The Moon Goddess Festival among the people is much more lively than that in the palace.
The party was over now, but the streets were still brightly lit and full of people.
Almost all the young men and women in Kyoto came out.
Compared to the women who were dressed in gorgeous clothes, painted with cinnabar and wearing fresh flowers in their hair, the young men did not wear too many decorations, but they were still dressed in gorgeous clothes.
Even people from poor families wore their best clothes on this day and enjoyed the festive atmosphere.
The vendors were also happily selling their goods.
Women’s favorite rouge, powder, and various jewelry, although not valuable, are beautiful in design and patterns.
There are also people selling lanterns and snacks.
I picked two baskets of flowers to sell on the spot.
A man picked one, took the flower from the hair of the girl walking with him, and then pinned the one he picked on top of it, which was also interesting.
Li Wan just felt that his eyes were not enough to see.
In the palace, she could only breathe a sigh of relief when she was with Cuizhu in the West Palace. Only when she was outside the palace did she truly feel how precious freedom was.
She couldn't help but smile and looked at everything in amazement.
The emperor saw that Li Wan looked like he had never seen the world before, so he asked, "Haven't you ever been out on the Moon Goddess Festival before?"
Li Wan turned around, her brows glowing with cinnabar, her eyes sparkling: "Young Master, I have been weak since I was young, and there were too many people at the Moon Goddess Festival, so my parents only took me out to the street to watch the party, and after the party was over, I went back with my parents. I have never been out so late, and my father has been busy with official duties, so in recent years, he hasn't taken me to the Moon Goddess Festival for a long time."
The emperor's heart softened when she called him Young Master: "Then I will take you to see it tonight."
Li Wan responded with a smile.
The three of them walking in the crowd really attracted attention.
The emperor and Qin Lin walked in the crowd, standing out like a crane among chickens. One of them was white, the other black, one was handsome, the other was cold. In between them was a girl in white with a slender waist and a graceful figure like a fairy.
People around couldn't help but look at them a few more times.
I saw Li Wan was looking at the lanterns in other girls’ hands.
The emperor picked one from the stall next to him and handed it to Li Wan.
Li Wan was startled, took the lantern, pursed her lips and smiled, "Thank you, sir."
The emperor said, "Just tell me what you want. Don't look so poor and embarrass me."
Li Wan smiled.
Qin Lin walked over silently and gave the money to the stall owner.
Now that we have bought the lanterns, we need to go to the river to release them.
During the Moon Goddess Festival, women light lanterns and make good wishes, hoping that their wishes will come true.
The three of them walked all the way to the river.
There are already many lanterns floating on the river.
There are also many young men and women walking together by the river.
Li Wan came to the shore holding the lantern. She didn't believe in these things at first, but just for the sake of seeing the scene, she closed her eyes and made a wish. Then she opened her eyes, squatted down, and put the lantern into the water.
She stood up and watched the lanterns being pushed by the current and drifting downstream.
"What wish did you make?" asked the emperor next to him.
Li Wan turned to look at him, with a faint smile on her lips: "Sir, don't you know? If you speak out your wish, it will not come true."
The light here was dim, but her face was as bright and white as the moon, and her smiling eyes were brighter than the stars in the sky.
The emperor stared at her in a daze. For a moment, everything was silent except for his heartbeat like a drum.
Suddenly, I heard a loud shout: "Hey, hey, hey! Be careful! Get out of the way!"
Seeing the emperor in a daze, Li Wan quickly pulled him over.
The emperor threw himself on her and subconsciously put his arms around her.
A man brushed past the emperor from behind and fell into the water with a splash. After struggling for a few times, he climbed up to the shore again. With his wet body, he bowed to the two of them apologetically and went to chase after the companion who pushed him down.
The emperor did not move, keeping his arms around Li Wan. It was the first time in his life that he was so close to a woman. The person in his arms was small, soft and fragrant... He held his breath, and his eardrums were almost broken by the sound of his heartbeat.
Li Wan withdrew from the emperor's arms and loosened her grip on the emperor's hand. Before she could pull her hand back, the emperor grabbed her hand.
Li Wan looked up in surprise.
A suspicious blush rose on the boy's cheekbones. He didn't loosen his grip on her hand, but tightened it. He avoided looking at her and said awkwardly, "There are so many people here. If we get separated, I won't look for you... Let's go and have a look somewhere else."
As he spoke, he pulled Li Wan ashore.
Qin Lin stood at the end of the bridge, watching the emperor walking towards him holding Li Wan's hand. His eyes flashed twice, and then he returned to silence.
The emperor had no time to think about where to go or what to look at; all his attention was on the hand he was holding.
Why are her hands so small? And so soft? Holding them in his hands, they felt boneless... He didn't know if it was because of nervousness or heat, but his palms began to sweat, wet and sticky, but he couldn't bear to let go, pretending to be calm.
Li Wan stopped in front of a jewelry stall.
Although those hairpins and step-shaking ornaments are not made of gold, silver or jade, their shapes are unique and exquisite.
Li Wan said generously: "Sir, can you give me one?"
The emperor looked down upon them and said, "If you like jewelry, wait until you get home and I will give you a set."
Li Wan smiled slightly and said, "That was a reward from the young master, it was a gift. This is a gift from the young master, it is a token of his heart. Naturally, they are different."
The emperor felt hot on the face when she said that, and he felt a little uncomfortable, but in his heart he felt strangely delighted. He coughed lightly, still holding Li Wan's hand, and began to carefully choose from the small stall, and finally picked out a simple and unique pearl hairpin.
He first brought it to Li Wan and asked her unconfidently, "Do you like this?"
Li Wan's eyes curved and she said, "I like everything you pick."
The emperor's face became hot again, and he pretended to be calm and said, "Then buy this one."
Li Wan said, "Sir, please put it on me."
The emperor was startled for a moment, then he took the pearl hairpin, inexplicably nervous, and gestured on Li Wan's head again and again, and finally inserted it into her hair awkwardly but solemnly.
Li Wan raised her face: "Does it look good?"
The emperor looked at her and uttered two words somewhat unnaturally: "Beautiful."
Li Wan suddenly looked in another direction: "Hey, there are a lot of people over there, let's go and take a look." Then he pulled the emperor over there.
Just as the stall owner was about to call the two men to stop, Qin Lin walked up and gave him some silver.
The stall over there that does a lot of business is selling dolls.
The ceramic dolls are sold in pairs. The dolls are unpainted and have no faces. Once you pay the bill, the stall owner will paint them. Although there are many people watching, they are just there to watch the fun. It is really not cheap. One tael of silver is a pair, and one tael of silver is enough for an ordinary family to eat for a month or two.
After a while, a pair was drawn. Li Wan took a look and found that the doll's facial features and expressions were, if not perfect, at least 70% accurate. Even the color of the clothes on their bodies were exactly the same as the young couple he bought.
I suddenly felt that this tael of silver was indeed worth it.
The emperor took one look at the painted dolls and said, "I want a pair."
The stall owner asked with a smile, "Sir, do you want to draw the young master and this girl?"
The emperor was still a little awkward and just hummed.
The stall owner looked at the two people intently for a while, then began to paint. After a while, he had finished drawing a pair and put them in an exquisite brocade box and handed them to the emperor.
Li Wan leaned over to take a look, and felt that the stall owner had painted the emperor's phoenix eyes extremely lifelike, with 70% of his charm.
The emperor was pleased and rewarded Qin Lin with ten taels of silver.
The onlookers immediately exclaimed in amazement.
The emperor handed the brocade box to Qin Lin and walked out of the crowd with Li Wan.
I didn't want to run into Song Mingyi and his friends head-on.
As soon as the emperor saw Song Mingyi, the smile on his lips disappeared immediately, and he subconsciously tightened his hand around Li Wan.
Li Wan was also stunned when she saw Song Mingyi.
Song Mingyi wore a blue shirt tonight, which made him look more elegant and refined.
When he saw the emperor and Li Wan, his steps suddenly stopped. He didn't expect to meet Li Wan here. He stared at her in a daze, almost unrecognizable. He felt that the person in front of him was like a fairy from heaven. He looked down and saw that her hand was tightly held by the emperor. His heart was shocked, and then he lowered his eyes to hide all the emotions in his eyes. Just as he was about to raise his hand to salute, he heard the emperor say, "Sir Song, what a coincidence."
Song Mingyi then realized that they were outside the palace and the emperor wanted to conceal his identity, so he didn't know what to address him for a moment.
None of his friends had ever seen the emperor, and they all looked at Li Wan in amazement.
Someone said, "Mingyi, why don't you introduce yourself?"
Li Wan seldom goes out to socialize. In the whole of Kyoto, not many people have seen Li Wan in person, and even fewer men. Some have only seen her from afar, and it is difficult to connect that delicate beauty with the fairy-like girl under the moon in front of them.
Song Mingyi didn't know how to introduce these two people.
Once we talk about Li Wan’s identity, we can naturally connect it to the identities of the people around her.
At this moment, Qin Lin came over and introduced: "This is Master Yuan who just came to Kyoto."
His introduction was vague, and the others were not very familiar with Qin Lin, so they did not dare to ask more questions.
Others bowed.
The emperor reacted coldly, just nodded slightly, and left with Li Wan.
Qin Lin said goodbye and followed.
Song Mingyi's friend frowned and said, "Who is this guy? He's so arrogant."
Song Mingyi's face became serious, and he said in a cold voice: "Be careful with your words."
His friend was startled, and seeing that Qin Lin was always half a step behind the man, he was immediately startled and said in a lost voice: "That is the emperor..."
Under Song Mingyi's warning gaze, he swallowed the remaining word, but his eyes were full of horror.
It turned out to be the emperor!
He looked at the backs of the three people over there, and suddenly an epiphany came to his mind. He whispered, "Then the one next to him... is he from the Li family?"
Song Mingyi looked cold and nodded.
The friend felt complicated. No wonder Song Mingyi fell in love with her at first sight. She looked like this.
He patted Song Mingyi on the shoulder, silently comforting him, feeling a little annoyed. If he had known earlier, he should not have pulled Song Mingyi out.
He saw that he was inexplicably depressed recently and felt a little worried about him, so he forced him to go out and relax. Unexpectedly, this backfired.
......
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