Fortunate Young Gentleman

Tang Ning himself did not expect that he would sleep until the next day.

The 13th and 14th of the first lunar month, plus the Lantern Festival on the 15th of the first lunar month, are the most lively days of the year in the capital. There is no curfew in the city during these three days, and the people can enjoy the rich nightlife.

They arrived in the capital two days ago and planned to go for a good stroll at night, but they did not expect to sleep until the Lantern Festival. If they missed tonight, they would have to wait until next year.

The sky had just darkened, and the whole capital gradually lit up again, with lights as bright as day.

The Lantern Festival in the capital, in terms of liveliness and prosperity, naturally cannot be compared with those modern metropolises in later generations, but the candlelight swaying lanterns hanging on the streets, the lotus lanterns floating in the river, and the floating pleasure boats are more charming than the colorful neon lights in later generations, which block the streets during festivals.

Xiao Jue followed the old beggar, serving him carefully like a servant, without any airs of a young master.

He was ineffective even after taking aphrodisiacs, but he only responded to that one prescription. The old beggar had become his life-saving straw for achieving sexual happiness.

Tang Ning and Li Tianlan walked in front. When they reached a bridge, Li Tianlan stopped and looked into the distance.

Tang Ning turned his head to look at her, noticing a melancholy expression on her face. After thinking for a while, he asked, "Being a stranger in a foreign land, far away from home and relatives during the Lantern Festival, you must feel bad, right?"

Li Tianlan looked down at the lotus lanterns floating below, then looked at him again and asked, "Aren't you the same?"

Tang Ning was stunned for a long time, and then looked at the same night sky as her, and murmured, "I'll get used to it, it'll be fine..."

Li Tianlan looked at him and comforted him, "The delegation will stay in the capital for a long time, you are better than me, you can go back to Lingzhou after the imperial examination."

Tang Ning sighed and whispered, "I can't go back..."

Li Tianlan turned his head to look at him, and fireworks bloomed in the night sky in the distance, clearly reflecting his profile.

The same melancholy, the same longing, but the difference is the hidden despair.

It seems that what he is thinking about is a place he can never go back to.

He just left Lingzhou and came to the capital to take the exam. This trace of despair should never appear on his face. Li Tianlan stared at him blankly, his heart full of doubts.

Thinking of another world, Tang Ning was absent-minded for a moment. When he came to his senses, he found that Li Tianlan was looking at him.

Tang Ning was surprised and said, "Why are you looking at me, Miss Li?"

"Nothing." Li Tianlan came back to his senses and immediately looked away, and said, "We are familiar with each other. Don't call me "Miss Li" or "Miss Li" in the future..."

Tang Ning also felt that this was a bit strange. After all, everyone was so familiar with each other. What's more, Li Tianlan was his savior. What's strange about being with a savior?

He thought for a moment and said, "If I don't call you Miss Li, how about I call you Sister Lan? If you are younger than me, then I can call you Sister Lan... What do you think of Lan Lan?"

Li Tianlan pondered for a moment, looked at him and said, "You should still call me Miss Li."

Women are really fickle. She is the one who says she doesn't want to be called "Miss Li", and she is also the one who says she wants to be called "Miss Li". She wants it sometimes and doesn't want it sometimes. All the principles in the world are occupied by them.

During this time, Xiao Jue and the old beggar didn't know where they went.

Tang Ning saw that Li Tianlan had also walked down the bridge, and hurriedly followed her. The old beggar and Peng Chen had already left. In order to prevent accidents, she had to hold Miss Li's thighs tightly.

Under the bridge was a small stall for guessing lantern riddles. There were several rows of lanterns hanging on a long rack. Ten coins could be paid to approach and guess once. If the guess was correct, the lantern could be taken away. If the guess was wrong, the ten coins would not be returned.

To prevent people from picking out the right answers, the riddles were covered. When Tang Ning walked over, Li Tianlan had already revealed one riddle.

"The whole mountain is covered with lush greenery, and people are among the trees and grass." She took a look and said, "It's the word 'tea'."

The stall owner walked over, smiled, took down the sky lantern, and said, "Congratulations, young lady, you guessed it right."

A woman next to her pinched her male companion's waist and said angrily, "You are useless. You didn't even guess it. You are not even as good as a woman."

The young man smiled and said, "It's just a little bit, just a little bit."

Tang Ning took the lantern handed over by the shopkeeper, and Li Tianlan had already revealed another one.

"Ninety-nine. One less makes a hundred, it's the word 'white'."

The stall owner's smile was no longer as bright as before. He took down the lantern and smiled, "Young lady is really smart..."

Li Tianlan continued to walk forward: "Two mountains face each other and are connected, with a dangerous peak in the middle piercing the blue sky, it's the word 'you'."

The stall owner's smile began to become forced.

"You have it, he has it, everyone has it, but I don't, it's a "human" character."

The stall owner couldn't laugh anymore.

"It's hard to say, it's a "亚" character."

"There are mountains on all sides, and the mountains are connected, it's a "田" character."

...

When Li Tianlan guessed more than ten times in a row, Tang Ning couldn't laugh anymore, because he couldn't hold the lamp anymore. The stall owner walked up to him, stuffed a piece of silver in his hand, and whispered: "Sir, please take care of your wife. My family relies on this small business to make a living..."

Tang Ning explained: "She is not my wife."

The stall owner looked at him and said: "Then why don't you leave quickly? If you are seen by acquaintances, you will be thrown into the pig cage..."

"It's not someone else's wife either."

"Miss Thief, how dare you do this so blatantly? If you don't leave, I'll call for help!"

...

Tang Ning only picked two good-looking lanterns and pulled Li Tianlan away.

He wasn't afraid of being thrown into a pig cage or being caught by Miss Thief, but she was just a small business, and if she messed it up like this, the whole family might go hungry.

Li Tianlan glanced at the place where the lantern riddles were being guessed and said, "There is no business without fraud. Just now, he saw that the person he guessed was a child, so he wanted to deny his debt. What kind of business is such a person still doing? Why did you stop me?"

He stopped her because if she continued to guess, the stall owner would shout "Miss Thief". Tang Ning was worried that if he shouted it out, he would not live to see the next Lantern Festival.

He shook his head and said, "It's normal for ordinary people in the market. He bullied the child, so naturally there are people who bully him."

Tang Ning looked back and saw that the crowd in front of the stall had dispersed. A child was standing in front of the lantern stand, and the stall owner was pinned to the ground and beaten by a strong man.

"How dare you bully my son? I'll beat you to death!"

...

Walking around the street with Li Tianlan, I met Xiao Jue and the old beggar again.

"Where did you two go? I was just about to send someone to look for you!" Xiao Jue looked at the two suspiciously and said, "We've been walking around for half a night, we're tired and hungry, let's go to Tianranju, I'll treat you, fill your stomach first and then go shopping."

In order to celebrate his upcoming becoming a real juren, Xiao Jue insisted on treating him to a meal. Tang Ning couldn't refuse, and didn't want to dampen his enthusiasm, so he hesitated for a moment and agreed.

Tang Ning originally thought that Tianranju was a restaurant, but when he arrived, he found out that it was actually a large garden.

In a place like the capital where every inch of land is worth a lot of money, the boss behind Tianranju must be rich and powerful to be able to buy such a garden as a restaurant.

Li Tianlan stopped at the door of Tianranju and looked at the couplets hanging on both sides of the gate.

Although it was night, the surrounding lights were bright, and the couplets were also clear.

"It's a cool and peaceful place to talk about poetry, especially when the lotus dew is fresh and the bamboo spring is just warm."

"To relieve the worries in my heart, what can I do with wine? I can chew the winter plums and eat the autumn chrysanthemums."

Li Tianlan looked at the couplet and said, "This couplet is elegant. Can you think of another one besides this one?"

Tang Ning knew that she was addicted to couplets again, so she urged her, "This couplet is ordinary. What's so good about it? Let's go in and eat first. If you want to make a couplet, you can go back in the evening and you have plenty of time to do it slowly."

"If you can't make it, then you can't make it. What do you mean by ordinary couplets? Since our couplets are ordinary, you can come up with an extraordinary one!" Tang Ning just finished speaking when an unconvinced voice came from behind them.

He turned his head and saw a girl dressed as a maid with her hands on her hips, puffing out her chest, looking at him angrily.

The little girl is still imitating others to puff out her chest. Who gave her the courage to puff out her chest in front of Miss Li?

Tang Ning didn't intend to argue with the maid, so he shook his head and said, "Go in."

The maid stuck out her tongue at him and said, "You big talker, you're scared now, you're still a man..."

Tang Ning had already taken a step forward, but he took it back.

The thing he hated most in his life was when someone doubted whether he was a real man, nothing else.