******
The Lantern Festival is a very important festival. Under normal circumstances, the royal family would hang up lanterns on the Meridian Gate, and outside the Meridian Gate would set up a "Claw Mountain" of lanterns, which consisted of thousands of colorful lanterns stacked into a mountain. Some "Claw Mountains" were stacked up to thirteen stories high, and their shape resembled the legendary giant claw, so they were commonly known as "Claw Mountains".
The Wumen forbidden area, which was usually heavily guarded and not allowed to be entered by ordinary people, was specially opened for three days to watch lanterns and appreciate the moon, so that the emperor and the people could enjoy themselves together. This has been the case since the Song and Ming dynasties.
However, all these are things that happened after the country was at peace. Now the Great Qin had not even built the imperial palace, and there was no suitable place to celebrate with the people on Buzhao Mountain. Therefore, they only set up some lights in the backyard of the palace for their own viewing.
At night, Li Xiangjun, Dong Xiaowan and others often wore pearls and jade on their heads, or added jade plums, or snow willows. Their tops were mainly white silk jackets, and they matched them with colorful long skirts.
According to current habits, people wear light-colored clothes in summer and dark-colored clothes in winter. It seems contrary to common sense to wear white during the Lantern Festival when the cold has not yet subsided. However, this was the special custom of women's clothing during the Lantern Festival in the Song and Ming dynasties.
The custom of women wearing white during the Lantern Festival was first seen in the Song Dynasty. "Wulin Jiushi" records: "During the Lantern Festival, women all wear pearls, moths, jade plums, snow willows, bodhi leaves, lantern balls, gold-plated boxes, cicada and marten sleeves, and neck scarves, and most of the clothes are white, probably because they are suitable for the moon."
The white silk jacket gives people the impression of being elegant and pretty, which also adds a bit of frivolity.
This kind of etiquette is reasonable on ancient Valentine's Day such as the Lantern Festival, where everyone participates in the carnival. Wearing white clothes under the moon, floating like a fairy, can attract more attention.
The problem was that at the beginning of the night, when everyone was drinking and admiring the lanterns in the backyard, even dozens of maids changed into white clothes. The whole yard was filled with white clothes fluttering in the wind, and Qin Mu was dazzled and lost.
On the contrary, Yang Zhi, the only one not wearing white, attracted more attention.
As the queen, Yang Zhi had a special status and position, so she had to remain dignified, dress elegantly and luxuriously, and behave in a dignified and generous manner. The slightly frivolous white silk jacket was not suitable for her.
She wore a mink fur coat, a flowery skirt, and a fox cloak. In the white, she looked elegant and luxurious. Under the bright lights and moonlight, she attracted everyone's attention.
No matter how many troubles there are outside, Qin Mu hopes to spend such an important festival as the Lantern Festival happily with his family. He temporarily puts everything aside and drinks and enjoys the lanterns with his wife and children. There are more than a hundred lanterns of various types hanging in the back garden, and many lotus lanterns are floating on the water, creating a beautiful scene and bursts of laughter.
Under the leadership of Yang Zhi, the women in the garden, including the pregnant Bian Yujing, were supported by others and walked in groups among the pavilions and terraces in the courtyard. This was called "walking away all diseases" in folk culture.
"The capital city's lantern market is in full swing in the beginning of spring, and families of all sizes celebrate the festival together. Aunts and grandmothers lead their younger sisters to dress up and get rid of all diseases. It is said that ghosts are empty this night, and all diseases return to the dust. Otherwise, there will be many diseases this year. Arms are dry, eyes are dark, and the head is paralyzed. Walking through the streets with a pair of embroidered shoes is better than drinking two cups of water prescribed by the doctor."
This is a poem describing how women in the countryside get rid of all kinds of diseases. During the Lantern Festival, women in the countryside would go out at night to enjoy the lanterns and get rid of diseases. It was really a two-birds-with-one-stone custom. Women in the countryside would also go to the city gates and secretly touch the gate nails with their hands. Touching the nails was considered a good omen.
Yang Zhi and the others couldn't go out to touch the nails on the city gate, but it didn't matter. There was another way, and that was to walk across the bridge. There was a Nine-Curved Corridor Bridge over the Fengchi in the backyard, so they could just walk across it.
There were lanterns hung on the curved bridge, and people could enjoy the lanterns as they walked along. Qin Mu also joined in the fun. Walking away all diseases was a good omen, and it was not limited to men or women.
Unfortunately, the boy from the Qin family was not very good. He fell down slightly and started crying. This was the Qin family's treasure. His crying scared the birds away.
Qin Mu stopped the group of noisy birds. He stood in front of his son and said earnestly: "Ye'er, if you keep crying, you will attract the heavenly soldiers and generals. Get up quickly, get up by yourself, let's enjoy the lanterns and the moon together. Look at that lotus lantern, how beautiful it is. If you cry again, it will not light up..."
This time it worked. The Qin family kid got up by himself, wiped his tears, pulled Qin Mu's hand and said, "Daddy, Daddy... I want a light..."
"That's easy. As long as you don't let Daddy pick the moon..."
"Daddy, I want the moon!"
Before Qin Mu finished speaking, his son immediately changed his mind. Suddenly, there were bursts of laughter all around, and even the dignified Yang Zhi couldn't help but double over with laughter.
Yun Qiaoer even laughed and said mischievously: "Brother Qin, go pick the moon quickly. Ye'er, right? We want the moon."
Qin Mu gave her a poppy seed, then squatted down and said to his son: "Son, look, there is only one moon in the sky, and everyone is admiring the moon. If Daddy picks it down and gives it to you, others won't be able to see it. This is not good. Don't be like your Aunt Yun, who is the only one who can block the moon. My son, you will benefit the people in the future. How can you pick the moon down and admire it by yourself, right?"
"Daddy, there..."
Qin Ye pointed his little hand at the water surface, and Qin Mu almost fainted... ... ..There is a moon in the sky, and there is a moon in the water. I don’t know, I don’t know, which one is rounder, which one is brighter... ..
Concubine Xiang laughed so hard that she fell backwards, no longer caring about her image as a lady. "Haha... Brother Qin, quickly go down to the water and fish for the moon. No one else can enjoy it anyway, so it doesn't matter if you fish it out for Ye'er... Haha..."
"Son, the moon in the water... well... if you take it out, it won't be bright anymore, and you won't be able to see it. For some things, we must give up something in order to gain something..."
"Daddy, I want the moon!"
Obviously, his son was not willing to comprehend the profound principles of His Excellency the Prince of Qin for the time being, and he just wanted the moon.
This kid, you want the moon, right? Daddy lets you go down and get it yourself. Qin Mu picked up his son and threw him into the pond... This is impossible.
He kissed his son on the cheek and said with a smile, "Okay, this is not difficult. Look at Daddy. Go and get someone to bring the basin of water."
Finally, Qin Mu scooped up the moon with a basin. The round shadow of the moon in the basin made his son giggle, and the walk to cure all diseases could continue.
After that, everyone returned to the pavilion to continue drinking and admiring the lanterns. Yun Qiaoer came over and asked curiously, "Brother Qin, what did you say just now about heavenly soldiers and generals coming down? What's going on? Are there really heavenly soldiers and generals?"
It is obvious that this girl has watched too many "Chu Ke Pai An Jing Qi" and loves to listen to these supernatural and weird things.
Li Xiangjun, Dong Xiaowan, Gu Hanyan and others were guessing riddles. They were all dressed in fluttering white clothes, looking as light as fairies. So beautiful!
While others were admiring lanterns, Qin Mu was admiring beauties. He casually replied, "Legend has it that a long time ago, a divine bird landed on the earth because it got lost, but was accidentally shot dead by an unsuspecting hunter."
"Oh, what happened next?" Yun Qiaoer's eyes became bright and she threw herself into his arms and asked.
"Later, the Emperor of Heaven learned about this and was furious. He ordered his soldiers to set fire to the world on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month to burn everyone to death. The Emperor of Heaven's daughter was kind-hearted and could not bear to see innocent people suffer, so she risked her life to tell people the news."
"Won't the Emperor of Heaven's daughter save us? Just telling everyone this news, can we defeat the Heavenly Soldiers?"
"Of course... we can't win. So when everyone heard the news, it was like a thunderclap above their heads. They were so scared that they didn't know what to do."
"What should I do then?"
"After a long discussion, when everyone was about to get worried, an old man came up with a solution. He said: On the 14th, 15th and 16th day of the first lunar month, every family should hang up red lanterns, light firecrackers and fireworks. In this way, the Emperor of Heaven would think that people were burned to death and would not send troops down in vain.
Everyone nodded in agreement and went their separate ways to prepare. On the night of the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the heavenly soldiers looked down and saw a red glow on earth. They thought it was the flame of a big fire, so they told the emperor that they didn’t need to set the fire. In this way, people saved their lives. To commemorate this success, every fifteenth day of the first lunar month, every household would hang lanterns, and the Lantern Festival was born.
"Hehe, Brother Qin, you are talking nonsense. There is no such thing."
"So you're still listening with gusto?"
"Sister is also listening with great interest." Yun Qiaoer immediately directed the criticism towards Yang Zhi.
"Go, go, go and guess your lantern riddle. I want to spend some time with your sister."
"Husband!" Yang Zhi blushed and spat at him.
"Haha, my lady, don't get me wrong, it's the Lantern Festival, the flowers are in full bloom and the moon is full, that's what's good about it..."
It would have been fine if he hadn't explained. Once he did, Yang Zhi became even more embarrassed and ran off to guess the riddles with Li Xiangjun and the others... ... ... ... .
**********************
ps: Suddenly, a rainstorm came. I was afraid of power outage, so I hurriedly uploaded this chapter. On the monthly ticket list, there were also lightning and thunder. Others were chasing so hard, with more than a hundred votes a day. Brothers, I feel powerless. I weakly ask for monthly tickets, monthly tickets again, and monthly tickets again, monthly tickets, monthly tickets, monthly tickets!
.(To be continued..)
...