Chapter 194 Lantern Festival (Part 1)
That night, the sky was dark and the capital city was tightly wrapped in the inky night.
Duan Hongyuan, the commander of the imperial guards in the capital, came out of the armory.
"Sir," someone stepped forward and reported in a low voice, "There are guests at your residence."
"Guests?" Duan Hongyuan looked at the sky. It was already past midnight, so what kind of guests could come at this time?
His identity was sensitive, and he never had close relationships with court officials. Apart from secretly interacting with Duke Xin, he had no one else.
"Who is it?"
"I don't know, it was a woman who came."
"Woman?" Duan Hongyuan thought of something, his face suddenly changed in shock, and he immediately hurried to the main hall.
When I arrived at the main hall, I saw a tall and thin woman wearing a black cloak standing in the hall from a distance.
He waved away all the servants and slowly walked in.
The woman in the hall turned around and slowly pulled down the brim of her cloak, revealing her beautiful face without any makeup.
"You..." Duan Hongyuan's eyes changed slightly, and he walked forward and asked in a low voice: "Why is the Queen Mother here?"
The Queen Mother looked different today than she did in the palace. She was dressed simply and modestly, even her hair was loosely tied up. She smiled faintly, "Commander Duan, you've guessed why I'm here, haven't you?"
Duan Hongyuan fixed his eyes, flicked his fingertips, and extinguished the candles in the hall, leaving only one behind the screen.
The two stood in the light and shadow, each pondering and weighing their own options.
"Ayu," the Queen Mother spoke, no longer as stern as before, as if returning to the days when they were childhood sweethearts. "Do you know how hard I've been living in the palace lately?"
Duan Hongyuan moved his throat but didn't say anything.
The Queen Mother took two steps, then turned her back to him and said, "I've finally seen clearly that blood ties are worthless in the face of power and profit. You must have seen how he treated me over the years and how he treated me today."
"You said..." Her voice suddenly became sad: "How have I ever treated him unfairly? I gave my heart and soul for the Liang family and for his future, but now he wants to kill me."
"Your Highness," Duan Hongyuan said, "The Duke doesn't want to kill you. The matter in Hezhou..."
"You've been in cahoots with him for years, so naturally you're speaking for him." The Queen Mother interrupted him, "But did you know that a few days ago I nearly vomited blood and died?"
Duan Hongyuan was shocked and opened his eyes wide.
The Queen Mother turned around, tears on her beautiful face. "You don't know, do you? He ordered someone to put poison in my medicine. His heart is far more cruel than you and I can imagine."
Duan Hongyuan's face was filled with suspicion and disbelief. Then the Queen Mother continued, "There's another thing you might not know. We were originally going to be engaged, but he orchestrated my meeting with the late Emperor, and that's how we missed each other. Ah Yu..."
"You think I've had it easy in the palace all these years?" The Queen Mother burst into tears. "You know better than anyone how I got to where I am now. I've had so many regrets in my life..."
The Liang family was a meritorious official. When the late emperor was still a prince, Duke Xin used his military power to support his ascension to the throne. Later, the late emperor bestowed upon him the title of Duke Xin, but Duke Xin, dissatisfied with this, orchestrated a chance encounter between the late emperor and the empress dowager, who was about to be engaged. From this point on, the empress dowager was brought into the palace and became the successor empress.
However, the Liang family was powerful, and the late emperor was wary of it. He married a daughter of the Liang family but did not favor her, instead favoring the imperial concubine and having her bear his eldest son. Consequently, the Liang family joined forces with the previous dynasty to mediate, and Duke Xin single-handedly overthrew the imperial concubine's faction, placing Empress Liang's son, the current emperor, on the throne.
Of course, Duan Hongyuan's help was indispensable. Therefore, he knew more about the Queen Mother's situation in the palace than anyone else.
Tonight, when I heard her cry as she talked about the past, my heart was suddenly filled with sadness.
"Aci, now that things have come to this, what can I do?" he said.
"No! You can help me, you can!" The Queen Mother took two steps towards him and said seductively, "He treated me like this today, and there's no guarantee he won't do the same to you in the future."
"You must help me. I'm the only one who shares your heart. Besides..." She slowly took off her black cloak and said softly, "We're a couple. Isn't it just for me that you haven't married for all these years?"
Duan Hongyuan gasped at this action.
She wore a thin black cloak, the light-colored snow-white satin revealing the small clothes underneath. After so many years, she had maintained herself well, and her figure was still as delicate and attractive as a young girl.
Duan Hongyuan swallowed hard. The dim candlelight carried a forbidden temptation that almost made him lose his mind.
"Aci, you are the Queen Mother now."
"No, I am not the Queen Mother. I am yours tonight."
After she finished speaking, the black cloak fell to the ground, the woman unbuttoned her clothes, and raised her white and tender neck.
.
The Lantern Festival is a traditional custom. During the reign of Emperor Da Zhao, the previous emperor ordered that lanterns be displayed for three days. That is, from the fifteenth day of the first lunar month to the night of the seventeenth day of the first lunar month. During these three days, the whole nation reveled and there was no curfew.
Wealthy families had already begun preparing exquisite lanterns for the common people to admire, and the government also held lantern riddle guessing competitions. Leading out of the palace gates, the entire Imperial Street was ablaze with colorful lanterns, including lion lanterns, fish lanterns, dome lanterns, and lanterns depicting ladies, flowers, and birds, all of which were dazzling.
Walking out from Imperial Street, the scene was completely different. Jugglers and performers could be seen everywhere, and children gathered in groups to watch shadow puppet shows. Porters carrying loads shouted out their hawkers, offering homemade honey drinks, sweet tofu pudding, sesame dumplings, and other dishes for just three cents a bowl. Business was booming.
After leaving the Imperial Street and heading straight to Ningyang Street, the crowds of people surged like flowing water, crowding to watch the iron flowers on the Jinming Bridge.
The old blacksmith held a flower stick and hammered hard. The molten iron hit the sky and the iron chips scattered and burned in the sky. In an instant, a large ball of dazzling light illuminated the night sky, attracting cheers from the crowd.
Zhuang Wan and Pei Xingju blended in with the crowd, both wearing plain clothing for ease of movement. Zhuang Wan preferred watching the ironwork rather than the lanterns, so she dragged Pei Xingju along as they squeezed through a street to reach Jinming Bridge.
The bridge was crowded, and Zhuang Wan, being short, had to stand on tiptoe until her neck ached, unable to see clearly. Pei Xingju had no choice but to let her stand on a stone pier, which was round and difficult to place. To prevent her from falling, Pei Xingju supported her from behind.
"Does it look good?" Pei Xingju asked amid the noise.
Zhuang Wan nodded continuously: "It's beautiful, so amazing, this is a real iron flower craftsman."
We have seen iron flower making in videos in modern times, but the thousand-year cultural heritage always has its shortcomings, and we still have to rely on these ancient craftsmen to make iron flower making.
The molten iron was struck out with such a wonderful force, like a grand flower blooming in the night sky, and then falling down like a meteor shower, so gorgeous and breathtaking.
Zhuang Wan was shocked by what she saw.
After a while, after watching the iron flower show, Zhuang Wan supported Pei Xingju's shoulders and jumped down. She asked, "Don't you have to go to the palace tonight?"
I heard from Chen Yi before that on the night of the Lantern Festival, the emperor would invite his close ministers to enjoy the lanterns in the Suzaku Tower. In previous years, Pei Xingju was always by the emperor's side, but he was absent this year.
Pei Xingju said, "I have already asked for leave from the Emperor, so there is no need to go."
"oh."
Zhuang Wan went over and hooked her arm around his. "Then let's go guess riddles. There are riddles set up on the Imperial Street, and there are prizes for guessing correctly."
Pei Xingju hesitated a little.
"What? Do you have anything else to do?"
"No, it's just... there are lantern riddles in many places in the capital. Can we go somewhere else?"
Zhuang Wan was puzzled. "Why? I heard the government held a grand ceremony, and even the prize money was very valuable."
"Oh..." Zhuang Wan teased, thinking of something, "Are you afraid of running into colleagues?"
Pei Xingju pretended to be indifferent, but his slightly embarrassed expression showed that he did have some concerns.
In fact, this year's lantern riddle competition was not only hosted by the Ministry of Rites, but also co-hosted by the Ministry of Justice. Furthermore, the main venue was on the Imperial Street, and the Ministry of Justice had deployed many people to maintain order tonight. If you went there now, you might run into someone under the Ministry of Justice.
It wasn't that he was afraid of anything, but the people in the Ministry of Justice looked serious but were actually very gossipy. Just looking at Chen Yi, you could tell that a Minister of Justice was a gossipy leader.
As the head of the Ministry of Justice, Pei Xingju naturally did not want to be the focus of gossip among his subordinates.
But since Zhuang Wan wanted to go, he only hesitated for a moment and then nodded.
"Never mind. I'll go with you," he said.
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