There are shops on both sides of the Lantern Market, and various lanterns are set up in front of the buildings.

After dark, every house turned on the lights at the same time.

All of a sudden, tens of thousands of silk lanterns, colorful gauze lanterns, silk paper lanterns, goat horn lanterns, and ice lanterns of various shapes and sizes were all lit up, shining brightly like brilliant stars.

When visitors wander around, it feels like they are walking in the Milky Way. The shocking scenery is unforgettable for a lifetime.

"How is it, how is it?" Li Mingyue jumped and danced excitedly, saying excitedly: "You can't see such a scene in the building, you can only see it when you walk in it."

It was also the first time for Zhang Xiaojing to see such a spectacle. In previous years, she followed her parents upstairs to watch the lights. While enjoying the view, she couldn't help but secretly glance at Zhao Hao who was chatting and laughing with Li Mingyue, and finally couldn't help but whispered:

"Mr. Zhao, you should compose a poem to express your feelings and feelings. Don't waste this beautiful moment."

But Master Zhao shook his head and said solemnly: "There is a scene in front of me that cannot be described. Old Xin's inscription is in front."

Everyone nodded secretly when they heard this, thinking that indeed, with the wonderful poem "The east wind blows a thousand trees in the night" before it, no one could write a better poem for viewing the lanterns on the Lantern Festival.

Master Xu wanted to squeeze Zhao Hao, but on the one hand, he was worried that the young county lady was already dissatisfied with him; on the other hand, he was also afraid of humiliating himself. After all, Zhao Hao had the "First Sight Collection" there, and he was the founder of a scientific school. No matter what couplets, riddles, or poems he wrote, even if everyone worked together, they would not be his match.

In fact, Mr. Zhao was really not that good; any scholar could have killed him at about this time.

After all, he is just a fake poet.

~~

Fortunately, the Aoshan lanterns were lit soon.

The so-called Aoshan is made by stacking thousands of lanterns into a mountain shape. It has been a regular feature of the imperial family’s Lantern Festival since the Tang and Song dynasties.

During the Xuande reign, Emperor Xuanzong ordered the opening of the Dong'an Gate during the Lantern Festival, allowing people to enter the Forbidden City to watch. Later, as there were too many people watching, the ceremony was moved to the street outside the Dong'an Gate.

The Aoshan Mountain, which stands in the middle of the street, is 13 stories high, taller than Dong'anmen. When it is lit up, it is full of light, with small bridges and flowing water, just like a fairyland in the sea, with fairies with fluttering sleeves, lifelike cranes and deer... The endless lights of all kinds make the people who look up under the lights look so shocked that they can't find other words to describe it except to keep exclaiming.

When the drums and music sounded at Dong'an Gate, the people knelt down on the top of the city wall and shouted "Long live the emperor!"

That was when Emperor Longqing and his family came up to the rooftops to celebrate with the people. When the emperor ordered the people to stand up, the gunpowder bureau in the inner court began to set off fireworks.

The fireworks were set up inside Dong'an Gate, on the square between Donghua Gate. After the eunuchs set off their fireworks in turn, the fireworks and salutes resonated. Over the entire Dong'an Gate, various fireworks formed different patterns, including peonies, chrysanthemums, lotus flowers, ingots, and baby's breath, in all shapes and sizes, vying for splendor and covering the moon in the sky.

There are also wooden racks about ten feet high on the Lantern Market, with five layers of fireworks boxes on them. In the boxes are various fireworks such as longevity ribbons, grape racks, pearl curtains, and Changming Towers. After being lit, the lights and shadows are noisy and colorful, and the whole Lantern Market has become what Lao Xin said, "a street full of fireworks and silver flowers."

The carnival officially began. Amid the music of the Bell and Drum Temple, the people shouted and jumped excitedly, holding colorful lanterns in their hands, and danced the Yangge around the Aoshan Lantern.

Li Mingyue took Zhang Xiaojing in one hand and Zhao Hao in the other, joined the carnival team, and jumped and danced with the people.

Li Chengen, Xu Yuanchun, Zhang Jingxiu and others also put aside their reservedness and joined the common people in dancing the simple and cheerful Yangko dance. They even shouted themselves hoarse with excitement.

On a distant street corner, Zhao Shouzheng and the eldest princess, wearing snow hats that covered most of their faces, snuggled up to Luohan's bed, looking at the brilliant and beautiful scenery before them, wishing that this moment would last forever.

~~

There is no curfew in the imperial city tonight, and the carnival will continue until the second half of the night.

After sending Li Mingyue and her siblings home, Zhao Hao and Gao Wu returned to Chunsong Hutong and found that Zhao Shouzheng had already returned.

Seeing that his father was lying on the kang and seemed to be asleep, Zhao Hao planned to pretend to be confused and get away with it, so he tiptoed to take off his boots and prepared to get into bed.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Shouzheng opened his eyes and asked awkwardly, "Did you see everything?"

"Uh..." Zhao Hao felt guilty for a moment, thinking to himself, why is it that I am the thief? He nodded and said, "I guess so."

"It's good that you saw it. Otherwise, I would feel uncomfortable hiding it from you." Zhao Shouzheng seemed to be relieved, but asked nervously, "Are you surprised?"

"Not surprising." Zhao Hao thought to himself, and was even a little surprised.

"Oh, you've seen it a long time ago?" Zhao Shouzheng sat up in surprise and looked at his son.

Zhao Hao nodded and said, "I got the jade pendant back from you..."

"That's right, you are a cunning kid." Zhao Shouzheng smiled bitterly and lay back on the pillow, sighing and asking, "Do you blame me?"

"No." Zhao Hao shook his head and said, "Father has been alone for so many years."

"Oh, my son is so thoughtful..."

Zhao Shouzheng heaved a sigh of relief, and put down the heavy stone in his heart. He was really worried that Zhao Hao would come back and quarrel with him, saying something like "you are sorry to my mother", which would affect the parent-child relationship.

Without waiting for Zhao Hao to ask, he took the initiative to confess:

"That was eighteen years ago. When your grandfather was an official in the Ministry of Industry, he brought me with him to study. But he often had to go on business trips, so I took the opportunity to travel around. That spring, in the Little Penglai behind Baiyun Temple, I met a little girl crying under a peach tree. She was Ning An, who had left the palace for some reason..."

"How old was my mother at that time? Thirteen or fourteen? A beast..." Zhao Hao complained silently.

"I didn't know her identity at the time. Who would have thought that a princess would not live in the palace but would live in a Taoist temple?" Zhao Shouzheng gradually immersed himself in his memories and said:

"I saw she was crying so sadly, so I comforted her and gave her a candy man. She seemed very lonely and even asked me if I would come again."

Zhao Hao listened in fascination, thinking that his mother was so pitiful, no wonder she was so devoted to his father, it turned out that Mr. Zhao took advantage of the situation...

"So I often went to see her, brought her delicious and fun things, and all kinds of books, and told her about things outside. Finally one day, she said she wanted to go out for a look, so I took her out of Xiao Penglai through the back door. Later I found out that it was the first time she had walked out of that place in ten years..."

"I took her to travel all over the capital. We went to Yuyuantan to enjoy the flowers in spring, to Tonghui River to cool off in summer, to Xiangshan to see the fallen leaves in autumn, and to Shichahai to skate in winter... Unconsciously, she finally walked out of the shadows and became cheerful and lively. We gradually developed feelings for each other. Who knew that one day, an imperial decree came down and the late emperor restored her status as a princess..."

"Before we parted, we carved the pair of jade pendants in Shichahai... I mustered up the courage to tell the old man about this, hoping that he would propose marriage to the late emperor. Unexpectedly, the old man got furious and beat me half to death, then sent me back to my hometown in Xiuning and married your mother... Later, she was also granted marriage to Li He by the late emperor, and we have been separated since then and have never met again..."

Zhao Shouzheng naturally couldn't say such cheesy things to his son. After briefly explaining the whole story, he quickly defended himself:

"In fact, I had no intention of meeting her again when I came to Beijing this time. When we met later, I didn't expect anything to happen. After all, with her status, it would be bad for everyone if she caused any trouble. But who knew that day after day, alas, our old feelings would rekindle."

"What are your plans for the future?" Zhao Hao asked the key question.

"In the future..." Zhao Shouzheng sighed, "How can the eldest princess of the Ming Dynasty remarry? It's good like this now. She has me in her heart, and I have her in my heart. We can see each other and talk from time to time, and I am content."

"So, if father can't become a royal consort, he still has to take the imperial examination?"

"Of course..." Zhao Shouzheng nodded with a red face.

"Then go to bed quickly. We will start our retreat tomorrow." Zhao Hao said and blew out the lights with relief.

Well, as long as it doesn't affect my ability to curry favor with others, anything is fine.

ps. To be honest, I had a headache yesterday, so I took some ibuprofen, but I felt groggy until the evening. I only slept for three hours last night, and then I got up to write again, and finally finished the fifth chapter. It's the last few days, so please encourage me with your monthly votes...