've been in bed for a few days, and I've heard bits and pieces... The peace talks will not be complete after all. Believe me, if my morale is weak and the Jurchens come again, it will be a catastrophe... Besides, I heard that something happened to Mr. Xiaozhong, so I don't know the details..."

"The Western Army is men, they are different from those outside our city." Hu Tang shook his head, "In the last battle at Wuzhangling, Mr. Xiao Zhong was seriously injured. The guards of the young cavalry could have escaped, but in order to save the body of Mr. Xiaozhong, they rushed to the battle five times in a row. In the last time, there were only more than [-] people left, all of whom were seriously injured. The old lord is also stubborn. It is heard in the army that the xiaozhong came here with an army and sent people to ask the capital to send troops to harass him. When he was defeated, he also sent his own soldiers to ask for help. When his own soldiers came into the city, the old lord sent them to the city. Detained... Now at the Jurchen camp, the heads of Mr. Xiaozhong and hundreds of people who rushed to the battle are all hung outside the tent, and the peace talks outside the city are one of them..."

"I heard someone say that Mr. Xiaozhong fought until he died in the battle. He still believed that the old Mr. Zhong would lead troops to rescue him. He said this several times to boost morale on the battlefield. But until the end, the five armies in Beijing did not move." Shen said. Jue said in a low voice, "There is also a saying that Mr. Xiaozhong knew the outcome of the matter before he could escape after facing Zongwang, and he was just telling lies to deceive everyone..."

Shen Jue paused: "After the death of Mr. Xiaozhong, the Wu Ruiying army came, and after that, several armies including Wu Sheng and Wu Wei came over, and Chen Yanshu, Fang Lian, Lin Hetang and others led more than [-] people to advance... ...Actually, if there was no attack from the Western Army, the peace talks would not have come so quickly..."

After defending the city for nearly a month, I have seen many tragic things, but when talking about this matter, there is still a little silence in the room.After a while, Xue Changgong coughed a few times because of his injury.Hu Tang smiled.

"Speaking of military merits, Xia Village's group defeated Guo Yaoshi, and now they are confronting Jurchen outside the city. If rewards are based on merit, they may be the ones who deserve the most credit."

Shen Jue lowered his voice: "The government of the country has always been ruled by civil servants. I waited in the army and suffered countless constraints. In the end, everyone was unable to fight. They said that the generals were incompetent. I waited for the generals, and I couldn't argue. Qin Shaoqian ...He is the son of the right minister, so he is naturally free from restraint, so he can defeat the resentful army. This is a good thing, but... well, in short, it is always a good thing to win..."

"It's not easy for them outside the city." Hu Tang said with a smile, "Xia Village's army is said to be headed by Wu Ruiying, but in fact the army outside the city has been dispersed long ago. Now they are confronting the Jurchens while arguing. Those commanders Messengers, Chen Yanshu, Fang Lian, Lin Hetang, which one is the fuel-efficient lamp. I heard that outside Chen Bingcheng, they go to Wuruiying to ask for people, both above and below, and send their brothers out to lobby. The gang of people in the village have made some bones, and if they make bones, it won’t be ugly to fight. Everyone has no hands, and they all want to use chickens to lay eggs..."

"I haven't been in contact with the outside of the city yet. When the Jurchens leave, I'm afraid there will be some conflicts. The people brought by Brother Xue are the top leaders in the Japanese army. Zhou Xuan, it's Guo Yaoshi who is fighting, it's really hard to say who is more difficult. At that time, our team in the capital will not bully others, and our military achievements will be worth it, but we can't fall into prestige..."

"Don't worry too much. Their troubles outside the city are not over yet. Sometimes, it's not a good thing for Mu Xiu Yulin to benefit from it. Instead, it's someone who makes a fortune silently..."

The few people were talking about things outside the city, and it wasn't really gloating, it's just that fighting for merit in the military is a common occurrence, and each other was prepared in their hearts.

For ordinary people, after the fight is over and they win, that's all. For them, after the fight is over, many things after that are also predictable.They were curious about the team that defeated Guo Yaoshi, but they had never seen it before, and they didn't know what it looked like.Thinking about it now, they confronted the Jurchens, after all, they still took advantage of the Western Army's desperate blow. If they really fought, they would be defeated.It's just that facing 10,000+ people outside the city, Guo Yaoshi left again. Even if the Jurchens can win, after seeing the resistance of Bianliang, it doesn't make much sense. When they talk about these things, they feel more relaxed.

After all, the real gossip and inside stories are still in the hands of those big shots, and what they care about is only a few profits in their hands.

After discussing like this for a while, Xue Changgong was injured after all, the two left and refused Xue Changgong's offer to see him off.Looking out from the courtyard outside the door, it is a cold winter shrouded in dark clouds, which seems to confirm the fact that the dust has not yet settled.

Back in the backyard, the servant girl told him that Miss Shishi is here.

In the bedroom, Shishi took some precious medicinal materials and came to see He Leier who was still lying on the bed, and the two talked in a low voice.This is her second visit after a few days of truce.

The fighting ceased, and the peace talks began.Shishi's help in the wounded barracks has also come to an end. As an oiran in the capital who has begun to lose her temper, after a period of busy work in the army, her figure has become thinner and thinner, but the experience during that period has also accumulated for her. With more fame, the past few days must have been not leisurely, so that her face was still a little tired.

Even though he was overwhelmed, there was still a world of difference between Shishi's status in the building and He Leier's. Xue Changgong didn't know the reason why she came to see He Leier.Right now this period is still a time when warriors are popular, but even so, he, Xue Changgong, is not worthy of such an oiran, so he doesn't think too much about it.When Shi Shi came out, the two greeted each other and exchanged a few words.

Xue Changgong remembered the reputation of the building, and couldn't help asking his teacher a few words about the peace talks—the private discussions of several generals and lieutenant generals, it is impossible to see through the current situation, but the relationship between the building During the reception, they will know more about receiving various dignitaries.

"... Listening to the tone of the adults in the court, the peace negotiation is nothing serious, General Xue can rest assured." After a moment of silence, the teacher said, "It's the Japanese army that made the most of this battle, and I hope the general After you have achieved great success, don't let my little sister down."

Li Shishi didn't have enough time, so he left here after speaking.When the carriage drove through the snow-covered long street, noises from the surrounding city came in from time to time, and the curtain was lifted. Most of these noises were crying. The people who met on the left side said a few words, couldn't help sighing, faint mourning, A small piece of white cloth was hung on the door of the house where someone died, and a child ran across the street in a daze. Inside the half-closed door of the blacksmith shop, a child brandished a hammer, making the monotonous sound of striking.They didn't show any anger.

In the past few days, time seems to flow in a sticky paste.

The news that Xue Changgong told was monotonous and optimistic, but the truth is naturally not that simple.In a battle, 10,000+ tens of thousands of people died. Sometimes, the simple victory or defeat is almost unimportant. What really entangles people is that in these victories and defeats, people can't distinguish between some pure tragedy or joy. Come on, almost all feelings cannot simply find sustenance.

Before the war is over, all kinds of messy things have already begun.

In the court, the senior officials are secretly operating, secretly connecting and scheming.Naturally, Lulou can't see these things clearly, but it's easy to find the clues in private.The will of Taishi Cai, the will of His Majesty, the will of the Duke of Chu, the will of the left and right prime ministers, the will of the master and faction... In the flowing dark river, these things vaguely become the main body. As for those who died, their Will is not important, and it seems that it has never been important.

Shishi is also a person who knows all kinds of inside stories, but only this time, she hopes to have a little bit of simple things in front of her eyes, but when all things are deeply thought about, those things will no longer exist.

The impassionedness of the Western Army, the head of the plantation division is still hanging in the Jurchen camp, and the peace talks between the court and the court are still unable to welcome him back.The negotiation between Master Li and Zongwang is even more complicated. Any situation can arise, but behind the scenes, there is a mix of various wills, so that people can't see anything exciting.During the battle to defend the city, the Right Prime Minister's Mansion was in charge of logistics deployment and concentrated a large number of manpower to defend the city, but now it has begun to calm down, because there are vaguely ominous signs in the air.

The great victory of Xia Village's army was exciting when it was first heard, but at this moment, all kinds of forces are reaching out to this team.10,000+ people outside the city are still confronting the Jurchen troops. In the camp of the Xiacun army, a lot of wrangling has begun every day. There was even a small-scale fight yesterday. According to the adults who came to the building He said that these things were obviously provoked by someone behind the scenes, so as not to make the soldiers and generals of Wurui Camp so happy.

And the caring people among them are not just the high-level people among the more than [-] people outside the city.The news network of Fanlou can vaguely feel that the will of the people in the city, including Cai Taishi and Tong Guan, has already extended to the outside of the city.

Compared with these tentacles and undercurrents behind them, the tens of thousands of troops who were confronting the Jurchens didn't have a fierce counterattack—they couldn't be fierce either.Separated by a high city wall, the building could not get too much information from it. For Shi Shi, all the complicated undercurrents seemed to flow by his side.For the negotiation, for the truce, for the value and meaning of all the dead, she suddenly couldn't find a place for sustenance and refuge.

She stared at these things carefully.When she dreamed back in the middle of the night, she also had a small expectation. After all, there was still the person she knew in the Wu Rui camp at this time. With his character, he probably wouldn't sit still and wait for death.After the reunion, he has repeatedly made many incredible achievements. This time, she also hopes that after all the news is connected, he may have launched a counterattack and slapped all these messy people—even though This hope is slim, at least for now, she can look forward to something.

After she returned to the tower in the carriage, she heard a special news.

"Over at Zhuji, Mr. Su just came over and handed over some things to us."

His mother, Li Yun, called her over and gave her a small notebook. Shishi flipped through it a bit and found that it recorded some people's affairs on the battlefield. Apart from the battle in Xia Village, there were other incidents including the Western Army. Most of the people in the army are simple and heroic, suitable for publicity stories.

"Bamboo Notes actually started arranging storytelling a few days ago, but mother can tell you something, the rumors are not right, I don't know if this treasure will be suppressed or not. You can help them talk about it, I don't care about you .”

Li Yun poured her a cup of tea to warm her hands, and seeing Shishi raised his head to look at her with calm and complicated eyes, he also sighed and turned to look at the window.

"It's hard for you and me to say about these important people." She sat down on the chair opposite, raised her head and sighed, "This time the Jinren go south, the sky will change, whoever decides in the future, everyone will see I don't understand... In the past few years in Beijing, some people have risen and some have fallen, and some have been prosperous for decades and have never fallen. In this game. This time, mom, I don’t know who will be up and who will be down, but something is coming, that’s for sure..."

Shi Shi held the book and remained silent for a while.

"Let's not talk about that." Li Yun waved his hand, then lowered his voice, "I heard that Young Master Ning has returned to Beijing secretly and is meeting people secretly. These must be his handwriting. I know you can't sit still, let you go If you have a free day, go find him. What is he going to do, and what is going to happen to Master Qin of the Right Prime Minister's House? If he can give you an accurate statement, I will feel more at ease..."

Shishi's eyes lit up, after a while, he got up and gave a blessing, after thanking him, he asked where he was, and went out.

The carriage drove through the streets of Bianliang, and the light snow gradually fell. The teacher ordered the coachman to take her to find several places, including Zhuji's branch and Su's house. When she was helping, the carriage stopped when it turned over the small bridge on the side of Wenhui Building. down.

Shishi got out of the carriage wearing a white vogue. On the second floor, by a window with a warm yellow light on, Ning Yi was sitting there, quietly looking at something outside the window.He had a beard, and his expression was quiet and indifferent. He seemed to feel the gaze from below. He turned his head and saw the woman next to the carriage lowering her hood.Snowflakes are falling slowly.

Someone upstairs seemed to have entered the room. Ning Yi looked over there and stood up, then turned his head to look at Shishi. He closed the window, and the blurry silhouette in the window greeted the guest, and then there was only a faint light left.

In the evening, Shishi crossed the road and walked into the restaurant...

(End of this chapter)