Chapter 62

The 15th of the first month, Shangyuan Festival.

Since the 13th, the city has been burning lights all night. On the 15th day, the lights are as bright as a river and the city is full of excitement.

Xuande gate set up a lamp shed early. On the 15th, the emperor and his concubines will come to Xuande gate. It is a famous event in the whole city. Xuande gate is the dividing line between the palace city and the inner city. It is said to be a gate. In fact, it is a towering city wall. There are watchtowers in the East and the West. The city wall and the palace wall behind it form a continuum, separated by two worlds inside and outside.

Xuande gate is the first gate of the Imperial Palace, which is just like the face of the emperor. Therefore, Xuande gate is extremely tall. Standing on it, you can overlook the whole city.

The wall of Xuande gate and the left and right towers form a flat and wide square. In addition to the high status of Xuande gate, the great rites of the imperial court and the Daqing ceremony are all located here. The barrier, canopy and throne on the city wall have been prepared long ago. Now the time is approaching. Eunuchs and maids from Xuande gate come and go, and they are busy doing the final inspection.

In the daytime, Mu Mingtang left for a banquet in the palace. The emperor held a banquet in the former dynasty, and the empress invited all the women's family members. When the lights came on, the empress took many women's family members with her to the city tower.

Shangyuan is one of the best events in the whole year. It's especially rare for women to enjoy themselves. With the emperor's mercy, all the imperial concubines in the harem could go to the city tower to watch the lights. They didn't know how long they had been looking forward to this day.

The city tower is now covered with colorful clothes. The officialdom in front of Xuande gate was full of people, all looking up at the tower. I don't know when, the eunuch palace people on the city tower ran frequently. After a while, suddenly the drum was loud, and it was rumored everywhere that "officials are coming".

The people gathered in the square, word of mouth, I do not know whether it is true or not, the major groups rushed to perform their acrobatics. When Mu Mingtang followed the empress and others to the gate, he saw that the lights were blazing, the gongs and drums were noisy, and the excitement was better than the noise.

Now Mu Mingtang is sure that she really came from a small place. She had never seen such a spectacle.

After the emperor took the crowd to the city building, the atmosphere of the downstairs exploded, and the shouts of long live came one after another. In fact, the tower is so high, and now it's dark again. The people under the gate can't see the faces of the people above. They can only see the gathering of attendants above, and there are many gorgeous women's relatives who look like fairy concubines. Even if people can't see them, they can guess that they are the empresses such as the emperor and the empress. They are greatly inspired and elated.

Mu Mingtang stood beside the queen, with a wonderful perspective. He saw a lot of restaurants and colorful lanterns in the city. The lights flow into a river, just like the Milky way falling nine days. From time to time, the Kongming lamp rises, just like to introduce the lights of the world into the sky. It is very magnificent.

Mu Mingtang was deeply shocked. On Shangyuan day, because the emperor came in person, the most famous troupe and craftsmen in the city gathered in Xuande gate square. The talented people downstairs showed their magic power, and the patterns were so frequent that people could hardly see them.

Seeing that Mu Mingtang was looking at the lamp downstairs, the queen asked with a smile, "Princess an is so attentive, but do you like the excitement?"

The aristocratic women on the city tower are not 100, but there are 80. However, the empress speaks to Mu Mingtang in such a close tone that many people immediately look to Mu Mingtang. Mu Mingtang also did not hide, nodded and admitted: "yes, this is the first time that my wife has ever seen such a prosperous city in Beijing."

The client admitted that it was not easy for others to play. The queen also laughed and said, "we haven't seen the lamp outside for many years. We don't know that there are so many tricks now. This year's Lantern Festival is very lively, and Princess an just takes this opportunity to enjoy it. "

"Thank you, empress." Mu Mingtang nodded. The queen wanted to appease Prince an's house in front of the public. She spoke very softly with Mu Mingtang and pointed out the colored lights downstairs. Jiang Mingwei also stood not far away, watching her mother-in-law, who was always critical of her, face Mu Mingtang like a different person, and her heart was extremely complicated.

It's ironic that the queen asked Jiang Mingwei to be simple and humble, not to wear expensive skirts, but to give him a reward. Mu Mingtang spent a lot of money. The queen was very critical of Jiang Mingwei, asking her to be beautiful, generous, virtuous and polite. She also asked her to be humble and introspective, not to be arrogant or jealous, to save and not to spend money. However, she was gentle and tolerant, even Mu Mingtang had never seen the capital They all pointed out to Mu Mingtang one by one.

Not far away, for example, now, Jiang Mingwei has been standing here for so long, but the queen has never asked and given a look. The contrast between the two sides really makes people hate.

The more Jiang Mingwei thinks about it, the worse she feels. As a princess, no matter what occasion, as long as Mu Mingtang is there, Jiang Mingwei has to step back and play a supporting role. What's more, everyone let her endure and make her humble, as if it was natural for her to avoid mumingtang.

Hell, if Jiang Mingwei had not read books in her previous life, she would have thought Mu Mingtang was the leading role. Jiang Mingwei thought of what would happen in a moment, took a deep breath, and kept telling herself that there would be great changes in the future. The fortunes of her and Xie Xuanji would soar from today on. It's not worth worrying with the cannon fodder of a villain.She is the one who knows the Pearl and marries the son of destiny. Now, Mu Mingtang is just the last Carnival before falling.

With this thought, Jiang Mingwei gradually recovered. She is now full of thoughts about the fire in the Forbidden Palace for a while. She has no mind to watch the performance downstairs. She even ignores others when they talk to her.

She has great things to do, how can she spare time to care about these minor supporting roles? Jiang Mingwei doesn't care whether she will offend others. Anyway, after today, she is the queen and Empress Dowager. What do these insignificant ladies think of her and what does it matter?

On the other hand, seeing the rise of the emperor and others, the eunuch offered a treasure and said, "report to the official family that today the folk made a dragon lantern specially for his Majesty's blessing. It's said that the dragon lantern is three feet high, painted with gold and floating with powder, and very gorgeous. Longan, in particular, is said to do the same work as longan. "

A nearby minister heard this and said, "Your Majesty is the real son of the dragon. The people offer dragon lanterns to celebrate. They really complement each other. I'm afraid no one in the world can hold down such a big dragon lantern except your majesty. "

When the eunuch heard this, he quickly promised, "isn't it? It's said that since the beginning of the Dragon formation, the workshops have been on fire frequently. The craftsmen who make lamps all say that their lives are too light to hold down the dragon. So this lamp has never been lit since it was made. I'm afraid it can only be lit safely in front of the officials. "

The empress heard it not far away and said with a smile, "it seems that I have been blessed by the officials. Today I can see the dragon lantern. I've never seen such a big lamp before. "

All of them were naturally in harmony. The emperor was cheered by all of them. He waved with a smile and said, "there is such a strange thing. I really want to see what kind of lamp is like a living dragon. Where's the light truck? "

The eunuch who offered the lantern was very happy and said, "I'm fighting for the lantern on the road. If the road is smooth, I'll send it to Xuande gate in Xu Shi and light the lantern in Hai Shi."

Doudeng is also a custom of Shangyuan Dynasty. Before Shangyuan Festival, the lantern carts have to report to the government. In the past three days, all kinds of Lantern carts will start from the streets and lanes. There are tricksters and jugglers standing on the lanterns. When two lanterns meet at each intersection, they have to doudeng. The government will have a special person to compare them at the road entrance. Only the winner can pass through, and the defeated lantern will go back home. On Shangyuan day, the streets and alleys are very busy. The closer the lights are to the center, the brighter and more wonderful. Only the chief can walk to Xuande gate square.

This dragon lantern from the city tail bucket lamp, you can imagine that you are very confident in yourself. When the emperor heard it, he laughed: "OK, there's a reward."

The city gate is full of laughter. When Mu Mingtang hears people boasting that the emperor is the real emperor, he feels uncomfortable. She quietly to see Xie xuanchen, see Xie xuanchen did not say, as if did not hear what people are saying.

Mu Mingtang pretends not to know. She is about to take back her eyes. Xie xuanchen doesn't know why she feels that she is looking at him. She looks in this direction.

Mu Mingtang shook his head, indicating that he was OK. Across the crowd, Xie xuanchen couldn't hear what Mu Mingtang was saying, so he went directly to his wife and asked, "what's the matter?"

Xie xuanchen comes over in front of the crowd, which embarrasses Mu Mingtang. She was too embarrassed to say that you heard me wrong. In fact, I didn't call you. I could only point to the small candy man stall downstairs in the city and say, "you see, that stall has a good business. He can make several kinds of candy man and use sugar silk to draw characters."

Xie xuanchen took a look at her finger, nodded at random, and said to the eunuch behind her: "go downstairs to buy a sugar man, and ask for the zodiac, monkey's

Mu Mingtang didn't expect Xie xuanchen to act so simply. She just casually said that he would let people buy it. You know, now they are on the upper floor of Xuande gate. It's only a few steps to go down to buy the sugar man. Among them, they have to go out of the palace, check the waist tag and pass the guard. The procedures are very complicated.

Mu Mingtang quickly grabbed Xie xuanchen's sleeve and said, "no, I'll have a look."

"What can you see from such a distance? A sugar man costs neither money nor trouble. Just like to buy it." Xie xuanchen was completely unmoved and said to the eunuch, "don't you go soon?"

The eunuch stealthily glances at these two masters. Now he gets Xie xuanchen's words. He is very clever and turns around. A eunuch went down, and many people followed him back: "what did he go out to do?"

"I don't know. It seems that I have taken the job of king an and went down to buy sugar people for Princess an."

All the people who heard this said with a tut in their hearts. It's just a sugar man. There are lots of people on the roadside. If you want to buy it on the street, you have to make a lot of trouble today? But who would make king an happy? The emperor and the queen didn't say anything. What did they say.

But acid, it's really acid.

After a while, the eunuch came back and courteously presented a clever monkey candy man to Mu Mingtang. Mu Mingtang said no before, but when he saw the cute sugar monkey, he immediately couldn't put it down and was not willing to eat it.

Mu Mingtang glances to both sides, and everyone is dressed and ready, but she holds a sugar man in her hand, which shows that she is not serious.

A little princess, who was held by Mammy, saw it and immediately yelled for sugar man. Her biological mother was very embarrassed when she heard that. She twisted the little princess in a hurry and let her be carried down.The concubine doesn't seem to be in favor. It's all because she gave birth to a princess. It doesn't look as gorgeous as Mu Mingtang. The concubine apologized to Mu Mingtang in fear: "Princess an is calm. The fifth princess is young and ignorant. She didn't mean to offend the princess."

Mu Mingtang still holds a sugar man in his hand. He looks young and pretty. He is very attractive to children. Mu Mingtang did not know when she had become such a terrible image in other people's eyes.

Mu Mingtang said in a warm voice, "no matter how old the fifth princess is, it's normal to like sugar. I haven't eaten this candy man. If the fifth Princess doesn't dislike it, take this one. "

The fifth princess's mother seemed hesitant. Her eyes were at a loss. She didn't know whether to take it or not. Mu Mingtang gave the things to the eunuch and sent them to the fifth princess. The concubine finally determined that Mu Mingtang was not being ironic. She really wanted to send things.

The concubine quickly and secretly looks at Xie xuanchen. Princess an transfers his gift to others in front of king an, but king an is not angry? Not only the concubine, but other people are also quietly watching. As a result, after watching for a long time, they find that Xie xuanchen really doesn't care and doesn't care at all.

The concubine was surprised. She even noticed the queen here with Yu Guang. The concubine responded and quickly took the fifth princess to thank Mu Mingtang.

How could Mu Mingtang care about children? In fact, she likes children very much. However, thinking of her identity, she decided not to add trouble to the mother and daughter who are not easy to watch, so she refrained from talking to the fifth princess.

After the storm, Mu Mingtang sighed with regret at the acrobatics and snacks under the tower. Xie xuanchen is right. What can you see from such a distance? It's interesting to be in the middle of such a grand gathering.

Xie xuanchen and Mu Mingtang have been together for such a long time, and they have known her little movements clearly. He saw Mu Mingtang peering at the bottom, clear, asked: "do you want to go down to see?"

Mu Mingtang was flattered to stare round his eyes: "is that ok?"

"As long as you like." Xie xuanchen simply explained, "you stand here and don't move. I'll be right back."

With that, Xie xuanchen went to say something to the emperor. The emperor was obviously very surprised to see Xie xuanchen, and then looked in the direction of Mu Mingtang. Finally, he nodded his head in a good temper, and Wensheng asked what. Look at the mouth shape. You should take more bodyguards and so on.

Mu Mingtang knew that it had already been done. When Xie xuanchen comes over, without opening his mouth, Mu Mingtang rushes over happily and naturally pulls Xie xuanchen's sleeve.

So they swaggered away from the tower, passed through many guards, and merged into the torrent outside.

Jiang Mingwei, other ministers and wives, and even the empress dowager, watched Mu Mingtang leave the palace happily and go shopping outside.

The fifth princess still had sugar dregs on her mouth. She pulled her mother's sleeve and asked, "mother, why can they go, but we can't?"

The concubines sighed silently and said in a low voice, "because they are king an and Princess an."

Standing on the tower, Jiang Mingwei watched with her own eyes the guards running quickly downstairs. At last, she drove away the common people, cleared a way for king an and Princess an, and escorted Xie xuanchen and Mu Mingtang away. People on both sides were surprised to see that they came down from the city tower. They rushed to see Mu Mingtang and Xie xuanchen. At last, they were roughly stopped by the guards. Before long, Mu Mingtang and Xie xuanchen went far away, and they could not find out when they mixed into the crowd.

Jiang Mingwei fixed her eyes on the direction of their departure. Another lady of the state saw it and sighed with her: "king an really connived at Princess an. It's like this on New Year's Eve, and it's still like this in Shangyuan today. King an's name is fierce. I didn't expect that he was so considerate in the name of the princess. "

Jiang Mingwei didn't want to reply. Fortunately, the lady of Guogong just sighed and didn't intend to hear Jiang Mingwei's reply. After the lady said that, she scattered by herself.

Jiang Mingwei looks far away. There are millions of people in Tokyo. Today, the whole city is out. The streets are crowded and crowded. All this seems so prosperous, but Jiang Mingwei knows that soon, a fire will overturn everything.

Jiang Mingwei can't help but be fascinated. Those foreign spies are obviously mixed in the crowd. Where are they?