Every year around the end of the year, it is always the busiest time, and I am responsible for the collection and selection of gifts from the princess's house, as well as the entertainment affairs between the Great Inner Forbidden Middle School and the clan relatives, until after the Shangyuan Festival. On the eighteenth day of the first month of the fifth year of Jiayou, after all the ceremonies were completed, and the princess also returned from her ban, I only took a day to visit Cui Bai and other old friends in Beijing.

When he returned to the house in the evening, he went to greet the princess as usual, but saw that the door of her room was closed, and although there was a light, it was silent inside.

I knocked on the door a few times, and I heard Jia Qingzi's voice coming from inside: "The princess has rested, and I will report something tomorrow." ”

At this time, just after dinner, it was reasonable to say that the princess would not go to bed so early, so I answered outside the door: "It's me." ”

The door opened, and it was Jiaqingzi who appeared in front of me, and there was no princess in the room.

Jiaqingzi invited me in, closed the door and whispered: "The princess has always wanted to go out to watch the lanterns on the street, so today after dark, she changed into my clothes and put on a hat, and asked Zhang Chengzhao to take her out quietly." ”

I frowned, but wasn't too surprised. Every year from Zhengdan to Shangyuan, the dawn of the Chinese lanterns shines on the Fengcheng, the Beijing teachers are full of tourists, and it is the most a scene of leveling. The princess has wanted to go to the royal street to feel the grand scene of the lantern market for many years, and now although she lives outside the palace, she is supervised by Liang Dujian, and she can't do it casually and leave the princess's house without permission. She begged Liang Dujian many times, but he always rejected it with palace rules, and she also begged me to take her privately, but I also didn't agree, so she must have seen that I was not in the house today, so she took the opportunity to disguise herself and let Zhang Chengzhao take her out.

"Where does she go to see the lights?" I asked Kakeiko.

She didn't hide it, and replied: "Zhang Chengzhao told her that there is a restaurant called Bailulou in Jingmingfang outside Donghua Gate, and the food and fruit in it taste the best, and the building has several floors, and it is convenient to watch the lights upstairs." The princess has not had dinner today, and will probably go there at this time. ”

I thanked her, went out immediately, jumped on my horse, and hurried towards Jingmingfang.

Alum House is the most famous restaurant in Tokyo, beaded curtains embroidered forehead, lights and candles are shining, regardless of wind and rain, cold and summer, day and night, it has always been the place where nobles in the capital often go to Yanji. When I arrived, I rode upstairs and searched the three floors without seeing the princess. In desperation, I walked to the terrace on the top floor and looked out over the railing.

Today is the last day of Shangyuan Zhang lantern, the lights on both sides of the avenue are more and more prosperous, there are ordinary Luo silk yarn lanterns, there are five-color glazed lamps painted with landscape figures, flowers, bamboos and feathers, there are Fuzhou white jade lanterns like Qingbing jade pots, and there are more mountain lanterns that are as high as several zhang, and use the organs to move the mountain lanterns. All the merchants have their own new ideas, compete to hang in front of the building, and the street Yushu Mingjin, the traffic is busy, there is no lack of noble ladies who come to watch the lanterns, Zhu Lun painting hub, carved saddle Yule, the curtain in the car hangs incense sachets, the horse waiter Titian ball, the car gallops by, the cigarette smoke is like a cloud, several miles endlessly.

After these five nights of incense dust, I looked at the big music field under the lanterns in front of the Xuande Building in the southwest. There are thorns and walls, there are artists performing hundreds of operas in the middle, and tourists outside the venue are watching, including many ladies who walked out of the BMW incense car.

At this moment, two sturdy female sumo wrestlers are performing, like the men in sumo wrestlers, wearing short-sleeved collarless shirts with large breasts exposed, kicking, falling, carrying, and resisting each other to the cheers of onlookers. After a while, the winner was divided, and the winner circled the field to thank the audience, and the audience also took out their belongings to reward her. Soon, the winning sumo wrestler was about to walk back to the middle of the ring with his hands full of money, when a woman came out to call her.

The woman who spoke up immediately followed a few steps, first placing a string of money in the sumo wrestler's arms, and then taking a sprig of fiery bayberry and sticking it into her bun with a smile.

The woman wore a hat with a long white veil hanging from the brim, and it was quite eye-catching from the tall building. I looked at her and saw that she was wearing Jiaqingzi's dress, so I immediately turned and went downstairs, and then rode back to where she was.

After sumo, fireworks begin to set off in the Grand Arena, clusters of fireworks bloom in the night sky, and thousands of Martian petals fall like rain. The princess lifted the veil in front of her hat behind her head, looked up to feel the light of the jade pot around her, and when I galloped to her side, she looked at me with a smile as if she had a sense, not surprised or annoyed, and looked at me with a smile in the light and shadow: "Huaiji, you are here." ”

I stepped forward to salute, because I was afraid of the pedestrians around me, and I couldn't open my mouth to call her, so I only gently led her away from the crowd, and then glared at Zhang Chengzhao who came closely.

Zhang Chengzhao was very eye-catching, and before I could say anything to reproach, he had already scolded me: "The main master is here, and the little one will retire, so I will leave." ”

After that, he ran away in a puff of smoke.

I didn't bother to care about him, and whispered to the princess: "Let's go back, no matter how late it is, it won't be good to be discovered by Liang Dujian." ”

The princess didn't hear it, but smiled, "Huaiji, I'm hungry." ”

I told her, "There's some food in the house." ”

"I want to taste the food and drink fruits of the White Alum Building."

"Let's go back first, and I'll send someone to buy it later."

"I still want to keep watching the lights."

"There are also many lanterns in the house."

"But I want to sit upstairs in the alum and eat the food and drink there while watching the lights downstairs."

I was speechless.

She sighed again: "If I go back with you now, I don't know when I will see the fireworks in the world here again." ”

Her sad look softened my heart again, and I decided to indulge her one more time.

I took back the veil behind her head, covered her face, and led her towards the alum tower.

When she walked to the front of the building and was about to enter the door, she slowed down her pace and reviewed frequently. I looked back at where she was looking, and saw a little girl squatting on the side of the street selling moths, snow willows, jade plums, linden leaves, lamp balls, etc. The ornaments were attached to a straw pole and were limbly placed on the shoulders of the little girl, who was thinly dressed, and whose face and hands were covered with red marks from frost, as if exhausted, hungry and cold, and whose eyes were glazed and trembling slightly in the night wind.

"She seems to be cold, why don't you go home?" The princess asked me.

I replied, "Because she hasn't sold out." ”

Although there are many kinds of ornaments in that girl, the materials are not good, and the workmanship is not delicate enough, so she has no advantage among the surrounding vendors who sell similar goods, and it is estimated that it will not be sold out in a moment.

When I had heard this, the princess went straight to the girl and asked her, "How much will it cost to sell me all these things of yours?" ”

The little girl's eyes widened, and she looked at the princess in disbelief, and for a moment she stammered an offer.

The princess immediately held out her hand to me: "Waiji, bring the money." ”

I smiled and took out the bag containing the money, poured out the money, and prepared to pay the girl in full, but the princess did not wait for me to finish counting, she had already taken the money with the bag**, and stuffed it into the little girl, and said with a smile: "It's all for you, go home quickly." ”

The little girl couldn't help but be overjoyed, stood up and blessed the princess, and couldn't stop thanking her. The princess smiled at her gently, and when she saw that she had a bun on her head, but there was no ornament, she pulled out the dragon-patterned jade palm comb that was inserted behind her bun with her backhand, and put it on the little girl's head with her own hands.

The girl was grateful beyond words, and after standing still for a long time, she tearfully handed me the whole pole full of ornaments.

I smiled and said, "You don't have to give it to me, you can still bring it back." ”

But she didn't agree, insisted on pushing the pole into my arms, and thanked the princess again and again before slowly retreating.

And now, when I looked at the pole in my hand, I was very troubled, and said to the princess with a smile, "If I had this pile of things, the waiter of the restaurant would not let me in." ”

The princess smiled and chose a few ornaments from the pole, and put them in clusters on my head, and then took off her hat, and asked me to pick a few clusters of moths and willows to put in her bun, but there was still a lot left. The princess stared at it for a moment, then took some off, and when she saw a lady passing by, she went over and gave it to them, and the women were surprised, but at last they all accepted it with a smile, and before long it was all gone.

"All right," said the princess, taking the bare pole and pushing it around the corner, clapping her hands, "we can go in." ”

I remembered something else, so I didn't move, but asked her, "Where are you going?" ”

She looked at me in surprise, and must have thought that I was too forgetful: "Alum Tower." ”

"Well, but now there's a problem." I reminded her, "Do you still have any money?" ”

"Huh?" She was stunned and replied, "I gave all the money to the sumo wrestlers just now......"

"What about you?" She asked me rhetorically.

I raised my eyebrows at her, showing my sleeves and a breeze: "Didn't you rob me of my money?" ”

She bowed her head suddenly, paused, raised her eyes to me again, and asked hopefully, "In addition to money, does the restaurant accept anything else?" I still have jewelry. ”

"Let's go back." I pulled her out, "People don't open pawnshops." ”

She had no choice but to follow me, but she looked back at the alum building behind her step by step, and looked reluctant.

But before we reached the place where the carriages and horses were parked, we heard someone call us: "Lang Jun and little lady in front, please stay for a while." ”

We stopped and looked back, and saw that it was a girl dressed as a maid. She walked quickly in front of us, bowed to us, and then said: "My wife saw the two good deeds on the alum floor, and she admired them very much, and she intended to invite the two upstairs to drink tea, I wonder if Lang Jun and the little lady can appreciate their faces?" ”

I hesitated, but the princess smiled at her: "Thank you. Please take us up. ”

The maid led us up to the second floor, and ushered us into a neat and elegant room, in which everything from furniture to cups and cups was presented, and the room was divided into two rooms, each with tables and chairs, separated by a beaded curtain, in which a young lady sat in, and when she saw us entering, she arose, and saluted us very politely.

I had guessed that this lady should be a middle-aged lady or older, but I did not expect her to be so young, she looked like she was in her early twenties, about the same age as the princess.

Although through the beaded curtain, you can still see her face. Her face is slightly round, her skin is slightly plump, her eyes are beautiful almond eyes, and her smile is crescent-shaped, which is amiable to look at. She was wearing a willow-colored large-sleeved shirt, the color was plain, which matched her fair complexion. The color of the clothes is not ostentatious, and the clothes are of high quality, it should be Shu brocade, the collar of the collar is embroidered with the Sihe Ruyi pattern is very exquisite, and the white horn rhinoceros comb is inserted behind the green crown on the head, which shows that her identity is extraordinary, and she must be from the official family.

The princess and I also saluted her, and she invited us to sit down outside the curtain, and greeted us politely, and then asked us what we would like to order, and the princess said that she only wanted to taste some of the fruits of the season, and the lady whispered to the maid. The maid went out to spread the word, and after a while, someone came in to spread vegetables, and presented olives, green oranges, Yongjia oranges, flower shy chestnuts, dried wisps of papaya, calamus and other fruits on a plate, as well as tadpole soup made of mung bean flour, glutinous rice made of balls and salt soy soup, and mixed meat salt soy soup, which are indeed seasonal Shangyuan Festival diets.

These diets were slightly different from those of the palace, and the princess did not hesitate to sit down with me after washing her hands, and was glad to prepare to taste them. As I have been accustomed to for many years, I first touched the edge of the bowl with the back of my hand to test the temperature of the soup for her, and when I felt that it was hot, I took a fan to cool it down, and then put out a little salty and light, and then sent the original bowl to her. After the princess had tasted a little one or two balls, and drank a bowl of tadpole soup, I peeled a green orange with my hand, ordered the Wu salt on the table with a spoon, wiped it on the orange pulp, and then handed it to the princess.

The lady had been watching from the curtain, and at this time she could not help sighing, and said to the princess, "This sister, your husband is really considerate to you. ”

I may not always wear official clothes when I live in the princess's house, and what I am wearing today is also an ordinary scribe's white shirt, so she can't see my status as a minister, thinking that I am the princess's husband, so she has this feeling.

I was embarrassed and couldn't explain, so I had to bow my head and keep silent. And the princess did not seem to be in a hurry to argue, but replied with a smile: "He has always been like this...... My sister's husband must be like this to my sister, right? ”

"Him?" The lady sneered, and said resentfully, "If he had been as good as me, I would not have sat here alone." ”

"Sister came out alone?" The princess was surprised, "I thought you were here waiting for your husband to come over and watch the lanterns together." ”

The lady frowned and said, "Don't mention it." Today he made me angry, I rushed out in a rage, in fact, the speed of walking out of the house was not fast, he didn't even catch up...... So I simply got in the car and came here, and sent someone to send a message to a sister in my middle and ask her to come and talk to me, but she didn't arrive for a long time, but fortunately I met my sister, otherwise I would have been locked up in this room, and I would have suffocated to death. ”

——

Concentrate:

Fire bayberry: take the ripe jujube and pound the charcoal pill as a bomb, and then string it on the iron branch to light the fire, the shape and color are like bayberry, and all people are inserted on the head as decoration.

Moth: Hair flower jewelry cut into the shape of butterflies and grass insects made of silk or black gold paper.

Yumei: Fake flower jewelry, usually made of silk and paper.

Snow willow: A silk ornament made of twisted gold thread.

Bodhi leaf: Jewelry cut into the shape of a Bodhi leaf with silk and paper.

Lantern ball: also known as lantern ball lantern, as big as jujube chestnut, like pearl mushroom.

The above are all ornaments worn on the crown by the female cluster of travelers in the Song Dynasty.