Cui Hou never did meet Zhou Ying, and could only return with a body full of aches. However, he would e around whenever he had time, but each time he perfectly missed Zhou Ying, making him grind his teeth in frustration. However, there was one consolation: each time he got to spar with Zhou Xiao, which was quite a gain.
Time flew by quickly, and soon it was the fourteenth of the first lunar month. Starting tonight, the entire city of Beijing would lift the curfew for three consecutive days to hold the Lantern Festival.
On the fifteenth of the first lunar month, the Emperor would also arrive at the city gate to celebrate the Lantern Festival with everyone.
Now that Gu Qingheng was in charge of the Xiu Dao Guard, he naturally had to be responsible for the security of Beijing. However, some of the personal guards and people from the military office were also taking turns on duty. He was scheduled for night patrol on the sixteenth, so he could normally get off work these two days. Thus, everyone planned to go see the lanterns.
However, everyone was worried about what to do with the children. It was so cold at night, and there were so many people. What if something happened?
Yang Ruxin reassured everyone that she would take good care of the children so that they could have fun without worry.
"How can you handle it alone?" Dong Wenxiu waved his hand, "I’m not going. I’ll stay home and watch the kids. You guys go and have fun."
"I’m not going either, I..."
"It’s fine, really." Yang Ruxin waved her hand, "You all go have fun. It’s not easy to e to Beijing, so you should definitely go see it."
"Don’t worry, I’ll have someone watch over the kids," Gu Qingheng quickly chimed in, "You don’t have to worry about them." He knew his wife had a space where she could store the three little beans, making it easy to carry them around, so there was no safety concern at all.
Seeing Gu Qingheng say this, everyone thought that since he had so many men under him, it wouldn’t be difficult to find a few to watch over the kids, so they said nothing more.
After dinner, Yang Ruxin fed and then moved the children into the space, and the entire family left through the main gate.
The General Residence was not far from the main street, so they didn’t take a carriage and walked over slowly. Not long after leaving the Gluttonous Store, people started to gather, and there were more small vendors on both sides of the road.
The youngsters had money in their hands, so they could buy whatever they fancied. However, they lacked nothing to eat or drink, and the homemade food was even better than the outside ones. As for clothes, jewelry, and toys, everyone had several boxes full already. So there wasn’t much they were interested in buying. In the end, it was Feng Zilan who bought a candied fruit skewer for each of them to carry.
"Which family in Beijing has the most beautiful lanterns?" Yang Ruxin asked as she walked.
"The Liu Family," Gu Qingheng replied, glancing back. "Their family has three lantern kings every year, with incredibly exquisite craftsmanship. They will be auctioned, one each day."
"Then let’s check it out," Yang Ruxin said with curiosity.
Everyone headed toward the Liu family’s shop.
On the way, they ran into Qi Jingyi and Wei Yao, who were also out for the lantern festival. However, the couple relished their rare alone time and, rather unusually, didn’t insist on joining, chatting for a bit before heading elsewhere.
The Liu family’s lanterns were rumored to be a family craft, standing out among the surroundings from afar.
"Is that Stampede of Thousands of Horses today’s lantern king?" Yang Ruxin pointed at the lantern hanging at the highest point in the middle of the shop. It was shaped like three galloping horses, but the shimmering lights inside made it look like many horses were galloping as you approached it, truly exquisite!
Reviews
All reviews (0)