Chapter 306 Something's wrong, very wrong.

Although the city of Bianjing was still arresting rebels, it could not stop the people from celebrating the Lantern Festival.

On the Lantern Festival, Bianjing is a city that never sleeps, with its sky ablaze with lights and fireworks.

Wang Tongyun had invited Li Nanke to go out and see the lanterns a few days ago.

Along the banks of the Bian River, the hustle and bustle of people, the melodious sounds of traditional Chinese string and wind instruments, and the shouts of vendors, along with the thousands of lanterns of varying heights and dazzling lights, all combine to create a warm and intoxicating atmosphere.

Two little girls held hands, watching the lanterns and eating candied fruit.

Wang Tongyun pointed excitedly ahead.

"Ke'er, there are riddle-solving games ahead. Let's go and take a look."

Li Nanke was pulled forward by her, and when he looked up, he saw Shen Cong leading a group of imperial guards over.

Today, Shen Cong is wearing the silver armor of the Imperial Guard, the layers of armor plates gleaming under the lamplight.

Although his face was still pale, his figure was more upright than usual.

The moment their eyes met, Li Nanke waved.

He silently shouted two words: Be careful.

Shen Cong seemed to understand her lip movements, and he smiled slightly and nodded.

He strode towards the city gate.

They had discussed it yesterday, and tonight would be the best time for Prince Chen and his entourage to leave the capital smoothly.

Therefore, heavy troops were secretly deployed at all four city gates tonight to strictly check anyone leaving the city!

"Ke'er, look at that lamp!"

Wang Tongyun suddenly tugged at her, excitedly standing on tiptoe and pointing to a huge revolving palace lantern high up.

Li Nanke looked in the direction she pointed and saw that the lantern was painted with a lifelike picture of the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, which was slowly spinning as the internal mechanism turned.

It is exquisite.

"He Xiangu's lotus flowers can glow!"

She couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

Wang Tongyun was so engrossed in watching that she forgot about the riddles and followed the colorful lanterns forward.

The huge colorful lantern was surrounded by people, shoulder to shoulder.

Around the colorful lanterns, there are two bright and beautiful dancers on each of the four sides, corresponding to the east, south, west, and north.

Even in the cold winter, the dancers wore only a thin layer of gauze, their faces covered with white veils, and each carried a lantern in their hands.

The lanterns are decorated with exquisite patterns and are shimmering with light.

The dancers moved gracefully to the beat of the drummer beside them, captivating the audience.

"What an exquisite lamp!"

"I haven't seen such beautiful lights in years."

"I think that dancer has such a graceful figure. I wonder where they found such a beautiful girl."

More and more people gathered from all around, and the crowd grew increasingly dense.

Even though the servants they brought tried their best to protect her, Li Nanke was still pushed out of the crowd.

He fell heavily to the ground in front of the colorful lights, his elbow hitting the ground first, and a piercing pain shot up his arm.

Hiss~

She gasped, but then she caught a whiff of a strange fragrance.

Immediately afterwards, a pair of black boots reached out and almost stepped on her hand.

"Where did this kid come from? Get out of the way, or I'll step on you."

An impatient shout rang out from above.

He is the drummer responsible for playing the waist drum.

Li Nanke scrambled to his feet in a flurry, only to find himself lying in front of a dancer.

The strange fragrance emanated from the dancer, and beneath the fragrance, there was also a faint, pungent, sour smell.

Her nose was so itchy that she couldn't help but sneeze a series of sneezes.

Achoo! Achoo!...

There was no time to cover it up; all the sneezes were directed towards the dancer.

A look of disgust flashed in the dancer's eyes, and she subconsciously reached out and tugged at the hem of her skirt, taking two steps back.

The lantern he was holding in his other hand wobbled and fell from his grasp.

The dancer's expression changed.

Li Nanke stepped forward and caught the lantern.

To her surprise, the lantern was much heavier than she had imagined, and she almost dropped it again because she couldn't hold it up with one hand.

Li Nanke subconsciously gripped the lantern pole with both hands and then handed it to the dancer.

The dancer's eyes widened; she was clearly terrified.

Seeing the lantern handed to him by Li Nanke, he visibly relaxed and took it.

Li Nanke observed very carefully; when the lantern was handed to the dancer, her arm noticeably sank a little lower.

A hint of suspicion flashed in her eyes.

"girl."

"Ke'er".

Wang Tongyun and Zisu squeezed out from the crowd.

"Are you alright, young lady?"

Zisu pulled Li Nanke up and down, looking him over, her face turning pale with fright.

Li Nanke withdrew his gaze and shook his head slightly.

"I'm fine, don't worry, Sister Zisu."

As he spoke, he turned his head and looked at the colored lights again.

In the short time they were stunned, the colorful lanterns had already moved forward.

The crowd moved along with it.

Wang Tongyun tugged at her.

"Ke'er, what are you spacing out for? Were you hurt just now?"

Li Nanke shook his head, but he still felt that something was wrong.

"I wasn't injured; I was just looking at the lanterns in the dancers' hands."

Wang Tongyun peeked out on tiptoe, but quickly lost interest.

"You mean those lanterns? The paintings on them are a bit more elaborate, but otherwise they're nothing special."

"Isn't it just a regular bamboo lantern? I still think the lotus lantern that spins on top is prettier."

A sudden realization dawned on Li Nanke, and he finally understood what was wrong.

The lantern's weight is wrong!

Ordinary lanterns are made with bamboo frames and covered with thin Xuan paper, as thin as a cicada's wing.

The lanterns displayed during the Lantern Festival, in particular, are designed to be lightweight and exquisite.

But just now, the dancer couldn't even hold the lantern in her hand with just one hand.

Even that dancer clearly carried some weight.

She was a child, but the dancer was an adult!

Li Nanke stared at the colorful lights that had been moving a distance away, a slight thought stirring in his heart.

He took a step and ran forward.

She needs to confirm something.

"Hey, Ke'er!"

Seeing her run up like a gust of wind, Wang Tongyun stomped her feet and hurriedly chased after her.

Li Nanke slipped into the crowd and looked at the dancers in each of the four directions.

This time she looked even more carefully than before and noticed that when the four dancers were carrying lanterns and turning around, they would use one hand to slightly support the other elbow.

That's leveraging external forces.

So besides candles, there must be something else inside the lantern!

Li Nanke suddenly remembered that besides the strange fragrance he had smelled on the dancer, he had also vaguely smelled a pungent sour stench.

She couldn't help but feel surprised and uncertain.

What exactly is inside the lantern?

She then looked at the drummers who had landed next to the dancers; the row of drummers moved in perfect unison as they landed.

The gaze shifts downwards, landing on the drummers' boots.

In a flash, she realized exactly what was wrong!

"Ke'er, what are you looking at?"

Wang Tongyun ran over breathlessly, grabbed her, and then exclaimed in surprise.

"Ke'er, are you alright? Why are you so pale? What happened?"

Something big has happened!

Li Nanke grabbed Wang Tongyun's hand with his backhand, his voice urgent.

"Tongyun, I need your help with something urgent!"

After saying that, she leaned close to Wang Tongyun's ear and quickly whispered a few words.

Wang Tongyun screamed in surprise.

"What? You said there's... here?"