The sky is wide open, the setting sun is like fire, the mountains are covered with black gold, the frost and snow in thousands of mountains and valleys are melting, the clouds are rolling in for thousands of miles, and the cloud shadows pass over the empty and vast ancient locust plain. Several villages on the plain lie peacefully on the earth.
Quiet and uninhabited.
On the official road at the end of the sky, the noise was boiling, and the people coming out of the capital were like a long dragon, heading south along the Anhe River.
People who are familiar with each other try to stay together as much as possible, and those who have no relatives or friends will be brave enough to hang out with other solitary people.
Some people were talking and laughing, while others were frowning and miserable.
"Mom," a boy of six or seven years old gently tugged at the corner of the woman's clothes and whispered, "I'm hungry. You said before that you would give me a bite of cake in an hour."
The woman walked hard with a load in her hands, her lips were dry and wrinkled by the strong wind, and she lowered her head when she heard the words. The boy looked at her eagerly, almost ready to cry.
The woman was heartbroken and walked to the side: "Come with me."
Putting down the burden beside the official road, she took out a small oil paper from her arms.
The boy licked his lower lips, his hungry eyes shining.
There were two cakes wrapped in oil paper, one of which had more than half broken off.
The woman broke off another small piece from the cake and fed it to the boy's mouth. The boy opened his mouth impatiently and bit it down. At this moment, a big palm stretched out and snatched the piece from the woman's hand.
Painted paper.
The woman stood up in surprise, only to see several tall men surrounding them. The leading man was about forty years old. He was holding her cake in his hand. When he opened his mouth, two stacked cakes were bitten away.
Most of it.
"That's mine!" the woman exclaimed.
As soon as she finished speaking, the load she was carrying was kicked by a man. The contents of the basket in front of her were dumped, and everything inside was scattered on the road. In addition to the clothes, there was also a small bag of rice and two tubes of oil cakes.
"Yours? I'm telling you, this fucking belongs to me!" the leader of the man shouted.
The woman rushed to protect her, but was pulled away by another man. The woman panicked and grabbed the pole. Before she could hit her, another man came up and kicked her in the leg.
The leading man turned around, ate the cake in his hand, biting it carelessly, and then looked at the people passing by with a careless look.
No matter big or small, male or female, no one dared to look at him. Everyone avoided his gaze and walked in a hurry, passing by silently, turning a blind eye to the mother and son behind who were being punched and kicked, begging for help.
"Haha." The man laughed, licking his tongue across the gap between his big teeth, and suddenly raised his foot and kicked an old man who happened to be passing by.
The old man was kicked so hard that he staggered and hurriedly got up. He didn't dare to say a word. He smiled at him with a pale face, and was supported by his wife, who quickly left.
"Brother Du, there's nothing left," a man came up from behind, "just some rags."
The man called Du Ge was the one who stopped Xia Zhaoxue more than ten days ago and asked him if he wanted to join the gang.
At that time, there were only five people, but now, "recruiting troops" and recruiting people along the way, there are already eleven or two, all of whom are big men with strong arms.
As long as they avoid the galloping horse army and the rich families with a large number of guards and entourage, no one among the remaining ordinary people can be their opponent. The food and money they have robbed in the past few days will make their faces rosy.
, the force of hitting people is also greater.
After robbing the orphaned and widowed mother, Du Ge took them away.
The woman was disheveled and looked miserable. She was crying and picking up the scattered clothes. There was nothing left to eat or anything.
The crowd did not stop, the cold wind blew, like a sharp knife scraping on the face, it was cold and painful, and it was already numb.
The twenty-six city gates of Jingzhao, Renmen Gate, Juyang Gate in the east city, and Zhenwei Gate in the west city were suddenly opened at 6 o'clock in the morning without any announcement six days ago, four days ago, and today, and remained open for two hours. .
During these two hours, the people in the city can leave as they please, but there are restrictions on the food they can take away, and they will be searched one by one. Any food and money that exceeds the government regulations will be confiscated.
Relatively speaking, it is more difficult to enter the city. The officers and soldiers strictly control and search. Anyone who comes from outside the city empty-handed or without food rations will not be allowed to enter the city.
Shen Lie went to Juyangmen, and after some effort he was able to enter the city.
The streets in the city are bleak, but order is generally under control. Except for the occasional group of men pushing carts passing by, there are basically no old people, women, or children on the streets.
Shen Lie first took Dai Yu and Du Xuan back to the Guo Mansion. There was a backlog of more than thirty letters in the mansion. When several of his subordinates learned that he was back, they rushed over one after another. Du Xuan stopped them outside privately and asked them if there was nothing too urgent. Try to come over in three hours.
After all, they had been on the road for two days, and Shen Lie's body was full of old and new injuries. Although he didn't mention it a word, Du Xuan knew how painful it was.
Also, Shen Lie did not elaborate on what happened below Long Yuan, but Shen Xu was already dead, so one can imagine how serious and critical the situation was.
Hearing the bleak sound of the wind outside Daoju, Du Xuan stood for a long time, looking towards the study. After a pause, he walked towards the study.
The doors and windows were all open, and there was a faint fragrance of flowers in the elegant ink fragrance. Du Xuan moved lightly, probed his head, and after entering the room, he turned to the desk. His young master had fallen asleep lying in front of the desk after taking a bath.
Dressed in white clothes, the snow is better than the snow. The ink hair has not yet dried, and is hanging down. The wind blows in through the window, and the tips of the hair are flying lightly.
Du Xuan did not dare to disturb him, so he quietly closed the window sash and left quietly.
Song Qingtang only learned about Shen Lie's return to Beijing in the evening.
At present, the situation in the capital is still dangerous, and Ouyang Jun is temporarily in charge of the military, while Zhu Xian is responsible for the order in the city and the general dispatch of internal affairs.
There are still many officials in the capital who have not left the capital with Emperor Xuan Yan. Some of them have higher official ranks than Zhu Xian, and now they have to accept Zhu Xian's deployment and orders.
Among them, Song Du, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, and Huang Mi, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, are still in the capital.
Now, Song Qingtang had just returned from Yongding Gate, dismounted at the side door of Jingzhao Mansion, and strode towards the door. Liu Ying followed him while talking quickly about big and small news.
After Song Qingtang entered, he did not go to his father directly. Instead, he ordered two steamed buns and sat in the backyard to devour them.
Liu Ying was beside him and continued to report to Song Qingtang what happened during his absence in chronological order.
Finally talking about half an hour ago, Liu Ying's expression became serious: "Half an hour ago, the fourth imperial edict came, and it was still aimed at Master Zhu..."
Song Qingtang had no expression on his face and continued to eat. After swallowing, he curled his lips with a smile on his face.
But the words he said had nothing to do with it.
He lowered his head and looked at the last bite of steamed bun in his hand, and said, "So, Shen Lie came back alone? Where's Ah Li, is she following?"
"No," Liu Ying shook his head, "Only Shen Lie and two guards."
"Yeah." Song Qingtang nodded, raised his hand and fed the steamed bun into his mouth.
