Jingling Palace, located near the outer city of the imperial palace, in front of the right door, surrounded by the five temples and three eunuchs of the imperial court, Taisheng Mansion, Zuozangku and other official offices, and the status of the Great Xiangguo Temple is equivalent, and it is also a Taoist temple built by the royal gift, but it is different from the civilian route taken by the Great Xiangguo Temple, Jingling Palace because it is close to the Imperial Palace, and only accepts the dignitaries of Bianliang City, the princes and ministers, or their families on weekdays, if ordinary people have no chance, it is difficult to step into the Jingling Palace half a step.

"I remember, I used to come here with my aunt and mother to make incense, but I couldn't see it clearly at night, and I couldn't remember it for a while." Chu Jue said suddenly, Chu Ji is a member of the court, and the female dependents of the family are naturally qualified to enter Jingling Palace, while the Wang family and Chu Jue are naturally allowed to enter.

"The incense in Jingling Palace is not very effective, but the environment is indeed good." Gao Shilin smiled and said: "The lights here are probably more spectacular than in front of the Great Xiangguo Temple. ”

"Then I'll see." Chu Zhen chuckled, but believed in his heart that what Gao Shilin said was true, although the lights of the Great Xiangguo Temple were attended by the government, but the main contributors were the rich people of the people, how could they be compared with the magnates.

"We're here, let's go down." After a while, the carriage slowly stopped, Gao Shilin lifted the corner of the curtain, and after seeing the situation outside, he said with a smile: "The front is very lively, and the carriage is afraid that it will not be able to pass." ”

Chu Zhi got out of the car lightly, looked at the lively light alley in front of him, and saw a brilliant fire tree in the streets and alleys, and there was a bright light every few steps, with various styles, including dragon lanterns, deer lanterns, moon lanterns, grape lanterns, and gardenia lanterns...... The fairly spacious streets are full of pedestrians dressed in silk satin, and of course, there are many servants and maidservants in green clothes following them.

On the ground, there are big ball lamps that have been rolled by people, in the sky, there are small ball lamps that have been thrown by people, the kind of big square lamps made of raw silk paste, because there are historical stories painted on them, attracting a group of children to watch, and some have erected wooden masts on the ground, put bamboo frames like towers, and put lamps on them layer by layer, making a light bridge, and a few bold children walked back and forth on the light bridge with a smile on their faces, but they frightened the adults who were guarding on the side.

Chu Zhi knew that the carnival and indulgence of the Shangyuan Lantern Festival, there were also many rats, dogs, thieves and even taking advantage of the chaos to rob people, the people were like waves, and it was very easy to make mistakes, and even the children of the powerful families were threatened.

If most of the people in Bianliang City mention bamboo or silk paper paste lamps, then the lamps and lanterns of this street are very exquisitely made, and even there is a tendency to spend money on materials, such as Fuzhou lamps made of white jade, which make people feel refreshed, Su lamps made of five-color glass, five-color beads as the key, drooping tassels, and the lamps are delicate and delicate, and the five-color makeup is dyed, and the sheepskin lamps of the shadow play style are used......

Of course, the most eye-catching thing is the horse riding lantern painted with war scenes on the lampshade.

"One after another, the iron horse swirled around, conjuring up the year of the Cao Gong War, this marquee is really dazzling." Walking to a lantern painted with the Battle of Chibi, Chu Zhen sighed softly, but what he sighed was not the story in the painting, but the ingenuity of making the lantern.

The structure of the horse riding lamp is very novel, an impeller is horizontally installed in the upper part of a vertical shaft, the lower edge of the impeller, near the bottom of the vertical shaft, a candle holder is installed, when the candle burns, the heat generated rises, the impeller can be promoted, so that it rotates, after the candle is lit, the people and horses of the paper scissors rotate with the impeller and the vertical shaft, so that its shadow is projected on the lamp wall framed with paper paste, and it becomes a lamp painting, and the character story reflected in the lamp, the cycle like a horse is repeatedly displayed in front of people's eyes.

The invention of the horse lantern, from the perspective of the history of scientific and technological development, it is the germ of the modern gas turbine, but the people of the Song Dynasty used the principle of rising and cold air sinking after the air was heated, and transformed it into the manufacture of the horse lantern, which is really for the Shangyuan Lantern Festival to hollow out the mind, this is like inventing fire yao, but used to make fireworks, Chu Zhi secretly thought, I don't know what's going on, Chinese always seem to like to use some technology to enjoy it.

"Jing Chun, what is this, the really dazzling lights are still ahead." Gao Shilin said with a smile, pulled Chu Zhen and Chu Jue forward, walked about a hundred steps, and came to the front of Jingling Palace, and a glass lamp mountain suddenly came into view.

It is as high as five zhang, there is a big color building, there is a figure that can be moved by the organ in the big color building, there is a big hall on the lamp mountain, even the five-color glazed pavilion is paved, the pavilion is the ball play dragon and a hundred flowers, the wall between the beams and buildings of the palace pavilion, the legends and stories of all colors are depicted on it, among which the dragon and phoenix form, meandering like life, the small crystal curtain hangs between the small windows, the tassel treasure belt, and the five-color jade gate show off, just like the Guanghan palace in the sky.

"It's spectacular, it's fascinating." The lights were shining, colorful, dazzling, Chu Zhen looked at it for a moment, and when his eyes shifted, he felt a blur, and after a while, his eyes returned to clarity.

"But it's a little worse than in previous years." After observing for a while, Gao Shilin said disappointedly: "In the past, there was a music shed in Dengshan, and there were performers who performed flying pills throwing swords, walking ropes with edge rods, and illusion commentary, but now they can't see it. ”

"It's nice to have lights to watch, how can there be so many requirements." Chu Zhen chuckled, guessing in his heart how much it would cost to tie up this glass lamp mountain.

"Probably over there." Chu Jue reminded, pointing to the crowd not far away, there were bursts of high-fives and cheers from time to time, a few wisps of flame were faintly visible, the three of them approached and squeezed into the crowd, as Chu Jue said, there was a trick here who was performing the stunt of hiding fire, I saw him take off his other clothes, only put on a silk robe, and casually picked up a huge basin with flames on the ground, hidden in the silk robe, and kept rubbing his hands, as if there was nothing in the silk robe.

After a while, the performer threw the silk robe to the ground, picked it up and put it on in an instant, and saw that the flames between the sleeves of the silk robe were full of flames, which seemed to burn the eyebrows of the performer, but he looked free, and suddenly opened the silk robe, only to see the fire burning in the robe, and the fire was more fierce, and it was slowly extinguished after a while, and the servant was safe and sound, and his face was full of smiles.

"It's amazing." After a few breaths of silence, thunderous applause rang out, and the sound resounded through the sky, deafening, and the crowd of onlookers was amazed.

However, Gao Shilin's reaction was a little cold, pulled Chu Zhen and Chu Jue out, and said softly: "Compared with stunts such as fish jumping the knife door, calling bees and butterflies, and chasing ants, this is just a child's trick, and it is boring to watch." ”

"Caiqing, let's make it clear, where do you want to take us?" Chu Zhen chuckled, walked around Gao Shilin, and patted him on the shoulder.

"I know that I can't hide it from Jing Chun." Pretending to rub his shoulders, Gao Shilin said with a smile: "Actually, I invited you to come here today to ask you to do me a little favor." ”

"I said how could you be so kind to invite us to watch the lights, it turns out that you have a request." Chu Zhen suddenly smiled and said: "It's too much, how can I be worthy of the sincere feelings that Wen Yu and I didn't go to the banquet with our families and came to accompany you to watch the lights." ”

"It's still early, it's too late to go back." Chu Jue said leisurely, a smile flashing across the corner of his lips.

"As long as it is done today, if you have any requirements, just ask." Qu Yi greeted him for a long time, and seeing that the two of them were unmoved, Gao Shilin gritted his teeth and patted his chest.

"That's right, if you have a talented person, whether it is a mountain of swords and a sea of fire in front of you, or a rouge powder array, we will accompany you to the end." Chu Zhimei smiled and said, next month's food has been settled, and the mood is naturally comfortable.

"It's not that serious, I just want to ask the two of you to help capture a few lights." Gao Shilin hurriedly said, but his heart was full of sadness, as if he had a premonition of a bad scene.

"Capture?" Chu Zhen paused, looked Gao Shilin up and down, left and right for a long time, and said in surprise: "Caiqing, if you don't do it, when will you change your career to be a robber." ”

"Listen to me." Gao Shilin laughed and explained: "Every Shangyuan Lantern Festival, according to the custom, the wealthy merchants in Bianliang City will fund and convene the most skilled craftsmen in Bianliang City to make many exquisite lamps and lanterns, and then hold a lantern riddle conference, invite the literati and celebrities in Bianliang City to participate, each lamp has a lantern riddle on it, if anyone guesses the meaning of the riddle, the lamp will be given to others." ”

"Lantern riddle conference? That's going to have to be seen. Chu Zhen smiled and said, "Where is it held?" ”

"It's just ahead, a few steps away." Gao Shilin said happily, hurriedly led the way in front, walked straight along the street, turned a corner at the end, and came to a mansion like a royal garden, two stone lions sat majestically on both sides, six steps on the two vermilion gates, covered with copper nails, under the light of the lanterns hanging on the eaves, the two lacquered gold characters of the Xu Mansion shone in the night, and they felt a luxurious spirit before entering.

There were a few strong men standing in front of the door, and when they saw someone coming, they immediately showed a smile and greeted them politely, and one of the men led by them asked politely: "I don't know what happened to the three sons?" ”

"We're here for the Lantern Festival." Gao Shilin smiled and took out a glittering invitation card from his arms.

"Three sons, please come in." took the invitation and looked at it carefully, quietly glanced at Gao Shilin, and the man led by him no longer had any doubts, and immediately waved his hand to let his subordinates go.

The three of them walked lightly into the door, and suddenly felt that the stars in the sky flipped to the ground, turned into thousands of lights, and fell in front of their eyes, flashing, shining everywhere, touching the eyes, after a while, the three of them came back to their senses, and found that there were countless lamps hanging above their heads, which were brilliant and dazzling.

"Three sons, please come with the slave family." Before the three of them could figure out the situation, a delicate-looking girl greeted them with a smile.