The Lantern Festival is like a pot of fine wine, which wakes up the people who are tired from indulging in fun in the first month, putting up lights everywhere, waiting for the night to be lit, and the neighbors secretly compete with each other.

After a happy burning, the capital will quickly return to a normal state, and the ups and downs of the family will be as good as ever.

Hu Guiyang, who has been running non-stop for several days, has no feeling of celebrating the festival, and for him, this is just a deadline and nearly one day.

He lay on the bed and didn't want to get up, wrapped in the quilt tightly, retaining not much body temperature.

The charcoal fire had long been extinguished, there was silence outside the house, and the four strangers in the backyard were afraid of each other, so they rarely went out lately, and all of them were nested in the house, and the servants regularly brought food, water, and simply cleaned the room, and the people in the front yard were still afraid of them, but as long as they didn't come at night, they could still accept it.

In the end, Hu Guiyang couldn't get up on his own.

Brother Hua pushed the door in, he didn't think he was a servant, so he never asked outside, he just went in if he wanted to, holding a basin of water in both hands, putting it on the shelf, and sighed.

"Your mother said you again?" Hu Guiyang finally sat up.

"It's still that thing, my mother doesn't want me to join the army, but I don't like studying, farming, or doing business, so I can only be a soldier, and maybe I can make a career on the battlefield."

"You want to go to the Frontier?"

Brother Hua showed a trace of excitement on his face, raised three fingers, and said ostentatiously: "My father has been there, killed three Tartars, won a reward to marry my mother, gave birth to me, and also left a share of the family business for our mother and son, if I hadn't made meritorious service in the frontier, these things would not have happened." ”

Brother Hua doesn't remember his father's appearance, but he remembers this incident very clearly.

Hu Guiyang went down to wash his face and rinse his mouth, and said with a smile: "You are still too young, let's talk about it in a few years, your mother is just a son like you, can you not worry?" The frontier can make meritorious contributions, but it is also dangerous, your father is lucky, he can make meritorious contributions and die of illness at home, and more people are dying in the frontier, and even the bones cannot be brought back. ”

"I'm not afraid, I've worshiped several masters, I practice every day, I can use knives, guns, swords, bows, and horses, as long as I'm better than others, I won't die on the battlefield, right?"

"It's hard to say, Yingzong was captured by the Tartars."

"That's all the work of the eunuchs."

Hu Guiyang didn't want to say any more, "Go and get me something to eat, no matter how much you say, I won't intercede for you, I don't dare to provoke your mother's temper, she beat me when I was a child." ”

Brother Hua's mind was pierced, so he had to leave with a basin of water, sighing in his mouth.

A bowl of rice, a pot of tea, and a few plates of dishes, Mrs. Hua personally sent them, "Morning is not early, evening is not late, what kind of rice are you eating?" ”

"Lazy rice." Hu Guiyang smiled, picked up the chopsticks and ate big, and raised his head after a few bites, "Lack of money again?" ”

Mrs. Hua didn't leave, shook her head, "The money is enough, a few thousand taels of silver, there are only a few people in the house, as long as you don't call people to eat and drink every day, and don't spend money everywhere, it's enough for at least a year or two." ”

Hu Guiyang smiled and continued to eat.

Mrs. Hua was also not polite, and sat opposite, "Two things." First, you have to get married. ”

Hu Guiyang almost choked on his rice, "I said it, this matter is not in a hurry, I will talk about it in a year or two - it is just enough to spend all the silver." ”

"Forget it, I won't discuss it with you, I'm in charge of this matter, why don't I set a family affair for you first, and then marry in the door next year?"

Hu Guiyang smiled bitterly: "I'm not in a hurry, why are you in such a hurry?" ”

"You have to be in a hurry, haven't you heard? The thirty-ninth daughter-in-law is already pregnant, and she will be able to give birth in April and May. ”

Hu Guiyang was stunned for a while, and asked blankly: "Shi Gui's son, what does it have to do with me?" ”

"Brother who grew up together, he is one or two years younger than you, he has already started a family, become an official and made a fortune, he used to call you the third or sixth brother, and now he calls you Captain Hu, when you get to the yamen, you still have to kowtow to him, and you don't have any ideas in your heart?"

"What thoughts? Eat one's heart out? But I feel like I'm doing well, better than I used to be. ”

"If you don't have big ambitions, what can you do?" Mrs. Hua stood up angrily, packed up the dishes and chopsticks to leave, and Hu Guiyang hurriedly finished the last few bites of food.

"What else is there to do?" Hu Guiyang asked.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Aunt Hua put down the tray, "Do you know where the dry fish alley is?" ”

"Know, it's ......"

The flower lady waved her hand, indicating that she hadn't finished speaking, "There is a small temple there, Guanyin Hall, you go there to offer incense on the third watch tonight, and go alone." ”

"Incense in the middle of the night?"

"Today is the Lantern Festival, and the night is more lively than the day, what are you afraid of?"

"I mean, why do you want to go to the Guanyin Hall to offer incense? I haven't gotten married yet, so why do I ask for a son now? ”

Mrs. Hua's face sank, "Why do smart people have bad memories?" What you told me a few days ago, and you forgot about it? ”

Hu Guiyang suddenly remembered that he had taken Mrs. Hua to the princess's mansion together, and was scolded at the gate, and Mrs. Hua said that she could try to bypass the housekeeper and contact the princess herself directly.

"The princess will ...... too" Hu Guiyang was taken aback, he didn't expect that Mrs. Hua would really be able to do this.

Mrs. Hua frowned and said, "Don't you believe me?" ”

"Believe. Tonight's third watch, I will definitely go. Why did the princess go to Guanyin Hall at this time? ”

"Guanyin Hall was built at the expense of the princess's biological mother, and she went there on the fifteenth day of every month to spend the night to mourn her deceased mother, and this year by the way, she will mourn the concubine."

"Then I can go early."

Mrs. Hua shook her head, "No, there is a housekeeper in the first half of the night, and in the second half of the night, she will go to the old ladies in the palace to chat and play money, and then you can go in." ”

"How do you get in and knock on the door?"

"No, you go to the back door and guard, the door can be pushed open, you can go in, if you can't push it open, you just wait, don't knock on the door, don't worry."

Hu Guiyang imagined that he was fighting in the cold wind, waiting to open the door, and felt that it was not very beautiful, "So, the princess herself is willing to see me?" ”

"When you have doubts, ask her to go, and always ask me what I am doing?" The flower lady dislikes to be interrogated the most.

Hu Guiyang smiled: "Thank you so much, you have done me a great favor, but...... How did you ......"

"You don't have to worry about women's affairs, we have our own way."

"Okay, I'll go tonight, it's just that Wei Baihu is not easy to get rid of."

"That's your man's business, you figure it out yourself, anyway, you can only go alone, and if you have one more dog, it won't open the door over there." The flower lady walked away with the tray.

Hu Guiyang looked at the flatbread that had been lying obediently in the corner, "What's your business?" ”

Flatbread looked back at the owner, also with a confused expression.

Yuan Mao and Fan Dajian never came back, Hu Guiyang invited Wei Ying and a few guards to drink, it was almost dusk, and he was in high spirits and decided to go out to enjoy the lanterns.

Wei Ying is indispensable, Hu Guiyang is at home, he will deal with some paperwork, Hu Guiyang goes out, he must follow.

Hu Guiyang called Jiang Erpi and Zheng Sanhun, asked them to bring the applied things, and walked out with Wei Ying, before it was dark, the lanterns had been lit at the gates of the houses in the alley, and the anxious children were running around on the street, and the adults were standing at the door, taking care of the children while chatting with the neighbors.

After the accident of the Zhao family, many people moved away from the alley of Guanyin Temple, and most of the new residents did not recognize Hu Guiyang, but only knew that the Zhao house was strange, and the people who came out of it were also strange, so they didn't look at him, and occasionally there were old neighbors, and they also turned their backs and pretended not to see it, and chatted with their neighbors.

The courtyard of the Shi family at the mouth of the Hutong is not the largest in the alley, but the lanterns hung are the largest and brightest, and a small color platform is set up, on which various shapes of lanterns are placed, and a large group of children look around, shouting excitedly.

"It's all to blame on the flower lady." Hu Guiyang muttered, he really had a feeling of jealousy in his heart, the Zhao Mansion was just an ordinary lantern, and as for the Hu Mansion in the north, it was estimated that it was even more deserted.

The sky is getting late, the pedestrians are increasing, all go to the direction of the imperial city, according to the custom, each gate of the imperial city has to build a huge color platform every year in the night of the Lantern Festival, also known as Ao Mountain, the lanterns are stacked on top of each other, the surroundings are illuminated as bright as day, the scale is huge, the craftsmanship is exquisite, far from the civilian home can be compared.

Different places of Aoshan have their own characteristics, the people often have to go around the imperial city for a week, before they have fun, there is no curfew tonight, the people are allowed to tour the streets all night, several spacious and remote places in the imperial city are also open, in order to show the meaning of enjoying with the people.

Jiang and Zheng's business is to accompany rich people to eat, drink and have fun, well-informed, introduce all the way, flatter all the way, this family will listen to a small song, and that family will enter the door to taste a glass of wine, even Wei Ying was surprised, "I didn't expect there to be so many places to have fun in the capital." ”

"Places are easy to find, but silver is hard to find." Jiang Erpi patted the package he was holding in his hand, and along the way, it could be deflated a lot.

"We're on business, aren't we?" Hu Guiyang felt sorry for the silver and wanted to let the West Factory bear it.

Wei Ying said with a smile: "You can write this excerpt yourself, and Xichang may recognize it." ”

The darker the day, the brighter the lights, and the more people, and when it was almost noon, it was already crowding people from person to person, and a large number of officers and men maintained order, including many brocade guards.

Hu Guiyang smiled: "The people on duty tonight are really unlucky. ”

Wei Ying shook her head, "This is the time to make meritorious contributions easily." ”

Jiang Erpi pointed to Aoshan Mountain in the distance and shouted excitedly: "Look, it's bigger than last year." It's not a royal family, it's really rich, how much silver does this lamp mountain cost? ”

"I think it's at least ten thousand taels!" Zheng Sanhun shouted, his eyes lit up, although they came to watch every year, they were still as excited as children who had never seen the world.

Wei Ying shook his head lightly, if he was in charge, he would never recruit these two scoundrels as his entourage, "Captain Hu, let's go somewhere else first, after midnight, there are few people here...... Captain Hu? ”

Wei Ying turned around, but didn't find Captain Hu's figure, and shouted loudly, but the crowd pushed him forward, not to mention finding someone, it was difficult to take a few steps back.

"Bastard!" Wei Ying was furious, and she was very sure that Hu Guiyang was deliberately getting rid of him this time.

Hu Guiyang broke away from the crowd and walked around the alleys with few people, looking forward to this meeting.