After dinner, Yang Fan and his family also went to the streets and gathered in the excited crowd.
Yang Fan held the child in his arms. The little guy was very strong, and his neck could already stand up from time to time to look around. Of course, most of the time, he still liked to comfortably lie on his father's broad shoulders and spit bubbles.
The child seemed to treat spitting bubbles as a game, but his mother especially liked to make him clean. She followed him all day and wiped him with a handkerchief. The more she wiped, the more excited the little guy became. The confrontation between the mother and the child continued. Only when his father hugged him was the most enjoyable. Yang Fan never cared whether the child spit bubbles or not, so a thin layer of ice had formed on Yang Fan's shoulders.
In this day and age, there were not many men carrying children. It was not that men were lazy, but things like cooking, washing clothes, and carrying children were naturally done by women. If men did these things, they would be laughed at.
Therefore, on the streets, many of the men who went shopping with their wives and children could only be strong and strong men walking leisurely in front, while the women who were dressed to the extreme carried one in their arms and held the other in their hands, stumbling behind. The men even had to stop from time to time and wait impatiently for them.
It was rare to see people like Yang Fan. Fortunately, everyone's interest was on all kinds of colorful lanterns, so no one had the time to laugh at him.
Xiao Man and Ah Nu accompanied him on his left and right. Gu Zhuting was disguised as a maidservant in green, and she looked to be about 16 or 17 years old. When Yang Fan first saw her appearance, he was very shocked. He only knew that young people could use various means to make themselves look older, but it was really unimaginable to make someone look younger.
But now, something unimaginable had happened in front of him. He looked up and down, left and right, but no matter how he looked, he couldn't find any evidence that Miss Gu didn't look like a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl. It was only when A 'Nu pinched his waist that he stopped looking.
Xiao Man didn't need to carry the child, so she had her hands free. Now she was holding a bag of "fried oil hammers" in her hand. She and A Nu each had a toothpick in their hands, and from time to time, they would stab a piece of crispy and sweet "fried oil hammers" and eat it with relish. They were obviously very full at night, but they didn't know why this sticky and sweet thing was so attractive.
"Elder Brother, how was the White Horse Temple Assembly today?"
Xiao Man asked Yang Fan while looking around and admiring the various lanterns with great interest.
Yang Fan sighed and said, "Do you still remember the two times Master Xue led the troops into battle?"
Xiao Man glanced at him and asked, "Yes, why?"
Yang Fan sighed again and said, "If the opponent chooses not to fight, Master Xue … will definitely win!"
Xiao Man's black eyes rolled around. With the "fried oil hammers" in her mouth and her cheeks puffed up cutely, she asked, "What if the opponent wants to fight?"
Yang Fan shook his head and said dejectedly, "The result will be unimaginable!" Thinking about the scene of Zhang Changzong and his brother leading the excited Wu Zetian away, it was like a loud slap on Xue Huaiyi's face. Yang Fan felt sad for him and could only hope that Monk Xue would really think things through.
In fact, with Xue Huaiyi's current wealth and power, it was enough for him to live a wealthy life. If he was willing to let go now, the apologetic Wu Zetian would definitely compensate him. Moreover, he was harmless to anyone. No matter how the political situation changed in the future, no one would find trouble with him. Yang Fan couldn't understand why Xue Huaiyi was angry and sad.
Especially since he clearly hated Wu Zetian. Who said that a woman's mind was hard to guess? Xue Huaiyi was a man, but his mind was also hard to guess by Yang Fan.
Xiao Man tilted her head and thought for a while. She blinked her big eyes and said, "That is to say … something unexpected happened in today's assembly?"
Yang Fan laughed and scratched her cute nose. He said with a smile, "My wife is indeed smart!"
Children already know how to imitate adults. Yang Nianzu saw Yang Fan's actions, and his little butt immediately arched into Yang Fan's embrace. He squealed, looking like he wanted to copy his father and scratch his mother's nose. Unfortunately, no one paid attention to him.
Very quickly, Young Master Yang's attention was attracted by a horse lantern. His plan to scratch his mother's nose was immediately thrown out of his mind. Yang Nianzu stared dumbfoundedly at the spinning lantern. A strand of sparkling and translucent saliva connected with the thin layer of ice on his father's shoulder.
In the crowd, the four Cui brothers were strolling over.
Cui Di's overestimation of his capabilities made Princess Taiping deeply disgusted. Cui Shi felt from the next few interactions with Princess Taiping that his ninth brother had completely lost Princess Taiping's appreciation. The hope of Princess Taiping recommending his ninth brother to be an official was already zero. Therefore, he immediately wrote a letter to summon the other two brothers to the capital, intending to win by quantity.
As the Shangyuan Festival approached, the two brothers, Cui Ye and Cui Chi, finally hurried to Luojing and met up with Cui Shi and Cui Di. The two brothers had just arrived in Luoyang for a day and hadn't had the time to pay a visit to Princess Taiping. Coinciding with the Shangyuan Festival, the four brothers came out to stroll the streets and watch the lanterns.
Cui Shi was walking when he suddenly stopped and said, "Eleventh Brother, tonight is the Shangyuan Festival and the lanterns are as bright as day. Why don't you use this Shangyuan Night as the theme and compose a poem so that the brothers can evaluate it?"
The Eleventh Brother he called was Cui Ye. Among the Cui brothers, Cui Ye was one of the best in terms of talent and learning. Moreover, this Eleventh Brother's temperament was also very calm. However, in terms of seniority among the brothers, he was slightly younger than Cui Di. Cui Shi had originally planned to first enter officialdom with the Ninth Brother, Cui Di. When this Eleventh Brother was a bit older, it wouldn't be too late to find him an official position.
Now that Cui Di had caused Princess Taiping to feel extreme disgust and had already lost the possibility of entering officialdom, he began to consider Cui Ye. Cui Ye was good at poetry and literature and had a calm temperament. Princess Taiping liked people who were good at poetry and prose the most. Cui Shi asking his brother to compose a poem at this time was also to test him.
The Cui brothers were all able to compose poems, but to achieve the realm of composing a poem in a few steps without any modifications, among the brothers, only Cui Shi and Cui Ye could do it. They were all brothers of the same family, so there was no need to be modest or anything. As soon as he heard his eldest brother's instructions, Cui Ye slowly walked forward while frowning in thought.
Cui Ye walked a few steps and suddenly clapped his hands and said cheerfully, "I've got it!"
Cui Ji and Cui Di said in unison, "Eleventh Brother, quickly recite it!"
Cui Ye shook his head and said, "Don't rush the Jade Leak Copper Pot, the Iron Gate and Golden Lock open all night, who can see the moon and sit idly, where can hear the lantern and not look?"
When he said the word 'come', Cui Ye waved his hand. The street was bustling with people. This wave of his hand almost hit a person's face. Fortunately, that person's movement was extremely agile and with a 'pa' sound, he grabbed Cui Ye's wrist.
Cui Ye turned his head to look and saw a strong man dressed in green and wearing a small hat retreating. Behind him, a man walked up with a child in his arms. He said to Cui Ye with a smile, "People come and go on the long street. Young Master Cui, please don't be so arrogant!"
Cui Di was stunned and said, "Yang Langzhong!"
Yang Fan laughed and said, "Now that I have even been suspended from my position as the Soup Supervisor, I can't even talk about the Doctor of Medicine anymore."
Cui Di smiled bitterly and said, "Yang … Erlang must be joking."
Cui Di's eyes reddened when he saw his love rival, but he did not think that Princess Taiping had never looked him in the eye. He did not know where this love rival came from. As soon as he saw Yang Fan, his face darkened and said to Cui Di, "Eldest Brother, the lantern over there is very magnificent, let's go take a look!"
Cui Di's face darkened and said to Cui Di sternly, "Jiulang, after Shangyuan, you should go home!"
Cui Di was dazed and asked, "Eldest Brother, what is it?"
Cui Di said coldly, "I am your eldest brother. When you are outside, everything should be arranged by me. Do I need a reason? After Shangyuan, you should immediately return home! " Finishing, Cui Di left behind the bewildered Cui Di and said to Yang Fan with a long bow, "Erlang, my younger brother is young and inexperienced. If he has offended you, please forgive him!"
Yang Fan held the child and stared straight behind him. He did not know what he was looking at so intently that he did not respond to Cui Di's words. Cui Di felt a wave of shame and thought, "I have already apologized to you on behalf of my brother. Is that not enough? Even if you are the leader of Xian Zong, you can't be so arrogant to me?"
But he then found that something was wrong. It was not just Yang Fan who was looking behind him. More and more wanderers stopped in their steps and looked into the distance. Some of the people who were walking with him also detected the strangeness of the others and turned their heads. Cui Di reflexively turned his head to look and was instantly shocked.
In the distance, it was like a burning torch. The flames shot into the sky, reaching hundreds of zhang high. This fire stole all of the light from the lantern wheels, the lamp trees, and the lampposts of Shangyuan Night. It was like a torch in the hands of a god, flashing and piercing the night sky.
At the beginning, the light of the fire was slightly dim, but in a moment, it illuminated the entire city in red. Cui Di couldn't help but shout, "Imperial Palace! That is the Imperial Palace! "
Yes, the place where the fire was coming from was the Imperial Palace!
… …
Inside the Imperial Palace, the most majestic and largest "Heaven" had already become a burning torch.
This "Heaven" was completely made of wood, and there were countless cloth curtains with scriptures written on them that would light up with a light. There was a seated Buddha built with Wu Zetian's appearance as the model in the "Heaven". The Buddha was incomparably large and unparalleled. Just a little finger could hold over a dozen strong men. From this, it could be seen that it was unparalleled.
But this large Buddha was also made of wood and painted gold. Now that this large Buddha was also burning, it was like a ten thousand zhang tall golden god, the light of the fire shooting into the sky.
Xue Huai Yi held a jar of wine in one hand and a torch in the other as he looked at the burning "Heaven" and laughed wildly.
Today, in the White Horse Temple, he suffered a great humiliation. He sat alone in the pagoda forest for a long time. He had to admit that every word of Yang Fan's, even though it was as sharp as a knife, had cut into his heart.
He knew that he had no reason to be jealous, no reason to be angry. From the first time he had used his body to serve the empress, he should have had the awareness of being abandoned. What's more, after so many years, everything he had obtained was enough to compensate for everything he had sacrificed. But he was not reconciled. There was no reason, he was not reconciled!
Especially, even if he had a house full of gold and silver, even if he was a duke, he felt that he still had nothing. The only thing he had was his face, even if it was just the superficial respect and awe of others.
But now, as he fell out of favor, all of this was quickly lost. He was not reconciled, he still wanted to redeem himself, so he cursed, cried, and hurt himself in the tower forest. When he licked his wounds, he came back shamefully, and shamelessly participated in the Imperial Lantern Viewing Banquet.
In the past, this was the time when he was the most glorious. He was responsible for making the colored lanterns in the Imperial Palace, and was responsible for guiding the empress to view the lanterns. He sat under the empress's throne, below only one, and above tens of thousands of people. But this time, his seat was far away. From beginning to end, he did not have a chance to approach the empress. Zhang Changzong and Zhang Yizhi had already replaced his position.
What made him even more intolerable was that others also treated him as a mass of air. Even when he took the initiative to put down his pride and put on a smiling face to toast others, those who used to flatter him and worship him as their own father were actually cold and indifferent. Some people only clapped and laughed, pretending not to see him toasting, and some people just raised their wine glasses and pretended to respond, then put them down indifferently.
He finally understood: everything was irreversible, and all the efforts he had made were just asking to be humiliated!
Xue Huaiyi, who was drunk by himself, unknowingly left the lively crowd. No one cared about his departure. He, who was once surrounded by people, clearly saw those who were sitting very close to him and had relaxed smiles on their faces. These people were originally people who wanted to curry favor with him, but they couldn't even be ranked in the first place!
Unknowingly, he had arrived at "heaven". This was built to curry favor with Wu Zetian, and the giant Buddha that was worshipped there was based on Wu Zetian's appearance. Now, this huge pagoda-like hall was burning, and the giant Buddha inside was also burning. He was very happy in his heart. All his anger and jealousy had now been reduced to ashes.
The fire raged, and there were sparks that danced in the air. They actually floated all the way to the sky above Bei City before being extinguished. The whole of Luoyang was bathed in this huge fire, and the red light soared into the sky. The bridgehead of Tianjin was illuminated as if it was daytime. Countless commoners crowded there, watching this spectacular fire in shock.
"Look! Look! The Buddha's nose is on fire! "
"Look! The Buddha's arm fell off! "
Because of the decomposition of the Buddha, the sparks turned into an even more magnificent flame.
The northern wind was blowing in the sky, the northern wind slightly moved the hundred-zhang tall flame. The 'Ming Tang' in front, the most magnificent, the most magnificent Hall of the Son of Heaven in history, the 'Wan Xiang Shen Gong', suddenly burst into flames. The people on the Tianjin bridgehead cried out in alarm again, "Heavens! The Wan Xiang Shen Palace is also on fire! "
Xue Huai Yi was burned by the rolling heat wave and retreated a few steps. He looked at the burning "heaven" in a daze, and then looked at the "Ming Tang" that was just on fire. It seemed like he suddenly sobered up from the alcohol. He staggered a few steps back, and suddenly threw the wine jar away. The torch was also thrown away like a poisonous snake biting his hand. He then hurriedly pushed away the dumbstruck palace maids and servants, and escaped like a wisp of smoke …
…
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