Chapter 472
Chapter 472
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 472
>Chapter Title: Shangsi Festival
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As the sky gradually darkened, lanterns of all shapes and sizes began to be hung throughout the capital.
It was as if they were competing with one another—the more prestigious the shop, the more luxurious and exquisite the lanterns hanging at its entrance.
Besides landscape paintings, the lantern sides were also inscribed with lantern riddles, specially prepared for nighttime passersby to guess.
Groups of three or five people clustered around the lanterns, guessing away.
Those who solved them proudly took down the exquisite lanterns amid others' envy and carried them home.
Those who failed retreated in embarrassment amid the surrounding laughter and teasing.
One after another took the stage, filling the entire capital with revelry.
Li Huowang, leading his horse, sidestepped slightly to avoid children running up from behind. The girl carried a orchid lantern, while the boy rode a bamboo hobby horse, both their faces beaming with joy.
Was this the Supervising Heaven Bureau's doing? The capital had been so thoroughly wrecked by the Fighting Matron before—yet in just a few short months, it had recovered to about seventy or eighty percent.
Li Huowang observed for a moment before asking Bai Lingmiao, who was sitting in the carriage, “The capital rarely lifts the curfew—what holiday is this today?”
“Senior Brother Li, it’s the Shangsi Festival,” came Bai Lingmiao’s quiet voice as she read her book.
“Shangsi Festival?” Li Huowang quickly recalled the holiday from Red’s memories. It was the day when girls of marriageable age held their hair-pinning ceremony.
On this day, families dressed up their fifteen-year-old girls, who ate flower cakes, drank flower tea, and had black rice after which they went out to play, wearing pomegranate flowers on their heads to pray to the Joy God for a good match in the future.
Once a girl passed her hair-pinning ceremony, she had to observe propriety between men and women and could no longer casually show her face in public.
Moreover, after the ceremony, matchmakers could come calling with proposals.
“Shangsi Festival,” Li Huowang murmured the name as he headed toward the house that Ji Xiang had given him.
Just as he neared the alley mouth, Li Huowang suddenly saw Zhuge Yuan blocking his path.
“Hm? What’s this? An ambush?!” Murderous intent filled Li Huowang’s eyes in an instant, his muscles tensing.
Zhuge Yuan let out a light sigh and shook his head slightly before chin-jerking gently toward Bai Lingmiao in the carriage.
Seeing her dejected expression at that moment, Li Huowang instantly understood what Zhuge Yuan meant.
“Miaomiao, you never had a hair-pinning ceremony for the Shangsi Festival before?”
Bai Lingmiao shook her head gently. “No, by the time the Shangsi Festival came on my fifteenth birthday, Danyangzi had already abducted me.”
Hearing this, Li Huowang walked toward the stall that Zhuge Yuan’s folded fan indicated, where pomegranate flowers were sold.
When he returned, he tucked a deep orange-red pomegranate flower into the white strands of Bai Lingmiao’s hair.
“It’s fine. Since you didn’t have one back then, I’ll make it up to you today!”
Before Bai Lingmiao could hesitate, Li Huowang took her hand and headed to an opulent tailor shop nearby.
Li Sui wanted to follow but was immediately stopped by Li Huowang. “Li Sui, take the carriage home!”
When Bai Lingmiao emerged from the tailor shop again, the plain white outfit on her body had been utterly transformed.
A light-colored gauze skirt with water lily pink sash, plus a purple-blue lotus trailing train, collarless waist-cinched long-sleeved robe— the moment she appeared on the street, she drew countless gazes.
The tailor shop had clearly prepared well in advance for the Shangsi Festival; the ready-made garments were sized perfectly for young ladies and fit Bai Lingmiao just right.
But Bai Lingmiao clearly wasn’t used to being stared at. Nervous, she kept picking at the pale orchids embroidered on her sleeve cuff with her fingernail.
“Senior Brother Li, why are they looking at me...”
“Because you’re beautiful—the most beautiful girl in the whole capital. What’s next? Right, eat flower cakes, drink flower tea, eat black rice! Tonight, don’t think about anything—just happily celebrate your festival!”
At first, Bai Lingmiao held back, but as the festive atmosphere around her and Li Huowang’s encouragement took hold, a smile gradually bloomed on her face, and she blended into the lively street scene.
She followed Li Huowang through the bustling streets of the capital, admiring the sights, guessing lantern riddles, and nibbling flower cakes.
In this moment, dressed beautifully, eating delicious treats, she savored this brief yet utterly joyful time.
Li Huowang and Zhuge Yuan stood side by side behind her, watching the back of Bai Lingmiao as she focused on tossing arrows into the pot in the distance, and the concentration on her face.
“Pa!” The four characters “Born a Genius” on Zhuge Yuan’s folded fan snapped open as he fanned himself. “Brother Li, your beloved seems to have something weighing on her mind.”
Li Huowang, his expression complicated, nodded slightly. “I know. I know.”
“Shall this humble scholar help unravel it for you?”
“Brother Zhuge, I know you’re well-read in poetry and books, but this matter is beyond your help. I don’t have any good solutions for now either—just leaving it to time for the moment. I hope time can take it all away.”
As the two chatted idly, a young man walking toward them on the roadside, cradling a jade cat, caught Li Huowang’s attention.
The youth had fair skin, refined features with a touch of handsomeness, and his moon-white robes lent him an air of elegance.
With so many girls on the streets, it wasn’t odd to see men out ogling them—but what was strange was that Li Huowang couldn’t see through this one’s Ten Emotions and Eight Sufferings. That was highly unusual.
Moreover, he was accompanied by several tall, burly servants—surprisingly, Li Huowang found he couldn’t gauge their depths either.
As the distance between them shrank, Li Huowang’s heart tightened. “Who are they? Why disguise themselves to approach me? Has my heart elemental identity been exposed?”
But just as Li Huowang thought this, the youth pivoted on his heel and entered a jade shop by the road. Uneasy, Li Huowang quietly drew closer.
Up close, Li Huowang realized the youth wanted the jade shopkeeper to appraise his jade cat.
Hearing the shopkeeper endlessly praise the jade cat in his arms, the youth beamed with delight. “Haha, this young master has a good eye! Bought it for five hundred taels—worth five thousand!”
When the youth emerged, his servants showered him with flattery, delighting him even more.
Seeing them not even glance his way and simply continue onward, Li Huowang wondered inwardly, “What’s going on? Were they really just passing by?”
“Am I being too paranoid?” As Li Huowang pondered this, he suddenly saw the youth head straight for Bai Lingmiao!
Li Huowang bolted forward at once, his copper coin sword already drawn—if the other made any odd move, he’d fling it right out.
“This young lady, greetings from this one.” The youth’s eyes lit up as he stared hard at her white hair.
(End of chapter)