The name card is the seat invitation for the sea bass banquet at Jiaosong Tingfeng Tower.
When she went out this morning, she deliberately placed another business card that she had prepared early in the morning on Xiao Zhun's desk.
Jiaosong County's most famous restaurant is Tingfenglou, whose most famous dish is its tangerine-stuffed sea bass soup. The sea bass is caught daily from the Yue River, fresh from the ice. Its meat is even sweeter and more delicate than in summer. Paired with tangerine-stuffed rice stored in late autumn, it's not a delicacy, but a rare delicacy nonetheless.
Guests who came to Tingfeng Tower for fish soup during the first month of the lunar year often had to make appointments before winter began the previous year, requiring an invitation to enjoy the dish the following year. Xiao Nanhui, of course, didn't have this foresight. After hearing that the festival would be held in Jiaosong County, she specifically asked Yao Yi to buy the invitation from someone else, just so she could dine with Xiao Zhun.
It had been a long time since they had eaten at the same table. She considered Du Juan and Uncle Chen her family, but Xiao Zhun's place at the table was always special to her. The Xiao family had strict rules, and dining with Xiao Zhun was always silent, but even so, she felt very satisfied.
The post on Tingfeng Tower booked a seat for tonight. Yao Yi boasted that it was an excellent location with the best night view of the Yue River.
Xiao Nanhui even prepared a special set of clothes for this purpose.
However, to this day, she has no desire to go back to the villa to change clothes.
She didn't want to go to any crowded place or see anyone, including Xiao Zhun.
After leaving the Black Feather Camp, she returned to the Guangyao Camp to take up an errand, letting Jixiang wander in the wilderness. At night, she found a farmhouse to rest. The next day, before dawn, she went outside and sat on the firewood pile, looking at the sky until the sun rose.
Xiao Nanhui has seen two sunrises in his life, one today and one in the swamp of Baiyao Pass.
Baiyao Pass was silent and filled with the breath of death, but even at the critical moment of life and death, she easily gained strength the moment she saw the sun rising.
But this time, in the comfortable and warm farmhouse, she could no longer return to peace.
She recalled many things from the past, and Xiao Zhun's figure was interspersed among them, which seemed vivid, yet blurry.
Not far away, a flock of wintering sheep huddled together with their bloated fur. From a distance, they looked like unmelted snow on the wasteland. A few tits were jumping on the sheep's backs, their chirping making the scene extremely noisy and lively.
When the sun climbed to the zenith, Xiao Nanhui finally stood up from the firewood pile, left some change for the farmer, and left with Jixiang.
Today is the last day of the three-day festival.
According to the procedure posted by the ceremonial officer, after sunset today, the emperor will hold a grand ceremony to send off the gods on the Yue River, and then entertain all officials at the riverside.
She was one of the officials and had to be present no matter what.
Invite the gods from the Changmi Terrace and send them off at the banks of the Yue River.
Yue means the right eye of the god in legend. Yue River is the river formed by the tears of the god.
The ritual officials regarded it as the finale of the entire sacrificial ceremony, and they all tried their best and spent all their efforts to arrange every detail. They even built a high platform on the river in just a few days, so that they could overlook the river flowing west and watch the gods return to their thrones.
The high platform faces the newly renovated Huangshi Ancient Bridge. In the evening, the sunset glows everywhere, and at night, the moonlight flows. It can be said that it is worthy of the important task of "sending off the gods".
Unlike Changmi Terrace, which towers high above the plain and can only be viewed from above, the Yue River is lined with numerous pavilions, the tallest of which is Tingfeng Tower, offering panoramic views of the river and a prime location for observing the ceremonies. Following the farewell ceremony, the emperor entertained officials on the elevated platform, sharing the joy with the people and therefore did not deliberately drive them away.
During the ceremony, the emperor would personally scatter five-colored rice, seven-colored silk, and two-colored copper and iron into the Yue River from a high platform, praying for a good harvest, good weather, and a strong army in the coming year. The people downstream would fish these things out of the river and place them in their homes to ward off evil spirits and pray for blessings.
The tallest building on the bank of Yue River is Tingfeng Tower. From a distance, it looks like a small wooden tower with five floors. Before the time of Shen, every floor of the building is already crowded with people. However, only the distinguished guests who bring invitations to the sea bass banquet can enjoy a private room, which is a rare treasure.
The glow of the sunset gradually faded, and the lights on both sides of the Yue River were bright. If the water was not cold, people would have wanted to jump into the river to watch the excitement.
However, if someone looked up at this time, they would find that among the light shining through the small windows of Tingfeng Tower, only one window was dark.
Xiao Nanhui blew out the candle in his hand and stood in the empty room for a while.
After a long time, she took out a jar of wine from the table of delicacies that had just been prepared, climbed out of the building through the half-open window, and went up along the eaves of the brackets until she sat on the tiles on the roof of Tingfeng Tower.
The crowd watching the excitement focused their attention on Yuehe's platform, and no one noticed her figure.
The arched back of the horned beast was illuminated by the moonlight, merging with the surface of the Yue River not far away, like a water beast that had just jumped out of the river. The fishy smell of the river mixed with the ashes of the orchid burned at the ceremony drifted in the wind, giving people the illusion of alternating hot and cold.
She still remembered the feeling she had when she climbed the Sky-Penetrating Tower in Murhe. The moment she passed through the clouds, the world beneath her feet was so quiet and docile that it seemed as if even the most troubled things in her heart could be easily seen through.
Waves of joy echoed from the boisterous crowd, pouring out onto the Yue River the passion they hadn't managed to express the day before on the Changmi Terrace. The emperor was paying homage to the gods, while his subjects were paying homage to their king. The emperor prayed for the eternal stability of the mountains and rivers, while his subjects prayed for the safety of their homes.
It’s a pity that for her, she actually never owned either the “mountains and rivers” or the “home”.
Xiao Nanhui's sense of detachment became stronger and stronger, and he felt that everything in front of him was very far away from him.
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