Tangning herself didn't expect that he would actually sleep until the next day.
The thirteenth and fourteenth days of the first lunar month, plus the Shangyuan Night on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, are the busiest days of the year in the capital. There is no curfew in the city during these three days, and people can enjoy the rich nightlife to their heart's content.
They arrived in the capital just two days ago. They planned to take a good stroll at night, but they didn't expect to sleep until the end of the Yuan Dynasty. If they missed tonight, they would have to wait until next year.
The sky had just darkened, and the entire capital gradually lit up again, with lights like daylight.
The Lantern Festival in the capital cannot be compared with the modern metropolises of later generations in terms of liveliness and prosperity, but there are candles and swaying lanterns hanging on the streets, lotus lanterns floating in the river, and painted boats floating by.
, but it is more charming than the colorful neon lights of later generations, which clog the traffic on the streets during festivals.
Xiao Jue followed the old beggar, riding in front and behind the horse, serving him carefully like a servant, without any airs of a young master.
He couldn't even take any medicine, but he only responded to that one prescription. The old beggar had become his life-saving straw to achieve happiness in life.
Tangning and Li Tianlan were walking in front, and when they reached a certain bridge, Li Tianlan stopped and looked into the distance.
Tangning turned her head to look at her and noticed a melancholy expression on her face. She thought for a moment and asked, "Being a stranger in a foreign land during the Lantern Festival, being far away from your hometown and your relatives, doesn't it feel good?"
Li Tianlan looked down at the lotus lanterns floating below, then looked at him again and asked, "Aren't you the same?"
Tangning was stunned for a long time, looking at the same night as hers, and murmured: "It'll be fine if you get used to it..."
Li Tianlan looked at him and consoled him: "The envoy will stay in the capital for a long time. You are better than me. After the imperial examination, you can return to Lingzhou."
Tangning sighed and whispered, "I can't go back..."
Li Tianlan turned to look at him. Fireworks burst out in the distant night sky, clearly reflecting his profile.
The same melancholy, the same longing, but the difference is the deep hidden despair.
It was as if what he was thinking about was a place he could never return 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 looked at him blankly, filled with doubts in his heart.
Thinking of another world, Tang Ning was lost for a moment. When she came back to her senses, she realized that Li Tianlan was looking at him.
Tangning asked in surprise: "Miss Li, what are you looking at me for?"
"It's nothing." Li Tianlan came to his senses, immediately looked away, and said: "We are already familiar with each other, so I'd better not call you "Miss Li, 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 kind of relationship did he have with his savior?
He thought for a while and said: "If I don't call you Miss Li, how about calling you Sister Lan? If you are younger than me, then call you Sister Lan... What do you think of Lan Lan?"
Li Tianlan pondered for a moment, looked at him and said, "You should call me Miss Li."
Women are really fickle. She is the one who says she is not called "Miss Li", and she is the one who says "Miss Li" is called "Miss Li". Sometimes she wants something and sometimes she doesn't want it. They have taken over all the principles in the world.
In this moment, Xiao Jue and the old beggar wandered off somewhere.
Tang Ning saw that Li Tianlan had also walked off the bridge and hurriedly followed her. The old beggar and Peng Chen had both left. In order to prevent accidents, she had to hug Miss Li's thigh tightly.
Under the bridge is a stall for guessing lantern riddles. There are rows of lanterns hanging on a long shelf. For ten cents, you can get closer and guess once. If you guess correctly, you can take away the lanterns. If you don't guess correctly, you will pay ten cents.
Don’t retreat.
Just in case someone picked it up, the lantern riddles were all covered. When Tangning walked over, Li Tianlan had already uncovered a lantern riddle.
"The mountains are full of shade and green, and people are among the vegetation." She took a look and said, "It's the word "tea"."
The stall owner came over, smiled, took off the sky lantern, and said, "Congratulations, girl, you guessed it right."
A woman next to her pinched her male companion's waist and said angrily: "It's really useless. I didn't even guess this. I'm not even as good as a woman."
The young man smiled and said, "It's just a little bit close, just a little bit close."
Tangning took the lantern handed over by the shopkeeper, and Li Tianlan had already unveiled another one.
"Ninety-nine. If one is missing, it means one hundred, which is the word "white"."
The smile on the stall owner's face was no longer as bright as before. He took off the lamp and said with a smile: "The girl is really smart..."
Li Tianlan continued to walk forward: "The two mountains are opposite and connected. There is a dangerous peak in the middle of the blue sky, which is the word "you"."
The smile on the stall owner's face began to become forced.
"You have it, others have it, everyone has it, but I don't have it. It's called "人"."
The stall owner could no longer laugh.
"It's hard to say, it's the word "Ya"."
"There are mountains on all sides, and the mountains are connected one after another. It is the word "field"."
…
When Li Tianlan guessed more than a dozen times in a row, Tang Ning couldn't stop laughing because he could no longer hold the lamp in his hand. The stall owner walked up to him, put a piece of broken silver into his hand, and whispered:
"Sir, please take care of your wife. I have a small business, and the whole family relies on it to make a living..."
Tangning explained: "She is not my wife."
The stall owner looked at him and said: "Then you go away quickly. If you are seen by an acquaintance, you will be soaked in the pig cage..."
"She's not someone else's wife either."
"Miss Thief, how dare you be so blatant? If you don't leave, I'll call you!"
…
Tangning only picked two good-looking lamps and pulled Li Tianlan away.
It wasn't that he was afraid of soaking the pig cage or being caught stealing. He was just running a small business, and if she interfered like this, the whole family might go hungry.
Li Tianlan glanced at the place where he guessed the lantern riddles and said: "There is no businessman, but just now he saw that the person he guessed was a child, so he wanted to default on the bill. What kind of business can such a person do? Why do you want to stop me?"
Naturally, the reason for stopping her was because if she continued to guess, the stall owner would shout "Miss Steal". Tang Ning was worried that if he shouted out, he would not survive next year's Shangyuan.
He shook his head and said: "Common people, this is absolutely normal. If he bullies that child, naturally some people will 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 lamp stand, and the stall owner was being pushed to the ground by a strong man and being beaten wildly.
"My son dares to bully you, but I can't beat you to death!"
…
I walked around the street with Li Tianlan and met Xiao Jue and the old beggar again.
"Where have you two gone? I was about to send someone to find you!" Xiao Jue glanced at the two of them suspiciously and said, "After wandering for half a night, I was tired and hungry, so I went to Tiantianju.
I’m treating you to a treat. I’ll fill my stomach first and then go shopping.”
In order to celebrate that he was about to become a worthy candidate, Xiao Jue insisted on treating him to a meal. Tang Ning could not resist and did not want to dampen his enthusiasm. After a moment of hesitation, he agreed.
Tang Ning originally thought Tiantianju was a restaurant, but when she arrived, she realized that it was actually a large garden.
In a place like the capital, where land is at a premium, to be able to buy such a garden and use it as a restaurant, the boss behind Tiantianju must be rich and powerful.
Li Tianlan stopped at the door of Tiantianju and looked at the couplets hanging on both sides of the door.
Although it was night, the surrounding lights were bright, and the couplet could be seen clearly.
"When you are in a cool and refreshing state outside the world, it's a good time to talk about poetry. What's more, the lotus dew is freshly cooked and the bamboo spring is just beginning to heat up."
"What kind of wine can I drink to pour out the sorrow in my chest? I can chew the winter plums carefully and feast on the autumn chrysanthemums."
Li Tianlan looked at the couplet and said, "This couplet is quite elegant. Besides this second couplet, can you think of another one?"
Tangning knew that her addiction to couplets had relapsed, so she urged: "These couplets are just ordinary. What's so good about them? Let's go in to eat first. If you want to correct the couplets, go back at night. You have plenty of time to correct them slowly."
"If you don't say it right, you can't say it right. How about ordinary couplets? Since our couplets are ordinary, why don't you say something extraordinary!" As soon as Tangning finished speaking, an unconvinced voice came from behind them.
He turned his head and saw a girl dressed as a maid looking at him angrily with her hands on her hips and her chest puffed out.
The little girl even imitated others to hold her breasts out in the movies. Who gave her the courage to hold her breasts out in front of Miss Li?
Tangning had no intention of arguing with the little maid, so she shook her head and said, "Go in."
The little maid stuck out her tongue at him and said, "You're a big talker, I'm afraid. You're still a man..."
Tang Ning took back the steps she had taken.
The thing he hates most in his life is when people doubt whether he is a real man.
