It was a chilly spring, and the wind was piercingly cold. After the snow, the frozen ground was frozen into lumps of soil, and the carriage was bumpy. The air was filled with the faint smell of gunpowder from the firecrackers. The river that had just thawed flowed, and the sound was clear and loud, stirring people's hearts.
Lanterns were hung in front of every house. Some were big, some were small, and they were of different designs and shapes. The lights were bright and dark, near and far. From afar, it looked like the lights hanging in the sky were lit one by one, and it was a beautiful sight.
There were many people on both sides of the road. The maids were holding lanterns, and they swayed as they walked in the chilly spring wind. The young ladies smiled shyly, and they lowered their heads as they walked, afraid that others would see their faces. The playboy held a small fan in his hand, and he looked at the girls coming and going from time to time. He looked very handsome.
Thirty years of fire, fifteen years of light. The old saying was true. It had been half a month since the Spring Festival, and now it was the Lantern Festival. The atmosphere of spring was strong, and the lights in the city signified the beginning of a prosperous year.
The moat that had just melted, and the water gurgled. Countless lanterns floated on the water, swaying slightly. They were in different shapes, some were lotus flowers, some were peonies, and they were all competing with each other. It was very beautiful. The reflection of the lanterns was reflected in the river. Every lantern reflected on the water, and they were like stars falling into the water, beautiful beyond compare.
This was the popular Flower Fairy Lantern Festival in the north. Legend had it that every year, before the beginning of spring, the young ladies who were not married would write their wishes on paper, and then put them in the special lanterns, and let them flow with the river. If they were picked up by a talented scholar, they would be fated. The legendary Flower Fairy would bless the young masters and young ladies who were fated with the lanterns, and they would be married for a hundred years.
This legend had been passed down for thousands of years, and there were indeed a few famous couples. In a short time, the Flower Fairy Lantern Festival and the Lantern Festival became the unique scenery of the Lantern Festival in the north.
The Lantern Festival came early this year. The river ice had just melted and it was extremely cold. However, there were many young masters waiting by the river to pick up their lanterns. They came in an endless stream and squeezed the two banks of the river so tightly that not even a drop of water could pass through.
A little boy of eleven or twelve years of age, dressed in silk, held a long bamboo pole in his hand. There was a small iron hook hanging from the bamboo pole. With two or three swings, he hooked up the lanterns one after another, attracting waves of admiration and envy from the scholars on both sides of the river. Most of these young masters came empty-handed. Even if they had tools in their hands, they were not so well-prepared. Looking at this young man, who was only eleven or twelve years old, continuously picking up the lanterns put down by the young ladies, they could not help but admire him. Whose family's young master is this? He has such great foresight!
A spacious carriage slowly woke up in the distance, moving up and down on the bumpy road.
The two horses that were pulling the cart breathed hot air from their mouths, which were harnessed to their bridles. Although he was travel-worn, his physique was spirited and he was extraordinarily valiant. The carriage at the back was very big and was covered in dust. With one look, it was obvious that he had traveled from afar.
The carriage jolted and a girl's voice could be heard from the carriage, "Hey, what are you doing? You're squashing me."
Another man's voice sounded, "Oh, sorry, the carriage is too bumpy. I didn't mean to. Eh, what's this soft thing? Wow, there's another one here — "
"You, get off!" The two girls in the carriage shouted together.
The curtains of the carriage were pulled open and a man with healthy skin and a smile on his face was pushed off the carriage by two pairs of small hands.
He shook the green robe on his body and pushed his small hat up. He laughed and said, "What's there to be embarrassed about? I was just being careless. Although your figure is good, you don't have to be so overbearing. Let's get off. Anyway, the carriage is tiring. Walking a few steps for exercise is not bad. "
The carriage didn't travel far before it suddenly stopped. The man beside the carriage yawned and looked at the dense crowd on both sides of the river. He was instantly shocked. Damn, what is this? It's so dark and everyone is here to fish?
The curtains of the carriage's window were pulled open and a beautiful little face stretched out. There was a sweet smile on her face as she carefully looked at the crowd in front of her. She curiously said, "Sister, why are the people in the capital so strange? The weather is cold and it's night. What are they doing by the river? Eh, there are so many lanterns on the river. It's so beautiful. "
Another girl also stretched her head out of the window. She had a jade-like face and her lips were slightly red. Her eyes were moving and she looked around. She looked at the crowd and said, "Oh, is it the Lantern Festival today? We've been traveling for so many days, but we've even forgotten about this good time. This is probably the legendary Flower God Lantern Festival. Legend has it that as long as an unmarried girl places a lantern upstream and writes your wish on it, if it's picked up by a young master down there, it will be the Flower God matchmaking. It will be a match made in heaven and they will live to a ripe old age together. "
The younger girl was pleasantly surprised and said, "Really?" She secretly looked at the man walking beside the carriage and said softly, "Then I'll also go place a lantern and ask that bad guy to pick it up."
The older beautiful girl giggled and said, "Why do you want him to pick it up? You can just be together with him for a hundred years. It's too troublesome to do so many complicated things."
The younger girl moaned and blushed to her ears. She played around with her sister in the carriage.
When the person walking beside the carriage heard this, he suddenly realized that these people were here to fish for lanterns. No wonder they were all so wretched and their eyes were shining. However, this activity was beneficial for these young masters and young mistresses who were not physically active.
He looked around and saw an eleven or twelve year old boy moving quickly. In a short while, he had already picked up four or five lanterns. He pulled out the letters in the lanterns and looked at them. He then snorted and threw the lanterns to the side. More and more lanterns were being destroyed. Those were the hearts of beautiful and passionate young mistresses. The surrounding young masters were so anxious that they swallowed their saliva.
Damn, he's so young and he's here to fish for lanterns. Is there any justice in this world? At such a young age, that thing hasn't even grown hair yet. He actually wants to do such a dissolute thing. He's really heartless. He spat out a mouthful of saliva and walked forward with a smile. He said with a kind smile on his face, "Little brother, how are you? Wow, you're really amazing. You know how to play with lanterns at such a young age. Can I play with you? "
The surrounding young masters saw a servant coming forward and immediately felt disdain in their hearts. Whose family's servant was this? He didn't know any etiquette and didn't even have any sense of propriety. He even dared to trick a child.
"Elder sister, he's doing bad things again. Aren't you going to control him?" The younger girl in the carriage pulled up the curtain and snorted after taking a look.
The elder sister said with a smile, "It's not the first time he's done bad things. When can I control him? It's too difficult for our family to find someone who can control him. "
The younger sister said, "I think it's you who doesn't want to control him. This bad guy traveled all the way from Jinling to the capital, thinking of ways to do bad things every day. If there's no one to control him, who knows what kind of bad things he'll do? "
The elder sister said with a smile, "Bad things? I think you like it a lot when he's doing bad things on your body every day. Don't think that I didn't see anything just because I was asleep. "
"Elder sister …" The younger sister shyly jumped into her elder sister's embrace and didn't dare to say anything.
The elder sister helplessly pressed on her nose and said, "You ah, you're still so young. If you let him do bad things on your body every day, what will happen to you in the future? Didn't I give you a small knife to protect yourself? If he bullies you again, you can take the knife and stab him. Hehe, don't tell him that I taught you. He likes to take revenge on me … "
The two sisters were chatting in the carriage. A certain someone had already shamelessly moved to the side of the child and said, "How about it, little brother? Do you agree? Eh, if you don't say anything, I'll take it as a yes. Here's a tael of silver. As long as you pick up ten lanterns, this tael of silver is yours. "
The child snorted and didn't say anything.
You have character, I like it. He chuckled, picked up the shining white silver, and waved it in front of the child. He squinted his eyes and said, "Do you see this? This is shining white silver. Ten lanterns for one tael of silver. What a good deal."
The child looked at him with disdain and took out an ingot from his bosom. It was about four to five taels of silver. He beckoned to the child with his pinky and said, "Hey, here's five taels of silver. As long as you pick up one lantern, this tael of silver will be given to you by me." The surrounding crowd burst into laughter.
Damn, he's even more arrogant than me? The capital is indeed different. Even children are so arrogant. He was thick-skinned and didn't mind the crowd's laughter. He gave a thumbs up and said, "Little brother, you really have character. I like it. Why don't we be friends? I'm called Lin San, what's your name? "
"Lin San?" The child frowned and shook his head, "This name is really unpleasant to the ears. It's too vulgar. For you to come up with this name, you're not that knowledgeable either. "
This little guy acted like a little adult. After talking for a long time, he didn't say his name. Lin Wanrong didn't mind and laughed, "That's right. My name was given by someone else. It's messy and filthy. I wonder what kind of elegant name little brother has? "
The child looked at him warily and said, "Why are you asking for my name? Hmph, eight out of ten people who try to get close to me are up to no good. Look at your shifty eyes. You don't look like a good person. Could it be that you want to kidnap and sell me? Let me tell you, Young Master, I'm not someone to be trifled with! I can kill cats at three years old and tear apart leopards at five. I just killed a tiger with my bare hands a few days ago. You want to kidnap me? Be careful that my fist doesn't recognize you! "He stretched out his hand and shook his fist. He looked like he was a muscular man.
Lin Wanrong was stunned for a long time. Damn, I finally met someone more shameless than me. He's still so young. He has a bright future. He laughed evilly and said, "Little brother is really amazing. Alright, alright, I won't ask for your name. Tell me, why are you fishing up these lanterns? Could it be that you really want to find a big sister to be your wife? "
The child scoffed and said, "Find a wife? What's the point of finding a wife? Do you think everyone is like you, thinking of a wife every day! " Everyone burst into laughter. Lin Wanrong sweated. This kid was really accurate. This daddy came to the capital to find a wife. When the two sisters heard Lin Wanrong being defeated every time he talked to the child, they couldn't help but hide in the carriage and cover their mouths to laugh. The older sister said, "Who told you to be naughty? There must be someone who can scare you."
"Since you're not looking for a wife? Then why are you fishing up other people's lanterns? "When the surrounding people heard the two of them talking, one of them finally couldn't help but ask.
"These lanterns don't have any special meaning." The child said, "I fished up forty to fifty lanterns. They were all filled with love poems written by young ladies. It's so ugly. I wanted to find some pastries to my liking, but I couldn't find any. "
The sound of countless young masters falling to the ground! This goddamn little bastard. He fished up these lanterns to find pastries, and he even threw away the love poems written by the young ladies. He was really devoid of conscience.
Lin Wanrong laughed loudly. He didn't have a good impression of these love poems to begin with. This child was very interesting, and he couldn't help but laugh.
The child saw the hostile gazes around him, but he wasn't afraid at all. He pulled on Lin Wanrong's sleeve and said, "Lin San, you're not bad!"
"What's not bad?" Lin Wanrong asked curiously.
The child said seriously, "These people just want to pick up lanterns to find a young lady. They're really vulgar and shallow. Although your status is low, you're different from them. You didn't pick up lanterns, and you didn't laugh at me. Your character is not bad. Then I'll tell you my name. This Young Master is called Li Wuling. In the future, if anyone bullies you in the capital, just say my name. Just tell them my name, and I guarantee that no one will dare to touch a single hair on your head. "
Oh my god, so awesome? Lin Wanrong secretly laughed and didn't think much of it. However, after hearing the first sentence, he realized that this child wasn't simple. This Li Wuling was born with a tiger's head and a tiger's head. His pupils were pitch black, and his eyes were blinking. He was very clever and cute. Thinking of the strange reason he picked up lanterns, Lin Wanrong couldn't help but laugh, "Little brother, you picked up these lanterns for pastries? Did you get tricked? "
Li Wuling snorted, "I heard people talking about this Flower God Lantern Festival yesterday, so I asked my grandfather what it was for. This old man was busy at the time, and I pestered him a few times. He said that it was to deal with gluttonous people, and that the young ladies of the various families would make some pastries for the river god. Hmph, this old man even dared to lie to me. Tomorrow, I'll have a showdown with him and let him know how powerful I am. "
Invincible. Lin Wanrong sweated profusely when he heard this. This kid was probably the tyrant at home, not even putting his grandfather in his eyes.
"Look, look, it's the Floral Magic Lantern!" A shout came from upstream.
"Flower God Lantern, Flower God Lantern …" The young masters on both sides of the river also cried out in surprise, their voices filled with excitement. The two young ladies hiding in the carriage heard the shout and couldn't help but look out.
"Flower God Lantern, what's a Flower God Lantern?" Lin Wanrong looked at Li Wuling and asked curiously.
"You're asking me? How would I know? I'm just a kid!" Li Wuling rolled his eyes.
Damn, I've met a troublemaker. Lin Wanrong chuckled and also looked upstream. He saw a flower lantern slowly moving on the surface of the water. That flower lantern was as tall as a person and was in the shape of a beautiful woman. She had a charming expression, a smile on her face, and her skirt fluttered in the wind. This beautiful woman's flower lantern was suffused with a layer of faint yellow light, and there were dozens of small lanterns around it that formed the shape of a lotus. From afar, it looked like a fairy floating in a lotus.
This is the Flower God Lantern? Lin Wanrong was also secretly amazed. Not to mention the design of the Flower God Lantern, just making this lantern as tall as a person float on the waves without toppling over was a huge problem. It wasn't something an ordinary person could do.
"What Flower God Lantern? Watch me fish it up, "Li Wuling said disdainfully.
The people on both sides of the river had long been attracted by this magnificent Flower God Lantern. Many of them had already knelt on the ground and worshipped it. Only Li Wuling and Lin Wanrong weren't afraid of anything. Since it was a lantern released by a young lady upstream, they might as well fish it up and take a look.
The place where Li Wuling was standing was the narrowest part of the river, the best place to fish up the lantern. He stretched out his bamboo pole and aimed in the direction where the Flower God Lantern was floating and hooked it. Although this Flower God Lantern was tall, it was very stable in the water. Li Wuling's strength was small, so the lantern tilted slightly, but it wasn't hooked over.
Lin Wanrong's eyes and hands were sharp. He took the bamboo pole and pulled with force, hooking the beautiful Flower God Lantern over.
When the lantern came ashore, Lin Wanrong carefully looked at the bottom of the lantern. He saw that there was a round bracket fixed on the bottom of the lantern. There were dozens of small wooden wheels tied to the bracket, which could change direction according to the flow of the water. When the lantern came from upstream, the wheels would follow the direction of the water. Therefore, to hook the lantern over, one had to change the direction of the wheels. Naturally, one had to use a lot of strength.
The mechanical design was ingenious. Lin Wanrong couldn't help but nod when he saw it. There were really many capable people in the capital.
When the crowd saw that the Flower God Lantern had been fished up, they all crowded over. The Grand Mistress and Second Young Lady, who were hiding in the carriage, couldn't help but move gracefully to stand beside Lin Wanrong.
These two women had graceful figures and were exceptionally beautiful. They were even more beautiful than the fairies in paintings. When the crowd saw this, they were immediately dumbfounded. Even Li Wuling, the little radish head, was in a daze.
F * ck, is my wife someone you can look at? Lin Wanrong was in a bad mood and protected the two young ladies behind him. He coughed lightly and said, "Little brother, what are you going to do with this lantern?"
Li Wuling rubbed his eyes and said, "These two sisters are really beautiful. Lin San, is this your wife? "
This was a good question. Lin Wanrong laughed and said, "More or less." Xiao Yushuang moaned and blushed. The Grand Mistress ruthlessly pinched the flesh on his waist.
"Lin San, why is your expression so strange?" Li Wuling said.
Nonsense, being punished by this little girl, the pain is my flesh, but I still have to smile. How can I not be strange? He laughed and said, "Little Li, don't talk nonsense. Quickly see if there are any pastries in this lantern. I'm also a little hungry. After eating, go home and accompany your wife to sleep. "
"Do you want to die? You dare to say anything?" The Grand Mistress increased the strength of her hand. Her face was as red as the haze on the horizon as she whispered in his ear. Her breath smelled like orchids, causing Lin Wanrong's heart to itch.
Li Wuling nodded and checked the lantern. There were naturally no pastries, but he did find a ball of paper. The little brat was naturally disappointed. He didn't even look at the ball of paper. He tossed it to Lin Wanrong and said, "You were the one who hooked this lantern. Naturally, only you can read the young miss' letter."
Feeling a sharp pain on his waist, Lin Wanrong said with a wry smile, "Grand Mistress, I didn't mean it. Don't be jealous. How about I let you read it? I won't read it. It's a waste to read it anyway. "
Xiao Yuruo's face was bright red. She snuck a glance at her little sister and hurriedly snorted, "Who's jealous? You're the only one who likes to talk nonsense. Yushuang, let's ignore him. Let him be happy. "
Xiao Yushuang grunted and asked curiously, "Sister, what's wrong? Your face is so red."
"Is that so?" The Grand Mistress covered her face, her heart beating rapidly. "Maybe it's the wind. In any case, it's Lin San's fault. We'll just ignore him. "
Li Wuling saw that the paper ball was in Lin San's hand and that his expression was both sweet and pained. He couldn't help but say, "Lin San, are you going to read it or not? If you don't, throw it away so that your wife won't be jealous. "
Since she called him wife, he wouldn't argue with this little thing. He laughed mischievously and opened the paper ball. There was a line of small words written on it. "Dragon, dragon, dragon, when will you come to attract the phoenix?"
This sentence was like a poem or a couplet. There was only half a sentence, and it was confusing. Li Wuling moved his head over and glanced at it. He sneered, "What dragon and phoenix? Which family's young miss is this? She's so arrogant."
That makes sense. These young misses have their hearts higher than the sky and have sweet dreams all day, just like Ning 'er in the past. Luckily, I conquered Talented Lady Luo with my boundless charm. Otherwise, I don't know how long she would have to suffer.
"Worm, worm, worm, specialize in breaking the phoenix dragon!" Lin Wanrong laughed and wrote a few words that seemed to be a reflection of himself.
Li Wuling was a little mischievous. He nodded and said, "Lin San, that's a good reply. A dragon conquering a phoenix is nothing. An insect conquering a phoenix, that's a skill. "
Lin Wanrong stuffed the note back into the lamp. The two of them then put the lamp back into the river. Watching the lamp beauty continue to float downstream, Li Wuling laughed and said, "Lin San, you're a good person. When we enter the city, this Young Master will treat you to tea. I'm going back to ride a horse now. See you another day. "
Ride a horse in the dark? Riding a horse in the dark? Are all the young and old people in this family crazy? Li Wuling walked far away, but he was still in a daze. The capital was indeed different. Everyone he saw was this kind of talent.
When they returned to the carriage, Yushuang smiled and said, "What was written on the lamp that delayed you for so long? Sister, is that what you're asking?"
"Stupid girl!" The Grand Mistress's face turned red and she hurriedly turned her head away.
Lin Wanrong secretly scratched the Grand Mistress's palm and said seriously, "It's nothing. It's the blessing of the Flower Goddess!"
"Blessing what?" The Grand Mistress said softly.
"Blessing us for a hundred years of happiness and for us to have children soon!" Lin Wanrong laughed and said.
The two girls spat at the same time. The Second Miss thought he was talking about her and her heart was pounding. The Grand Mistress felt guilty and her face turned red. She hurriedly said, "I'm just talking to you and you're not being serious anymore. Your punishment is to walk into the city. "
There was no need to walk into the city. As they talked, the carriage slowly reached the bottom of the city wall. Lin Wanrong stood on the shaft of the carriage and looked at the red city gate and the two bright red words on it. His heart was filled with excitement. "Qing Xuan, I'm here!"
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