On the 16th night of the first lunar month, the festival carnival only lasts for this one night, and people take to the streets to admire the moon, lanterns, and fireworks, enjoying the last carnival.
The moon is above the willows, and people are making appointments after dusk. Perhaps after tonight, there will never be such a legitimate opportunity to go out and meet their lovers, so the girls seem particularly active tonight.
As night slowly falls, lights in the streets light up one after another. The colorful lanterns are dazzling. On the riverside bridges, under the trees and in the alleys, men and women can be seen everywhere expressing their true feelings to each other.
Xie Nanjia and Zhao Lanzhi walked hand in hand through the noisy crowd, looking at the lanterns while searching for Zhou Yuncheng. Behind them, the twelve brothers of the Su family followed side by side.
This afternoon, Zhao Lanzhi suddenly came to find Xie Nanjia and said shyly that Zhou Yuncheng asked her to meet him at the Lantern Festival tonight, but she didn't dare to go alone and wanted to ask Xie Nanjia to accompany her.
For the sake of her own safety, Xie Nanjia had not planned to go out during the Lantern Festival. However, Zhao Lanzhi was different from others. She was the one who arranged this girl's marriage, and she was too embarrassed to make excuses to shirk her responsibilities.
When her family heard that she was going to the Lantern Festival, they were all very nervous. After some discussion, they finally decided to let her twelve brothers go out with her.
In light of the lesson twelve years ago, the Su brothers did not dare to be careless this time. Xie Nanjia walked in front and they followed closely behind, their eyes never leaving the back of Xie Nanjia's head.
Xie Nanjia expressed helplessness about this. It was safe enough, but she felt like a prisoner being escorted. With them following behind her, how could Zhou Yuncheng approach her and talk to her
After walking for a long time, Zhou Yuncheng still didn't show up. Xie Nanjia couldn't help but ask Zhao Lanzhi: "Did Master Zhou say where to wait for you?"
"No." Zhao Lanzhi shyly shook her head and whispered, "He told me to just go shopping in the Lantern Market and he would come to find me."
"But we are almost at the end of the tour, why hasn't he come yet?" Xie Nanjia turned around and looked at the large group of bodyguards behind him, "Or should I ask the brothers to stay away? Is it because they are around that Mr. Zhou is embarrassed to come?"
"Let's not do it. Your safety is more important." Zhao Lanzhi said, "Your family is scared. They are afraid that you will get lost again. If you don't let them follow you, they will definitely worry."
"It's okay. I asked them to disperse and stay a little further away. It's too exaggerated now. Don't you see that others are avoiding us?" Xie Nanjia said.
Zhao Lanzhi was eager to meet Zhou Yuncheng, so she did not object and let her go and talk to the Su brothers.
Unfortunately, none of the twelve brothers agreed. They all agreed that no matter how important the matter was, it had to take a back seat compared to their sister's safety.
Su Jincheng, in particular, not only followed closely by her side, but also held the sword at his waist tightly at all times, as if he could stab anyone to death if they dared to look at his sister for even a second.
Xie Nanjia couldn't persuade them and felt helpless. She felt that Zhao Lanzhi's date tonight would be ruined by the brothers.
In fact, Zhao Jingyu, Cheng Zhiye and Zhou Yuncheng were hidden in the crowd on their right and walked forward with the crowd.
The Su brothers followed too closely, and they could not find a chance to move forward, so they were scratching their heads in anxiety.
Not far from them, there were a dozen men in black hiding, waiting for an opportunity to attack Zhao Jingyu. However, they were afraid of the group of Su brothers who were following closely behind them, so they could not find the right time to attack.
"What should I do? We've almost reached the end of the street and we haven't even spoken a word!" Zhou Yuncheng asked with a frown as he looked at his lovely fiancée from afar.
Zhao Jingyu was also frowning. He was still feeling proud of his own cleverness in the afternoon, but now he regretted it so much that he wanted to slap himself in the face.
He thought he had a good idea, but he overlooked the importance the Su family attached to Xie Nanjia, and forgot that all the twelve brothers would go out every time to protect their sister.
If he had known this would happen, he might as well have disguised himself as Fourth Sister’s maid and sneaked into the Duke Zhenguo’s Mansion!
After all, he was very successful in dressing up as a woman last time, and no one in the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion recognized him.
"You better think of a solution quickly!" Zhou Yuncheng nudged him with his elbow, "If you keep on wasting time, you'll be at the end of your rope."
"If I had a way, I would have used it long ago. Why would I have to wait until now?" Zhao Jingyu said depressedly, "You can't ask me to throw fireworks into the crowd, right?"
"You can't throw fireworks, it will cause a riot." Cheng Zhiye said seriously from the side.
"Do I need you to tell me that?" Zhao Jingyu rolled his eyes at him. "You have a lot of ideas. Why don't you help me think of them?"
"I think..." Cheng Zhiye was about to say something, but suddenly he saw a very beautiful girl in the crowd opposite him. He immediately became excited and chased after her, saying, "Wait for me, I'll ask for the address and come back."
"..." Zhao Jingyu and Zhou Yuncheng both widened their eyes and said angrily, "Who is this!"
"But then again, there are indeed more beautiful girls this year than in previous years." Zhou Yuncheng said, "I'm confused, why do all the beautiful girls show up if I must kiss them?"
"What do you mean?" Zhao Jingyu's face suddenly turned cold. "You haven't even eaten the food in the bowl, but you're already thinking about the food in the pot? In that case, I'll take Fourth Sister home now, and you can go find your beautiful girl!"
"No, no, no, I just said that casually." Zhou Yuncheng hurriedly smiled and said, "There are many beautiful girls, but if you look closely, none of them is prettier than our wives."
Zhao Jingyu: “…”
This guy is even more shameless than him!
As the two were talking, four handsome and wealthy young men came side by side from the opposite direction, causing the young girls and wives to become restless.
"Look, look, whose young man is this? He is so handsome and charming."
"You guys look unfamiliar. They don't look like people from the capital. Maybe they are from other places visiting the capital."
"Oh, this, isn't this the son of King Dongshan and King Nanzhao? I saw him during the Spring Festival last year."
"So, they are all princes. The prince in the middle is really handsome, almost catching up with the second young master Zhao!"
As the crowd chattered, several princes had already walked to the opposite side of Xie Nanjia.
Both of them were the center of attention, and as soon as they got closer, they instantly spotted each other.
"Xiu'er, it's you!" the young man in white walking in the middle shouted.
Xie Nanjia recognized him as Song Huai at the first moment and said in surprise: "Your Highness, little prince, what a coincidence!"
"Yes, what a coincidence, you are here to see the lanterns too?" Song Huai's handsome face was immediately filled with smiles, his starry eyes sparkling.
The other three princes also recognized Xie Nanjia as the girl who played the pot-tossing game in the West Hill enclosure. After being slightly surprised, they all greeted her warmly.
Xie Nanjia responded one by one. He didn't want to leave Zhao Lanzhi out, so he introduced them to each other.
Zhao Lanzhi was a little nervous, but she still greeted the princes gracefully.
The handsome men and beautiful women were a delight to the eyes. People couldn't help but stop and look at them, forgetting to move forward.
Zhao Jingyu and Zhou Yuncheng were watching from a distance, feeling jealous. They said sourly, "We followed them for quite a while without saying a word, but they started talking nonstop as soon as they met. How abominable!"
"No, I have to go and take my people away." Zhou Yuncheng rushed over there.
Zhao Jingyu grabbed him and said, "Don't worry about me. If you take my fourth sister away, what should I do?"
"You decide!" Zhou Yuncheng said, "Anyway, I don't want to waste any more time. If I continue, it will be dawn."
After saying that, he broke free from Zhao Jingyu's hand and squeezed away in the crowd.
"Tsk, you're a guy who values women over friendship!" Zhao Jingyu watched him squeeze to the other side, but he didn't have the courage to move.
He has never been so cowardly in his life.
Before Zhou Yuncheng arrived, the Su brothers had already rushed over before him. The twelve brothers surrounded them and separated the two girls from the princes. Su Jincheng bowed and said calmly, "Meet the four princes!"
The four were shocked by the scene, and the guards behind them thought someone was trying to assassinate them and almost drew their swords.
Fortunately, the four people quickly recognized Su Jincheng and avoided a riot.
"Commander Su!" The four of them returned the greeting at the same time. The eldest son of King Dongshan asked curiously, "Commander Su knows Miss Xiu'er?"
"Yes." Su Jincheng still said calmly, "She is my sister."
"…" The four princes looked at each other in surprise, and in a flash they figured out the connection. The youngest son of King Dongshan cried out, "Brother, I know. It turns out that the daughter of Phoenix is Miss Xiu'er!"
Following this shout, the crowd suddenly exploded and rushed over here, wanting to catch a glimpse of the beauty of the girl with the Phoenix destiny.
"Look, that girl is the daughter of Phoenix!"
"As expected of a girl with a phoenix destiny, she is truly extraordinary!"
"Let me see, let me see..."
"Ouch, you stepped on my foot..."
"My shoes, my shoes..."
As more and more people flocked over, the situation quickly got out of control and fell into chaos, even more chaotic than the day when General Wuan returned to Beijing.
Su Jincheng didn't want the situation that day to happen again, so he drew the sword from his waist without hesitation and shouted to the crowd: "Swords have no eyes, retreat quickly!"
The rest of the Su brothers followed his example and drew their weapons. They formed a circle with their backs to each other, protecting Xie Nanjia and Zhao Lanzhi in the middle, and shouted at everyone to step back.
The princes' guards also drew their swords to protect their masters.
At the same time, Zhao Jingyu, dressed in red, swept over people's heads with a gust of wind and landed in the encirclement.
"If you don't want to die, get out of here!" He stood in front of the crowd, his tone cold as ice.
The people closest to them were shocked. After a moment of stunned silence, they all retreated.
Xie Nanjia stared at the fiery back in a daze, and belatedly asked Zhao Lanzhi: "Did he ask you to trick me out?"
"I… "
Just as Zhao Lanzhi was about to explain, Zhou Yuncheng squeezed in front of her and pulled her out of the circle surrounded by the Su brothers.
"Are you okay?" Zhou Yuncheng asked with concern, holding her shoulder.
Zhao Lanzhi blushed all of a sudden, shook her head and whispered: "I'm fine, you let go first..."
"There are too many people. Don't let yourself get lost. Wait until the crowd disperses." Zhou Yuncheng said.
Before he could finish his words, there were a few loud bangs and someone threw several firecrackers into the crowd one after another.
The crowd suddenly became chaotic again, women screamed, children cried, and people ran around like headless flies. Some people were squeezed down, and countless feet trampled over them, making them scream heart-wrenchingly.
The scene fell into greater chaos than before.
A dozen men in black took advantage of the chaos to enter the arena, and someone shouted, "Quick, kill the one in red!"
A cold light flashed, and swords and knives were swung. Wherever they went, it was like a sickle harvesting crops. Innocent people fell one after another. The man in black cut a bloody path and went straight to the man in red in the middle of the field.
(End of this chapter)