The festivities were more colourful than Yan Zheyun had imagined. He'd known from his old history lessons that the imperial family and the upper class would hold parties and marvellous feasts in honour of the full moon, with lots of music, dancing, and merry-making. But he hadn't thought that the commoners would celebrate this enthusiastically too.
Lanterns glowed overhead in bright hues, strung from one shop to another like an endless canopy of lights. Underneath, a crowd thronged through the busy stalls, many of these selling handcrafted lanterns so intricate that Yan Zheyun couldn't believe his eyes. He'd thought that as a modern individual, nothing he saw here in these shops could impress him, but he stood corrected.
"Big Brother Yan! Big Brother Yan!" Xiao Ma tugged excitedly on his sleeves. He was already holding two sticks of candied hawthorns, waving them in the air with such carelessness that they'd stuck to Wu Zhong's clothes more than once. "Couldja help me win a lantern?"
"Be. Still." Wu Zhong seized Xiao Ma by the back of his collar and dragged him an arm's length away so that Yan Zheyun's clothes wouldn't have a new splotch of rock sugar on them. "You're such a handful, why do we have to babysit for the stable master?"
Xiao Ma stuck out his tongue at him, unfazed. Yan Zheyun watched them bicker with a sudden surge of affection. He hadn't known either of them for very long, but they had supported him through his times of adversity and were the closest thing he had to family here.
"Which lantern did you want?" he asked Xiao Ma. "Ah Zhong, would you like one too?"
Wu Zhong gave him a flat stare. "Are you kidding? Do I look like I'd want such a girly thing?"
"Hey! It's not girly, look around us, everyone's got one! You're just being a wet blanket, a wet blanketttt~"
Xiao Ma grabbed Yan Zheyun by the wrist and tugged him over to the stall, which had quite a large mass of festival-goers packed around it. Scholars battled with each other to guess the riddles strung to the lanterns on red slips of paper, and the shopkeeper's pleased ruddy face was flushed with delight under the warm lights.
"Dear patrons, dear patrons," he called out gaily, "please don't push and shove! There are enough lanterns for all, let us listen to these cultured men as they pit their wits against each other!"
Slippery as an eel, Xiao Ma wriggled the both of them until they were at the front of the cheering crowd, Wu Zhong a bit of a distance behind as he glared at their backs in exasperation.
The shopkeeper noticed them right away, not just because their peasant attire stood out from the refined clothes of the scholars, but also because of Yan Zheyun's arresting face. He wasn't the only one. More and more people in the crowd caught sight of Yan Zheyun, their irritated looks at being shoved by Xiao Ma dissipating into admiration.
"Aiyo, what a handsome young man!" the shopkeeper cried. "Would you like to guess some riddles too?" He asked out of politeness because it was hard to be dismissive to that face. But privately, he didn't think the newcomers would have much luck at all. They looked very poor and uneducated, even though the taller, pretty one had looks that could rival any fairy.
"Hurry, pick a lantern," Yan Zheyun urged quietly. He was wary of all the attention and wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.
Perhaps Xiao Ma was more perceptive than Yan Zheyun had given him credit for, because he threw a worried look at Yan Zheyun, before pointing at the closest one.
"This one then," he said. It was a lantern shaped like a lotus and did definitely look a bit on the girly side, although Yan Zheyun wasn't going to judge. "Although, Big Brother...it's okay, we can leave—"
Yan Zheyun placed a reassuring arm around his shoulders.
"Shopkeeper," he greeted politely, reaching out with delicate fingers to hold the riddle tag that was attached to the lotus lantern. "Would it be all right if I tried?" He glanced quickly at the group of scholars staring at him, before lowering his lashes demurely. "Of course, if you gentlemen didn't mind. We won't take long."
"Of—of course, we don't mind!" one of them stammered out, a slight blush colouring his cheeks. "Please go ahead!" His companions looked equally flustered too and slightly thrown for the loop like they couldn't believe they'd been rendered speechless by a male visage.
It was such an unearthly visage though.
Inclining his head in thanks, Yan Zheyun stepped closer.
"How many do I need to answer correctly?" he asked.
"For that size, just 1," the shopkeeper replied. He waved his hand at the larger ones hanging higher up. "Those are 3 each, and the grand prize requires 10 riddles in a row without any mistakes."
Yan Zheyun nodded thoughtfully. "In that case, if I answered 5, could I take these 5 away with me?" He gestured at a row of flower lanterns, along with the one Xiao Ma had selected. If he managed to guess all correctly, he would have enough to give to not just Xiao Ma, but also to Wu Zhong, Matron Wang, Mingyue, and the old stable master.
"Of course! If you answer them correctly, young man, they're yours to take with you!"
With that guarantee, Yan Zheyun began.
The first riddle read: 'Wealth enters in the year of the Ox, guess a character'.
Without hesitation, he answered, "Niu." This was a character that meant 'knob' or 'button' but consisted of both the character for 'cow' on the zodiac as well as the radical for 'metal'. So it looked like 'metal cow'.
The second riddle read: 'Without this, the cow cannot live, guess a character'.
…was this the year of the Ox? Why was there a running theme? But still, he had an immediate answer. "Yi," he said confidently, the character that meant 'one'. This was because the word 'life' contained a combination of the characters for 'cow' and 'one'. So without the 'one', 'life' would be reduced to just 'cow'.
The third and fourth riddles were thankfully no longer about oxen, and by now, the cheers from the crowd had grown steadily. Instead of appreciation for just his looks, the admiring comments had shifted to his intelligence. They'd misunderstood him to be an impoverished academic.
The fifth and final riddle made him nervous because it asked him to guess a line of a poem from a dynasty that didn't exist in his previous world, but luckily, Yan Yun's memories more than made up for his shortcomings.
Thunderous applause broke out around them as the shopkeeper handed over the lanterns in good grace.
"Wow, Xiongdi!" someone in the crowd cried out. "Looks really are deceiving! Who knew you'd be so smart!"
"Don't look down on a person just because of their background!' someone else chimed in with a good-natured laugh. "Poor scholar today and wealthy official tomorrow, am I right? When you become great, don't forget us eh?"
The teasing was harmless, and the mood was lighthearted as everyone enjoyed themselves in good cheer. But Yan Zheyun's small smile was pained.
Wealthy official tomorrow? If only.
Xiao Ma caught on right away, intertwining his arm with Yan Zheyun as he tried to lead him towards the back of the crowd, where Wu Zhong was waiting with a scowl. But it proved harder than either of them had thought, as the group of scholars attempted to coax Yan Zheyun's name and school location from him, inviting him to join them in their friendly competition.
The shopkeeper too seemed to realise that his business had become even more popular after Yan Zheyun's arrival.
"Wait, Little Brother," he said with friendly familiarity. "Why not try the 10 riddle challenge? I promise that the prize is very worth it, let me show you!"
Despite the encouragement from the crowd, Yan Zheyun was about to politely refuse. But he stopped when he caught sight of the prize the shopkeeper brought out. It was a huge lantern, in a shape of a butterfly, and had been crafted so splendidly that the crowd let out an excited gasp. He was mesmerised too, but for a completely different reason.
This butterfly looked exactly like the one his parents had commissioned for him when he'd been 10. At that time, Lixin and Liheng had only been toddlers and had demanded the entire household's attention. That, together with how busy his parents were at work, meant that Yan Zheyun had often been neglected.
During that Mid-Autumn Festival, the twins had both caught colds from each other and had gone into the hospital's ED. Chaos had broken loose as a result, so it was only upon reaching home at 5 in the morning, did Yan Zheyun's parents see the small boy huddled on the couch with his head buried in his knees.
He recalled that his mother had cried and hugged him as she'd apologised. And his father had gone upstairs immediately to bring down the lantern they'd ordered for him in advance.
A butterfly coloured like a phoenix, in hues of reds, yellows, and oranges. Its double still sat in a cabinet back in his parents' house. Yan Zheyun hadn't thought he'd have another chance to see it again.
"I'll try," he heard himself say.
At the same time, a childish voice broke out above the noise of the crowd. "Huang—Big Brother Huang! I want that one!"
Yan Zheyun glanced over on instinct and froze.
…Young Master Huang? Not Young Master Bi-Bi-Bi? How many surnames did this guy have?
In complete contrast to Yan Zheyun and Xiao Ma, the new arrivals were decked out in noble attire, the quality of their silk robes evident. The crowd, which fought with each other relentlessly for space, parted without hesitation to make way for the man and the little young master sitting on his arm.
Even though their meeting in Meiyue Tower had occurred so many months ago, Yan Zheyun hadn't forgotten the man's face. Now that he knew that this handsome man wasn't the crown prince, Yan Zheyun felt like he'd become even better looking. The man's features were stern and his dark eyes piercing as he stared straight at Yan Zheyun, with astonishment in their depths.
It seemed like he recognised Yan Zheyun too.
Yan Zheyun could feel his ears burning, the flush spreading quickly down the back of his neck and into the collar of his tunic. He was glad that he'd chosen to do his hair in a half-topknot today, instead of his usual ponytail. The latter would have left his blush visible for all and sundry to see.
"Young Master...Huang?" he tried, after the awkward moment between them dragged out for a second too long. From the corner of his eye, he saw Wu Zhong push past a couple of people to shift closer to him. He was grateful for the concern but didn't know how to tell Wu Zhong that the only danger he was in at the moment was probably the danger of embarrassing himself publicly in front of a couple of dozen people.
It was odd. Yan Zheyun had always known that he was attracted to men, but it'd been a vague concept. While his friends had rated girls and swapped porn during self-study period, Yan Zheyun had been busy struggling not to look too long at the muscles of his teammates on the basketball team.
But he'd never had a…a—it pained him to admit it—a crush on anyone before.
Until now.
"…" The young master—whose surname was maybe Bi but more likely Huang —looked at him levelly before making a noise of acknowledgement.
Right. Huang then.
"Young Master Huang," Yan Zheyun repeated with more confidence. "This…younger brother noticed that your worthy little brother has taken an interest in the same lantern. Would it be all right if this younger brother attempted first?" Nerves made his words tremble slightly. Apart from the man's intimidating nature, Yan Zheyun wasn't sure if he would take offence at Yan Zheyun's decision to refer to himself as a 'younger brother' rather than a 'humble servant'. Since the man knew Yan Zheyun's true position in life.
But Yan Zheyun didn't want to reveal that he was a slave in front of so many people. It was still a hard truth to accept.
To his relief, Young Master Huang didn't seem to notice his choice of honorifics. He didn't call him out on it, merely nodding gravely for Yan Zheyun to proceed. He even chided the little boy he was carrying, when the cute round ball started to sulk.
"Number Nine," he said with a frown. "That's enough from you. Have you forgotten all your manners? This…gentleman came first and should rightly be served before us."
9? Was that how many siblings the man had? Yan Zheyun still couldn't get used to the reproductive prowess of ancient times. His mother had grumbled that 3 was 3 too many labours to suffer through.
The boy wilted. "Okay…" he mumbled, before burying his face into his older brother's neck.
He was adorable. Yan Zheyun thought of his own baby brother and felt his heart melt a little.
"I'll make this quick then," he said, "so as to not waste Young Master Huang's time."
And with that, he turned back to the butterfly.