Liu Che was a little surprised after hearing this: "Lanterns? Are they made of flowers?"
Liu Tan laughed and said, "You'll know if you go and take a look."
Liu Che was wondering what Liu Tan was keeping in suspense again.
He stood up and walked to the window. Through the transparent crystal window, Liu Che saw colorful lotus flowers floating on the pond.
It was only then that he realized that the sparks he had just seen were emitted by these lotus flowers.
The lotus flowers emitted a fiery glow, swaying in the pond, looking like stars in the sky falling into the water.
In addition, Liu Tan installed geothermal heating under the entire palace, so the water in the pool was warmer than the outside. At this time, there was even misty water vapor floating on the river.
The pool was filled with mist, and there were dotted lanterns. At this moment, many different lights were lit beside the pool, and golden and red koi-shaped lanterns were gradually lowered into the water.
For a moment, the outside seemed like a fairyland.
Liu Che stood in front of the window and stared blankly for a long time. He always felt as if he had seen a fairy sign, but he was also very clear that it was done by Liu Tan.
But... even those so-called sorcerers who have seen gods have never described such a scene.
However, what he didn't know was that Liu Tan still felt a little regretful at this time. It would be great if he could make a Kongming lantern so that he could release it, which would definitely be more beautiful.
But it doesn’t matter, let’s do these things slowly, eventually Liu Che will see them all.
At this time, the hall was silent. No matter where Liu Che was, he was the focus of everyone's attention. Whenever he moved, many people would follow him to the window.
Even Liu Che would be shocked by such beautiful scenery, let alone other officials.
As Liu Che watched more and more, he felt that what he saw was not enough.
No matter how transparent the crystal window was, it still couldn't compare to the highly transparent glass of later generations. Furthermore, the room was too bright, and the light reflected off the crystal window made it difficult for him to see outside. So he simply said, "Let's go take a look outside."
The others had long wanted to go outside to see, but there was only a row of windows, and those who could get through were Liu Che's close ministers. The others, with less experience, could only see vaguely through the heads of the people.
It’s good to go out. You can see more when you go out. They just follow a little behind, but you can always see them.
Liu Tan was a little worried: "It's cold and windy in the Northern Kingdom at night. Father, please watch from the window."
Liu Che immediately understood: "Did you install these crystal windows because you were worried it would be cold at night?"
Liu Tan smiled a little embarrassedly and said, "It was still summer when I received the news from the emperor, and I suddenly wanted to make lanterns. Later, it was Prime Minister Huo who reminded me that it would be winter by the time the emperor arrived. However, the lanterns would already be made by then, and I was unwilling to give up, so I came up with this idea. It's warm in the hall and you can still see it."
Liu Che reached out and rubbed his son's head, then scolded him with a smile: "Your father is in good health and doesn't get sick easily."
Liu Tan immediately covered his head and complained half-heartedly, "So many people are watching."
However, his complaints were of no use, and he was even slapped on the back of the head by Liu Che again.
Liu Tan was helpless and quickly asked someone to get a hand warmer or something, trying to wrap Liu Che up into a ball.
Liu Che just watched with a smile as Liu Tan ordered the people around, and did not resist him stuffing all kinds of things into his hands.
Liu Tan was so worried that he might get cold that he even stuffed a hot pack inside his clothes, but it was better to keep it close to the skin. Liu Tan pondered for a moment and looked at Liu Che: "Father, look..."
Liu Che snorted coldly and walked away without any intention of sticking the hot pack on his body.
Liu Tan had no choice but to whisper beside him: "It's cold outside, take this to at least keep you warm. If you get frozen, I'll commit suicide to apologize to the world..."
Liu Che turned around and reached out to pinch his face. "Why are you talking so much nonsense? How did you develop such a bad habit after coming to the Northern Border? If you keep nagging, come back to the capital with me."
Liu Tan decisively shut up, and Liu Che finally heard nothing. He was a little unhappy and asked, "Don't you want to go back?"
Liu Tan immediately said, "No, I miss Chang'an very much, but I can't leave now. I went back last year, but Shuofang City was... This year, I have to stay here to deter the Xiongnu."
Liu Che snorted and continued walking without saying anything. Liu Tan pinched the tiger talisman in his pocket, thought about it and decided not to take it out at this time.
Liu Che is in high spirits now, so let's talk about it in two days.
After Liu Che walked out, he did feel a little cold when the wind outside blew, but he had to admit that he did feel that he looked better outside.
Not only are there lights in the pool, but there are also lanterns of various shapes on the sides of the covered bridge on the water. Under the eaves and on the rockery, the entire Changshou Palace is brightly lit in an instant.
Because the mist on the water surface was blown by the wind and spread onto the covered bridge built on the water, when Liu Che stepped on it, he was surprised to find that his feet were in the mist. When he raised his eyes, he saw fairy clouds floating around and bright lights. For a moment, he thought he was in the fairyland.
Liu Che turned his head to look at Liu Tan, and saw that Liu Tan was holding the hand warmer tightly, and he seemed to want to curl up into a ball to cover his face.
Liu Che: ...
Okay, he is still in the human world. How can an immortal be afraid of the cold?
Liu Tan didn't know that he had single-handedly dragged Liu Che back from the clouds to the human world. When he noticed Liu Che looking at him, he leaned over and shouted, "Father."
Liu Che looked at him and suddenly said, "You're so afraid of the cold, yet you still want to come to the northern border!"
Liu Tan said confidently: "This is my first time spending the winter here, and I haven't adapted yet!"
Liu Che laughed and asked as he walked: "How did these lights float on the water?"
Since it is not in the fairyland, based on Liu Che's understanding of Liu Tan, there must be a reason that can explain it.
Liu Tan was very pleased. Now his father had finally learned to think that anything new he saw was magic.
Congratulations, congratulations.
Liu Tan explained as he had someone bring over the lanterns that had been prepared long ago: "It's made of copper wire as the frame, and covered with paper on the outside."
"Paper? Not afraid of water and fire?" Liu Che took the lantern handed over by Liu Tan in great surprise.
This lantern is smaller than the ones in the pond and on the rockery, and its shape is also made into a cute panda shape.
Liu Che held the handle of the lantern and touched it carefully, and found that it was not hot at all. No, it cannot be said that it was not hot, but it was not what he imagined.
He looked carefully and found that the lantern was made of paper, just as Liu Tan said. When he got close, he could even clearly see traces of dyeing on the paper.
The surface of the paper was very smooth. Liu Che was not completely ignorant. After a moment's thought, he asked, "Tung oil?"
Liu Che smiled and said, "Father, your guess was correct."
Liu Che, holding the panda lantern, suddenly thought of Gun Gun and asked, "How is your iron-eating beast?"
Liu Tan said, "It has grown quite big. Let's have them bring it over to show Father tomorrow."
Liu Che just asked casually. If it weren't for Liu Tan, the iron-eating beast would be just prey to him and he wouldn't care at all.
Liu Tan continued walking with Liu Che, and when he turned around, he found that other officials were surrounding Huo Guang to ask about the lanterns.
Huo Guang: ...
This was all done by their Highness, how would he know!
However, it was also the first time that Huo Guang saw these lanterns. He had previously known that Liu Tan said he wanted to give Liu Che a surprise, and he had also casually mentioned that he wanted to set up lanterns in Shuofang City as well.
Although Liu Tan often made some strange things, Huo Guang still had confidence in him. Sure enough, the lantern was amazing when it appeared.
In particular, the pool in Yankang Hall is not stagnant water, or in other words, the water in the entire Changshou Palace is living water, forming a circulating water system.
These lanterns were originally dropped from other places because Liu Tan felt that if they were placed in Yankang Palace, they would tend to pile up together and look ugly. Instead, it would be more natural to have them float down from upstream little by little with the water and scatter on the water surface as they are now.
Huo Guang himself also wanted to stand there and enjoy the beautiful scenery, but the officials did not dare to disturb the emperor and his son, so they had to surround him.
Liu Tan gave him a sly smile, then turned and instructed Miao Rui, "Go get the lanterns we prepared earlier and give them to everyone."
It would be so boring to just watch them. Let's give them some local specialties. Lanterns are very cheap anyway.
After Liu Tan gave his orders, a group of young eunuchs holding lanterns came and distributed them to everyone. However, the lanterns in these people's hands were not in the shape of pandas, but in the shape of lotus flowers, just like those in the river.
Even so, these officials found it very novel. Huo Guang finally breathed a sigh of relief and continued to enjoy the beautiful scenery while holding a lantern.
Liu Tan originally wanted to take the panda lantern from Liu Che's hand, as it was inappropriate to let the emperor carry the lantern in his own hands.
Unexpectedly, Liu Che dodged his hand and just walked forward holding the lantern, which looked quite strange.
Liu Tan looked at him and then at the people behind him, and couldn't help but sigh. In front of these strange things, everyone's performance was similar.
After walking around, Liu Che returned satisfied.
As he walked, he asked, "Why did you suddenly think of making this lantern?"
Liu Tan said, "This is the first New Year since the reconstruction of Shuofang City. I want to hold a Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month to make everyone happy."
"Hmm?" Liu Che stared at him.
Wasn't it specially prepared for him?
Liu Tan immediately realized and said, "Oh, no, I wanted to liven up Shuofang City. When I was arranging flowers and trees for the palace, my subordinates said that the Northern Kingdom is quite cold in winter. These flowers and trees can grow in a greenhouse, but not necessarily outside. I was worried that they wouldn't survive. What if a sea of dead branches and fallen leaves would spoil Father's mood? So I thought of adding some artificial flowers to embellish it. When I was arranging the artificial flowers, I realized that firelight shining through paper would look pretty nice, so I came up with the lanterns."
"Yeah!" Liu Che nodded, satisfied.
Liu Tan breathed a sigh of relief and continued, "Then, when I was decorating the Changshou Palace, I thought I could try it in Shuofang City. Of course, the lanterns can only be made casually, and it's impossible to make them so exquisite."
Well, we can’t let the people see the same things that the emperor uses. We have to strike a balance on this point.
Liu Che asked, "Is the Lantern Festival only held in Shuofang City?"
Liu Tan said casually, "Yes, it is the capital after all. Moreover, making lanterns is not that easy. Other counties may not have the financial resources. Moreover, I accidentally built Shuofang City a bit too big. The New Year needs some popularity."
Liu Che turned his head and continued to stare at him.
Liu Tan was a little confused. What was the reason this time?
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