During this time a year ago, everyone in the Xu Mansion was extremely busy.
The Xu family was willing to move their family to the capital, and King Zhao naturally promised something. Otherwise, with the Chu land under control, wouldn't it be better for them to stay in Nanyuan and become the de facto kings of Chu?
Therefore, as soon as Xu Huan arrived in the capital, he went to the museum and was entrusted with an important task by King Zhao.
The second room was busy tidying up the newly-given palace of the Duke of Chu, and wanted to move in before the Chinese New Year and asked Xu Yin to come out of the new palace.
After all this busy work until the day before New Year's Eve, the Xu family finally moved into the Duke's Mansion.
This year’s New Year’s Eve dinner was particularly happy for everyone.
The most important thing in Xu Huan's heart are his two daughters. After the eldest daughter got married, Qin Se and Ming Ming, and the second daughter found her husband again. He was finally able to comfort his wife who died young.
Xu An and his wife saw that the situation in their family was rising, and there was an endless stream of people discussing marriage for their son and daughter, and they were laughing from ear to ear.
Not to mention Mrs. Xu, the old man died early and suffered a lot at the beginning. Now with days like this, he only feels that his life is happy.
After the New Year's Eve dinner, Xu Ze came over and asked, "Third sister, do you want to go see the lights on the street? Second sister said that you want to see it, why don't we go and play together?"
Xu Yin happily agreed: "Okay."
So the three brothers and sisters put on thick clothes and cloaks, informed their elders, and went out together.
It was the first New Year in the capital. King Zhao issued a decree and the lantern festival was held from New Year's Eve to the Lantern Festival. At the same time, the curfew was cancelled. Therefore, the streets were very lively and prosperous.
Especially on the Tianjie side, the lanterns are connected from beginning to end, big lanterns, small lanterns, lotus lanterns, white rabbit lanterns, revolving lanterns and Kongming lanterns. There are all kinds of strange and weird styles, which is dazzling and dizzying.
Xu Jia marveled at it and said, "I thought our Nanyuan was lively enough, but only after we came here did we realize that the capital is the capital."
Xu Ze pointed to each flower shed and asked, "Whose family do these belong to? It costs a lot to make so many lanterns, right?"
Xu Yin replied casually: "The people who can build tents on Tianjie Street are all reputable people. The one the elder brother mentioned should belong to the Chengguo Duke's Palace."
Xu Ze thought that his uncle was now the Duke of the country, so he quickly asked: "Then our family is also qualified?"
Xu Yin nodded: "We just moved this year and we are too busy. Next year, ask my father to submit a form and we can build a shed."
Xu Ze smiled happily: "If this is the case, I will definitely find a lot of craftsmen to make the most beautiful lanterns."
These lanterns were so beautiful that Xu Jia couldn't help but drag Xu Yin to guess riddles.
She was average in reading, but she was not inferior to others in guessing riddles. If she couldn't figure out anything, Xu Yin and Xu Ze made up for it. Before long, the three brothers and sisters all had several lanterns in their hands.
In fact, Xu Yin and her second brother and sister have a normal relationship. When she was a child, she had a wild temper and disliked Xu Jia for being dull, while Xu Jia also disliked her for being noisy. Therefore, although the two sisters were the same age, they rarely played together.
Later, when she grew up and became sensible, she traveled around again and had little time to stay at home throughout the year, let alone the opportunity to get close to her.
Now that she is about to get married, the three siblings often get together and are much closer than before.
The three of them walked all the way until they stopped in front of a giant revolving lantern that was as tall as two people.
"Whose is this? It's exquisite and clever!"
Xu Yin looked at the pictures that were slowly turning around, including those of beauties, flowers and birds, landscapes, and even calligraphy. Although she was not proficient, she could tell that these paintings were made by famous artists.
Just as I was about to see whose shed this was, someone came out from behind the lantern and called out in surprise: "Ah Yin!"
It turned out to be Yan Ling.
Because it was the Chinese New Year, he rarely wore luxurious clothes. He wore black clothes and a large cloak of the same color. He stood tall and tall under the lamp, as if an immortal had come to the world.
Xu Yin was stunned for a moment and asked: "Is this lamp yours?"
Yan Ling nodded happily, then turned to talk to Xu Ze: "Brother Xu will take them out to play?"
Xu Ze nodded: "We have never seen the lanterns in the capital, so we came out to see the world."
Yan Ling laughed and pointed to the flower building at the end of Sky Street: "Would you like to go up and take a look? You can see the entire Sky Street."
Xu Ze happily agreed and followed the boy to the flower building - this was built by the government and ordinary people had no chance to go up there.
Xu Yin fell behind and talked to Yan Ling.
"You are here. Are the prince and princess also there? Should I go and see them?"
Yan Ling waved her hand: "They are not here." Then she talked about the reason, "The Lantern Festival is the official day to look at the lanterns. My mother will invite many lucky ladies to come here on that day. It will be very busy then, and we may not have time to look at the lanterns.
So, after the New Year’s Eve dinner, I came out to see how the lanterns were arranged. If you don’t come, I will go find you later.”
Xu Yin smiled and said, "Isn't this a coincidence? I'm going to look at the lights elsewhere, but you won't find anyone there."
Yan Ling nodded in agreement and said in a nauseous tone: "It shows that we are destined to meet each other like this."
A group of people went up to the flower building and saw bright lights on the sky street, dotted with stars, spreading all the way. The dark night sky was above their heads, and the vast land was beneath their feet, making them feel like they were in a galaxy.
Xu Yin couldn't help but think of her previous life, when she had accompanied her sister and Emperor You to the Flower Tower. But in that capital, there were pimples under the bustling city, which was not as vibrant as it was now.
"Thank you." she whispered.
Yan Ling was looking at the lights and didn't hear clearly for a moment, so she asked: "What?"
Xu Yin smiled: "It's nothing."
Presumably after her death in the previous life, the capital also ushered in a new life, right? That world full of hope was built by him bit by bit.
Yan Ling didn't know that his parents, brother and sister-in-law were also looking at the lights at this moment.
Tomorrow is New Year's Day, and there will be a big court meeting. Tonight is the only free time their family has.
After Yan Ling went out, King Zhao teased her: "This waiter must be looking for Miss Xu San. We meet in the military camp every day and he is still so clingy."
Princess Zhao said: "Isn't it bad to be sticky? We are about to get married, so the young couple must be intimate and affectionate."
As she said that, she looked at her eldest son and daughter-in-law: "You two have been busy for so many days, do you want to go out for a while?"
Yan Cheng and Mr. Xie looked at each other and said, "We will stay with you and your father."
Princess Zhao waved her hand: "It's not even time to stay up late! Just come back around the same time."
The two of them still didn't move.
Seeing this, King Zhao said to the princess: "How about we go out for a walk? Speaking of which, it's been a long time since I've seen the lanterns in the capital."
These words brought back Princess Zhao's memories: "Yes, when we saw the lanterns in Beijing last time, we were only as old as Xiaoer and the others!"
When he thought of the past, he thought that things were real and people were different. King Zhao only sighed for a moment, and then smiled again: "Let's go, let's go together!"
Only then did Yan Cheng and Mr. Xie get up, each put on thick clothes, took their maids with them, and went out with their parents.
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
I know you don't want to watch annoying supporting characters, but this is a whole big plot, and it can't be killed off in two or three chapters. If you don't want to endure it, why don't you wait until the plot is over? But it will be almost over by then.