Lunar New Year's eve

Laba, Ganjiu, New Year's Eve

Perhaps to welcome the arrival of the New Year, the streets are bustling with rows of red lanterns hanging.

On the evening of New Year's Eve, Lin Yan invited Mrs. Zhou to his house, set up a banquet, and had a reunion dinner together.

Unfortunately, Lin Yi and Song Yizhou were not at home. According to the custom, the palace would hold a grand banquet on New Year's Eve to entertain court officials, and these two were still trapped in the palace.

A group of people stood at the door with smiles on their faces. The year passed with the sound of firecrackers, and the spring breeze brought warmth to the wine.

After dinner, Zhou Ningning went back with Madam Zhou to stay up all night to celebrate the New Year. The dinner in the palace was coming to an end.

Lin Yi couldn't wait to leave the palace and rushed back to the mansion without stopping. Seeing Tang Yuelin sitting in the courtyard, he immediately went up to her and said affectionately: "Alin, the dinner in the palace is so boring. I wish I could fly over to find you."

Tang Yuelin blushed and pushed him away, "Sister is watching."

Unfortunately, Lin Yi is thick-skinned and has no sense of shame.

Looking at Song Yizhou behind Lin Yi, Lin Yan was surprised, "Why are you here?"

Song Yizhou randomly found a stone block to sit on and "stay up all night with you."

"Shame on you. Are you accompanying my sister or is my sister accompanying you?" Lin Yi rolled his eyes.

Song Yizhou pretended not to hear him and asked Lin Yan: "Is there any wine in your house?"

Lin Yan said in tacit understanding: "That's exactly what I meant."

After saying that, he took a few jars of wine and flew onto the roof with his internal energy, followed closely by Song Yizhou.

Looking at the two people who completely ignored him, Lin Yi clicked his tongue. It just so happened that he just wanted to be with Arlene.

Tang Yuelin pointed at the two people on the roof and asked, "Them two."

"That guy Song Yizhou covets my elder sister, but unfortunately, my elder sister seems to have a heart of stone and it is difficult for her to be moved by others.

"Ajie hasn't said who she loves in all these years. I'm afraid there's no hope for Song Yizhou. Ajie is like an iron tree, I wonder who can make her bloom." Lin Yi mourned for Song Yizhou for a moment.

Thinking of the look in Lin Yan's eyes when he heard the news of Song Yizhou's death and wanted to kill Zhong Yuxi when he turned into a ghost in his previous life, Tang Yuelin said, "I think it will be soon."

"Hmm what's coming soon?"

Tang Yuelin smiled faintly and said nothing.

During the first month of the year, Zhou Ningning accompanied Mrs. Zhou to visit relatives and friends, and Lin Yi also had to accompany Tang Yuelin to a relative's house to keep an appointment.

What Lin Yan didn't expect was that Xiao Yue invited her to visit her house, and she accepted without thinking.

At the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion, Xiao Yue prepared a sumptuous banquet to welcome Lin Yan's arrival.

There were only Xiao Yue and her mother Gu in the mansion. Lin Yan wondered, "Where is your brother?"

Xiao Yue complained: "My brother had something to do in the military camp, so he left early in the morning. He even had to go to the military camp during the New Year."

"Let's not talk about her. Today I want to thank Master Lin. If it weren't for you, I would still be suppressed by the Qu family. And my mother,

"I've gotten much better since I last saw you," Xiao Yue said. Ah Zhu later told her about the accident.

"It's a coincidence!" Lin Yan was surprised. "Do I have the ability to make people's illnesses heal as soon as I see them?"

"Really, the nanny next to my mother said that my mother has fewer nightmares after seeing you," Xiao Yue said seriously.

"Maybe I am more pleasing to your mother's eyes," Lin Yan said with a smile.

"I think so too. When I first saw Master Lin, I felt that you were very much my type," Xiao Yue agreed.

Coincidentally, Mrs. Gu was supported and walked over. She looked much better than when Lin Yan saw her that day.

But unexpectedly, as soon as Mrs. Gu came up, she grabbed Lin Yan's hand and called him "Yan'er".

The nanny beside her also said in panic: "Miss Lin, I'm sorry, I have explained to Madam many times, but I didn't expect that she would still be like this when she saw you."

Lin Yan stood up and helped Mrs. Gu sit down, "It's okay, just admit your mistake."

On that occasion, Zhou Ningning took the opportunity to check Mrs. Gu's pulse. Aning said that the pulse was a little weak, but Mrs. Gu's condition was not due to poor health, but rather a mental illness.

"Have you really lost your elder sister?" This was the first time Lin Yan asked about Xiao Yue's elder sister.

Xiao Yue curled the corners of her mouth and said, "We have been looking for her for more than ten years and still can't find her. Maybe my sister is no longer in this world."

Lin Yan patted Xiao Yue's shoulder to comfort her.

Mrs. Gu, who was standing by, picked up the dish and put it into Lin Yan's bowl, "Yan'er, eat."

Lin Yan smiled and picked up a piece of food with chopsticks, "You eat too."

The nanny watching from the side was surprised by this scene. It was very difficult for the lady to get her to eat on weekdays, but she didn't expect that she would be so obedient when Miss Lin was here.

After the meal, Lin Yan was about to leave when Mrs. Gu pulled him aside. She put a red rope in Lin Yan's hand and another red rope in Xiao Yue's hand, and said with a smile, "Be safe."

Mrs. Gu looked like a normal person at this moment. There was no sign of anything wrong with her. Of course, that was on the premise that she didn't call Lin Yan her daughter's name.

Xiao Yue couldn't help but tear up and hugged her mother, "Mom, I'm safe too. I hope you get better soon."

When Mrs. Gu pulled up Xiao Yue's sleeve, Lin Yan saw the half-exposed bracelet with the word "Yue" written on it. Something seemed to flash through her mind, but it quickly disappeared.

However, she did not think much about it and left the house after saying goodbye to Xiao Yue. The nanny beside Mrs. Gu volunteered to escort Lin Yan out of the house and said on the way: "Miss Lin, I want to ask you a favor."

Lin Yan: "What's the matter? I will do my best to help if I can."

"I would like to ask Miss Lin to come to my house more often to accompany my wife. You always make her calm when you are with her."

Lin Yan was puzzled, "Isn't Madam Gu like this on weekdays?" She thought that Madam Gu's sudden rush that time was an accident, and today was her usual behavior.

The nanny shook her head and wiped away her tears. "Mrs. Gu usually loses control of her emotions and wants to find the second young lady. We can't stop her, but when Miss Lin comes, she calms down."

"If you were the second young lady, you would..." The nanny knew that she had said something wrong and immediately fell silent, forcing a smile at the corner of her mouth, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that."

Lin Yan smiled and didn't care much, and said jokingly: "I wish I was A Yue's biological sister, but unfortunately I have parents who gave birth to me, so I have no fate with your family."

In the end, Lin Yan agreed to the nanny's request and said that he would come to accompany Mrs. Gu when he was free.

The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the Lantern Festival.

At night, a group of people went out to watch the lantern festival. There were dragon dancing and fire-breathing on the streets. Zhou Ningning, Song Xi and others had so much fun that they forgot everything else.

Whenever Song Jing and Aning were present at the same time, Lin Yan would always be subconsciously alert, worried that something might happen between them.

However, seeing that the two did not seem to be familiar with each other, Lin Yan felt relieved and went with them to play.

Lin Yan himself didn't realize that the look in his eyes when he stared at Song Jing was a little dangerous, so much so that Song Jing felt a chill down his spine and didn't dare to move at all.

Song Yizhou, who had been watching Lin Yan, was naturally unhappy when he saw this, and pulled Lin Yan to the pitching pot game in front. Lin Yan was naturally attracted by it. She was not good at guessing riddles, but pitching pot game was not difficult.

Feeling that the gaze behind him had disappeared, Song Jing breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly went up to Zhou Ningning and the others. Seeing that they were going to guess riddles, he volunteered to go up.

In the end, they got all the lamps they wanted, and the shopkeeper's face turned green.

Several people took the lanterns they wanted. Song Jing gave the remaining lanterns to the shopkeeper and handed the winner's lantern to Zhou Ningning, "I won the lantern you wanted on the Qiqiao Festival, so this lantern is for you today."

Zhou Ningning took it with a smile and said, "Thank you."

The shopkeeper watched with a smile on his face, not knowing whether he was happy that his lamp had returned, or was just happy looking at this handsome and beautiful couple.

If Lin Yan was here, he would probably take Zhou Ningning away directly. After guarding for so long, he was still taken advantage of.

"There are some beautiful earrings here, come quickly!" Song Xi called out.

Zhou Ningning hurried over, took a look, and held one of the earrings against her ear, "Does it look good?"

Song Xi: “It looks good!”

"Boss, check out," Zhou Ningning said decisively.

Song Jing handed the silver to the shopkeeper and turned around and said, "Let me do it."

Song Xi only then noticed her brother who seemed to have little presence, "Cousin, we are shopping, why are you joining in the fun?"

Regarding the imperial sister who turned her back on him after leaving the palace, Song Jing said helplessly: "Look, is there anyone behind you? What if you encounter danger?"

"Isn't there Sister A'an? Where is she?" Song Xi finally reacted and prepared to go look for her, "How come they got separated from us?"

Song Jing pulled his good sister and said, "If you don't want to be killed by the emperor's uncle's eyes, just go. He would rather us, a bunch of burdens, are not around."

Zhou Ningning looked gossipy and said, "You also know Brother Xie and Sister Xie..."

Song Jing: "Even a blind person can see it."

Blind Song Xi blinked his eyes: “…”

"It's a pity that my sister doesn't have the mind to do so. Let's observe a moment of silence for Brother Xie," Zhou Ningning sighed.

After Lin Yan finished throwing the pot, he found that everyone had left and was puzzled: "How come everyone is gone in the blink of an eye?"

"Lin Yi has been running away with Miss Tang since the beginning. Those little brats might have been having too much fun and ran away. Don't worry, they will be safe as long as A Jing is here." Song Yizhou felt that those little brats were finally useful and would not come to disturb them.

But there was an uninvited guest, Song Xuan.

Seeing Song Xuan, Lin Yan was surprised, "Chen Yu, what a coincidence, you are here to visit the lantern festival too."

"You're free, so why not come out for a walk and have a drink together?" Song Xuan invited.

"Okay, wait until I find the kids who came with us and we go to the restaurant for dinner."

Song Xuan pointed to the distance and said, "They are there."

A group of people came to the restaurant together. Lin Yan saw something in the middle of the way and suddenly said that she had something to do and asked them to go eat by themselves. If they didn't wait for her, she would go home first and left immediately.

Everyone was obviously used to seeing Lin Yan like this. They didn't ask any questions and just told him to be careful.

In the restaurant's side room, Song Jing looked back and forth between Song Xuan and Song Yizhou, and thought to himself, "The emperor's uncle is in danger."

Now that Lin Yan is gone, Song Yizhou doesn't even bother pretending and is too lazy to be nice to Song Xuan.

Song Xuan sat next to Song Yizhou, handed him the jar of wine, and said with a smile: "Would you like to drink?"

Song Yizhou hesitated for a moment, feeling that the other party didn't have any good intentions.

The others were eating happily and no one was looking at the two people here. Song Xuan took a sip of wine and said, "I like A'an."

Song Yizhou was surprised, but he was not surprised that Song Xuan liked A'an, but he was surprised why he mentioned this to him.

"I know you like Ah Yan too." Song Xuan recalled the scene when he confessed his feelings to Lin Yan, and suddenly felt that he was quite bold, unlike Song Yizhou who did not dare to say it out loud.

Song Yizhou frowned and looked at him, "What do you want to say?"

"Ayan knows that I like her. I expressed my feelings to her a few years ago."

Song Yizhou's eyebrows jumped, "Ayan refused..."

"Yes, he rejected me," Song Xuan smiled bitterly, then mocked Song Yizhou: "Although I have to admit that A'an may prefer someone like you, but you are really timid."

"You said Ah Yan likes someone like me." Song Qing ignored what Song Xuan said later and only cared about the first sentence.

"I don't know." Song Xuan did not continue the topic.

He remembered a time when Lin Yan was drinking with him and he muttered "Azhou" under his breath. At that time, he didn't understand what Azhou stood for. Now Song Xuan knew that this person was Song Yizhou.

To be honest, Song Xuan was jealous. He was jealous of the years that Song Yizhou spent with Lin Yan. If he had been there during those years, would he be the person in Lin Yan's heart today?

But Song Xuanyou felt that he had lost sincerely. If he were Song Yizhou, he would have fought desperately in the imperial city and struggled hard in the vortex of power, and yet he could still be so bright and clear.

Besides, it was him who caused Song Yizhou to be imprisoned. If he had not left the capital and escaped, but had taken the initiative to track down the murderers, perhaps the Queen Mother would have been caught and the current situation would not have happened.

Song Yizhou is a gentleman, but he is not.