Rebirth after waste

Chapter 46

After the New Year, the Shangyuan Festival, which is most popular among young men and women, ushered in.

Like many big cities, Yudu also implements a curfew system.Residents were not allowed to walk on the streets after sunset, and the imperial court sent three groups of Jinwu Guards to patrol every night, and if they were caught, they would be beaten to death.

However, there are always exceptions to everything, and the Shangyuan Festival is this exception.

The three days before and after the Shangyuan Festival are the only period of the year when there is no curfew control.At this time of year, Yudu City is full of lights and festoons, and it is very lively.Girls who are always locked in the boudoir on weekdays can finally put aside the restraint of their daughter's house, watch the lights and play with their girlfriends, and what's more, they will go to have a tryst with their lover.

On this day in previous years, Gu Yunxian, as a queen, would accompany the emperor to the Chengtian Gate and have fun with the people.But it's not necessary this year.

During such a festive season, there will also be lantern displays in the palace, and the concubines will gather together, laughing and having fun, and they are not lonely.Gu Yunxian thought that this would be the end of the night.

Unexpectedly, in the evening, He Jin, who served in front of the imperial court, suddenly came to send a message to her, "Your Majesty asked the minister to tell the empress that the palace will be closed to watch the lanterns at night. You will perfunctory for a while, and then find an excuse to escape. At that time, the minister will meet you at the west exit of the imperial garden." you."

Gu Yunxian was stunned.

This mood has been maintained until the time of watching the lanterns.Seeing that she was absent-minded, Zhuang Jieyu asked worriedly: "The concubine is not interested in seeing my sister, do you think this year's lights are not good-looking?"

Ming Chongyi who was on the side just heard this sentence, covered her lips with a smile, "Zhuang Jieyu said this, I think Yuan Guiji has never enjoyed lanterns with all the sisters on the Lantern Festival before, so she is not used to it."

indeed.During the two years when Gu Yunxian became empress, she accompanied the emperor at Chengtianmen, and last year she served the empress dowager in Changle Palace.

Seeing her silent, Ming Chongyi's smile deepened, "I don't know what's going on at Chengtianmen now, I'm really curious."

She made such a sarcasm, but Gu Yunxian didn't refute it, and took advantage of the situation to make a look of "too big a gap, unable to bear it", and returned to the palace with an excuse not long after.

After leaving the imperial garden, he saw He Jin waiting with a person not far away.

Gu Yunxian stepped forward and smiled slightly, "Your nobleman has been waiting for a long time."

He Jin hurriedly said: "I can't bear what your mother said."

Gu Yunxian didn't say much, and asked with a smile: "Where does Your Majesty ask you to take me?"

"Your Majesty will know when she's gone." He Jin said, "But for convenience, your Majesty doesn't need to bring a maid."

For convenience?Without a maid?
Where did he want to take her?
Gu Yunxian kept smiling, "Can't you bring one?"

"Yes, with His Majesty by your side, your empress doesn't have to worry about others."

She had no choice but to instruct Ah Ci and Cai Jia to play by ear when they returned to the palace and not to be found out.

She had had many guesses along the way, wondering what he was going to do.However, when he stood under the Chengtian gate in a black suit, and stretched out his hand towards her with a smile, and asked, "Would you like to go out of the palace for a stroll?", she was still quite frightened.

"Exit... out of the palace?"

"That's right." He smiled lightly, as if he was talking about something trivial, "The lanterns in the palace are expensive, but they lack a little interest. I don't like it. Why don't we go out and have a look?" ,how?"

"But, as a concubine, how can I leave the palace casually?" She hesitated, "This is against the rules, and all officials will check it."

"They don't know, how to check?" He smiled, "Let's just be careful."

She wanted to say more, but he stretched out his index finger and pressed her lips against her lips with a gentle expression, "Don't think too much, it's okay even if you are discovered. Now Chaozhong..."

Now in the court, all forces are struggling to maintain a balance, and no one dares to easily check the king.

The second half of his sentence was vague, she didn't hear clearly, and she couldn't ask in detail, so she just smiled and said: "That's fine. But we have to agree, if something happens later, your majesty has to stand in front of your concubine. Those ministers said You are a good player, but a concubine can't stand this." He muttered, "Besides, you were the one who insisted on going out to play."

There was a deep smile in his eyes, "Okay, I insisted on going out to play, you were dragged into the water by me, okay?"

She nodded happily, signifying the deal.

Only then did the emperor have the time to look at Gu Yunxian's clothes.Today she wore a plain soft satin short jacket with autumn fragrance and green watery lotus patterns, and a horse face pleated skirt with lotus color embroidered auspicious clouds and blessings under it. The elegant and quiet beauty.

He stroked his chin and looked at it for a while, then nodded with satisfaction, "I asked you to dress up a little simpler, you really picked it well." His eyes fell on her hair, "It's just that this Jiuluan hairpin is too eye-catching, so take it first .”

"The concubine doesn't know that His Majesty is going to take me out of the palace, otherwise why would she wear this nine-luan hairpin?" Gu Yunxian let him take off the hairpin, "Today is the Shangyuan Festival anyway, and the concubine's dress and hair bun are all the same. The choice is plain, and if you don’t wear one or two more gorgeous hairpins, it’s really not good.”

He smiled, "It's right, it's right, Yunniang, you are the most reasonable."

She gave him an annoyed look.

After taking off the hairpin, he took another fox fur cloak and put it on her body, "It's cold, be careful not to freeze."

The slender fingers gently fastened the belt of the cloak for her, and she let him move, and suddenly flashed in her head the winter of the wedding year, and he had gently put on the cloak for her.

As expected, Long'an Street was filled with bright lights and bright colors. Gu Yunxian squeezed into the crowd, listening to the laughter around him, he felt happy.

"The Shangyuan Festival in Yudu has always been the most lively. Have you ever seen Yunniang in previous years?" the emperor asked leisurely.

"I saw it once."

"Before entering the palace?"

Gu Yunxian shook his head, "No."

"Oh?"

"When my concubine was 12 years old, she came to Yudu with her family and stayed in Gu's family for half a year. On the first month of Linqing's 23rd year, she was arranged to visit her aunt, and she stayed with her since then. So before entering the palace, the concubine had no chance. Yudu's Shangyuan Festival." Gu Yunxian said softly, "It's the 25th New Year's Eve, and my aunt thinks that I'm getting married soon, and I won't have much time to spend with my parents after that, so she specially allowed me to go home for the New Year's Eve. just came back."

He didn't really listen to what was said later, he just thought about her sentence "My aunt thinks I'm getting married soon".The person she is going to marry is him.When I think about it, I feel a softness in my heart.

"So you came out to play during the Shangyuan Festival that year?"

"Yes."

"Is there a river lantern?"

"Naturally there is."

"Where did you put it?"

"Longjiang Pond."

He held her hand, "Okay, let's go again tonight, and we will revisit the old place."

The so-called Longjiang Pond is the most famous scenic spot in Yudu City, located in the southeast corner of Yudu City.The whole park is dominated by waterscapes, a piece of natural scenery, and the coastline is tortuous, so you can go boating.Aquatic plants such as lotus and calamus are planted in the pool, and pavilions and halls are hidden among the flowers and trees.As a scenic spot in Yudu, Longjiang Pond is open regularly, and ordinary people can enjoy it.

Today is the Shangyuan Festival, which is one of the busiest days in Longjiang Pond.There are small vendors on the bank selling river lanterns, all of which are exquisitely made. There are bright red flower papers inside the lanterns, so that it is convenient for women to write down their wishes and ask the god of the river to bless them.

Seeing her staring at the direction of the river lantern, he finally said slowly: "Since you said that the river lantern was set off that night, what wish did you make?"

What wish?
Gu Yunxian recalled that night, holding the flower paper in her hand, unable to write for a long time.Seeing her like this, Gu Yunruo, the family sister who had already written next to her, said with a smile: "What are you still hesitating about, third sister? You are a person who is about to leave the court, so naturally you have to ask for the love of husband and wife, harmony and harmony in the future!"

Her cheeks were reddish, and she hesitated and couldn't say anything.

"Qin Se and Ming?" With a cold snort, Gu Erniang, who has always been jealous of her, said contemptuously, "Speak lightly. I don't even think about who the third sister is going to marry! There are many disputes in the family, I think as long as there are no concubines in the future The chaos, the third sister will be thankful for her profound blessings."

After a pause, he added: "If the wish is made too much, the River God will be angry."

"Second Mother, don't say that." Gu Yunruo frowned, "Third Sister, don't listen to her, we met my cousin when we were young, he is not this kind of person."

She thought of that face with a loose smile, and felt a little uneasy.However, she is only a 14-year-old girl, and she is always full of expectations for the future.She finally wrote down her wish stroke by stroke: May the phoenix fly and sing in harmony.

Longjiang pond water is long, took away her river lantern and her wish.Standing on the shore, she watched the faint light drift farther and farther, and finally merged into the bright sea of ​​lights.

At that time, she said silently in her heart, River God, you must bless me so that I can get what I want.

Thinking of this, she laughed at herself.

Sure enough, if the wish was too much, the River God would blame him.

She is too greedy.

"I... didn't make a wish." She whispered.

He was stunned.

"My concubine followed my aunt to worship the Buddha, knowing that everything is destined, it doesn't make any difference whether you want it or not." She said, "The river lantern is just to have fun with the sisters."

He looked at her smiling face, his eyes gradually deepened.

Intuition told her that she was lying.But he didn't understand why she was lying.It was just asking her if she had made a wish, not asking her to tell him her wish.Isn't this a very simple question?
His heart was blocked, but when he thought of her sad and helpless voice on New Year's Eve, he couldn't bear to lose his temper with her.

Averting his eyes, he said calmly: "Having said that, it's always good to have a thought. Since there was no promise back then, let's make one tonight."

She nodded, "No."

She turned around and walked towards the stall not far away.He stood where he was and didn't follow.

Anyway, there are shadow guards protecting her secretly, so there will be no danger.

There were all kinds of river lanterns on the stall, she picked one up casually, but saw someone inscribed a few lines of poems in graceful and unrestrained handwriting on the white gauze covered by the lantern.

She has been practicing calligraphy since she was a child, and she also has certain attainments in calligraphy, so she can naturally see that this calligraphy is extraordinary.Unexpectedly, there is such an excellent ink calligraphy on the river lantern of an ordinary street vendor, which is even better than the inscription on the palace lantern.

Curious in her heart, she picked up a few nearby ones and looked at them carefully. Sure enough, all the poems on them were written by one person.

After all, she couldn't hold back and looked up, "Boss, this word..."

She was taken aback by this look.The boss who sold the river lantern in front of her was actually the one who sold her the river lantern five years ago.

I didn't expect that after so many years, he was still here.

When the boss saw her appearance, he said, "Ma'am, don't get me wrong. This word was not written by someone, but by a friend of mine." With a smile on his face, "At first glance, Ma'am, you are a knowledgeable person. Don't look at a certain merchant, but My friend is a man of great knowledge!"

This is also where she is confused.How could a well-educated person come here to write an inscription for a merchant selling river lanterns?
The boss is still rambling, "Every year, a few people who are as knowledgeable as you, Madam, come to ask me, but unfortunately, a certain rough person doesn't understand these things. Madam is disappointed."

"Every year?" She was surprised, "You mean, every year this friend of yours will write an inscription for you?"

"Yes."

"But, I bought a lamp from you a few years ago, and there were no such good ink books on it at that time."

"Oh, someone didn't explain clearly." The boss explained with a smile, "My friend has helped me inscribe Hedeng every year since the 26th year of Linqing. It has been five years now."

(End of this chapter)