After the salted fish is married

Winter

Although Yan Xining came here with full expectations, he really didn't come at the right time.There were no more mushrooms in this season. After digging through the nearby grass for a long time, they only found a few mushrooms that had almost dried up.

Yan Xining looked at the mushrooms with regret: "Unfortunately, we came late."

Pang Wenyuan said: "This kind of mushroom grows most in spring, summer and autumn, especially after the rain. If the princess confirms that this kind of mushroom is edible, she will order someone to pick it off at the end of next spring."

Yan Ke scratched his chin, he hesitated and said: "Didn't it say that the mushrooms on the grassland are highly poisonous if they are stained with human blood?" Contaminated with human blood is full of resentment. After eating, it can cause vomiting and diarrhea, and even death.

Yan Xining smiled and said, "Actually, they are edible, and the taste is not bad. But you can only pick the white mushrooms, let's forget about other colors." There are thousands of mushrooms. fatal.

Ji Song said softly: "It's okay, I will take you to pick mushrooms when the spring is warm and the flowers bloom next year. Then you can tell the soldiers how to distinguish edible mushrooms." His family, Aning, is very good at cooking mushrooms. Mushrooms and mushrooms are extremely delicious, especially the mushroom oil noodles made by Aning, and the unique fragrance is still lingering in my mind.

Yan Xining smiled all over his face: "Okay!" Next time he comes to Sari Grassland, he has to bring a few sacks.

Everyone embarked on the journey again, and it didn't take long for them to arrive at the Sari River.It is said that it is a river, but in this season, the river water can only shallowly cover the riverbed full of stones.The river divides the Sari Grassland into two. The southeast of the river is the territory of Chu and Liao, and the northwest is the territory of Liaoxia.

Standing on the gentle slope near the Sari River and looking far away, you can see the Liaoxia herdsmen grazing on the other side of the grassland.Ji Song raised his whip and pointed to the northwest direction of the grassland: "Unfortunately, we came at the wrong time. If we came at night, we would be able to see the starry river hanging upside down in the field."

It is best to come to the grassland at the turn of spring and summer, when the weather is neither cold nor hot, and there are no mosquitoes.Standing quietly by the Sari River, the sky is wide and the earth is wide, and the eyes are full of stars.Just thinking about that scene made everyone drunk.

Ji Song quietly stared at the northwest direction, with stars shining in his eyes.Following his line of sight, Yan Xining felt no difference between the northwest direction of the river and the grassland they just passed by, and he asked puzzledly: "Rong Chuan, did you bring me here specifically to see the grassland over there? "

Ji Song slowly raised his finger holding the horsewhip to the northwest direction, and he said forcefully, "One day, wherever you and I can see will be the territory of Chu and Liao."

Everyone's body shook suddenly, and when they looked at the northwest bank again, everyone's eyes changed.At the beginning of the Chu Liao dynasty, most of the Sari grasslands belonged to Chu Liao. However, after hundreds of years of fighting, the grassland area occupied by Chu Liao is only one tenth of the former.

In Ji Song's view, the other side of the river was never Liao Xia's territory, it was the lost homeland of his ancestors.One day, he will bring his cavalry back to take it back!

The patrol route of Chu Liao soldiers is very long. The soldiers of Chiling Army will send several teams to patrol along the border every day. If they see the enemy coming, they will light up the smoke.Therefore, near the Sari River, you can see a beacon tower every half a mile.

Ji Song and the others sat on the ground under the beacon tower closest to them, and everyone opened up the big harvest that had been steamed before.The steamed food tastes glutinous and sweet without dipping in any seasoning. The people who ran all the way happened to be a little hungry at this time, and the warm food just soothed everyone's stomachs.Everyone ate and chatted, and the atmosphere was extremely lively.

By the time everyone finished eating, the sun had already set.At this time, I turned my head and looked west, and the whole grassland seemed to be coated with a layer of gold, which was so beautiful that I couldn't take my eyes off it.

This picture was firmly imprinted in Yan Xining's mind, and for several nights in a row, she could dream of deep and light gold.

Time flies by in the army, before Yan Xining had time to go around all the barracks, it was time to leave.There is no way to do this, if you don't go back, I'm afraid that Pingchang City will be messed up.The speed of the carriage was relatively slow, and it took seven or eight days to arrive, plus the return journey and the days spent in the Chiling Army, a month would pass in the blink of an eye.

Moreover, winter in Liangzhou comes early, and according to the usual practice in previous years, it will snow soon after the autumn harvest.If they don't want to be blocked on the road by heavy snow, Ji Song and the others have to return as soon as possible.

The soldiers also knew this truth, they didn't dare to keep Ji Song and the others, so they had to send the convoy outside the Tianhe Ranch.The generals followed behind the convoy without saying a word and with eyes full of reluctance. They obviously didn't hold back or cry, but it made Ji Song and the others feel extremely uncomfortable.

Long-term pain is worse than short-term pain, Ji Song reined in his horse and turned around again: "Don't send them off, let's all go back."

Wu Chengkai's eyes were red, and he said reluctantly: "Okay." While talking, he didn't turn around at all.

Ji Song pursed his lips, "Wu Chengkai, Pang Wenyuan."

The two generals whose names were called straightened up, and they dismounted quickly: "Here!"

Ji Song paused every word: "You two have to listen carefully, Chiling Army is entrusted to you."

The two men raised their right hands and clenched their hands into fists and pounded on the armor on their chest. The hand armor collided with the breastplate on their chest and made a loud crash: "Yes!"

Ji Song didn't open his brows, his voice was soft and urgent: "Be careful with the pigeons."

The two said seriously: "Don't worry, the commander, the general will be on call at any time."

Ji Song nodded slightly, and his eyes slid across the faces of the soldiers who saw him off one by one: "All generals obey orders!"

The soldiers got off their horses and landed on one knee: "The last general is here!" The loud voice pierced the sky and shook the carriage.

Ji Song took a deep breath and slowed down his tone: "Protect yourself and live well! Let's have a drink with the brothers in the future!"

The eyes of the soldiers turned red suddenly, and someone who was the first shouted: "Send off the commander! Send off the princess!" The soldiers shouted in unison, and amidst the shouts of the crowd, Ji Song raised his whip.

"drive--"

The black horse galloped towards the east like an arrow leaving the string, and the convoy followed suit.The soldiers stood on the ridge and watched the convoy's departure direction, Yan Xining turned to look at the ridge, the figures of the soldiers became smaller and smaller, until the carriage turned a corner, the figures of the soldiers were hidden by the mountains and could no longer be seen.

No matter when, parting is always sad.Yan Xining felt better after suffering for half an hour. He lifted the curtain of the car and looked at Ji Song who was riding a horse outside the car window.Ji Song's figure is tall and straight, like a green pine growing on a cliff, it can be seen that Ji Song is not in a good mood now.

Just when Yan Xining was about to speak, he heard a loud pig cry from the carriage behind.

Yan Xining:? ? ?

what's the situation?Where did the pigs come from?

The convoy stopped, and Yan Ke quickly ran towards the carriage behind.When he came back again, his expression twitched: "Day..."

Ji Song wondered, "What's going on?"

Yan Ke was holding a note in his hand, and he scratched his cheek in frustration: "It's all because of my subordinates who talk too much, saying that pigs that have been hoarded are delicious. Lao Wu got a live pig and stuffed it into the carriage, saying that we would have a tooth sacrifice on the way. "

The poor pig was tied up and stuffed with a cloth strip in its mouth. The mountain road was bumpy and bumpy. The pig finally found the opportunity to tear the cloth strip out of its mouth, and then let out a mournful howl.

Ji Song was immersed in the sadness of parting with his subordinates, but before the sadness was over, he wanted to turn back and beat up his subordinates.

Wu Chengkai's pig had to end its life early because it was noisy and edible.Fortunately, the temperature is low recently, and the storage time of pork is long enough.If it was still summer, a [-]-jin big pig would stink if it was dragged to Pingchang City.

Originally, Ji Song planned to take Yan Xining to Yongchang County to taste the winter stored grapes there, but because of the pig, they could only head straight towards Pingchang City.

The closer he was to Pingchang City, the colder Yan Xining felt.He only knows that the capital city is wet and cold in winter and even the quilt is wet, but he really doesn't know that the winter in Liangzhou can freeze blood to the point of solidification.At this time, he was huddled in the carriage, wrapped in a quilt and rubbing his hands, feeling that his hands would be frozen as long as he stretched out the quilt: "It's so cold, is it going to snow?"

When he left Pingchang City, he had no idea that the weather would suddenly turn cold when he came back. All his clothes were brought from the capital, and none of them could withstand the severe cold of Liangzhou.The Wangfu made winter clothes, but when they were delivered to the mansion, he had already left the Wangfu.

The past two days have been getting colder and colder, Yan Xining woke up from the cold when she was sleeping last night.At this moment, he could only wrap himself in the quilt in embarrassment, hoping to return to the palace sooner.

Ji Song rubbed Yan Xining's hands, then stuffed the cold hands into his embrace.He stretched out his hands to wrap his arms around Yan Xining through the quilt, and seeing Yan Xining frozen like this, he felt as if a small needle kept poking in his heart: "It's coming soon, it's going to snow." At this moment, when he opened the curtain and took a look, he would see Seeing that the sky is covered with clouds, a heavy snow is brewing.

Looking at the dark sky, Yan Xining was a little worried: "Rong Chuan, you said... the kang bed should work, right?"

In the winter of previous years, people would light stoves to keep warm.Rich families use charcoal fires, and those who can't afford charcoal fires go to the mountains to cut trees and burn them back.However, with the implementation of returning farmland to forest this year, even the cultivated land will be returned, and it is even more impossible for the people to go to the mountains to cut firewood.

When this policy was launched, everyone considered this question: How can the common people survive the winter without cutting firewood?

At that time, an official from Youzhou proposed a kang bed, connecting the stove and the bed together, so that when the fire was burning, the hot air would be conducted to the bottom of the bed, and the room would be warmed up.The people in Youzhou cannot do without the kang bed. During the long winter, everyone relies on the kang bed to keep warm.

In the same way, people in Liangzhou can also use kang beds to keep warm.The things that can be burned in the hearth are not just wood. Harvested straw and pruned branches in the forest are good materials for living and cooking, which can save a lot of wood.

After getting the schematic diagram of the kang bed, Ji Song asked officials to go to various counties to promote the kang bed.However, more than three months have passed since September. No matter how fast the officials are, it is impossible for the people in the countryside to use kang beds in every household.

Yan Xining sighed: "I don't know how many people have no kang beds in their homes. What can they do in such a cold day?"

Ji Song rubbed Yan Xining's cold cheeks: "Don't worry, charcoal is cheap this year, and people who haven't built a kang bed can buy charcoal."

There are coal mines in the southwestern mountains of Liangzhou. In the past, the mines were controlled by corrupt officials and profiteers in partnership. People had to pay high prices to buy carbon.After Ji Song took over Liangzhou, he brought in corrupt officials and beat profiteers. Now the price of salt, rice and coal in Liangzhou is very fair, and ordinary people can afford it.

Moreover, in the name of the government, he went to the nearby Yizhou Sizhou to buy a lot of firewood, and he could buy a large bundle for only five yuan.An ordinary family can have half a bundle of firewood a day, which is enough to light a fire for heating and cooking.

If the family is really poor and cannot afford firewood, they can register with the local government.When the government needs people to help with things, they can use their labor to pay off the debt.Men can help build roads and bridges, and women can help with sewing.A person can receive one or two bundles of firewood for a day's work.

At first glance, it seems that a person's hard work in a day can only exchange for one or two bundles of firewood, which seems very uneconomical.However, those who go to the government to help can still have a full meal.Therefore, the common people are quite willing to pay for their labor in exchange for firewood.

According to the papers sent by Huang Xingjian, quite a few people registered with the government during this period.The more people there are, the more people the government can call on when doing things, and the smoother things will go.

A gust of cold wind blows in from the car window, and Yan Xining sneezes.Ji Song hugged him even tighter, and he said slowly, "We happened to be near Lao Zhang's house, and the veterans have all installed kang beds this year, why don't we go and have a look?"

Yan Xining was a little dizzy, and he nodded wearily: "Okay." He missed the lasagna made by Aunt Zhang, and it happened that they still had hundreds of catties of pork in the car, which could be distributed to the veterans.

When the car came near the hills where the veterans were, snow had already started to fall in the sky.Pieces of snowflakes fell one after another, and the ground turned white in a short while.It was strange to say that before it snowed, she was freezing to death, but when the snowflakes fell, Yan Xining couldn't feel the cold anymore.

Yan Xining lifted the curtain of the car and looked over, the white snowflakes covered the rice stubble in the rice fields by the roadside.He reached out to catch a few falling snowflakes, and the big snowflakes landed on his sleeve, feeling the heat, the edges of the snowflakes began to melt quickly.

Ji Song blew away the snowflakes on Yan Xining's sleeve, and he pulled Yan Xining's hand back from the car window: "Be careful of catching a cold."

Yan Xining held a ball of snowflakes and put them in front of Ji Song as if offering a treasure: "Look, Rong Chuan, it's such a big snowflake. It's the first time I've seen such a big snowflake when I grow up." Badao, the snow in Liangzhou is more domineering than the snow in the capital.

The snow in the capital is sticky, and most of the time it is sleet, and the snowflakes do not form when it officially snows.Yan Xining stood at the window and looked at the pale sky: "Auspicious snow heralds a good year, it's really good."

After such a heavy snowfall, the insect eggs hiding in the ground will be frozen to death, right?

Ji Song didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Just now I couldn't stand the cold, but now I'm feeling emotional again." He closed the curtain forcefully: "Don't look, didn't you just say that you have a headache? Be careful that you have a fever."

Yan Xining chuckled twice: "Now that I'm in a place I'm familiar with, I think I'm all right again." People are such magical animals, and when they see familiar scenery, they will have a feeling of "this is my territory".

In the courtyard of General Zhang’s house, the leaves of the vines had fallen.Aunt Zhang pruned the thin branches before the heavy snow fell, leaving only the thick branches.The vine branches are covered with a thick layer of straw. With this layer of straw, the grapes can survive the winter safely.

Yan Xining and Ji Song sat on the kang bed of the old Zhang's house, the heat slowly evaporated from the ground below their bodies, and the whole room was very hot.Yan Xining held a bowl of ginger jujube tea and drank it happily, looked at the courtyard through the small window, and saw that the courtyard was a little white.

In the outer room separated by a wall, Aunt Zhang was busy frying chicken. She and Lao Zhang were speaking the language of their hometown, laughing while talking.The fragrant chicken smell wafted from outside the house, Yan Xining leisurely took a sip of tea: "It's really warm."

He froze like a dog in the car before, but now after drinking half a cup of ginger and jujube tea, a thin layer of sweat has oozed from the tip of his nose.As his body warmed up, Yan Xining's heart became even warmer. Sitting on the warm kang bed, he felt the temperature in the house. His previous worries had already flown away.Lao Zhang and the others are just ordinary people. If they can warm up, so can other people.

At this time, Lao Zhang walked in with a pot of fried nuts, and he put the nuts on the small table on the kang: "Princess eats nuts."

Yan Xining smiled and said, "Thank you Uncle Zhang and Aunt Zhang. By the way, Uncle Zhang, how long does the kang bed keep warm?"

Old General Zhang shook his hands and his face was filled with joy. The princess called him Old General Zhang before, but later he became Lao Zhang, and now he is Uncle Zhang. The name change...is so happy!

Ji Song smiled and glanced at A Ning, he realized that A Ning was very airy in front of his elders.When facing Emperor Pingyuan before, he called "Father" and directly stunned Emperor Pingyuan.Now Lao Zhang is also being coaxed around by him, he is worthy of being his princess, really likable.

Lao Zhang was so happy that he had nowhere to put his hands. He rubbed his hands together: "It's warm! Cook a supper at night, and the kang will be warm all night. As long as you burn the kang during the day, the room is so warm that you don't need to wear a fur coat. My wife is here." Her whole body hurts in winter, and she said her body doesn't hurt anymore when she sleeps on a kang bed during this time."

Yan Xining smiled openly: "Really? It's really great."

Lao Zhang walked out quickly, and he wanted to share his joy with his wife.The happy laughter of Lao Zhang and his wife came from the outside room, Yan Xining looked up and saw Aunt Zhang standing at the door and smiling at him.

Seeing Yan Xining raised her head, Aunt Zhang's eyes were slightly moist: "Ning Ning." Then a series of words that Yan Xining could not understand came out of her mouth.Lao Zhang translated outside: "Princess, my wife asked you if you eat marzipan."

Yan Xining originally wanted to refuse, but seeing Aunt Zhang's expectant eyes, he could only smile and nod: "Eat!"

Aunt Zhang wiped her hands in relief, and then there was the sound of pinching nuts from the outer room.It didn't take long for the scent of the big plate chicken to be mixed with a sweet scent. Smelling this scent, both of Ji Song relaxed physically and mentally.

Yan Xining stroked the kang bed under him and stared out of the window, Ji Song stretched out his hand and waved in front of his eyes: "What are you thinking about?"

Yan Xining said honestly: "I'm thinking about how to connect the small kitchen in the palace with our bedroom." The kang bed is a good thing, warmer than Mrs. Tang.If possible, he would like to have one in the palace.

Ji Song: ...

There are three heating stoves in his and Aning's bedroom, plus there is such a natural heater as him, what does Aning need a kang bed for?

When the smell of the big plate chicken became more and more mellow, Yan Ke finally braved the wind and snow and entered the courtyard gate, followed by Bai Tao who was holding his jacket and looking around.It turned out that when Ji Song and the others diverted to Old General Zhang, Yan Ke had already entered the city to fetch the princess' winter clothes from the palace.The winter clothes were taken, but there was an extra follower behind him.

Hearing that the young master had arrived nearby, Bai Tao couldn't hold back his excitement anymore, he followed Yan Ke softly.Yan Ke couldn't take it anymore, so he brought him here.

Having not seen Yan Xining for nearly a month, Bai Tao was extremely excited.His eyes were wet and he dragged Yan Xining to look up and down. Seeing that his young master had grown dark and thin, his eyes were full of distress.If he had known that the young master would leave him for such a long time, even if he died that day, he would have hugged the young master's legs.

Yan Xining's ears were calloused by Bai Tao's nagging, he could only comfort him: "I'm fine, don't you? Don't worry, your young master, I can eat and sleep, and I'm fine. It's because you have grown taller."

After leaving home for only twenty days, Bai Tao grew taller like bamboo shoots after a rain.Standing up now, he is as tall as Yan Xining. Who said Liangzhou is desolate?Isn't Bai Tao good-looking?

At this time, Yan Ke took out a brass pipe an inch thick from his little finger from his sleeve, and he held the brass pipe to Ji Song with both hands: "News from the palace."

Ji Song took out a bunch of curled paper from the copper tube, and after unfolding it, he quickly glanced at the content on it, and then his face became serious.

Yan Xining asked with concern: "What's wrong?"

Ji Song handed the note to Yan Xining: "Wen Renmiao is dead."

Yan Xining didn't realize it for a moment. During this period of time, she ran around and met many people, and remembered many names.For a moment he was a little confused: Who is Wen Renmiao?It sounds familiar.

When he read the words on the note, he suddenly realized.Isn't Wen Renmiao the second prince Ji Liu's concubine?

Chu Liao has no punctuation marks, and the letters are particularly troublesome to read.However, Yan Xining easily understood the above content: Wenren Miao was pregnant and died of blood collapse after taking abortion pills in May.

There were not many words written on the branch, but it made Yan Xining break out in a cold sweat.If he didn't know the inside story, he might just sigh that the second prince's concubine's life is unlucky.But when he saw Ji Yu and Wen Renmiao making love with each other with his own eyes, he always felt that Wen Renmiao's death was strange.

Ji Song raised his head to look at Yan Ke and Bai Tao: "You go and eat something first." Aunt Zhang and the others cooked delicious food outside, and the smell made the mouth water of these two people.

Yan Ke replied: "Okay." Then he dragged Bai Tao to the outer room.

When there were only two people left in the inner room, he lowered his voice and asked, "Rong Chuan, who do you think did this?"

Did Ji Mu do it?Could it be that he found out about the relationship between Wen Renmiao and Ji Yu, and is planning to take revenge on this couple?

Did Ji Yu do it?It is possible that he and Wen Renmiao were just acting on occasion.Hearing that people's wonderful concubines have secret knots, he is afraid that his crimes will be exposed, so he preemptively strikes?

Or is it the medicine that Wen Renmiao took herself?She didn't want this child to be born, wanted to kill him, but accidentally killed herself?

Or maybe a certain concubine in the prince's mansion is jealous of the princess's pregnancy, fearing that she will lose her status after giving birth to a son-in-law, so it's better to act first?

The more Yan Xining thought about it, the more confused he became. He was not good at analyzing these things, so it would be safer to ask Ji Song.

Ji Song raised the corners of his lips: "I can't see it yet, but we will soon see." No matter who did it, the water in Beijing is getting deeper and deeper.