On the east side of the Forbidden City, on the bank of the Jade River and outside the East Emperor Wall, there is a city gate with seven three-door yellow glazed single eaves resting on the top of the mountain, which is Dong'an Gate; The light market is outside Dong'anmen. The lamp market is crowded with people, the lights are brilliant, "the east wind blooms thousands of trees at night, and the stars are blown down like rain...... A night of fish and dragon dance. The description of this phrase is also suitable for the Ming Dynasty.

However, compared with the Song Dynasty, the lamp market at this time has completely become a commercial activity. As long as there are business opportunities and opportunities to make money, everyone will sharpen their heads and mix. The lamp market in the Song Dynasty was more of a government act, in order to set off the peace and prosperity, there was also the government Yin to do the lamp market stall owners lamp money and oil money, to encourage them, called "buying the market"; At this time in the Ming Dynasty, the government naturally would not give money, and had to collect taxes, because the lamp market was very profitable.

There are merchants from all over the country, and even merchants from neighboring countries, such as Korea, Japan, and Nanyang countries, who will also get some rare lanterns in order to sell them at a good price. The rents and restaurants around the Lantern Market will skyrocket several times during the days of the Lantern Festival.

Zhang Wen and his entourage played and watched in the lamp market, full of dazzling colors, and they were dizzying. And Xuan Yue's current job is to ensure Zhang Wen's safety, and she has to be vigilant at all times, she is not very at ease with the soap catch in the lamp market.

The group talked and continued shopping. There are temporary stalls in the light market, and there are also shops on both sides that also operate lanterns, and there are also those residences that also take the opportunity to operate lanterns, which is both profitable and lively.

In order to make business prosperous, people and merchants have competed to launch a variety of business methods, such as flute and sheng, singing and dancing, or dragon and lion dance, which is not lively; But the most common means is to guess the lantern riddle, which can not only be crowned with the elegance of meeting friends, but also can give some small gifts to the guests who guess the lantern riddle to attract tourists.

Zhang Wen himself is a literati, and what interests him the most is naturally the lantern riddle. He was looking left and right, ready to find a good style, go in and guess, and satisfy the sense of accomplishment. At this moment, Zhang Wen and the others walked to the outside of a private house, only to see the lights and shadows falling and the voices of people boiling. Zhang Wen looked near the door, only to see a young woman sitting on the bamboo chair of Xiangfei in front of the hall, many finely carved lanterns were hung under the eaves on both sides, and the puzzle of the red paper book was hung under the lantern, and the pen and ink Wenbao and Luopaxiang fan were tied with red ropes, which must have been used as a gift for answering the puzzle. And there are many exquisite lanterns for sale in the yard, which is what makes money.

Zhang Wen was overjoyed when he saw this, this courtyard is quiet and elegant, it can be seen that the owner is also a well-read person, and the person who presides over the lantern festival is a beautiful woman, and all kinds of conditions are suitable for Zhang Wen's taste. He stopped immediately and said, "Good wine cellar deep alley, such a place, there are good lanterns, let's go in and have a look." ”

The woman's sitting posture is very chic, chic is not the same as the women of ordinary people and eunuchs, the special thing is that she sits casually, her neck is very straight, as if she has specially practiced this kind of kung fu to express a slender jade neck. Zhang Wen only glanced at it twice, and felt that this woman was not a woman from an ordinary family, and he was very curious, that woman must have been married a long time ago, why would she show up alone?

There was a group of people around the woman, all of them old and young men, and I am afraid they were all going for the beautiful women. Those sons, some of them are pretending to be upright, and some of them have the color of Meng Lang, and their eyes can't stop glancing at the woman, like a vicious wolf who has not seen a woman for ten years.

Zhang Wen walked into the courtyard, first mixed with Xuan Yue and the others, and went to see the lanterns for sale.

When the maidservant girl in the courtyard saw a few new people, she came up to greet her, and Zhang Wen turned around to answer when she heard the sound. The maid saw Zhang Wen's face clearly, and was stunned for a moment, then heard Zhang Wen smile and said, "Very handsome, isn't it?" ”

The servant girl nodded solemnly, and then withdrew.

A boy in a green silk robe next to him looked at Zhang and asked, "Look at Brother Tai, who is handsome and good, you can go over there to guess two lantern riddles, show your talent, and maybe you can see the peerless beauty inside." The one outside, leave it to us. ”

Zhang Wen glanced curiously at the hall in the north and said, "Is there a better way to dare to love it, hidden in the house?" ”

Brother Gongzi smiled: "No, maybe she is looking at us people from behind the window." Brother, look, do the fellow Taoists under the eaves have something in common? ”

After hearing this, Zhang Wen looked at the people who were thinking about the lantern riddle under the eaves, and saw that they were all handsome, especially the expressions on their faces, and there were really similarities, so he said: "When you say this, I can really see that those people are all gentlemen who don't squint, and that's called a heroic and righteous person." ”

Brother Gongzi smiled: "If it was really heroic and upright, I wouldn't have come here to tease Mei Jiaoniang." But this also shows a point, the taste of the beautiful woman in the house is obviously a little higher than the one in the yard, not only to choose the appearance, but also to choose the grade. ”

Zhang Wen shook his head when he heard this, and pointed to the colleagues around him with Meng Lang's anxious expressions and smiled: "In my opinion, the people on our side should be more straightforward. ”

Zhang Wen and the green-robed boy both wore robes and self-described literati, Meng Lang returned to Meng Lang, but this communication etiquette was ridiculous, and the green-robed boy brother also hurriedly returned a salute.

As for fighting for women, it is unnecessary to make your face red; The people who come here are probably some wealthy, and there is no shortage of women, but it is just a pastime.

Just now beckoned Zhang Wen The maid had walked to the woman sitting on the bamboo chair and whispered something next to the woman, and the woman immediately looked at Zhang Wen. After a while, the maidservant girl walked up to Zhang Wen again and said, "My master has invited this son to talk about it, I don't know if it's convenient?" ”

Zhang Wen was a little curious about the woman behind the scenes, so he followed.

After entering the house, Zhang Wen was about to make a salute, but he heard the woman say, "Son, don't be polite, please take a seat." Fang Cai Xiaonu said that this son is very talented and learned, and there are a few riddles in the concubine's body, if the son has Yaxing, guess one or two? ”

Zhang Wen said: "Xiaosheng is better to be respectful than to obey his fate, so that the girl will smile." ”

When the woman saw Zhang Wen, her face was printed with two blush under the lamp, and her expression was shy, and when she peeked at Zhang Wen, her eyebrows were flirtatious.

When everyone in the courtyard saw the woman's expression, they asked with envy, and left one after another, but there was no play, and it was boring to stay; But the sons who are playing under the eaves and sometimes have two lines of poetry are still coveting the beauties in the house, wanting to see what they look like.

The plump woman sitting on the bamboo chair of the Xiangfei Concubine picked up a lantern with her white and tender fingers like shallots, handed it to the maidservant, and asked the maid to send it over.

The woman said, "Childe, just guess this." ”

Zhang Wen took the lantern and glanced at the Luopa tied with a red thread below, which was also fragrant. He looked at the riddle written on the red paper, and saw that it read: I can't see, I can't hear, I'm unconscious, I'm confused; Guess a quatrain.

Zhang asked to see that he was happy, he guessed the lantern riddle, and immediately said: "Outside the mountain, Qingshan Building, Wailou (can't see), when will the West Lake sing and dance be closed (can't listen); The warm wind made the tourists drunk (unconscious), and Hangzhou was Bianzhou (confused). Yes and no? ”

The woman nodded with a smile: "Childe's quick thinking is admirable." This poem was originally a work of worrying about the country and the people, but my Ming Dynasty is different from the Song Dynasty, not only the homeland is thousands of miles, but also expands the territory and looks down on all countries, such a poem can only be a lantern riddle at this time. ”

Zhang Wen was a little surprised when he heard this woman's atmosphere, and he was even more curious about the identity of this woman, but he didn't know what identity matched her image. After listening to the woman's explanation of this poem, Zhang Wen couldn't help but glance at the sky and sighed: "There is a snowstorm hidden in the sunny day." ”

There are some words about state affairs, but it is inconvenient for Zhang Wen to say them explicitly, so it is just a hint of this sentence. The woman was surprised when she heard this, and she was probably also a little curious about Zhang Wen's identity, so she couldn't help but say: "The son is handsome in appearance, but he doesn't have the fat powder of a rich child, and he faintly reveals a murderous ......."

At this moment, I heard the maidservant cry out: "Ah, it's snowing." ”

Zhang Wen smiled: "It seems that I really guessed what I said." ”

The woman on the bamboo chair stood up, made a blessing, and said to the people, "It's snowing, and the lamps in the courtyard are stained with snowflakes, and when they are roasted by the heat, they will be soaked." That's all for tonight, Yaxing who disturbed everyone, the concubine is here to apologize. ”

A few maidservants were busy putting the lanterns in the yard into the house, and the young masters left happily. But the woman left Zhang Wen, and said that the words were speculative, please come to the hall to speak.

Zhang Wen turned to Xuan Yue and the others and said, "It's not early, just stay with Xuan Yue, and the others go back first." ”

The plump woman brought Zhang Wen and Xuan Yue into the hall, which was an ordinary and almost humble house. If you want to say that the courtyard outside is too simple, it is easy to say, because many rich families are very low-key and do not want to show off, so the first time to enter the courtyard is poorly furnished does not mean anything; But the furnishings in the hall were too rudimentary, and what was even more outrageous was that there was a broken wheel of a wheelbarrow in the corner.

Zhang Wen looked at the woman again, and saw that she was dressed in a Luo skirt, with a jade belt and jade ornaments, and her complexion was so white and tender that she was spotless, how she looked like a person in brocade clothes and jade food, but she was incompatible with this courtyard. I'm afraid this courtyard is not her home, Zhang Wen made this judgment.

The woman asked someone to serve tea to entertain Zhang Wen and Xuanyue, and then gave a salute and said: "The slave family will come when they go, please taste the tea first." With that, he walked in through the back door of the hall.

Xuan Yue glanced at the teacup in front of her and shook her head gently at Zhang Wen. Zhang asked Huiyi, in general, this family is not a big problem, but the heart of defense is indispensable, and he doesn't want to eat and drink this stranger's things.

After a while, the woman came in from behind the hall and said, "My master invites the son to appreciate his face and come in to see it." Zhang Wen suddenly remembered the peerless beauty that the people outside said before, and he was also looking forward to it, so he didn't refuse.

Xuan Yue was about to go in with Zhang Wen, but the woman said: "My master is inconvenient, I just want to see this son, please stay with the girl." ”

Zhang Wen turned around and said, "Wait for me here, it's nothing." ”

Zhang Wen then walked with the woman into the backyard and into a women's room on the north side. Zhang Wen entered the room, and the inside was still very poorly furnished, but on the wooden bed in the southwest corner, there was a new thick quilt and a silk mantle, which looked very abrupt.

There were two smokeless braziers burning in the room, not even a clay of incense, and a woman sat on the soft collapse to the north. Zhang Wen looked at the woman, she was a beautiful woman in her thirties, her body was evenly plump, her white and red goose egg face, and a pair of single eyelids made her look even more charming. The beautiful woman was very rude, and when she saw the man, she didn't stand up and salute, but still crooked on the soft floor, giving people the feeling that Zhang Wen had something to ask her. His expression was also extremely bold and arrogant, and he squinted his eyes at Zhang Wen.

Zhang Wen felt strange in his heart, turned around and left.