Chapter 120 Chapter 120 The Thousand Autumn Lantern Festival The moon is on the willow branches,...
Before the lingering sound of the evening drum faded, lanterns of all sizes in Chang'an City lit up one after another like stars in the night sky. Decorative lanterns were hung at the doorsteps of every household. Some wealthy families even placed lantern trees at their doorsteps that were more than two meters high, attracting a crowd of onlookers.
The lantern at the entrance of Duan's Restaurant was made in the shape of a rice dumpling. Yuan Shenji moved a ladder and hung it up specially. The armor on his body was reflected red by the warm light.
Duan Zhiwei pushed the food cart out and looked up at him hanging up the lanterns: "Let's go, everyone is waiting."
She was wearing a light blue floral skirt today and the pearl hairpin he had given her. Her pretty face looked incredibly beautiful under the light. The pearls hanging from the hairpin slid down from her ears and caressed her fair cheeks, as bright as her eyes.
Yuan Shenji stared at her in a daze for a moment, then he came down from the ladder, walked closer, bent down and kissed her lip balm-coated lips.
Duan Zhiwei blushed as she pounded his shoulder, and the tassels hanging from her pearls swung wildly.
Inside the restaurant, the little bone demon was lying on the little wolf's folded gauze hat, looking at you and then at him, with two clusters of stars in his eye sockets flickering in confusion: "Why are they hugging and biting each other again? I've seen it several times."
The Jinhua cat folded its arms with its paws, looking very speechless: "It's normal, just get used to it. Who will be a brave warrior to separate the two of them? If they don't leave now, the Lantern Festival will start soon."
The imperial guards lifted the ban, and the market was reopened and lanterns were lit. The entire Lantern Festival was like a vast galaxy of stars, bustling with people. A glazed lantern mountain was placed at the west entrance of the market, and water was drawn to form a curtain.
Countless food stalls had been set up early on the crowded roadside, mostly selling rice noodles and doughnuts, but also grilled lamb skewers and ancient buildings. Green smoke rose up to the sky along with the lights, and the aroma of meat floated in the dim yellow light.
Duan Zhiwei parked the food cart in front of a very bright lantern. The amber syrup was bubbling in the copper pot, and the sweet aroma floated in the air. She stood up several sugar paintings she had made in advance.
The goldfish is the most skillfully drawn, with crystal-clear scales, a lively tail, and two black sesame seeds rolled in as eyes.
Soon it attracted many children who pulled at A Niang's skirt and asked to buy it.
"What kind do you like, young lady?" Duan Zhi smiled kindly and asked while bending down.
"I want a bunny one."
"Okay." Duan Zhiwei turned his wrist, and used sugar thread to hook out a furry tail, and with just a few strokes, he drew a lifelike little rabbit.
A group of curious passers-by had already gathered around her, and they all exclaimed: "This must be the Jade Rabbit from Guanghan Palace that escaped to the lantern festival in the mortal world."
The pot of syrup was quickly painted and sold out. Although everyone in the restaurant gathered around to help, their minds had already flown to the lively acrobatics shed, where a play called "Tayao Niang" was being performed.
"etc."
Before closing his stall, Duan Zhiwei gave each family member a sugar painting. The ones for Jinhua Cat and Libo were goldfish, the ones for Little Wolf and Pu Tao were little rabbits, and he specially drew a cat's head and a small bone for Jinhua and Little Bone Demon.
Everyone took their sugar paintings and went shopping together.
Next to the Nuo opera stall, a whole rack of Nuo masks was hung on a jujube wood frame. When the wind blew, the rack full of masks swayed in the wind. Pu Tao had saved up copper coins for a month by living frugally just for today, and went up to ask for a green-faced and fang-toothed Yaksha mask.
The little wolf chose a smiling fox, but neither the Jinhua cat nor the little bone monster could wear it. The two little ones stood aside and watched eagerly.
The stall owner was a middle-aged woman. There were a few unfinished masks in her box, and she was currently using a goat-hair brush to paint feather patterns on the masks.
Duan Zhiwei asked, "Auntie, can you please order it now? I can charge extra for making one for our two children."
In the end, the Jinhua cat got a tiger mask. The old lady was very skillful and strung two ropes diagonally and hung them on its ears. The little bone demon got a fist-sized mask with a jade rabbit painted on it and two long ears on it. It looked very cute when he wore it.
Now everyone had a mask and walked contentedly around the Hundred Plays Theatre, where a huge flow of people suddenly dispersed the crowd.
The moment Duan Zhiwei was submerged in the crowd, he shouted to everyone, "Go back and gather at the food truck."
She was wearing a Tengu mask, which was carved from camphor. It was a bit heavy to wear and sweat broke out on her forehead.
There was noisy music coming from the acrobatics shed, and only a plaintive voice could be heard: "Tayaohelai, Tayaoniangkuhelai!"
Duan Zhiwei had no time to listen anymore, she just wanted to find all her separated family members.
There were quite a few people performing acrobatics, such as fire breathing, jumping, and so on. There was a Hu man standing on a colorful felt and spitting five-colored water, which was greeted with a group of cheers.
Another crowd of people came over, Duan Zhiwei quickly stretched out her hands to block it, but was suddenly protected by a tall man who rushed out. He then held her hand tightly and led her to the north where there were fewer people.
The man wore a mask of a mountain pioneer, had flaming eyebrows, and white horns on his head. He looked extremely scary. He was also tall and looked quite ferocious, causing people passing by on the other side to avoid him.
Duan Zhiwei was not panicked at all. She even found it a little funny. The man had thick knuckles, rough palms, and a long knife scar.
Duan Zhiwei scratched the palm of his hand, and the latter immediately turned his head to look at her, then led her to the sparsely populated North Street.
"My dear, you must not do this. My husband is a member of the Jinwu Guard. Be careful that his Mo Dao may chop off your head." She made these jokes lazily and followed him without any worries.
When they reached an alley in North Street, she tiptoed to lift his mask while no one was around, revealing Yuan Shenji's handsome and rugged face.
He looked quite helpless, lowered his head and lightly stroked the tip of her nose: "Did you drink secretly? Why are you talking nonsense?"
Duan Zhiwei put her hands on her hips and took off her mask. She had been silent for a long time and her face was a little red: "Who made my husband, a member of the Jinwu Guard, suddenly disappear?" ”
Yuan Shenji took out an exquisite box from his robe and handed it to her: "I went to buy this."
"What is it?" She took it and opened it. It was a beautiful peony hairpin with a circle of silver beads in the middle, which was elegant and unique.
"I reluctantly forgive you. Bring it to me now," she said with a smile.
Yuan Shenji carefully pinned the hairpin into her hair and placed a kiss on it: "Every day when I go to work, I think, if I were a bead wrapped around your hair, I wouldn't have to leave, how nice it would be."
Duan Zhiwei heard her heart pounding in this secluded alley, and then she fell into a warm and strong embrace.
Yuan Shenji rested his chin gently on her head: "That year, Liangzhou was covered with snow and wind. I should have been blinded by it, but I saw your figure in the snow so clearly. I am lucky to marry you."
Duan Zhiwei looked up at him. The red lanterns on the eaves were trembling slightly in the wind, casting a layer of gold on his handsome profile.
She reached out and hugged him, burying her head in his chest. In this quiet alley, we can hear each other's heartbeats resonating in the same frequency.
After a while, she heard the sound of a man and a woman having a tryst from the back wall of the alley, and she jumped up like a big spring.
“The moon is above the treetops, and people make appointments after dusk.” The ancients were right. People could go out for a tryst at night, so during this festival when the curfew was lifted, the banks of Qujiang River and the woods of Leyouyuan were filled with men and women having trysts.
Aunt Duan expressed her appreciation for this trend and said that she and her lover did the same when she was young.
Duan Zhiwei stuttered and asked, "Isn't it a bad idea to do this?" He was criticized by his ancestors as a feudal and unromantic child.
Hearing the sounds of the tryst behind the wall getting louder and louder, her face turned red all the way to her ears, and she hurriedly pulled Yuan Shenji's robe to take him away.
The latter grabbed her waist and lifted her up, whispering in her ear, "Why are you running? 'The moon is above the treetops, and we'll meet after dusk.' Guess why I dragged you to this alley?"
Jinwuwei was familiar with all the streets and lanes in Chang'an City, and this holy place for lovers' trysts was recommended to him by Zuo Zhonglangjiang.
A carriage from the Yuan mansion had already been parked deep in the alley. Yuan Shenji carried her in and then stepped forward.
The carriage was covered with Persian carpets shipped from the Western Regions, and the seats were carefully covered with soft satin. Duan Zhiwei felt very soft lying there, and then she thought of a very realistic question:
"We still have to go back? What about them?"
Kissing like rain, he said in a hurry: "I have already told Auntie in advance that she will take the children back."
She breathed a sigh of relief and quickly threw herself into the passionate kiss.
It was almost midnight. Aunt Duan knew very well that her niece and niece-in-law would not be back today, but she didn't want to say it out loud. She just said, "Something happened at the Yuan Mansion, so they went back." She tried to evade the question.
Ah Pan didn't know the inside story, so he just stood up and said, "I can't make the decision on this matter. Madam Duan needs to come. After the curfew is lifted, I will go to Yuan's house to invite them back."
He was stopped by Aunt Duan.
It’s no wonder that A Pan was anxious. The situation in the restaurant was really weird. She had never encountered such a thing in her decades of life. She could only stand aside and worry.
The little wolf held the mask in one hand and the candy painting that had been licked clean until only a stick was left in the other hand. He looked at the black-robed people kneeling on the ground in front of him with a confused look on his face.
Those people had dark green eyes and brown curly hair like him. No matter how much the people in the restaurant persuaded them, they refused to get up. They just bowed and said:
"Your Highness, I have finally found you. Please come back with us. His Majesty the King has been looking for you for a long time and finally found you."
The man in black robe had tears all over his face and stretched out his hand towards the little wolf. The little wolf looked at him and ran over to hide behind A Pan.
The group of people changed direction again and knelt down diagonally towards A Pan, like sunflowers following the sun.
Some algae-colored dark lines appeared on Ah Pan's cheeks: "If you don't want to, no one can take you away."
This was really bizarre. They were having a great time in West Market, and when they came back they saw a group of people kneeling at the door of the restaurant, which scared everyone. The curfew was lifted today, and the neighbors around were not asleep. Most of them opened the doors and windows a little and looked over here furtively.
With both of the backbones gone, Aunt Duan could only ask, "How about you two get up first?"
No one moved.
Ah Pan patted the little wolf on the back and said, "Let them stand up. It's so ugly to kneel here."
Hearing this, the little wolf did as he was told: "You...get up."
A group of men in black immediately stood up.
The little bone demon sat upright on the food table. It was looking at the scene in confusion, and suddenly felt a pain in its heart.
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