In the evening, the snow gradually stopped, and a corner door on the side of the drum room in the northeast corner of the palace opened, and a warm sedan chair came out.
Two eunuchs in plain clothes, carrying a sedan chair, went south along the footpath under the palace wall, passed through Baotaifang, and finally stopped at the neighborhood entrance leading to the lamp market, pressing the sedan chair.
A pair of grandfathers and grandsons descended from the sedan chair. The grandfather was nearly fifty years old. With one hand on crutches, he held the four or five-year-old boy with the other. Two figures, one big and one small, continued to walk forward slowly along the street. .
After more than ten steps, several guards, also dressed in civilian clothes, silently followed.
Grandfather and grandson entered the lamp market. But there are many shops on both sides of the street, restaurants are extravagant, the sky is not dark, the lanterns are already high in front of every house, and the lights inside the door are even more brilliant, the guests are like clouds, the laughter is endless, and there are dragons and horses incense carts, flowing endlessly. , The whole street, from a distance, looks like a silver dragon winding and crawling forward.
This is the most beautiful place outside the imperial palace. The wealthy atmosphere and the prosperous imperial capital are probably nothing more than that.
The so-called lantern market was originally just a lantern field set up on the east side of the palace by Taizu in the Shangyuan period in order to have fun with the people. At that time, every year before and after Shangyuan, the court built a splendid color building to attract wealthy merchants from both the north and the south. At night, they put on lanterns to make fun and set off fireworks. All the people in the city, from princes, princes, and officials down to Cangtou people, no matter how high or low, came here, not only for lantern viewing, but also for entertainment, and they lingered. At that time, it was ten days before and after, and later it was gradually changed to three times a month on the fifth, fifteenth, twentieth, and January of the first month. Later, in this place, there was a collection of jewelry and antiques, fragrant silk and porcelain brocade, rare goods from north and south, overseas treasures, and more. Restaurants, shops, mansions and mansions, all the way to the east, stretch for dozens of miles. So far, although the name of the light market has not changed, it is no longer limited to Shangyuan or the market three times a month.
Ci'er followed her grandfather, walking through the streets full of passers-by dressed in light fur and Chinese clothing. She looked left and right. After walking down the most lively street in the light market, she already had several playthings in her arms, all of which had just passed by. When he was in a street shop, the guard bought it for him. Although his legs and feet were a little tired, he was very excited. He sat back with his grandfather in the soft sedan chair waiting at the end of the street and asked questions.
Xiao Lie answered one by one, and finally said, "Ci'er, is this place okay?"
Ci'er nodded: "Okay."
He thought for a while, raised his face and asked again: "Grandpa Huang, you said take me to see the world, is this the world?"
Xiao Lie said: "Grandpa Huang will take you to another place, and you will find out later."
The warm sedan kept moving forward, and after walking for a long distance, it finally stopped, and the sedan chair was pressed down again.
Ci'er followed her grandfather, got down from the sedan chair, looked up, and was slightly startled.
The street in front of him is narrow and dark, the houses on both sides are low and dilapidated, and the snow in the middle of the road has been trampled into a dirty black color. The weather was cold and it was getting dark. The people on both sides of the street, every household, almost all had their doors and windows closed, and it was pitch dark inside. There were only a few households, and there were some dim lights from the gaps. At a glance, the front not far away was pitch black. There were few people on the road, and even those who were walking on the road all shrank their hands and looked sad.
Compared with the scene I just saw in the lamp market, it is like one in the sky and one in the ground.
The appearance of this pair of grandparents seems a bit abnormal. A few passers-by who met head-on glanced at them, but they didn't want to look more, and they walked in a hurry, thinking that they were in a hurry to go home, eat a hot meal, drink a hot soup, warm and cold. Stiff hands and feet eliminate the hard work of running around for a day.
A girl about the same age as Ci'er, wearing a blue-bottomed floral jacket made from her mother's clothes. The jacket is very old, and the white flowers on the top are showing old and moldy yellow, presumably Not warm either. But the girl ignored the cold air and stood on the threshold of the half-open door, sighing in the palm of her hand and looking out, as if she was waiting for someone, she had been waiting for some time.
Ci'er didn't usually see children of her own age, so she stopped and stared at the girl with wide eyes. The girl found him, and took another look at Xiao Lie beside him and the guards who followed closely behind him, as if afraid, and immediately closed the door.
Ci'er raised her head, looked at her grandfather with a smile, scratched her head, and had no choice but to move forward.
Ci'er turned her head and saw a man with a load of goods came up behind her. Probably because of the bad weather, he didn't seem to sell much of his stuff, and the burden looked heavy.
The broken door that had just been closed just now suddenly opened again with a creak, and the girl who was still hiding behind the crack of the door and looking out, showed her face again, called her father cheerfully, and stepped out of the threshold. Towards the trader, he ran to meet him.
The trader had a gloomy expression on his face, but when he saw the girl running out of the door to greet him, he immediately smiled, pulled out a candied haws from his burden, and handed it to the girl. The girl happily took it, holding the candied gourd in one hand and the rope in the other, jumping in and shouting, "Mother! Daddy is back!"
A woman heard the sound and came out, looked at the still full load, then looked at the candied haws in the girl's hand, sighed, and complained: "There are only a few days' rations left at home, your rouge gouache powder. If it can’t be sold again, what are you going to do with the money to buy this for the girl!”
The trader said: "It's just a copper coin. I'll go to a few more neighborhoods tomorrow and sell more."
"Forget it, you do this every time. Come in quickly, warm up, and eat—"
Amid the woman's chatter, the dilapidated door was closed, and the family's back disappeared behind the door.
The surroundings became quiet, and the air, from nowhere, seemed to have the aroma of cooking rice with the smell of fireworks.
Ci'er stared blankly at the closed door, a small figure, motionless.
Xiao Lie leaned on crutches and stood silently by the side. He didn't bother him at first. After waiting for a while, Fang Wei leaned down, took one of his warm hands, and said softly, "Let's go forward with the emperor again. go away?"
Ci'er slowly retracted her gaze, nodded, followed her grandfather, and continued to walk forward.
The further you go, the more difficult the road will be, and the houses on both sides are even more dilapidated. Those houses can hardly be called houses, but they are just a circle of thatched rags bundled around four pillars and covered with another layer. A straw mat, with the four corners pressed with stones, thus becomes a place for people to live in.
In the corner of a half-collapsed earth wall, a fire was lit, surrounded by a few beggars who had spent the night in the open air. In the nearby huts, there were constantly the sounds of coughing children crying, mixed with The woman's sigh.
The guards behind him became nervous and followed closely, not daring to relax.
Ci'er's eyes became dignified, her small mouth was tightly pursed, and she kept looking back, but she was still held by her grandfather's hand and led, step by step, through this piece of land at the foot of the world. also inaccessible slums.
Finally out of this dark narrow alley, the lights on both sides of the street gradually reappeared.
"Go quickly! Don't block the door!"
Next to the door of a small wine shop with dim lights, stood an old man selling oranges. The old man was wearing a thin shirt, standing in the cold wind, shaking so much, and sitting on the ground was a little girl wrapped in her grandfather's tattered cotton-padded jacket, but even so, the little girl's face was frozen black.
The pub guy came out to chase people out.
"Okay, please allow me to stand for a while. When the oranges are sold, I will leave. My little granddaughter is ill, and I am the only one at home. I can only take her out and wait for the man who sells oranges to see a doctor..."
The old man begged bitterly, and suddenly saw a group of people walking by, and hurriedly turned around.
"Guest officer, buy some oranges."
"There are only a dozen or so left, and they are all good oranges. Originally, they were going to sell for ten cents.
After the old man finished speaking, he looked at the group of people with eager eyes.
Ci'er turned her head, looked at it for a moment, and slowly raised her face to look at her grandfather.
Xiao Lie motioned for his entourage to go over. A guard walked over, gave twenty pennies, and wrapped the bag of oranges.
Overjoyed, the old man bowed to Xiao Lie and Ci'er, carefully put the copper coin into the purse, carefully wrapped it around his waist, hurriedly packed his things, put the little granddaughter in a basket, and pressed a stone on the other. , picked up the burden, stepped on the snow-covered ground, and staggered forward.
Ci'er suddenly broke free from her grandfather's hand, spread her legs, chased after her, took off her warm hands, and shoved it to the little girl. Then she turned and ran back, followed her grandfather, and got on the one who came to pick it up. Warm sedan.
A small copper stove was installed in the sedan chair, and a charcoal fire was burned in it, which was very warm.
On the way, Ci'er sat on her grandfather's lap and said nothing.
The warm sedan followed the same path and returned to the palace, and the grandfather and grandson returned to the imperial study.
Xiao Lie smiled and said, "Ci'er, do you know what the world is?"
Ci'er looked at her grandfather.
"There is a cloud in "Erya", spring is the sky. The so-called sky is the sky of all things. And among all things, people are the masters. Therefore, the so-called world is really all people. The grandfather is the emperor. What are you going to do?"
Ci'er shook her head: "Ci'er doesn't know."
"What the emperor has to do is to rule the world."
Ci'er's eyes twinkled slightly: "Grandpa Huang, I understand! The so-called rule of the world is to rule the people."
Xiao Lie smiled, nodded, and his eyes were infinitely relieved.
"What Ci'er said is very true. Grandpa Huang took you out for a walk today. In the capital, there are fertile places and rich people, but after all, there are a few, and more, those who buy a meal for the family. People who work hard. Ci'er also saw that even under the eyes of Grandpa Huang, there are so many people who are not hungry, do not wear warm clothes, and have no tiles to cover their bodies in the snow. The capital is still like this, the world is like this. How big, do you think, how many such things are there? What the emperor has to do is to heal the world, so that more people can have food, clothing, and housing. Do you understand?"
Ci'er nodded slowly.
"Ci'er, Grandpa Huang is old and can't be emperor forever. When Grandpa Huang can't do it, Grandpa Huang wants Ci'er to continue to do it, so that the world can be peaceful and all people can return to their own ways. Would you like to?"
Ci'er nodded and shook her head again: "Grandpa Huang, I have to ask my parents first."
Xiao Lie said: "Okay. Your parents should be returning to Beijing soon. Grandpa Huang will ask your parents first. If they agree, Ci'er will agree, okay?"
"it is good."
Xiao Lie stared at him: "Ci'er, being a good emperor will be very hard, and it will even cause you to lose your precious things. But people are born in this world, and that's how they are. When you gain something, you lose something. You remember If you live with the grandfather, you will understand when you grow up in the future."
Ci'er nodded: "Ci'er remembered."