Lu Ye pulled at the corner of his lips, "If Your Highness the Prince of Yu has nothing else, I shall take my leave. My wife is still waiting for me."
The Prince of Yu raised his hand and made a "please" gesture.
After Lu Ye left, the Prince of Yu stood in place for a long time.
For the first time, he felt regret for being a member of the Great Xia royal family.
Back then, his emperor father was excessively militaristic. He had allied with the Northern Qi, intending to divide the Qinghuang Kingdom. At that time, he was only about ten years old.
To show off his achievements, his father took all the princes to the occupied territory.
He personally witnessed the Great Xia and Northern Qi treating the unarmed citizens of Qinghuang like pigs and dogs, killing or raping them at will.
He had once pleaded for a group of young Qinghuang captives, only to be slapped several times in public by his father.
The Qinghuang Kingdom, originally possessing clear waters and fertile land, became a land of broken states and ruined mountains within a year, with withered vegetation, and everywhere covered in bright blood and white bones.
The Prince of Yu sighed long and returned to his room dejectedly.
In a blink of an eye, tomorrow would be the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and the entire manor was making preparations for the Lantern Festival.
Aunt Ding, Tian Guihua, and others were in the kitchen preparing tangyuan, dumplings, and various other delicacies, with the women of the household helping by their side.
Everyone was chatting and laughing, and bursts of laughter could constantly be heard from the kitchen.
If one listened carefully, they could hear familiar names. For instance, when Ga Mei appeared, Qing Feng was sure to be mentioned; when Lu Hua appeared, Yan Shuo was also inevitably brought up.
Sitting outside, one could also guess what they were talking about.
In the front courtyard, Lu Tong and Lu Tu were peeling bamboo strips with their hands, but their ears were perked up. The chairs beneath them were inching closer and closer to the kitchen, hoping to hear their names, and the names of people associated with them, from the laughter emanating from the kitchen.
Yang Ming walked up to them, looked at the two, and rolled his eyes, "Have some dignity! If you like someone, pursue them boldly! Why sneak around like this, eavesdropping?"
Lu Tong looked at him and said, "You wouldn't understand."
Lu Tu also pursed his lips and nodded, "He really doesn't understand."
Yang Ming gritted his teeth in frustration, "I do understand!"
Tong and Tu exchanged a look, then lowered their heads to busy themselves with their work.
Yang Ming, finding no amusement, ran off to play with the children.
Nearby, Uncle Ding and Third Uncle, along with a group of children, were personally making various patterned lanterns from bamboo strips.
Fiery red roosters, plump little pigs, big carp wagging their tails, exquisitely decorated sedan chairs, and so on, each lifelike.
Si Zai and Lu Hu each carried a small lantern and ran around the manor. Lu Yun and Wu Wa, however, saw a business opportunity.
They hadn't expected their Third Uncle to be so skillful. These lanterns he made could be sold at the archery shop.
Jin, Mu, Shui wanted to learn the craft from Third Uncle, who was very happy to take them as disciples.
Even Grandma Zhong wanted to become Third Uncle's disciple. Third Uncle was flattered and couldn't refuse!
He truly hadn't expected that in the past, in order to survive, he often hid in bushes. To pass the time, he practiced weaving various small items with grass stalks, which could unexpectedly become a craft that everyone admired.
Third Uncle saw the Prince of Yu walk out and quickly called out, "Your Highness the Prince of Yu, would you like to learn how to make lanterns?"
The Prince of Yu shook his head in horror, "No! Making lanterns is too effeminate!"
All the straight men who were making lanterns, straighter than straight, looked up at him in unison. Although they didn't dare to retort openly, they were furiously complaining in their hearts, "Should be okay, right?"
Seeing everyone staring at him, the Prince of Yu suddenly realized he had offended a large group with one sentence. He immediately chuckled, scratching the back of his neck, "Uh, what I meant was, women are more adept at doing this, men aren't good at it, and what they make is simply eyesore."
Lu Yun, as a child, immediately objected, "Brother Yu, who says men's work is an eyesore? Look, this is what my Third Uncle made. It's better than what's sold on the street!"
"Uh, yes, yes, beautiful, beautiful..." the Prince of Yu nodded hastily and slipped away.
Third Uncle watched his retreating figure and laughed heartily with fond eyes. This child Yu, although sharp-tongued, had a good heart.
After the lanterns were finished, the taller people in the manor helped to hang them. The Prince of Yu, being so tall, naturally couldn't be left out, so Third Uncle called him out to hang lanterns as well.
Si Zai, the shortest, also clamored to hang lanterns. Lu Ye let them ride on his neck, and each child hung a lantern.
He then saw Bai Sheng looking up at the lanterns. He picked her up and placed her on his neck, and Bai Sheng hung a lantern too.
This maneuver by the couple directly inspired the men who had wives to follow suit.
Feng Pingyuan let Du Min ride on his neck, Ma San let Liu Shi ride on his neck, and Hu Da Niu let Yang Shi ride on his neck.
Because Lu Hao's belly was a bit big, Gou Sheng, fearing she might fall, suppressed his impulse and did not let her ride on his neck.
However, he promised Lu Hao that next year on the Lantern Festival, he would definitely let her ride on his neck.
The single men, witnessing these scenes of "bloody" dog food, all let out excited howls, and the manor was filled with festive joy.
Tomorrow night is the Lantern Festival, and the Zhuangyuan Bridge on Hanwen Street in the capital will host a lantern fair.
This is a good day for young men and women to meet, to sing and dance under the moon, exchange lanterns, and find eternal happiness together.
Bai Sheng was a very enlightened mistress. She asked Aunt Ding and Tian Guihua to prepare dinner earlier in the afternoon, and after eating, anyone who wanted to go out to play could go out.
The unmarried men and women in the manor were all very excited. They had prepared their clothes and jewelry in advance for the next night, determined to make themselves presentable.
Ga Mei decided to use Lu Tie to provoke Qing Feng into confessing his love to her. Lu Hua was fantasizing if she would unexpectedly encounter Yan Shuo tomorrow night. Ding Xiang, on the other hand, was troubled by whether that dense blockhead Lu Tong would confess his love to her.
Lu Tu was also tidying himself up diligently. He planned to confess his love to Su Jinfeng tomorrow night. Lu Tong, however, rested his chin on his hand, pondering whether Ding Xiang actually liked him.
Like? Dislike? He had already plucked the petals off several poor flowers.
Even Third Uncle was getting restless and wanted to confess his love to Consort Mei. Neither of them were young anymore, and he, Bai Li Rong Mo, would only have children with Mei—Gu Si Yue, so he didn't want to wait any longer.
All the people mentioned above wanted to use the Lantern Festival to do things unrelated to the Lantern Festival.
However, there were also quite a few young men and women in the manor who were not thinking about romance but were earnestly celebrating the Lantern Festival. For example, Lu Yin, Qiu Dong, Qin Qi Shu Hua, Jin Mu Shui, Fan Cai, and others decided to go together to admire the lanterns, listen to opera, and guess riddles.
Lu Hua had to carry Si Zai on her back simultaneously. After the incident where Rui Rui was snatched, Bai Sheng and Lu Ye dared not let her take Si Zai alone to crowded places. They had Lu Huo follow them closely.
On the day of the Lantern Festival, at Yu Shi (around 3-5 PM) in the afternoon, everyone from the manor set off. Hanwen Street was not far from Yuhua Alley, so everyone walked there.