On the Lantern Festival, the flower market lights were like daylight.
"There are pedestrians everywhere today. You guys who follow the misses should be more vigilant, understand?" Mrs. Su was a little worried, but the children were clamoring to see the lanterns. So she instructed the people who were accompanying them a bit. She also couldn't resist reminding her daughters a few more words: "Don't go to overly crowded places. Don't get stepped on or fall, understand?"
You Ling tugged at her wrinkled sleeves, stood beside You Bao and smiled with curved like crescent eyes: "Mother, don't worry. Us daughters aren't easy to bully!"
"You Ling is right!" You Zhu puffed her chest out and said proudly, "If any blind person dares to provoke this miss, I will let him know what regret is!"
Su Family's girls have all learned some fighting skills since they were young. Now all grown up, they were all tall and slender. Although they looked a little thin, it was all an illusion. Two or three skill-less adult men weren't necessarily their opponents!
Hearing what Third Daughter said, Mrs. Su didn't know whether to laugh or cry for a while: "You!"
She didn't know whether it was a good thing or a bad thing to agree to let her daughters practice martial arts.
"Eldest Miss, the carriages outside are all ready." Chun Sheng came to report that the front was ready. Then Su Family's children went outside in a rowdy manner. Even Su Kang, who was now very calm, followed along. Only a few elders were left at home. The charm of the Lantern Festival was evident.
You Jin, who was holding You Duan's hand, walked to the front yard and stopped at the turn to the corridor of the east courtyard for a while. After glancing at the moon gate of the east courtyard, she led her younger sisters and continued to move forward without saying a word. She threw these half a month's troubles and trifles to the back of her mind and no longer thought about it.
You Duan tightly held Eldest Sister with one hand and pointed to a cute jade rabbit lantern hanging on the lantern stand with the other: "Eldest sister, I want this lantern!"
Only after night fell, the street was full of pedestrians and lanterns at every corner were lit up. There were fireworks blooming in the dark blue night sky from time to time in the distance and near.
The smile on You Jin's lips never broke. She nodded to the vendor who could tell they were noble customers upon their arrival and had already taken down the lantern pointed by the little girl. Then she asked You Luo, who was still struggling to decide which lantern to choose: " What about You Luo? Which lantern do You Luo want?"
You Luo, who looked sixty percent like her, squinted her eyes for a long time and finally decided to choose a carp lantern. After the peddler tactfully lit the candles in the lantern, the lantern turned into a big red lantern carp. Quite a pretty sight.
Qiu Fen, who was by Eldest Miss's side, hurriedly followed Miss's footsteps after paying the money, fearing that something might happen to Miss.
With the money in hand, the peddler still hadn't recovered his sense. Those little girls were so pretty! He didn't come back to his senses until another customer came to buy a lantern: "Noble Customer, which lantern do you want?"
Back to Su Family. Once You Bao entered the city, she was picked up by Fourth Wei who had been waiting at Sujiayan long ago. The Lantern Festival was also a rare opportunity for the little lovers to get along with each other. Naturally You Jin wouldn't stop them. She only instructed You Bao's personal maid, Dong Zhi and the guards to protect the third miss.
As for You Zhu, she had already taken You Ling to watch the lanterns with her classmates from Erya Female Academy. Only You Jin was left to take the youngest two for a walk. It was quite interesting.
"Look, Eldest Sister!" You Duan with a tiger mask on her head pointed at the Lantern King hanging in the center of the main street of Luohe Prefecture this year: "It's so beautiful!"
This year's Lantern King was a 40-foot-high thousand-handed Goddess of Mercy lantern. The benevolent Goddess of Mercy appeared more compassionate under the light of the candlelight. From the thousand hands behind the Avalokitesvara to the poplar nectar held in the left hand, every part showed how ingenious the craftsman's lantern-making skills was.
As soon as the Lantern King came out, it attracted all the attention of the pedestrians. More and more people couldn't move when they reached the street corner. Out of their mouths were exclaims: "Too beautiful!"
"It is even more beautiful than last year's White Flower Celestial Fairy Lantern!"
"In my opinion, the hundred birds toward the wind from a few years ago is the best!"...
There were more and more pedestrians. Gradually it became a little tight.
You Jin, who was pushed by the crowd a few, felt unwilling to stay here anymore. In order to avoid the two younger sisters getting bumped, the two guards walked ahead to clear the way, while she and Qiu Fen each held a younger sister. They were going out against the flow of people: "Be careful, don't get squished."
"Be careful!" You Jin, who had her mind on the two younger sisters and not herself, was bumped by a pedestrian who suddenly rushed over and was about to fall backwards. She fell into a thick embrace.
Xiao Lin Yu quietly followed after Su Family's carriage left and then silently followed You Jin. He knew that You Jin was still angry with him, but he was going back to the capital tomorrow. If he missed tonight, it was unknown when the two of them would see each other again.
Seeing the moment when You Jin almost fell, Xiao Lin Yu felt his heart was about to jump out of his chest. He strode up to quickly catch her and then helped her to stand upright: "Are you okay?"
You Jin thought she was going to fall, so she quickly let go of You Duan. Unexpectedly, Xiao Lin Yu came behind her out of nowhere and caught him. She stood slight apart and half bit her lips. After a moment of self-consciousness, she said: "Thank you."
"Elder Brother Lin Yu!" Xiao Lin Yu had been active in Su's house for half a month. The two little traitors, You Duan and You Chou, have long been bribed by him. Now seeing him rescue Eldest Sister, they obediently greeted: "Eldest Sister wants to take us back to the Sujiayan to watch the lights. Elder Brother Lin Yu, do you want to come with me?"
Before You Jin could say anything in the future, Xiao Lin Yu replied, "Okay."
You Jin tried her best to control her gaze to not look at him. In fact, she had already known from Mrs. Yu about his hardships in the past three years. But once a girl's unreasonableness came up and there was no step for her to go down, she remained stiff like this and ignored him.
Xiao Lin Yu sensed that her limbs were a little stiff as she walked in front of him. Still, he didn't forget to carefully protect her from the pedestrians bumping into her. A doting smile appeared on his lips. His little fox had grown up!
There were many people on the street. Su Family's carriage couldn't get in, so everyone had to walk slowly in the direction of the Sujiayan. At some point, Xiao Lin Yu bought two packs of fried chestnuts and handed one pack to You Duan and You Chou in front. He held the other pack, carefully peeled out a whole and plump chestnut, and quietly stuffed it into You Jin's hand: "How about you try the freshly baked chestnuts??"
Smelling the sweet smell of chestnuts lingering around her and feeling the warmth of a chestnut being stuffed into her hands, You Jin lowly acknowledged with an 'en'. She gently put the hot chestnuts into her mouth. The sweet, glutinous and sweet taste of chestnut diffused in the mouth with a few chews. Don't know if It was because of the chestnut or the person next to me, You Jin felt her whole person become warm.
Seeing that she didn't reject him, the smile lines on Xiao Lin Yu's lips deepened. Shortly later, he peeled another one and stuffed it into her hand. Like a warehouse in the dark, one peeled, the other ate. After eating five-six in a row, You Jin felt that her throat was a little dry. Only then, Xiao Lin Yu stopped in disappointment.
He handed the rest of the chestnuts to the footboy following him. Xiao Lin Yu closely followed the young girl's footsteps. When the intersection ahead was blocked, the two of them were almost holding hands. So he half-lowered her head and asked in a low voice: "You Jin, don't be angry with me anymore, okay?"
You Jin was completed by his low, hoarse and coquettish voice. She only felt that the left side of her body was slightly numb. Half hanging her head, she didn't look back at him.
Xiao Lin Yu looked at the girl's graceful neck, which was as delicate and moving as the finest white jade under the radiance of the lanterns and candles, and couldn't help swallowing, "I won't hide anything from you in the future, okay? Just this one time. I won't do it next time?"
After waiting for an unknown amount of time, the pedestrians in front finally dispersed. When the flow of people going out began to move slowly again, Xiao Lin Yu heard the girl's vague 'en'.
Once everyone walked out of the most congested street, they could finally breathe the cool air of early spring. Xiao Lin Yu, who was following at the back, smiled complacently. .While Eldest Miss's eyes were a little wandering and her cheeks were flushed for some reason. It was very strange.
"Cough, cough, let's go back quickly. Maybe we will be blocked again in a while." You Jin coughed dryly, suppressing the embarrassment in her heart and calmly directed the large troops to continue walking back. Taking advantage of the group walking forward and looking around left and right, she pointedly glared at Xiao Lin Yu. As if she was silently saying: 'It was all your fault!'
Xiao Lin Yu smiled even more happily.
Although the group of people walked back, they didn't delay their playing at all. In addition, Xiao Lin Yu deliberately curry favors. There were clay figurines and candied haws. You Duan and You Chou had great fun.
Today was the Lantern Festival. It went without saying Sujiayan was full of guests. The chubby and kind Ai Chang came out of the suite on the second floor to exchange greetings with the guests with a smile. Seeing Owner Family's misses come, he came forward like a galloping potato: "Eldest Miss is back. The suites at the back are all prepared."
"There are a lot going on in the store. It's hard on Uncle Ai. You don't need to worry about us." You Jin replied with a smile and led the two younger sisters to the backyard.
When Ai Chang saw the man behind her, his eyes lit up first. Then he lowered his head at once under the sign of the man's eyes and made way for the masters.
In the garden of the Sujiayan, hundreds of lanterns that Ai Chang had specially ordered artisans to make were hung in the garden. The lanterns of various colors complement each other. The main lantern, the lotus celestial fairy lantern hanging on the rockery in the middle of the courtyard, was also very beautiful.
All the suites in the Sujiayan Garden must be reserved in advance. Some people in Luohe Prefecture knew that Sujiayan also had a lantern festival. Knowing that the streets were crowded with people, it was better to quietly and comfortably watch the lanterns here. In addition to the fact that Su Family had gained so much face this year. There were even more people with ulterior motives. Many of them came here with the intention of being associated with Su Family. Due to this, all the suites for the Lantern Festival had already been booked out.
"Hello Miss Su." A young man who looked like a gentle scholar and held a folding fan stopped in front of Su Family group. He thought he was smiling gracefully: "Student Zhang Han have heard of Miss Su name for a long time. I have admired Miss for a long time. Today seeing Miss, I discovered Miss is far above the rumors."
Before You Jin could react to the public confession, Xiao Lin Yu on the side turned dark: "You look like a scholar, but you're actually so rude! Truly insulting the reputation of the scholars of the past and sages?"
Zhang Han spent a lot of money to enter Sujiayan in order to capture the beauty's heart in one fell swoop. He never thought that a Cheng Yao Jin would pop out halfway and was very displeased. But in order to maintain his handsome appearance, he replied with a smile: "Brother, why do you speak out to hurt people for no reason? Although I was a little reckless, there is an old saying that a graceful maiden is well-suited as a spouse for a gentleman. Since I am a gentleman, what's wrong?"
"A gentleman won't commit acts like blocking the road." Xiao Lin Yu's jade face was slightly dark. He was quite displeased.
You Jin helplessly glared at the jealous man. She only just budged. Why was he still hitting the snake with the stick?
Xiao Lin Yu, who was glared at by her, turned his head away very childishly. Letting out a faint harrumph, he ignored him.
Looking at the interaction between the two, Zhang Han felt the situation wasn't right. He hurriedly said: "During the Lantern Festival, there will be lanterns released in the Luohe River. Thousands of lanterns will reflect in the sparkling water surface. It's quite a resplendent and magnificent sight. I wonder if Miss Su is interested in going with me?"
About Zhang Han. He was originally from a wealthy family, but his father was an unscrupulous person. When he was young, he indulged in sensuality and lingered in casinos. Tens of thousands of family assets were mostly wiped out when Zhang Han was around thirteen or fourteen years old. Now there was only an old triple entry house in the city east of Luohe Prefecture and another 20 to 30 mu of land that were rented out. There was no other wealth.
That Zhang Han was so conceited. How can he live a simple life? He believed he have a good skin and a bit of intelligence. After studying hard for a few years and achieving Tongsheng last year, he was determined to find a woman who was both talented and beautiful with a wealthy family background.
In the autumn of last year, Zhang Han caught a glimpse of Su Family's legendary eldest miss in Jiazi Lane where Erya Female Academy was located. During these days, he observed with cold eyes. Su Family was really well off and only had one son.The family assets of Su Family was single-handedly earned by Su Family's eldest daughter. Presumably, if anyone married Su Family's eldest daughter, there would be a huge dowry. Zhang Han was also quite confident about his appearance. Considering how Su Family's eldest daughter was almost eighteen years old now, she would definitely not refuse with his personality and appearance.
You Jin didn't know the background of this person. Still, she looked coldly at him. Although he was dressed as a scholar, his eyes were glinting and didn't look like a gentleman at all. Dislike filled her heart, but she didn't show it on her face. Only the corners of her lips slightly bend up as she said indifferently: "Thank you for your kind intention,I am nothing but a willow tree appearance. I dare not compare myself with Gentleman. Gentleman, please move a little bit."
Zhang Han had waited a long time for this opportunity, how could he just step aside like this? But before he could say anything, he saw the man behind Su Family's girl wave his hand. Then two guards with swords and armor stepped forward and lifted himself away.
With his scholarly dignity thrown to the ground, Zhang Han was tightly grasped. In a mess, he shouted: "What are you doing? I have a rank? I will definitely report to Official Qin and get him to punish you!"
It was a pity that Su Family's daughter didn't even look at him. The group hurried forward.
One of the guards who lifted himself away directly took out a token from his arms, placed it in his sight, and shook it. Then they expressionlessly walked away.
After Zhang Han saw it, his legs became weak. He sat on the ground slumped: "Yu, Yu, Lin Army?!" If the two guards just now were the Yulin Army, then could it be, the man who commanded them,, Commandery Duke Luo? Thinking of this, Zhang Han broke out in a cold sweat for no reason in the cold weather. After an unknown period of time and seeing that no one noticed his existence, he left Sujiayan with one light foot and one heavy foot.