In the cold winter of the twelfth lunar month, Prince Liu Yan had a secret discussion at the Duke of Wei's palace. After receiving Xun Mou's advice, Liu Yan suddenly realized that it was already evening, so he stood up and said goodbye to Xun Yu and his son. Xun Yu wanted to ask the prince to stay. When he got down to have a meal, Liu Yan also felt that he hadn't been to Xun Yu's house for a long time, and wanted to cultivate some feelings while eating. When he got up, he saw snowflakes flying in the yard outside. Liu Yan shook his head and had to say Xun Yu cupped his hands again and said: "Let's just remember this meal for now! It's better for me to go back early, otherwise it will be difficult to go back with this heavy snow."
At night, the snow is getting heavier and heavier, and Kyoto is completely white. There are few people on the streets and alleys. Occasionally, there will be a few rows of footprints left in the snow, including those of people and cats and dogs, but they will return to the original state after a while. Look Not a trace of human life. It was already the second watch, and the snowflakes in the sky were like catkins in spring, still flying in abundance, with no intention of stopping. Even the watchman did not appear in the streets as usual. Only outside the courtyard wall of the Xia Mansion and at the door of the mansion, there were guard posts standing crookedly. There were a few leading government officers standing around under the dripping eaves with their shoulders and hands shrinking, shaking their hands from the cold. Gossip by your feet.
"It's so cold today, Zhang Tou, do you want to send someone to buy big cloaks for all the brothers? It's so cold, and if the snow stops tomorrow, there will be problems with the cold!"
The leader opened his head, breathed heavily, trembled a little, his upper and lower teeth chattered, and ordered to a guard standing guard next to him: "You...Xiao Li, go to the Yamen quickly to get some for the brothers. Some big cloaks for everyone!"
The officer's face was red from the cold, and he said with some embarrassment: "Zhangtou, it's so heavy snow, it's inconvenient to ride a horse, and it's even more inconvenient to walk..."
"Damn you!" Zhang Tou scolded, "Let's freeze to death tomorrow! Go on horseback, hurry up, take Xiao Zhou with you to take care of you..."
Zhang Tou watched his two men disappear on horseback into the snowy night, then turned around and continued to ask the other officials, "Is there any movement in the mansion?"
"Boss, don't worry, what can go wrong in our Jingzhao Mansion?"
"Well..." Zhang Tou nodded, "It's better to be careful. If we let him run away, we will all lose our heads."
There was silence in Xia Mansion's bedroom. The window to the east was half open. On the table under the window, a solitary lamp swayed in the cold wind, sometimes bright and sometimes dark. There was a man with disheveled hair sitting in front of the case. His right hand, which was red from the cold, was holding a writing brush. The ruler on the case was pressing a piece of red paper. He was looking out the window blankly. The bleak cold wind in the courtyard made a whining sound through the corridors, making the entire huge old house look even more strange. The snowflakes accumulated on the eaves fell rustlingly from the dripping eaves from time to time. After a long time, the man let out a long sigh, rolled up his right sleeve with his left hand, held a pen in his trembling hand and wrote on the letterhead "I have been walking on thin ice for decades, but here we are." After writing the letter, he threw the pen on the table and shook it. He tilted his head and smiled coldly.
In the snowy night, he looked hopelessly and helplessly at the patio in the dark courtyard. He knew that if what Liu Yan promised him today was true, why would he immediately send someone to put him under house arrest? This is obviously a way to clear up the relationship on your own! If someone was sent to guard him out of caution, then when he sent more people later, it was clear that he had murderous intentions. It seemed that there was no hope of rescuing Tong'er. Now I am afraid that he will be questioned soon. It's a pity that he is an official. For decades, I have been walking on thin ice, flattering everyone, and being loyal to the prince. In the end, I ended up with such an ending. I couldn't even save my own family. I remembered that when I came to Beijing, I was very high-spirited and wanted to have a big career. However, I didn't. Fallen into such a situation.
The more he thought about it, the more miserable and angry he became, and his heart was filled with depression. He coughed several times and spit out a few mouthfuls of scarlet blood, which dripped onto the letterhead on the shore. Ignoring the bloodshot eyes at the corner of his mouth, he stood up unsteadily, pulled the imperial chair, walked to the middle of the hall and put the imperial chair in despair, and then walked to the wardrobe in a dejected manner. He opened the closet with a "click" sound and looked at the piece of white silk in the closet with a solemn expression. After a long time, the trembling hands slowly took out the white silk.
Holding the white silk in his hand, he staggered towards the Taishi's chair. Although he was over 40 years old, he looked like a dying old man at the moment. He staggered to the chair, his tall figure in the candlelight. Swaying, reflected on the beams of the roof. The cold wind howled outside the house, rolling in a few snowflakes from outside the window. The white snowflakes, scarlet blood, yellowed letter paper, and ink-colored cursive writing on the table seemed to be howling with the cold wind. After the candle flame swayed in the wind for a few times, it was extinguished by the wind, leaving a tall and tall candle. The figure disappeared into the dark night in an instant.
The next morning, it was a rare sunny day, with a clear blue sky. The blue sky and the white human world complemented each other. The snow on the streets and alleys was extremely dazzling under the sunlight. The New Year is coming, and the public servants are working more diligently, leading the people to clear the snow along the road.
A dazzling official carriage galloped past the avenue and headed straight for the Prince's Mansion. When it arrived in front of the East Palace Gate, the person who got off the carriage was none other than Zhao Shanqian, the Yin of Jingzhao Prefecture. He looked panicked and walked quickly, walking straight towards the palace. As they walked towards the entrance of the mansion, several gatekeepers were clearing the snow in front of the door. Knowing that the person coming was Mr. Fu Yin, they all came forward and nodded and bowed to say hello.
"Where is your highness? Where is your highness?" Zhao Shanqian asked anxiously, "I want to see him, so go and report it quickly."
Seeing Master Fu Yin's serious face, the disciple also suppressed his smile and said seriously: "Your Highness is not up yet! Sir, why don't you go to the middle hall first and wait? I'll go and inform the housekeeper later?"
Zhao Shanqian nodded. When he looked up, he saw the butler of the Prince's Mansion walking out of the courtyard. He hurriedly waved to him, "Old steward, go and report to the Prince. I have something urgent to see you."
When the old housekeeper saw that it was Mr. Fu Yin, and it looked like it was urgent, he thought that something big had happened, so he responded and trotted back.
Zhao Shanqian was pacing back and forth in the middle hall of the Prince's Mansion, waiting anxiously. Suddenly he heard footsteps outside the courtyard and hurried to the door. When Zhao Shanqian saw that it was the prince who was coming towards him, he stamped his feet anxiously and said, "Your Highness, something serious has happened!"
Liu Yan walked calmly from the corridor and said while adjusting his clothes: "It's so early in the morning. Can't we wait until the party to talk about whether it's good or not?"
Zhao Shanqian couldn't stand the prince's slowness. He came to the prince in a few steps, spread his hands and said, "Xia...Xia..."
Liu Yan said impatiently: "Xia Xia Xia..." Suddenly, he thought about it, stopped, stared at Zhao Shanqian and asked, "Did something happen to Xia Jingying?"
