Today was the Lantern Festival holiday.
The sky had just darkened, on the capital’s Dragon Gate Street were strings of lit up lanterns. It was bustling with people, full of joy, extremely lively.
“Look, is that tortoise lantern pretty?” Lu Xiao pointed towards the front, full of interest.
“En, pretty,” Qiu Yutong was preoccupied.
He perfunctorily replied Lu Xiao while inwardly schemed, San-Shixiong was staying in Juanlian alley which wasn’t far from Dragon Gate street, walking through three streets up ahead and he’d reach it. But Lu Xiao was following him very closely, he couldn’t throw him off.
The two of them were casually strolling along Dragon Gate street. Unknowingly the sky started to darken, the crowd became bigger, the lanterns that were being lit up became more diverse; there were rabbits, tigers, crans, goldfish… Strung along the sides and roofs along the street, splendidly lustrous.
Apart from this, there was even the god of longevity with his palms together holding a peach, Zhongkui capturing a ghost, Chang E flying to the moon, Zhang Guolao riding a donkey lantern… the most bizarre was the carousel lantern. In the lantern, the paper cutting of men riding horses was chasing each other, extremely vivid and lifelike, which made it very interesting.
People were bustling about on the street likee weaves, men and women were carrying food, and that person beating the drums, the person on stilts selling cake; it was really lively and unusual.
“Rabbit lantern, tortoise lantern, five wen for one, ten wen for three!”
“Selling cakes! Freshly baked glutinous rice cakes! Fragrant and sweet!”
“Tanghulu, Tanghulu! Sweet and sour Tanghulu!”
“Aiyah, miss give way, you’re blocking my view of the lanterns!”
“Go, go, go, we bought Tanghulu, let’s go look over there!”
It was “A thousand doors were unlocked, ten thousand lanterns were lit, on the fifteenth of the month, the capital was very lively. Many people were dancing to music, so loud the sounds reached the skies.”*
[T/N: I couldn’t actually find an English TL of this, so I did my best, consulting a few chinese sites for the meaning.]
Qiu Yutong was filled with extreme lament. This year’s lantern festival was much more lively compared to five years ago; the entire city was covered in lanterns, looking prosperous.
Lu Xiao’s hard work for five years was not in vain.
Thinking till here, Qiu Yutong couldn’t help glancing at the youth beside him. Lu Xiao was staring, entranced, at a faraway lantern. His pitch-black phoenix eyes reflected the light of thousands of lanterns, exactly the same as five years ago.
Thinking of the lantern festival five years ago, Qiu Yutong couldn’t help laughing.
At that time, the old emperor, on impulse, decided to use the lantern festival to start lectures again in Daning Palace, finding the most famous scholar to teach the class. This was a good chance for the princes to prove themselves, but when Lu Xiao heard that Qiu Yutong wanted to go to Dragon Gate street and see the lantern festival’s festivities, he wanted to go with him no matter what.
Qiu Yutong couldn’t persuade him and could only cut a paper puppet and used that paper puppet to substitute for Lu Xiao during the lecture.
At that time, Lu Xiao was only eighteen. Even though he was much more calm and mature compared to people of his age, he was still a youth that hadn’t had the time to be young. He pulled Qiu Yutong to walk under the large expanse of shining lanterns, unable to conceal his excitement.
“Shizun, look at that lantern, doesn’t it look like Chang E?”
“Shizun, look, that lantern can move, is it a treasure of the cultivation world?”
Qiu Yutong was dragged around by him for a while when Lu Xiao’s steps suddenly paused, standing in front of a lantern vendor.
Qiu Yutong asked, puzzled, “What is it?”
Lu Xiao pointed at an announcement posted on the booth, “It’s written here that if we manage to solve the riddle written on the lantern, we can take the lantern away for free.”
Qiu Yutong couldn’t help laughing; this youngster was quite economical!
The lady boss of the booth smiled, “These two young masters want to solve the riddle?”
“En… Let me take a look first,” Lu Xiao sized up the lanterns on the booth.
There were a few hundred lanterns n the booth and a large portion were made of cotton and a few coloured glass ones. They were all extremely exquisite. A small slip of paper was pasted on each lantern with a short riddle written on each of them.
Lu Xiao stared at the pink cotton lotus flower lantern for quite a while before he suddenly bent down and said a few words to the lady boss.
“Alright, you got it, take it.” The lady boss smilingly took the lantern down and passed it to Lu Xiao.
Lu Xiao lifted the flower lantern up and carefully looked at the detailing. Then, he smiled at Qiu Yutong with a hint of embarrassment.
“What is it?” Qiu Yutong was inwardly smiling. This youngster took other people’s lantern for no reason and now he’s actually feeling embarrassed!
Lu Xiao hurriedly looked down, his thoughts were unknown.
After this moment, he hesitatingly passed the lantern over to Qiu Yutong. “Shizun, this is for you.”
“For me?” Qiu Yutong accepted the lantern and looked at the paper on the lantern with some curiosity. “Autumn enters the anxious stomach, drunk, filled with silent sorrow about autumn, do you know your Qing?* Xiao-er, what’s the answer to this riddle?”
[T/N: Autumn (Qiu) is the same character as in Qiu Yutong. Qing is a term of endearment between lovers. I couldn’t find an English equivalent.]
Lu Xiao choked and didn’t dare to speak.
Qiu Yutong read it again and then shook his head. “The rhythm is wrong.”
The lady boss smiled, “Young Master, not much attention is paid to this commoner’s things, the solution to this riddle is…”
The lady boss hadn’t finished speaking when Lu Xiao dragged him off with one hand, “Shizun, there’s a candyman store there!”
“Candyman?” Qiu Yutong originally wanted to ask about the solution, but when he heard about the candyman, his attention immediately shifted.
……
“What is it?” Lu Xiao’s voice dragged Qiu Yutong back from his reminiscing.
He regretfully thought, actually that lotus flower lantern was quite pretty. It was a pity that later, when they were queuing for the candyman, there were too many people in the queue and the lantern was accidentally crushed. Lu Xiao even looked depressed for quite a while.
Thinking of the candyman shop, Qiu Yutong could faintly smell a caramel fragrance and was unconsciously roused, “Let’s look over there.”
Lu Xiao looked at him and couldn’t help but lift a corner of his mouth, “okay.”
At the candyman vendor, it was a sea of people.
The two of them used a lot of effort, in the end, it was Lu Xiao who was more skilful, actually being able to break through an encirclement of aunties, just as the store was about to close, he managed to grab the last candyman.
There was only one.
Qiu Yutong stared impatiently at the candyman in Lu Xiao’s hand, his gaze filled with grievance, “…”
“It looks a little greasy, suddenly don’t feel like eating it,” Lu Xiao gently sniffed the candyman. “Why not throw it?”
Qiu Yutong was anxious, “Don’t be wasteful, why not… eh, I’ll help you eat it.”
Lu Xiao looked at him, pursing his lips, as if he wanted to laugh but didn’t dare to.
Qiu Yutong stared at him, a little angry, “What do you mean?”
“En, help me eat it.” Lu Xiao quickly passed the candyman over to him and pulled him to continue on, “Walk, we’ll go in front to guess the lantern riddles.”
Qiu Yutong grabbed the candyman and was pulled forward by him, the lanterns by his sides retreated, and suddenly, it felt like a lifetime ago, as if they had returned to that moment so many years ago.
The lanterns were splendid. Lu Xiao pulled Qiu Yutong and stopped in front of a lantern riddle store.
He pointed at a white cotton lotus flower lantern on the booth, and bent down to say a few words to the lady boss. The lady boss nodded and smilingly took down that lotus flower lantern.
“Here,” Lu Xiao gave the lantern to Qiu Yutong.
Qiu Yutong hesitatingly received the lotus flower lantern and looked down at the slip of paper, “Autumn enters the anxious stomach, drunk, filled with silent sorrow about autumn, do you know your Qing? This lantern is so similar with…”
He paused and didn’t finish the sentence with “with the one from before”.
Lu Xiao looked at him, “What is it?”
Qiu Yutong hesitated and shook his head, “Nothing.”
“Is that so? Really nothing?” Lu Xiao said lightly.
In that instant, the atmosphere was suddenly slightly strange.
“Let’s go,” Qiu Yutong shook his head, doing his best not to think too much. Lu Xiao also didn’t say anything. The two of them strolled along the street carrying the flower lantern.
“Aiyah!” A man cried out in alarm. Then, he turned around, glaring, “How do you walk? Do you not see this young master?”
Qiu Yutong apologised, “Sorry, it’s too crowded.”
The young man who was bumped into looked around twenty-five to twenty-six, with a face that could pass as heroic, if not for his extremely pale face and swollen eye bags. He looked like he had been hugely hollowed out by wine and women.
“You…” He stared dazedly at Qiu Yutong, his entire being was stunned.
Lu Xiao frowned and pulled Qiu Yutong forward, “Ignore him, let’s go.”
The man actually grabbed Qiu Yutong’s arm, “Don’t go! Which courtyard does this young master come from? Don’t go with that youngster, go with this young master instead, I’ll pay double the silvers.”
Qiu Yutong was slightly stunned, his immediate response was——as it turned out, this person thought of him as a male escort?!
Even though this body looked a bit more charming, and Lu Xiao was stuck to his side, and that there were actually quite a few maidens and male escorts on Dragon Gate street… but, his temperament, where did it seem like he was selling his body? Even the most reticent Er-Shixiong admitted that when he let out his killing intent, it’s pressure was suffocating.
The man still pulled on him, not letting go, “How much? State a price.”
Qiu Yutong was so angry he was about to laugh, “You…”
Lu Xiao grabbed the man’s wrist and hauled his hand from Qiu Yutong’s shoulder, then said awe-inspiringly, “Leave.”
The man’s wrist was squeezed until cracking could be heard and large droplets of sweat rolled down his forehead. He glared at Lu Xiao and said in a trembling voice, “You, who are you? Do you know who I am? My older brother is the assistant minister of the Ministry of Appointments, Li Zhiyuan!”
Lu Xiao stared at him and suddenly smiled, “Li Zhiyuan? I didn’t know that Li Zhiyuan had a younger brother like you?”
Qiu Yutong looked at Lu Xiao’s face and knew that this “Li Zhiyuan” was about to be very unlucky. He was about to say something when the man seemed like he had seen his saving grace, shouting, “Brother! Brother! I’m here, someone hit me!”
A tall man in brocade clothing bringing along a few servants pushed people aside to walk over, saying while frowning, “Li Jiang, what trouble did you provoke this time?”
Li Jiang pointed at Lu Xiao, “Brother, he hit me!”
Li Zhiyuan looked up at Lu Xiao, “You hit…”
His voice suddenly muted, his entire body was dumbstruck.
Lu Xiao unhurriedly bowed and said into his ear, “Beloved Official Li, you’re very capable so We will not cause trouble for you. But, if your little brother still wants to live, you’d better send him out of the capital tonight, never to return.”
Li Zhiyuan bent slightly, shaking as he said softly, “As Your Majesty commands.”
“Brother, why are you talking nonsense with him?!” Li Jiang was still making a commotion to the side. Li Zhiyuan straightened up and firmly waved his hand, “Tie this bastard up for me!”
Li Jiang was stupified, and yelled with grievances, “Brother!”
“Oldest Young Master, this…” The family servants looked at each other in dismay, not daring to act.
Li Zhiyuan angrily said, “Didn’t you hear me? Tie this good-for-nothing bastard up for me!”
The family servants looked at each other. One of them took the lead and apologised to Li Jiang, “Second Young Master, I’ve offended.”
After that, all the family servants threw themselves at him, trying to tie Li Jiang up. “You all dare!” Li Jiang did his utmost to fight back, like a fish out of water. In an instant, the scene became extremely chaotic.
