0108 Shining Night (Part 1)
In Chang'an, gold, jade, brocade, and silk were everywhere, and the lights stretched endlessly.
Zhan Yaoguang held her hand with his right hand, his eyes darting around in the crowd. Curious, he looked down and asked:
Why are they all wearing masks when they go out tonight?
Just then, a man and a woman who were not wearing masks walked past them. The girl tugged at the young man's sleeve and pulled him toward a peddler who sold masks.
"Stop dawdling and come help me choose a mask! The lantern procession will be coming from outside Anfu Gate soon, and I have to choose a mask before then, otherwise my good marriage will have to be postponed until next year!" The girl's red lips curled up slightly as she walked and complained.
Helpless, the young man was dragged and pulled along by her, muttering under his breath, "Marriage, marriage, what a hateful marriage! We grew up together, why don't you ever think about me in this matter..."
Shu Fu overheard their conversation and blushed slightly. She quietly kicked the hem of her skirt and whispered to Zhan Yaoguang, "That's about it. The people of Dali say that Her Majesty the Empress met His Majesty at the Lantern Festival when she was young, wearing a mask. That's how they got married. So, on Her Majesty's birthday, everyone imitates the rumors to bring good luck and hope that their marriage will be as harmonious and happy as Her Majesty's."
Zhan Yaoguang said "Oh," and then asked, "So, is this really how your emperor and empress met?"
“Of course not!” Shu Fu looked up at him. “Your Highness and His Majesty are childhood sweethearts. Even if they didn’t go to the lantern festival together, they had already confessed their feelings for each other long ago.”
The further the two went into the city, the more tricks and gimmicks they encountered.
The most captivating sight was the iron-sparkling performance. The craftsman, shirtless, held a willow stick in each hand, one filled with molten iron heated to a scorching red. When struck in mid-air by the other stick, sparks flew everywhere, cascading like a waterfall, burning several holes in the dark night sky.
The crowd cheered, but Shu Fu was taken aback and subtly moved behind Zhan Yaoguang.
After a moment, she quietly glanced over his shoulder and saw that the sparks from the ironwork had dissipated. She breathed a sigh of relief. Then, she noticed an old man in a gray shirt had set up a small stall by the roadside. There was something burning in a stove at his feet, and a faint sweet smell wafted over, as if it were some kind of syrup.
Curious, she broke free from Zhan Yaoguang's grasp, picked up her skirt, and ran to the old man's side.
"Excuse me, sir, what are you selling?" She was quite intrigued as she watched the old man holding a copper spoon, dripping sugar syrup onto a board and gradually drawing out shapes. "This thing looks like a painting and a piece of candy, it's so interesting!"
Upon hearing this, the old man looked up at her and said, "Young lady, you're so clever! This thing is called sugar painting! I'm from Zizhou. This was created by a famous poet from our area when he was drunk one day. If you like it, I'll paint a butterfly for you to play with."
The old man chuckled, deepening the lines between his lips, but he looked remarkably energetic.
Shu Fu was naturally delighted, but after thinking for a moment, she still took out some coins from her purse and handed them over.
Zhan Yaoguang then walked to her side. After the old man finished drawing the sugar painting, Shu Fu picked up a bamboo stick and stuffed the butterfly into his mouth.
“Every year on Her Majesty the Empress’s birthday, people in Chang’an and various prefectures distribute candy to the people, so Her Majesty’s birthday celebration is also known as the ‘Candy Festival.’ But now, if we go to the government office, it will probably be difficult to compete with those people for some, so I bought one for you to eat…”
He slowly chewed the candy in his mouth, listening to Shu Fu continue, "His Highness's birthday happens to fall at the beginning of each year, so there's a saying among the people that if you eat candy on this day, the following year will be smooth sailing and sweet as honey."
Upon hearing this, Zhan Yaoguang turned the sugar painting around and held up the unbitten end in front of Shu Fu: "Then you eat it too."
The girl paused, raised her eyes slightly to look at him, and then lowered her head to take a big bite.
Zhan Yaoguang followed her example and lowered her head, the two heads huddled together, and they focused intently on nibbling on the butterfly painted with yellow sugar.
At the same time, someone in the crowd suddenly shouted: "Zhao Caishen of Puningfang has set up a lantern festival in front of Jianfu Temple Pagoda with a decorated pavilion. The first person to win will receive a white egret lantern made of brocade!"
Upon hearing this, the leisurely strollers immediately joined in, forming groups of friends and heading towards Jianfu Temple.
"What does 'White Egret Turning into a Flower Lantern' mean?" Zhan Yaoguang asked suddenly as he watched Shu Fu eat the last bit of the sugar butterfly's tail fin.
"It's a style of lamp that I've never seen before. They say it's a new thing that was made this year. When hung on a lamp stand, it can rotate freely and look very lifelike!"
Shu Fu thought for a moment, then suddenly laughed and said, "However, this Zhao Caishen seems to be a merchant who deals in silk. This time, setting up a decorated tower and lantern festival should be to promote silk. Hmm... that young man who came to deliver the message earlier is probably one of his men."
How did you figure that out?
Shu Fu took his hand and walked with the crowd toward Jianfu Temple, whispering, "Did you hear what he just said? He said, 'The winner will receive a white egret lantern made of brocade.' Ordinary people don't know what brocade is, let alone what the white egret lantern looks like. They'll just say 'The winner gets the lantern' and that's it."
He suddenly realized, his dark eyes shining, and he whispered a compliment: "Afu is so smart!"
As they were talking, the two of them arrived at the Jianfu Temple Pagoda with a large group of people. There, they saw a 30-foot-tall tree of lanterns with hundreds of branches. Countless lanterns, such as egrets spinning flowers, yellow dragons spitting water, golden ducks and silver swallows, floating light caves, and star-gathering pavilions, were shining on it, illuminating the world as bright as day.
Zhan Yaoguang had never seen such a magnificent sight before, and was somewhat stunned. Then he caught sight of a bright lamp high up, with a plain background and a golden bird. The light inside flickered and could even make the whole lamp slowly rotate.
“Afu—” He raised his hand and pointed to the top edge of the lamp stand, “Look at that moving lamp at the very top, the white bird painted on the lamp surface, isn’t that what is called the ‘White Egret Turning Flower Lamp’?”
Shu Fu glanced at it, her eyes immediately lighting up. She turned to Zhan Yaoguang and said, "Do you like it? How about I try to win it for you?"
Immediately, a young man with a slicked-back hairstyle came out, stood under the lamplight, hastily straightened his collar, and said loudly with a laugh:
"Thank you all for coming to support us! By the grace of the Second Emperor, the Zhao family's silk shop has developed a new type of gold-woven brocade at the end of last year. Today, on this auspicious occasion, Zhao Liuye, the God of Wealth, has specially set up a lantern wall here and taken half a foot of the new brocade to make a white egret spinning lantern as the grand prize. We invite all the beautiful ladies and talented men to use their skills to add some splendor to His Highness's eternal glory!"
Everyone immediately applauded and cheered, but they were all observing the situation and no one immediately agreed.
Shu Fu tiptoed and looked around. Just as she was about to extend her hand to indicate that she was willing to go first, a young man wearing a Kunlun slave mask suddenly walked out from the side. He was holding a beautiful young woman in his hand, and they walked side by side to the front.
"I am Liang Zhiyan, a Hanlin Academician, and I would like to join in this fun. I wonder if anyone is willing to agree?"
———
Oh my god, I just realized I mistitled it. Oh well, I'll just leave it at that TAT
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