The Shangyuan Festival, also known as the Lantern Festival today, is a festival for secular people to enjoy lanterns. Emperor Yang Jian of the Sui Dynasty paid attention to frugality and did not like extravagance and luxury. Therefore, the Lantern Festival in the early Sui Dynasty was far less prosperous and grand than in the late Sui Dynasty.
But this year, Yang Jian made an exception and allowed people to spontaneously organize lantern festivals. Coupled with the subsidence of the war in Goryeo and the fall in prices, which benefited people's livelihood, the people in the capital were particularly interested, making this year's Shangyuan Lantern Festival extra grand.
As early as five days ago, the three main lantern viewing places began to be arranged, one is Liren City, the other is Metropolitan City, and the third is Zhuque Street, a private lantern festival. The government does not interfere. The government's task is to maintain the order of the lantern festival.
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Families, businessmen, schools, monasteries, princes, and nobles are all the main players in the lantern festival. In the capital, families with a little influence will put up lampstands to show the existence of the family. They want their existence to let lantern watchers know about their family.
existence.
But what businessmen want is profit. They will use the opportunity of the lantern festival to make another fortune from lantern viewing. All kinds of beautiful lanterns are just props for them to attract customers.
Lanterns in schools and temples are actually a way to expand their own publicity. Schools hope to recruit more students, and temples hope to attract more pilgrims.
In fact, to put it bluntly, the Shangyuan Lantern Festival is just a platform for fame and fortune. The bustling world is all about fame, and the bustling world is all about profit.
But those who really enjoy happiness are the nameless and profitless people who just watch the lanterns.
As soon as it got dark, Niu Niu impatiently knocked on Yuan Qing's door. They no longer lived in the Yang Mansion, but in an alley called Coiyi Lane a hundred steps away from the Yang Mansion. They were in the house at the end of the alley.
Inside, there is a small house covering an area of one and a quarter acres.
There are not many rooms in the house, only seven in total. It has a "曰"-shaped structure and two large yards at the front and back. It is a typical courtyard house. In the words of Er Aunt Liu, chickens can be raised in the front and vegetables can be grown in the back. In Yuanqinghe
In Niuniu's eyes, you can practice swordsmanship in the front and shoot arrows in the back.
But what caught Shen Qiuniang's eye at first sight were the two tall trees, with a century-old osmanthus in front and a lush old apricot tree in the back. The two old trees made the house full of life.
But to Shen Qiuniang's surprise, they did not spend money on this house. Instead, the Yang family had bought it and gave it to their mother and daughter as a reward for her seven years of raising Yuan Qing.
She didn't want this kind of repayment. She didn't raise Yuan Qing for repayment, but her heart was still full of bitterness. The moment when swans always grow hard wings and flutter their wings, she learned that Yuan Qing was about to go to the Turks. That night, she
I didn't sleep all night. I don't know when Yuan Qing will come back.
She is sad and reluctant to leave Yuan Qing, but she is also proud of his decision. Her child has finally grown up and will spread his wings to face the test of wind and rain alone.
She decided to live a good life and not let herself and Niu Niu become Yuan Qing's concern.
Shen Qiuniang did not show too much sadness, but cooked Yuan Qing's favorite dishes in different ways every day. Today is the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and tonight the flower-viewing lanterns will go into high gear. Shen Qiuniang specially cooked early and prepared to take it with her
The two children went out early to watch the lanterns.
"Brother Yuanqing, are you okay?"
Niu Niu banged on Yuan Qing's door impatiently. She was dressed very beautifully today, wearing her only long satin dress and a thick jacket. Her long black hair was combed into two braids.
Circled in a double ring, her skin was snow-white, and her mother specially put light makeup on her and pasted eight silk flowers on her to make her look even more beautiful and green. She was a girl, but her every move was still full of childishness. She looked like a
The rabbit with its tail burned in the fire kept jumping and knocking on Yuan Qing's door, filling the courtyard with complaints.
"What on earth are you doing? Dilly-dallying, are you also putting on makeup?"
In the room, Yuan Qing was settling accounts. He had to go on an expedition and would not come back until two or three years ago. He had to arrange the lives of his aunt and Niuniu. They had a total of thirty taels of gold and two hundred coins in savings to buy furniture. and various household items cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
In addition, after Yang Xuanting became the steward of the Yang Mansion, he followed the clan rules, which stipulated that the minimum monthly salary for a concubine was ten dan qian, and he replenished the seven years of Yuan Qing's monthly money in one lump sum, a total of 600 dan qian.
In this way, they have thirty taels of gold and seven hundred coins in their hands. Yuan Qing will leave all of this money to his aunt and Niu Niu. He has considered that even if the money for Niu Niu's foundation building medicine and living expenses are added up, this money will be enough for them. Use it until you come back.
At the same time, Shen Qiuniang found a very good job. Her skills in preparing pills were very good. Yang Xuanting introduced her to Tzu Chi Hall, the largest pharmacy in Beijing, as a medicine lady. She could earn fifteen ounces of money a month, so that their mother could A woman's life is truly worry-free.
According to Yuan Qing's idea, it is best to pack thirty taels of gold at the bottom of the box to prepare for life-saving use in troubled times. The savings of seven hundred taels of gold and the aunt's monthly salary can also allow their mother and daughter to live a good life, and he will also take care of Yang Xuanting. You should take care of the lives of their mother and daughter from time to time.
All these must be arranged one by one before he sets out for the expedition, so that he can feel at ease during the northern expedition.
"Yuan Qing, are you ready? I'm waiting for you." This was when his aunt was urging him.
"Alright! Alright!"
Yuan Qing put away the accounting papers, inserted a dagger into his leather boots, opened the door and went out.
Shen Qiuniang was still wearing her sarong, with no makeup on her face. She was still dignified and beautiful, with a gentle and elegant temperament. She had just burned paper for her husband, and there were still tears in the corners of her eyes.
Niu Niu pouted her lips unhappily, "Brother Yuan Qing, I asked you not to come out for a long time, but you came out as soon as mother called you. It's obvious that you are bullying the weak and afraid of the strong."
Shen Qiuniang smiled and tapped her daughter on the head with her finger, "What nonsense are you talking about? When did your mother get tough?"
Niu Niu held her head and shrank her neck, "Mom, aren't your finger joints hard?"
, let’s go look at the lights.”!”
Niu Niu's face suddenly turned red, she was embarrassed and anxious, and grabbed Yuan Qing, "You damn bullhead, you deliberately got around me again, let's see if I don't strangle you to death!"
Yuan Qing hugged his head and ran away, shouting as he ran: "Auntie, it was her own misunderstanding, don't blame me!"
"How dare you talk nonsense!"
The two of them ran out of the house. Shen Qiuniang smiled as she watched them run away. She locked the courtyard door and the family happily went to watch the lights.
.........
As night falls, Daxing City is already ablaze with lights and crowded with people. Hundreds of thousands of people from the capital, carrying their wives and children, go out to watch the lanterns.
The three main lines of lantern viewing in the capital, Zhuque Street, Metropolis, and Liren City, are now brightly lit, shining like daylight. If you look down from a high altitude, a huge bright face will appear in the entire Daxing City. Metropolis, Liren City is a pair of The eyes, and Suzaku Street is the long nose, which is particularly spectacular.
Last year, Shen Qiuniang took her two children to visit Zhuque Street. This year, they had already decided to visit the city's lanterns.
The city is also crowded with people at this time, people are bumping into each other, and people are crowded. On both sides of the road, there are various lanterns, giant ship lanterns, peony lanterns, children worshiping Guanyin, goddesses scattering lanterns, longevity lanterns, twin ox plowing lanterns, and Chang'e flying to the moon. Lanterns and so on, all kinds of lanterns are exquisite and lifelike in shape. Under the light, they are dazzling and colorful. It is so beautiful that the whole city seems to have become a sea of lanterns and people. Everyone is Immerse yourself in the joy of the festival.
Groups of children carried lanterns and slipped through the crowd. Groups of girls also held hands. Sometimes they stood in front of the beautiful lanterns to comment, sometimes they gathered in front of the stalls selling small ornaments, and sometimes they ran through the crowd.
As we passed, laughter flowed all the way.
In a small stall, Yuan Qing was shopping for headwear with Niu Niu. Although the hairpin made of red copper was not as shiny as the gold hairpin, it was still exquisitely made and amazing.
Although Yuan Qing had long planned to buy a gold hairpin for Niu Niu and her aunt, she had to give up due to her aunt's firm opposition. Niu Niu was unhappy because of this. She had been looking forward to the gold hairpin for several years, but she was still childlike after all, with so many things in front of her.
The exquisite headdress dazzled her, and she had long forgotten her expectations for the golden hairpin.
"Brother Yuanqing, which one do you think I should buy?" Niu Niu already had more than a dozen copper hairpins in her hand. She wanted every one, but her mother only allowed her to buy one. She screamed anxiously.
"Little sister, this one is the best!"
Before Yuan Qing could react, the woman selling hairpins had already picked out a hairpin from her hand. It was a hairpin with two phoenixes playing with pearls. Two lifelike phoenixes spread their wings towards each other. In front of them was a big soybean pearl.
Ingenious and ingenious.
"Auntie, I want this one." This double phoenix hairpin was the first thing she caught her eye on, and she liked it very much.
"Little sister, let me put it on for you."
The hairpin seller took the hairpin and put it into her hair. "What a black hair!" she praised sincerely.
The hairpin seller glanced at Yuan Qing, then whispered in Niu Niu's ear and smiled: "Little sister, you must also buy a personal heart lock for your lover, so that his heart will be locked forever."
The woman who sold the hairpin had a long history of favors, and she had already seen that they were not biological brothers and sisters. How could biological brothers and sisters call each other brother by name? Niu Niu's face suddenly turned red, and even her neck was red.
"Auntie, stop talking nonsense, he is my brother."
Although his mouth was twisted, his eyes secretly glanced at the pile of copper heart-protecting locks next to him.
"Auntie, let's settle the accounts here."
Several other girls also bought a few pieces of jewelry and wanted to settle accounts. The hairpin seller hurriedly went over to settle accounts for them. Taking advantage of this moment, Niu Niu had already picked out a copper lock from a pile of copper locks with the words "Heaven protects you and you will be victorious in every battle".
"General lock, this one is most suitable for Yuan Qing, and then she chooses a colorful phoenix hairpin for her mother.
"Niuniu, do you like it?" Yuan Qing ran up and asked with a smile.
He was distracted by a bright light wheel just now, but he didn't realize that Niu Niu's mind had quietly changed.
"Alright! Alright!"
Niu Niu hurriedly held a few pieces of jewelry to prevent him from seeing them, and urged Yuan Qing, "Go find mom, don't get lost. I'll pay here."
"Auntie was still there just now, I'm going to take a look."
Yuan Qing ran away quickly, and the hairpin seller settled the account, then turned around and asked with a smile: "Little sister, have you made your choice?"
"Okay, just these three."
She spread out her palms, holding two hairpins and a copper lock. Her face was as red as a persimmon, and her voice was lower than a mosquito, "Auntie, how much does it cost?"
"Sixty dollars in total!"
The hairpin seller saw the copper lock in her hand and smiled knowingly. Niu Niu was so ashamed that she felt ashamed. She hurriedly opened her handbag and put three pieces of copper jewelry in. Only then did her pounding heart calm down a little, and she took out a few handfuls of money.
, hurriedly counted and handed it to the hairpin seller, "Auntie, here it is!"
"Little sister, the money is just right!"
Seeing that Niuniu was about to leave, the woman selling hairpins stopped her and called her, "Little sister!"
"Auntie, is there anything else?"
The hairpin seller took out two copper rings and handed them to her with a smile, "This is the Lingxi Ring, for you and your lover."
"Thank you, Auntie!"
Niu Niu pinched the ring, like a little rabbit with its tail burned off, and ran into the crowd and disappeared. The hairpin seller saw how cute and shy she was, with a warm smile in her eyes. Another little girl had grown up.
.........
"Niuniu, I'm just going to find you."
Yuan Qing ran towards her, grabbed her hand and ran back, "Baixi is about to parade, let's go quickly!"
Niuniu's delicate and white hands have been held by Yuan Qing since she was three years old, and she has never felt anything. But today for the first time, she felt that brother Yuan Qing's hands were so warm and strong.
She felt shy and nervous. Gradually, her heart was filled with a kind of happiness. She ran side by side with him like a bird. The two held hands and ran towards the brightest light in the distance.b, attracting people watching the lanterns on both sides.
There was thunderous applause and cheers.
This is the night of the Yuan Dynasty in the 19th year of the founding of the Emperor. In this year, Yuan Qing has a great ambition, but Niu Niu has just begun to fall in love. The Sui Dynasty has reached its strongest military power.