Zhao Zhao and his subordinates shuttled through the lights of thousands of houses without stopping for a moment, walking through the crowd with a small portrait that the military clerk quickly copied.

The streets and alleys were filled with the cries of candied haws buns and rice cakes, and wisps of smoke rising up as the store opened the steamer hit the faces of Zhao Zhao and others, making them feel warm.

But when the cold wind blew, it quickly became chilly.

Countless people were singing and laughing, wishing each other a happy new year. Many people were wondering whether there would be squirrel mandarin fish, boiled cabbage, dried shreds, and ladies in the palace in this year's palace feast.

They should all be dressed up beautifully.

After this New Year, the dress of women will once again set off a craze in Shangjing City.

But they didn't know that the palace was not as lively as they imagined. It was as cold as an ice cellar, with swords and swords going on.

A tall red palace wall isolates half of the city.

People in the palace want to go out, and people outside the palace want to come in.

Zhi Guiren looked up at the heavy goose feather snow floating in the sky. The news of Concubine Mei's awakening had spread throughout the harem, and Lanyuan Pavilion was no exception to the news.

Zhi Gui and Ah Xun did not deliberately inquire. Indeed, Lu Huiling of Minghuatang did so intentionally, just to remind her so that she could prepare in advance.

Zhi Guiren was unmoved. She was already heartbroken. When she arrived in front of the emperor later, she would say what she had rehearsed countless times in her heart. She only wanted death, not life.

What happened next had nothing to do with her.

It doesn't matter whether Lu Huiling gets the ending she wants, how Concubine Mei ends up, or what kind of image the Celestial Empire will establish in front of other small countries.

The heavy snow fell lightly like catkins, and with the not-so-deliberate north wind, it blew under the eaves of Lanyuan Pavilion and blew to the window of Zhi Guiren.

Zhi Guiren stretched out his hand and placed his warm hand on the cold glass window. A circle of mist soon appeared on the window, and the snowflakes on the window that was separated from his palm also melted.

"My lord, would you like something to eat?" Ah Xun bent down and whispered.

Mr. Zhi had only eaten a bowl of glutinous rice balls today. Because he had to pray for a ceremony in the morning, he was not allowed to eat, so he didn't even take a sip of tea.

Zhi Guiren shook his head and looked out the window with empty eyes. His fingers were scratching on the glass window. He didn't know what he was thinking of writing, but he quickly erased it all.

Zhi Guiren could better see the snowy scene outside the window through the glazed window with the fog wiped off.

She whispered: "Is it snowing in Jingzhou now?"

Ah Xun was slightly startled. She knew that Mr. Zhi was homesick. Every New Year's Eve, Mr. Zhi would miss home. But at that time, his home was in Shangjing, and his father would be invited to the palace to attend the feast. With just one glance, he could

Seeing it from a distance, chatting about missing it.

Now, she exchanged her life for the lives of her family, but she could not even see her for the last time.

Ah Xun stood behind Zhi Guiren, not knowing what to say to comfort her.

"It would have been better if I had not entered the palace..." Zhi Guiren bent down, put one hand in front of the makeup box, and rested his head on it, but his eyes were still looking at the heavy snow outside the window, thinking back to the time when he was at home.

Carefree days.

Ah Xun didn't speak, but her expression could no longer be controlled. She had followed Mr. Zhi all the way into the palace, so she could best understand the hard work Mr. Zhi had put in during this half-life. It has to be said that today was the best time in the past few winters in the palace.

It's a warm day.

In the past, I didn't dare to use up the charcoal fire at once in winter, let alone burn too much. I would burn a little charcoal fire before going to bed to make myself sleep more comfortably. I was always careful about food and clothing expenses, but that's it, Zhi

The noble man is still unwilling to curry favor with anyone.

She said she owed something to others and didn't know how she could pay it back.

But fortunately, they are all in good health and have no illnesses or disasters. Apart from the difficult winter, they can still make do with it.

I have been in the palace for several years, but every day is like the first day. Sometimes when I wake up, I am so sleepy that I don’t know how long I have slept. The funny thing is that I think I have slept for several days.

Oh my god.

"I was able to survive the winters in the past... Why is it so hard this year..." Zhi Guiren slowly closed his eyes and rested his head on his folded arms.

Ah Xun stood behind him and covered his mouth, already crying so hard that he couldn't make a sound.

Zhi Guiren slowly fell asleep. This warm spring-like house is the most suitable for sleeping. Why haven't I felt this before...

◎

Liang Ji and Qin Yuandao ran out of the palace without telling everyone. As soon as they left the palace, they drove fast horses to Dali Temple. At this time, the young minister of Dali Temple was attending a banquet in the palace. In Dali Temple, only the master and some minor officials were present.

On duty guarding...

Dali Temple contains all the documents from the past twenty years of the Celestial Dynasty, and they must be guarded by someone at all times. What they guard is not only these silent documents, but also the past of the Celestial Dynasty.

The master stood under the eaves and watched the snow. A gust of north wind blew by. He rubbed his nose, sneezed, rolled up his sleeves, and then returned to the study.

In front of his desk are neatly arranged pens, inks, papers and inkstones, and behind him are thousands of books.

"Master! It's time to eat dumplings!" A clerk hurried over and said to the master with a smile.

The master glanced at him, then stood up with a smile: "Wait for me, I have a jug of good wine here, I will drink with you today!"

The clerk walked into the room and watched the master rummaging around for the jug of good wine. He smiled and joked: "On weekdays, if Shaoqing wants to drink some wine, you won't let him. Why did you break the precept today?"

"

The master touched the beard under his chin, laughed twice and said: "Master Shaoqing is young and energetic, drinking will cause trouble!"

Then I pulled out a jug of good wine from somewhere, and judging from the unclear writing on the bottle, it was indeed a certain age.

The master's treasure was displayed in front of the clerk, and he pointed at the pot of wine with a show-off between his brows: "Do you know where this wine comes from?"

The clerk shook his head and asked with a smile: "But I don't know which tavern Master got the wine from, just to fool old men like me."

The master glanced at him, blew his beard and said with a glare: "A scholar never deceives others!"

"But most of the bullies are scholars!" The clerk wanted to go against the master today. The hard work in the past year was just for a while of indulgence on New Year's Eve. I guess the master would not care about me too much.

The master ignored him and lowered his head to wipe off the dust on the wine pot. He kept saying wonders, as if he had been coveting this pot of good wine for a long time.

Seeing how precious the master was, the clerk couldn't help but stepped forward and asked, "Master, please tell me where this wine came from."

The master looked at the clerk and said mysteriously: "This wine is the bone wine intercepted from Daliang when we were marching and fighting in the past. The general gave it to me when he saw that I was lame in one leg. After I was discharged from the army, I have been

It has been twelve years now. Now the Great Liang invades my border again. No matter how far away I am, I will kill you! No matter how far I am, I will kill you! Today, I will use these bones to make wine to sacrifice the souls of my fallen heroes in the heaven!"

The more the master talked, the brighter his eyes became. The clerk had heard that the master had joined the army before, but he had never heard him say that he had such a heroic past.

When the clerk was about to ask more questions, another clerk hurried over and said to the master: "Master! Master Qin and General Liang are here!"

Which Master Qin? Which General Liang? No need to ask, Master, it must be the upright Qin Yuandao and the heroic and capable Major General Liang.

After hearing this, the master didn't ask much about why they were here. He hurriedly put down the bone wine and hurried to the front hall.

"Master Qin, General Liang!" The master could see the shadows of the two of you from a distance. He smiled and stepped forward, "Happy New Year! General Liang is such a rare guest!"

Liang Ji bowed his hands and saluted the master. Qin Yuandao frowned, knowing that he had something important to do and did not want to be polite. He opened his mouth and said: "I need to review the corruption case of Yin Qianhu a few days ago.

Take a look at the documents."

The master was slightly stunned, wondering what Mr. Qin meant and why he wanted to investigate this case on New Year's Eve.

"Master Shaoqing is attending a banquet in the palace. Do you want to send someone to tell him?" The master couldn't make up his mind. He didn't know whether it was the order from above or something else, so he had to use this reason to excuse him.

Qin Yuandao looked at the master with a solemn expression and said: "The corruption case is suspicious. As the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, I am not allowed to investigate this case involving officials in the DPRK."

According to what they knew, the young Shaoqing of Dali Temple was promoted by Lu Gaohong. If Master Shaoqing knew about it, he would definitely tell Lu Gaohong.

The master in front of me has been a civil official in Dali Temple for ten years, so he will definitely not get involved.

The master looked at Liang Ji. In the past, he was a soldier who followed Liang Fengmian on the expedition. At that time, he saw that Liang Ji was only half an adult, but now he was a head taller than him. He was very pleased.

After thinking about it for a while, the documents placed in Dali Temple can naturally be read by adults who have the will and need. Qin Yuandao, as the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, has always been a breeze and upright, so naturally he will not do it because of some

For private matters, you need to look through the documents.

The master has never been to the court, and is unaware of the disputes in the court. He rarely leaves Dali Temple throughout the year, but he has a favorable impression of the Liang family and the Qin family.

"Yes, yes, of course, I can go and get it for you, sir." The master thought for a while, then quickly waved his hand and sent a few clerks to get the case documents.

"It will take a while to collect the case documents. Your Excellency and the General will sit down first. It's windy outside. Come in and have a warm drink." The Master greeted with a smile.

"Okay, it's troublesome." Qin Yuandao and Liang Ji looked at each other, then relaxed their attitudes, and walked in with the master.

The Yin Qianhu corruption case was also committed not long ago. The clerk quickly found it and ran over with the documents in his arms. Qin Yuandao and Liang Ji had not sat down for a while when the documents were placed in front of them.

The master smiled and pushed the document in front of the two of them and said: "They are all here. Your Excellency and the general will take a look first. I will go out and wait. If you need anything, call us."

Master has worked in Dali Temple for a long time, so he naturally knows the rules. It is not good for him to know too much.

As soon as the door to the front hall was closed, Qin Yuandao and Liang Ji lowered their heads and read in tacit agreement. For a while, they could only hear the rustling of books in the room...
Chapter completed!