Chapter 24
The festive atmosphere of the Spring Festival has not yet dissipated, and the Lantern Festival is here. Although I am worried and anxious, I still have a lot of interest in the Lantern Festival. The Lantern Festival is also known as the Upper Yuan Lantern Festival. On this day, every household hangs flower lanterns, and at night, there are lion dances, dragon lantern dances, riddle-guessing, and fireworks displays. Women who rarely go out usually can accompany their friends to tour around, appreciate the lanterns, and guess riddles tonight, so it can be said that this is absolutely a festival that girls look forward to the most. Moreover, with the temptation of the beautiful scenes described in ancient poetry, where talented men and women meet under the moonlight, I also look forward to this festival without exception.
The sky was not yet dark, and I had Winter Cloud braid my hair into two ringlets, put on a half-new yellow goose robe, and hurriedly urged Clever Hui to change her clothes. Clever Hui laughed and said: "My good girl! We have to wait until nightfall to guess lantern riddles!" I didn't respond to her, but only hastened my voice to urge her, Clever Hui was rushed by me, and had to quickly change into her clothes, then took two cloaks and followed me out of the mansion.
Just out of the palace gate, I heard someone behind me calling: "Thirteen Sister!" I frowned and thought to myself, this nickname is well-known in the Forbidden City, but no one has ever called it out loud before. Who's so bold? Turning around, I saw Thirteen Brother, wearing a light blue long gown like an ordinary scholar, with a handsome young servant following beside him, walking towards me at a leisurely pace. Seeing that it was him, I was delighted and asked with a smile: "What a coincidence!" He smiled and said: "If you have the heart, then it's naturally a coincidence!" Only then did I realize he had been waiting for me! Hurriedly asking: "How did you know I wanted to go out and play today?" He smiled and said: "On such a fun day, would you just sit idly in your room?"
Two people walked side by side, with Cui Hui and a young servant following behind. After walking for a while, Thirteen said, "I've invited Green Ruolan to watch the lanterns together." I thought for a moment and asked, "Is she the owner of that courtyard we visited last time?" He nodded, and I smiled, saying, "Great! I was just thinking it wouldn't be fun with so few people. Besides, I used her cloak last time and still haven't thanked her in person!" Thirteen stopped and turned back to smile at the young servant, saying, "I told you so!" I also stopped and turned back, looking puzzled.
That little fellow hurriedly stepped forward two steps, clasped his hands together and bowed, saying: "Thirteen Master said that the young lady is not an ordinary person! I didn't believe it, but today, after seeing her, I think Thirteen Master was indeed right." I also smiled and said: "This should be Green Ru sister, shouldn't it? I didn't know you were coming today, otherwise I would have brought your cloak." While speaking, I thought to myself that from the arrangement of her room last time, I knew she was a proud person who had fallen on hard times, and was afraid others would look down on her, so she didn't want to get acquainted with me directly.
The sky slowly darkened, and the streets became increasingly crowded. As I looked around, the lights on both sides of the street seemed to stretch on endlessly, like a sea of stars. The scent of perfume and the shadows of hair wafted through the air, accompanied by the sound of laughter that never ceased. I couldn't help but take in the sights, even sneaking glances at the girls walking by my side. All three of them burst out laughing, with Qingyun teasingly saying, "You look like you've never strolled down the street before!" I sighed and shook my head, saying, "Isn't that the truth? It's like I've been cooped up in prison all day." She looked taken aback for a moment, then smiled again.
I'm no good at guessing riddles, so I just looked at the lanterns. The Thirteen and Green Wild seemed to be unimpressed as well, not very interested, so the four of us just took a casual look along the way.
Thirteen led us to a wine tower, and the waiter, who had apparently seen Thirteen before, quickly arranged for us to sit in a window seat. "Later, when they perform the lion dance and dragon dance, you can watch from down below, it's clear and not crowded!"
Four of us were watching the people coming and going below, chatting and laughing, when suddenly we heard a voice say, "Is Thirteen also here?" We turned our heads to see that it was Fourteen and several young men standing behind us. The young men hurriedly greeted Thirteen, while I and Qiao Hui busied ourselves greeting Fourteen, making the scene quite lively for a moment! However, both Thirteen and Fourteen didn't wait for us to speak, waving their hands and saying, "You're all wearing casual clothes, no need for so much etiquette!"
The atmosphere was a bit quiet, Green stood beside me, looking out the window with her head tilted. Qiao Hui stood with her head down, I looked at Thirteen and then at Fourteen. Both of them had smiles on their faces, but the meaning behind those smiles were vastly different. Thirteen had an air of nonchalance about him, while Fourteen's smile was elegant, yet his mouth corners held a hint of coldness. Fourteen caught me looking at him and gave me a chilly stare. I nodded slightly and lowered my head.
A thin and weak youth standing with fourteen shouted, "Isn't this Green Wild Girl?" Only then did Green Wild turn her head back, looked at the speaker for a moment, expressionless, without making a sound, and lowered her head. Fourteen only then noticed that Green Wild was a girl and couldn't help but take another look. Green Wild kept her head down, expression indifferent, I reached out under the table to gently grasp her hand, she turned her head to look at me, I smiled slightly and let go of her hand.
At this time, a short and fat young man said with a sneer: "It's really 'a young man is not romantic in vain', the 13th master is embracing left and right, enjoying a good fortune." Before he finished speaking, the face of the 13th had already turned cold, and before he could get angry. Then I heard the 14th say coldly: "Zhazi Lin, what nonsense are you talking about?" Zhazi Lin obviously didn't understand why this flattery had provoked the 14th master. Some people were confused and stood there stupidly. There were people next to me who knew me and wanted to remind me, but it was already too late.
I lowered my head and smiled slightly, then looked up and asked: "Are you here to admire the lanterns or the people?" Only then did everyone take their seats.
The lion's performance was not bad, and the dragon dance was also very good. However, among the people present, probably only I and Qiao Hui really appreciated it. Others were either lost in thought or secretly glancing at me, while a few couldn't stop staring at Qingwu.
The reward has been rewarded, the play has been played, and the night is already deep. So I prepared to return to the mansion. Fourteen suddenly said: "I'll send Ruo Xi back." After listening, I took advantage of fourteen's inattention and shrugged my shoulders at thirteen, and thirteen smiled. In the end, thirteen sent Green Wu, fourteen sent me and Qiao Hui, and the others dispersed on their own.
The weather was quite cold, Qiao Hui put the cape she had prepared in advance on me. I walked shoulder to shoulder with Shi Si, Qiao Hui followed behind us, all the way to the gate of the mansion, without a word.
The little servant opened the door, saw it was me and Fourteen, and busily greeted us with a smile, saying: "Miss has returned, Master Lan sent someone to ask after you several times." After Fourteen let him get up, he asked: "Is Eighth Brother around?" The little servant hastily replied: "He's at the main wife's place. Should I go report it?" As Fourteen walked forward, he said: "Tell Eighth Brother that I'm waiting for him in the study."
I was thinking of going back to my sister's place, but I was stopped by the Fourteenth, who had a stern face and said: "Follow me to the study." I thought for a moment, feeling that it didn't matter if I went with him. So I nodded. Letting Cuihui go back first to tell my sister, I followed the Fourteenth to the study together.
Two men sat silently in the study for a short while, then Li Fu lifted the curtain and Eighth Brother walked in with a smile on his face. Seeing me too, a hint of surprise flashed across his face.
Fourteen An stood up without being invited, opened his mouth and said: "Eighth brother, guess who I saw with Ruo Xi today?" Eighth brother was still smiling, glanced at Li Fu, Li Fu hastily retreated and closed the door behind him.
Ba Er Ge sat down, smiling and asked: "With whom?" Shi Si looked at me and said: "I don't know when she became so close to Lao Thirteen? She's with Lao Thirteen." He snorted and continued: "This is nothing, she actually hangs out with a courtesan like Si." I was also very angry, who was he to interfere in my affairs? I retorted: "What about being with Shi San Ge? What about being with a courtesan?"
Fourteen looked at me with a mixture of anger and inquiry, saying: "How is it? Have you ever seen any noble lady from the Forbidden City and a courtesan together?" I grew even angrier, stood up, and glared at him, sneering coldly: "I only know that Green Pearl, who died for love by jumping off a building, was a courtesan; Liang Hongyu, who beat drums to resist the Jin invaders, was a courtesan; Li Shishi, who refused to serve the Jin people and died by swallowing gold, was a courtesan; Lin Si Niang, the general's wife who fought to the death to save the king of Heng, was a courtesan; Yuan Bao'er, who sang with abandon and died without regret, was a...". Suddenly realizing that Yuan Bao'er lived during the late Ming dynasty and resisted the Qing army, I hastily shut my mouth, still glaring at Fourteen with an angry expression.
Obviously, he didn't expect his two sentences to provoke me into saying such a long string of words, with both anger and momentum, and for a moment, he couldn't think of how to refute me, so he just gritted his teeth, nodded, and glared at me angrily.
Eighth brother looked at us two going back and forth, finally the two of us stared at each other like fighting cocks, couldn't help but shake his head and smile, saying: "Stop staring! Fourteenth brother, go back first! As for Yu Xi's matter, I will handle it." Fourteenth glared at me with a look, turned to look at Eighth brother, wanting to speak but stopping himself, finally turned back and glared at me again, then stormed off.
Facing the fourteenth, I didn't have any feeling of fear. But when he left, leaving only me and Eighth Brother, I started to feel tense. Lowering my head, fiddling with the cloak strap in my hand, I didn't know what to do.
The eighth brother looked at me for a while, with a smile on his face: "The prince's joke is indeed apt. I think you not only have the same desperate energy as the thirteenth brother, but also the same style of being a carefree and unconventional scholar!" He laughed again and said: "Don't stand there!" After hearing this, I slowly sat down. He said: "Come over here, I want to talk to you." My heart became even more tense, but I couldn't do anything about it, so I slowly walked over and sat down beside him with my head lowered.
He let out a sigh after I sat down, turned his head back and gazed forward, falling silent.
The two of us sat in silence for a while, when he suddenly blurted out: "Are you scared?" I was taken aback, not knowing what he meant, and could only look at him with confusion. He turned his head to the side, looking at me as he said: "Contestant girl, are you scared?" After hearing this, all I felt was that the sorrow that had already filled my entire body surged up again, and I silently nodded, lowering my head and furrowing my brow in distress.
After a while, Eighth Brother suddenly muttered to himself: "I was fifteen when I first saw your sister." As soon as I heard this, I put aside my worries and listened intently. "That year, your mother returned to the capital to report for duty, and she also came along. It was spring, and the weather was exceptionally good, with a blue sky like it had been washed clean, and a gentle breeze carrying the scent of flowers that pierced one's heart. I and two young servants went horseback riding in the suburbs. From afar, we saw a little girl riding a horse on the mountain slope." He smiled and said: "You've also seen Rouran's horsemanship, you should know how beautiful and stunning it was!" I nodded unconsciously, recalling my sister's elegant appearance on that day at the horse racing field.
"He said: 'She rode better that day than she did on the racecourse, her laughter was like a string of silver bells, floating in the mountains and forests. It was full of joy, making people who heard it feel joyful too, wanting to laugh along.'"
He fell silent for a moment: "I didn't dare to believe what I saw at that time. The Forbidden City has many beautiful girls, but Yu Lan is different. She's like a fairy in the flowers." I thought that my sister was a happy woman in love at that time, thinking that she and her loved one could soar in the sky. Her happiness came from the deepest part of her heart, of course, it's different from those women in the Forbidden City who may not have a chance to experience love in their lifetime.
He said, "After I returned, I was busy inquiring about your sister and thinking of ways to ask the Emperor to give her to me. At that time, my mother told me that the Emperor wanted to betroth the eldest daughter of the Ma Er Tai family to me as a secondary wife. At that moment, I felt like I had never been so happy in this life. On the second day after the Emperor's edict was issued, I ran all over the capital and spent more than half a year searching for a phoenix blood jade bangle, thinking of giving it to her on our wedding day."
I looked down at the bangle on my wrist and couldn't help but raise my hand, asking: "Is this the one? The one to be given to sister?"
He looked at the bangle on my wrist, held my hand and said: "I have been looking forward to it day and night, finally waiting for the big wedding day. But when I lifted the veil, I felt that things were not what I thought they would be. The person who made me miss for two years was completely different from the one in front of me. She never rode a horse and rarely smiled. I kept asking myself, what's going on? Did I mistake someone? Later, I sent someone to investigate in the northwest, and after many twists and turns, I finally knew the reason." He sighed with a bitter smile and stopped talking.
I let out a deep sigh, the twists and turns of fate! After thinking for a while, my heart suddenly skipped a beat, holding back a breath, I asked with extreme tension and fear: "How did that person die?" He was silent for a long time, took a deep breath and said: "The person I sent to investigate startled your mother, so she sent him as the vanguard, then..." He stopped there, not saying another word.
I only felt my heart pounding heavily. I pulled out my hand, wanting to take off the bangle and return it to him, but he covered my hand and said, "Don't take it off!" I looked down, staring at the bangle, and said, "This is for my sister." He gripped my hand tightly and whispered, "This is for someone I like." After saying that, his other hand lifted my chin, looking into my eyes and saying, "Promise me, never take it off!" I gazed back at his dark, bottomless eyes, filled with an unprecedented warmth, deep sadness, and overflowing emotions, as if they were about to spill over. My heart was moved, mixed with a tinge of sorrow, and I slowly nodded. He saw that I agreed, couldn't help but smile slowly, and released my hand.
After a while, he smiled and said: "Don't be afraid! I will think of a way, there must be a way to let the emperor give you to me."
I let out a cry of surprise, staring at him in shock. He smiled at me again. I hastily shook my head, saying "No!" as I did so. He looked at me, the smile on his face slowly fading away, his complexion gradually turning pale. Suddenly, he asked, "Could it be that you're willing to become the emperor's woman?" My heart was even more frantic and confused, and I busily shook my head again. I didn't want to, I didn't want anything, all I wanted was to live a good life, to find someone who truly loved me, cherished me, and protected me, not just a woman who was played with in her free time. Don't give me away like a gift, I'm a person, not an object.
He looked at me with a pained expression, shaking his head, and suddenly grasped my head in both hands, saying: "Don't shake anymore!" My eyes were welling up with tears, my heart was desolate, I just stared at him with wide eyes. He looked at me for a while, then closed his eyes, took a deep breath, opened them again, let out a sigh and said: "Suit yourself!" After a pause, he added: "I'll think of something." Having finished speaking, he released me. He called Li Fu in to send me back to my sister's place.
Just as we were about to reach the gate, he suddenly said behind me: "After entering the palace, don't dress up like you did on Old Ten's birthday." I didn't understand at first, stopped in my tracks, turned around and looked at him. He lowered his eyes and gazed at the ground, saying slowly: "That kind of beauty is too dazzling!" It wasn't until then that I gradually understood. For a moment, I couldn't tell whether it was joy or worry, so I just murmured a soft "uh-huh" and followed Li Fu as he left.
After returning to the house, my sister saw that I was pale and thought that I had been scolded by Eighth Brother, so she came over and gently stroked my face, sighed, and told Dongyun to help me sleep.
I lay in bed, unable to fall asleep, thinking about my sister for a while and then thinking about myself. I couldn't stop wondering if my sister knew about Eighth Brother's feelings for her? And then I felt stupid, because it wasn't hard to see from many things that Eighth Brother had feelings for my sister. For example, when Eighth Brother first saw me, he was shocked; my sister rarely went to pay respects to the legitimate wife, but the legitimate wife never made things difficult for my sister; also, on the surface, my sister didn't receive favor, and the servants would secretly gossip behind her back, but those most self-serving eunuchs and servants didn't dare to slight my sister in the slightest when it came to food, clothing, or daily necessities... The more I thought about it, the more I felt that many things had been right before my eyes all along, I just hadn't given them much thought.
But what about me? What am I supposed to be? A substitute for my sister? Why did I keep the bangle? Why didn't I return it to him? Was it just because of a moment's weakness?... Hard to fall asleep.
