nashuaworldcup Chapter 55 New Year’s Eve Lantern Chapter
Chapter 55 New Year’s Eve Lantern Chapter
Every year on the Lantern Festival, noble ladies and gentlemen from prominent families in Yanjing would dress up in their finest attire, hoping to find a suitable husband and a virtuous daughter of a noble family at the lantern festival.
Lu Nianqiu finally met Jiang Zhi, and together they boarded a carriage and headed directly to Qinghe Street, the most bustling area of Yanjing.
As dusk settles and the moon hangs high in the sky, the night of the Lantern Festival is dotted with countless stars.
The carriage slowly arrived at Qinghe Street. Jiang Zhi lowered her eyes, reached out and slowly lifted the curtain, revealing a scene of dazzling stars.
Red lanterns hung high on both sides of the street, and colorful ribbons fluttered in the breeze, creating a dreamlike scene.
At the lantern festival, various stalls were arranged in a neat and orderly fashion, with vendors' calls rising and falling in a continuous stream.
In the crowd, loving couples walk hand in hand; in the dim light, talented men wield their brushes and beautiful women gently strum the strings of their zithers, creating a scene of refined elegance.
"Your Highness, Qinghe Street is really lively today."
Wu Shi and Chen Xi were so excited by the scene before them that they couldn't speak.
Jiang Zhi was no exception. She was sent to Liangzhou at a very young age and rarely saw such a prosperous scene as Yanjing.
"Zhizhi! Come and look at this hairpin, it's so pretty!" Lu Nianqiu held the hairpin up to her head and held it up.
Jiang Zhi looked at her, feeling very happy.
"Come here quickly," Lu Nianqiu grabbed Jiang Zhi's wrist, "I think Zhizhi looks good in this."
"Is that right?" Lu Nianqiu turned to ask the two little girls, Wu Shi and Chen Xi.
The two little girls nodded repeatedly.
Jiang Zhi laughed when he heard this.
The streets were bustling with people coming and going.
At that moment, a pair of dark eyes from the upper floor lingered on Jiang Zhi.
"Your Highness, the Princess Consort is dressed quite strikingly today."
Qinghuai praised it.
"Tch, I think His Highness did it on purpose."
"It would be a waste not to stroll around with the Princess on such a day. The Princess is so wonderful," Doctor Han added sarcastically.
At this moment, Gu Liang looked at Jiang Zhi.
Her smile was charming and captivating, and it was this very girl who once again entered his heart.
After Jiang Zhi and the other three parked the carriage at the back, they headed towards the more lively area.
At the lantern festival, the dazzling array of goods is overwhelming.
Shop owners displayed all sorts of lanterns on both sides of the street, emitting bright light; they came in all sorts of strange and wonderful shapes.
Lu Nianqiu led Jiang Zhi forward and finally stopped in front of a large inn. She looked up and saw several large characters written on the plaque above the door.
'Flower Pavilion'
"That's a nice name. Let's go inside and take a look."
Jiang Zhi nodded and was quickly pulled inside by Lu Nianqiu.
Huaxiatang can be considered one of the top restaurants in Yanjing.
Upon entering the lobby on the first floor, Jiang Zhi saw various lanterns hanging on a beautifully carved balustrade.
The most eye-catching lantern at the top is a cloisonné enamel lantern with gold trim, depicting a koi fish.
The koi fish was made so lifelike, and below the lantern was the first line of a couplet.
"The wind and dew are both clear, stretching for ten thousand miles in autumn."
Jiang Zhi looked at it for a moment, then lowered his head and smiled.
She did know the second line of that couplet.
Lu Nianqiu, standing beside her, exclaimed excitedly, "Zhizhi, look! That lantern is so beautiful! It's a koi fish!"
"Let's go take a look."
“Okay,” Jiang Zhi said.
The two of them then moved closer to the koi fish lantern in the main hall.
Upon seeing a particularly beautiful girl arrive, the boss glanced at her briefly.
The little girl wore a peach-pink and amber-colored flowing dress, with a satin embroidered cape that accentuated her slender and exquisite figure, and her eyes were bright and captivating.
He looked at Jiang Zhi with a beaming smile and said, "Does the young lady like this lantern?"
Jiang Zhi nodded, "Yes, I like it. If I can answer the question with the matching line, will you sell me the lantern?"
The shopkeeper shook his head. "Young lady, this lantern is hard to come by. You're not the only one who likes it; there are several others over there as well."
Jiang Zhi followed the boss's gaze and saw several young men and women dressed in fine clothes standing there.
They held targets and threw arrows into a pot not far away.
Among the group of young men and women, one girl dressed in a purple gown stood out.
It turns out to be Qiao Lixue, the wife of Marquis Zhongjing.
It's really a narrow road.
Seeing someone approaching, Qiao Lixue on the other side subconsciously turned around, her gaze falling on the girl, and a hint of jealousy arose in her heart.
"I wondered who it was. It's our Princess Consort of Liang. What's wrong? It's Lantern Festival today, and His Highness the Prince of Liang didn't come with you?"
"Could it be that after His Highness married you, he found you to be not what he expected and has neglected you?"
Seeing the girl's hostile gaze, Jiang Zhi thought of what had happened to her last time and suddenly found it somewhat amusing.
She actually thought that Qiao Lixue was a usable pawn.
Her pitch-pot and archery skills were also top-notch, and the incident from last time still bothered Qiao Lixue.
Seeing that Jiang Zhi also took a liking to the lantern, Qiao Lixue slowly walked over and said sarcastically, "A person who killed his own brother is not worthy of coming to this flower hall."
"Jiang Zhi, you don't actually want this lantern, do you? I had my eye on it first."
“You should be called Princess Consort.” Lu Nianqiu stepped forward to correct her, but Jiang Zhi stopped her.
"An ant trying to shake a tree is laughable and shows a lack of self-awareness," Jiang Zhi mocked.
"When Miss Qiao saw my prince, she was so frightened that she wet herself. After returning home, she was even punished with thirty strokes of the cane by Old Madam Qiao."
"I didn't expect Miss Qiao to be able to walk so quickly. I guess I didn't hit her hard enough."
"Jiang Zhi...you." Qiao Lixue was so angry at Jiang Zhi's words that she couldn't speak.
She snorted coldly, "Speaking of which, the death of Young Master Pei is related to you. All the maids in our manor saw you two entering the same room; you might have done something shameful."
Jiang Zhi scoffed, "What does Young Master Pei's death have to do with you?"
"It was quite a spectacle when Old Madam Qiao made a scene at the Zhenyuan Marquis's mansion on behalf of Miss Qiao. It's a pity that none of you saw it."
"I wonder if the Marquis of Zhongjing was scolded so badly by His Highness that Old Madam Qiao beat you so badly that you couldn't get out of bed."
After Jiang Zhi finished speaking, he took Lu Nianqiu's hand and walked forward, completely ignoring Qiao Lixue, whose face was turning purple with anger.
Jiang Zhi had already arrived at the place where Qiao Lixue and several young masters and ladies from prominent families had been playing the game of pitch-pot.
The whispers of other young masters and ladies from prominent families could be heard nearby.
"Can you?"
“We can’t even throw the farthest pot into the pot. You’ve only just returned to Yanjing, how would you know how to play pitch-pot?”
The speaker was Yu Cigui, the illegitimate son of the Vice Minister of the Imperial Secretariat.
The Vice Minister of the Imperial Secretariat favored his concubine over his wife, showering her child with excessive affection and raising him into a useless person.
This illegitimate son is obsessed with tinkering with weird things from the Southwest, and he's also Qiao Lixue's dog.
Jiang Zhi had always looked down on men like that and ignored him.
Seeing that Jiang Zhi ignored him, Yu Cigui scoffed, "What are you pretending for?"