Library

There were heavy rain clouds in the sky. Clouds pressed down on the field, rolling and undulating. Between the sky and the fields, a white avenue stretches into the distance, from south to north, like a silver-gray river, flowing silently. There were no pedestrians on the road, only a white Nissan parked on the roadside. Shi Lan walked out of the car, stood on the inside of the wide open door, straightened her back, and then turned her attention to the birch forest on the roadside. The white birch trees stand upright, like a group of girls in white dresses preparing to take the stage for the International Children's Day. This reminded Shi Lan of a performance when he was a teenager, and he couldn't help but feel a faint melancholy in his heart. Bending down, she picked up two bouquets of flowers from the passenger seat with her left hand, lifted up her skirt with her right hand, and walked down the avenue towards the birch forest. Outside the birch forest, on this side of the road, there are two tombs.

Master Long Qi walked out of the teahouse and saw a group of people gathered in front of the county office. He narrowed his eyes strangely and kept looking towards the crowd. He turned the walnut in his left hand twice in a "kaba kaba" motion, and then walked toward the crowd in a "" motion. Mr. Long Qi is over sixty years old, but his body is still strong and his legs are light. He walks like a race walk, causing a small braid on the back of his head to sway from side to side, as if he is drunk. Seeing the manager of Tianfu Restaurant approaching, everyone's eyes were focused on Long Qiye. Just like Long Qiye is a magnet, their eyes are like iron balls, with complex expressions, some frightened, some sad, some hopeful, and some hesitant. Master Long Qi glanced around at all kinds of faces, his eyes fell on the face of a young man, and asked: "What's going on?"

At nearly noon, the little sun in the southwest hung high, like a burning brazier, scorching the land of Jianghuai in August of the Jiashen year (1644), baking a loess road until it was cracked and hot. The people fleeing on the loess road formed a line, in groups of three and five, and they were all dejected. Who would have thought that in such a team fleeing south, there would be the Crown Prince Zhu Ci and the inner palace Gao Qiqian mixed in. The crown prince is the first son of Emperor Chongzhen. On March 19 of this year, Li Zicheng defeated Beijing, Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself, and the crown prince was captured. Later, the crown prince followed Li Zicheng to attack Shanhaiguan, and Li Zicheng was completely defeated. After the crown prince took advantage of the chaos to escape, he met Gao Qiqian, and the two fled south together.

After passing through Daqing Gate, passing through Qipan Street, crossing Jiangmi Alley, going up and down Zhongyu River Bridge, and returning home from the Yamen of the Ministry of Punishment, Zhao Shuqiao, a foreign minister, kept his head drooped until he entered the courtyard. This made the housekeeper Zhao Hu very strange. Normally, Zhao Shuqiao always walked in the door with her head raised, then walked into the study, sat down, read, and waited for her wife to greet her for dinner. At that time, he was young, in his early thirties, and his official career was smooth and prosperous. Zhao Hu thought that something might have happened to his master. With this thought in mind, he walked towards the east wing. There, Mrs. Zhao is preparing dinner. Seeing Zhao Hu enter the door, Mrs. Zhao raised her right hand, wiped the fine sweat on her forehead with the back of her hand, and asked, is the master back? Zhao Hu said, he is back. However, there is something wrong with Mr. Jian today.

When Zhao Shangzhi was twenty-five years old, he had not yet married a wife. This made Zhao Shangzhi's parents extremely anxious. They were eager to find a partner for him. They begged the neighbors in the east and lodged complaints in the west. They were as busy as a revolving door on the road and outside the runway. The result is still a bamboo basket fetching water - in vain. Why? Because Zhao Shangzhi's parents were anxious, Zhao Shangzhi was not anxious, and all the women he introduced were rejected. Zhao Shangzhi's mother couldn't think about it, so she murmured, "This one won't work, and that one won't work either. There won't be enough prodigal boys in Harbin for you to choose from. If you choose again, you'll end up looking like a little old man." Zhao Shangzhi's father did not blame Zhao Shangzhi, he just shook his head and sighed, nothing more than a sigh.