In the winter moon, the grass sprouts green heads.
The largest city between the seven counties of Mengzhou and the royal capital is called Yancheng. One half is located in the middle of Daning Dynasty next to the royal capital, and the other side borders the northern city Yingcheng. This divides the entire city into two parts - South Yancheng. and Beiyan City.
People outside call them Yancheng people, but they call themselves Northern Yan people or Nan Yan people. In private, the two parties have other clues when they encounter each other. It seems that they live in separate countries. Once they meet foreign merchants, they always suddenly... United and united to the outside world.
The main reason for this special existence is that the land in the north is poor, and the materials become richer as you go south, so the people's lives become more prosperous.
What's more, the royal capital is in the south-central part. No matter which city is close to the royal capital, it can still get some benefits of the imperial power's "universal shine".
On the official road of Beiyan City, horse hooves crushed the white snow into the soil, and the carriage wheels rolled slowly on the axle marks. They had to stop and rest from time to time, making it very difficult to move.
There were ten people following behind, all riding tall horses. The north wind was blowing hard, and they were covered with dust. Their eyes showed the fatigue of traveling for a long time.
Suddenly, the person at the front raised his hand and everyone stopped, as if they were used to this.
"What's wrong?" Following the crisp voice, a white hand opened a crack in the carriage curtain and revealed half of Chun Miao's face.
The journey from Mengdu to Yancheng took more than half a month, several days longer than they expected.
It is not easy to travel in the cold winter. If it is not for important things, business people will avoid this season of setting off from the north in the wind and snow.
Chunmiao whispered in private that there was something wrong with Jixia Palace. Wouldn't it be better to choose a bright spring day in May or June?
"Miss Chunmiao, it's not a good time to go on the road today. It looks like there's going to be a heavy snowfall. If it happens to be blocked by heavy snow, it will be dangerous. It's best to find a place to rest and wait until we get through the snow." The accompanying escort Among the servants, the leader was a strong man named Xu Jia.
Chun Miao's initial excitement had long been lost due to the long days of traveling, and now she heard that she was going to be delayed again. She looked around and saw that she had just entered a rolling mountainous area. There was no store in front of her or any village behind her. She frowned slightly.
"It's either the mountain or the Beiyan City Station."
Xu Jia said with a bit of helplessness: "This is so, but who can be sure."
Chunmiao was about to reprimand Xu Jia for being careless when a clear voice came from inside: "Just do as Xu Jia said."
"Hmph!" Chunmiao snorted softly from her nose, closed the curtain of the carriage and shrank back, and immediately stopped. "They say the winter in the south is also warm, but why do you think it gets colder the further south you go?"
Lu Anran still held the "Thousand Gold Pharmacopoeia" in his hand and casually said: "You are talking about the Lucheng area in the extreme south."
The carriage started shaking again. Chun Miao added some silver charcoal to the hand warmer and stuffed it into the blanket covering Lu Anran's legs. She muttered: "I used to think that I could go anywhere, but these days, But I feel like no place is as good as home.”
Even the wind and sand that are indispensable in Mengdu winter become a bit more friendly in retrospect.
Lu Anran twirled the hand that was about to turn the page. She didn't want to go home, she just thought of her father.
That night, it was the first time that Lu Xun lost his temper drunk in front of her. Although she had had a few drinks, she was still conscious.
"When you enter Jixia Palace, you can't choose the Medical Sect." Lu Xun said.
Lu Anran placed her palm against the warm wine glass, her eyes pure and clear: "What's wrong is not the practice of medicine, but the bias of people's hearts."
Lu Xun stood up drunkenly and almost fell down. Lu Anran quickly stood up and supported him. He turned around and smiled, with a complicated expression on his face, "I have thought that even if I lock you in Mengdu, Jixia Palace can't do anything."
"Father..." Lu Anran opened his mouth.
"What's the difference between that and breaking your wings?" Lu Xun raised his hand, and after several missed attempts, it finally landed on top of Lu Anran's head, "I'm not afraid of your resentment, it's just..."
Lu Anran lowered his head: "In the end, my father was reluctant to wrong me."
Lu Anran knew that Lu Xun was drunk, otherwise he would never have stared at his daughter so straightly, with no time to hide his eyes. Lu Anran seemed to see two obscure light waves competing with each other in the depths of his dark eyes, and an undercurrent surging. , and eventually slowly turned into the initial calm.
"It's a long way to go, and I can't be filial to my father. I hope my father will cherish it again and again." Mostly due to the influence of his childhood, Lu Anran was not a person who showed his emotions, but now for some reason, he had a severe choking in his throat when he spoke.
Lu Xun moved his hand and lightly touched the right side of Lu Anran's face: That person was right, some things can be avoided for a while, but cannot be avoided forever. He left the royal capital back then and swore he would never come back. Did he also want to wrong his daughter?
The smell of alcohol was accompanied by a heavy sigh: "Ran'er, remember, studying medicine will make you unlucky."
The carriage suddenly stopped, and Lu Anran pulled his thoughts away from memories, closed the book and rubbed his eyebrows with his index finger.
—
Xu Jia originally thought that there would be a cave or something where they could stay there for one night and wait until the snowstorm passed before continuing their journey. They were lucky, but they didn't expect that there was a village hidden among the mountains.
When a group of people arrived at the entrance of the village, twilight began to set. As expected, snowflakes were floating in the sky and falling down one after another. Dark clouds rolled thickly in the sky in the distance, as if the entire sky was about to collapse.
Dots of firelight could be seen in the houses in the village, making the place even more lonely and dim.
Chun Miao opened the curtain and looked around. The villages were built along the mountains, some at the foot of the mountains, and some halfway up the mountains. They were built of stones and covered with thatch.
Chunmiao looked around with her eyes and curled her lips and said: "The place is a little run down, but it's better than spending a night in a cave." After saying this, her voice paused: "Hmm? Someone seems to be singing?"
He tilted his ears and raised his head, pointing forward with his hand, "Xu Jia, go that way."
Not far from the entrance of the village, there is a well under the old locust tree in the west. There is a woman sitting in the well.
In such a cold weather, she sat face to face with Lu Anran and his group, raised her sleeves, and sang a melodious and sad song.
"...The shadows that follow me everywhere, the wind and dew, the dark clouds and the moon and the stars, are all my soul wandering state."
The voice came through the wind and snow, with a hint of coldness, and the frozen spring seedlings trembled, "Miss."
Before Lu Anran could speak, the opera singer suddenly raised her head, which shocked Lu Anran.
The soft snow inadvertently turned into heavy snow. From the dense snowflakes, Lu Anran saw the woman's face - her face was black and blue, her eyes were dark, and her eyes were like those of a ghost.
The two looked at each other, and the woman's bright red mouth slowly opened a line, revealing a strange smile.
Xu Jia, a thick man, was horrified by the sight. Just when he was about to shout, he heard a scream coming from the village, and everyone subconsciously turned their heads to look.
The sudden noise made dogs and chickens bark, and the village was crowded with people, as if something big had happened.
Lu Anran turned around first, and frowned at this sight.
"Ah! Where is Renrenren? Is it..." With the word ghost in her mouth, Chunmiao shrank to Lu Anran.
Lu Anran lowered his eyes and rubbed his nose with his fingers.
—
This is Yinjia Village. The whole village is basically made up of people with the surname Yin, and the clan leader has become the village chief.
Xu Jia came forward and asked Village Chief Yin how many rooms they could stay in. There were very few outsiders here and they were not welcome. However, seeing that the weather was really bad, Village Chief Yin reluctantly accepted the money and warned them not to stay any longer once the heavy snow passed.
Originally he was also in a hurry to go to the royal capital, so Xu Jia naturally agreed and let Lu Anran stay in a guest room set aside in Village Chief Yin's house. The other ten men had to live together, and three or four people lived in the other two homes. .
When the stove in the room was warmed up, Lu Anran took off his snow-stained cloak, and Chun Miao had already brought hot water into the room.
Lu Anran put his hands into the warm water and soaked them. The warmth spread through his hands all over his body, and he felt that his breathing was really relieved.
She has lived in Mengdu for sixteen years and has never traveled far away. She has traveled in the wind and snow all the way. It is not that she is not tired, but people are just like this. She can get by just holding her breath. But if she relaxes and becomes tired, she will The energy is gone.
As his body warmed up, Lu Anran showed a hint of fatigue between his brows and sat slumped in the chair for a long time, not wanting to move.
"Just now the village chief's granddaughter accidentally fell into the river pond. Fortunately, the villagers saw it and rescued her. However, the cold water is very harsh in this weather. There is no chance that there will be a fire tonight." Chun Miao went out for a while and asked about it. I came back with a lot of things.
The water started to get colder. Lu Anran wiped his hands with a dry cloth and asked, "When we entered the village?"
"Yeah, she's doing her best. If she didn't howl so loudly, the villagers would have missed it. The river is frozen into ice. If you didn't look there intentionally, who would have noticed that a child fell under the ice." Chunmiao took the water and went out. As soon as I fell down, something suddenly occurred to me, "Miss, would you like to take a look?"
It's not that Chun Miao is enthusiastic, it's just that as the saying goes, it's better to practice it yourself than to read thousands of volumes. This doesn't mean there is someone to practice with, so Lu Anran can practice.
Lu Anran shook his head: "Let's stay here and don't cause any trouble."
Chun Miao responded. When she turned around, her expression changed and her lips wriggled twice, as if she was about to speak but didn't give up.
Lu Anran took out the pharmacopoeia out of habit. Seeing Chun Miao's awkward look, he raised his eyebrows and said, "I'm asking you to go out, not just to sit around and look for fun. Otherwise, when Xu Jia goes back, you will follow me." Let’s go back together.”
"No, Miss." Chunmiao stomped her feet, came over to cover her lips with her hands, and lowered her voice: "Miss, do you know who the opera woman we met at the entrance of the village was?"
Lu Anran looked up at Chunmiao, who said with mysterious eyes: "She is from Yinjia Village!"
"Well, what a coincidence, and what next?" Lu Anran held her chin with one hand, and Chun Miao clearly disapproved of the nonsense in her eyes.
There is only such a village in a radius of ten miles. It would be strange to say that someone is not from Yinjia Village.
"...and she was the eldest daughter-in-law of Village Yin, but she passed away more than a year ago!"
Lu Anran was startled. The image of the woman turning her sleeves and singing softly, with sinister eyes and a hateful face flashed in his mind. She really fit the image of a life-threatening ghost.
Did you see a ghost when you entered the village?
Lu Anran turned the page and chuckled, this is really interesting.
