major general

In the middle of the night, Yan Zhou woke up from a nightmare.

The winter rain is quiet, but Jinlin is too cold, and when it reaches the ground, it turns into light snow.

He dreamed of the place where he used to live. It was a thatched cottage. When it rained, his father would wear a coir raincoat and go to the roof to repair here and cover there.

But it still couldn't stop the rain. Yan Zhou's childhood impression was that the rain could freeze people more than snow.

There is wind on all sides, hiding in the quilt, hands and feet are cold.

Yan Zhou's mother boiled a pot of hot water, poured it into the pig's offal, and threw it into the bed to keep him warm.

Parents said at the door that it had been raining for several months, and Yan Zhou and his younger sister went into the water to sleep in the bed with the pig in their arms.

The dam was broken—

Yan Zhou forgot what happened, he just remembered that his mother gave him a broken jade pendant, stuffed him into the only wooden barrel in the house, and pushed him out.His father and his mother went back to the house to rescue their sister, and the water mixed with mud and sand rolled up all over the sky, and the small thatched cottage was like duckweed in the water, only a sharp tip appeared and then disappeared.

Really cold.

It was cold in that water.

The pig that Yan Zhou was holding was already completely cold in the water, mixed with a stench.

"Chuaner? Why are you awake?" Yan Bo lit the lamp and looked at him.

Yan Zhou opened his eyes, his lips were pale, and he said in a hoarse voice: "It's nothing, the child got up and went to take care of His Highness, His Highness is too tired these days, I'm afraid he might oversleep and miss the hour."

Seeing him change his clothes quickly and go out, Yan Bo wanted to say something more, but in the end he didn't speak, and returned to his room with a sigh.

Plum blossom from the bitter cold.

A lot of plum blossoms were planted in the courtyard of His Highness the Ninth Prince. The wintersweet is light yellow in color, and the blossoms smell refreshing.

Yan Zhou took a deep breath, but he didn't smell the scent of flowers, but his nose turned red from the cold.

No one was allowed to enter the inner hall, and the little eunuchs were all waiting for him at the door, serving hot water for those who brought hot water, and those with handkerchiefs for handkerchiefs, all in an orderly manner.

Yan Zhou had already stepped into the hall with one foot, but turned to look at the last person in the line, and asked, "The one with bamboo salt, newcomer?"

"Returning to Eunuch Yan, the last time the emperor said that there are fewer people serving His Highness the Ninth Highness, and he may not be able to serve him effectively. This time, the House of Internal Affairs is very concerned about recruiting newcomers, and picked a smart and sensible person."

Yan Zhou listened to the reply, but kept staring at the last person, and it took him a long time to speak: "In this case, please take good care of him. If the servants are not good enough, there is still a shortage of Yexiang in the palace."

The little eunuchs were too frightened to speak by him, their eyebrows lowered and their hands trembling.

After entering the house, everyone was waiting in the outer hall.

Finally, the little eunuch raised his head quietly, saw Yan Zhou entered the inner hall as if there was no one else present, carefully opened the bead curtain, passed the long screen, and there was movement from inside.

"Your Highness, it's time to get up."

"... what time is it?"

"Yin time."

Zhou Chong turned over in pain in the quilt, and said, "Let me be king quickly, I'm tired."

Yan Zhou: "..."

In previous years, Fu Xiaoyu and the crown prince would carry out the sacrifices. Fu Xiaoyu hadn't been in Jinlin during the Chinese New Year for two years. I don't know if he was lucky. Every time something happened, he was outside.

Originally this year, Old Master Yue and the Crown Prince were supposed to sacrifice together. The Crown Prince said that this year, the youngest Jiuer would be old enough to enshrine the king and land, and he would not be able to stay long in Jinlin. The people of Jinlin should see the heroic appearance of His Royal Highness Nine. Don’t worry. I forgot when I went to the fief.

Zhou Chong said: "..." Forget it, it's good.

I don’t know if the Prince’s sacrifice is so troublesome. Anyway, Zhou Chong has given up a lot of energy. Every time he has to give him the sacrificial supplies from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he must confirm them one by one before he dares to do it. If you don't like it, let him change it every few days.

This year has been like a prison sentence.

After finally getting up from the bed, Yan Zhou knelt on the ground to put on Zhou Chong's waistband, and someone pinched his chin.

Yan Zhou looked up and saw Zhou Chong standing upright, and said with a smile: "It's dirty, I'll wipe it off for you."

After speaking, he retracted his hands into his wide sleeves and walked out.

The water temperature was just right, Zhou Chong wiped his face, sat in front of the mirror, and Yan Zhou tied his hair.

Zhou Chong got the crown at the beginning of this year, so his hair had to be tied up with a beautiful jade crown, and he would never see His Highness the Ninth Prince with loose hair again.

Yan Zhou combed it very carefully, according to Zhou Chong's black robe today, he picked out a hairband with glass beads embedded in the bottom.

Zhou Chong was still drowsy, and the serving eunuch handed over warm water.

With warm water in his mouth, he casually spit it into the golden cup, and a spoonful of bamboo salt was also handed to his mouth.

Zhou Chong half-opened his eyes, glanced at the little eunuch, and just opened his mouth, Yan Zhou swung the spoonful of bamboo salt to the ground with his sleeve.

"What are you shaking?" Yan Zhou asked.

The little eunuch was startled, and quickly knelt down, saying: "Your servant is disrespectful, Your Highness, Your Highness, calm down."

Zhou Chong didn't say a word, Yan Zhou handed the bamboo salt to the little eunuch and said, "Rinse your mouth once."

The little eunuch suddenly raised his head to look at him, it was not yet dawn, and the room was dark, only the faint candlelight.With Yan Zhou's back against the light, the little eunuch could only see his chin. The little Eunuch Yan, who is usually very talkative, has very sharp eyes at this moment.

Zhou Chong refused to speak, and the little eunuch was also uncertain, so he put the bamboo salt into his mouth with shaking hands, held it with the water for a while, and then spit it into the empty cup beside him.

The hall was as quiet as death, and after waiting for a stick of incense, the little eunuch was still kneeling, with a ruddy complexion, without any sign of illness.

Only then did Yan Zhou heave a sigh of relief, and picked a eunuch who knew everything about it, and said, "The House of Internal Affairs sent Poria Cocos Paste back, you go and use it to rinse your Highness's mouth."

The man took the order, kowtowed his head and went out.

Still no one spoke in the hall, especially Zhou Chong, who was the master, was sitting upright with his hair half combed.

The poria cocos ointment was delivered, and after Zhou Chong used it, he dismissed everyone, and when everyone was about to leave, Zhou Chong said: "The one at the end, since Mr. Yan doesn't like you, you don't have to go into the palace to serve in the future."

The little eunuch trembled a bit, and after a promise, he followed the crowd out of the hall.

There was some sweat on Yan Zhou's forehead, I don't know if it was from fright or nervousness, but his complexion was not very good anyway.

After all the people left, Yan Zhou knelt down beside Zhou Chong and said, "Your servant is guilty."

"What's the crime?"

"You shouldn't make wild guesses, it's too late."

Zhou Chong looked at Yan Zhou's eunuch hat, stretched out his hand to help him up, and sat beside his chair.There was a small box next to the mirror, which contained Zhou Chong's accessories, and there was a blade inside. Zhou Chong did not hide it, but took it out in front of Yan Zhou, raised his neck, and pointed the blade straight at the bulging Blue veins.

Yan Zhou clenched his hands and closed his eyes tightly.

The warm breath hit his face, he could feel the touch of the blade, and when he opened his eyes, he saw Zhou Chong was very close to him, as if their breaths were intertwined.

The blade didn't kill him.

Zhou Chong stroked his chin, shaved off the unshaven stubble little by little, and said, "You are no better than others... you can pretend to be a slave to cover up your figure, and you have to shave the stubble every day. Clean, understand?"

Yan Zhou's ears turned red, and he was about to nod when Zhou Chong pinched his chin.

"The knife is still there, I'm not afraid of scratching you."

Yan Zhou's throat twitched slightly, and he said, "Your servant is not afraid."

Zhou Chong looked up at him and said, "Let me try to shave it clean."

How to try?

Before Yan Zhou could ask, Zhou Chong's face was on his face.

Warm lips kissed the chin, Yan Zhou wanted to hold his breath, but was confused by the sweet Poria cocos in Zhou Chong's mouth, and couldn't help but smell it carefully.

Zhou Chong looked at Yan Zhou's confused expression and his slightly parted lips.His boat has cute canine teeth, so sharp that it seems that it can tear off a piece of the enemy's flesh with a single mouth.

"Your Highness—it's time."

Yan Zhou came back to his senses, stepped back half a step and knelt on the ground, Yan Bo's voice made him break out in a cold sweat.

Zhou Chong was afraid that he would be hurt, so he only focused on withdrawing the knife. In just this moment, the two of them sat and knelt again, as if separated by thousands of layers of ravines, they couldn't cross.

Yan Zhou didn't wait for Zhou Chong's order. After the man hid the blade, he stood up and walked out.

Today is a big day for sacrificial offerings, so I can no longer be indecisive.

Guanxing Garden was tidied up from the inside to the outside for the sacrifice. The floor tiles were so clean that it seemed as if a human face could be seen.

Zhou Chong knelt on the ground and recited the sacrificial text, while Old Master Yue presided over the whole ceremony.

Numerous star-gazing masters knelt on the futons, chanting mantras that have been chanted from the past to the present, and echoes appeared layer by layer in the empty star-gazing garden.

Suddenly the jade tablet Zhou Chong was holding broke, and a trace of blood leaked out from the jade tablet.Old Master Yue's eyes widened. Just as he was about to shift his body to cover it up, he heard Master Stargazer pointing at Zhou Chong and saying, "The catastrophe is haunting, the catastrophe is haunting!"

Emperor Wen stood in the hall, and when he looked up, he saw his brother's posthumous son standing upright, with an unsteady expression, and the star-gazing masters surrounded him, one of them said something angrily, and the people around him looked at each other, as if they wanted to say something, He didn't dare speak directly.

Emperor Wen frowned and asked, "What happened?"

Sacrifice once a year, there can be no problems.

Jiang Yu pursed his lips after listening to the little eunuch's report, and just leaned over and said to Emperor Wen: "His Royal Highness..."

"Report-"

A soldier in armor quickly stepped forward, knelt down in front of Emperor Wen, and said, "Your Majesty, the Japanese pirates have risen, and the south bank is fighting!!!"

On the night of the third day Wen Le and Fu Xiaoyu stayed in the south bank, the horn sounded.

In her sleep, before Fu Xiaoyu woke up, she felt that the seat next to her was empty, and with just a gust of wind, Wen Le disappeared.

The trumpets kept sounding, and Fu Xiaoyu realized that the war had begun.

He quickly changed his clothes, opened the door and walked out.

Wen Mansion was brightly lit, and the maids and servants methodically stuffed the children in the mansion into the cellar, leaving some dry food, and then those who took bricks took bricks, and those who took knives took knives.

Fu Xiaoyu who passed by was stuffed with a fire stick.

It was very noisy outside, not at all like the peaceful midnight in the past.

Fu Xiaoyu took the fire stick and walked out. He knew that his Wen Le was not someone who would just sit and wait for death.

There was a lot of noise outside, the armor worn by Wen Jiajun and a string of red tassels on the hat were particularly conspicuous.

"Hide the child, and lock the door." The soldier said, pointing to the room, and shouted, "No, no, no! You just need to hide!"

The soldier was pushed out, with the bone chopping knife that the man handed him just now stuffed in his arms.

The soldier was still holding the silver gun, and suddenly a handsome man in a literati robe stood in front of him, and he stretched out his hand and asked, "Can you give it to me if you don't need it?"

The author says:

Fu Xiaoyu: Knives can be left to those who need them if they don’t need them (I wrote a side story for a little reader on her birthday, and posted it on Weibo. @游目目目 If you are interested, you can take a look, don’t delay the official Dramatic ~ Chirp Mi)