Nirvana In Fire

Chapter 66: New Year's Banquet

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When he returned to his house, Mei Changsu felt chills all over his body and was out of strength, so he could barely hold on. He also arranged for someone to keep an eye on Yan Que's actions at any time, and then he relaxed and lay back on the bed in a groggy state, saying to Dr. Yan. sorry.

For his apology, the old doctor ignored it. He still had a face like the bottom of a pot when he administered the needle to the patient, which made Li Gang on the side worry about whether he would pierce the silver needle in his hand into something else that should not be pierced. Place out of breath.

After three days of bed rest like this, Mei Changsu's spirit gradually recovered. Perhaps the subordinates deliberately did not dare to disturb them, or perhaps nothing major happened. The situation in Beijing was very calm for the past three days. Only the emperor issued an edict saying that the queen was ill.

According to legends in the palace, the emperor originally preferred Concubine Yue to perform the ceremony, but Concubine Yue herself wrote a letter, saying that her position was later, and she was disrespectful. .

This letter was written in a reasonable and reasonable manner, showing bearing, so that Emperor Liang admired it greatly, and personally gave him new clothes and bead hairpins as a reward. When the news came out, it really made Yu Wang annoyed.

However, the suffocation returns to the suffocation. This is also a common occurrence in the battle for succession. One side is not a big victory, and the other side has no real loss. At the end of the year, there are many things, and neither side is deeply entangled, and there are more bites. .

Of course, Su Zhaizhong also has to prepare for the New Year. This is not something that Mei Changsu has to worry about, not to mention that Li Gang is a good housekeeper, and Mr. Thirteen also has Gong Yu and Zhou Zhouquan picking up a few carts of New Year's goods. Most of them come here. Nowadays, there are all kinds of popular new and ingenious things, which makes Feiliu basically busy from morning to night every day, busy playing non-stop.

Other mansions such as Prince Mu’s Mansion, Prince Yu’s Mansion, Mansion of Yan, Mansion of Xie, Mansion of Commander, etc. also had New Year’s gifts delivered to their door.

Most of all the gifts Mei Changsu just looked at the gift list, he let Li Gang handle it himself, and even the return gift was arranged by Li Gang, and he didn't pay attention at all.

However, there is one thing that Feiliu loves greatly, that is, the seven boxes of fireworks sent by Mu Wangfu. All of them are as thick as children's arms. , As a result, before New Year's Eve, it was put in a clean place. Li Gang sent someone out to buy a new one, only to find out that the fireworks sent by Prince Mu's mansion were palace-made fireworks, which could not be bought on the market.

In order to appease Feiliu, the first letter written by Qilin, who was recovering from a serious illness, was actually for Nihuang to buy ten more boxes of fireworks on her behalf.

Only one day after the letter was sent, the carriage carrying the fireworks arrived at the back door of Su's house. Fei Liu was very happy, and Mei Changsu was also very happy.

Because he wrote to Nihuang, only Mu Wangfu sent fireworks again, and no other palaces like Yuwang heard the news and followed the trend to please. This shows that Nihuang is indeed strict in governing the government, and irrelevant news will not Fly everywhere.

New Year's Eve is coming soon. That much-anticipated ceremony had caused so many battles and turmoil in the palace, but it went smoothly and safely on the day it was held, without any unexpected changes. Except for the absence of the queen, the more Except for the concubine's relegation, there is no big difference from the festivals in previous years.

After the sacrificial ceremony, the emperor returned to the palace and began to give gifts and candles. According to the practice of previous years, the rank of royal gift should be the prince, followed by the honored king, the rest of the princes, and the other royal ministers according to their rank. This year, this big rule hasn't changed much, except that King Jing received an extra round of silver armor after receiving the same annual gift as the other princes. However, his recent performance is indeed very good. This extra reward is different from the richness of the king of honor, so it has not attracted anyone's special attention.

That night, the Xian'an Hall held a New Year's banquet. The emperor first went to Ci'an Palace to say goodbye to the Empress Dowager, and then returned to the hall to drink and celebrate with his concubines, princes and clansmen, and sent some dishes from the banquet to important guests. in the Minister's Palace. Being able to get the dishes bestowed by the emperor on New Year's Eve has always been a great favor for the courtiers, and people who are not members of the Holy Family generally do not have this honor.

It's just that no one could have imagined that the annual gift of "giving vegetables" would actually cause a lot of incidents.

On the night of the capital of the New Year, firecrackers are roaring in the sky, flowers and papers are all over the floor, every family is celebrating the new year, and the whole city is celebrating. Although it is lively, it is different from the Lantern Festival. Everyone stays at home to reunite with their relatives. There are basically no pedestrians on the streets except for children in the alleys who set firecrackers at their doorsteps.

The inner supervisor of the "Giving Vegetables" in Miyagi, dressed in yellow shirts, galloped out in a team of five, galloping on the empty streets, rushing to those favored and favored people scattered in all directions of the imperial city. destination.

In addition to the inner prisoner with a food box in the middle, the other four companions around him were all holding bright palace-made glass lanterns, and bright red lanterns were also on both sides of the main road surrounding Miyagi. However, compared to the pervasive light of the day, these night lights could not illuminate every dark corner clearly, and the tall palace walls were still heavy, and there were still large areas of dark shadows.

The shock came from these darkness, fast like a shadowless whirlwind, and even the victim himself could not see when the deadly cold light flashed and where it quietly returned.

The human body fell heavily, and the mount was still rushing forward. The blood was instantly cold in the winter night, and the faint screams were also covered up by the continuous "crackling" of firecrackers, and no one could hear them.

Gorgeous fireworks rose into the sky. At that time, it was almost midnight. At the turn of the new year and the old year, even the officers and soldiers who were patrolling the night stopped and looked up at the gorgeous blooming flowers in the night sky. highest point.

Mei Changsu took a long incense and lit one of the biggest fireworks that Fei Liu specially left for him. It burst open and turned into a waterfall of flowing clouds and waterfalls that almost dazzled half the sky.

"It's New Year's Eve! It's New Year's Eve!" Su Mansion made a chorus of noise, and even Li Gang, who had always been calm, didn't know where to take out a trifle, and he blew a happy tune. Several young guards began to beat gongs and drums, running around the courtyard.

"It's still time for you. You should play this and knock this at this time. If you play the piano, it will turn out the scenery." With a smile, Mei Changsu turned around and sat on the soft chair under the porch, picking up a few chestnuts and slowly Peel it off and continue to watch the sky full of fireworks.

The clock at midnight finally flipped over, and the whole courtyard was assembled. Even Aunt Ji threw away the kitchen spoon and walked out. Everyone was led by Li Gang one by one to kowtow in front of their suzerain to pay New Year's greetings. One of the red envelopes, most of them are personal guards who have followed Mei Changsu for many years, but there are also two or three who have been in the capital and have never taken anything directly in the hands of the sect master. They are speechless with excitement. Come on, the seniors rubbed their heads and laughed for a while, and everyone made a fuss and was very happy.

According to the habit he developed in Langzhou, Feiliu came over last in line (because he was the youngest), kicked away the worship blanket, knelt directly on the green brick floor, and said loudly, "New Year's greetings!"

"Be good this year!" Mei Changsu said with a smile, and also took a red envelope and put it in his hand. Although Fei Liu didn't know what was so good about this red bag, he knew that every year everyone was so happy to get it, so he also smiled at the occasion.

After New Year's greetings here, Mei Changsu stood up in front of Dr. Yan, and congratulated him. The old doctor seemed to be still angry with him, and his face was tense, but he couldn't hold back the atmosphere of this new year. With a beard and a smile, he patted Mei Changsu on the shoulder and said, "Don't just talk about others, you have to be good this year too!"

"Yes." Mei Changsu held back his smile and turned to look into the yard. Everyone has been in a mess for a long time.

"I'm eating dumplings! The boys are all over here!" Aunt Ji called out at the gate of the courtyard, and the crowd rushed towards her immediately. Mei Changsu pulled Dr. Yan's arm and led the three of them into the room together. Several large tables have been assembled here. The fruit, food, wine and vegetables are ready, and the hot dumplings are served like water. The table, braving the dense white gas, overflowing with fragrance.

Aunt Ji prepared a small plate of chives, ginger and vinegar for everyone to dip into the dumplings, but the boys all put the small plate away, and one person held a large bowl in his hand. big bowl.

"It seems that we are the only two old gentlemen," Mei Changsu whispered a joke to Dr. Yan, was pointed at his waist, laughed and gasped for a while, picked up the chopsticks and dipped it on the plate first, and then everyone shouted. He rushed forward and quickly grabbed the first round of dumplings.

"What are you robbing? What about reincarnation?" Although Aunt Ji scolded, but seeing that the dumplings she made were so popular, her eyes became a crack, and she directly brought in the second round of dumplings that had just been cooked. , fill the empty plate. A large iron pot with a diameter of two feet, filled with hot boiling water and Bai Shengsheng dumplings, she carried it around effortlessly with her bare hands. It would have been surprising to hear another occasion, but at this time this No one in the room gave her a second look, everyone's eyes were full of dumplings, and when they were robbing, someone held chopsticks and even used swordsmanship.

"Fortunately, they still know how to take care of the elderly." Dr. Yan looked at this group of wolves and shook his head with a smile. He and Mei Changsu both placed a plate of dumplings in front of him, so they didn't have to join the battle group. But looking at it this way, it seems that the other pots on the table seem to be more fragrant.

"Come on, Feiliu eat this." Mei Changsu took one from his plate and put it into Feiliu's bowl. Although the young man was invincible in the world, it was a pity that he was afraid of being hot and ate this slowly. After two rounds of dumplings came down, he He hadn't eaten ten yet, and now was the gap between the second and third rounds. He could only stare at the empty plate in a daze, making people laugh at it.

"The one in the Sect Master's plate is no longer hot, Fei Liu, swallow it in one bite!" Ji Bo urged with narrowed eyes.

As expected, Fei Liu obediently picked up the bowl, and with a gentle push, he put the whole dumpling into his mouth, just after chewing a bite, his eyes suddenly widened, he moved his mouth a few times, and spit out an oily slurp. The copper coins came and hit the table with a crisp sound.

There was a burst of laughter in the room, and many hands stretched out to Fei Liu to touch him, shouting in a chaotic manner: "Blessed! Blessed!"

The young man didn't know what was going on, but his instinctual reaction flashed, and he climbed onto the roof beam, which immediately triggered a chaotic chase, and even Aunt Ji's third pot of dumplings was not quelled. However, in the not spacious room, with so many people squeezing their fists, no one broke any utensils, and no one was able to successfully grab a piece of Fei Liu's clothes. In the end, Mei Changsu reached out his hand The teenager recalled to his side, held his hand and let everyone come over and touch it to be a truce.

"Do you want to touch?" Fei Liu looked surprised as if he had learned a new rule.

"Yeah, we Feiliu are the luckiest people this year to eat this copper coin, so everyone wants to touch you."

Fei Liu tilted his head and thought for a while, then suddenly said, "None!"

In the room, only Mei Changsu knew what he was talking about, and he said with a smile, "Last year it was Brother Lin Chen who threw out the copper coins, you didn't even touch it, did you?"

"yes!"

"That's what's wrong with Brother Lin Chen. Next time we see him, let's go and touch him!" Mei Changsu suggested solemnly. There were people in the room who knew Lin Chen, and they were already rolling on the ground holding their stomachs and laughing.

Fei Liu thought about it seriously, shivered involuntarily, shook his head and said, "No!"

"Hurry up and eat dumplings, it's getting cold!" Aunt Ji slapped a few young people beside her, drove everyone back to the table, and replaced Mei Changsu's plate with new hot dumplings, persuading : "Sect Master, eat two more."

"It's almost there," Dr. Yan stopped him, "Aunt Ji, go and bring the porridge. Young Master Su should go to bed after drinking the porridge. Even if it's the New Year, don't stay up too late."

Mei Changsu was indeed a little tired, so he replied with a smile, slowly finished a bowl of hot ginseng porridge, and went back to his room to wash and rest. At this time, it was late in the night, but the hustle and bustle in the capital was still unabated, and under the glitz and bustle, no one noticed that sporadic snow particles began to float in the sky again.

(End of the third volume overturning the clouds and covering the rain)