Waking up, the sky was just beginning to lighten, and it was drizzling outside, a soft rustling sound. Search: \(¨Complete¨ Book¨ God¨ Site¨) to read high-quality literature for free.

The woman who was his wife slept in his arms, a woman who usually gave the impression of sharp edges and corners was now as docile as a child, her vibrant body soft and warm, comfortable to hold. Ning Yi rarely had such a feeling, the feeling of holding someone who could bring him warmth on a psychological level, or rather, he had almost never experienced it.

In the past... what now seemed like a long, long time ago, he had never lacked women. In his youth, he might have frantically sought pleasure and excitement in that area, and had years when he was very interested in it. That time was already blurred, but even then, he had never felt like this. It seemed he had been too busy, and later it was just to satisfy a physical need.

Some of his friends were very promiscuous, messing around with four, five, or even more women at the same time, doing this and that. It was troublesome and boring. If he held three or four naked women at the same time, he would probably only feel how heavy they were. One was enough to satisfy his physical needs, any more was meaningless, and unrestrained indulgence would only make him feel tired and even distract him from his work. Although one of the inferior traits of men was that they constantly boasted about their abilities in this area, they would still get tired.

He had hardly ever been in love, except for occasionally recalling some feelings from his youth, but the accounts were actually clear. Whether it was a prostitute or a high-class call girl, they could give you anything you wanted in one night, while truly pursuing a woman required a lot of thought and would distract you, sometimes even causing pain. Later, when put into business, these all involved costs running into the hundreds of millions, which was a relatively unprofitable and unwinnable business. So, in the end, he didn't even look for prostitutes anymore, because even then, they would inevitably have ideas for further development – after encountering such things a few times and seeing those women cry, make scenes, and become entangled, he only chose transactions where the goods and money were exchanged clearly.

Some people said that the desire for power or control often outweighed emotions like lust, because after material conditions were met, the latter was too easily satisfied. Perhaps there was some truth to it, but he was too lazy to think about it, but he rarely felt that there was much meaning in holding someone like this, but now, he did feel that it was nice to hold his wife.

In this ancient and simple world, he could indeed forget many things from the past. That world existed a thousand years in the future, and even if he held the other person, he could only feel his own temperature. Admittedly, he himself had caused some of it, but... was this a good start?

With such floating thoughts, he held his wife and slept for a while longer before deciding to get up. Theoretically, he should have been sleeping on the outside, but he didn't know why he had ended up on the inside, so he tried to get out as quietly as possible. When he saw the clothes placed by the bed, he couldn't help but smile.

He should go to the neighboring courtyard to take a bath. As for Tan'er's side, the maids like Chan'er would help take care of everything. The current situation was special, and everyone was living together for the first time. This wife was a bit shy in this regard, so the white cloth stained with blood on the bed, as well as the sheets that also needed to be changed, would be taken care of by them first, and there was no need for him to get involved.

Actually, thinking about last night, it was quite tiring. After all, it was his wife's first time. Her eyes were closed, and she looked like she was waiting to be beheaded. He tried to relax her, but when he entered, she was probably still in pain. He paid attention to her emotions and naturally couldn't care too much about himself. Virgins are troublesome. However, she was in pain, and he was tired, so it was considered even between husband and wife. He had put in so much effort, and his wife shouldn't have any shadows left behind.

He thought his wife was shy, so if he went out like this, she would either pretend to be asleep or really fall asleep, and there wouldn't be too many other things. However, just as he was about to leave, he heard a faint voice from over there: "Husband."

Turning his head, he saw that Su Tan'er had also woken up, holding the edge of the quilt, lying there looking at him, with a smile on her face, and softly said, "Good morning."

This was the way Ning Yi used to greet her often. Hearing her say this, Ning Yi couldn't help but be stunned, and then smiled and nodded:

"Good morning..."

This day was the sixth day of the eleventh month of the eighth year of the Jinghan era of the Wu Dynasty. A year and a half had passed since Ning Yi and Su Tan'er's marriage, and the feeling of home had finally come together between the couple. Winter had set in for a long time, and the weather was dropping quickly. In a few more days, the first snow would fall, and Jiangning City would truly enter the long winter.

The charred remains of the small building on the other side of the courtyard stood there as they were, and it wasn't easy to move them for the time being. In the bedroom on this side, Ning Yi's things had finally been mixed with Su Tan'er's things. For the time being, the room already seemed a bit crowded, but at least this winter, everyone wasn't considering changing rooms.

When spring began next year, they planned to do some major construction in the courtyard, including this small building, and completely create a new layout. Recently, Ning Yi and Su Tan'er had also discussed these things, and also asked Chan'er, Juan'er, and Xing'er for some ideas. In the evening, the five masters and servants lit the stove in the living room, and the warm atmosphere was still the same as before. Of course, Chan'er and the others now understood that the relationship between the young lady and the young master had progressed, and occasionally when they were together, they naturally had some more intimate jokes to make, which was no problem.

Little Chan'er would occasionally feel a little lonely and envious, but more than that, she was happy for the two most important people. Ning Yi and Su Tan'er treated her no differently than before. Of course, she also understood that the young lady and the young master had just made progress, and it was impossible for the young master to take her in as a concubine now. Occasionally, when she felt envious, she would secretly say to the copper mirror in front of the dressing table in her room: "Little Chan'er is not in a hurry, it's a lifelong thing..." Then she would purse her lips at herself to show encouragement.

She already knew what kind of person the young master was, and he would never abandon her.

************

The clouds in the sky were still very thick, but the world had become bright and clean. It was already the middle of the eleventh month, and it had also snowed in Tokyo these days. Today, the winter snow had cleared up for the first time, and the white color seemed to have settled on the earth. The city was like a cushion outlined in a white snowfield, and the white color of the streets was slightly lighter, drawing lines in the city.

Coming down from the teahouse on Yujie Street, Li Pin turned his head to look at the towering palace walls in the distance and exhaled a breath of hot air.

For the past two months, he had been running around in various places in Tokyo. Two days ago, he finally obtained the documents from the Ministry of Personnel's Review Office. This also meant that the shadow of offending the Vice Minister of Personnel, Fu Ying, had passed, and he finally had his first substantive position, officially entered the officialdom, and could begin to show his talents.

His term of office would begin in February next year. He would be going north to Xing Prefecture to serve as the magistrate of Nanhe County. Speaking of which, Nanhe was a good place, and even had the reputation of "Granary of Southern Hebei." Its position in Xing Prefecture was crucial, and it would be easy to achieve results. It was very difficult for a newcomer to the officialdom to fill this vacancy. It seemed that the letter that Qin Siyuan had written for him when he came here had played a role.

Thinking of old Qin, he couldn't help but think of the trouble that Ning Yi had encountered when he left Jiangning – when he left Jiangning, the imperial merchants had just decided on their affiliation – the Su family didn't know how to resolve the crisis caused by the Wu family's move. Liheng was originally a son-in-law, and after this incident, it must be even more difficult for him to get along in the Su family. However, traveling in winter was difficult, and he would take office in February next year, so he couldn't return to Jiangning once more in this kind of weather.

Thinking of these things, he always felt like he owed the other person a favor, and now that the other person was in trouble, he couldn't help, so he felt a little guilty in his heart. Now, he was also a county magistrate, a small official at least, and if he could go back to help, he could always play a role, although he subconsciously felt that there was something strange about this matter, and Ning Yi might not need any help, but this was at least a friendship.

Being able to become the magistrate of Nanhe County, the role that Qin Siyuan, who was introduced by Ning Yi, played was not small, but some of the details made him feel very strange.

Qin Siyuan was a big figure. Although Ning Yi understated it when he introduced him, he already understood it at the time and remembered the name of this great scholar who had once served as the Minister of Personnel. After all, for many scholars, the Ministry of Personnel was the most concerned about their own interests, and among the six ministries, only the Ministry of Personnel was the most important, and it was implicitly at the top of the six ministries. The old man he had seen at the time, in the court several years ago, could be said to be second to none, and only a few people could compare to him.

But the reason for his resignation was quite complicated. If Ning Yi hadn't introduced him, Li Pin wouldn't have known that there was such a big figure living in seclusion in Jiangning. After the Blackwater Alliance, Qin Siyuan silently withdrew from the court. In the years since then, the old man had even been burdened with the reputation of "traitor." When he received the letter of recommendation, Li Pin was actually very suspicious of whether this old man still had any influence, or rather, even if some people in the court cherished old feelings, because of the Blackwater Alliance, perhaps there were more enemies instead, and he didn't know whether taking Qin Siyuan's letter of recommendation would have the opposite effect.

But the subsequent reaction was very intriguing.

It felt like many of the links were making it easy for him, opening the back door, and spending more than two months seemed to be to arrange such a good position as Nanhe for him. During the two months he had been active in the capital, he always felt that the result of everything was not due to his own activities. The smiles of those high officials were quite intriguing, and he even vaguely heard that the emperor had once had an opinion of him, but later dismissed the idea, which was a bit scary.

With only the Jinshi title from several years ago, and not even in the top three, and without any achievements, he would rather believe that this was fake.

However, sometimes he couldn't help but connect these messages with some of the things he had heard recently.

The northern region was not peaceful, and everyone was brewing for war. This was something he had already felt in Jiangning, but with the gathering of officials in Tokyo, similar feelings seemed to tighten his nerves even more. In addition to this, some people were digging out the Blackwater Alliance and saying that the court had a profound meaning, and had already laid the groundwork six or seven years ago. In recent years, the conflicts between the Jin and Liao were caused by Wanyan Aguda's ambition and unwillingness to be inferior to others, but at the same time, there was also the reason that the Wu Dynasty was operating from the middle, secretly trading various materials with the Jin people, inducing their greed, almost a conspiracy, and these things were said as if they were stories.

But... the atmosphere he had felt in Tokyo recently made him want to guess that this kind of Arabian Nights tale might actually be true. The sense of smell of the officials in the capital was much more sensitive than those in other places.

During this period of time, there were rumors everywhere outside that the Wu Dynasty was colluding with the Jin people, and the Liao people were constantly sending envoys to the Wu Dynasty for help. If this foreshadowing was really laid down when Qin Siyuan left his post seven years ago, and now he was receiving such treatment in the capital with his letter of recommendation, it might really be possible to explain it.

In fact, last year in Jiangning, someone was secretly spreading this matter. The Blackwater Alliance seemed humiliating, but in fact, it was provoking discord and driving away tigers and wolves, using the confrontation between the two powers to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. Of course, at that time, no one would believe this dreamlike statement... After all, this matter was too big, and Li Pin couldn't believe it now. But between the Jin and Liao, there would definitely be a battle. If the Wu Dynasty joined in, Xing Prefecture would be on the way north, and Nanhe would be rich, so it would definitely be a key transit point at that time. If he went there to manage it well, it would be just around the corner to make achievements and establish a career.

Thinking about it like this these days, he couldn't help but feel excited. If the rumors were true, then... Qin Siyuan, who had been living in seclusion in Jiangning for seven years, would also clear all his guilt and rise again. If this shrewd and capable Minister of Personnel rose again, he would probably get a position as a minister, depending on whether it was the left or right minister. At that time, Liheng would probably take advantage of the situation to enter the court, which would be the best thing.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but smile. In this rare sunny day in the winter of the eighth year of Jinghan, Li Pin raised his head on Yujie Street and looked at the sunlight, squinting his eyes slightly.

Drive away strong enemies, recover Yanyun, restore the Han homeland, and wash away a hundred years of shame. The situation in the world was already chaotic, and the next thing might be a magnificent era.

He always felt that... he could achieve something great in this era...

On this day, the small county magistrate who had not yet taken office thought so in his heart...

********************

Ning Yi had actually noticed some things recently. Qin Lao's house seemed to have more guests recently.

It was approaching the end of November, and Ning Yi had also been busy recently. As in the previous year, he mainly accompanied Su Tan'er to visit various merchants, both new and old. Last year, it was just a formality. At that time, his identity was only as the Su family's son-in-law, but this year, he already had the reputation, or rather, the notoriety of "Ten Steps One Calculation." No one dared to underestimate him, which in turn was troublesome. However, accompanying his "newly married" wife to do these things was also a matter of course, and since they had already slept together, there was nothing to complain about.

It hadn't even been a month since they had shared the same bed, and now everyone was in their honeymoon period. Like all newlyweds, the place where they loved to stay the most was probably in bed. Su Tan'er had her own restraint and cultivation, but with her temperament that could burn down a building to further their relationship, once certain relationships were normalized, she was actually not too bashful.

She handled commercial matters in the room in the afternoon and evening, feeling very much like a strong woman. After handling them, she would pull Ning Yi and talk about things that were a little more like a little woman, similar to the dates she had with Ning Yi every few days before, but at this time, the conversation was already more private, including the layout of the place where they would live in the future, the names of the babies they would have, and other household matters. She would also talk about business matters. As they talked, they would go to bed, and Ning Yi would take off her clothes. In winter, rolling around in bed was good for physical and mental health, and the rest was self-explanatory.

On the one hand, she had already been able to adapt to these things, and in front of Ning Yi, she was not shy and even liked it. On the other hand, her body was quite sensitive. When the stimulation was strong, she would frown and clench her teeth as if she was being tortured, but she held back and refused to make a sound. It was interesting to torture a strong woman. Sometimes Ning Yi would stop deliberately, and after a long time, she would glance at Ning Yi, and then give Ning Yi a small punch, pouting her mouth and complaining a little, then closing her eyes, turning her head, and grabbing the quilt with both hands to continue being tortured: "Hurry up, hurry up..."

She would take a little initiative, and then she would be so shy as if she had done something big. Ning Yi also liked this feeling.

There were many interesting things about the joy of the boudoir. After all, Su Tan'er's embroidered bed had been used for many years. After they had probably slept on it for half a month, one night it suddenly started to make some small noises. When Ning Yi returned home the next day, he found that the bed had been completely dismantled. Several servants carefully carried in a new bed that looked very sturdy and would definitely not move, and assembled it carefully. The reason why they were careful was that Su Tan'er was sitting at the desk next to her, buried in handling matters, probably instructing these people to try not to disturb her, so these people had to slow down their movements as much as possible.

In this way, even though Su Tan'er ordered the bed to be changed, she pretended not to see it at all. These servants had to assemble the bed painfully. Ning Yi found it funny to watch, so he moved a stool and sat down to watch. Then he found that he was a bit in the way, so he banged over to Su Tan'er's side. He didn't say anything, but Su Tan'er's face was all red, and she was still buried in handling official duties. Thinking about it, their first time was also like this, in pretense.

In addition to getting along with Su Tan'er and visiting everywhere, there was still a lot of time left. During this period, Ning Yi asked Kang Xian for a group of craftsmen to prepare for research in the direction of cement, mainly to prepare for building his own house.

He didn't spend too much effort on this matter, just said a rough direction, such as mixing and firing lime and clay, using different raw materials to do more experiments, and then left the rest to the group of craftsmen to slowly do.

The difficulty of this matter was not small, but not too big either. Nowadays, there were also a batch of cement substitutes for building houses and city walls. As long as the direction was determined, it wouldn't be difficult to make a batch of cement. It's just that without a very specialized production line, the research and extraction costs would definitely be very high, but it didn't matter, just use money to砸 it. First, build a small villa for himself, and it didn't matter if he was benefiting all people. First, benefit himself, open the door, and if Lao Kang or the group of craftsmen were interested, then leave it to them to develop.

During this period of time, Ning Yi went to Lao Qin's place twice. Both times, there were guests in Lao Qin's house, and they seemed to be officials who had come to Jiangning from other places, either passing by or returning to Jiangning to visit their families, so they came to visit Lao Qin. This matter was very different from the situation last year, indicating that some things were already beginning to change significantly.

The second time he went was on November 21st, and it was still a snowy day. This time, he saw Qin Hui.

At this time, Jiangning had lifted the ban on alcohol, and the small workshop in Yunzhu began to brew the first batch of high-alcohol wine, and there were results. He came over from Yunzhu's small building at this time, and conveniently took a jar to give to Lao Qin. When he went, there were guests inside. He gave the wine to Madam Qin and specifically told her that the wine was high in alcohol and prepared to leave, but Madam Qin had long regarded him as a trustworthy junior, so at this time she kept him: "Wait a moment, I'll get you something to take back."

This old lady knew Ning Yi's character and didn't say to let Ning Yi see Qin Siyuan. Then she secretly went over to inform Lao Qin before dragging him in to see people. Qin Lao was originally a high official, and the old lady actually knew something about the matters of the officialdom. She knew that it was always good to let Ning Yi see these officials. With Qin Lao there, Ning Yi wouldn't suffer any losses. Using this method to let him come over was actually a very intimate performance. Ning Yi had no choice but to accept it for the time being. Under Lao Qin's introduction, he exchanged names with the two middle-aged people inside.

One of them was called Qin Hui, with the courtesy name of Hui Zhi, and he was currently serving as the Censorate Middle Censor – Lao Qin didn't say this, but Ning Yi probably knew that it was this person – he was tall, with a dignified appearance, his eyes looked quite wise, and his temperament and conversation were very steady, which could give people a good feeling and a sense of reliability. Both of them were high officials, and they probably thought that Ning Yi was Lao Qin's junior, so they exchanged a few words and were quite friendly. Then they took small cups and poured a few cups of wine to taste, and expressed a few opinions on this high-alcohol wine, and they had a pleasant conversation.

The meeting was roughly like this, and Ning Yi didn't have anything to evaluate.

On the other hand, when the school was preparing to take a holiday, Zhou Pei mentioned the matter of the apprenticeship ceremony to Ning Yi. Kang Wang originally intended to make a big show of it, that is, to pull a large group of people, visit the Su family under the banner of the prince, and make the apprenticeship ceremony extremely grand, and give enough face to the Su family and Ning Yi, so that the Su family would have a big backer in Jiangning from now on. Ning Yi seriously rejected this.

People's network of relationships was sometimes very interesting. When you were at a certain low level, people at a high level would not actively look over. But if you suddenly showed that you were at a very high level, people's eyes would become active. Just like the contrast between people's attitude towards Ning Yi last year and this year, with this initiative, grievances would slowly arise. Although it was said that hatred was a probability, since there was this high-level relationship, Ning Yi didn't want to actively show it off. It was meaningless. After all, these things could be stored up as chips. If the Su family encountered any trouble again now, the relationship of the royal palace could be used to sweep it away, but if the relationship of the royal palace was revealed now, the problems that would be encountered in the future would only be at this level.

However, although he rejected such a grand apprenticeship ceremony, at the end of this year, Ning Yi planned to take his wife to visit the mansion of the imperial son-in-law and Qin Lao's mansion. Su Tan'er was very uneasy about this and prepared for a long time, but in fact, the subsequent meetings were also ordinary chats about family matters. The mansion of the imperial son-in-law was a very high-end place for Su Tan'er. Later, when she asked Ning Yi why he had a friendship with the imperial son-in-law, Ning Yi said with a smile, "Because we are all sons-in-law." Su Tan'er then gently punched him.

Although Ning Yi didn't mind, Su Tan'er didn't like him hanging the identity of son-in-law on his lips.

The wind and snow seemed to have never stopped, and in the white snow, the firelight in the room in the small courtyard was always warm and yellow. The five people seemed to be snuggling here, spending this winter. On one side of the city, the small building beside the Qinhuai River was always warm, and Ning Yi often went over in the morning. The woman waiting by the steps was wearing a cloak, her face was red from the cold, and she was rubbing her hands, exhaling hot air. She refused to go inside to wait for her, and sometimes another energetic woman would jump around by the steps. They piled up snowmen next to the small building, and the energetic woman would be busy provoking and arguing with Ning Yi when she saw him.

The Qinhuai River was frozen, and occasionally you could see the energetic woman sliding around on it. But after all, this was a very cold winter. Most of the time, Yunzhu and Jin'er would stay in the room, snuggling by the stove, not knowing what they were chatting about, feeling very dependent on each other.

If that man didn't come, it would be better... Jin'er, who wanted to take Yunzhu-jie as her own, would think like this...

December passed in a flash in this atmosphere, and the end of the year arrived. When the sound of firecrackers bid farewell to the old year, the scenery of the eighth year of the Wu Dynasty Jinghan also finally passed away. Replacing it was the ninth year of the Wu Jinghan Dynasty.

In this year, the prosperous places were still peaceful, and the places where the people were suffering began to become even more suffering.

In this year, the situation in the world was turbulent, and natural and man-made disasters came frequently.

In this year, uprisings broke out in various places and were quickly suppressed.

In this year, a war broke out.

**********************

North, north, north.

The sky was dim, the wind and snow were wailing, and the surging wind and heavy snow drowned everything on the grassland. In the severe weather where the visibility was almost less than three meters, there were vaguely some subtle uncoordinated sounds, like hallucinations.

Our line of sight swept forward, close to the ground, and corpses and blood were clearly reflected in our eyes. People had not been dead for long, but the blood had already cooled and began to congeal in the wind and snow.

It wasn't just one corpse. The corpses that came into view extended out in various tragic states, with hands and feet chopped off, bodies pierced, and arrows shot into their foreheads. Blood and minced meat gathered together. In the center of the battlefield were two large carts. The people around them were already dead. One corpse was even nailed to the cart with a spear through his chest, with his feet off the ground.

The field of vision continued to extend. In the wind and snow, three people desperately ran forward. They were wearing Liao Dynasty clothing, and their steps stirred up a burst of snow on the ground, but they couldn't see anything in front of them. Suddenly, an arrow flew out of the snow curtain. With a "噗" sound, the person running on the side was pierced through the chest by the arrow, and his body flew up and slammed to the ground with a "砰" sound.

In the vague field of vision, huge outlines appeared in the snow and wind on the side. The two people had already run past, but they had nowhere to escape. They knew that more people were still surrounding them.

The person running in the rear waved the knife in his hand and looked behind him. He looked like a Liao Dynasty general: "Who are you! Which tribe are you from! How dare you wantonly kill... the angels."

With a roar, the wind and snow rolled in, the warhorses neighed, and behind him seemed to be a clap of thunder, along with the screams of his companions and the sound of their bodies being crushed into minced meat. Turning his head in an instant, in the field of vision on the side and in front, a huge black warhorse raised its double kicks and slammed down, crushing his companion's entire body, and he didn't finish his words! Something pierced through his body!

He felt that the wind and snow had stopped. But it wasn't. The figure on the black warhorse was like a mountain. In an instant, it blocked the howling blizzard, but he felt his body rising. His chest hurt. A large spear pierced in from his chest and out from his back. The person on the horse lifted him up with one hand.

"Your Liao Dynasty is finished."

He heard the figure on the warhorse say this. More figures gathered towards him, like the followers of this demon.

"You, who are you..." He spat out blood and wanted to grab the spear shaft with his hands, repeating unconsciously, "Which... tribe are you from, how dare you wantonly kill... the angels..." And the demon on the warhorse stared at him coldly.

"Borjigin..." The blood was really cold. This was the last sound the Liao general heard. The wind and snow howled, the pupils were dilating, and he couldn't hear the last three words in the wind and snow.

"...Temu! Jin!"

Darkness descended.

*********************

Luliang.

The mountains were blocked by heavy snow, but the snow had stopped. Lu Hongti was sitting on a large stone next to the village that had been swept clear of snow, looking at the undulating white expanse in the far and near distance. There were mountains everywhere, and it looked really barbaric. She didn't know what winter in Jiangning would be like.

But some things were also available in the mountains. She listened to the sound of children playing that came later. A snowball flew over her head. Hey, it didn't hit. Er Hong and Liu Zi got married yesterday, and today it was still very lively. Inside and outside the village, everywhere felt it.

She had recently rejected the imperial court's offer of amnesty and also rejected the solicitation of Tian Hu, the "Hebei Tiger King" who occupied the Mianshan area. The people in the village didn't quite understand what she wanted. Rejecting the amnesty was easy to understand. There was no good outcome for the amnesty, but why reject rebellion? It was really unclear. Everyone was doing rebellion themselves.

Those in power must have a sense of mystery.

The sunset cast its afterglow on this mountain range. Thinking of the scholar in Jiangning City, she should have tied him up the mountain back then. She squinted her eyes slightly.

A timely snow promises a good harvest. This year was a good year.

As long as there was no war, every year would actually be a good year.

She hoped there would be no war...