Heaven is fearless

·Eastern Palace (Shao Tianheng's Qixi Festival)

Qixi Festival is a big folk festival. The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meet on the magpie bridge. The lanterns beside the Jinshui River in the capital are like daytime. Thousands of paper lanterns are hung in the sky in restaurants and tea shops. They want to decorate this splendid capital into a palace of wealth and honor. They held the arms of close friends in their boudoirs, carried lanterns and laughed and passed by, and occasionally gathered together to whisper, and quietly nodded to the passing young talents.

A few days ago, the palace issued an edict that the people in the palace would have fun during the Qixi Festival, there would be no curfew in Beijing, and the palace gates would be open until midnight, and the maids would be allowed to leave the palace in shifts to celebrate the festival.

The prince is happy and quiet, and he has never celebrated the Qixi Festival, but he is kind-hearted, he does not celebrate festivals, and he has absolutely no problem with restricting the palace people to not celebrating festivals. The East Palace still hangs colorful lanterns according to the usual practice, and there are bright and bright festive festivals everywhere. In the scene, the maids wear begging silver hairpins in their hair, five-color silk thread sachets hanging around their waists, with happy but not coquettish smiles on their faces, and their skirts are like the wind when they walk, and the fragrance is full of fragrance.

Shao Tianheng gently put a volume of books on the table, raised his hand to pick up the teacup, the water in it was a bit cold, it's fine for ordinary people to drink it, but he couldn't drink it for a frail body like him.

The palace attendant had sharp eyes and was about to come over. Shao Tianheng waved his hand to make her step back, put the teacup back on the table, tapped the table twice with his fingertips, and asked softly, "Where is Dingnan Gong?"

The palace man replied respectfully: "My lord left the palace early in the morning, do you want to send someone to look for it?"

Shao Tianheng laughed when he heard the words, and shook his head: "The child has a heart, let him play."

Chu Zhang is only 17 years old, the age at which children love to play and make trouble. Yesterday he said that he would go to see lanterns with Shao Tianheng, but he forgot all about it in a blink of an eye.

Shao Tianheng didn't care about this either, he was not interested in lanterns or anything, and Chu Zhang was full of energy, he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to keep up with the young man's footsteps, so as not to disappoint others, reading books in the palace alone would be fine good.

He has been here for so many years.

Just as he was thinking, another servant came in and bowed deeply to Shao Tianheng: "Your Highness, Your Majesty is having a palace banquet, are you going this year?"

Every year when there are festivals, there is always a big banquet in the palace. This year's Qixi Festival banquet was held last night, and tonight's palace banquet is a family banquet for the concubines, princes and daughters of the palace. Shao Tianheng doesn't like to go to this kind of family banquet. Everyone had a smiling face, especially his noble status. In addition to looking at the emperor's face when speaking and acting, everyone also secretly glanced at his face to guess his mind.

It's not a comfortable thing to be guessed by others, Shao Tianheng felt like a plague god sitting there, why should he make people worry.

He coughed a few times, leaned on the soft cushion behind him, and closed his eyes slightly: "Just say that yesterday's big banquet was stricken with wind and cold, and I couldn't go out. I won't go to tonight's family banquet, and I will accuse my father." , and then send more rituals to the royal brothers and sisters' palaces."

The waiter took down his words respectfully, bowed his waist and backed out.

As soon as he went out, two maids came in with a tray full of dozens of red leather gift slips: "Your Highness, this is a slip from outside the palace, and the gift car is still waiting outside the East Palace."

Shao Tianheng leaned lazily on the cushion, and sighed after hearing the words: "Let Yingguang see, if you are not sure, send it to Gu here, the car parked outside the palace is too eye-catching, tell them back, don't do this again next time. "

The maid bowed her body and stepped back quietly.

There is no one in the room, and for a while, only the smoke and dust curling up from the incense burner hovered and floated up, the aroma of cold plums lingered in the nose, the prince's bedroom seemed deserted and had nothing to do with the joy of the world outside.

Qixi Festival is a festive season for others, but for him, it is just a day to deal with various affairs as usual, even because there are so many people on the festival that are prone to accidents, he has to always pay attention to the report of the patrol battalion, and the miscellaneous affairs in the palace are also very important. more than ever before.

"Your Highness, Concubine Zhuang is here to ask, would you like to go to watch the fireworks at the city tower at night?" Ying Guang came in silently, bent down beside him and changed a pot of new tea for him, and asked softly.

Shao Tianheng rubbed the acupuncture points next to his eyes with his fingers, and his already pale face was stained with boredom: "In the past, the father took her there, what are you going to do alone? No."

As soon as he finished speaking, he opened his eyes again: "Wait—you go and find out, is she planning to bring Shao Tianhuan up there?"

A trace of surprise appeared on Yingguang's face: "Take the second prince up? Then..."

The emperor took the empress to watch the fireworks on the Qixi Festival in the city tower. It was originally the emperor who brought the empress to show the harmony between the emperor and his wife. go……

His expression was more tired, as if he was extremely sleepy, and he frowned a pair of slender brows: "You go to Shao Tianhuan to mention something first, the court will have to talk about the salt transportation tomorrow, and then go to Concubine Zhuang to answer."

Ying Guang was stunned for a moment: "Your Highness is going to the court meeting tomorrow?"

The corner of Shao Tianheng's mouth raised a little: "Those who scare him, let him be quiet today."

Salt luck is a fat job earned by concubine Zhuang for Shao Tianhuan, and he showed a little intention to intervene here, which was enough for Shao Tianhuan to scare himself to death, so he didn't have the mood to go to the tower to watch the fireworks.

Yingguang then covered her lips with her sleeve and laughed: "Yes, servant girl is going now."

As the night darkened, the number of people coming and going to ask for his orders gradually decreased. The stars in the sky were bright, and the lanterns lit in the East Palace complemented the entire palace city, like a bright galaxy rising from the world.

The maids who stayed in the palace for the festival got the master's permission, and they also relaxed a lot, sitting around under the flower shelf, begging and joking, Shao Tianheng dismissed his servants, and read by himself with a light as bright as day, and fainted after reading it for a long time Fell asleep.

After all, it was night, and he woke up from the cold after squinting for less than a quarter of an hour. He grabbed the thin blanket beside him and draped it casually on his body. His throat was still itchy. He coughed a few times and sat up straight. The little maids let out one after another subdued exclamations.

Shao Tianheng squinted his eyes and saw that there was a deep night outside the window, and hot fireworks exploded one after another, colorful like an overwhelming dream, and with his momentum, he could burn the silent night sky into a noisy day.

The noise of joy outside the palace and the roar of gongs and drums echoed in the sky, and the echo could still be heard in the East Palace through the heavy palace walls.

Shao Tianheng thought casually, it turned out that the emperor had arrived on the tower and started setting off fireworks.

He was about to look back, when his gaze was concentrated, he saw small clusters of brilliance on the dark wall facing the bedroom.

Like stars lit up one by one in a line, different from lanterns, these small light sources spit out flickering and splashing starlight, like small fireworks, the fireworks continuously drop continuous light spots, flying like rain, Stretching like beads, a silver waterfall even more gorgeous than a dream appeared on the top of the East Palace wall.

"Wow...look over there! It's so beautiful!" The maids also noticed the scene over there, and they were amazed one after another. Compared with watching the distant fireworks just now, the silver waterfall here made them more surprised and joyful.

"Did His Highness order it?" They whispered to each other, looking at the beautiful scenery that they had never seen before with satisfaction.

Shao Tianheng also looked over there quietly, unlike the court ladies, he saw the trembling young man lying on the top of the wall and lighting a silver waterfall.

Watching him stretch out his arms to light the firework that has been extinguished, watching him sweating profusely and wiping the dirty soot on his face.

Shao Tianheng looked at it for a while, then silently moved his hand away, and the window was quietly closed.

After a while, there was another sound of footsteps outside, and a young man lowered his voice and asked the maid outside: "His Highness has been inside?"

The maids replied blankly: "Your Highness has never been out."

After a pause for a while, the young man asked with some reluctance: "Then...then did he open the window? I saw fireworks over there just now, did your Highness see it?"

The maids hesitated for a while, then whispered: "His Highness has been inside without any movement..."

The young man fell silent, feeling a little disappointed: "Is that so... Well, then I'm leaving, there's no need to tell His Highness that I've been here."

The palace maid couldn't help asking: "Grandpa, aren't you going to watch the lanterns outside the palace today?"

The young man hesitated and smiled: "I won't go, His Highness is sick, it's not fun to go out and crowd people, let's watch in the palace."

He stopped outside for a while, then walked slowly.

Shao Tianheng heard him walk away, pulled up the blanket, closed his eyes, and fell into a deep sleep.

******

·The ghost Xiyi only knew that today is Qixi Festival when she overheard the ghost girls chatting.

He didn't care about these things at first, he didn't even care about the ghost festival, how could he care about a mere Qixi Festival, and the ghosts haven't communicated with the mortal world for many years, he nestled in the ghosts and didn't listen to things outside the window, It doesn't matter what festivals mortals celebrate.

But the ghost girls are very interested in this, they always like to be lively, even in the dead ghosts, they insist on putting on a brightly lit posture in the world, I don't know where to get colored paper and silk, and make paper lanterns lively Come on, I still have to do some wishing notes to stick on the lamp.

"This thing is going to be put in the river. There is no river for ghosts. Where are you going to put it?" Xi Yi looked at them for a long time, and couldn't help but speak out against them.

The ghost girl vigilantly protected her lantern with one hand, pouted at him, and nodded at a blood-red horse in the distance: "Hey, isn't there such a long river over there?"

Xi Yi looked at her strangely: "Although there is water in the River of Forgetfulness, it can't really be used as a river for lanterns, right?"

Another ghost girl interjected: "Why not? Anyway, the lamps in the world will sink at the end, and Wang Chuan just sank a little faster."

This... sounds reasonable.

Xi Yi found that he couldn't find the loophole in her words for a while.

"Here, this is for you." The ghost woman with the fastest hands and feet has already folded a lantern, and handed the lantern to Xiyi with a smile, "Go and play."

Xi Yi didn't show any displeasure at the ghost girl's childish tone. He raised the lamp and observed it thoughtfully.

When he was still the son of the Xu family in Shanyin, he had seen countless lanterns. The lanterns made by court craftsmen were as tall as several people. There were animals and birds on them, as well as various flowers and plants in the world, which could occupy most of the courtyard. , every year only the New Year's Day will make such a one out, once the New Year's Day is over, it will be given to the courtiers.

As long as he wants this kind of lamp, he will definitely give it to him. By the year of his death, there were already more than a dozen piled up in the storeroom of his family. .

——Actually, he didn’t like the lamp, but he felt that this kind of unique and good thing had to be owned by himself.

He has even seen such a good thing, so he naturally looks down on this ordinary or even poorly made lotus lantern in his hand.

But this was probably the first time he saw a lantern after his death.

He looked at the lamp carefully, and the ghost girls had already smiled and held up their own lamps to go to Wangchuan to set them off. Xi Yi followed them silently, falling far away. Some distance away, pretending you're just dropping by.

When they got to the river of forgetfulness, the ghost girls scattered and wrote down their wishes on flower paper, sticking them on the paper lanterns, and then got together to see what others had written.

"Oh, when I died, my little boy was less than one year old, and he didn't even know how to call his mother. We don't ask him to be rich, but we only hope that he will live a safe life."

"The heartless man strangled me to death with a hemp rope, but I wished him a long life so that I could see him in his dreams every day. If he was lucky and scared to death, forget it. If he was unlucky, I would still I want to reconnect with him in his dream."

"Why are you all so frustrated? I'm different. I ask me to be a beautiful girl in my next life and live happily ever after, hehehe."

They all laughed, no one said that the ghost girl could not have an afterlife, but you made fun of her with each other.

Xi Yi listened from a distance, Nong Li's face was expressionless, a ghost girl saw him, laughed with her companions, dragged him into the encirclement, and stretched her neck to see him What was written on the lantern.

Xi Yi slapped the stretched neck back on the ghost girl's head, and said unhappily, "What are you looking at?"

The ghost girl sighed: "I didn't write anything..."

"This can't be done. According to the rules, you have to write your wishes. How can you light up the lights if you don't write your wishes?" The ghost girls chattered, "Write one and write one. Today is Qixi Festival. Write one about missing your sweetheart." Bar!"

Xi Yi lazily raised his eyelids, with a smile that was not a smile at the end of his bright red eyes: "Sweetie? Where did you get your sweetheart from?"

Taking advantage of his lack of anger, the ghost girls pestered him with a smile: "It's okay if you don't have a sweetheart. Write a poem about longing to suit the occasion."

Xi Yi sneered, and didn't refuse anymore, raised his finger, condensed ink with thick ghost aura, and wrote two lines of words on the paper wall of the lotus lantern.

Different from the slutty appearance of the ghost king Li Li, his calligraphy is rigorous, his strokes are clear and clear, and the turning points are full of graceful and elegant beauty.

The ghost girls gently followed his fingers and said: "...don't dare...to speak loudly, for fear...to shock the heavens...what is this? It's off topic, it's off topic!"

They complained dissatisfiedly: "Is this just a casual sentence? Didn't you agree to write something related to missing?"

Xi Yi avoided their hands, dragged the lotus lantern with his ghostly spirit, and sent it to Wangchuan, watching it float up the blood-red river, and was soon caught by a rotten ghost corpse, before turning his eyes. He raised his eyebrows arrogantly: "I write whatever I like."

Besides, he didn't feel that he was digressing.

The ghost girls muttered and complained, and dispersed to set off their own lanterns. Xiyi stood there watching them for a while, then raised his head, looking at the eternal starless and moonless sky of ghosts and monsters.

Hmph, what do these ghost girls know.