Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1245 Epilogue : The True Great Ming Dynasty

Lantern Festival, afternoon.

Xie Yan and the princess had already packed up, leaving only the final festive decorations.

A large bundle of snow plums and snow willows was brought in. They were bought from the market yesterday.

Fake flowers!

Bamboo strips and iron wire are used as the framework, silk is used to make plum blossoms, and white paper is used to cut out snowflakes. This is called Yuanxiao Snow Plum.

The same goes for Xueliu.

Xie Yan and the princess sat side by side in front of the dressing table, while Qingluan, Zifeng and other maids arranged flowers and willows for them.

There is a poem that goes: This year's Lantern Festival is well arranged, and the snow willows and fragrant plums are hard to cut.

Zhu Tangxi had already put on a bun and a crown, and there were many ornaments on her bun. She looked in the mirror and said, "The shorter one on your left hand."

"This one?" Qingluan picked out a branch of snow plum.

Zhu Tangxi said: "Yes, the crown is inserted diagonally."

Qingluan immediately inserted the snow plum branch diagonally into the princess's hair bun, next to the golden crown.

"The second branch should be planted farther apart, not too close together," Zhu Tangxi continued to instruct, "the one with three plum blossoms."

A moment later, Zhu Tangxi's hair was full of snow plums and snow willows.

The red plum blossoms, green willows and white snow complement each other and are very beautiful.

Qingluan said, "Do you want to insert another swallow?"

Zhu Tangxi said: "The swallows are sitting on the side with their beaks touching the willow branches. The returning swallows hold the willow branches in their beaks."

The swallows are also fake, but quite realistic.

Moreover, the things of the princess and her husband are different from those of the servants. They are made of gold and silver wires instead of ordinary iron wires.

Xie Yan's outfit was much simpler. He wore a hat with only a branch of snow plum stuck on it.

Zifeng wanted to insert a few more willow branches, but Xie Yan didn't like the color, especially when it came to his hair.

"Does it look good?" Zhu Tangxi stood up.

Xie Yan pretended to be fascinated: "Is this a fairy descending to earth? Fairy, may I ask where my princess sister is?"

"You're the only one who can say that!" Zhu Tangxi seemed both angry and happy, and her heart felt as sweet as if she had eaten honey.

Most people cannot cover up a head full of fake flowers, fake willows and fake swallows, which can easily make it look complicated and cumbersome.

But Zhu Tangxi has a different kind of beauty when dressed like this.

It is three points less dignified and elegant, and seven points more graceful and beautiful.

After the couple finished packing, maids such as Qingluan, Zifeng and others also began to dress up one by one, and in the end all of them had their heads covered with decorations.

As evening approached, they had a simple meal and then headed for the imperial city.

The princess brought ten guards with her to separate the people who were watching the lanterns to prevent the crowd from bumping into the fetus.

Xie Yan's five male followers (plus Wang Sheng) also went out to provide protection together with the guards.

The princess brought six maids, and Xie Yan's maid brought three.

Everyone was holding lanterns and walked along the street instead of taking a car.

It was not yet completely dark, but the whole city was already lit up.

"Selling snow plums, snow willows, bodhi leaves, moth bees..."

There were vendors carrying loads on their shoulders, shouting and selling along the street. There were many varieties, including fake bees, dragonflies and other insects, as well as fake willow leaves, bodhi leaves and other plants.

Occasionally, passers-by who were watching the lanterns would stop the vendor, buy a few and put them on their heads.

There is a poem that goes: "The flowers are gorgeous, the jade is beautiful, the silk clothes are bright with gold threads. The moths are busy and the small dragonflies are clustered, calling to each other to watch the test lights."

"Your Highness, My Lord, look over there!" Yucai suddenly shouted.

But I saw a few playboys with huge butterflies on their heads. When they walked, they moved with great amplitude, and the wings of the butterflies kept flapping. You could see them from a long distance.

They deliberately moved closer to the young woman and waved their arms like wings, trying to attract extra attention from the opposite sex.

"Where did this vagrant come from!"

Perhaps because he was too close to the woman, the woman's elder became furious and was about to hit him with his fist.

"Haha, elder, please calm down." The playboys retreated one after another, grinning and not taking it seriously at all.

Another group of half-grown children came running over, kicking rolling lanterns.

This is a football-shaped lantern, made by someone who knows how it was made. Not only can it withstand being kicked, but even when the lantern rolls on the ground, the candle inside never goes out.

The princess's guards shouted: "Don't offend the noble!"

The group of half-grown children were frightened and quickly kicked the rolling lights to bypass it.

Xie Yan supported the princess and walked slowly forward. Everything he saw found strange.

Last year's Lantern Festival was celebrated in Huangzhou Prefecture. Although there was also a lantern festival there, it was far less lively than in Luoyang, and there were not as many varieties as in Luoyang.

Occasionally, we would meet nobles, civil servants and military officers who came with their families to watch the lanterns. Everyone would greet each other with smiles on their faces, and there would be less hierarchy than usual.

"Greetings to Your Highness!"

Wu Lingfeng and her husband also came, along with her father-in-law, mother-in-law, and sisters-in-law.

Her brother-in-law Ding Shaoyan was nowhere to be seen. He didn't even accompany his wife on the Lantern Festival. He must have made an appointment with his friends to go out and have fun.

The two families congratulated each other, chatted for a few words and then parted.

After walking around for a while, Xie Yan looked ahead and said with a smile: "Wow, you really know how to have fun."

Zhu Tangxi said: "That's called fire bayberry, and only reckless young men wear it."

Instead, dried dates and charcoal are pounded into powder, red pigment is added and stirred, and finally rolled into a dark red bayberry shape. Then bamboo and iron wire are used to make bayberry branches.

This thing was inserted into the head, and it burst into flames after being lit. Some of the young men Xie Yan saw at this moment even had flames all over their heads, walking on the street with their heads held high. They almost shouted, "Look at me, look at me. Do you think I am awesome?"

Fire bayberry is actually relatively safe.

Some people also carry oil lamps on their heads, usually in the shape of lotus or peony. They have to be very careful when walking, as the oil may fall on their heads or even catch fire.

With the popularization of glass, this oil lamp has an improved version.

People made a light bulb out of glass, added lamp oil and wick to light it, and fixed the glass bulb with a net, which was worn on the head as part of the net scarf.

There are many women wearing glass light bulbs!

Just now, an official came to visit with his family. His wife, daughter, and daughter-in-law all wore glass bulbs. They were colored glass, only the size of an egg, and emitted colorful lights.

This kind is called a lantern ball and it existed in the Northern Song Dynasty.

Glass was not easy to make at that time, and only women from wealthy families could afford it.

Xie Yan was really surprised. Before he went out, he thought that he and the princess were dressed very cool. But when he got to the street, he found that the couple were very conservative.

The streets of Luoyang city are full of monsters and demons.

Not only are there various kinds of lanterns, but the costumes are also colorful and eye-catching.

He even saw a girl wearing brightly colored women's clothing, with a head full of egg-sized balls of light, like a Bodhisattva that glowed automatically at night.

The most nervous people may be the police officers.

From the Wucheng Bingma Division to the government office and the county office, all officials were on high alert tonight. They even dispatched some imperial guards to guard the important roads.

Maintaining law and order is only a secondary task.

The first priority is firefighting!
Even the shops along the street were ordered to prepare buckets in advance, and all the buckets and basins in the houses and yards were filled with water.

"Dong dong dong dong..."

The automatic clock in the clock tower rang out.

At the same time, the huge bell of Tianwang Temple was rung, and the sound of this huge bell could be heard throughout Luoyang.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

People inside and outside the city started setting off fireworks, and balls of fireworks appeared in the night sky.

Many fire trees also light fireworks, which are truly a scene of fireworks and silver flowers.

In the center of Zhuque Street, a stage has already been set up, and free performances of opera, magic, acrobatics, etc. have begun. The money is raised by the shops on both sides of the street, because it can bring huge customer traffic to nearby shops.

Xie Yan helped the princess to the Donghua Gate, where there were huge crowds of people inside and outside the gate.

Parts of the imperial city were opened to the public, and merchants even set up stalls outside the Inner East Gate - the place where Xie Yan stood when he welcomed his bride.

The rent for the Lantern Festival stalls in the Imperial City is shockingly high!

The Song Dynasty did this in the past, and the rulers and ministers of the Song Dynasty were quite business-minded.

Those outsiders who were celebrating the Lantern Festival in Luoyang rushed into Donghua Gate to watch the fun and experience the joy of freely entering and leaving the imperial city.

"Make way, make way, don't bump into the noble man!"

The princess's guards fought hard to clear the way and forced open the Donghua Gate. Xie Yan carefully escorted the princess in.

Soon, the imperial guards came and led them to the horse path in Dongkuo City, climbed up the city wall and walked towards the inner east gate.

"Wow, we've climbed onto the wall of the imperial city!" Baochai exclaimed excitedly.

Daiyu was also very excited, but she held back from shouting because she was afraid of embarrassing her husband.

Xiren followed Daiyu closely, feeling full of pride and pride. Humph, even Zhao Jingjing is not qualified to climb the imperial city wall!
The three of them were brought here by Xie Yan's request.

Wang Sheng and the other five male followers were in a similar mood, all of them benefited from the favor of the prince consort.

When they arrived at the inner east gate tower, all the male and female attendants and guards were stopped. Even those brought by the princess were not allowed to go any further.

Only Xie Yan was left supporting the princess and continuing to move towards the city wall.

Led by the imperial guards, they walked towards the tower at the main gate of the imperial city, where some top dignitaries had gathered. Outside was Suzaku Street, where many stages were set up for performances, and the dignitaries on the tower watched with binoculars.

Xie Yan looked for a while, then heard a noise behind him, and many guards and palace maids ran over.

Then the sound of ritual music became louder.

"The Emperor is going upstairs! The Empress Dowager is going upstairs!"

Following the shouts, the little emperor, accompanied by the two empress dowagers, climbed up the city wall with his guards and palace servants.

"The government is coming, the government is coming!"

The people below the city shouted and turned to look at the city wall.

The little emperor stood on the arrow slit of the parapet and waved to the people outside the city. This was what Taizong liked to do when he was alive, and several emperors followed suit.

"Long live your Majesty, long live, long live your Majesty!"

People were shouting at the top of their lungs.

But you are not allowed to kneel.

Whether to abolish the kneeling ceremony is secondary. The main issue is that there are too many people tonight, and kneeling down may easily lead to a stampede.

"Fire the imperial fireworks!"

Following the order from the ceremonial officer, fireworks on the inner and outer walls of Luoyang were ignited and launched into the sky one after another.

Envoys from vassal states such as Koko Kaba were also invited to the city tower to watch the ceremony tonight.

Coco Kaba was stunned looking at the fireworks in the night sky and the countless people and lights below the city.

Isn’t this really the Kingdom of God?

Xie Yan also sighed: What a prosperous Ming Dynasty!

(End of this chapter)