Chapter 159 Shangyuan Lamp Viewing (2)

There were also crowds in front of the gate of Wubenfang. The people in the gate, who were home, walked towards the gate with a smile, were all in a hurry and were anxious. There were many large households in Wubenfang, with light carriages mixed in. These were the female family members who came out to watch the lights.

Watching the lanterns is actually just a look at people. Everyone on the street is full of energy. Most men wear round neck robes, leather straps, veil hats or soft-legged heads, and black leather boots. They dress up similarly. Even ordinary porters and servants will wear such outfits and walk on the street to watch the lanterns with their heads held high.

But the most eye-catching one is the women. Today is the Eve of the Chinese New Year. Every woman dresses up carefully and takes out her skirts. The weather is still cold. Most older women have short skirts, while young women and girls who have not performed hairpins have all pomegranate skirts, red, purple, yellow, and green, especially red skirts are the most popular.

Li Qing'an and his dozen of his personal soldiers have been waiting for almost half an hour. Today, the Lantern Festival began. All his subordinates had a holiday and went out to gamble around the lights in groups. He was in a happy mood and patiently waited for the arrival of the bright moon.

But after waiting for half an hour, Li Qingan couldn't calm down. Did Mingyue get some obstacles when he went out? Should he come to invite him instead of hiding here?

Just then, Li Qingan suddenly saw a horse riding man galloping from afar. Li Qingan had super eyes and recognized that it was Zhao Xuming he saw yesterday. He saw his face full of spirits and kept beating the horses, looking anxious.

Needless to say, Li Qing'an could guess that Zhao Xuming also went to invite Mingyue, but it seemed that he did not succeed. But since he failed, he should have a look of depression, but now he is full of energy. Could it be that he has gained anything?

Zhao Xuming rushed over, but did not see Li Qing'an and went out of the house. Li Qing'an stared at his back and immediately ordered a personal soldier to say, "Go and stare at this person and see where he is going?"

The personal soldiers agreed and rode their horses to follow. At this time, Li Qingan no longer wanted to wait any longer. He urged the horses to take their subordinates to gallop towards the Gudu Mansion.

Less than a mile after walking, a beautiful carriage drove towards him, and more than twenty servants were following around him. This was the carriage he was waiting for. The pearl poked out from the window and was waving to him excitedly. His excited eyes smiled into two small crescent moons.

Then he saw Mingyue, and half of his face was secretly exposed by the car window, staring at him affectionately. His eyes were shy, expectation, and a flying spirit. A glimmer of joy reflected her bright eyes and white teeth, which looked very dazzling.

Li Qingan was intoxicated, and a sudden happiness surrounded him. At this moment, all his worries and worries were thrown behind him. At this moment, there was only Mingyue in his heart.

The carriage stopped in front of him, the door opened, Mingzhu jumped out of the car and said with a smile: "I'm so sorry, I'm making you anxious."

"It doesn't matter!"

Li Qingan was a little confused about what to say. Didn’t he agree to meet by chance? But in this posture, there was no chance of meeting by chance. He looked up at the car window again. Mingyue had disappeared from the car window. A noble lady appeared in front of the car door. She smiled and asked, “General Li, do you still know me?”

"You are" Li Qingan suddenly remembered, "You are Mrs. Wang!"

"Yes! It's me."

Mrs. Wang smiled and pulled Mingyue, "Get out of the car! Why are you shy?"

I saw Mingyue, who was flushed, slowly walked off the carriage. She lowered her head and whispered: "General Li, I have made you wait for a long time."

Li Qing'an's eyes lit up. He had never seen Mingyue dressed so beautifully. She wore a short green short robe embroidered with brocade and covered with silk. Generally, the easiest way to see whether a woman got married in a Tang Dynasty was to see whether she was wearing a silk or a robe. The robe was narrow and long and beautiful, mostly made of thick and fine brocade, with patterns on top and jade pendants hanging on the bottom, and could not flutter in the wind like silk.

The moon is covered with red silk on her shoulders, and her arms are wrapped around her arms and fluttering in the wind. It looks like a streamer. She is wearing an orange-yellow long skirt with small flowers embroidered on the skirt. The waist of the skirt is tied to the chest, and the skirt is long and swaying to the ground, making her look particularly pretty and slender.

In addition, she looks like a bright moon, her skin is plump and white, and she feels like Guanyin in Water Moon. Li Qing'an was amazed in his heart, and hurriedly stepped forward and gave a deep bow, saying, "It is Li Qing'an's blessing to be able to accompany the Mingyue girl to enjoy the lanterns."

"You two! He gave him a tribute. Why are you so polite? You haven't gone to see the lights yet."

Mrs. Wang smiled and waved to Mingzhu again, "Mingzhu, let's go and see the lights!"

Mingzhu was stunned. She glanced at Li Qing'an and said, "But"

She really wanted to go shopping in the lights with Li Qing'an.

"Don't, come with me!"

Mingyue hurried forward and said, "Zu Niang, let Mingzhu go and watch the lanterns with us!"

Mrs. Wang smiled and said, "She has gone with you, what should I do? I usually talk to her. It's time for the Yuan night, and this little girl has to accompany me."

She raised her voice again and said, "Mingzhu, if you don't go with me, I won't say a word for you in the future and let your grandfather scold you."

As she said that, she took Mingzhu's hand and pinched her wrist gently. Mingzhu understood, and she had to say listlessly: "Sister, you guys go! I'll accompany my grandmother to go shopping for the lights."

She got on the carriage and glared at Li Qing'an with a vengeance. This unscrupulous person was running around for him and not saying anything to him. Li Qing'an smiled and blinked at her. Mingzhu had to lie down boredly and asked lazily: "Zu Niang, where do you want to watch the lights? My leg hurts today, but I can't run far."

Chang'an is the prosperous capital of the world. Tonight, it is the eve of the Lantern Festival again. It seems to be the saying "The clouds cover the moon on the fifteenth day of August, and the snow turns on the lights on the lanterns on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month". The sky actually started to snow. This was a light snow in early spring, but it could not stop the enthusiasm of Chang'an people. As soon as the sky was dark, every household ate dinner early, locked the door, and took their wife to the street to watch the lights.

The streets are already crowded, and millions of people in Chang'an are coming out to enjoy the annual Tang Dynasty Carnival.

There are the most lanterns on Zhuque Street, the most spectacular, and the most people. It stretches for more than ten miles, and the lights are bright, shining like daytime. I saw pavilions, towers, silver, all over the streets and alleys, with silver scattered jade hangings. The trees far and near were like jade umbrellas. When the ice wheels rise and the glory is full, I saw people gathering, and there were lamp stands in various shapes. It was really exquisite and lanterns, all kinds of strange. The silver candle planet was brilliant and shining like daytime.

"Miss Mingyue, how did you look at the lights last year?"

In the crowded crowd, Li Qingan and Dugu Mingyue walked slowly side by side, enjoying the colorful lights all over the street and chatting slowly. The soldiers led their horses behind and whispered at the lanterns with surprise.

The shyness at the beginning of Mingyue was gradually gone. She felt relaxed and joyful in her heart. She smiled and said, "Every year, I would go to watch the lights with my friends and sisters. Last year, I was with Cui Yanyan, Cui Yiyun and Wei Qi. The four of us went out together. At first, we were riding a carriage, but later there were too many people, so we had to get down to walk. Cui Yiyun twisted her feet, and in the end we only walked around for a short time and went back."

She glanced at Li Qing'an, and saw that he was obsessed with her and couldn't help but like her, and smiled and said, "What about you? Are there lanterns in Anxi's Shangyuan Night?"

"There are Kucha and Bahuan City, but there are only places where Han people gather. We call the Dengshi. Every household puts a lamp in front of their own doors, and two more lamps are placed at the entrance of the big shop. It is like a ringing platform. It looks like a beautiful lamp in which the family makes. Men, women, young and old come out to go shopping, attracting many Hu people to see the lamps. Children are in groups, which is lively, but if you go, the Dengshi will definitely become deserted."

"Why?" Mingyue asked strangely.

Li Qing'an smiled and said, "Because everyone has come to see you, there is no such beautiful woman in our Anxi."

"Good and smooth-mouthed!" Mingyue gave him a coquettish look, and his heart was sweet, but he deliberately said with a stern face: "I didn't say I wanted to go to Anxi to see the lanterns, I mean I wanted to go to Anxi to see the Sky City."

The pair of beautiful eyes of the bright moon were like the flowing waves of autumn water. The affectionate look turned around, and the charming charms made Li Qingan stunned. At this time, someone shouted behind him, "Doway from the front, the carriage is coming!"

Everyone complained that such a crowded crowd was driving the carriage out to look at the lights. It was seen that when the "Yang" pennant flag was inserted in the carriage, there were a large group of guards like wolves and tigers next to them. No one dared to speak anymore, and they all avoided both sides.

Li Qingan also quickly grabbed Mingyue's hand and went to the side. Several luxury carriages passed through the crowd. The windows were opened. Li Qingan saw the sharp-looking face of the Korean lady and her daughter Cui Ningbi. The two looked quite similar and were also watching the lanterns, but they did not notice them.

The carriage behind seemed to be from the Madam of Qin. In the middle, there were fifty cavalry guards on both sides, each with bright armor, with spears and swords, and murderous intent. Eighteen flags on the carriage fluttered in the wind. In front of it was a white talisman of the governor of Jiannan. This was Yang Zhao's carriage.

Li Qingan couldn't help but snorted coldly, "What a great military governor, what a big show!"

The carriage slowly passed, Li Qingan was distracted, but forgot to hold Mingyue's hand. Mingyue suddenly looked at a few acquaintances, her face turned red, and she rushed away Li Qingan's hand. Li Qingan then reacted and quickly let go, "I'm sorry!"

At this time, a large group of girls ran behind, and about twenty of them invited them to go shopping together. The pretty faces and lanterns shone brightly, the floating green and flowing elixirs were full of beauty and beautiful decorations, which were dazzling.

"Mingyue!" someone shouted in surprise, and saw two women running over, which were the sisters Cui Yanyan and Cui Liuliu.

"Mingyue, why are you here alone?" Cui Yanyan's eyes were bad, but she didn't see Li Qing'an. She held Mingyue's hand and smiled, "I met Mingzhu just now, why aren't you together?"

Her sister Cui Liuliu quickly pulled her sister. Cui Yanyan then found that Li Qing'an was standing next to her. She was stunned and suddenly shook her eyes at Mingyue and smiled, "I'm talking! Why don't you come to me this year? It turns out that she made an appointment with her lover."

"Don't talk nonsense!"

Mingyue's face was as blushed as a persimmon, and she quickly explained in a low voice: "It's just a coincidence that I met on the road."

"So it happened, hey! Why didn't I have such good luck?"

Cui Yanyan blinked at Li Qing'an, then smiled at her sister: "Let Liu Liu go! Don't disturb her."

Cui Liuliu was filled with jealousy. She suddenly smiled at Li Qing'an and said, "I saw Ningbi just now. She said she would go to find you in the afternoon, not far behind. You should be careful!"

Li Qingan smiled faintly and said, "Who is Cui Ningbi? I don't know her."

He said to Mingyue again: "Let's go!"

Mingyue smiled and said to Cui Yanyan: "Yanyan, then I'll leave first."

She pointed to an elephant lamp in front of her and smiled, "General Li, let's go see the elephant lamp, I like it the most."

The two left side by side. Cui Liuliu looked at their backs jealously, and turned around one step at a time. Cui Yanyan shook her head and sighed, "Liuliu, forget it, don't be jealous."

"What jealous am I? What is the better young man than him? What is he!"

Cui Liuliu snorted and followed her sister and walked quickly.

Li Qing'an and Mingyue stood beside him and stopped in front of an elephant lamp to watch. This was a simulated elephant, hanging in the air, looking cute and scattered all over his body. When he saw Mingyue's longing gaze showing his longing eyes, he smiled and said, "Do you like elephants?"

"Yeah!" Mingyue nodded gently, "When I was a child, I went to Shuzhong and saw a man from Nanzhao holding an elephant and performing arts. My father helped me sit on the elephant. The feeling is unforgettable to me to this day."

Li Qingan looked around and saw a small stall next to him selling small hand-held lanterns. A large group of people were gathering around to choose, and then smiled and said, "Wait for me."

He squeezed into the crowd. After a while, he squeezed out with a little elephant lantern, handed it to Mingyue and smiled: "For you!"

"Thanks!"

Mingyue took over the little elephant lantern and saw that the little elephant was made realistic and cute. She was extremely happy and couldn't help but cover her mouth and smile.

At this moment, several Jinwu Guard soldiers riding horses rushed over and shouted, "The Wancai Pagoda Light Tower in front of Xuandu Temple is lit up, everyone, go and see!"

The crowd was in a stir and ran to Chongyefang one after another. Mingyue was extremely excited and said, "It's the Wancai Pagoda Light! General Li, let's go and have a look!"

"Let's go, let's take a look!"

Li Qingan took Mingyue's hand and the two followed the crowd to Chongyefang not far away.

On the Chongyefang Polo Stadium, a 10-meter-high 10-meter-high lit light tower was lit, with 50,000 hanging lamp wheels, and the brilliance was like stars gathering, and the light could reach a radius of hundreds of miles. Li Qingan was also shocked by this magnificent climb to the tower.

Mingyue looked up at the dazzling pagoda, and her beautiful eyes showed intoxication and murmured: "When I was ten years old, this pagoda light came out once, but unfortunately my mother didn't let us go out. At that time, I heard them say how beautiful the pagoda light was. My sister and I cried. It turned out that it was so beautiful."

"Sister, Brother Li!"

Mingzhu suddenly appeared in front of them. She held Mingyue's hand and jumped and laughed, and was so excited that she almost cried, "I'm looking for you everywhere!"

"Silly girl, I've been so excited after only two hours."

Mingyue wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes lovingly, and said with a smile: "Where is the grandmother, why didn't she be with you?"

"She met her grandfather and wanted to watch the lights with her grandfather. She thought I was in trouble, so she asked me to go shopping for the lights by myself. I heard that there were pagoda lights here, and thought that you might be there, so she ran over, but she didn't expect to meet them."

She took Li Qingan's arm again and said coquettishly: "I don't care. From now on, I will follow you, so I can't leave me behind again!"

Li Qing'an pointed her nose and smiled and said, "No problem!"

At this time, cheerful singing came from the pagoda, and the singing began with anticipation. Songs were the favorite singing and dancing entertainment of the people of the Tang Dynasty, especially loved by young men and women. On the happy night of the Lantern Festival, in the bright spring of the Shangye Festival, young men and women held hands, danced and sang in circles, and circled forward and retreat. On the first year of Kaiyuan, there were more than 3,000 palace maids in the palace who sang all night long. In the second year of Tianbao, Li Longji even built a mountain shed outside the palace and built a Wanbao lighthouse that was more than 20 meters high. The people of Chang'an came out and sang and danced under the steamer lamp tree. They sang and danced for three days and three nights in a row, and the joy was never seen.

At this time, young men and women came from everywhere, everyone's eyes were filled with excitement and yearning, and Mingyue's enthusiasm was also ignited. She held her sister and Li Qing'an's hands and smiled: "Let's go and sing!"

"Walk!"

The three of them ran towards the Wancai Pagoda Light. There were already thousands of men and women singing and dancing here. Some surrounded the pagoda, and some formed a circle in their own circle. They held hands and sang with their hands. The dance was vigorous and the singing was melodious.

Li Qingan and the Dugu sisters joined a small circle of more than 100 people next to him. He held the moon in one hand and the pearl in the other, dancing and singing together.

Gradually, Li Qing'an and Mingyue became the protagonists. They were surrounded in the middle. Li Qing'an danced heroically and unrestrainedly, full of the strong wind of the Western Regions. He sang to the sky: "The sunset in the sky is like blood, the peaks are covered with white snow, the yellow sand is thousands of miles under the feet, and the moonlight is like the night under the frost."

The bright moon is gentle and graceful, like a blooming water lotus. Her eyebrows and eyes convey feelings, and she sang softly: "You are like clouds in the sky, like birds in the clouds, following each other, bathing in the wind; you are like water in the lake, like flowers in the water, pleasing to each other, bathing in the moon and shadows. Why do people gather and disperse in the world? How can there be joys and sorrows in the world? I hope you will stay with you forever and not be a flash in the pan."
Chapter completed!