Several disheveled Jurchen women carried bags made of birch bark and used pine branches to sweep away the ice and snow under the trees. They struggled to find the missing pine nuts from the pine needles. There was very little food this year, even if it was supposed to be winter.
On days like this, I have to go out to look for food.
A woman suddenly saw a tree hole not far from the branch, so she jumped up happily. A woman squatted under the tree. The woman who discovered the squirrel hole stood up impatiently.
After the woman below got up, her hand reached the squirrel hole. The squirrel hole was very small, so the woman took out a small knife and kept cutting the entrance of the squirrel hole. On a branch not far away, two squirrel holes stood continuously.
The jumping squirrel wanted to come over to defend its food, but it didn't dare, so it could only jump up and down anxiously.
When the woman saw that the hole had been dug, she happily took out a large handful of chestnuts from the tree hole and put them in her pocket. The squirrels had so much food that she almost filled her pocket. Finally, she took out a few chestnuts from the tree hole.
The complete pine cone dangled in a showy way toward the female companion under the tree, and she put it into her pocket proudly. Her arms had already reached into the innermost part. There seemed to be food there, but the pine tree was too big and there was nothing they could do about it.
After getting all the squirrel's food, he just retracted his arms in disappointment and prepared to get off his companion's shoulders.
At this moment, she saw what seemed to be a person lying behind a pine tree not far away, so she screamed, and the woman under her immediately ran away and threw her down. A group of women followed her.
Rolling and crawling, he ran away into the distance.
After running a long way, the man didn't catch up, so the women looked in that direction with their heads down. They couldn't see anyone, only a pair of deerskin boots.
The women dared to approach quietly, and one of the women hit the man's leg with a stone, but the man still didn't move.
"This man may be dead!" The women finally reached a consensus, and they pushed me slowly to the back of the tree.
Gao Yue was lying behind the tree. He heard the women's voices and wanted to move. His whole body was so weak. When he saw the women approaching, he weakly asked them for help.
"Save me, and I will give your people endless food in the future!"
The women couldn't understand what he was talking about. They just stared at the strange man in front of them. They had never seen such a beautiful man before. In fact, Gao Yue was not beautiful at all now. His face was covered by the cold wind.
There were many small cuts cut out, the two ears were so red and swollen that they didn't look like a pair of ears, and the chapped lips were in no way related to beauty.
"Save me and I will give you a lot of food and cloth."
A Jurchen woman curiously touched Gao Yue's lips with her dark fingers, and spoke a long series of words to the other Jurchen women at a very fast speed. Gao Yue could see the infinite joy in her eyes.
Did these people understand what he said? Gao Yue was very happy.
The leading woman put her hand into his chest. Maybe it was because of the fever. His body was extremely hot. One of the women screamed in surprise, and the other women immediately put their hands into Gao Yue's arms.
Two of them even put their hands into his pants...
Gao Yue shuddered as his clothes were taken off, and he tried to open his eyes. He didn't understand what these women were planning to do. Could it be that they wanted to do something? Even in the high fever, Gao Yue felt a chill rising from the soles of his feet.
Reached the top of the head.
"Save me, I'll give you food!"
A woman took off Gao Yue's tattered fur.
"Don't take off my clothes, I'll give you gold!"
Another woman took off his shoes and immediately put them on her own feet.
"I will freeze to death..."
A woman took off his pants with a fanatical smile and quickly put them on her bare legs under her leather robe...
When Gao Yue's calf-nosed shorts were put on his head by a woman as a hat, Gao Yue was as naked as a newborn baby. He curled up his body with all his strength, and the women used their rough hands to caress his smooth skin unscrupulously.
He caressed and roamed his body, looking curiously at the male symbol on his crotch, making giggles from time to time.
Gao Yue finally understood one thing. Those women had no intention of saving him. They only wanted to see his clothes.
Seeing that it was getting late, a tall and strong woman shouted, and the women left Gao Yue reluctantly.
In the days to come, those women would often come under the pine tree to look at the beautiful man who had been frozen into an ice sculpture. He was very beautiful at first. The beautiful man’s eyes were wide open and his mouth was wide open, white and white.
His teeth were very beautiful, and there were even two drops of tears frozen into ice beads in the corners of his eyes. Later, he lost his beauty because his eyes were pecked out by some unknown bird. Later, only a few pieces were left in that place.
The broken bones made the women feel bored and stopped coming. After all, there were many squirrel holes waiting for them to dig out in this pine forest. The beautiful men here were just a scene in the forest.
That's all.
When Di Qing saw Zhang Shiyu and Zheng Bin, the pair of envoys, he felt very sad, especially when he saw the old man and the young man trembling and eating heavily.
Without the customs clearance documents, the envoys of the Song Dynasty suffered unprecedented blackmail. Except for the knot in Zhang Shiyu's arms, the entire envoys were already considered impoverished.
Zhang Shiyu's pen, ink, paper and inkstone were replaced with sesame cakes, the gems on Zheng Bin's hat were used to bribe the Liao border guards, the horses and carriages of the envoys and even the armor and weapons of Yu Marquis Hu Laosan were also given as gifts
It was given to the greedy Liao guard general.
"Haha, this is nothing. As long as Yun Shuai has Haidongqing in his hands, it is nothing if I and the deputy have to suffer a little. I thought this trip was a fool's errand, but I didn't expect that I could come back alive.
It doesn't matter if you suffer a little loss. As long as I think of Yelu Hongji's expression when he saw the list of gifts we sent him, I want to drink three glasses of wine."
After the old man Zhang Shiyu had eaten his fill, he chatted with Di Qing while holding a glass of wine, and he regained the arrogance of a scribe Zang who was unparalleled in the world.
"Have a good rest in Nigu Village. You are old and have suffered so much. It's not too late to recover and return to Tokyo!" Di Qing looked at Zheng Bin's face that was cut by the cold wind.
He said to Zhang Shiyu with a smile.
Zhang Shiyu shook his head and said: "The reason why I am happy is because I saw Di Shuai as soon as I left the Liao Kingdom and saw the strict barriers on Nigu Village. This shows that the Song Dynasty has made complete preparations. I believe that in the Three Passes, Yun Shuai
Are you ready too?"
Di Qing smiled and said: "This is natural. I have never stopped making preparations since I came to Hejian Mansion. Now I have finally made some achievements. As long as the Liao people dare to come, we will attack them head-on!"
Zhang Shiyu frowned and said: "Song and Liao have been at peace for more than fifty years. If we don't provoke the Liao people, this situation will continue. What happened to make me, the Song Dynasty, no longer willing to abide by the Chanyuan Policy?"
Alliance? I was confused when I went on the mission, but now that I'm back, everything must have been settled, and I would like to ask Di Shuai to tell me the reason."
Di Qing looked at Zheng Bin, frowned and said: "Your Majesty's mentality has changed. Your Majesty no longer wants to give any money to the Liao Kingdom, and he no longer wants to be a brother country with the Emperor of the Liao Kingdom. He even wants to take back the Sixteen States of Yanyun."
To comfort the ancestors of the Song Dynasty."
Zhang Shiyu suddenly stood up and said: "Soldiers are a major matter for the country. Life and death must not be taken carelessly. Officials have always been kind. Why do they have to rush to start a war with the Liao Kingdom this time? Has he forgotten the past events of Taizong's three failed Northern Expeditions?"
Di Qing looked at the old master with shaggy hair and beard in front of him and said with a smile: "The emperor's heart is not something that we, the ministers, can guess at will. As ministers, we just have to abide by our duties."
Zhang Shiyu said anxiously: "The matter of the Sui coins can naturally be discussed, but the Chanyuan Alliance is the basis for the exchanges between the Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty. I thought that Your Majesty just wanted to unilaterally abolish the Sui coins. I will naturally do my best to do this, but from now on
Judging from the current situation, the Song Dynasty and the Liao Kingdom will go into full-scale war, which is related to the well-being of the people of the Song Dynasty. I must enter Beijing quickly to prevent Your Majesty from starting a war!"
Di Qing shook his head and said to Zhang Shiyu: "It's irreversible. You may not know that at the same time that you were on your mission to the Liao Kingdom, there was another army from the Song Dynasty that was advancing towards the Duck River. Judging from the time, it should have launched at this time
The target is Emperor Yelu Hongji of the Liao Kingdom!"
Zhang Shiyu's legs went weak and he fell down on the chair. After a long time, he said tiredly to Di Qing: "I'm tired. Please ask Di Shuai to arrange a quiet room for me to recuperate for a few days before returning to the capital!"
Di Qing nodded sadly. He understood the old gentleman's mood very well. Even he himself was part of the whole plan to start the war. He no longer had any position to advise the emperor to put the people first and not to start a war.
When Zheng Bin helped Zhang Shiyu out of the house, he couldn't help but ask: "Shuai Di, I wonder if our soldiers of the Song Dynasty can succeed?"
Di Qing turned around and ignored him. When Zheng Bin saw that Di Qing ignored him, he quickly helped Zhang Shiyu leave. He was not surprised by this result. As a eunuch, he should not ask about military affairs. Di Qing was not angry.
You're welcome.
It is not too cold in Nigu Village in March, and the time for the south geese to fly north has arrived. Countless geese passed by Nigu Village, chirping happily, and continued flying north, waiting for them to trek to the frozen land.
When the earth reaches its peak, spring should have arrived.
Spring has arrived in Nigu Village, the willow branches have turned goose yellow, the jasmine flowers are blooming in full bloom, and buds have appeared on the apricot trees. In a few days, the lively apricot flowers will bloom.
Nigu Village did not become lively with the arrival of spring. The armored infantry wandering on the city wall and the civil servants under the city wall who were busy under construction formed a dark armor-colored picture, with groups of wandering scouts and groups of patrols.
The messengers running in all directions and the eight-niu crossbows already set up in the watchtower tell everyone here that spring is far from coming... (To be continued)