In a blink of an eye, it is the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, which is the Lantern Festival.
It is a tradition to watch lanterns and guess fans during the Lantern Festival. Although there was a murder case in the city, which made people panic, soldiers patrolled the city every day, and the atmosphere was tense. But soon, the ensuing festival dilutes the tension. People also let go of the panic in the peaceful days. After all, this kind of thing is too far away from them, and the army is stationed in the city all the year round, which makes them feel a little bit safe.
However, the murder case of Zhang Tiejiang was not closed in just a few days, and the murderer has never been found, as if he had disappeared from the world. The soldiers searched from house to house, but found no suspicious person, which made Wen Liang even suspect that this happened. The murders may not have been done by the North Vietnamese. However, even so, the city did not relax its vigilance. After all, General Zhao is still ill, and until the court gives clear instructions, this news has to be kept under wraps.
"It seems that the murderer is hiding very deeply!" In the study, Wen Liang waved his fan and said, "Either the murderer has already left, or someone has hidden him. I believe the latter more."
Chu Baning read the documents before the case and put them on the table, Wen Liang's words hit his guess.
"My lord, I guess the security in that city is so strict, I believe that the murderer will not take any action in a short time."
Chu Baning nodded, with deep eyes, and said: "Until the emperor's decree comes, don't relax your vigilance. If General Zhao's condition can be cured, that's all, if not..." The voice stopped, and the meaning inside is self-evident .
"Well, this Zixiu knows. Regardless of whether General Zhao is well or not, this news should not be known to the North Vietnamese. It is good to strengthen the vigilance so that they dare not take any action."
After discussing again and again, the two finally settled on the matter.
At this moment, Chu Baning raised his eyes to look out the window, and found that the snow outside had stopped.
"Oh, the snow stopped just in time. I believe it should be fine to watch the lanterns at night." Wen Liang closed his fan and patted his palms gently, and said with a smile: "The weather is very good tonight. I plan to go to enjoy the lanterns."
Chu Baning glanced at him, and Wen Liang hurriedly said: "I heard this from Rucui girl last night. She said that Mrs. He and Lord Chengshou would go to the street to enjoy lanterns tonight. The princess was envious and planned to do the same. Go and have a look. Hehe, my lord, if you are really that busy, Zixiu doesn’t mind acting as a guard in the mansion to escort the princess to see the lantern.” At the end, Wen Liang still didn’t change his teasing temperament that he was afraid that the world would not be chaotic, just wanted to Look at the appearance of a certain prince blowing his hair.
The corners of Chu Baning's lips curled slightly, and he said, "Then you can be a bodyguard!"
"..."
Wen Liang opened his mouth wide and watched a certain prince finish speaking, Shi Shi suddenly got up and left, and then looked sad and indignant: tat, he is a literati, you won't really let him wear that guard's clothes as a servant, right? Lord, how can you be so cruel...
When the lanterns came on, firecrackers sounded outside from time to time. When Ananda was thinking about what to do for the Lantern Festival tonight, Chu Baning suddenly came in and asked her to get ready and go out to watch the lanterns together.
Although Ananda was stunned for a moment, he immediately happily called the maid to get him ready.
Although she didn't know how Chu Baning was so enlightened that he wanted to go out with her to watch the lanterns, but this kind of opportunity is rare, and the one who refuses is the idiot.
When Ananda changed his clothes and went to the side hall, he saw a man in black guard uniform standing there talking to Chu Baning. When the man turned his face and saw his face clearly, Ananda couldn't help but Blunted: "Master Wen, why are you dressed like this? Is there any special significance?"
Wen Liang glanced sadly at Chu Baning, who had a serious face, and said to Ananda: "This is what your prince meant! Princess, I am the guard of your mansion today, who specially escorted you to enjoy the lanterns. Poor guards. So, please take care of the princess today."
Ananda pursed his lips and smiled, and glanced at Chu Baning, seeing that his complexion was normal, but there was a slight smile in his eyes, and he seemed extremely happy with Wen Liang's appearance.
"Okay, let's go out."
Chu Baning gave an order and went out with Ananda, two maids and several guards.
*************
In the dark sky, the bright moon is in the sky.
When a group of people came to the street, they saw that the whole street was covered with red lanterns all the way. There were people coming and going on the street. Some children with various lanterns were chasing me and running, and parents were chasing and playing. The child yelled behind him. There are many small vendors on both sides of the street who buy all kinds of lanterns, including guessing lantern riddles, appreciating lantern poems, singing lantern couplets, snacks and snacks, and playing dragon lanterns, walking on stilts, and dancing lions. programme. Looking from a distance, the lively street scene and the red lanterns in mid-air are just like: a song and song, the spring is like the sea, and the lights of thousands of gates are like day and night.
"Miss, let's go and guess the lantern riddles!" Rucui moved to Ananda's side and said enthusiastically.
Ananda's face turned dark.
As soon as Rucui rolled her eyes, she knew what her expression meant, and couldn't help covering her lips with a smile, which got Ananda's glaring glare.
"My lord and my concubine, let's go guess the lantern riddles. Tonight, let's form a team to be a lantern riddle king." Wen Liang said with a snap as he opened the fan and shook it.
Ananda froze, and when he was about to say that he was not interested, Chu Baning had already nodded in agreement.
Rucui smirked and watched Ananda reluctantly follow Chu Baning to a stall for guessing lantern riddles.
"Girl Rucui, what are you laughing at?" Wen Liang walked behind the two of them, and naturally noticed something strange about a certain girl.
Ru Cui pursed her lips and smiled at him, then looked at the two people walking in front, and said generously: "Because the princess is very unlucky, every time I guess the lantern riddles, I always get the most difficult one, and then there is a chance Eighty-nine times she can't guess it, and as time goes by, she doesn't like guessing lantern riddles anymore."
When Wen Liang heard this, his eyes lit up, and then he said with a smile: "Do you get the simplest and easiest riddles every time you guess lantern riddles?"
Ru Cui's eyes turned into crescent buds with a smile, "The servant girl is a little better than the princess, really only a little bit." Although she said so, Ru Cui remembered that during the Lantern Festival every year, Ananda and the sisters in the clan went to enjoy the lanterns together I still can't help laughing at the bitter expression when guessing the lantern riddles.
However, although Ananda is unlucky, but she has a girl whose luck is beyond the charts. Every time Rucui makes a move, it is definitely a good example. People can also guess the riddles, and Rucui is Ananda's maid, so Ananda is given the credit for guessing the lantern riddles, making Ananda the one who gets the most lantern riddle prizes every year among the sisters, making those cousins It's all kinds of envy and jealousy.
"Girl, my lord thinks that your princess' good luck may have been taken away by you, right?" Wen Liang said thoughtfully.
"How can Mrs. Wen say that? The slave is the princess's servant, and everything the slave has is given by the princess. How can she steal the good luck of the princess? The slave is not someone who can't figure it out." Rucui retorted, Glancing at Wen Liang, he added: "Don't worry, Mr. Wen, you are definitely not a role model for slaves to follow!"
"..."
Wen Liang is confused, why do you feel that what this girl said makes people feel special
A group of people came to a small street vendor. The owner of the small street vendor saw the group of people dressed in gorgeous clothes, either rich or expensive, with a warm smile on his face, he immediately greeted them.
Chu Baning looked at it, then looked at Ananda, "Ananda, choose one."
Ananda looked at him, and then at those lanterns hanging in a row, as if looking at a poisonous snake and a beast.
It was probably because her expression was too rich, which made Chu Baning a little puzzled. He leaned slightly to look at her, raised his eyebrows and asked, "What's wrong?"
Ananda shook his head, decided not to talk about his bad luck, smiled sweetly at him, and said, "My lord, I'll just watch it, you guys guess." Turning his eyes, he said with a smile, "I'm waiting Prizes are enough."
Chu Baning smiled slightly, without forcing it, went to get a lantern hanging from a bamboo shed, and took off the lottery paper under the lantern.
Over there, in order to test whether Rucui's lucky value is really that good, Wen Liang asked Rucui to help him get a lantern for him to guess. As a result, soon, both of them got a bunch of prizes in their hands. The small vendor owner saw the two solve the lantern riddles at an incredible speed, his whole face wrinkled in pain, thinking that today a brilliant person came, and none of them could beat him, so he secretly groaned inwardly.
Ananda is full of envy, jealousy and hatred. When these two cooperate, it is really a combination of two swords, invincible in the world. The stall owner will suffer a lot today. However, when Chu Baning handed her a rabbit-shaped lantern, Ananda immediately smiled, and stopped being jealous of the two of them. Her whole heart was easily healed by her prince.
However, Ananda looked at the round and fat rabbit-shaped lantern, and couldn't help but say, "My lord, I like tiger lanterns better." Obviously there are so many lanterns to choose from, but Chu Baning just took it With such a shape, Ananda couldn't help but put forward his own opinion.
Unexpectedly, Chu Baning glanced at her first, with a smile in his eyes, and said, "It's very similar to you!" It looks just as cute, docile and clean.
"..." The corner of Ananda's mouth twitched, how could this chubby, silly rabbit-shaped lantern look like her
Chu Baning's mind is very good. After solving a few lantern riddles and winning prizes, he gave them to Ananda, and then stopped guessing.
Seeing Rucui Wenliang and the two of them were still excited to let the small vendor owner go bankrupt, Chu Baning smiled slightly, led Ananda into the crowd, and a few guards followed from a distance. For a moment, Ananda felt that the two of them were It's like you're on a date.
Passing through layers of people, when there were more and more people, Ananda noticed that the man beside him frowned slightly, and the hand that was holding her had almost changed to wrapping around her waist instead. Especially when the crowd around her is crowded, she will be brought into his arms by him to avoid being bumped by people on the street. And every time he couldn't avoid being slightly touched by someone's clothes, he would frown for a long time. However, looking at him like this, he would rather be touched by others than have her be touched by pedestrians.
Only then did Ananda remember his obsession with cleanliness, and he was both amused and annoyed in his heart. Presumably he didn't like crowds like this. And his subtle possessiveness towards her made her feel sweet.
Ananda also felt sorry for him, so he couldn't help but said, "My lord, let's go back."
Chu Baning looked at the crowd around him, nodded, pointed to a big tree not far away and said, "Let's go there and put the lanterns there and then go back home."
In places with warm mountains and soft water in the south of the Yangtze River, people are used to putting lanterns in the river in the city to make wishes. In the north, there are many mountains, less water and less rivers, so people hang lanterns on trees to make wishes.
Chu Baning took Ananda to the tree, and there were already many lights hanging on the tree, which looked like diamonds dotted on black velvet cloth, very beautiful. The tree was too tall, which was a test of Ananda's small body, so she could only stare at the branches. Chu Baning pursed his lips and smiled, took the lamp in Ananda's hand and hung it on a branch, then glanced at Ananda.
Ananda smiled at him, put his palms together and made a wish.
After making his wish, Chu Baning saw too many people, and was trying to find a way back to the palace with few people, but heard a voice calling.
"My lord, my concubine."
They followed the prestige and saw He Chengshou and his wife and their three children, followed by a few servants and servants.
Among the three children, apart from Niu Niu, who was held in the arms of the nanny, the two boys had already stepped forward to say hello and greetings.
"My lord, my concubine, I didn't expect to see you here, are you going back now?" He Chengshou asked with a smile.
Chu Baning nodded, and after politely exchanging a few words with He Chengshou and his wife, they separated.
"My lord, do you want to wait for Lord Wen and the others?" Ananda asked. Wen Liang abducted her maid, she was a little worried.
Wen Liang obviously played the role of a bodyguard today, but he was extremely unqualified. He took Ru Cui, a girl with a high performance value, to guess lantern riddles everywhere, and guessed all the simple and easy-to-guess lantern riddles at every booth. , so that the uninformed people saw it, admired it, and secretly gave Wen Liang the nickname "Lantern Riddle King". Of course, on the contrary, when the stall owners on that street saw those two people, they felt ashamed and wished they could directly destroy these two products that affected their money-making.
"No, let them play, they will come back after playing enough."
So, except for Wen Liang and Ru Cui, the rest of the people went back home with Chu Baning and Ananda.
Back at the mansion, Madam Zhang brought up the glutinous rice balls and smiled at the two masters: "My lord and princess, today is the Lantern Festival reunion day to eat glutinous rice balls. After eating Lantern Festival glutinous rice balls, we can have a happy reunion throughout the year."
Saying that, the maid brought up the glutinous rice balls. This glutinous rice ball is different from the modern ones, it is one-third larger, and there are exactly ten in each bowl, which means perfect. The fillings in the glutinous rice balls include sugar, sesame, red bean paste, nuts, jujube paste, etc. Ananda likes the stuffing of red bean paste, Chu Baning likes the stuffing of nuts, and Wen Liang likes the stuffing of sesame seeds. The stuffing is done.
It is a custom to eat glutinous rice balls during the Lantern Festival, and glutinous rice balls are a must, but Ananda couldn't eat any more after eating five.
"Finish it!" Chu Baning ordered solemnly after seeing Ananda put it down.
When this lord put on such a serious expression, he was so embarrassing that no one dared to be presumptuous in front of him. Although Ananda and his husband and wife had a harmonious life recently, they still didn't dare to provoke him at certain times, so they could only continue to eat with a sad face.
"Princess, the lord is also for your own good. This glutinous rice balls can only be reunited for a year after eating them." Zhang Nanny explained with a smile.
When Ananda was not out of the cabinet, because she was just a concubine, she ate glutinous rice balls during the Lantern Festival, but no one would pay special attention to her, so every year she always ate a few symbolically and let the maid take them away secretly , I have been used to this practice for so many years, so I don't have any idea of "reunion". But now Chu Baning forced her to finish eating, and suddenly, she understood his intention.
Although it was just a symbolic thing, he also hoped to bless their reunion with this.
Well, Ananda understood what he meant and decided to finish them even if they were hard to swallow.
However, when there were three left in the bowl, Ananda felt that his stomach was full. The ancient glutinous rice balls were made even bigger than modern ones. Ananda would be full after eating five of them. After eating ten of them, she would have to go for a walk in the yard to digest.
Seeing that she was so pitiful, Chu Baning scooped two out of her bowl into his own bowl with a spoon, and left one for her, "This king will help you solve two, and you can eat the remaining one yourself. left!"
"Thank you, my lord, you are so kind to me."
Ananda smiled like a flower, and said sincerely.