“Gege, I want one.”
The carriage stopped in an alley under a pine tree with dark grey bark. The two got down and the coachman saluted Ji Yue with a slight bow before departing.
During their ride from the palace to the city centre, the sky had turned dark, but the lights outside made the atmosphere as bright as day.
“Let’s go.” Ji Yue said, “The carriage will pick us up here at nightfall亥時 Between 9 to 11pm. Based on the last chapter, it should be about late 5 to 7pm right now. .”
Which meant they had four hours to experience the fun.
When Wei Lian saw that no one was following them, he asked, “You are not taking your entourage?”
He didn't even feel the presence of a shadow guard either.
“Take them out for what?” Ji Yue said, “It’s rare to be out of the palace. Naturally, there will only be fun times.”
Wei Lian was not the only person who had never experienced how the folks celebrated the Lantern Festival, it was Ji Yue’s first time as well. Verbally, he was only here to accompany Wei Lian, but inside, he had been looking forward to today just as much as the younger man.
“Let’s go.” Ji Yue said as he picked up his feet and walked out of the alley.
Wei Lian paused before following quietly.
As soon as they were out of the alley, the smell of smoke and fire instantly invaded their noses as the streets were crowded and bustling with activity, so much so it was inevitable to rub against someone else’s shoulder and step on people’s feet. The peddlers shouted to gain business and pedestrians mingled in groups of more than two. Displayed on the stalls, there were coloured lanterns, masks, tanghulu糖葫蘆 Sugar-coated Chinese hawthorn or other fruit on a bamboo skewer.
Sahl: It looks so good! *drools* , and much more. There were groups of mixed genders wandering about, cheering and laughing, and some wearing masks they purchased during this festival.
The fireworks blossomed into the night sky as the moon was smooth and round, shining brightly down. There were sounds in the distance by the river decorated with lanterns as many women put lotus lanterns by the river to make New Year’s wishes. There was a huge predestined marriage tree姻緣樹 Not a specific tree, just any huge tree with luxuriant foliage and spreading branches. What the tree was is already described in the story.
Would look something like this: with many red ribbons hanging on its branches filled with the names of lovers. Many pairs of ideal lovers loved to show their affection here.
The front of the pastry stand was filled with children. As long as the kids correctly solved a maths question, they would receive a free sweet. A large shed was set up outside the small food shop where the guests could eat hot glutinous rice balls as soon as they sat on the bench and for only five copper coins.
A scene of fireworks and lanterns.
A tide of people that brought clamour to this mortal life. The moment Ji Yue and Wei Lian walked out of the alley, they immediately captured everyone’s attention as the world seemed to turn quiet for a moment.
People all over the street fixed their eyes on the duo, stupefied by the two breathtaking figures.
Whose young masters came out to play…no, correction. Which immortals descended from heaven?
Today, many noble young masters from rich families came out to have fun, many of whom had impressive appearances, but none of them possessed appearances like these two.
The young man in red with a quiet manner and demure posture was stunning in every angle. While the other son stood with only grace known by the immortals—as if he was curved only with the finest jade. It was rare to have one in a million beauties be together in a pair.
If a family was able to give birth to one of these beauties, then it was from their ancestors’ accumulated merit. With the two standing together, it was completely unreal.
To put it mildly, they claimed all the beauty points predestined for this world cleanly.
Wei Lian calmly bore everyone's line of sight.
…Weren’t they supposed to be low profile?
Couldn’t blame them for their naturally eye-catching appearance.
He immediately covered his face with his sleeve and whispered, “Let’s go buy a mask.”
Ji Yue nodded silently.
In front of the mask stall, Wei Lian was going to choose two decent looking ones at random, but Ji Yue picked up a white fox mask and put it on the younger man’s face.
The mask covered the young man’s charming face, revealing only the crimson lips and exquisite chin. Instead of lowering his beauty, it gave off a mysterious suggestion that sparked the imagination.
“This suits you very well, little fox.” Ji Yue smirked.
Without hesitation, Wei Lian put a ferocious-looking ghost mask on Ji Yue’s face. “This one suits you as well.”
Ji Yue: “...”
He knew that he was called the human realm’s King of the Underworld, but this was the first time someone dared to bluntly put it in front of him.
“I don’t want this.” Ji Yue raised his hand, wanting to remove the mask.
Wei Lian turned and picked up an adorable rabbit mask. “Then choose between this or that.”
Ji Yue silently put his hand down.
The King of the Underworld was still better, at least it was imposing.
As the Qin Emperor, how could he be a rabbit?
Ji Yue didn’t think about it until he paid for the masks and walked a distance away. Why must he choose only from the two?
He could clearly not listen to Wei Lian’s words.
Unfortunately, it was too late. Ji Yue continued to wander in gloom with the ghost mask over his face.
The younger man beside him looked very happy. He checked different things throughout the way, finding everything new and strange.
As if the man had never seen the world before. Ji Yue mocked inside.
But on second thought, he had not seen much of the world himself.
As a member of the imperial family, they have had extravagant lifestyles, splashing wealth as high as heaven, as if they were living in the realm of the immortals.
But they have never seen all the forms offered in the world, how the mass of common people live in this world, each family had their own light.
If one never lived in the fire offered in the folks’ world, they could never consider themselves as someone who experienced everything the world had to offer.
“Oh, tanghulu!” The youth beside him suddenly shouted in surprise.
Ji Yue followed the other’s sight and saw a stall selling the fruit snack. The children were the stall’s only customers as well as elders with the children.
“Go and buy a skewer.” Wei Lian gazed back at him. “I heard it is delicious.”
Wei Lian had never eaten tanghulu before as it was labelled a commoner food and had no place in the Chu Palace. He heard from Chang Shou that this fruit snack tasted sour and sweet, but he had never had a chance to taste it.
Now that he finally spotted one, he must try one for himself.
Ji Yue was also slightly excited. As an emperor who loves sweet desserts, tanghulu was naturally his favourite.
However, seeing how he was tricked by Wei Lian earlier, he did not want to grant what the other wanted.
“Are you a child?” Ji Yue laughed impolitely. “Only children eat tanghulu.”
Wei Lian looked slightly disappointed. “I have never eaten one before.
Ji Yue wavered a little.
Wei Lian suddenly leaned closer to him and whispered into his ear, “Gege, I want one.”
Ji Yue: “!!!”
This voice immediately pulled him back to the night half a month ago. The young man was in the midst of pleasure under his fingertips, flushing at the tips of his eyes.
The first thing Ji Yue was going to do when they returned to the palace was to shower in three buckets worth of cold water.
Wei Lian was simply poisonous.
Ji Yue tried to stand firm to his bottom line. “I’m not—” He would never be led by the nose by this cunning fox!
The little fox was still standing in front of him with curved smiling eyes and an intimate tone.
“Please?”
Ji Yue uttered, “...Fine.”
After the time to burn an incense—or fifteen minutes.
Wei Lian, with a tanghulu skewer in his hand, looked at Ji Yue in surprise. “I asked you to buy me one, how did it turn into you carrying the whole display stand back?”
Ji Yue, carrying the whole stand of tanghulu and looking like a vendor selling the snack: “...”
He also wanted to know why he was so enchanted as to buy the whole stand.
Was it because Wei Lian told him ‘Gege, I want one’?
He just…
Just wanted to buy him everything.
Ji Yue angrily pulled one off of the display stand. “And I’m not going to eat any?”
Wei Lian repeated lightly, “Only children eat tanghulu.”
Ji Yue: “...” His face hurt from the verbal slapping.
Ji Yue stubbornly said, “So what’s wrong if I’m a child? I’m only the same age as seven three-year-old children.”
Wei Lian: “...”
This was the first time he heard someone saying their twenty-one years of age in such a refreshing and refined manner.
He was really a three-year-old Ji Yue.
Wei Lian asked sincerely, “Are you not afraid of getting a toothache after eating so much?”
Ji Yue replied, “The real ruler is not afraid of any pain, didi弟弟 Younger brother..”
Wei Lian showed a strained smile. “But we still have four hours. Don’t you think it’s inconvenient to carry it the whole way?”
Ji Yue turned silent.
He was looking dumber and dumber.
Luckily, he spotted a group of gathered children playing not very far from him. He went forward and stuffed the stand into one of the kid’s hands, leaving with, “For you kids.”
Leave the thing done with nothing left behind.
“Oh, it’s so lively over there.” Wei Lian looked in one direction. “What are they looking at?”
Not far away, people gathered in a circle to spectate something and cheered and applauded from time to time.
Ji Yue said, “We can find out once we go have a look.”
He pulled Wei Lian into the crowd and pushed their way to the front. It turned out it was a group of travelling performing artists who were showing their talent by breaking a large stone on top of another’s body.
Ji Yue lost interest after watching it for a while. “Such insignificant talent. Anyone with some internal energy could do it.”
Instead of answering, Wei Lian watched with great interest.
Seeing the other being interested, Ji Yue continued to watch with patience.
The next performance was a man swallowing a sword. A strong looking man raised his head and swallowed a long sword bit by bit, which put the onlookers on the edge. It even frightened a timid girl and she covered her face and couldn’t bear to look straight at the performer.
Finally, what was left visible of the sword was the hilt before the man pulled out the sword, completely unharmed.
First the crowd was stunned, then they thunderously applauded with their cheering.
Ji Yue shattered the illusion by explaining, “That sword is retractable.”
Followed by conjuring tricks.
Ji Yue repeated, “Just a diversionary tactic.”
Wei Lian: “...”
Fortunately, Ji Yue was not using a loud voice. Otherwise, they would be driven out for spoiling the performance.
He was only here to see new things. As he was about to leave to check elsewhere, a tough man banged the gong and shouted in a deep voice, “Please pay attention to our last performance for this evening. I guarantee that no one has seen this performance anywhere.”
As Wei Lian was about to turn and leave, he paused at the brute man’s announcement.
“Making a person appear from thin air!”
As soon as he finished, two men carried a big box from the carriage to the stage. The box was about the size of a…coffin.
Just enough for one person.
“Everyone, please have a look. Isn’t this box empty?” The big man opened the box and people craned their necks to check that it was indeed empty.
The space inside of the box was not large, and the interior was clear at a glance. Even if there was a secret mechanism, the surplus space was not enough to hide a person.
Seeing that everyone had an eyeful, the man covered the box and added something about “Please consider tipping if you have the money, stay as a spectator if you don’t…” while a person walked around with a bowl in his hand.
“Please watch carefully! As a person is about to appear!” The strong man shouted and opened the box in a sudden and grand motion.
A thin, pale hand with a silver bell tied around it stretched out from the edge of the box.
The crowd held their breath.
A pair of purple slippers appeared in everyone’s sight. The woman was dressed in purple gauze, exposing her snow-white skin as the silver bells jingled all over her body. Her long hair was tied into countless pigtails and decorated with silver ornaments. Her beautiful eyes wandered, sometimes flirtatious expressions peeked out from within, which immediately captured the souls of thousands of men.
What a beautiful woman.
The sound of a sucked in breath faintly came from the crowd. Ji Yue frowned, his loathing of purple exhibited on his face, only covered by his green ghost mask.
He hated purple very much.
“Judging from her dress, she appears to be from Liang.” Wei Lian whispered.
The Liang Empire was located in a remote area and known for their shaman’s crafts and poisons. As well as an outrageous female outfit, which was beyond what the Qin and Chu females would wear.
“This servant girl’s name is Myrna, it is pleasant meeting everyone.” The woman stepped out of the box with her coquettish glances and lovely voice. “Today’s performance is over, but don’t walk off just yet. This servant girl will give one gentleman a special performance, would someone in the audience please help this one out in completing the show? I wonder which strong man is willing to help this servant girl?”
All the men got excited as each of them shouted, “Lady, pick me!”
Who wouldn’t want to interact with a beauty? Men were eager for a chance to be the one chosen by her.
She glanced around and her eyes suddenly turned bright, saying to the young man wearing a white fox mask in the centre, “Would this young man please join me on the stage?”
Ji Yue said, “You’re not allow—”
Wei Lian replied, “Sure.”
Ji Yue: “...”
How dare you disobey!
Ignoring Ji Yue’s obstruction, Wei Lian stepped forward and raised his thin lips not covered by the mask. “What assistance could this one provide to this lady?”
Myrna’s eyes twinkled as she instructed, “It’s very simple. The gentleman just needs to stare into this servant girl’s eyes.”
Wei Lian earnestly looked into her eyes and asked, “And then?”
The emotion overflowed from her eyes and she smiled sweetly. “Then this master will…”
The next sentence slowly came out of her charming red lips, “Fall in love with this servant girl.”
A moment later, her eyes were almost dried out from the stare.
The young man under the white fox mask remained clear-eyed and not once had he fallen into a trance.
He even asked her gracefully, “Are you done?”
Her expression changed. “Who are you?!” How was he not influenced by her charms?
Her charming ability was at perfection, even her Lao Lao姥姥 Mother’s mother (grandmother in Western culture). Readers will learn who she is in a later chapter. said so. As long as her mind was firm, and the target was a man, he would never escape her control.
The beautiful women of the Liang Empire had lustful natures and used yang energy to supplement their yin energy, thus improving their skills. She lost count of the number of men who fell for her charms. There hadn’t been a single failed attempt.
She spotted this man with remarkable energy. She thought she could seduce him into her bed tonight, but she was wrong.
Wei Lian nodded and admitted, “You indeed have extraordinary skill.”
“Unfortunately, I like men.”
Myrna: “...”
“So you like that man in red who is with you?” She glared angrily at Ji Yue, unwilling to accept that her charm could not rival against some man.
“He?” Wei Lian was caught off guard. “He…maybe.”
“Why is there always a maybe or maybe not? You people from the Qin Empire are so skittish. If you like, then you like. If you don’t like, then you don’t like. How is there a maybe?” She hmphed.
Wei Lian lowered his gaze and pondered. He remembered the sweetness from the tanglulu he just ate and suddenly smiled.
“You are right. I do like him.”
Oho? Did our tsun Emperor hear that? >3
Thx for the ch (ㅅ˘ㅂ˘)