Chapter 322 I Carry You
The Lantern Festival outside the palace is immersed in lights.
When the sedan chair reached the place where candlelight was bright, Xiao Heng helped Liu Yuetang get off the sedan chair.
From a distance, the entire long street looks like it was overturned by the Milky Way.
Vendors were selling lanterns and food on both sides of the street.
The children ran around with rabbit lanterns in their hands, their laughter as clear as silver bells.
After leaving the palace, Liu Yuetang was in a good mood, with a smile on her face.
"Do you want to release river lanterns?" Xiao Heng asked.
Liu Yuetang nodded heavily: "I do!"
"Come." Xiao Heng took Liu Yuetang's hand and walked towards the river.
The stone bridge was already crowded with people watching the lights. Xiao Heng put one arm around Liu Yuetang's waist and held her hand tightly with the other, for fear that someone would bump into her or lose her by accident.
So he held on to it as if it were a rare treasure and did not dare to relax for even a moment.
After crossing the stone bridge, Liu Yuetang approached the lotus lantern stall and immediately fell in love with the lantern at the edge.
The lantern was made of plain white gauze, embroidered with silver-threaded lotus flowers. The candlelight shone through the gauze, making the lotus petals look like they were soaked in moonlight, so elegant that it touched one's heart.
Xiao Heng followed Liu Yuetang's gaze and said with a smile, "Do you like that one?"
"Um!"
"Then let's buy that one."
As he spoke, Xiao Heng took out the silver. Liu Yuetang just stretched out her hand to take the lotus lantern, but before her fingertips touched the handle, a charming female voice came from the side: "I want this lotus lantern."
A hand wearing a gold bracelet got ahead of her and picked up the lotus lantern.
Liu Yuetang looked up and saw a young girl in a rose-red long dress with an elegant pearl hairpin on her head. Two maids followed behind her. It was obvious that she was a pampered girl from a wealthy family.
Seeing this, the stall owner smiled and said, "Miss, this lady liked this lamp first."
The woman frowned and turned her head to look at Liu Yuetang carefully. Seeing that she was wearing a moon-white skirt and only had a plain silver crabapple hairpin on her head, without any luxurious ornaments on her body, the contempt in her eyes became even stronger.
"So what if I like it?"
She stroked the lotus lantern with her fingertips and said leisurely, "Things in the market are naturally first come, first served. Could it be that if she looked at it a few more times, the lantern would grow in her hand?"
Xiao Heng frowned when he heard this, and his face darkened a little.
The maid behind him immediately chimed in: "That's right! How can I give away something my young lady likes to others?"
As she spoke, she placed the silver coins on the stall and said loudly, "Here's the money, we want the lamp!"
"Put it down!" Xiao Heng, who was standing behind Liu Yuetang, spoke, his voice devoid of any emotion.
The woman was startled by his cold shout. Seeing that he was only wearing a plain brocade robe, he should not be a big shot. She immediately became arrogant: "Who are you? How dare you order me around!"
"Put it down! I'll say it one last time!" He raised his eyes, and the eyes that were originally hidden in the shadow of the lamp suddenly became as sharp as a blade, with the majesty of someone who had been in a superior position for a long time.
The woman was pinned to the spot by his gaze. Her grip on the lamppost began to tremble unconsciously, but she still held on tightly, refusing to let go. "You... do you know who I am? I'm the daughter of the Minister of Personnel. I'm going to enter the palace as a concubine next year. How dare you order me around?"
Liu Yuetang was shocked. She never expected that this girl was the daughter of the Minister of Personnel.
Xiao Heng was supposed to take part in the selection this year, but last year's selection was cancelled due to state affairs. If nothing unexpected happens, some court officials will urge him to take part in the selection this year.
But with something like this happening, I'm afraid... this woman's future will be difficult.
"Minister of Personnel?" Xiao Heng raised the corner of his lips slightly.
He slowly walked up to the woman, and the noise around him seemed to be silenced by his majesty.
"Then I'd like to ask him how Zhao Chong taught his daughter to behave so tyrannically outside the palace!"
The moment the word "I" came out of her mouth, the arrogance on the woman's face froze, as if a bolt of lightning struck her head, and her face turned extremely pale.
His hand loosened unconsciously, and when the lotus lantern slipped, Xiao Heng reached out to catch it and handed it to Liu Yuetang. His originally fierce face suddenly became extremely gentle.
"If you like it, don't let anyone take it away from you. No one can compete with you for anything."
Liu Yuetang held the lamp handle, feeling the warmth of the lotus lamp, and nodded slightly.
She knew that what Xiao Heng meant was that even if more beautiful women appeared in the future, her position in his heart would always be the most important and the most stable.
He would protect whatever she wanted and would not let anyone else take even a little bit of it away.
But... nothing matters to her now.
What she wants is a pure relationship without anyone else's involvement.
She wants a full sense of security.
But... as an emperor, Xiao Heng could not make her feel safe.
Even if he no longer held beauty contests, there would be countless women inside and outside the palace walls, like butterflies chasing fragrance, trying every possible means to get close to him.
She was leaving anyway, so who entered the palace and who could get close to him in the future had nothing to do with her.
After the woman reacted, she trembled all over and knelt on the ground in cold sweat. Just as she was about to speak, she was frightened by Xiao Heng's cold gaze and became speechless.
"Let's go, ma'am. Don't let irrelevant people affect your mood. Let's go release river lanterns." Xiao Heng looked at Liu Yuetang, and his eyes suddenly softened.
Liu Yuetang nodded, took his arm and walked towards the river.
The wind on the river bank carried moisture, causing the corners of people's clothes to lift slightly.
Xiao Heng held the bottom of the lotus lantern for Liu Yuetang. She reached out to light the wick a little brighter, and the shadow of the silver lotus on the white gauze surface became clearer.
"You can light it now." Xiao Heng raised his hand and lightly held it outside the edge of the lamp to block the evening breeze blowing diagonally.
Liu Yuetang pushed lightly with her fingertips, and the lotus lantern floated along the water and gradually into the shadow of the lamp.
Liu Yuetang closed her eyes and was about to make a wish when Xiao Heng said, "Let me make a wish."
His eyes fell on her gentle face, which was illuminated by the light. "From now on, I will help you make a wish."
After saying this, he closed his eyes, and his eyelashes cast a small shadow under his eyelids.
He never made a wish before.
The woman said that she would make a wish for herself every year from now on.
Then, from now on, she can make her own wishes.
After a moment, Xiao Heng slowly opened his eyes, looked at the lotus lanterns drifting farther and farther away, and the corners of his mouth slowly rose.
"My dear husband, what wish did you make?" Liu Yuetang supported her chin and looked at Xiao Heng sideways.
Xiao Heng said, "It won't work if you say it out loud."
"The water will remember."
Watching the light getting smaller and smaller, like a star falling in the water, Xiao Heng took Liu Yuetang's hand and stood up.
"Where else do you want to go?"
Liu Yuetang pondered for a moment, then raised her eyes and smiled, "Hmm... I'd like to try some street food, then visit the Lantern Festival, and then... I'd like to spend the night at the highest point in Shangjing City with the best view."
"May I, husband?"
Hearing the soft and sticky voice of "husband", Xiao Heng's heart seemed to be wrapped in honey, his eyes narrowed into a slit, and he raised his hand to pinch her cheek: "Since you have asked, there is no reason for me to refuse."
"Let's go find your favorite cakes first, and then we can go to a higher place to see the splendor of Shangjing later."
As soon as Xiao Heng finished speaking, he had already held her hand tightly, protecting her as they moved through the bustling crowd.
All the people coming and going are tourists holding lanterns, rubbing their sleeves against each other and laughing loudly.
Out of the corner of Liu Yuetang's eyes, all she could see was his broad shoulders and soft profile blocking the outside.
Seeing that the street was almost at the end, Liu Yuetang called softly, "Husband."
"Let's walk slower, okay?"
This last time, she wanted to spend some quality time with him.
If you walk slower, time will go longer.
Xiao Heng paused for a moment and turned to look at Liu Yuetang: "Why? Do you still want to go shopping?"
"If you like the outside world, how about we go out once a month? I'll slowly show you around the entire Shangjing."
"good!"
"I'm just a little tired." Liu Yuetang avoided his gaze.
Xiao Heng was silent for a moment, then slowly squatted down.
"Come on up, I'll carry you."
Liu Yuetang was startled, "Husband..."
Xiao Heng maintained his squatting posture and looked at her gently, "In all these years, I have never carried you on my back."
"From now on, if you are tired, no matter where you are, I will carry you on my back."
His broad shoulders looked particularly generous and warm in the lantern light, and Liu Yuetang's eyes gradually became hot.
Amidst the swaying figures, she lay on Xiao Heng's back with a smile, letting him carry her on his back as they strolled through the dimly lit area.
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