Chapter 193 Lantern Festival
The lantern festivals in the capital were all funded by the imperial court and sent by people to organize them. The picture here shows the excitement during the Lantern Festival.
Dongyang Street, the most prosperous street in the capital, is lined with a variety of beautiful and magical lanterns. There are two dragons playing, ducks swimming, children flying kites, Guanyin sitting on the lotus, etc. Hundreds of them stretch from the east end to the west end. , with no end in sight.
In the gaps between the lanterns, there are some vendors setting up stalls to do business, selling some small lanterns, toys and other things, which adds a lot of excitement.
The Lantern Festival is the most lively day of the year in Beijing. Even if it is lightly snowing, it can't stop people's enthusiasm.
Chu Zhai's carriage stopped in a small alley next to Dongyang Street. Shengdi jumped out of the carriage, then opened the curtain, and Chu Jingqi got out first.
Seeing that the snow was getting heavier and heavier, when he came out of Chu's house, the fine hairs were still flying, but now they turned into large goose feathers. He turned around and put the hat on Xia Zihan's coat behind him and put it on Xia Zihan, and said, "Girl's house Your hair is all precious, don’t let any snow flakes fall on your head.”
Then he led Xia Zihan out of the carriage.
Behind the carriage they were riding in, there was a small carriage parked. Chu Xang, Chu Lin, Nuan Yu, Silk Grass, Vanilla, and the five maids jumped out of the small carriage and walked towards this side.
Two guards and a coachman were left to guard the carriage and horses. The rest of the people walked and followed Chu Jingqi and Xia Zihan to the lantern festival.
They arrived not early, and there were already many pedestrians coming and going on the street, most of them boys and girls.
There were many children of aristocratic families and rich ladies, all of whom were cheering and followed by a large group of servants and guards. Among them, the most eye-catching group was Xia Zihan.
Especially Chu Jingqi's handsome little face is very eye-catching and drool-worthy.
Xia Zihan, who was walking with him, also received many looks of admiration. The only thing that made her happy was that fortunately, Chu Jingqi was not old and was still a child with just growing hair. Otherwise, the girls in the streets and alleys The handkerchiefs and purses they threw over would probably drown Chu Jingqi.
"Ayu, there is a lantern seller in front, let's go and take a look." Chu Jingqi saw a large group of people gathered in front of him, and people left there carrying lanterns from time to time, so he took Xia Zihan and walked over with interest.
The stall owners are an old man and a young girl, an old man and a young girl. The girl is about twelve or thirteen years old, fair and beautiful, with twinkling eyes and a very smart look.
When Xia Zihan walked over, he saw that most of the people in front of the stalls were men. There were also many people who neither bought lanterns nor walked away. They stared at the little girl with a pair of evil eyes, which made the little girl blush. , but I was too embarrassed to drive people away.
The little girl greets the guests and handles the cash register, while the old man weaves the lanterns and pastes the paintings on the lanterns. The paintings on the lanterns are painted by the guests themselves.
There is a table next to the stall with blank paper and pen and ink on it. A young man is drawing there, and a five or six-year-old girl is waiting eagerly next to him.
After waiting for a while, before the young man recovered, the hasty little girl muttered, "Brother, hurry up and draw, I have to buy a rabbit lantern."
"Hey, do you know how to draw? It's just a drawing. It's been ten minutes, why haven't you finished it yet?"
"The previous person drew a picture in two minutes. You are too slow."
"Don't shit when you occupy the position. If you don't know how to draw, just give way."
The people waiting aside became anxious, and the words they spoke became more and more unpleasant. The little girl not only refused to help, but also urged the young man along with the outsiders, "Brother, if you don't know how to draw, forget it, leave it to others." The painting is done.”
"Hey, did you hear that? Your sister wants you to give way. You are still here..."
Before the man finished speaking, he saw the young man put down his pen, picked up his painting and handed it to the old stall owner. He said in a deep voice, "Sorry to bother you, old man."
"No trouble, you're welcome, sir." The old stall owner carefully pasted the painting on the lantern, and then handed the lantern to the young man.
Under the light, everyone could see the painting clearly. Several gasps were heard, and someone in the crowd commented, "It's so beautiful, it's actually the Eight Immortals crossing the sea."
"That character is so vividly drawn."
"Look, Lan Caihe's eyes are alive, as if they are blinking. Also, He Xiangu's lips and the lotus flowers on her hands are actually pink. How is that possible?"
"How is it impossible? I just saw the man bite his finger and click on it a few times."
"Wow..."
Several more gasps came, causing Xia Zihan and Chu Jingqi to look at the young man a few more times.
The man was handsome and polite. Judging from his ordinary clothes, he should have come from an ordinary family. However, his pair of deep eyes and calm temperament made Xia Zihan very fond of him. It feels like fishing alone.
Seeing the little girl taking the lantern from the young man's hand under the admiration of everyone, she raised her head proudly, as if what others were admiring was not the painting, but her.
"Ayu, don't look."
Chu Jingqi stood in front of her, blocking her view and earning a glare from Xia Zihan, "Childish." "I am only childish for you," he muttered.
"Ayu." Suddenly, he came up again, "I will paint for you and buy a lantern for you to play with."
"No." Xia Zihan looked at the table and saw four people queuing up, and said, "There are so many people queuing up. When do we have to wait in line? I also want to see a few more lanterns."
"What kind of line do you have to line up? I am the noble prince of Anguo Duke's Mansion. I have to line up for every painting. Just look at me."
With that said, he went to the table. Xia Zihan said behind him, "Don't look for trouble."
Unexpectedly, after Chu Jingqi left, he gave the four people five taels of silver for tea, and they obediently let him paint first. Even the person who was halfway through the painting also gave up his place.
Xia Zihan stared at him.
This prodigal kid just lost his twenty-five taels of silver.
Does he know how much a lantern costs?
A lantern only costs fifty cents, and twenty-five taels of silver is enough to buy a carriage of lanterns, which can't be piled up.
Xia Zihan was so angry that Ma Bao came up and told her in a low voice Chu Jingqi's previous feats, "Don't be angry, County Master. Our eldest son doesn't like to be crowded with others, so he is used to using Sending people away with money, in the last life Master Zi went to Baiwei Pastry Shop to buy snacks for the county boss. Because he didn’t want to queue up, he spent ten taels of silver to buy the osmanthus cake that the county boss loved to eat. The owner of the shop in western Yunnan said that it was the last pound of osmanthus cake. ”
But Ma Bao didn't tell Xia Zihan that because of the cold weather, there were only two people in line.
When Xia Zihan heard this, her face actually looked better. By the time Chu Jingqi came to her with a lantern, her face had completely recovered.
"Here you go." Chu Jingqi handed it to her hand.
Xia Zihan picked it up and took a look, his face turned black again, and he stared at him angrily. Chu Jingqi smiled guiltily and said, "When I was drawing, all I could think about was you. In the end... I originally wanted to draw a bird. , it becomes you.”
It turns out that the painting is a portrait painting, and the person in the painting is Xia Zihan.
Drawing her portrait in public on the street, what if people misunderstood her? How shameless she is, this bastard...
"Don't be angry, don't be angry, let's leave quickly. Look, some people are looking at us." Seeing that Xia Zihan was angry, Chu Jingqi hurriedly went up to comfort her.
Xia Zihan also felt the gazes of many people around her. Perhaps Chu Jingqi's behavior just now aroused the curiosity of many people.
"Let's go, I'll take you to buy some toys. Don't you like to play with those things the most?" Chu Jingqi seemed to feel a malicious gaze directed at him. He was worried that he would get into trouble, so he hurriedly pulled him away. Xia Zihan left the lantern stall.
He Donglin seemed to feel it too. He called a group of guards to come around and blocked the sight of some obscene people. A group of people gathered around and went to a small items stall not far away.
Xia Zihan knelt down and picked a few items, but that intense gaze followed her closely, following her like a shadow, making her very uncomfortable.
I simply picked two things to play with, stepped forward to pay the money, and the group of people continued to move forward.
Nuanyu saw that her master was restless and seemed a little absent-minded, so she stepped forward and said, "County Lord, do you want to go to the official office?"
"No need." Xia Zihan turned around, looking for the owner of that line of sight in the crowd, but when she turned back, that line of sight disappeared again.
When she turned back, she felt that malicious gaze staring closely at the back of her head.
"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" Chu Jingqi stood behind her calmly, blocking all sight behind her. Xia Zihan felt better now.
A group of people walked while admiring the lanterns and had a cup of tea. Finally, they arrived at the word guessing area, where Xia Zihan stopped.
"What, you want to guess crossword puzzles?" Chu Jingqi asked with a smile, reaching out to see the note hanging on the rope, "When I was young, I had a hollow belly, and when I grew up, my hair was fluffy. My sister never left it while boating, and my brother was good at fishing."
< br>
"Bamboo, so easy." It's boring and not challenging at all.
This was not the first time Chu Jingqi came to the lantern festival. He had also come to play in the first two years, but he had never played charades. He considered himself a martial artist, and such elegant fun as guessing charades was something that literati liked to do. He Naturally, he wouldn't mix it up, and naturally he didn't know that there were some rules.
Xia Zihan said, "The one you see is the simplest."
"These riddles are all made by the imperial cabinet. Only a few ministers responsible for organizing the lantern festival have the answers. Even the prince doesn't have the answers. Look at it..." She pointed to the top, " There are ten ropes to hang crossword puzzles here. Each layer is higher than the next, and each layer is harder to guess. By the tenth layer, it is basically difficult to guess. ”
(End of chapter)