Chapter 21
The moonlight was hazy, and the long streets of the capital were brightly lit. A palace lantern hung high in the sky, and a long boat with fluttering red silk was sailing slowly on the lake, floating on the waves and filling the lake with paper lanterns that were almost as numerous as stars.
Several dignitaries on the second floor followed Song Yanting and sat down. Mother Zhang stood on the small platform at the bow and called out loudly.
"Light up!"
The entire capital city was brightly lit, except for the two sides of the river, which seemed to be deliberately separated and were hazy and dark.
Hearing the rustling noise, they began to work, using tinder to light the wicks in the various lanterns they were holding.
You Yang couldn't bear to watch it all, and those dignitaries who were sitting in their chairs and dressed solemnly became agitated when they saw this scene.
He left the wooden chair early in a hurry, stood at the handrails on both sides of the river bank with his hands behind his back, looked sternly, squinted his eyes which were already as small as possible, and stared intently at the pitch-black river banks on both sides.
In the darkness, You Yang couldn't guess what they were looking at.
Long strings of lights lit up one after another along the river, and a little bit of faint candlelight illuminated the beautiful girls under the lights.
The faint light makes it difficult for people to see the true face clearly, which is also one of Chun Hongfang's clever ideas.
The candlelight flickered in the wind, sometimes brighter and sometimes dimmer. In addition, the long boat was some distance away from the two banks, so the dignitaries could only choose based on their first impression from afar. While maintaining the mystery, it also increased expectations, giving the choosers an indescribable sense of excitement.
"This girl is so pretty, I want her. Don't try to snatch her from me."
"Hahaha, since it was the lamp that you chose first, I have no reason to take it away from you. I'll take that one."
......
They were followed by a groom named Chun Hongfang, whose job was to write down the chosen lanterns and report to Mother Zhang, who would then make all the arrangements. Different girls would have different prices.
You Yang then realized that this was also a way for the powerful to entertain themselves.
The lit lantern represents the girl under the lantern for them to choose. If they like it, they can bid to buy the lantern, and then the lantern and the girl will be delivered to them.
You Yang was also curious, so he walked slowly to the fence and found that there were quite a few people on the first floor who were ready to make a move.
If the people on the second floor are high-ranking officials who are qualified to sit at the same table with Song Yanting, then the people on the first floor are just small-time characters.
They don't have the posture of a second-floor woman, and their reactions when seeing a beauty are more direct. In order to see her true appearance, they can lie down in an indecent manner on the handrails on both sides closest to the river bank and look there with their buttocks sticking out.
Song Yanting ignored all of this and instead became interested in the tassels in Youyang's hair, which he would touch from time to time.
Some sighed with regret: "There are too few fish in the fishing net. I think someone must have secretly cut the net."
You Yang frowned and looked at Song Yanting strangely.
Song Yan didn't continue talking. Instead, he noticed that You Yang's expression was becoming increasingly serious, so he asked her, "Have you finally realized something's wrong?"
You Yang's doubts were still there, and his words only added to them.
She said, "Something's wrong."
Song Yanting raised his eyes and motioned her to continue.
You Yang suppressed all the doubts in her mind and expressed her guesses in front of Song Yan.
"Such a large-scale mobilization should not be just for this purpose."
"It's not that I'm picky, but Chun Hongfang makes a living by selling girls to men."
"This Chun Hongfang is able to stand out from the crowd. If it only had girls like this with some minor looks, it would have gone bankrupt long ago."
"Besides," You Yang turned around and looked directly at Song Yanting, "I saw that you were motionless, and it was obvious that you had no interest in these little beauties."
"Even if Mother Zhang doesn't come to check on you, it just proves that these are not up to par. There will be better options for you to choose from later."
"Smart." Song Yanting lowered his eyes slightly, his dark pupils flashing for a moment, as if he had thought of something. He smiled meaningfully at You Yang and said, "Maybe there will be an unexpected surprise for you later~"
You Yang: "Surprise? What surprise?" What surprise could she have in this shabby place?
But no matter how You Yang pestered him to ask, Song Yanting refused to tell her.
The boat was about to arrive. Mother Zhang had sold many girls along the way and made a lot of money. Her wallet was full and she looked very happy and in good spirits.
Behind her happily followed a pimp, holding something covered with a black cloth.
The two of them came to Song Yanting and knelt down to salute: "Your Highness, Little Madam."
"We are almost there. Your Highness, please move to the front. The sky lanterns are ready."
You Yang followed Song Yanting, holding onto a corner of his wide sleeves, and looked from afar at the high platform in the center of the lake not far away. It was decorated with great care and became dazzling.
I guess that’s the highlight of tonight’s cruise.
She pretended to be jealous and narrow-minded and said sarcastically, "Mother Zhang, I see that these sky lanterns are all the same style. Why are you making so many gimmicks?"
"No matter how many gimmicks we have, they are all done to please His Highness and the distinguished guests. If His Highness didn't like it, why would he come every year?"
Mother Zhang was neither humble nor arrogant, but was actually secretly warning You Yang that no matter how beautiful and talented she was, she was just one of the many women Song Yan listened to.
Seeing Youyang speechless, Mother Zhang felt somewhat proud. She stood on the platform, and even the loud cheers showed her pride all the time.
The people's lanterns rose into the air first, and when people were immersed in the prosperous scene of lanterns flying in the sky, musicians on both sides of the strait began to play beautiful music.
"The time has come to release the sky lanterns!"
At Mother Zhang's command, the old man behind her ripped off the black cloth covering the object in his hand.
Under the black cloth was a golden cage full of butterflies.
The old turtle opened the cage and released the colorful butterflies in the cage to the accompaniment of music.
The butterflies flew in all directions, seemingly without any order, but in fact they were all flying towards one place.
It is the round platform.
On the round stage, five graceful girls with their faces covered by veils and wearing fine dance costumes dance to the music.
The butterflies seemed to be attracted and flew to the beauty's side, and some even stayed on her shoulders.
The beauty on the stage danced gracefully, with colorful butterflies flying around her. The scene was so beautiful that not only men liked to watch it, but even You Yang was attracted and couldn't take her eyes off it.
Under the flying lanterns sparkling in the night sky, the dance is about to end.
The final part of this dance is releasing sky lanterns.
Five fiery red sky lanterns made of gold carvings and colored glaze were brought up by the maids.
The beauty used some unknown method to deceive others, but she actually ignited flames on her fingertips and used the fire to light the lamp.
Soon, the sky lanterns gradually rose higher, but unlike ordinary flying lanterns, they did not disappear into the clouds. Instead, they all stopped at the same height.
Upon closer inspection, I realized that each lamp was tied to a thin wire.
You Yang's eyebrows twitched slightly, and he observed carefully, and finally discovered the differences between these sky lanterns.
The sky lanterns are all painted with red and pink peach blossoms. The styles are very different. The only difference is the number of flowers on them. The least has six, the most has twelve, and the rest have nine, ten, and eleven.
You Yang was still trying to figure out what the pattern on the sky lantern meant when Song Yan said, "Six peach blossoms, I want this one."
Mother Zhang had a smile on her face and glanced at Youyang unintentionally.
"Alright, I'll arrange for the person to be sent to His Highness's room right away."
"Okay." Song Yanting took You Yang's hand and said, "Let's go."
You Yang raised her eyes: "Where are you going?"
Song Yan heard Zhan Yan's gaze lingering on You Yang, and he said nonchalantly, "Of course, a night of spring is worth a thousand gold. How can I not have my young lady accompany me?"
In an instant, the people around who heard this cast ambiguous glances at Youyang, making her feel a little embarrassed.
You Yang glared at him and pushed Song Yanting away, "Let's go, let's go. We're leaving now." She really couldn't stand this guy's flirty way of speaking.
The two of them left in full view of everyone and came to the room arranged by Zhang's mother.
As soon as Song Yan entered the room, he went straight to the bed and sat down, not wanting to take another step.
After closing the door and checking the room to make sure no one else was there, You Yang stood in front of Song Yan Ting, pinching her waist and asking him hesitantly, "You...you're not really going to...do that here, are you?"
"I...I don't have a fetish for watching other people's things."
Song Yanting laid down with his hands behind his head and said leisurely, "Don't worry, I don't have a habit of letting others watch me do that."
"Aren't you curious about what the lantern actually means? You'll find out in a moment."
"Knock knock knock..." Soon someone knocked on the door.
"Your Highness, the people and the lamps you requested have arrived." It turned out that it was Mother Zhang who personally delivered the people.
Song Yanting sat up and gave You Yang a look, indicating her to hide behind the screen.
"Come in."
The carved wooden door was opened from the outside by Mother Zhang, followed by a slim woman.
She covered her face with a veil, with a peony flower painted on her forehead. She wore a thin blue gauze skirt, which held her beautiful figure together, making it difficult to reveal her.
You Yang recognized her from her figure through the gap in the screen and found that she was one of the five people on the round platform.
Behind the woman, there were two servants carrying a box.
"Greetings, Your Highness."
When Mother Zhang saw that Youyang was missing, she started looking for her in the house without making any noise.
"What is Madam Zhang looking for?" Song Yanting pointed out her thoughts without any concealment.
Mother Zhang laughed dryly, "I dare not, but seeing that the young mistress has disappeared, I am afraid that our cabin is too big and it would be bad if she got lost."
Song Yanting pointed at the screen without saying a word.
What else can you do behind the screen? Of course, you can take off your clothes.
Mother Zhang was ashamed and said, "I am just worrying too much."
"If you know you're worrying too much, just get out of here and stop standing here getting in the way." Song Yan became impatient.
"Hey! I'll take my leave now." The moody ancestor was angry. Mother Zhang didn't dare to stay any longer and hurried out, even helping to close the door when she left.
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