"Everyone, everyone!"

In front of a mansion, a middle-aged man dressed like a housekeeper greeted the crowd in front of the mansion.

Probably thinking that there were enough people gathered, the butler flicked his sleeves, walked down the steps, and said with a smile, "Thank you for your faces, and if any of you guesses the lantern riddle set by my master, please take the lantern ......."

As he spoke, the housekeeper pointed to both sides of the mansion door, and saw that the walls on both sides of the mansion gate were full of all kinds of exquisitely crafted lanterns, which were colorful and pleasing to the eye.

On the right side of each lantern, there is a red paper pasted on it, on which lines of small characters are written in black ink, and it is not surprising that it is the lantern riddle set by the owner.

"Na, which one do you say is beautiful?" Pulling Xie An through the crowd, the eldest grandson Xiangyu looked at the brightly colored lanterns with bright eyes, and asked with great interest.

Looking at her childish appearance, Xie An couldn't cry or laugh a little, shook his head and said, "If you like it, go back and ask your grandfather to make a few for you, is it necessary to do this......" As he spoke, he glanced at the crowded area where the two of them were.

To be honest, hundreds of people are crowded together, which is not pleasant, and what is even worse is that Xie An has to protect the childish woman next to her, so as not to be hurt by the crowded crowd.

Seeing Xie An's lack of interest, the eldest grandson Xiang glanced at him angrily, and said dissatisfiedly, "How boring is that......" As she was talking, she suddenly caught a glimpse of someone guessing a lantern riddle and took away a lamp, her face was anxious, and she shook Xie An and said with an anxious face, "Hurry up, say it quickly." Which lantern is good-looking, if it is late, it will be the first to board! ”

Xie An was only shaken by her and dizzy, and hurriedly said, "What's the hurry?" There are at least 100 ...... here."

"I don't care! - I don't want people to pick the rest! The eldest grandson Xiangyu stomped his feet and said.

Looking at her eagerly, Xie Anxin secretly laughed, and coaxed her like a child, "Don't worry, don't worry!" - Look, the lamps that were taken. It's just the most inconspicuous, in my opinion, most of the owners of this house also put the lanterns according to the difficulty of the riddles, and the most beautiful lanterns are naturally the most difficult. On the other hand, the inconspicuous lanterns, the simpler the lantern riddles......"

It's not that Xie An coaxed her, after all, that's the way it is.

In Jijing, whenever the Lantern Festival arrives at the Shangyuan Festival, the big families in the city will make some additional lanterns. It is used to distribute to ordinary people who cannot afford to buy and make this kind of lanterns, after all, these handmade lanterns cost more than a dozen taels of silver at the worst, not to mention expensive. Tens of taels, hundreds of taels, or even thousands of taels, especially the lanterns made by officials of the Ministry of Rites and hung in front of the Palace on Zhengyang Street, or the giant lanterns that are placed in the palace at the moment and ready to be released tonight. That's a lot of money.

Since Ruan Shaozhou, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, was Xie An's teacher, Xie An naturally knew. In order to prepare for today's Shangyuan Festival Lantern Festival in Jijing, the Ministry of Rites has collected almost half of the craftsmen who make lanterns in Jijing, spending as much as millions of taels of silver.

It is no wonder, after all, the Ministry of Rites is responsible for Zhang Luo and the decoration of the entire streets of Jijing, which are tens of thousands of lanterns.

I have to admit here that when today's son Li Ji is indeed sympathetic to the people, he knows that ordinary people are unable to arrange, so he asked the Ministry of Rites to plan and arrange it in a unified manner.

Of course, those lanterns hanging in the streets and alleys, printed with the seal of the Imperial Court Rites Department, cannot be moved, after all, when Li Ji and all the officials will climb on the tower of Zhengyangmen to look at the whole city and enjoy the beautiful scenery of thousands of lights, if a piece is missing, it will be imperfect.

What about ordinary children who can't afford to make lanterns?

Don't worry, here is a reflection of the role of some famous families and big families in Jijing City, saying that they are showing off their wealth or showing off their own literary talents, and the famous families in Jijing will distribute lanterns to the people of Jijing by guessing lantern riddles.

Of course, the premise is that you have to guess the corresponding riddle.

It is precisely because of this that whenever it comes to the Shangyuan Festival, all parents who cannot afford to make lanterns at home will take their children to Chaoyang Street, Guang'an Street, Guangqu Street, which are full of famous mansions, racking their brains and trying their best to guess the lantern riddles released by the family, so as to win lanterns for their children to play.

And for those families, they are also happy to do this, too, if no one is watching, no matter how much and beautiful they decorate, what is the use?

This is called taking what each person needs, the wealthy family has earned face, and the ordinary people have won the props for their children to play, and even, some literati and artists will appear here, not to win lanterns, but to guess the lantern riddles released by some families, so as to show their talents.

Over time, this has formed one of the traditional activities of the Jijing Shangyuan Festival Lantern Festival, everyone is proud to guess the lantern riddles released by some families, and even, but also to each mansion outside the lanterns issued the most exquisite, the most expensive, the most gorgeous three lights, take the name of the champion lamp, the Bangyan lamp, the exploration lantern.

And these three lanterns are also a face-saving contest between the family and the family, after all, the riddles of these three lanterns are quite difficult, so they are hung in front of the family's mansion almost most of the time.

It's really hard......

At least Xie An didn't know what was being said after watching it for a long time.

Just as he was about to walk over to take a closer look, one of the rows of family members standing outside the walls of the mansion came over and told Xie An to stand back.

Obviously, the other party mostly regarded him as a gangster who wanted to steal the lanterns.

Maybe it was because he saw Xie An and the eldest grandson Xiangyu dressed brightly, the housekeeper drank the housekeeper away, walked over, and said with a smile, "Two sons, I'm really sorry, the subordinates don't understand the rules, and they collided with the two, and I hope the two of you don't mind!" ”

Originally, the fault was not the other party, but Xie An, therefore, Xie An also hugged his fists and said apologetically, "Those who don't understand the rules are right in the next place, just because the riddle is covered a little, and I haven't seen the whole picture clearly...... I'm sorry! ”

The housekeeper glanced back, and immediately instructed the left and right family members to straighten the red paper with lantern riddles written on it, and then turned back to Xie An and the eldest grandson Xiangyu and said, "Two sons, I don't know which one you like?" ”

"This ......" Xie An turned his head to look at the eldest grandson Xiangyu, but saw that she was still with a pair of beautiful eyes wide, comparing the advantages and disadvantages of the lanterns hanging on the wall.

See here. Xie An casually pointed to it, after all, after a long delay, the housekeeper's eyes have gradually become a little wrong, he doesn't want to be treated as a straw bag.

"Get the riddle of that lantern!" The housekeeper commanded, and even one of the housekeepers took a piece of red paper and handed it to Xie An.

To be honest, Xie An is not very good at guessing riddles, but this does not hinder his interest in guessing riddles in the slightest.

Even if he can't answer, isn't there still the eldest grandson Xiangyu beside him?

In Xie An's opinion. This woman simply knew everything, as if there was nothing that could stump her.

See, what kind of mystery is it?

I hope it doesn't get too hard......

Muttering in his heart, Xie An looked carefully at the words on the red paper, and then showed a little joy in his eyes. It is not difficult to imagine that most of them are lantern riddles that he knows.

At this time, the eldest grandson Xiangyu also seemed to see the red paper in Xie An's hand, tilted his head with interest, and said, "What mystery?" Let me see...... There are big fish in the East China Sea, which have no head or tail. I lost my backbone and went to the bottom...... The mystery is [day]! ”

"......" Xie An opened his mouth and stared at her blankly, wanting to speak again.

Let's be honest. Xie An knew about this riddle, and even wanted to show off and use the riddle with the same answer [out of the East China Sea, into the West Mountain, writing the time circle, and drawing the time square] The riddle with the same answer was solved. After all, there are hundreds of lantern riddles here, and he can come across one he knows. It's not easy.

But the woman next to her was good, she was quick-witted, and she said the answer without thinking, which made Xie An's plan to show off her plan to be stillborn.

Rao is eldest grandson Xiangyu is extremely smart, she can't guess the depression in Xie An'an at this moment, seeing him looking at her with an angry face, she asked in surprise, "It's [day]......"

This woman is really annoying at times!

Secretly complained in his heart, Xie An said angrily, "I said yes [said], okay?" ”

The eldest grandson Xiangyu was stunned, as if he understood something, he glanced at Xie An, his delicate body gently collided with Xie An's arm, and said in a low voice, "Of course it's okay, Brother An can say anything......

Her intimate gesture, Rao is Xie An, and she didn't feel extremely embarrassed, peeking at the housekeeper, and sure enough, the housekeeper looked at the two of them dumbfounded, his eyes full of horror.

Seeing this, Xie An coughed softly.

After all, the housekeeper is also a knowledgeable person, although I feel that it is a little inappropriate for two men to kiss me, but I didn't say much, nodded and said with a smile, "The two sons are really quick-witted, and they will say the answer without thinking, besides, this son ......" Speaking of this, he looked at Xie An with a little surprise, obviously, the riddle of the lantern riddle was [day], and Xie An's answer gave him an unexpected surprise.

At this time, a family member brought the lantern over and handed it to Xie An and the eldest grandson Xiangyu.

After a cursory look, the eldest grandson Xiangyu frowned, looked at the lantern and whispered, "It's so ugly......"

Seeing the housekeeper's embarrassed expression, Xie An hurriedly took the lantern and said in a loud voice, "Nonsense, isn't it good?" ”

After all, it's something that people give for nothing, and it's not very appropriate to go back and talk about it.

Seeing that Xie An took the initiative to relieve himself, the housekeeper showed a little gratitude in his eyes, and then pointed to the three most conspicuous of those lanterns, and said to the eldest grandson Xiangyu with a smile, "Okay, this is the top three lanterns in my house, as long as this son guesses the corresponding lantern riddle, but it doesn't hurt!" ”

Seeing that the housekeeper's tone was quite conceited, Xie An knew that something bad was going to happen, and sure enough, he saw the eldest grandson Xiangyu chuckle lightly and said lightly, "Take it all!" ”

The housekeeper was stunned, waved his hand and retreated, personally took the riddles of the three lanterns, and handed them to the eldest grandson Xiangyu.

Xie An glanced around, and he found that there were only a few words written on each piece of paper, the first one said [乖], the second one said [Jiong], and the last one wrote the word [Dayu].

What the hell is this?

Xie An looked puzzled.

As if noticing Xie An's confused expression, the housekeeper smiled conceitedly, right

Sun Xiangyu said, "Childe, please!" ”

As soon as the words fell, I saw that the eldest grandson Xiangyu's eyes showed a little disdain, shook the red paper in his hand, and said lightly, "[Good], play a four-character idiom, and take advantage of unpreparedness; [Jiong], a verse of the ancients. People about after dusk; [Dayu], playing a four-character idiom, is unprecedented! ――Right? ”

The housekeeper's face changed greatly when he heard this, and he looked at the eldest grandson Xiangyu stupidly with his mouth wide open.

"It seems that I guessed correctly," the eldest grandson Xiangyu chuckled, with a bit of sarcasm, and said lightly, "It's just a word puzzle, it's as easy as a snap!" ――Can you handle such lantern riddles? ”

The butler's face was red. opened his mouth and couldn't speak, and the people watching next to him were also dumbfounded, you know, the eldest grandson Xiangyu told the mystery almost instantly, how powerful this is.

looked at this woman's indifferent look. Xie An understands that others first look at the difficulty of lantern riddles and then choose lanterns, but this woman is different, in her eyes, there is only one criterion of whether those lanterns are good or not, because there is no riddle that can be difficult for her.

The butler looked embarrassed and brought the three lanterns himself. Respectfully handed it to the eldest grandson Xiangyu, the eldest grandson Xiangyu tilted his head and compared it for a long time, and gave the two inferior lamps to the people next to him, and then carried a lantern with Xie An. Leaving with a grin.

Looking at her swaying with the colorful lanterns in her hands with great interest, Xie Anxin was amused, and praised sincerely, "Xiangyu." You're really amazing......"

Holding Xie An's right hand with his left hand, the eldest grandson Xiangyu walked in front of him bouncing up. Hearing this, he turned his head and chuckled, "Slave family...... No, no, this son is naturally very tight, but well, the three riddles just now are really not difficult......"

Xie An rolled his eyes and muttered angrily, "Nonsense, I can't answer......"

"Hehe," the eldest grandson Xiangyu smiled, then tilted his head and said, "Actually, the lantern riddle, also known as [thin words] and [hidden words], when you are an official in the court, you can't understand this!" ――In the future, this son will teach you slowly! Hee-hee......"

Xie An was stunned and asked puzzled, "What does this have to do with being an official?" ”

"Of course it matters," the eldest grandson Xiangyu Zhengse explained, "[Thin words] and [hidden words] began in the former Qin Dynasty, and were originally thought out by the sages in order to persuade and admonish the emperor, hiding some words that are inconvenient to say directly, or words that will cause Long Yan's displeasure, in the riddle...... Ever heard of [Praying Mantis catching cicadas, yellow finches behind]? ”

"Rough knowledge is probably ......"

"In the past, the king of Wu wanted to cut down the thorns, told him to be left and right, and those who dared to admonish him died, and those who wanted to admonish the young children did not dare, so he carried the pill and played it, swam in the backyard, and exposed his clothes. King Wu asked the reason, and said that there were trees in the garden, and there were cicadas on them, and the cicadas were screaming and drinking dew, and they did not know that the praying mantis was behind them; The praying mantis is committed to bending and attaching, wanting to take the cicada, not in the yellow finch beside it; The yellow finch stretches its neck to peck at the mantis, but does not know that the projectile is also under it. All three want to be able to afford the benefits of the past, regardless of the troubles that follow. King Wu said, good, is to stop his soldiers. - This is called [thin words], [hidden words], you need to know that the companion is like a tiger, even if it is my grandfather, sometimes it is not good to speak out, you have entered the court as an official, you should master these skills, which is beneficial to your career! ”

Looking at the expression of the eldest grandson Xiangyu, Xie An was embarrassed and funny, but he had to admit that she was right, after all, sometimes, if the words are too straightforward, it is indeed easy to offend people, and when the other party is the current saint, it will even cause death, therefore, the person in charge of the official must be able to speak silently and quietly admonish, so that he not only takes care of the face of the Son of Heaven, but also saves his own life, and even, if he is lucky enough to amuse the Son of Heaven, he may also be rewarded.

This woman is really powerful......

Xie An praised from the bottom of his heart at this time, at this time, he suddenly found that the eldest grandson Xiangyu looked behind him in surprise, turned his head, and Xie An was shocked to find that there was a girl behind him at some point.

This girl looks six or seven years old, dressed very ordinarily, most of them are children of ordinary people in Jijing, I saw her sucking her right index finger, staring intently at the lantern in the hand of the eldest grandson Xiangyu, her eyes showed a strong look of envy, and her appearance was very cute.

That little girl's thoughts, even Xie An guessed it, how could the eldest grandson Xiangyu not guess it.

"Hmm......" Under Xie An's surprised gaze, the eldest grandson Xiangyu looked at the lantern in his hand hesitantly, as if he wanted to give the lantern in his hand to the little girl, but he was very reluctant, and after hesitating for a long time, he suddenly pulled Xie An and said, "Let's go......

Walk?

Xie An thought that she would show her generosity as an adult woman, but she didn't expect that it would be like this at the end of the day, and before he could say anything, he was forcibly dragged away by the eldest grandson Xiangyu, and the little girl followed them all the time.

I walked dozens of feet. Xie An glanced behind him and saw that the little girl was still following, so he smiled and teased, "Hey, she's still following......"

"No matter ......," said Eldest Sun Xiangyu, biting his lip.

Looking at her childish expression, Xie Anxin was amused and said, "Please, you're an adult." She's just a child, can't you show your strength as an adult and give her the lanterns in your hand generously? ”

"Say it lightly!" The eldest grandson Xiangyu glanced at Xie An and said angrily, "I also like this lantern." Why give it to her? - Don't! ”

Xie An shook his head helplessly when he heard this, he knew very well that if it was Liang Qiu Wu, he would give the lantern in his hand to that child without saying a word, no matter whether she liked the lantern or not......

But then again, the eldest grandson Xiangyu is not dancing with Liangqiu after all, so how can she be forced to be the same as Liangqiu dance?

Never let go of what you love. This is the character of the eldest grandson Xiangyu.

Thinking of this, Xie An thought for a moment and said softly, "Look at that child's clothes." The family doesn't seem to be wealthy......"

"That'...... So what......"

"For you, the money for a lantern doesn't matter, but for her family, who is not wealthy. In festive festivals such as the Shangyuan Festival, there is no lantern in his hand. Not being able to play with her peers may be a great regret for her life......

"What a pity...... Is it? The eldest grandson Xiangyu showed a little confusion in his eyes, and after sighing quietly, he let go of Xie An's hand, walked over and squatted in front of the little girl, lifted the lantern in his hand, and said with a smile, "Do you want this?" ”

The little girl looked at the eldest grandson Xiangyu timidly, and nodded hesitantly.

"Is it pretty?"

"Good...... It's good-looking......" The little girl's voice was very crisp, but she was a little scared.

Glancing at the little girl, and then at the lantern in his hand, the eldest grandson Xiangyu smiled helplessly and handed the lantern in his hand to the little girl.

The little girl looked at the lantern in her hand in surprise and said gratefully, "Thank you, big brother......"

"It's my sister......" Under the little girl's puzzled gaze, the eldest grandson Xiangyu smiled slightly, raised his hand to stroke the little girl's head, and said softly, "Take it and play, promise my sister, I must have a lot of fun today!" ”

"Hmm!"

"Go for it......"

The little girl happily jumped along the way she came, walked into the distance, stopped, lifted the lantern in her hand with a happy smile, and waved her hand vigorously at the eldest grandson Xiangyu.

The eldest grandson Xiangyu also smiled and waved his hand, and then saw Xie An walking up to him, half-snuggling in his arms, his expression slightly lost.

"When I was my child's age, my mother didn't have the money to buy me a lantern...... Once, my mother took me to the street to enjoy the lanterns, I was very happy, but unfortunately, my mother was weak and could not squeeze into the front of the crowd...... You're right, I was really disappointed at the time......"

Xie An knew very well, don't look at what the eldest grandson Xiangyu wants now, but before the age of nine, her life in the eldest grandson's house was not good, and now when she heard her say this, he felt very sad, regardless of the surprised and stunned eyes of the passers-by around him, gently hugged her in his arms, and comforted her softly, "She is luckier than you, because she met a kind and generous woman......

"Kindness? Generous? The eldest grandson Xiangyu shook his head self-deprecatingly, then sighed faintly, looked into the distance and muttered, "Brother An, you say, can that child have fun today?" ”

"Of course you can!" Xie An nodded and said, "That kid will definitely have a lot of fun this time, with your share of ......."

The eldest grandson Xiangyu smiled with relief when she heard this, and suddenly, she glared at Xie An fiercely, and said coquettishly, "What's the use of saying this?" ――It's all your fault, the lanterns that people like are gone......"

"No, there's another one!" Xie An smiled and lifted the lantern in his hand and shook it in front of the eldest grandson Xiangyu.

Looking at the lantern, the eldest grandson Xiangyu was angry, and said angrily, "It's so ugly, I don't want it!" - Carry it yourself! ”

"Okay...... Xie An shook his head with a smile, and suddenly, he glanced deeply at the eldest grandson Xiangyu, and said softly, "Xiangyu, you are really good......

"......" seemed to understand the deep meaning of Xie An's words, the eldest grandson Xiangyu's red lips opened slightly, looked at Xie An in surprise, and then his face gradually became a little shy, and after taking a deep breath, he broke free from his embrace, and said with a chuckle, "It's useless to say a lot of good things, hurry, while it's still early, let's go to another house, and those beautiful lanterns will be gone......

"Okay, good......" Xie An shook his head and followed.

Suddenly, the eldest grandson Xiangyu, who was bouncing in front, turned his head, hugged Xie An's right arm, and said with a smile, "By the way, let you guess a riddle first, [the falling flowers are not shocking], guess the most hated person in the slave family, hehe......"

Falling flowers all over the ground are not alarming?

Flowers are falling all over the ground, flowers are grateful, thank you......

It's not alarming, that's Ann......

Thank...... Quiet?

Hey? Isn't that your name?

Thinking of this, Xie An said with a smile, "Hey, hey, hey! ――Too much, right? ”

"Giggles, okay, lie to you...... It's a slave who likes it, and I like people I like very much......"

"You're a ......"

She is actually just an ordinary woman......

Xie An said secretly in his heart.