The darker the night, the more lively the ritual of expelling the people on Chengtian Street, and the neatly cut bamboo knots are stacked in the courtyards of many lifangs, and the bamboo knots are stuffed with saltpeter. The flames burned more and more, and the air in the bamboo knots burst out with a bang, making the men, women and children around them laugh happily.

Listening to the crackling sound of firecrackers from time to time, Ma Lan also temporarily let go of the uneasiness in his heart, immersed himself in the cheerful festive atmosphere, and slowly walked through the side street between the imperial city and the palace city, and then entered the Ouchi from the Changle Gate on the east side of the main gate of the palace city.

The Chinese New Year's Eve exorcism has become a major carnival ceremony during the Tianbao period, with the Son of Heaven rejoicing with the common people, and the saints also opening a square in the Taiji Palace for the eunuchs, palace maids and Chang'an residents to perform the expulsion ceremony together.

"I've finally arrived at Ouchi, and I can't imagine that there will be a chance to enter Ouchi in this life." Ma Lan heard someone in front of the team say excitedly.

"Where did you get the buns? When he was six years old, he wore a boy mask and entered the Ouchi, and then participated in the exorcism every year. One year, the saint and Concubine Wu Hui watched the exorcision ceremony below in the city tower, and they had seen the true face of the Son of Heaven from afar. A minotaur next to Ma Lan visibly looked down on the hillbilly in front of him.

What Ma Lu and the Minotaur didn't realize was that the Minotaur's words caused the group behind them to pause slightly. Then one of them coughed, and the group continued to follow the group.

Behind this circle of people, someone muttered: "Isn't the woman at the forefront?" Why is there another pair of women here? But many more people were so immersed in ecstasy that they didn't even notice this little anomaly.

After Ma Lan passed the Changle Gate, he saw lights everywhere, decorating the already gorgeous palace walls and city towers like a fairyland. The various blue-faced and fanged "monsters" in the square form a huge contrast with the fairyland, just like a group of imps who broke into the Yama Hall in the Yao Pond of the Queen Mother of the West.

Unlike the residents of Chang'an in the carnival, Ma Lan's long military career has made Ma Lan keenly aware of the crossbowmen hidden behind the lights.

"Loose on the outside and tight on the inside, this formation is well arranged, but the guards are a little less murderous." Ma Xuan muttered in his heart, and at the same time looked at his eyes, trying to identify his body and find a familiar companion. But it was too difficult to find someone in the dense crowd, and Ma Lan looked for a while, but he could only follow the crowd with the denser and denser team.

Anicee and Sai Yifudin followed at the end of the line, not yet entering the Changle Gate. Anicee was also very interested in the palace of the Tang Emperor. She had only heard the envoys of Chang'an describe the splendor of the Tang Dynasty, but she always wondered if there was anything more spectacular and beautiful in the world than the family palace. After coming to Chang'an, Anicee had to admit that Chang'an was much grander than Damascus. Anicee looked at the team gathered in front of Changle Gate, and he couldn't do it in a hurry.

While fantasizing about the situation in the Taiji Palace, Anicee pondered: "After I return to Damascus, I have to tell my father about what I have seen and heard in Datang, especially in Chang'an. As soon as this thought came to him, another thought came to Anice's heart like a bolt from the blue: "Can I go back to Damascus?" ”

What Anicee didn't know was that in Tingzhou, thousands of miles away from Chang'an, a little lady who had a relationship with her was also secretly weeping in the middle of the night on Chinese New Year's Eve; And next to the little lady, there is a boy with the same dementia, who misses his hometown and lover across time and space.

Many years later, on an ordinary Chinese New Year's Eve, the three of them chatted together about this night, only to find that the silent tide of fate was so turbulent, ruthlessly swept everyone on the beach of destiny, and then casually abandoned to a strange coast like a shell, allowing everyone to grow lonely until the pearl watered with blood and tears was condensed.

At this moment, Ainisai was still looking down at the beauty of the Tai Chi Palace, but her wonderful fantasy was interrupted by a scream. As soon as Anicei was about to raise his head, he was picked up by Sai Yifudin. Carried by Sai Ifudin and quickly separated from the long procession of chaste down the street, Ainisai heard a panicked eruption from the crowd.

"Xiao Langjun !!"

Ma Ling first heard the sound of something being thrown high behind him, and then heard someone shouting "Xiao Langjun!! Finally, I heard a thunderous sound of panic.

Ma Lan pulled off his mask as he quickly turned around, and then looked up to the sky with the help of the light of the lamp. Years of practicing archery have made Ma Lan's eyesight particularly sharp, and he can find the falling object at a glance.

Ma Lu kicked vigorously, plucked onions on dry land, jumped more than two feet high, and flew down to the falling object. Behind Ma Luan, there was a circle of people wearing ghost masks to protect the middle two people wearing the masks of the puppet and the woman, and the snow-bright horizontal knives shimmered in the lamplight. Behind this circle of people, there was a person wearing a bull's head mask who was quietly retreating, and Ma Lu glanced at the person in the air, instantly feeling a little suspicious, but he couldn't think about it in his eagerness.

On the square in front of the Taiji Palace, the crowd surged. When Ma Lan jumped up, except for the strange circle of people around, everyone else ran around, for fear of being injured by the jumping Ma Lan, and a small open space immediately appeared in the chaotic square.

Ma Ling raised his head in mid-air, spread his arms, and hugged the soft thing, and then twisted his body with all his might, adjusting his posture to face down. However, there was a snap, and Ma Lu's back fell on the hard stone ground, recalling the feeling of falling from a swift galloping horse when he first learned to ride.

"It's been a long time since I've fallen so hard!" Ma Lan didn't care about the pain, and quickly glanced at the child in his arms, and found that the child was not crying, but staring at him with black eyes. Ma Xuan breathed a sigh of relief, then puffed out his chest and shouted: "Beiting Yabing, stop the crowd!" ”

Ma Luan's voice was like a golden drum, piercing through the noisy panic. Dozens of masked Beiting Ya soldiers threw away their masks one after another and shouted to the surrounding crowd: "Stop! Stop! ”

The tooth soldiers of the North Court tried their best to restrain the crowd, and the thin monkey even used fluent Chang'an dialect to tell the people around him that it was okay. But dozens of tooth soldiers are really a drop in the bucket for thousands of people. The tooth soldiers shouted anxiously, but the crowd was still in chaos, and it seemed that the tragedy of pushing and stampede was about to occur.

Ma Lu's series of movements and shouts are dazzling, and the chaotic crowd is stunned. The circle of people next to Ma Lan was already stunned, just raising their horizontal knives in a daze, but they didn't know what to do. At this time, the man wearing the puppet in the circle commanded in a majestic voice: "Long Wujun, stop the crowd!" ”

As soon as the man gave the order, the circle of warriors who were protecting him immediately came to their senses and shouted loudly together: "Long Wujun, stop the crowd!" There was also a shrill voice in between. The man beside the man wearing the mask of the woman remained motionless, oblivious to the noise of the outside world.

After the samurai shouted three times, a sea of fire suddenly lit up on the city wall, and countless guards stood on the city wall with torches, and the frightened crowd of people in the square suddenly felt that their eyes lit up, and they involuntarily stretched out their hands to block the light, and their running movements slowed down.

The guards on the city walls, with torches in one hand and spears in the other, struck the walls with the tail of their spears, and the chaotic sound of percussion gradually merged into a low and majestic sound, and the whole square seemed to begin to vibrate with the rhythm. The sound of neat tapping quieted the crowd a little, and only a few people were still running around like headless flies.

"Stop! Stop! The guards on the walls shouted in unison to the rhythm of their spears striking the walls. The Beiting Ya soldiers in the crowd also immediately cooperated with the guards on the city wall to stop the panicked crowd. The crowd finally quieted down, and the ground was littered with various masks and shoes.

Ma Lan tried to get up from the smooth stone ground with one hand, but before he could stand still, his body shook a little. Ma Lan just wanted to adjust again to find a balance, and a pair of big soft hands held his arm.

"Dare to ask the name of the strong man?" A shrill voice sounded.

"Thank you, father-in-law! A certain is the North Court Tooth Corps is Ma Lan. Ma Lan replied neither humbly nor arrogantly, still holding Xiao Langjun who was caught from the air in his arms.

"Beiting Ma Lan, a true warrior! Remember you! The man in the circle waved his hand and, escorted by the samurai, continued north. Then I heard the rumbling of the gates. The person who was called "father-in-law" by Ma Lan didn't seem to have any objection to this title, and he didn't say anything to Ma Lan again, just made a gesture and hurriedly followed the samurai.

Long Wuwei on the city wall shouted: "The eastern, western, and southern gates of the Great Inner are all open except for the Chengtian Gate, and the exorcism is over, and everyone lines up to leave the palace." ”

The crowd began to rush towards the gates in an orderly manner, hurrying out of the place, and the joyous exorcism ritual had to be hastily ended.

Ma Lan had already returned the child to the servant with the child. The team was crowded just now, and the servant was suddenly pushed by the people behind him, and threw out Xiao Langjun, who was riding on his neck, so that there was such a mess. The servants and the child's family were very grateful to Ma Lan, and Ma Lan asked the servant a few words, then turned around and left, and went to the tooth soldiers of the North Court.

Before the crowd had finished dispersed, a melodious bell and a thick drum were heard ringing together, one after another, circling and flying in the sky through the night, like a circle of ripples on the huge pond of Chang'an. The frightened crowd burst into cheers. On the north side of the square, the woman wearing the mask of the woman hugged the crook of the woman's arm and exhaled like an orchid, "San Lang, year after year, day after year." ”

If someone stands on the top of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda at this time, they will find that the bells of the 100 or dozens of temples in the city are being struck at the same time, and the drums on the bell and drum tower are struck by burly warriors. At the same time, 110 miles of fangs were lit with firelight, and bursts of dense firecrackers came from the firelight.

At this time, if someone flies in the high sky of Northeast Asia like a goshawk, he will find that from the sea in the east, to the desert in the west, to the grassland in the north, and to the dense forest in the south, all the cities and villages of the Tang Dynasty are full of bells and drums, bursts of joy, and more than 10 million square kilometers of land have become sleepless nights. The new year of Datang is coming in this earth-shaking bell and drum; New hope is also sprouting with all things in heaven and earth in the new spring of Datang.