Chapter 21 Lantern Festival

In the Han Empire, after the victory of the Battle of Pingyan, the emperor held a grand ceremony to celebrate the victory and show his martial arts to the nobles who left the country.

According to Han tradition, every time there is a heavy festival, all places are decorated with lanterns to celebrate.

Slowly, the celebration evolved into a lantern festival, whether it was a celebration of victory, or the emperor's sacrifice to the sky, or even the new emperor's enthronement, all of them were hung with lanterns in Luojing.

Every time there is a lantern festival, the whole Luojing candlelight announces the sky, and the night is as bright as day, and there is a joy.

The people also enjoyed it, especially the children, who were naughty, and took this opportunity to go out and steal some lamp oil, and play in the wild in groups, but they were also quite comfortable.

The so-called rejoicing with the people and celebrating with the sky is what it means.

And the lanterns, lantern trees, etc., have gradually become colorful and distinctive with the attention of the court and the people.

The crown prince Liu Rui had no bright spots in the entire battle of Pingyan, and the ceremony was a good time for him to show off and save face, so as soon as the news of the victory reached Luojing, he gathered all the skilled craftsmen in Luojing City under the construction of Song Yang, the prince's guest, to make one, unparalleled in the world, a huge lantern that is rare in the world!

He wants to save face and overpower Liu Xiu, who is in the limelight.

has just brought down his second brother Liu Zhao, and he must no longer let Liu Xiu share power and become an obstacle to his ascension to the throne!

He wants to take advantage of the lantern festival to do a big thing by borrowing the reason for the lantern.

The Prince's lantern is huge, one foot high and even wider, and you can get a glimpse of its grandeur even before it is finished, and there can be hundreds of candles placed in it at the same time, and once lit, it will make its surroundings as bright as day!

In addition, there is a machine inside, and a space is specially placed in the huge lantern that can accommodate one person, and there is a mechanism inside, which can allow the lantern to rotate freely and change color.

At night, when it turns, it is colorful and magnificent.

Sure enough, this lantern has not yet been released, but it has attracted the attention of the world.

The voice of talking about Liu Xiu's Pingyan battle was really much smaller, and the entire Luojing City was discussing the prince's lanterns.

Just wait for the night of the event to catch a glimpse of it.

Time flies by, never looking back.

In the blink of an eye, the day of the ceremony arrived.

On this day, the streets are full of people, and the wide roads are lined with vendors selling lamps and candles.

There are even some clever hurried production zuò a batch of miniature versions of the "Prince Lamp", which also has a bracket design, which can put six lights in it at the same time, the machine bracket rotates, colorful, and the middle is crystal clear, which is particularly good-looking.

This kind of lamp is naturally very popular, and in less than an hour, all the "prince lamps" were sold out.

The shopkeeper held his bulging wallet and regretted it a lot, and he couldn't wait to go back to the past and make more zuò batches.

In order to celebrate the whole world, the imperial court ordered the long-standing curfew to be lifted and allowed to come out at night to enjoy the lanterns.

All of a sudden, the world was full of joy and peace.

In the evening, before it was completely dark, many places had been lit with lights, and the doors of various places were open, allowing people to enter and exit, and occasionally a few errand masters entered and exited, and it was also a routine inspection to prevent water.

The whole Luojing City is full of joy and excitement.

People finally came out of the shadow of the first battle of Hanshu Jingyun, began to enjoy the joy brought by the victory of the Pingyan War, and began to revel in the expectations brought to them by the prince lamp.

There is nothing more prosperous than this.

Even at night, the streets are crowded with people because of the curfew.

At night, it is even more lively, and the vendors who sell lanterns have come up with their best craftsmanship, selling on the street, and even on-site zuò, which is bought and sold now, which attracts many people.

The streets and alleys, both men and women, are immersed in the rare joy after this great victory.

Of course, a third hand is inevitable when there are many people, but the official mission is constantly patrolling, and there are many people in civilian clothes in the crowd, so that as soon as these "gentlemen" succeed and are about to escape, they are taken down by the poor master.

Then there was the sound of scolding and beating, and it came.

There are many people, lively, and miscellaneous.

It was getting late, and it was finally getting dark.

A hundred flowers bloom, a hundred lights bloom, a faction of purple and red.

Everyone rushed to the square in front of the palace, where stood the real protagonist of today's event, and even overshadowed the protagonist of Liu Xiu's victory: Prince Lantern! ――

That night, in the Imperial Palace, in the Imperial Garden.

On this day when it can be written in thick ink, the emperor held a banquet for the imperial ministers, envoys of various countries, special envoys to leave the country, and relatives of the emperor.

Celebrate with the people and celebrate with the whole world.

Everyone had a warm smile on their faces, as if everyone was genuinely rejoicing in the fact that Han might be able to turn the tide of the situation.

In the imperial garden, the lights are bright, and the lanterns extend from the garden to the outside of the palace.

The candlelight and the bright moon competed, and the emperor declared his power to the sky.

There was only a large lamp near the emperor's dragon chair, which had not yet been lit.

Just when everyone was talking to each other, talking to each other, talking about lanterns, and talking about Pingyan's great victory, they only heard the sharp voice of Gonggong Shun beside the emperor suddenly sounded:

"The emperor has arrived! Ministers take over! ”

Everyone got up in an instant, and where the lights were shining on their faces, in the direction of the emperor's dragon chair, they knelt down and shouted:

"Long live my emperor, long live, long live!"

Emperor Liu Zhuang of the Han Dynasty looked happy and laughed loudly:

"Everyone, please get up!"

It's a tsunami again: Long live Xie!

It seems that the great victory has affected the mentality, the emperor's face is ruddy, his spirit is strong, his body has improved a lot, and it seems that his illness has improved a lot.

In the crowd, in the eyes of the crown prince Liu Rui, the light of unknown meaning flashed and disappeared.

After the emperor waited for the hundred officials to get up, he stood up, and a eunuch had already presented a fire fold.

The Emperor walked over to the unlit lamp and stretched out his hand to light it.

It's a good sign!

The emperor laughed, and the hundreds of officials shouted long live!

The emperor turned his head, looked at the envoys of the ministers, and said with a smile:

"Today, on a day of national celebration, I and all of you enjoy the lanterns and celebrate the festive season to celebrate the prosperity of the empire and the victory of the country. Today, on this festival of lights, everyone drinks happily, and you don't get drunk and don't go home! ”

After speaking, he picked up the wine glass in front of him and drank it all.

After hearing this, everyone cheered and raised their glasses to drink.

A grand scene of the concentricity of monarchs and ministers.

It's just, in the dark, in the corners that people don't pay attention to.

The biggest hero of the Battle of Pingyan, Liu Xiu sat there quietly, with the wine glass in his hand but not drunk, quietly watching the ministers cheering, and the officials competing for favor, silent.

"Your Highness seems to be a little uneasy?"

The voice suddenly sounded behind him, Liu Xiu was taken aback, and hurriedly turned around, only to see Governor Luo Huo walking up to Liu Xiu from behind, pulling out a chair, and sitting down.

Liu Xiu nodded in greeting and smiled at Luo Huo:

"General Luo said with a smile, I am listening to His Majesty's teachings, how can I be restless."

Rojo's eyes flashed, and then he smiled:

"It's the old minister's gaffe, Your Highness don't have to worry about it, speaking of which, soon after the Lantern Festival ends, His Highness will leave Luojing, defend Pingyan, and rectify the Shadow Army, His Highness has nothing to do in Luojing? You can ask the old minister for help, and the old minister is duty-bound. ”

Liu Xiu's heart sank, Luo Huo had the intention of showing favor to him, his thoughts turned sharply, he was afraid that it would be a temptation, he thought about it for a long time, and had a plan, so he shook his head and smiled:

"There is something I want to ask General Luo, this matter has been pressed in Liu Xiu's heart for a long time, and he has never let go, and he wants to ask the general clearly."

Rojo smiled:

"Your Highness, please speak."

Liu Xiu was just about to speak, but at a glance, he saw that all the ministers had stood up to praise the emperor, and some people were chanting poems to praise Pingyan's victory, but no one came up with the general who was looking for victory, the prince, and Liu Xiu who desperately defended the city.

It's just because his foundation is not solid and his position is unstable.

He shook his head, smiled apologetically at Rojo, and said:

"Then I won't shy away from suspicion, General Luo, you are the governor of the empire, leading the expeditionary army, experienced in a hundred battles, almost undefeated, why did Jingyun lose so badly in the first battle?"

Rojo's face was ashamed, and he lowered his head and sighed:

"It's the old minister who is incompetent, and he has nothing to say about this defeat."

After Liu Xiu heard this, his eyes flashed, and his disappointment flashed, but he said:

"I see."

He seemed a little unwilling, smiled, and said to Rojo:

"General Luo, you said that Shu won a great victory in the battle of Jingyun, and should have pursued the victory, even if my Han has a deep foundation and has enough troops to guard the border, but the matter of cutting the land must be unavoidable, but Shu has no movement, as long as I have a princess and relatives in my country, what do you think?"

Luo Huo sneered and said lightly:

"Actually, Your Highness asked the same thing."

Liu Xiu let out an "oh" and said:

"Please make it clear to the general."

Luo Huo looked up at the group of people surrounding the prince, even if he was far away, he could see the tall figure of the prince Liu Rui constantly leaning forward and backwards, and seemed to be chatting very happily with the envoys of other countries.

He nodded and said:

"Your Highness, the old minister is not a brazen person, Jingyun should have died to apologize for his crimes, and now he is living in the world, he is unwilling to sink the Han Empire, and the old minister is afraid that after a hundred years, there will be no successor to the empire, and he will be bullied!"

He pointed to the envoys beside the prince, shook his head, and said:

"These envoys are obviously here to celebrate the victory of the empire, but where is the half joy in their hearts, the empire has a peaceful battle, a great victory over the Yan army, the surrounding areas do not dare to move, in a few years the national strength will recover, where will they be happy? Don't look at the smiles on their faces, they want us to die. ”

After speaking, he smiled bitterly and said thoughtlessly:

"The defeat of the old minister Jingyun, although the blame lies in himself, but His Royal Highness the Crown Prince also has a lot of 'credit', the old minister came to His Highness today because of Your Highness"

Before the words fell, I saw Liu Xiu wave his hand lightly, not letting him continue.

At this moment, a woman's soft voice came from their left:

"Is this the famous Third Prince?"

The two of them turned their heads to look, and for a moment, it seemed that the whole garden had lost its color, and all the sounds had been still.

I saw a very gorgeous woman, with a beautiful face and white skin, and her appearance was slightly different from that of the Han people when she looked closely, she was dressed in foreign costumes, standing slim in the crowd, smiling and opening.

When Liu Xiu heard that he was asked, he was the only one who was stunned, and hurriedly stood up and said in surprise:

"I'm Liu Xiu, I don't know you, Miss"

The glamorous woman took a step forward, looked at Liu Xiu for a while, and said with a slight smile:

"My name is Tuoba Yu, I am the princess of the Leaving Country, I heard that Your Highness led the Shadow Army of our country to make great contributions to the Han Empire in the Battle of Pingyan, and the audience said that you are young and promising, so I can't help but take a look, when I see it today, Your Highness is really a heroic young man, it is really a good demeanor."

As she spoke, she lowered her head and saluted prettyly, and her demeanor was quite stylish.

Where is there a bit of so-called barbarian rudeness.

Liu Xiu didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly returned the gift.

Luo Huo, who was standing on the side, frowned, this Tuoba Yu came at a very bad time, he had already said it very much, and it was time for Liu Xiu to express his position.

He was very unhappy in his heart, and he couldn't show anything, so he was restless.

Seeing that she has a lot of nobility in her demeanor and demeanor, she is Princess Liu Ying of the empire, and her nobility in her demeanor and actions is not as noble as her, and she is confused in her heart.

Luo Huo frowned, and was puzzled, but heard Liu Xiu ask Tuoba Yu:

"Your Highness has praised it falsely, I don't know what the princess is looking for me?"

Tuoba Yu covered his lips lightly and said with a smile:

"Your Highness, you are too modest, you are brave enough to fight against strong enemies with new soldiers, and break the enemy with few soldiers, you are really a once-in-a-century general, and Your Highness can give up the century-old estrangement, take the initiative to make friends with our country, and say that your father and emperor will send troops, and the layout is far-reaching, which is admirable."

Luo Huo frowned after hearing this, and couldn't help but say:

"Isn't it your majesty's work to move your country to send troops? Don't? ”

Tuoba Yu glanced at Liu Xiu in surprise and said to Luo Huo:

"His Royal Highness Liu Xiu, after the defeat of General Luo Jingyun, came to our country in person, talked with the emperor of our country for a long night, and said that his majesty would send troops on the condition of opening up trade, didn't His Royal Highness say it?"

Luo Huo glanced at Liu Xiu suspiciously, but did not speak.

Liu Xiu said with a smile:

"I went to your country, it was arranged by my father, and the princess said this, did she want General Luo to suspect me?"

After that, he glanced at Rojo and said:

"The princess has won the award, if there is no consent from my father, where do I have so much power, open a hundred years of imprisonment, and fight a peaceful war, I am also a fluke, and most of the credit for defending the city is His Royal Highness King Wei."

As he spoke, he pointed to Liu Hongwen, who was talking to the prince, "If he hadn't arrived in time with the troops, all my plans would have been impossible to talk about, and the princess would have put all the credit on my head, I couldn't afford it." Also, before the princess comes to me, it's best to say hello to the prince in advance, so as not to lose her dignity. ”