Shanglin Night Snow

With the sound of firecrackers a year old, the spring breeze sent warmth to Tusu.

For Xun Miao, this was the most leisurely New Year's Eve since he entered Beijing. Guo's family had many servants and maidservants, and he didn't need to worry about washing and sweeping, pruning branches and changing peaches, or buying and cooking. After sweeping, a few pieces of salted fish and ham must be marinated for later in the year and into summer.At that time, it was painful to manage, but after everything was in order, the sun went down and I saw the fish hanging in a row in the courtyard, and my chest felt full!On the other hand, at present, there is no need to work hard to bring warm soup and hot food to the mouth, but it is lost. I really can't figure out the reason.

Bored, I got up after a break in the afternoon, and waited for the interval between bathing, sitting in front of the house to bask in the sun and eating pastries. Is it bad?"

Hearing the words, the little boy felt wronged, and swore to the sky: "The officials know that it was just like this when I brought it, and I never ate it or kept it privately! And when I went, the fresh rice cakes in the kitchen were just out of the pot. I saw that they were hot. Yes, and I took two extra yuan with you."

Xun Miao slapped his thigh: "I guess it is! Usually I only feel three-point full after eating dim sum, but today I feel five-point full, so there is no doubt that the amount is too much!" Seeing the little boy confused, he said: "I didn't tell you, I will eat it myself. I can’t blame you. But remember from now on, regardless of meals and snacks, I can’t take too much. I have a bad spleen and stomach recently, so it’s not appropriate to eat too much.”

Seeing that the little boy agreed to go away, Xun Miao put her hands on her chest again, and she felt that it protruded a few inches. After being annoyed, she made up her mind again: From now on, she must eat less and less food, especially meaty and sweet foods that promote Fat things must be eliminated step by step, lest one day be reduced to a situation like the chef Zhang Zhang, who bows his head and sees his feet!How does this teach that person how to get close to himself?

Ashamed of myself!This is how Xun Miao feels when he is facing Guo Kai now.Although the latter may be considered tall in terms of stature, he is not overt, especially when wearing a loose official uniform, he is extraordinarily chic and cool, but it is only when he is close to the body that he can perceive the magnificence of his body, which is very accessible!

Rubbing her soft belly, recalling that person's flatness and firmness, Xun Miao covered her face and sighed: It is difficult to cultivate such a posture in this life. For the present plan, I only want to preserve the present, not like Chef Zhang. It's good to make people bored.

Touching his chin, his eyes turned, and suddenly a black shadow flashed by, and his eyes lit up——

For the black dog Xifu, this eve is really unfavorable. After suffering from hunger, cold, training, drunkenness and other misfortunes, even on this New Year's Eve, there is still a sudden disaster--bathing!

The black dog that was easily subdued by a piece of jerky went from howling and struggling to twitching and whimpering, and then moaning helplessly in despair, and finally understood the truth: a fierce dog can't beat a tyrannical master, especially a tyrannical master who is full and has nothing to eat. !

When the water was changed to the third basin, the dog's belly was already attached to the basin, and his limbs were flattened, and he had nothing to love and was rubbed by others.Half an hour later, Xun Miao finally regained the long-lost feeling of fullness in his heart when he saw the dog lying on a pile of dry cotton wadding.Wringing out the drenched hem of the clothes, stroking the finally deflated belly, contentedly, he walked towards the bathroom in the setting sun.

After bathing, the sky will be dark, and the sound of firecrackers outside can be heard gradually, as if echoing it, Xun Miao's belly is also rumbling, but today he has been invited to have dinner with the host's family to watch the new year, so he can only wait patiently.Fortunately, not long after, a servant came to invite him to the banquet.

Since it's New Year's Eve, the banquet will have everything from Shanghai to delicacies, and it seems that it is not inferior to the New Year's Spring Palace banquet every year.In Xun Miao's eyes, Guo Yuanwai and his wife were friendly, and Guo Jian and his wife were close friends, not to mention Guo Kai, so he was not restrained, chatting and laughing at the table, joyful.

After the banquet to watch the New Year's Eve, Mrs. He wanted to play a table of cards, but Guo Yuanwai and Guo Kai had already gone to play chess, and only Guo Jian and his wife were left as companions, and there was still one less person.Although Xun Miao only has a rough understanding of card theory, when faced with Mrs. He's sincere invitation, he does his part.In the middle of the night, Mrs. He suddenly remembered that both Guo Jian and Xun Miao had to enter the palace in the early morning of the court, so as not to lose their energy after staying up all night, so the two of them were allowed to leave first to rest, and Xun Miao's seat was replaced by Guo Yuanwai .

It's cold at night, and the auspicious snow has just fallen.

Seeing the people beside him quicken their pace, Xun Miao had no choice but to follow with all his might, but he was limping. Finally, he found out, and he hesitated to explain the reason: Guo Jian and his wife exchanged eyebrows in the game, and kicked each other under the table from time to time, but they always stumbled Kick him in the leg.Presumably after midnight, his legs are already bruised and purple.

Guo Kai didn't believe it at first hearing: "The two of them are neither newlyweds, nor have they reunited after a long absence. Besides, what is the identity of the princess, how could she do such an unbearable act in front of her uncle?" : "Are you winning or losing tonight?"

Although Xun Miao didn't know the meaning of this question, he still said truthfully: "Tonight is a fluke, but three loses and one loses, and I alone win!"

"No wonder..." Guo Kai smiled wryly, "My mother is good everywhere, but she is very domineering at the poker table. Fortunately, it is you today, and she still bears it. In an ordinary family, there are only her two maids, Cui. Ye Yangliu couldn't dodge it, so she had to reluctantly play along with her, but the others couldn't avoid the word 'card game'."

Xun Miao was stunned: "So Guo Yuanwai and you avoided it early. I said that there are only one player in the game, two shopkeepers and the princess, so they are not in a hurry, so it is..." Stamped his feet: "Why didn't you remind me earlier, you will hurt me So many feet in vain! Besides, I was wondering at the time, why the second shopkeeper and the princess flirted with each other, why did they both pass my side first..."

Guo Kai had no choice but to say, "I guess you don't know the rules, so you dare not enter the game rashly, but I don't want you to be uncharacteristic tonight and win so much. No wonder the princess and Ah Jian are in a hurry." Yan Jian squatted down, "Come up, it's dark It's snowing, I'll walk faster with you on my back."

Xun Miao hesitated for a moment, and immediately jumped up like a rabbit, with a happy and satisfied smile on the corner of his mouth, and then he felt uneasy the next moment: "Will your mother treat me because of what happened tonight..."

Guo Kai smiled: "When the princess was new, she won for half a month in a row."

"It's because of this that his couple moved out!" Xun Miao was startled, full of annoyance.

"I haven't finished yet." The man spoke encouragingly, "My mother made up her mind not to pursue her poker game anymore, but after teaching Ah Jian to win for three days in a row, the princess replaced him again and won for three to five days. , my mother recruited A Jian again...until the two of them moved out. So you can rest assured that at most, after my father, me, the princess and A Jian have gone through one by one, the vacant seat will be returned to you .”

"Really?" Xun Miao's eyes lit up, and he pinched his wrist to remind himself that if he goes to Mrs. He's poker table next time, he will definitely lose all the points he won tonight!

Back to the backyard.As soon as I entered the door, I saw a rather large bamboo basket on the table. The mouth of the basket was sealed with red paper, which looked like a New Year's gift.After asking, it turned out that King Jia sent someone to deliver it after nightfall.

Guo Kai unwrapped the paper and saw that there were some rings and tangerines inside, but they were round and bright, which was rare outside, so it seemed that they were bestowed by the palace.He pondered for a moment and asked, "Does anyone have a message?"

The boy answered yes, but it was King Jia who sent a message, wishing him the best of luck in the next year's spring hunt!

"Chunshou?" Guo Kai was startled, "But the imperial edict hasn't come yet..."

"I'm sure the decree will be made tomorrow." After saying that, Xun Miao turned around and threw a piece of dried meat to the black dog who was lying quietly by the wall, but the dog turned his face and didn't even look at it. "I don't know what's good or bad!" Cursed, turned around and continued, "I want to get rid of the grand banquet of the clan and officials in the palace on the fourth and fifth day, and choose a day for the rest between the third day and Shangyuan."

Guo Kai thought it was the same, but spring hunting every year after the New Year is a rule that has been passed down since the Tai | Zu Dynasty, and there will be no exceptions for no reason.At that time, the Son of Heaven will call his ministers and military officials of the sixth rank or above in Beijing to accompany him to hunt in Nanshan, King Jia will most likely accompany him.

"Today is New Year's Eve, King Jia sent someone to give gifts, but instead of celebrating the New Year, he wished you the best spring hunting early, isn't it strange?" Xun Miao took a tangerine and held it in his hand. See you, why don't you stay and talk to you face to face?"

Guo Kai shook his head: "Tomorrow morning, a hundred people will be at the same court, and it will be difficult to meet each other. Besides, it is the time to avoid suspicion because of external discussions. How can we still greet each other?"

"How to say, His Royal Highness King Jia always has a heart." Xun Miao yawned and put down the citrus, "Even if we don't see each other tomorrow, we can always meet each other on the hunting day, and it's not too late to thank you then." Covering her mouth, she yawned again , looking really tired, "It's past midnight, I'll go back to rest first, but when you get up, send someone to call me, so that I don't sleep for an hour." That's what he said, he turned around but didn't go out, and walked towards the corner , squatting down and stroking the black dog with its eyes closed and pretending to be asleep, but the beast didn't appreciate it, and didn't even bother to whimper, which was really annoying.

The people behind saw the clue: "How did you provoke it?"

"Why should I provoke it?" Xun Miao replied resentfully, suddenly seeing the black dog sneeze loudly, panicked, forced the dog's head down with one hand, and gestured to lift up the body to teach it to be clean and smooth Dog hair, the words are innocent, "I just washed it with it in the afternoon, and I used hot water..."

Guo Kai was helpless: "You know that it is afraid of water, so why bother? Have you forgotten the consequences of throwing away the bones it hid earlier? Now that the turmoil is about to subside, but it is causing trouble for no reason, this time it may not be until Qingming." Slowed down."

Xun Miao pursed her lips and snorted, she couldn't say that she was bored and washed the dog because she wanted to digest food?It's okay to think that he was distracted by King Jia's gift, but now he still blamed himself because of the dog, he got up and waved his sleeves: "I'm going to rest!" After saying that, he still stood still.

"It's already midnight, and I have to get up after a rest, so I might as well make it here." Guo Kai seemed to say it casually.

The man had no objection.Now I take off my clothes, but I kept claiming to be tired, but I tossed and turned when I lay down.

Guo Kai closed his eyes and said in a mocking tone, "It's too late to worry about Xifu not recognizing you in the future?"

There was a moment of silence, and a sigh that seemed to be nothing came from my ear, and when I opened my eyes, the man had turned sideways and supported his head with one hand: "Akai, I..." After a pause, he looked sad, "Tonight is the day when my parents passed away. Afterwards, I spent the happiest New Year's Eve, but the more it was like this, the more nervous I felt, and I didn't dare to think that I would be alone again on New Year's Eve..."

Candlelight flickered, illuminating a corner of the tent.

Reaching out to pat the sad face, Guo Kai said in a soft but firm voice, "You are in an official career. Although it is not known where you will be in the future, there will always be a gate open to you in Yanjing City."

Stunned, he lowered his head to hide the star of water in the corner of his eyes, and the person who slowly shrunk himself into a ball squeezed hard into the warm embrace, closed his eyes: "I'm resting."

The good night was short, and before Xun Miao had time to snatch the salted fish from Xifu's mouth in his dream, he taught Guo Kai to wake him up. The two of them hurriedly washed up, had an early meal, and then went out to enter the palace.

The New Year's Eve was just as Guo Kai expected. There were no less than hundreds of people who attended the audience, including civil and military officials in Beijing, clan relatives, and foreign envoys.Although Guo Kai knew that King Jia was at the forefront of the clan's ranks, it was extravagant to want to meet him, let alone whispering close to him, so he avoided that thought.After the court meeting, the imperial decree came down: go to Nanshan for spring hunting on the third day of the lunar new year.

Two days passed in a flash.

On the third day of the lunar new year, the weather was beautiful and the weather was sunny.The monarchs and ministers gathered in Nanshan as promised.

As usual, although spring hunting is a routine every year, the emperor and civil servants just regard it as an entertainment to celebrate the New Year's festival, but it has more meaning with the military officer: it is an excellent opportunity to show martial arts in front of the emperor. If you miss it, you don't dare to neglect it, and you must go all out to show your skills!So all of them were full of ambition and eager to try, except for two people.

Shao Jingheng seemed to be distracted today, the hunting drum sounded for a while before he woke up like a dream and rode his horse into the forest.

As for Guo Kai, after entering the mountain, he seemed to be aimless. He wandered east and west for a long time to find something. On the way, small animals such as rabbits and deer passed by from time to time, but he turned a blind eye. It was not until he met a wild boar weighing a hundred catties that he instantly cheered up and missed a shot. , urgently ordered the attendants to surround him from both sides, and then chased after the pig, but he had the tendency to swear not to give up.However, after following the prey for a hundred feet, he looked back and saw that there was no one following him, but he suddenly turned his horse's head, almost galloping in the opposite direction of the wild boar's fleeing direction.

There is a small stream in the north of the forest. Going up against the stream, you can see a waterfall when you walk four to five hundred feet. Surrounded by high cliffs piercing the clouds, there are many wild orange trees growing horizontally on the mountain walls, covering the sky and the sun with their branches and leaves.Being here teaches people to sit in a well and look at the sky consciously, feeling oppressed and decadent, or because of this, the beasts are unwilling to stop, and there is no one, which can be called remote.

Guo Kai got off his horse and waited for a while, when he heard the sound of horseshoes on the road, and looked back at the arrival of King Jia.

"Brother Guo has been waiting for a long time! Xiao Wang is here for the first time, and it took a while to find the way." The person in front of him immediately bowed, showing a little happiness, "Fortunately, Brother Guo is alert, I sent that basket of fruit that day, and I was really worried. I'm afraid you won't understand."

Guo Kai smiled wryly: "Your Highness asked people to send New Year's gifts on New Year's Eve, but he didn't mention New Year's greetings. Instead, he talked about the spring hunting, which seemed irrelevant. I thought carefully that His Highness might have hidden meaning, but I couldn't find the basket of fruits after searching. For clues, I had to check the topographical map of the mountain again, and it was only when I saw the words "Orange Source Ganlin Waterfall" that my eyes lit up, that's what Tangerine Ringo meant!" I knew that there was not much time left for the two of them. , and straight to the point: "I don't know why Your Highness is in a hurry to see Guo Mou?"

King Jia's face was stagnant when he heard this, he pondered for a while, grasped his wrist, and looked earnestly: "Brother Guo, although we have only met each other for a short time, Xiao Wang regards you as a bosom friend, I don't know how you treat Xiao Wang. May be equal?"

Guo Kai raised his eyebrows and nodded: "Your Highness can trust you!"

"Okay!" The man felt relieved when he heard this, "Xiao Wang has something to say, although he still doesn't know if it's true or not, but he still needs to work with brother. Ten days ago, I seemed to see Qin Liuzhi!"

"Qin Liuzhi?" Guo Kai took a deep breath.

King Jia nodded: "That day was about evening, I hadn't been out of the mansion for a long time, and the festive season was approaching, I couldn't hold back for a while, so I took my attendants out from the back door of the mansion and walked all the way south to Jinghu Lake. Seeing that the two people on the other side seem familiar." After a pause, "Qin Liu and I have only met each other, and it was getting dark at that time, so I can only say that the figure is very similar at first glance, but I dare not make a judgment, it is another person's. The back looks much more familiar, it looks like... Cousin Shao!"

"Is Shao Dian handsome?" Guo Kai was not too surprised to hear this.

"I just said, like!" Mu Yinche emphasized.

Guo Kai nodded knowingly: "There are hundreds of thousands of similar people in the world, and I can't count them..." After a while, "Just to say, Shao Dianshuai looks a little uneasy today..."

"That's because—" King Jia frowned, "Well, since it's Brother Guo, I won't hide anything. The cause of my cousin's uneasiness is none other than that when she entered the palace to visit Concubine Jing yesterday, the crazy woman suddenly She went crazy and stabbed the driver with a knife, fortunately my cousin stepped forward to grab the knife, but he also suffered some minor injuries." Fu forehead sighed, and he couldn't bear it while worrying: "Although everyone knows that Concubine Jing is crazy, stabbing the driver is a big deal. , not to mention that she is from the Shao family after all, how can my cousin feel at ease right now?"

"This...in fact..." Guo Kai said thoughtfully, but he didn't know what he was referring to.