Chapter 83: Comparison (for the leader of the alliance)
The sky was getting brighter, and the vision became blurry. The mountain wind began to get stronger, causing the two men's cloaks to flutter.
"Put on your hat." Prince Jin'an said.
Cheng Jiaoniang raised her hand and put it on.
The mountain breeze carries the faint sound of sporadic firecrackers.
"Is today twenty-nine or thirty?" Prince Jin'an suddenly asked.
"Thirty, it's the first day of the Lunar New Year tomorrow." Cheng Jiaoniang said.
"Then Brother Six and I will stay and celebrate the New Year with you." Prince Jin'an said with a smile, "It will be more lively with more people, but I don't know if it will be inconvenient for you."
Cheng Jiaoniang turned her head and looked at him.
"I know." Prince Jin'an grabbed her words and spoke first, "No one or anything will inconvenience you. I just asked casually."
Upon hearing this, Banqin hurriedly turned around and waved to several followers.
"You two go and tell Guan Cao not to prepare to leave beforehand, but to prepare for the New Year first," she said in a low voice.
In the capital city, when night falls, there is no one on the streets, and the bustle and bustle are shut in every household.
New peach charms have been hung in front of the house by the Jade Belt Bridge. Two young men are finally wiping a lantern, and two little girls are busy in the yard.
"Sister Banqin, you really don't want to go home."
"I won't go. This house will be empty and unpopular when I go there. This is my wife's house. Banqin, please go back quickly. I will kowtow to the old lady during the first month."
The person who said it was called Banqin, and the person who answered was also called Banqin. The boys and girls looked over curiously.
Two women were smiling and holding hands under the porch. They had just said goodbye and left when there was another bustle in front of the door.
"Shiro-kun is here." Banqin said with a smile and hurriedly took it.
The boys in front of the door hurriedly saluted and watched this rather shabby young scholar approaching.
Cheng Silang was a little uneasy.
"I'm just fine in the academy, why do I come here?" he said.
"This is home. The academy is on holiday. What are you doing alone?" Banqin smiled and looked at Cheng Silang and said, "Silang-kun, why are you wearing such thin clothes in this winter? Your winter coat
Where’s the cloak?”
"I was in a hurry, so I forgot to bring it with me." Cheng Silang said with a smile, "It's not cold in the car anyway."
Banqin didn't ask any more questions and let the little girl lead her in. She turned around and grabbed Cheng Silang's boy.
"...I didn't send it to my family..." The boy was afraid of this eldest sister, so he hurriedly whispered.
"I won't buy it if I don't give it to you. What do you want me to do?" Banqin shouted in a low voice.
"Sister Banqin, I, we don't have that much money..." the waiter said in a low voice.
"Didn't your family send you any money? Your fourth son is not our wife. No one will care about him even if he dies," Banqin said.
The eldest sister has the sharpest tongue, and the young man is making fun of her.
"No, no, I don't know what happened, maybe it hasn't arrived yet," he said.
Banqin reached out and poked him on the forehead, glared at him and told him to go away, then turned around and entered the house.
"...I'll go back after dinner..." Cheng Silang said.
"Why are you going back? Tomorrow morning, my husband and I will go to Mrs. Zhang's house to pay New Year's greetings." Banqin said.
Zhang...Zhang?
"Is this Mr.'s house?" Cheng Silang's voice was trembling.
"It's not that I want to pay my respects to you, sir, but that I want to pay my respects to the old lady." Banqin said with a smile.
Isn't that the same thing? No, it's more nervous than meeting Mr.
"Here are some new clothes."
"You even made clothes specially for me?"
"That's not true. I made it for Fan Langjun and the others. I haven't worn it yet. Silangjun, you are too thin. You need to make it smaller..."
The lights in the house are bright, the warmth is thick, and the sound of conversation and laughter can be heard. The winter night is warm.
As night gradually falls, the sound of firecrackers in the capital becomes more and more intensive. The lanterns in every house are hung up and lit up, making the whole city as bright as a fairyland on earth.
The Taoist temple located on the mountainside seemed even more lonely in the night, with the lanterns hanging in front of the door swaying in the dark mountain forest.
There were quite a few people sitting in the backyard room, but in the end they were restrained and the situation at this time made it difficult for them to enjoy themselves.
"This is some water and wine. Just take a few bites to enjoy the occasion," said Manager Cao.
Everyone present smiled and lifted it up to take a sip.
"Don't be dissatisfied with the simple food in the mountains and countryside." Manager Cao continued, "But this is Xuanmiao Temple's famous dim sum. Let's try it."
The people sitting in the room raised their chopsticks, thanked him, and started eating.
Suddenly there was the sound of firecrackers in the yard.
Manager Cao turned around and saw a bonfire burning in the yard. Brother Jin was throwing the bamboo pole in with a smile, making a crackling sound.
"Brother Jin, stop fooling around, watch carefully, and burn your hands carefully."
The door of the main hall is wide open, the lights are bright, and you can see Cheng Jiaoniang, Princess Jin'an and the second prince sitting inside.
I don't know if it was because of the sound of firecrackers or something else, but the second prince was shouting loudly, overturning several cases in front of him.
Banqin hurriedly came out to scold Brother Jin.
"He's not afraid of that." Prince Jin'an said, reaching out to hold the second prince who was squirming around. "He's not afraid of firecrackers. He's used to hearing them along the way. He just doesn't like sitting. He gets bored after a while."
"Banqin brought the tea soup for him to eat," Cheng Jiaoniang said.
Banqin responded and went to work. The second prince broke away from Prince Jin'an and moved to the opposite side in front of Cheng Jiaoniang's case. Prince Jin'an stretched out his hand and quickly got up to follow him, but it was still too late. The second prince
He reached out and grabbed a plate on the table in front of Cheng Jiaoniang. He might have wanted to get some snacks, but he overturned the plate and started crying because he couldn't get what he wanted.
The room suddenly became chaotic.
I really shouldn't stay, it's really lively, but a few people will like this kind of liveliness.
The prince of Jin'an County sighed in his heart, pulled the second prince to comfort him, and stretched out his hand with snacks.
"Let's play." Cheng Jiaoniang said.
The second prince stretched out his hand and grabbed it, grinning, saliva dripping down his clothes.
Prince Jin'an hurriedly took a handkerchief to wipe him, and Cheng Jiaoniang stretched out her hand again.
"Yours," she said.
Prince Jin'an looked at her and smiled, because he was holding the second prince in one hand and wiping his saliva with the other. He couldn't take it but had to take it, so he simply leaned over and stretched out his head to take Cheng Jiaoniang's hand and took a bite of the snack in his mouth.
"Thank you." He said vaguely with a smile while chewing.
This was too abrupt! Banqin turned around in fright.
"Come, come, firecrackers, let's throw some firecrackers too." Manager Cao hurriedly greeted everyone,
Everyone came over laughing and laughing. Sure enough, they took bamboo poles and threw them into the fire. The crackling sounds in the yard echoed with the sound of firecrackers in the village down the mountain.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, when it was still dark, the front of the palace was already crowded with people. The carriages and horses of so many people were still silent, which added a bit of majesty to the palace.
While the officials were still entering the palace in order of their official positions, Qin Shisanlang was already strolling outside the palace banquet hall.
The main hall is luxuriously decorated and the lights are bright. This is an annual banquet, but it is the first time for Qin Shisanlang to participate.
"At that time, I felt that avoiding the crowds was the best way to live, but now it seems that the right way is to stay hidden in the city." He nodded and said.
Now it seems that many of the things I did at that time to treat myself as a normal person are still abnormal in the eyes of truly normal people.
"Sir, my wife asked you not to wander around." The young man reminded in a low voice.
Qin Thirteenth Lang had already moved to a side hall. Hearing the excitement inside, he couldn't help but be curious.
"Thirteenth Young Master, these are the kabuki dancers from the Jiabo Division waiting to sing." The interior decoration in front of the door said with a smile.
Qin Shisanlang nodded, and while he was talking, the female official from the Jiaofang Division led a group of people over quickly, most of whom were girls singing tap songs.
Qin Thirteenth Lang turned around to leave, and saw a female dancer walking at the end saluting him. She looked familiar, so he stopped.
The female actress didn't say anything, so she stood up, lowered her head and walked into the palace.
"It's Miss Zhu." Qin Shisanlang said.
The female actress with her hair covered in pearls and gorgeous dance clothes stopped, turned around, smiled at him, and saluted him again.
In addition to the dedicated singers in the palace, the court banquets and sacrifices will also select singers from the Jiaofangsi. Not everyone can be selected for this kind of occasion, especially adult women. The selection criteria are more stringent, and innocence is naturally a must.
The most basic requirement, but it is not long for official prostitutes to retain their innocence, especially those who are beautiful. The appearance that can retain their innocence is slightly less good. The better skills are older, and the younger ones are better at singing and dancing skills.
It’s a little bit worse, but it’s hard to have both.
I just want to do my best no matter what I do.
Qin Shisanlang couldn't help but smile slightly when he thought of these words.
"Miss Zhu, do your best," he said.
Madam Zhu obviously understood what he said, and was still a little surprised that Qin Thirteenth remembered what she had said, but soon she smiled again, curtsied again, turned around without saying a word, and went into the palace with her head lowered.
As long as you do your best, then life will be interesting.
Qin Shisanlang smiled and walked away.
Although something happened to the second prince in the palace years ago, the pain must still be forgotten, life must go on, and the ancestral rules cannot be changed at will. Therefore, this year's New Year's Eve activities have not been interrupted.
The New Year banquet has begun, with bottles of pepper and cypress wine being carried in, and singing, music and poetry continuing.
It's broad daylight.
The sound of firecrackers has dispersed, and the sound of bells and chanting from the Taoist temple at the foot of the mountain adds to the tranquility.
There were footsteps behind him, and Prince Jin'an turned around and saw Cheng Jiaoniang walking over.
"Why are you up so early?" he asked.
"I slept last night," Cheng Jiaoniang said.
"You won't stay even during the Chinese New Year." Prince Jin'an said with a smile. No wonder she left after dinner, leaving only the maidservants and their followers to watch the night together. They thought she was avoiding it, but it turned out that she went to sleep.
.
"Why don't you go to bed?" Cheng Jiaoniang asked.
"I slept yesterday afternoon. Although I didn't sleep at night, I'm not sleepy now." Prince Jin'an said, "Thank you for the tea soup. Brother Six slept very well. I just looked at it and was still sleeping."
Cheng Jiaoniang gave a brief salute, put on her hood without saying a word, raised her feet and stepped forward.
"Where are you going?" Prince Jin'an asked hurriedly.
"I'm going to take a walk." Cheng Jiaoniang said.
Still want to walk? If you walk when you are in a bad mood, won’t you always be in a bad mood?
The Prince of Jin'an County frowned slightly and raised his heel. He had something on his mind yesterday and did not look at it carefully. Looking at it now, the woman's expression was indeed different from before. Although her expression was still dull, the desolation in her eyes could not be hidden.
This wouldn't just be because she was abandoned by her family.
"Cheng Fang." he shouted.
Cheng Jiaoniang looked back at him.
"What happened?" Prince Jin'an looked at her and asked.
"My business." Cheng Jiaoniang said.
My thing...something happened, but it's my own business...so I won't tell others?
Prince Jin'an took a few steps closer, wanting to comfort him but didn't know what to say.
"Look at me, I'm so miserable." He smiled and said, pointing at himself, "Do you think the world is not so difficult?"
Cheng Jiaoniang looked at him and shook her head.
"I'm worse off than you are," she said.
"I have been away from my parents since I was a child. Although I know that my parents can't help it, it is this helplessness that makes it even worse. I don't even have room to resent." Prince Jin'an continued, "Although I was a child at that time,
But children are more sensitive. Although you are also rejected by your family, you still have a mother and a grandmother. Besides, I am not making fun of you, but I am simply expressing my feelings. You were lucky to be like that when you were a child... I don't know.
Pain, no fear, unlike me, so miserable, just like watching the guillotine fall, the fear and helplessness of counting down to death."
Cheng Jiaoniang still shook her head.
"At least your family is here," she said, "I'm worse off than you are."
"Here, it doesn't matter how many things you don't care about. There is only one thing you care about, but it's gone." Prince Jin'an exhaled and said.
"You're the only one..." she said, stopping mid-sentence.
You just lost someone you care about, and I...
"I'm worse off than you." She finally just said.
Prince Jin'an looked at her and chuckled, his eyes sparkling and his vision blurry.
"Hey, are we going to compete for the worst?" He said, "Even this kind of thing has to be compared. This world is really difficult."
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I was very tired today, and I was just about to be lazy and not write, when I suddenly saw a reward from the alliance leader, so I got up again and updated the manuscript. As for tomorrow's, forget it, I have wine today, so let's get drunk today!
This is 3,600 words. In addition to the 6,100 words that have been updated today, the total is nearly 10,000 words. It can barely be used as an addition to the rewards given by the new alliance leader "Tianfu Reorganized Second Division" and the 12 alliance leaders last month.
More, thank you so much for your love, I feel ashamed. (To be continued)
