At this time, not only the Great Song Dynasty was decorated with lanterns to welcome the New Year, but even the Great Liao in the north and the Western Xia in the west were also welcoming the New Year. Therefore, there is no war on the borders of the four sides, and the world is very peaceful. In fact, as soon as the wax moon enters, the New Year's flavor in the Tokyo street market is getting stronger and stronger, and every household begins to marinate the cured meat with pork, mutton, and fish, which can not only be used as New Year's goods, but also can be stored until the summer of the following year: "In the wax month, you can salt pork and sheep and other meat, or make cured fish, etc., and there is no damage in the summer." The rich family, when encountering snowy weather, has to "open a feast, shape snow lions, and install snow mountains, so as to meet relatives and friends, and sing in a low voice"; If it's a sunny day, "invite friends and friends, tour the streets at night, and watch the dance team to preview the Lantern Festival" - the song and dance teams that are ready to celebrate the Lantern Festival have already been rehearsed on the street.

The market ushered in the peak season of festive consumption: the market sells winter vegetables: "Buddha flowers, leeks, lettuce, orchid sprouts", as well as "mints, walnuts, Zezhou dumplings (popular in the Song Dynasty)" and other New Year's goods; Shops "bid for the sale of New Year's brocade costumes, New Year's calendars, all kinds of New Year's paintings (Zhong Kui, Xianyi, Tiger Head style), large and small door gods, peach charms (Spring Festival couplets), and mascots posted and hung during the New Year ("Golden Colored Flowers, Spring Post Banner Victory" and "Tin Spring Banner Victory, Pepsi Ji Huer"), etc., which are very prosperous in the market"; "In order to prepare for the New Year's Day hanging at the head of the door, it is an auspicious omen for the New Year", "there are fireworks and firecrackers and the like".

Many stores also make New Year's gifts to give back to their customers. Department stores usually give old customers "door gods, peach charms, and spring greeting signs"; The paper horse shop prints New Year's paintings such as "Zhong Kui, Cai Ma, and Hui Hui Ma" to "feed to customers"; The pharmacy will make some "Tu Su bags": small cloth bags are filled with Chinese herbal medicine Tu Su, and then tied into "four goldfish concentric knots" and "Pepsi Ji knots" with five-color threads, and give them to the houses of old customers.

From the first day of the lunar month to Chinese New Year's Eve, the people of the Song Dynasty had two major festivals, the first of which was the "Lapa Day" on the eighth day of the lunar month, also called the "Laba Festival". On this day, the monasteries in Kaifeng and Hangzhou should choose small ingredients such as "walnuts, pine nuts, milk mushrooms, persimmon chestnuts", cook them into "Laba porridge", and give them to the donor's house. The pharmacy puts Chinese medicinal materials such as "Tiger Head Dan, Bashen, Tu Su" into a small cloth bag, which is called "Lap Medicine" and "Gift to everyone" for the health care of Lap Moon. Ordinary people also make "Laba porridge", and neighbors also give gifts to each other.

On the twenty-fourth day of the lunar month, it is the "handover of the year" on the calendar of the Song Dynasty, every household regardless of rich or poor, must prepare the "vegetable food and beans" sacrificial stove, at night "please monks to read the scriptures, prepare wine and fruit to send to the gods", so the neighborhood market is full of noise during the day, everywhere is the sound of selling "five-color rice food, flowers and fruits, gum tooth dumplings, kei beans" and other sacrificial stove supplies. In the market, there is also a "Yingwu" worship procession organized by the poor, beating gongs and drums, and "begging for profit" from each household

Fanlou Street, Mahang Street, outside the Song Gate of the East of the State, outside the Liang Gate of the West of the State, outside the Fengqiu Gate of the North of the State, and the south of the state, there are colorful sheds everywhere, selling "crown combs, pearls, heads, clothes, flowers, collar wipes, boots and shoes" and all kinds of fun small commodities, "intermittent dance hall and song hall, carriages and horses". The flow of people and vehicles is endless, and it is crowded.

Today is also the last day of the lunar month, which is now called "New Year's Eve". Dad and mother arranged for the family to clean the courtyard, change the door god, hang the clock Kui, paste the spring card, Dad personally arranged the matter of worshipping the ancestors, I wrote a pair of Spring Festival couplets on red paper, the upper link: Min'an Guotai is in the prosperous era, the lower link: the wind and rain are happy to sing the Chinese New Year, and the horizontal criticism: Mintai is safe. wrote a few more words of "Fu", Meng Ming asked Jiao Fu to personally paste them on both sides of the gate, and then pasted a "Fu" word on each side, and also pasted a big "Fu" on the shadow wall. Meng Ming is more proud, he is the only one in the Great Song Dynasty. The mother is preparing offerings to the gods of the stove, the god of wealth and other gods, and a few maids are helping. Now the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner can also be booked in Fanlou, and there are also those who eat Chinese New Year's Eve dinner in Fanlou, such as the missions of the Liao State and several vassal states. The Western Xia, Goryeo, Jiaozhi, Hui, Khotan, Chenla, Dali, and Sriwijaya also sent envoys ("He Zhengdan envoys") to Tokyo at this time to congratulate the Great Song Dynasty on New Year's Day. I also ordered a Chinese New Year's Eve dinner in Fanlou and delivered it to the house in the evening.

It was already dark, Fan Lou's food was also delivered, and Meng Ming's family and his father-in-law's family sat together to eat Chinese New Year's Eve dinner and keep vigil together. Meng Ming got up and kowtowed to his father and mother, wishing them health and happiness; He also kowtowed to his father-in-law and mother-in-law, wishing them a long and healthy life. My mother looked at me with red eyes and almost burst into tears, but Meng Ming and his father hurriedly persuaded her. Looking back on the bits and pieces of the past year, it is like in a dream, I am really full of emotion, and I can't let go of it for a while. The second elder and his father-in-law both gave Meng Ming a red envelope, and also gave it to his sisters and sisters, and the same jade cicada also has, also called New Year's money. Meng Ming's family members and maids were also eating Chinese New Year's Eve dinner outside, and Meng Ming asked Jiao Fu to give each of them a red envelope, one or two silver for each red envelope, only to hear them cheering and thanking them repeatedly. The craftsmen of the Printing Hall also sent it out in advance.

Tonight is a sleepless night, a night that never sleeps, and a vigil until dawn. "Shishu's house, sitting around the hearth, sleepless, called 'keeping the year'." On the night of Chinese New Year's Eve, how can there be no sound of firecrackers and fireworks, and the house began to set off firecrackers and light fireworks, and the outside of the wall has long been crackling, and the fireworks are constantly sounding and blooming brightly in the air. Meng Ming's past life. During the Chinese New Year, a large family also sat together to keep vigil, how was the family, especially Meng Ming's two-year-old daughter, Meng Ming's heart was like a knife, how could he let it go? Only the blessing of the distance.

The jade cicada was next to Meng Ming, and Meng Ming saw that her mood was also a little low, as if she was contemplating. She actually overlapped with my wife in my previous life and became a person, Meng Ming called softly: "Li Juan, my wife, are you okay now." I saw the jade cicada suddenly raise her head, look at me incredulously like a ghost, and suddenly grabbed my hand and said, "Are you the one, my husband Meng Ming, the jade baby is two years old, and he must be crying and looking for his parents." Meng Ming was also shocked, it turned out that his wife had always been by his side, this was really "everyone looked for him thousands of times, and suddenly looked back, but the person was in the dim light." "I should also thank God for his favor, my soul is no longer lonely in this life, and I am accompanied by two lives. This is the most precious thing Meng Ming has obtained in this Chinese New Year's Eve, and he vows to cherish it for the rest of his life. He held the jade cicada's hand tightly, knowing each other's intentions. At this moment, the heart is settled.

In this life, Meng Ming's previous mentality was to live a life of getting by, like a bystander, unable to integrate into this life from his heart. Now that I have a wife, I see hope, motivation, and motivation in my heart, and I have to make a difference in the future. After seventeen years with my wife in my previous life, most of them came from the hard days, and when I first got married, my family was poor and white, and my wife did not dislike or complain. has always been by Meng Ming's side, through the cold and heat, ups and downs, and has always given him hope. And he bore him sons and daughters. There are in-laws and children. Meng Ming has been away on business for more than ten years, and everything at home is handled by his wife. In the past life and this life, they are still together, what more can the husband ask for.

The night passed in a flash, and then the first day of the new year, now called New Year's Day, people have to visit relatives and friends today. The Spring Festival is a seven-day long holiday for the whole country. Every year when New Year's Day comes, a large-scale court meeting is held in the court, and the emperor is congratulated by hundreds of officials. At this time, diplomats from Liao, Goryeo, Western Xia, Khotan, Hui and other places often came to congratulate. Meng Ming also has to go, today's court meeting was held in Daqing Palace, and officials above the fifth rank participated, as well as foreign "He Zhengdan envoys". When Meng Ming arrived at the main hall, he was arranged to a table behind Xungui, most of them were young men, not a few years older than Meng Ming, the older one was only seventeen or eighteen years old, and the younger one was about the same as him. Meng Ming was very embarrassed inside, one didn't know, and he was self-isolated. The others are all friends at first glance, and they are all familiar with each other, and it seems that a few of them are still small. Looking at a table of delicacies from the mountains and seas, Meng Ming's index finger moved, whatever, just bow his head to eat and drink. felt a little abnormal, seeing that everyone else was looking at him with strange eyes, Meng Ming felt that there was nothing ugly.

I saw the oldest teenager smile at me: "It's Beihai Hou, fortunately, after the contemptible Cao Ning, the king of Jiyang County (Cao Bin), I just saw Beihai Hou is a temperamental, I would like to make friends with Beihai Hou." Meng Ming hurriedly got up and said: "After Brother Cao's famous family, he is also a bold person, I am fortunate to see Sansheng today, my younger brother has just come to Tokyo, I am not familiar with the place, please bear with me if it is inappropriate, I will give Brother Cao a cup." With that, he picked up his glass and drank it down. I saw Cao Ning say: "I'm not polite anymore, because I'm a few years older, I called Brother Meng, my brother is very bold, and I did it too." There is a saying: "Come to all brothers, come over and make friends with Brother Meng", everyone else got up and took turns to raise wine to salute, Meng Ming had to return the salute one by one, and drank eight glasses for a while, the degree of the wine was a little low, more than ten degrees, but he also drank a lot, but there was nothing to do for a while.

At this time, everyone was impressed by Meng Ming at once, and the atmosphere of the scene was also warm, and everyone also let go, one of the only young men wearing scribe shirts and square scarves on their heads, about fifteen or sixteen years old, stood up and said to Meng Ming: "Brother Meng, after Gao Wenhuan, the king of Bohai County, I heard that Brother Meng is good at poetry, and has written a few masterpieces, including the words "Water Tune Song Head" when is the bright moon, "Fortune Operator" Yongmei, and a poem said: "Mountain Garden Xiaomei", can you write another poem today" Looking at Gao Wenhuan, who is burly and dark-skinned, Speechless for a while, a family of military generals, preferring literature, scribes dressed up, nondescript. Meng Ming couldn't refuse, but he couldn't think of poems that fit the situation. In the future, if you want to mix in Tokyo, you have to have connections, and today is a great opportunity, and several of you here are all top nobles with good roots.

Meng Ming said: "Brother Gao, I can't think of a word that suits the situation, the article is natural, and the clever hand gets it, and it doesn't come just as it comes, today's thinking is exhausted, and I owe Brother Gao a word, and I will make up for it later." Suddenly, an old man at the banquet next to me said to me: "A good "article is made by nature, and the magic hand is even obtained", it is really a classic saying, there should be the following, why don't you tell it", I read out the poem "Article" by Lu You of the Southern Song Dynasty: "The article is natural, and the wonderful hand is even obtained." If it is flawless, it must no longer be artificial. You look at the ancient Yi utensils, clumsy and clumsy. The Han Dynasty has recently pre-Qin, and it has been very pure. What is the Hu Department, Haozhu mixed with mourning. If you don't do it again, who will be with you for a thousand years? ”。“ It's a good poem, and it's a masterpiece, who is this young man, he is quick to think, and he can be called a prodigy", everyone talked about it for a while.

At this time, Gao Wenhuan glanced at the little star, adoring, Meng Ming felt a chill in the back of his head, and said secretly: "This guy is not glass, right?" Meng Ming wanted to borrow urine to escape from the table, not wanting to be in the limelight. Anyway, I am also familiar with these nobles, in addition to knowing Cao Ning and Gao Wenhuan, I also met other teenagers: Shi Yanbin (Shi Shouxin's great-grandson), Murong Junyi (great-grandson of Murong Yanzhao, King of Henan County), Wang Kexu (great-grandson of King Xianqi of Qin), Yang Wenguang (Yang family of Tianbo Mansion), Chong Yu (son of Chong Shiheng), Pan Liangzuo (great-grandson of Han Gong Pan Mei). Most of them are twelve, thirteen, fourteen or fifteen years old. I also made an appointment to travel together on the first day and night, and I invited them to an east banquet in Fanlou. I want to borrow urine to get away from the table, I don't want to be in the limelight.

As soon as he slipped to the door, he saw an old man in a purple robe walk in head-on, almost bumping into each other, Meng Ming hurriedly confessed and flashed aside, it was already late afternoon when he went out, he wanted to find a convenient place, he had just arrived, and he didn't touch the situation. It was convenient to find a hidden place, get up and go back, the wine came up a little, they all stumbled and walked away, some lost, Meng Ming saw a young man in front of him from a distance, so he patted him and asked: "Xiao Langjun, do you know how to go to Donghua Gate, I am lost and want to go home," I saw the young man jump up, turned his head and glared angrily: "You are a person who knows no manners, and you are scared to death." Meng Ming apologized again and again, and said a good word before he turned his anger into joy.

I saw this young man, quite fair-skinned, handsome and a little bewitching, how to look at the more he became a mother. No matter, let him lead the way, on the road he chattered non-stop, net said some out of tune children's fairy tales, the voice is very good, but like a girl's voice, he did not lead me to a courtyard, this courtyard pavilion water pavilion, rockery pond, curved bridge corridor, the front is a palace. Where is this, I was wondering, but I saw the young man run away, and said as he ran: "Hmph, you are miserable, tell you to scare me." You won't be able to get out for a while. Meng Ming realized that he had been fooled, there were a lot of taboos in the palace, and if he broke in, he would get into trouble and punish the crime. Meng Ming was anxious in his heart, and secretly scolded the kid who slipped away just now. I was really afraid of something, and a female voice was clear: "What kind of person dares to break into the inner palace and come to arrest him." Meng Ming secretly finished and said. I saw two guards rushing over and taking him down at once. Meng Ming hurriedly confessed: "I wanted to go home to attend the court banquet today, but I didn't want to get lost, and I accidentally broke into your place, please forgive me." The palace lady came over and said, "Do you have a certificate to participate in the court banquet?" Meng Ming then took out the banquet sticker and showed it to her. Gong E took a look at it and said: "It turned out to be Beihai Hou, but I still wronged you, we have to verify it, and the queen will deal with it." ”

The two guards took Meng Ming to a side hall and waited for him to fall. The kid who lied to me pushed open the door and winked at Meng Ming proudly. Meng Ming scolded him and said: "At a young age, I don't have a good heart, I scared you, I apologized, I have no grievances with you" ''How can you hurt me so much, your heart is so vicious. Hearing Meng Ming's words, the young man was furious and started a fire, how could he say anything about me, and after a while, Meng Ming would cry, and said fiercely: "How dare you say this, it's disrespectful, I'll let the queen mother punish you with death, hum, wait and see." This is a female voice outside the door: "Who provoked Mingyue to cry, it is really a lot of courage, mourning the family to punish him," after speaking, the door opened: a group of female dependents came in, led by a middle-aged beautiful woman, wearing a gorgeous crown of nine dragons and four phoenixes, with twelve flowers, dressed in green clothes, dark blue, with Cui Zhai (a small and bright bird) pattern. The collar has a black and white pattern, and the cuffs and edges are decorated with red Luo. The waist garment has a large belt, and the belt is the same color as the clothes. The color of the knee cover with the clothes, painted Zhai as the pattern, green socks, gold ornaments, white jade double wear. Meng Ming saw that it was Queen Liu E.

Just now, the kid ran to the queen and complained: "Niangniang, you have to call the shots for Mingyue, this guy scolds me so ugly, saying that I am vicious", Meng Ming bowed his head and said nothing. The queen looked at him and said: "Beihai Hou, I didn't want to see you in this way, it's very surprising, do you have something to say, and then there is Mingyue, how do you dress like a kid all day long, go and change your clothes." Meng Ming stubbornly told the ins and outs of the matter. The kid looked at me in surprise, but he didn't leave, and asked me directly: "You are Beihai Hou Mengming, when did you write Mingyue, I didn't think you were as old as me, so talented."