Chapter 309: Chapter 124 Lantern Festival_2
Lu Tong was pondering when the excited voice of Ah Cheng reached his ears, "Why don’t we all go to the lantern festival tonight? Doctor Lu ca to Capital City last spring after the festival had ended. This year we’ve caught it just in ti. Let’s go and enjoy the festivities together!"
With these words, anticipation suddenly sprouted in Yin Zheng’s eyes, and she stealthily nudged Miao Liangfang’s arm.
"Uh... that’s not bad," Miao Liangfang imdiately caught on, "Young Lu works hard in the clinic every day, he really should get out and relax a bit." He ant what he said sincerely. Miao Liangfang himself had gone through the imperial examinations in spring, and had been industrious in his preparations back then. Yet compared to Lu Tong nowadays, he felt his efforts were trivial. Every evening when he returned ho, Lu Tong would be buried in his books; and when he arrived at the clinic in the morning, Lu Tong was still striving hard. Yin Zheng had secretly told him that Lu Tong would read until past midnight before sleeping, and Miao Liangfang was also worried whether Lu Tong could withstand such toil—lest he collapse before the examinations even arrived.
Preserving one’s health was more important.
"Old Miao is right," Du Changqing agreed wholeheartedly, "The Scholar Wu from the Fresh Fish Lane had soone bring you a ssage before, urging you not to shut yourself in and read all day. Co, today the host decides, let’s all go to Jingde Gate to see the lanterns!"
Though he spoke in such a manner, Du Changqing watched Lu Tong’s expression without showing his own feelings, while the other people in the room also sneaked glances at Lu Tong.
Lu Tong caressed the pages before him.
Indeed, since New Year’s Day, she had not left the clinic.
She wasn’t really interested in the lantern lights, but...
Not far away, Ah Cheng was leaning on a desk with half of his head, capped with a tiger-shaped hat, showing, and his eyes eagerly watching her.
Lu Tong withdrew her gaze, closed the book, and said, "I’ll go."
...
On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, during the Lantern Festival, every household lit lanterns.
The Liang Dynasty had always observed the custom of "watching the lanterns on the three Yuan festivals."
The three Yuan lantern viewings referred to the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the Hungry Ghost Festival on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, and the Lower Yuan Festival on the fifteenth day of the tenth lunar month. Apart from watching the lanterns, the common folk also ate Yuanxiao dumplings, guessed lantern riddles, set off fireworks, and paid homage to the deities of the household and the door to celebrate the festive season.
That evening, Zhao Ning Manor was also bustling with excitent.
Sitting in the upper seat of the hall was a man dressed in a dark cicada-green robe with a round collar. Although he was middle-aged, his appearance was still handso and suave, with an elegant and romantic deanor in his eyes and brow that imdiately endeared him to others.
This man was Lord Zhao Ning, Pei Di.
The woman sitting beside him was beautiful and gentle in appearance, and was holding a three- or four-year-old boy in her arms, chatting and smiling with the man seated around her.
"My lord, there’s a lantern festival at Jingde Gate tonight. Shall we take Rui to see the lanterns later?"
The speaker was Lady Jiang Wan, wife of Lord Zhao Ning.
Besides his wife, Lord Zhao Ning Pei Di had taken three other concubines. Of these, only one had borne him an illegitimate son, Pei Yunxiao, who was a year younger than Pei Yunng.
The Princely Heir, Pei Yunng, and his sister Pei Yunshu were born to Pei Di’s late first wife. After her death, Pei Di remarried Jiang Wan, who later gave birth to his legitimate son, Pei Yunrui, who was now four years old.
Before Pei Di could reply, the young Pei Yunrui in Jiang Wan’s arms began to clamor, "Call Big Brother! I want Big Brother to go with us!"
Jiang Wan was startled and quickly pinched her young son in her arms. However, i Yinang, sitting nearby, burst into laughter upon hearing this.
"Young Master Three, the Princely Heir is very busy these days. How could he have ti to watch the lanterns? Your second brother, on the other hand, is free. Why not ask him to join us?"
i Yinang, with her enchanting beauty, was a concubine sent to Lord Zhao Ning by a colleague. Because of this connection, i Yinang was respected in the manor and her status was much higher than the other two concubines, especially after giving birth to Pei Yunxiao.
Pei Yunxiao, currently twenty, was also handso, predominantly inheriting Pei Di’s good looks. He was as mild-mannered and cultured, often receiving praise.
Under one roof, sons of similar age and comparable excellence were inevitably compared to one another.
This was particularly true when the relationship of one with the household was delicate.
Pei Yunxiao seed not to hear i Yinang’s words, continuing to pick up his chopsticks and eat. Pei Yunshu, sitting by Jiang Wan, frowned upon hearing this, her gaze towards i Yinang filled with faint anger.
Everyone knew there was no small friction between Pei Yunng and his father, Pei Di. During the New Year, when it was customary to offer incense for the ancestors, Pei Yunng had to return to the Pei Family ancestral hall to pay respects to his mother, making a rare visit to the Pei household. Most of the ti, he was on duty in the palace, and apart from paying respects to his mother, he never took the initiative to set foot in the Pei household.
Pei Yunshu didn’t want to co back either, so she stayed as much as possible with Treasure Bead in the courtyard where she lived before her marriage. If not for tonight’s dinner invited by Pei Di, she wouldn’t co here to witness this harmonious and affectionate distressing scene of a family.
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