In the thirtieth year of the Chinese New Year's Eve, the imperial capital was lit up.

The lantern festival started on the thirteenth day of the first month, lasted for three consecutive days, and ended after the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth. It is called the Shangyuan Lantern Festival, and it is also the only lantern festival once a year. Perhaps because of the many disasters and difficulties in the past year, people have spontaneously become more solemn in the link of removing the old year.

Therefore, this year's lantern festival is also particularly lively, and even with it, it seems that the red paper lanterns all over the street are larger than in previous years.

In the imperial capital, the main road of each street is hung with red lanterns that are more than a foot long, and at night, the city is full of red light. Especially on the thirteenth day of the first lunar month, the lantern festival on Suzaku Street begins, and the red, yellow, green, and pink colors are lit up, and the night scene is even more interesting.

Standing on the city wall, the whole city has a bird's-eye view, not as colorful as the world, and it is suspected that it is a nine-day fairyland.

On the 14th, as soon as the night fell, Xiao He took Xiaoshan, Hongzhu and the Han brothers to visit the Lantern Festival. Earlier, she had gone to the tailor's shop to customize a new outfit for Xiaoshan. Nowadays, the nobles in the city are mostly popular in Hu clothes, and she also got together and made a set for Xiaoshan.

She never asked Xiaoshan how old she was, but just followed what Dai Qingshan said and recognized him as her younger brother. It's just that when he and Xiao He stood side by side, they were half a head taller than Xiao He. Although his figure is thin, he is not upright, and his narrow sleeves and bearded upper body are also worn by him with edges and corners, even if he stands beside Xiao He, he is still a handsome young man.

When they went up the main street, they attracted many women to stop and hide behind fans, whispering, and their eyebrows were filled with envy.

Hongzhu tugged at Xiao He's sleeve, "Childe, the slaves and maids don't dare to follow behind the two of you, you see how many women's eye knives are around here, but they are going to break the slaves and maids." Xiao He smiled, and it was like a spring breeze.

So Xiao He went around by himself with Hongzhu, afraid that she would be alone, so he pointed to Han Qiu to accompany her.

The lantern festival was bustling, but the hill was as quiet as ever.

Xiao He is not a person of many words in his spare time, and he is not boring when he works quietly. She got together with him and fell into the eyes of others, like a pair of ink and blue, and the heavens and men went straight to the Nine Heavens Palace.

Many people brought river lanterns around the Dingbei River to release river lanterns and pray for a smooth year. It's also a sight to behold.

Xiao He pointed to the direction in which the crowd was rerouted, and suggested to Xiaoshan, "Do you want to go and put the lights?" ”

Xiao Shan's expression didn't make a wave, "Look at it." ”

They followed the crowd to the river, and the flow of people was dotted with small hand-held lamps with bright stars, and they came in different shapes and styles. Xiao He looked forward to seeing that most of the others were dragging their families to come, a few families, young and old. Touched for a moment, her eyes jumped, and when she looked sideways at the hill, she also saw that he was a little distracted, and there was something hidden in his eyes.

After a while, they walked up to the Dingbei Bridge.

Standing on the bridge, leaning over to look at the river, the night is mixed into the water, a dragon ink stretches endlessly, only the river lamp is like falling stars, illuminating the road ahead.

Once upon a time, Xiao He also held his parents' hands like the immature girl who came from the bridge and came to enjoy the lanterns together. Once upon a time, there was no one in front of her and behind her. There are poems, and I miss my relatives every festival, but I see what others have, but I don't have it, and my heart is empty.

Now Xiao He is used to being alone, so he can deal with it calmly.

People, come in naked, go naked, they are alone, who can accompany them for a lifetime? If you let go of things that shouldn't be extravagant, and if you don't think about it, your heart will naturally be relieved.

When she turned her head to look at Xiaoshan, she saw that Xiaoshan was also looking at her, and there was a silver glint in her glassy amber eyes. She knew that he was also touched, so she reached out and shook his hand lightly, as if to comfort him, and said, "It's just the normal state of life." Look at it early, see it early. ”

From the first time he saw him, Xiao He had an intuition that Xiaoshan was the same kind of person as himself, hiding too many secrets that he couldn't say to others, and he had too much pain on his back, and no one could share it. He can only feel safe by deliberately maintaining a sense of alienation from others.

This feeling is all too familiar to her.

is talented, looking at him a little more kind, like looking at his former self. She helped him and saved him, all sincerely.

Across the crowd, Mu Churan was dressed in soap clothes, and he was dressed in ordinary clothes, which could not hide the kingly atmosphere around him, and even the civilian clothes were also worn with a noble flavor. Father-in-law Liu, who followed behind, also changed his outfit in a low-key manner, pretending to be an old servant.

Tonight, he had a whim, and when he went out of the palace to take a look, he had a trace of luxury in his heart to meet her in the crowd of lantern admirers.

Now she was standing on the bridge a few feet away, but there was an extra delicate boy beside her. Seeing her smiling and smiling, he was inexplicably stunned.

I hope that the person standing by her side at this moment is herself.

Gonggong Liu didn't understand why the master stopped, standing in the endless crowd, which was even more abrupt. He followed the master's gaze and saw a pair of jade figures on the bridge, and then he was surprised.

How long they stood on the bridge, how long Mu Churan watched under the bridge.

After Xiao He and the others crossed the bridge and continued along the bluestone road on the other side of the river, Mu Churan turned around, and Gonggong Liu hurriedly followed up.

Mu Churan didn't say much on weekdays, but now he is becoming more and more silent. Gonggong Liu only said that the master was in pain and fruitless, and the difference between him and Lord Xiao was not only the difference between the monarch and the minister, but also the obstacle of morality, and he couldn't help but feel sorry for the master.

Mu Churan turned back to the main street, originally out of the palace to relax, but who knew that the mood was getting worse and worse, and the figure in his mind lingered.

Just as he was pacing along the crowd in a somewhat dazed manner, he heard someone shouting in the diagonal, "Brother Chu Ran! At this voice, Mu Churan's brows jumped uncontrollably, and following the prestige, Duan Shengyi waved desperately to herself from afar, and it was Duan Heng standing beside her.

Duan Heng also saw Mu Churan, if it weren't for his sister's good eyesight, he wouldn't have seen Mu Churan come out of the palace to enjoy the lanterns.

These brothers and sisters fell in Mu Churan's eyes, and their movement and stillness were also stark contrasts.

Anyway, he went over to talk to them, at least for Duan Heng's sake. Duan Shengyi's eyes full of peach blossoms were ignored by him.

Suzaku Street was originally a road leading directly to the city gate and the palace gate, but it was specially widened by the order of the first emperor, and it was originally possible to carry four carriages in parallel, but now it can be accompanied by eight carriages. But today's lantern festival is crowded, and no matter how wide the road is, it seems crowded.

They stood by a lantern stall on the side of the street and chatted casually.

Duan Heng proposed to have a drink for a long time, and he had already sent a servant to charter an upstairs private room, which could have a bird's-eye view of the night in the city.

"Go, go." Duan Shengyi shook Mu Churan's sleeve on the side, expecting that he would not get angry on the street, so he was a little wanton. Duan Heng coughed dryly twice, as if she hadn't heard it.

Mu Churan silently pulled back his sleeve from her hand, and replied, "Then go sit down for a while." ”

They were about to turn and walk in the direction of a long time, but they heard the sound of horses' hooves approaching from a distance, and the sound was turbulent.

I don't know who is so bold and riding a horse in the middle of the city. The people in front of them hurriedly made way for an empty passage to pass. The man on the horse roared out of the way as he whipped up.

Suddenly, someone in the middle of the road walked out, unaware of the danger. He looked like he was no more than a year old, and he had just learned to walk, and his small body swayed to the middle of the road.

Mu Churan and the others were standing a little farther away from there, although their hearts were moved, but it was really difficult to save the fire from far away, so they couldn't help but hope that someone nearby could make a move. Seeing that the man's horse's hooves were getting closer and closer, no one stepped forward to carry the little boy back.

The man on the horse also saw the child in the middle of the road, but he could no longer restrain himself, and could only shout with his whip in order to scare the child away.

The child turned his head and saw the tall horse approaching, and he was really frightened, but he was also motionless and stunned.

At the last moment, a white shadow flashed from the side of the road to the middle, holding the little boy and turning over to get out of danger. The man on the horse glanced sideways, then continued to ride his horse away.

Duan Shengyi was also frightened when she saw this scene, and patted her chest and said, "It's okay, thanks to someone making a move, otherwise that kid would ......" When she spoke, she couldn't help but look at the white clothes over there, but saw a familiar side face.

Unexpectedly, this time, Duan Heng saw it before his sister, and waved his hand, "Xiao He!" This way! ”

Xiao He saw the child in the middle of the road, and with the first aid person, he flew out to save the child and sent him to the side of the road, asking someone to find his parents. I heard Duan Heng's voice not far away, shouting that the whole street knew her name.

She turned her head to look over angrily, but beside Duan Heng, she saw Mu Churan with an indifferent expression. She hesitated for a moment, then walked in the opposite direction. As soon as Duan Heng saw that she didn't look back, but instead screamed and walked away, he pulled his feet and chased after her, not forgetting to tell his sister to take Mu Churan to wait for a long time.

Mu Churan also saw Xiao He glance at him, and then turned around and left, which meant too obvious.

Is she deliberately avoiding me? He couldn't help laughing, am I worse than a tiger? After laughing, I was infinitely sad.

Duan Shengyi was a little unhappy when he saw his brother chasing Xiao He, but when he saw that he was now alone with Mu Churan, he regained his face, raised his head and said to Mu Churan: "Brother Churan, why don't we go over first." ”

There was still a residual smile on Mu Churan's face, which made Duan Shengyi see it, and he was even more surprised in his heart. Why is he so happy, is he also looking forward to being alone with me?

Duan Heng took a lot of effort to intercept Xiao He and pulled his sleeve, "Brother Xiao, why did you run away when you saw me?" ”

Xiao He glanced back at him and threw off his sleeves, "I don't know which eye of the prince saw me running?" ”

Duan Heng stretched out two fingers and gestured on his face, and replied solemnly, "It's these two." ”

"I'll go talk to my family and I'll come back to you." Xiao He explained, a little helpless.

This is half-true, she really wants to explain to Xiaoshan and ask him to go back first, as for going back, maybe she will find Duan Heng, unless there is no more Mu Churan by his side.