The Holy Monarch suddenly issued an edict to celebrate the victory of Blackwater City, and the whole city will set off fireworks for ten days from now on. The decree was issued, and Shangjing, which had been gradually silent in the twilight, suddenly became busy.

Unlike the previous dynasty, Dazhao's inland states and counties do not have curfews, and the nights are lively. Except for a few days before and after the Lantern Festival every year, most of the officials and people still eat dinner early and then turn off the lights to rest. Even if it is the Lantern Festival every year, or the crown prince ascends the throne, there are many affairs, but there are old rules to follow in everything, so it is always busy but not chaotic. But today is different. Yanshan victory, Emperor Dongyuan suddenly issued a decree to celebrate the whole world, without warning in advance, and wanted to "set off fireworks for ten days from now on", how to deal with it in a hurry? This kind of improvised state celebration has never been done before, and no one has ever experienced it. So whether it is the prime minister, the public party or the six ministries, they are all dumbfounded after a sentence of "the ministers obey the order". The Lantern Festival has always been raised during the wax moon, and the major trades, wealthy merchants, and shops of the government and the people each bear almost half of the cost, and they all start to prepare from the wax moon. But now that it is a national celebration, it is unreasonable to communicate with the people, and it is simply too late in time. Furthermore, how to prepare the fireworks lanterns, where to dispatch the fireworks, and how to enforce the law and order for the officials and the people to watch the lanterns at night? Moreover, when the lights are turned on, there are at least hundreds of thousands of tourists in the inner and outer cities every night, and there is obviously a shortage of officials in Pingyuan Prefecture, where does the shortage of personnel come from? It is also necessary to set up Jinhe, set up a stage, perform a big play, and perform in turn in the inner and outer gardens, and the organization and scheduling of these things alone can teach people to scratch their scalps. Such a grand event, the Holy Monarch will inevitably attend one or two times, and there will be hundreds of officials to congratulate, the military and the people to congratulate, and the outside to congratulate, if there is a slight omission, how can the face of the heavenly family and the court remain? Thinking of all the difficulties, not to mention the frowning of the officials, even the Eastern Yuan Emperor himself regretted it a little. But he couldn't do it again. The Son of Heaven Chrysostom said that if the words spoken in public are taken back, the rest will not be titled, how will it be written in the history books, and what will future generations think?

Fortunately, the old Xiangguo soup shop is very experienced, and he has a deal with it as soon as he is silent. On the one hand, he sent someone to inform the Pingyuan General's Mansion immediately, and in any case, he had to contact the Baojie Chiqi, and be sure to let them slow down and enter from the southern city, so as to give the imperial court time to arrange and move, and on the other hand, let people notify the large and small yamen in the city, put out all the lanterns in stock, and decorate the Shili Royal Street first. At the same time, it was ordered that when the red horse entered the city, the three bells in the imperial city rang at the same time, and the bell and drum towers, temples, and Taoist temples in the inner and outer cities should also follow in time. Then he ordered the Yamen of Pingyuan Prefecture to send people overnight to verify the actual number of wood, silk paper, incense and candles, fireworks, fireworks and other things necessary for lighting in the shops of various commercial houses, and be sure to keep enough for the officials; All the official and private craftsmen in the city must be sent by the officials at any time; First, several battalions of soldiers were transferred from the garrison, all of whom were dressed in plain clothes and sent into the city for the command of the master craftsmen......

At the end of the day, more than 30,000 lanterns were temporarily put together by the yamen and divisions of the whole city to light up the ten miles of royal street, and the eight red lights on the tower of the south and outer city were hung high, and the red lights were raised at the same time at the twelve gates of the outer city and the nine gates of the inner city. That is, when the first lamp of the Nanxun Gate is raised, the three bells on the left and right gates of the imperial city and the wishing tower in front of the imperial city will ring one after another, and then there are bells everywhere in the inner and outer cities.

The loud sound of the bell plunged the entire Shangjing City into an inexplicable silence. The scholar put down the scrolls, the women lit the lamps, the merchants put down the account books, the singers stopped the silk and bamboo, and countless people came out quietly, standing under the eaves, standing on the stone steps, standing on the streets and alleys, silently watching the bright clothes of the forbidden army walking on the street. These forbidden soldiers all held torches and lanterns alof, and the clerk at the head of the team held a scroll in his hand and read aloud:

“…… At that time, our troops braved the snow and approached, and fought with the thieves under the city of Blackwater. When it was, the arrows and crossbows on the city were like heavy rain, the thieves under the city were like ants gathering, the city was surrounded by blood for ten miles, the sound of gold agitation and killing shook the sky, and the wind and flags urged people to fall. The thieves knew that there was no escape, so they were trapped beasts, and they resisted stubbornly, and for a time the crossbow arrows and locust arrows under the city were difficult to distinguish between the enemy and me. When the enemy and I were holding each other, Shao Chuan, the commander of the Chinese army, shouted out, bare-shouldered and exposed, climbed the city, and beheaded several thieves and defenders, so the soldiers cheered up and stepped forward bravely. Seeing that the banner of the thieves was confused and the front was shaken, Sun Zhongshan immediately made a decision and ordered the whole army to assault. The thieves could not take care of the whole thing, so the army was in turmoil and fell into collapse. Our army pursued separately in order to achieve full success. By the end of noon that day, there was no more stubborn enemy in Blackwater City. Roughly calculating the results of the battle, this battle beheaded the enemy chieftain and the size of the 27th level, and captured 18 people; More than 2,900 enemies were beheaded, more than 6,600 were captured, and the rest of the cattle, sheep, horses, and slaves were countless......"

One by one, exciting news was transmitted from Nanxun Gate, from the Imperial City, and from Shili Royal Street, to all directions:

"At the end of noon on the twenty-fifth day of September in the twenty-first year of the Eastern Common Era, my Yanshan Guards broke through Heishui City!"

"Yan Shanwei sent a red cavalry to report victory, and brought the captured black feather tent of the king of the East Lu Valley of the Turbulent Ci to pay tribute to my emperor!"

"The Holy Monarch issued a decree to set off fireworks for ten days, and the whole world celebrates together!"

Blackwater City Victory?!

Many people actually don't know where Blackwater City is, and they don't know where Yanshanwei is, but they know that Da Zhao's feud and sworn enemy, Tu Quanci, and know that the 60,000 soldiers who died on the grassland in the 19th year of the Eastern Yuan Dynasty, since even today has issued a decree that the whole world will celebrate together, it must be a great victory! The cheers first sounded from the vicinity of Nanxun Gate, followed by the jubilation of Shili Royal Street, and then all directions were immersed in joy......

Because the festival came too quickly, too suddenly, and because people were too unexpected, because there was no preparation in advance, and because of the lack of experience in organizing temporary national celebrations, the lantern display in October 21 was neither the largest lantern display nor the most successful celebration in the Eastern Yuan era. However, many people who have experienced it say that the lanterns of the Eastern Yuan Dynasty, including the Lantern Festival, were the most memorable. Not only because it is the originator of the Dazhao National Celebration, but also because it has the longest time, which was originally only ten days of lanterns, and finally extended to the twenty-third day, and the good news during the period is one after another.

On October 16, the ninth day of the 10th, Yanshanwei once again received good news, and the Yanshan Left Army finally repelled the Turks in Koubian after 29 days of fierce battles day and night. The Tuan Ci army in the direction of Duanzhou and Yi County retreated on all fronts, the siege of Beizheng had been lifted, and the left army was storming Guangping Post day and night, preparing to pursue the Tu Ci people. When the news came, Emperor Dongyuan was overjoyed, waved his hand, and put the lamp on for three more days;

On October 19, the eleventh day of the lanterns, the 16th Red Cavalry of Bohaiwei reported another victory, and the two armies of Bohaiwei attacked the grassland in three ways around September 27, and on the evening of October 6, between the southern foot of Laoyu Mountain and the Laojun River, they broke through the left four parts of Cishan, beheaded 3,000 prisoners, and captured 7,000 cattle, sheep and horses. Emperor Dongyuan issued another decree that from now on, the dynasty will be released for three days and the lantern will be placed for ten days;

On October 27, the nineteenth day of the lanterns, Yiguo Gong, Rongzhou and Lanzhen assassinated Shi Wang Yi, and in mid-September, they broke the Dongwu Gang on the side of the crime in Luoshi Village, beheaded 200, captured 400, and captured the eldest prince and the third prince of the Dongwu Empire. The Dongwu Kingdom has been blessed with a letter of surrender and will come to the court next spring to congratulate the birthday of the Son of Heaven.

One after another good news, one after another good news, the officials and people of Shangjing were completely immersed in boundless joy, and Shangjing City was completely transformed into a world of colorful lights and fireworks. On the ten miles of the royal street, several zhang high volcano one looks at one, in front of the imperial city stands two lamp towers, each one is as high as ten zhang, about one hundred and ten steps wide, ten thousand colored lanterns are hung on it, every night, the lanterns and fireworks are sent together, the brilliance is diffused and reflected in the night sky as if it were day, in the meantime, the brocade silk embroidered satin is golden and green, the colorful and splendid teach people to not look directly, the people of the time call it "the brocade tower". In front of the tower, there are dozens of teaching workshops in the inner garden and outer garden, thousands of tricks compete to perform, singing and dancing all night long, and there are tens of thousands of onlookers at any time......

It is strange to say, the noisy lights of more than 20 days not only let the officials and the people open up to play, God actually came to have fun, from beginning to end every sunny day, until the end of the second day of November, his old man remembered that he still had something to do, and hurriedly came to a heavy snowfall.

The snow is a day and a night, and it is still falling after the third day of the new year.

When it was almost time to arrive, a guest came to Nanyang Princess Zhuangzi, who was located next to Beiguan Road, far away from the capital.

The guest jumped off his horse in front of Nanyang's house, neither explained to a few attendants, nor let people pass through, and entered the door with a horsewhip. The clothes this guy was wearing were covered with mud and slush, and his thin leather boots were full of slush, and every step on the floor of the backyard porch was a black footprint. But it was such an arrogant guy who regarded the princess's mansion as nothing, and none of the maids of the princess's mansion who met him along the way dared to stop him, and they all quietly lowered their heads and avoided the side.

This guest is obviously very familiar with this backyard, and he arrived at Nanyang's study with a familiar car, and he didn't stomp on the mud on his feet, and he entered the house with a whip and picked up the cotton curtain, and drank Nanyang's cup of hot tea soup without speaking, and then sat down in the seat next to him and sulked with his eyes.

Nanyang, who was figuring out calligraphy, also ignored the guest. She slowly put the hand-roll in her hand, tied the satin rope, and then carefully put the "Pick-up Post" into a bag; He also packed the other book on the desk, "The Book with the Great General", put the two bags in a wooden box and locked them, and then put the key into the purse on his body, and then pretended to be annoyed and glanced at the guest, and said: "Who are you stuck with this snow and mud?" ”

Chen Pu rolled her eyes and glanced at her sister, turned out of direction in the chair, and still didn't speak.

Nanyang continued to tease her: "Then let me guess, is it a trouble with your lover?" ”

Probably because Nanyang said that she was in her heart, Chen Pu was annoyed and angry, and she grabbed the tea cup and was about to smash it, only then did she find that most of the tea soup was refilled in the cup. She gritted her teeth, stared left and right, raised her head and drank the hot tea soup in the bowl in one go, and raised her hand one by one, this time it was really smashed!

Nanyang didn't joke: "Don't! This is the fine porcelain of Changnan Town given by the father, and only four of them were fired this year! She hurriedly snatched the teacup and stuffed a Tang legend into Chen Pu. If you want to smash it, smash this! ”

Chen Pu stared at Nanyang hatefully. How do you smash this thing? She was holding the book and couldn't laugh or cry. Just like this, the anger in her belly became a little less.

Nanyang took a clean tea cup again, refilled the tea soup for her, and poured one for himself by the way, holding the cup and not drinking it, just for the warm heat in the palm of his hand. She asked Chen Pu: "Isn't it really a trouble with your lover?" ”

"If you talk nonsense, I'll be so annoyed!" Chen Pu held the lamp and stared at her sister hatefully.

Nanyang asked, "Who can make you angry like this?" That person is not afraid of annoying General Zhuguo, and the general will cut off his head in anger? Seeing that Chen Pu's face was red with anger, and her chest was also lying together, as if she was really about to get angry, she stopped joking. She knows that her sister has a gentle temperament, and she generally doesn't like to be temperamental, and the appearance in front of her is obviously who is so angry that she is dizzy. She asked, "How can I help you if you come to me and don't want to tell me who you are talking to?" ”

Chen Pu gritted his teeth, staring at a "Lonely Boat Picture of the Cold River" hanging on the wall, as if he wanted to pull the lonely boat out of the painting, and it took a long time to talk about the unlucky things he encountered today.

Before the lights were put on last month, she had been in the capital because she had some official business to do. After congratulating her father on the victory in Heishui, she didn't like to be lively, so she returned to the Gyeonggi camp. Two days ago, I had something to do, so I went back to the capital. Things are half fine, she plans to go back to the barracks today, but in the morning she went to ask her mother to resign, and met the old lady of the Yiguo Mansion at her mother's house. According to the generation, she wants to respect the old lady and say "aunt", and she has seen it in October, so it is not estranged. When her aunt asked her something, she said the same. But the old lady's eyes made her unbearable. Although I was talking to her and my mother, what did it mean to look at her from head to toe quietly? Also, the old lady still gave her eyes back and forth with her mother from time to time, pretending not to let her see it but just letting her see it, it was obvious that there was something behind it, what else could there be? Doesn't it mean that the media protects the media......

"To whom?" Nanyang asked a little curiously. Chen Pu is a soft son who does not fight or grab, and he is naturally stubborn, which is very similar to his father, so he is very loved, and ordinary things will not irritate her. If it weren't for this, it would be impossible for my father to resist the repeated dissuasion of a group of ministers and let her go to Gyeonggi Xingyuan as the deputy governor, and let her follow the army to the grasslands. "It can't be Wang Yi, right?"

Seeing that Chen Pu lowered his eyes and didn't speak, Nanyang knew that he had guessed correctly. She thought for a while and said, "Wang Yi is not bad." Didn't you just win the battle? The imperial court must be commended......"

Chen Pu pursed his lips. In the eyes of ordinary people, Wang Yi won the battle, but in the military department and the prime minister's office, it was a joke that couldn't even tell a joke!

"How?"

"That battle was fought in early August." Chen Pu said. "Those people are envoys of the Eastern Ukrainian Kingdom, and they originally came to deliver the credentials to us. Who knew that the two interpreters they were looking for to lead the way had a grudge against them, and when they cleared the customs in Lanzhen, they told our soldiers that they had come to Koubian to defraud the city. Wang Yi and the garrison of Lanzhen were stupid, but they still believed the lies of the two interpreters, and as a result, more than half of the people were killed and wounded. ”

"And what about later? How did you change it to please drop? Nanyang asked.

"I knew that I made a mistake, so I apologized and let him go. What else do you want? Chen Pu said. As for the more specific things, she didn't know much either. With her position and weight, it is simply impossible to participate in such a thing. "I only heard that it was General Yan's proposal, and then Zhang Xiang nodded."

Nanyang's curiosity was just like that, not to mention that this kind of military affairs was not within the scope of her concern, Chen Pu didn't know, so she was not interested. She continued to ask about Chen Pu and Wang Yi: "You and Wang Yi." …… What do you think? ”

Chen Pu glanced at her sister. What did she think? Does what she thinks make sense? It's not what her father decides, she does what she does. Maybe she still has the courage to turn the sky and dare to go against her father?

"Are you willing to marry Wang Yi?" Nanyang continued to ask with interest. "I've heard that there are a lot of beautiful singers and dancers in his family."

Chen Pu didn't want to talk to her sister anymore. If she is willing to marry Wang Yi, what is she doing here? Besides, who doesn't have a few singers and dancers at home? is her family, a few years ago, there was also a group of singers, it was she who killed the man in the war to send these women and a few of her man's concubines, either sent home, or married off with a few dowries.

Nanyang also realized that he had said the wrong thing, so he changed his words and said, "If you are reluctant, then ignore it." You stay in the Gyeonggi camp, maybe Wang Yi and his mother dare to go there to find you? If you can't do it, you can come and stay with me for a while. ”

This is obviously not the answer and method that Chen Pu wants. The question now is not whether she is willing or not, nor whether the old lady of Yiguo dares to break into the barracks, but how to make her father not nod and agree. As long as the father doesn't nod, even if he doesn't express his position, others will naturally retreat in the face of difficulties; But if her father nodded, then not to mention that she lived in the Gyeonggi camp, even if she lived in the Liyuan camp, it would not help.

Nanyang thought for a while and said, "I think, if no one is behind my back, my father shouldn't know about it." She had a point. Their mother, that is, Concubine De, has rarely had the opportunity to be alone with her father in recent years, and this kind of thing depends on the time, place, occasion and the mood of the father, and it cannot be self-defeating. So even if others want to match Chen Pu and Wang Yi, it is impossible to follow the path of their mothers. "Think about it, who would mention this to their father?" At least she couldn't think of anyone willing to do such a thankless task. Chen Pu himself is reluctant, who else would be so idle that he would run to offend a princess?

"Sixth brother." Chen Pu named a person.

"Him?" Nanyang was a little stunned for a while. She really couldn't think of what the sixth brother wanted to do when he suddenly ran out. "How do you know that he is willing to talk about this medium in his father's emperor?"

"When I came out of my mother's place, I met him on the way. He said it himself, and he was ready to protect Wang Yi. Chen Pu said with a blank face. In fact, her sixth brother said something else, but she felt that it was not interesting to pretend to be in Nanyang. The reason why she was angry was because of her sixth brother's flattering words that made people angry when they heard them!

Nanyang stopped talking. Chen Pu didn't speak either. If the king of Chengdu wants to come out to protect the media, the weight is completely different, and the meaning is also different. Among the princes, their father is the most important prince and the king of Chengdu and Jinan. Now that the prince is seriously ill, rumors about whether he can survive until next spring are two theories. It is said that the hospital is trying to do everything it can to get him through next February. The third day of February next year is the 50th birthday of my father......

Nanyang was silent for a long time, and finally came up with an idea for his sister. She pondered her words and said, "Or, tell me about it, tell ......," she didn't know what to say. She felt that what she had suddenly come up with was a bad idea that couldn't have been worse. But apart from this person, she really doesn't know who else can help her sister solve the problem in front of her. But it was so hard to put it into words, so she stumbled, "...... Tell, write a letter to tell that Zhuge Liang? See if he can help you come up with an idea. ”

"Who?" Chen Pu asked in surprise. She thought she might have misheard.

Nanyang lowered his head, pointed indiscriminately with one hand, and said, "That's it, it's that Zhuge Liang last time." One by one, Yanshan that. She was afraid that her little plan in her heart would be broken by her sister, and she wanted to "steal" the letter again. She even thought of the name of the handscroll, "The Book of the Great General Again". Of course, she had another thing on her mind. Since Mr. Yu Que returned to Yanshan in July, there has been no news. She also took advantage of Chen Pu's visit to her and asked for a reason. At first, Chen Pu told her that her husband was commanding the battle in Yandong, and she believed it. But when Yandong reported the victory the month before, she looked for the battle report and read it countless times from beginning to end, but she didn't see the name of Mr., which made her can't help but wonder if Mr. is not in Yandong? But why didn't Blackwater City have a gentleman? She wanted to inquire twice when she returned to Beijing, but she was afraid that she would be misunderstood, so she kept the matter in her heart. Now, she can finally make roundabout it.

Chen Pu let out an "oh". She knew who Nanyang was talking about. She shook her head and said casually, "No." How can this be told to him? Besides, even if I can say it to him, I can't say it. Shang Zida is still recuperating from his injuries......"

"He's recuperating from his injuries?" Nanyang's eyes widened in surprise and asked, "He's injured?" How did it hurt? ”

"When he returned to Yanshan in July, he fell from his horse in Fangzhou and was seriously injured on the head, so he was ......in Fangzhou," Chen Pu stopped talking abruptly. She has been hiding the news of Shang Cheng's fall from Nanyang to Nanyang, but she doesn't want to teach Nanyang to regret it, but she still revealed the matter if she didn't pay attention today.

Nanyang opened his mouth and looked at Chen Pu with a flurry of words. She didn't believe it! She would never believe it! How could he have fallen from his horse? How could he fall off his horse? She was so frightened by the bad news that her face was as pale as the snow in the courtyard, and her lips trembled for a long time, but she said nothing. Chen Pu was frightened by her appearance, and thought that she was stunned, so she hurriedly poured tea soup into her mouth before she could call someone. As a result, most of the tea soup was sprinkled on Nanyang's neck and coat. But Nanyang finally came to his senses. She grabbed Chen Pu's hand and asked anxiously, "Is it the horse I sent?" ”

“…… No. Chen Pu said. She was telling the truth, it was indeed not the horse that Nanyang sent.

But Nanyang didn't believe it. If Shang Cheng's fall from the horse had nothing to do with her, then why did Chen Pu hide the news of Shang Cheng's fall from her?

“…… Guo Biao saw the horse Shenjun you sent, so he exchanged horses with Shang Zida, and the result was ......"

Nanyang slowly let go of Chen Pu's hand and sat in the seat in a daze.