Half an hour later, Zeng Rong and Zhu Xu all changed into ordinary people's clothes and went out from Xihua Gate at night, without carriage or sedan chair, all on foot.

In addition to the four of them, there were eight guards, but these eight guards did not follow them, they were scattered around them.

The lantern festival is concentrated in Chang'an Avenue and Qianmen Street, there are more dignitaries and nobles on Chang'an Street, and the market gas on Qianmen Street is heavier, so Zeng Rong took everyone to Qianmen Street.

Qianmen Street is really lively, the lanterns on both sides of the market illuminate the whole street as if it were daytime, the people on the street are shoulder to shoulder, in addition to the lanterns, there are all kinds of snacks, there are stalls, but also carry the burden, shouting, children's noise, adults laughing, the sound of sound into the ears.

Zeng Rong saw Zhu Xu's brows slightly locked, knowing that he was definitely not used to this kind of noise and crowding, so he smiled and said: "Master, this situation and this scene are not like the peaceful and prosperous times depicted in the book?" Look at the expressions on their faces, are they mostly very simple? ”

When Zhu Xu heard this, he also looked over carefully, and found that these people were either holding a lamp in their hands, or holding a string of sugar gourds, or something else to eat, calling friends and companions, just standing on the street to eat, and some people were sitting on roadside stalls, chatting with the people next to them while eating the contents of the bowl, and most of these people had a satisfied smile on their faces.

But what shocked Zhu Xu the most was that there were many men with children, he was not holding or carrying them, but putting the children on his shoulders and carrying them, the children's eyes were rolling around excitedly, pointing at this and that, the father was not only a little impatient, on the contrary, he happily obeyed the child's instructions, and the interaction between father and son was something he had never experienced, never received, and never given.

When he was sighing, Zeng Rong pulled him and squeezed him to the lantern, saying that he wanted to guess the lantern riddle.

Zhu Xu was not interested in these lantern riddles, lanterns or anything, but Zeng Rong proposed to make some small colors, saying that if he lost, he would invite the winning one to eat.

Zhu Xu had never eaten in this kind of night market, and he thought it was interesting to see others eating so sweetly, but he never went out with money, so he could only obey Zeng Rong's arrangement.

The first guess was naturally Zeng Rong's loss, Zeng Rong invited Zhu Xu to taste a boiled tofu skewer, which is to fry the tofu and skewer it into a skewer, put it in the pot and cook it with pork liver, pig head meat, pig ears and other things, Zeng Rong didn't know whether the emperor ate these leftovers, for safety, as long as the tofu skewers.

This tofu skewer is also her favorite food, absorbing the fragrance and juice of these leftovers, the taste is very special, at least she has never seen this way of eating in the palace.

Zhu Xu ate less at the dinner because he was in a bad mood, but he couldn't let go at first, and he didn't reach out to pick up the things in Zeng Rong's hand.

"Master, don't forget why we came, the market is angry, the fireworks are angry, you see others, don't they all stand on the street and eat like this?" Zeng Rong stuffed things into Zhu Xu's hand.

Zhu Xu saw that Zeng Rong was eating very well, and then saw that Chang Dezi and Ah Chun were also eating happily, and after a little struggle, he also raised the tofu to his mouth, and the hot tofu with the aroma of boiling made him open his mouth involuntarily.

With the first time, the next thing is easy to do, Zeng Rong bought pig's head meat, fried dumplings, fried rice balls, etc., and also sat down to eat a bowl of wontons.

These things are generally not eaten in the palace, and even if there are, the taste is very different, Zhu Xu is used to eating those exquisite dishes, and the first time he tried this kind of market-like food, he felt strange, and it was not as difficult to swallow as he imagined, on the contrary, some of the food he thought was quite fragrant.

The four of them walked all the way and ate all the way, and also guessed a few lanterns in their hands, Zeng Rong took Zhu Xu to the moat, this area is full of lanterns, and there are also pen and ink rentals on the roadside, you can write your wishes on the lanterns.

Zeng Rong first rented a set of pen and ink to Zhu Xu with five cents, Zhu Xu originally resisted this game, but he couldn't stand Zeng Rong's persuasion, saying that it was the traditional custom of the Great Zhou to put lanterns on the Lantern Festival, men, women and children can make wishes, not necessarily young people seeking good fate, but also wishing for the peace of the country or something, for example, Zeng Rong himself wrote the words of Guotai and Min'an on one side of a lantern, and on the other side wrote that his wishes came true.

Seeing this, Zhu Xu took the brush, wrote down the words "The wind and rain are smooth, the country and the people are safe", walked to the front of the steps with Zeng Rong, put the lantern into the water with his own hands, and watched it sway.

"Master, you said, if you put a seal on this lantern, if someone picks up this lantern, you will have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of your life." Zeng Rong saw that the emperor was too dignified, so he made a joke.

Sure enough, as soon as she finished speaking, she was suddenly slapped with a cold eye from the other party, "Be careful, saliva is flowing out." ”

"Where? I'm telling the truth, you say, what kind of luck does that have to be? Zeng Rong was used to the other party's cold eyes, and he was not afraid.

Zhu Xu did not respond to her.

Zeng Rong had to say to himself: "Hey, I'm also confused, how many people in the world have such luck as me, and I actually envy others?" No wonder the sages often say, I will save my body three times a day, otherwise, I will be led astray unconsciously, which shows that human nature is greedy. ”

These words successfully aroused Zhu Xu's interest, "Oh, let's talk about it, how do you do three provinces?" ”

"It's very simple, often go out for a walk, look at their lives, think about their past, what is not content? I always firmly believe that the road is simple, and the enlightenment is in nature. Abandon the prosperity and floating dust on the surface, and directly return to your original intention, and all problems will be solved. Sir, think about it, is this the truth? Zeng Rong looked at the lantern he sent away and said.

These words were actually said to herself, since entering the palace, she has been circling among several of the most powerful people, and has been in the center of the vortex several times, but fortunately, someone grabbed her, which did not let her sink.

Yes, she took advantage of Zhu Heng, but she refused to accept Zhu Heng, always feeling that this was a betrayal of Xu Jing.

Fortunately, Zhu Heng tolerated her with great patience, and fortunately, she found her original intention.

Since she was reborn, she has understood that it is difficult to return to Xu Jing with her age and mental journey, her original intention is to protect Xu Jing, and the second is to seek justice from Wang Chuchu.

This is also her original intention when she entered the palace, because only by entering the palace can she get closer to the peak of power faster and complete her original intention.

And Zhu Xu's troubles today are nothing more than that he feels that he has betrayed the oath he made with the imperial concubine, but he has forgotten that the current imperial concubine is no longer the little girl who was so simple that she could live and die for him back then, she was the one who betrayed first.