Chapter 209 Shangyuan Lantern Festival, the capital that never sleeps
The concubines all praised Li Qian, saying that Emperor Ruizhong set off Aoshan lanterns before, and His Majesty set off flying sky lanterns later. This means that Li Qian can be compared with that Majesty.
Li Qian didn't pay attention to what these concubines said. He still looked down, watching the lively scene that could only be seen every year.
The temple fair and night market below is extremely lively, with people performing tricks, people breaking rocks on their chests, dragon and lion dances, people walking on stilts, rowing land boats, performing yangko dances, singing opera, and playing donkey shadow puppets...
There are many young girls and young wives on the street. Even unmarried girls can openly go shopping with their beaus today.
Of course, the most popular ones are those who guess lantern riddles and recite poems at the lantern market.
Li Qian saw many people wearing round collars and black silk, playing in groups at the lantern festival. These people like to gather together where they guess lantern riddles, so as to highlight their literary talent and stand out in the limelight.
He even saw several groups of candidates meeting in front of the same lamp stall, seemingly competing for their literary talents.
Upstairs at the city gate, most of the concubines knew that His Majesty the Emperor grew up in the palace and had never played outside much. Seeing him looking at the lantern festival outside, they thought that His Majesty also wanted to go out and guess lantern riddles for a fresh idea, so someone came Make a suggestion.
"Your Majesty, why don't we try some lantern riddles here?"
These words were immediately recognized by the other concubines. They sat here helplessly and could only watch the people playing below. Who wouldn't be jealous?
But if we put some lights on the city gate tower, wouldn't they be able to play by themselves?
Especially Wu Meiniang and Lu Zhi, seeing that they could divert the attention of the concubines, they agreed in unison, and everyone looked at Li Qian eagerly.
"Guess the lantern fan..."
Li Qian was still a little embarrassed. Whether it was guessing lantern riddles or reciting poems, he was not very good at it.
But since the concubines want to play, then it’s fine to let them play. At worst, it’s fine if you don’t get involved.
Following Li Qian's order, the old eunuch sent the eunuchs to bring a lot of lanterns. The late emperor was particularly fond of these lamps when he was there, because according to some old Taoist priests, lantern riddles can communicate with the gods in the sky and receive inspiration from the gods. , so there are many ready-made lamps in the palace, which Li Qian just used today.
Following the busy work of the eunuchs and palace maids, soon the gate tower of Zhuque City was also lit with lights, which was really beautiful.
It was originally dark in the imperial city and the people could not see anything clearly, but as soon as the lights were turned on, everyone knew that the emperor was coming.
Every Lantern Festival, the royal family would go to the Zhuque City Gate Tower to turn off the lights. This has become a tradition.
These days, the emperor is the biggest star in the world. It is not easy to meet His Majesty. The Lantern Festival is almost the only time when people can see the dragon's face with their own eyes.
So not only were there people in the distance of the city gate tower specifically looking up, but there were also many people on Zhuquemen Street who glanced up from time to time.
At this moment, the lights on the Zhuque City Gate were lit up one after another. As soon as the Emperor in dragon robe appeared, many sharp-eyed people saw him. They all bent down and knelt down, shouting long live His Majesty.
Such a big movement was suddenly noticed by other people, and the people below knelt down like waves of wheat blown by the wind.
In the end, as far as Li Qian could see, there was no one standing anymore, and the shouts of "Long Live" resounded throughout the capital like the earth shaking and the mountains shaking.
Every one of the concubines near him were also stunned.
Everyone knows that there is such a custom in the capital, but usually there are two completely different feelings when kneeling below and standing on top.
Even though most of the concubines were of noble birth, who has seen such a scene personally?
Not to mention them, even the elders in their families have never seen it. Only the royal family of Daqian can see such a scene.
Li Qian looked at the scene below and sighed softly.
In his memory, when the late emperor was still alive, he brought Li Qian up to watch the lanterns during the Lantern Festival, and he had seen such a situation many times.
It's just that memory belongs to memory. It was also the first time that Li Qian saw such a scene. He paused for a moment and said: "Ping Shen."
Li Qian did not shout at the top of his lungs, and the people in the distance could not even hear him.
But after he finished speaking, the people in front stood up. Seeing this, the people behind him also stood up. Gradually everyone stood up, and the bustling streets resumed their flow.
But despite this, many people still looked up, trying to take a look at the noble "dragon face" of His Majesty the Emperor.
It's a pity that the city wall is too high, and it's useless to illuminate it with a lamp. I can only see a figure wearing a yellow robe and a face that looks like a lake.
Li Qian didn't want to stand stupidly on the edge of the city wall and have people look at him like a monkey. Besides, the more people in the capital knew what he looked like, the more dangerous it would be for him to go out in the future.
So Li Qian just stood for a moment, then went to the seat at the back and sat down, looking at the prosperous night view of the capital in the distance.
After the concubines came back to their senses and saw that His Majesty the Emperor had no intention of moving again after sitting down, they also walked back from the city wall and began to wander around the lanterns on the wall and guess lantern riddles.
From time to time, there would be shouts and laughter, as if someone had guessed the lantern riddle and was being congratulated by other concubines.
Li Qian also noticed that several concubines came to the table on the other side and were writing poems with pens and ink in their hands, as if they wanted to compete.
"Your Majesty, come and play!"
Whether it was writing poems or guessing lantern riddles, Zhao Feiyan could not compare with other concubines. She was so angry that she looked to Li Qian to help her vent her anger.
But Li Qian felt a little guilty and said: "It's better for you to play by yourselves. I'll just take a look."
Although he has learned some things in the past six months, most of them have been about handling government affairs and approving memorials, but he has not learned such things as guessing lantern riddles, reciting poems and composing poems.
If we really talk about literature, any concubine might be able to defeat him. In order to avoid making himself look ugly, His Majesty the Emperor naturally refused without hesitation.
However, after Zhao Feiyan opened his mouth, the other concubines also looked at him with their shining eyes.
"Your Majesty, I have a lantern riddle that I can't figure out. Do you want to come and have a look?"
"I and Sister Liu wrote a poem. Your Majesty, would you like to judge..."
This time, even Changsun Wugou and others looked at Li Qian expectantly, obviously hoping that he could come over and play together.
Seeing that the situation was getting out of control, Li Qian couldn't help but feel a little numb.
Can't these people really just behave and play by themselves? Why do they have to rely on him, the emperor, for everything?
After pondering for a moment, Li Qian suddenly had an idea: "Since you like guessing lantern riddles, how about having a competition?"
Contest?
Before the concubines could speak, Li Qian continued: "Whoever guesses the most lantern riddles in the end will be the final winner."
He pondered for a moment and then continued: "When the time comes, I will take a treasure from Duobao Pavilion as a lottery reward and give it to her."
Now the concubines were attracted to their attention. His Majesty's reward was rare, and in public, it was even better than others.
Now no more concubines were paying attention to whether His Majesty the Emperor was guessing lantern riddles or writing poems, and everyone's attention was shifted to the upcoming competition.
Following Li Qian's order, the eunuchs and maids brought a bunch of lanterns from under the city wall.
Under the auspices of Li Qian, the concubines had a great time, and several concubines with good writing skills were far ahead, including Changsun Wugu.
"A small dragon boat. The dragon boat is small, with sharp points and upturned ends. It has been floating in the water all autumn, and it contains a white ingot."
In front of the lantern, a concubine dressed in green frowned and pondered for a moment, then her eyes lit up and she said, "Water chestnut!"
There was a discussion among the crowd, and several concubines regretted that they were slow to speak.
The palace maid standing behind the lantern hurriedly wrote it down, and then revealed the next puzzle: "Looking at the beauty, we are separated from each other in the sky."
Changsun Wugou thought for a moment, then took the lead and said with a chuckle: "This is the word 'entertainment'."
The concubines were startled one after another. After thinking carefully for a moment, their expressions varied. Some looked at Changsun Wugou with admiration, while others looked stiff. However, when the next lantern riddle came out, the concubines looked nervously. passed...
As the lantern riddle guessing continued, Changsun Wugou's advantage became bigger and bigger. In the end, many concubines saw the huge gap and had no intention of continuing to play, and they all came to Li Qian to pester him.
"Your Majesty, would you like to guess some lantern riddles too?"
Many concubines who couldn't stand Changsun Wugou even came up to make noises. As long as His Majesty the Emperor competed, Changsun Wugou would definitely not dare to defeat the Emperor.
Some concubines even wanted to ask Li Qian to compose an impromptu poem.
In fact, they don’t need to tell them that Li Qian also had the idea of copying poems. Who has traveled through time these days and not copied two poems?
But after thinking about it, he found that he still remembered not many poems about the Lantern Festival, only the two most famous poems.
The first is the first famous chapter of the Shangyuan Festival that has been passed down through the ages: "Green Jade Eucalyptus: Yuanxi" on an east wind night thousands of flowers bloom on the trees.
This is the work of the great poet Xin Qiji, but Li Qian doesn’t know if Xin Qiji exists now, or if he is hiding in some nook and cranny.
If Li Qian copied the poem "Eucalyptus" this year and Xin Qiji came out later and said that he had written this poem a few years ago, then Li Qian would be in trouble, so he could not copy this poem.
The second famous piece that Li Qian remembered was Li Qingzhao's "Yong Yu Le", where the setting sun melts gold and the dusk clouds combine.
He can be sure that Li Qingzhao has not written this poem yet, because she is still just a little girl, and the sunset melts gold and the dusk clouds unite are her works in her later years.
But it is difficult to copy this poem, because the artistic conception is too pessimistic, desolate, and resentful, and it looks like it was written by a woman. If Li Qian copied it, someone would definitely find out.
His brain is not a computer. Apart from these two poems, Li Qian really couldn't think of any other Lantern Festival poems for a while.
So when faced with the concubines' request, Li Qian simply refused and just watched the concubines guess lantern riddles.
At the end of the competition, it was Changsun Wugou who guessed the most lantern riddles. Li Qian smiled and announced Changsun Wugou's victory, and then walked away in a blink of an eye.
Of course, what Li Qian didn't know was that just when he was considering whether to copy poems, Li Qingzhao, who almost became the victim of copying, was downstairs at the Suzaku City Gate.
There is no curfew during the Lantern Festival, and there is a lively lantern market. Li Gefei couldn't stand his wife and daughter's entanglement, so he took them out shopping again.
"Dad, did you see it just now?"
Even though there was no one in sight when he looked up from the street, Li Qingzhao was still excited. He pulled Li Gefei's sleeve and looked up excitedly: "It was really His Majesty the Emperor just now."
Li Gefei wiped away his usual unkempt look and looked extra neat today. He shook his head helplessly: "I saw it, of course I saw it. I've seen it a long time ago."
In fact, the excited Li Qingzhao was definitely not an exception. After His Majesty the Emperor left the city, there were still many people on the street pointing happily at him, especially children.
Mrs. Li pulled Li Qingzhao and said with a smile: "Your father goes to the imperial city every day to go on duty. Naturally, he can see His Majesty the Emperor every day. How can he be as frivolous as you?"
Li Qingzhao curled his lips secretly when he heard this: "Mom, don't think that I am a child who doesn't understand anything. Who doesn't know that you can only go to court when you reach the fourth rank? My father is obviously just a minor official from the fifth rank, where can I To see His Majesty the Emperor?"
Li Gefei stiffened.
The smile on Mrs. Li's face also froze, she stretched out her hand and pinched Li Qingzhao's crystal ears, and said with a raised eyebrow: "How can a child like you speak?"
"If your father was an official fanatic and wanted to get into the camp, wouldn't he have gone up there long ago given his ability?"
"You still dislike him for being a low-ranking official from the fifth rank? Over the years, has your father been in need of you to feed him or have you been in need of clothes?"
Li Qingzhao stuck out his tongue and hurriedly apologized: "Mom, I was wrong, please be gentle..."
Li Gefei also coughed twice. It didn't matter if others looked down on him, he didn't care at all, but this was the first time he was looked down upon by his eldest daughter.
"Although your father and I are officials from the fifth rank, I have personally gone to Ziwei Hall to meet the Holy Spirit. Go out and ask, which fifth-rank official in the imperial court can have such an experience?"
Li Gefei, who has never been vain, seemed to be a different person in front of his daughter today.
Li Qingzhao was stunned for a moment, and then he remembered his father's face-to-face meeting when he joined the Ministry of Etiquette a few months ago, and he suddenly became excited: "Dad, it turns out that you have actually met His Majesty the Emperor? What does His Majesty look like?"
Li Gefei said sincerely that not only I have seen him, but you have also seen him: "Your Majesty is naturally a master of nature, but his appearance is not something that ministers can talk about casually."
Because it was the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Li Gefei didn't want his daughter to know too much about His Majesty the Emperor, so he just found an excuse.
Li Qingzhao was naturally not very satisfied with this perfunctory result, but with her own mother watching from the side, she couldn't continue to ask further questions, so she had to walk to the lamp stall on the other side angrily.
Mrs. Li looked at his back, sighed, and said to Li Gefei tiredly: "Ms. sir, this child is already so old. When will you find a matchmaker to marry her off? It will save you having to deal with her every day. Heart-wrenching.”
"Do you remember the young man we met at the Mid-Autumn Night Market last time?"