Nan Wusi and Xia Ziqian wandered aimlessly through the streets, browsing this stall and looking at that stall.
"Miss Nan, have you seen any lamps you like?" Xia Ziqian asked.
Nan Wusi shook her head. The designs of these lamps weren't particularly novel, so she wasn't very interested in them.
In modern times, her parents would take her to see the lantern festival every year during the Lunar New Year. So after visiting countless lantern festivals, she always felt that this lantern festival was really too small compared to the big ones.
“Miss Nan seems a little bored. Is she not interested in this lantern festival? Or is it because Ziqian is too boring?” Xia Ziqian looked at Nan Wusi with some unease.
“Young Master Xia, this lantern festival has been going on for so many years without any new ideas, and it is indeed a bit boring,” Nan Wusi answered honestly.
"I see." Xia Ziqian nodded in agreement. Nan Wusi was right. The lantern festival hadn't changed much over the years, and even the lanterns were all very similar.
"Miss Nan, would you be interested in seeing the lantern riddles?" Xia Ziqian only gets interested in solving lantern riddles every year.
“Okay!” Nan Wusi’s eyes lit up; she was also very interested in solving riddles.
The two hit it off immediately and headed straight to the area where they were guessing riddles.
This lantern riddle guessing game occupied a large area of the street and was beautifully decorated. The frames were covered with red lanterns, and each lantern had a slip of paper with a number and a riddle written on it.
Once you guess the answer, you can tell the shopkeeper the number and the answer. If you guess correctly, you can tear off the slip of paper and then redeem it for a gift.
Many people search for riddles here, and occasionally someone will go to the shopkeeper to guess the riddles, but very few people actually solve them.
Nan Wusi also stepped forward and pulled on a note attached to a lantern. The note read: "Red Maiden, climb the high tower, heart aches, tears flow."
Xia Ziqian also moved closer to Nan Wusi, and the two looked at the riddles on the slip of paper together. They were very close and looked very intimate.
"Miss Nan, have you figured it out yet?" Xia Ziqian asked with a smile.
Nan Wusi shook her head. Although she was very interested, she wasn't very knowledgeable about it.
"The answer to this riddle is a candle," Xia Ziqian whispered in Nan Wusi's ear.
After listening, Nan Wusi immediately understood. He was indeed a talented man, and he came up with the answer so quickly.
So Nan Wusi immediately found the shopkeeper, told him the answer to the riddle, and after the shopkeeper confirmed it, he immediately tore off the note.
Although she wasn't particularly interested in the gifts she could redeem, she enjoyed the thrill of solving the riddles.
Just as the two were looking at the next riddle, Nan Wusi suddenly caught sight of Xiao Mu and Ouyang Jiangli.
"What a small world, what a persistent ghost." Nan Wusi thought to himself, speechless, his face instantly darkening.
Although he immediately returned to normal, Xia Ziqian, who was standing to the side, saw it clearly. So he followed Nan Wusi's gaze and naturally discovered the Crown Prince and the other two.
At this time, the two had not yet discovered Nan Wusi and Xia Ziqian.
"Your Highness, the lantern that won first place is so beautiful! I really want it!" Ouyang Jiangli said, tugging at Xiao Mu and pleading.
"Alright, if you like it, I'll win first place." Xiao Mu looked at Ouyang Jiangli with affection and tapped her nose.
However, as the two got a little closer, they discovered Nan Wusi and Xia Ziqian, who had been hidden by the lantern earlier.
Ouyang Jiangli held Xiao Mu's hand tightly, looking at Nan Wusi with a smug expression, while Xiao Mu looked somewhat embarrassed.
Therefore, Nan Wusi couldn't understand what Ouyang Jiangli was so smug about. Had she forgotten her status as a concubine and was still feeling complacent? Moreover, while Ouyang Jiangli treasured Xiao Mu, Nan Wusi didn't think Xiao Mu was any better.
As a subject, Xia Ziqian naturally bowed to Xiao Mu, while Nan Wusi also bowed perfunctorily to Xiao Mu and didn't even glance at Ouyang Jiangli.
This put Ouyang Jiangli, who had always maintained a noble image, in an awkward position, but it was none of Nan Wusi's business.
So after ignoring the two of them, Namosi continued to look at the riddle on the lantern.
This note says that there are four or five brothers, each going through a different door. If you go into the wrong door, people will laugh at you.
“I know this,” Nan Wusi said happily in Xia Ziqian’s ear. “The answer is a button.”
“You guessed right,” Xia Ziqian echoed.
"Hehe, I'm so clever, aren't I?" Nan Wusi laughed smugly.
"She is indeed very clever." Xia Ziqian was quite cooperative.
Xiao Mu, who was standing to the side, found the intimate interaction between Nan Wusi and Xia Ziqian quite irritating, but he had no reason to stop them.
"Some are hard, some are soft; some are long, some are wide. Free during the day, working at night." Ouyang Jiangli also looked at the riddle on the slip of paper, and then said to Xiao Mu, "Your Highness, these riddles are so simple."
Xiao Mu glanced at them and said, "They are indeed quite simple."
These riddles posed no challenge to them at all, so Xiao Mu was quite confident in winning the first prize; it was just a game.
Although Nan Wusi didn't want the gift, she kept looking at the little slip of paper because she enjoyed the experience of guessing the riddles.
On the other side, the two had a specific purpose in mind, so they read the note very quickly.
Gradually, more and more people gathered around, while fewer and fewer people entered to solve the riddles. In the end, only the two groups of people were left inside, quickly guessing the riddles.
Each time, Xiao Mu and his group would loudly read out the riddle and then the answer. Nan Wusi and his group, on the other hand, were much more discreet. After reading a few small slips of paper, they would directly tell the shopkeeper the number and the answer.
And so, the two teams each took one side, their speeds equally impressive. The surrounding people were seeing this kind of competition for the first time, and they gathered around to watch, marveling at the spectacle.
Nan Wusi didn't seem to care much about the onlookers, but Xia Ziqian felt a little uncomfortable. He rarely had the experience of being watched by others, so gradually, the two of them slowed down their riddle-solving speed.
Seeing that her speed had slowed down, Nan Wusi became a little anxious. Although she didn't want the gift, she didn't want to be outdone by that despicable couple now that things had come to this point.
At this moment, Xiao Yi, who was in the crowd, also learned about the situation through Xuan Li's real-time commentary. So he walked out of the crowd and came to Nan Wusi's side.
“Read the riddle to me, and I’ll answer it for you,” Xiao Yi said directly, without asking Nan Wusi’s opinion.
Nan Wusi was only stunned for a moment when he saw Xiao Yi approaching, and then he did as Xiao Yi said.
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