Shen Wan and Xie Jingyan returned to Moyuxuan with the Empress Dowager's gifts.

The emperor's reward arrived the next day.

The rewards were given according to the list.

The Emperor bestowed upon Shen Wan a set of luxurious headdress, a pair of mutton-fat jade bracelets, a box of pearls, four bolts of Yun brocade, and four bolts of Shu brocade.

The gift given to Xie Jingyan was a set of writing implements and two calligraphy and painting works.

The reward for Doctor Tao was one hundred taels of gold, fifty acres of fertile land, a box of precious medicinal herbs, and ten bolts of silk and satin.

The Prince of Yanping, Tang Ze, and Yun Qi all received the same reward: a set of writing implements and a jade pendant.

However, what made Shen Wan happy was not the many rewards she received from the Emperor, since the Empress Dowager had given her even more. What made her happy was that the Empress Dowager was still feeling resentful. Even though the Empress Dowager had used her pardon to clear Xie Jingyin of his crime of murdering the eldest prince, the Emperor still demoted Xie Jingyin from Prince of Jin to Prince of the County, with the title of Jin'an, and also took back the fiefdom and estate given to Xie Jingyin.

From then on, Xie Jingyin was merely a prince without a fiefdom. This was only because the Empress Dowager and the Duke of Maoguo did not take advantage of his misfortune; otherwise, Xie Jingyin's situation would not have been as simple as being demoted.

...

A few days passed in the blink of an eye, and it was Princess Huyang's birthday.

Princess Huyang had no intention of holding a birthday banquet, so she specially requested the Emperor's permission to hold a lantern festival outside the palace. Princess Huyang was the Emperor's younger sister, born of the same mother, and the Emperor had always been accommodating to her requests. He granted her request without hesitation for such a small matter.

Normally, lantern festivals are only held a few times a year, so everyone is happy to have an extra one. We hope that Princess Huyang can have one every year.

A couple of years ago, Kyoto started to become lively, and there were many more lantern vendors on the streets.

Shen Wan was already more than seven months pregnant and had no plans to go to the lantern festival. In addition, the Emperor had specifically instructed her that even if she had a few extra lives, she wouldn't dare to let Xie Jingyan accompany her to stroll around the streets.

It's just that a certain prince, whether out of doting on his wife or out of rebellion, refused to let the emperor take Shen Wan out of the mansion to the lantern festival, so he simply held the lantern festival at the Ling Prince's mansion.

In particular, the Moyuxuan Pavilion was brightly decorated with lanterns of all styles, illuminating the night as if it were daytime.

Not only were there lanterns, but also various snacks were laid out on several tables. The maids no longer went out of the mansion to look at the lanterns; they all crowded into the Moyuxuan Pavilion, turning the quiet and elegant courtyard into a bustling market.

In the corridor, Shen Wan watched the maids and servants playing around. Xie Jingyan put his arm around her waist and said, "After the baby is born, on the day of the full moon celebration, I will ask the emperor to allow a lantern festival to be held outside the palace to make it more lively. Then I will take you out of the mansion to play."

Shen Wan said, "The baby is only a month old, so it's not convenient to take him out."

“Don’t take him,” Xie Jingyan said.

"..."

If the little prince, who was still playing with the umbilical cord in the womb, heard these words, his heart would surely sink.

He wasn't even born yet, and his parents were already planning to go on a trip without him.

Parents are true love, children are an accident.

Although the lantern festival inside the Prince's mansion was also lively, it certainly couldn't compare to the one outside. However, the sentiment behind it was precious, and Shen Wan was deeply moved. But Xie Jingyan didn't feel so good. He sneezed countless times throughout the night, so much so that Chen Feng was worried he would catch a cold and wanted to call Doctor Tao for him.

Xie Jingyan was greeted by a group of his good brothers. The Prince of Yanping and his brothers accompanied their wives or future wives to the lantern festival. When they heard that Shen Wan was pregnant and could not come to the lantern festival, a certain gentleman arranged for her to have a concubine in his mansion. Xie Jingyan immediately felt the pressure coming on.

When Prince Ling dotes on his princess, he completely disregards the lives of everyone else.

Especially their close brothers, who all say that birds of a feather flock together, and that one becomes like those one associates with. Their wives and parents-in-law have high hopes for them, believing that they can also achieve this.

There's a saying that goes, "The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment."

I can't learn that.

I really can't learn that.

The mere fact that they were pretending to be pregnant on behalf of their wives made them extremely cautious in front of their father-in-law. Fortunately, their father-in-law couldn't do it either, which gave them a tiny bit of confidence.

None of them had escaped being pressured by their parents to emulate Prince Ling. Under their parents' relentless demands, they chose someone who had the potential to surpass Prince Ling—

He argued with his own father.

The fact that Prince Ling confronted the Emperor was something that both Xiliang and Donglie knew.

It was their own parents who asked them to learn from Prince Ling, so there's nothing to say about that, right?

As for how many beatings he received behind his back, that's family business, don't air it in public.

Although Princess Huyang did not hold a birthday celebration, the Emperor still bestowed upon her many birthday gifts. Princess Huyang chose a large pearl and a Duan inkstone as prizes for the literary and martial arts competition. In particular, the autumn imperial examination was just a few days away, and many students went up on stage to compose and write, vying for the Duan inkstone.

As for the Da Dongzhu lantern, it's a staple of the annual lantern festival, where participants climb the scaffold to grab the lanterns.

On the elevated road, Prince Yanping, Tang Ze, and Lu Cheng were vying for the pearl. They didn't really care about the large pearl; they just wanted to show off in front of their wives and sweethearts. Before going on stage, they had agreed that whoever grabbed the pearl would treat everyone to a meal.

Cheng Yi and Xu Ji were also there, and even Yun Qi went up to join in the fun, but Du Cheng'an was the only one missing.

The lantern festival was organized by his own mother to find him a wife. If he couldn't find someone to spend his life with, his mother would definitely be very disappointed.

Today is his mother's birthday, and he doesn't want her to be disappointed.

Besides, those prizes were set by his mother, so it wouldn't be appropriate for him to snatch them. More importantly, he knew his own limitations. Although his martial arts skills had improved considerably in the past few months, he was still far from being a match for Tang Ze and his group. If he went up to snatch them, it wouldn't be showing off; it would be making a fool of himself.

Du Cheng'an led a few servants and ran around the lantern festival, successfully getting the servants lost.

He wandered aimlessly until he arrived at the place where he had competed in eating meat buns at the last lantern festival. This time, the shop owner didn't hold the meat bun eating contest; only a few lanterns were hanging in front of the shop, making it much quieter.

I wonder how that boy is doing...

The boy didn't seem to be from a well-off family. Last time, he only chatted with the boy for a few words before leaving. He had wanted to slip him some silver notes.

As Du Cheng'an continued forward, he felt incredibly ashamed, thinking about the method Tang Ze and the others had taught him for the Prince of Yanping to find a wife.

I didn't have the courage to stretch out my arms; just thinking about it made me blush.

As time ticked by, Du Cheng'an steeled his resolve, chose a quiet spot, and opened his arms.

His eyes were closed.

Suddenly, a voice came from directly in front of him.

"What are you doing? Are you absorbing the essence of the lantern?"

The voice sounded familiar.

It's that boy!

Du Cheng'an opened his eyes and saw the boy standing in front of him, looking at him with a strange expression.

Just as Du Cheng'an was about to reply, the two teenagers, who were chasing each other, accidentally bumped into one of the boys, sending him crashing into Du Cheng'an's arms.

Du Cheng'an instinctively hugged the boy.

juvenile,"……"

Du Cheng'an, "..."