The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the Lantern Festival. During the national mourning period, banquets and banquets are prohibited, and weddings and funerals are prohibited. Officials do not dare to slap the royal family in the face with the accusation of disrespect. For the people, the ban only lasts for the first three months.

As time went by, these rules were lifted one after another. Unmarried women in this era usually stayed at home, and there were only a few days when they could make exceptions and go out together, and the Lantern Festival was one of them.

Yulan had long heard that this year's lantern festival had not been completely cancelled, but that it was much smaller than in the past. It was concentrated in a few blocks of Dongcheng and was organized voluntarily by the people. In fact, the emperor also knew about this kind of thing, but although the orthodox emperor

He is not a wise man, but his personality is relatively kind, and he turns a blind eye to such things.

This is a rare festival once a year. When Yulan arrived at the second gate, he saw a row of carriages parked at the door, and even the fifth wife came out.

The fifth wife’s son is named Cong Geer. Compared with Enge’er who died young, this son is healthy and lively. The fifth wife does not leave the house even after confinement and stays at home all day long.

He watched his son closely.

Yulan stepped forward to greet him, and the topic naturally turned to Brother Cong. He couldn't say a few words, but the eldest wife, the second wife, Yuqing, including Chengzu, Chengye, Chengzong, and Chengsi all came out one after another. Plus

The door was almost full of servants and maids. The three girls Yulan brought out today were Xiaoyue, Xiaoyu and Yuan Zi. Mother Qian took the initiative to stay and watch the yard.

Yuxia was the last one to arrive belatedly. She was dressed up in a colorful way, which made her look quite colorful. It was just the charming look between her eyebrows that made Yulan feel that there was something about her the more she looked at her.

She has the temperament of a "mistress". She shook her head inwardly, being close to red makes her red, and close to ink makes her black. What kind of mother she has will teach her what kind of daughter.

When they greeted each other, Yuxia smiled at her: "Good sister, you are so beautiful today. Today we sisters are walking together, you can't leave me to be happy alone!" There was a hint of intimacy in her tone.

.

Even the eldest lady looked at Yuxia strangely.

Yulan still continued her previous style today, wearing fresh and appropriate clothes. She dressed like this every day, but she never heard a word of praise from Yuxia. Yulan secretly wondered, has this fifth sister changed her temper?

If something is abnormal, it must be a monster. Yulan quietly looked at Yuxia with the corner of her eye, and saw the light flashing slightly in her eyes. What on earth was Yuxia going to do? She paid attention in her heart.

When everyone arrived, the eldest lady said: "Since everyone is here, let's set off!" Everyone got on the carriage one after another. There were too many people today, so Yulan, the three sisters Yuxia and Yuqing took a carriage together.

The carriage staggered out of the gate of Yang Mansion and headed straight for Tiemaoer Hutong, a nearby neighborhood with the most Dengshan and the busiest streets.

Along the way, Yulan found that Yuxia had been looking at her with twinkling eyes, but when she met her eyes, she turned away. Yulan was secretly surprised, Yuxia must have some evil intentions, and she must be careful after a while.

Be careful.

Soon we arrived at Tiemaoer Hutong. Under the lanterns, it was as bright as day, and there was a scene of fireworks. Although the scale was less than half that of previous years, Duandi was very lively.

Perhaps because the ban on national mourning was severe this year, people in Beijing finally got the opportunity to go out and have fun. They all went out in full force. Several lighted alleys nearby were crowded with people, and carriages could not drive in when they reached the alley entrance.

. Everyone had to get down and walk.

There were stalls, jugglers, and people selling things everywhere. Yulan had lived for more than 20 years in his previous life, and had never experienced such an atmospheric Lantern Festival. He looked around curiously for a while. Yuxia suddenly said: "Turn left ahead.

It’s the residence of the Shen family, the richest man in the capital. Every year, the lights in their house are extraordinarily novel. I don’t know what this year will be like. Seventh sister, why don’t we go take a look?”

Yu Lan was wearing a curtain hat and holding a lantern in her hand. Hearing this, she smiled slightly and said, "If Fifth Sister is interested, just go by yourself. I'll just follow my wife!" She had made up her mind to do it today.

Following closely the large army, as long as everyone is here, Yuxia won't be able to use any of her schemes.

Yuxia's face changed and she snorted slightly: "I don't know what is good or bad. In that case, let's go on our own, Kumquat!" After that, she took Kumquat and turned left into another alley. Since they were all out for fun, this time

The Japanese wives left the girls alone and ordered them to take the maids with them and gather at the entrance of the alley where the carriage was parked an hour later. Yuxia went on her own, and the eldest lady didn't bother to take care of her.

Yulan always felt that Yuxia had something to do tonight. As soon as she left, Yulan's mood relaxed a lot. The more she walked inside, the more people there were. After walking for a while, she realized that she had unknowingly been with everyone.

The wife and others separated. When I looked back, I saw that my third brother Chengzong was still behind me, and I felt slightly at ease.

Yu Lan was secretly rejoicing when suddenly a crowd of people came out of nowhere, and Yu Lan was carried by this crowd and walked to the alley on the left involuntarily.

Yulan was shocked and hurriedly shouted to the three girls: "Follow me! Don't get separated!" Xiaoyue, Xiaoyu and Yuan Zi were all loyal, and the three of them surrounded Yulan and never left.

They followed her. When everyone entered the alley on the left, the number of people gradually became less and less.

Yulan felt relieved. She looked up and saw that the Shen family's mansion was in the middle of the alley. Sure enough, there was a huge mountain of lanterns with complicated patterns. There were many people gathered on the three floors inside and outside.

There were a lot of people. Yulan glanced around and saw no Yuxia in his sight, so he was slightly relieved.

At this time, in the Shen family's mansion, there was no one in the bedroom in the main courtyard. Only a faintly obscene smile could be heard: "My dear, I miss you so much!" It was the prince's voice. This is why the Shen family can

Being the richest man in the capital naturally has the support of noble people behind him. The backstage of the Shen family is the prince Ye Minshu. At this moment, Ye Minshu borrowed the Shen family's place to have a private meeting with Yuxia.

He held Yuxia in his arms and kissed and sniffed her face and neck impatiently. One hand had already reached into her arms. Yuxia chuckled and said, "Why are you so anxious, Your Highness?"

Well? When we finish the play later, you can justifiably marry me as your concubine, and you don’t have to be so secretive anymore."

The prince chuckled lewdly and said, "You have made Gu Shi feel comfortable, so that Gu can have the strength to act with you, a little goblin!"

Yuxia snorted: "Your Highness, you are really evil! I just don't know if my cousin can succeed?"

The prince paused and said: "You hate your seventh sister so much? Your cousin has the head of a deer and the eyes of a mouse. He is not good at literature and martial arts. He is still just a white man. His family is very poor. Once he is established, he and

Since your sister has a physical relationship, her only option is to marry him."

Yuxia's eyes were full of malice: "Otherwise, how can you relieve the hatred in my heart!"

The prince said: "It's a pity to ruin your sister's beauty and beauty like this. Since you want to ruin her reputation, you might as well just give me an advantage!"

Yuxia was taken aback and quickly tried her best to be coquettish and said: "Your Highness, you can't eat from the bowl and look at the pot. My sister has a good skin, am I the same?"

The prince looked Yuxia up and down. The eldest wife also let Yuxia take care of herself and didn't bother to care at all. So during these days they found countless opportunities to have secret trysts. Yuxia's ability to please people was learned from Aunt Liu to 10%.

10. The prince felt comfortable being served by her, and he really couldn't live without her.

But thinking of Yulan's delicate and perfect little face, the prince felt a little reluctant. But then he thought about it, Yulan had a close relationship with Princess Qingjiang, and Ye Minzhao. Princess Qingjiang represented the King of Qin Ye Feng.

The forces of the Qi family, and Ye Minzhao represent the forces of Jingyang Palace. The critical moment to seize the throne is when he vigorously attracts these two forces. If he obtains Yulan through dishonorable means, it will be detrimental to his great cause.

There will be many obstacles.

The prince's mind turned over and over again, and he soon made up his mind. What a pity for such a superb beauty!

At this time, he had stripped off Yuxia's clothes, pressed her on the bed, and gasped: "No matter how good she is, how can she compare to a little fairy like you..."

Yu Lan was squeezed by the crowd and came to this Shen's alley. She was thoughtful and didn't want to stay here any longer. She just wanted to find her family as soon as possible and meet them and go home together. She took her three maids along the way.

The crowd walked back, but after a few steps they realized something was wrong. Yuan Zi came over and said softly to her: "Girl, there are more than a dozen men following us, as if they have bad intentions! Let me send them away!"

"

This was the first time Yulan had encountered such a thing, and she felt a slight sweat on her head: "Don't act rashly, there are so many people here, they don't dare to mess around."

Yuan Zi nodded and saw that there was an intersection in front of him. After exiting this alley, he could find his family and it would be safe. At this moment, another crowd of people came rushing towards him. Yuan Zi nervously protected Yu

Next to Lan, when everyone passed by, Xiaoyue suddenly said nervously: "Xiaoyu, girl, Xiaoyu is missing!"

"What's going on?" Yulan was so nervous that her palms were sweating. Yuan Zi's eyes were sharp and he saw Xiaoyu not far away, sandwiched by four burly men, facing a dark room in the middle of a two-room mansion.

She walked into the small alley. It was obvious that her mouth had been covered by someone, and she could not make any sound at all. Several big Han people were tall and strong, and the crowd passed by in a hurry, and no one noticed them for a while.

Yuan Zi asked nervously: "Girl, what should I do?" She was absolutely confident that she could save Xiaoyu, but once she left Yulan, she didn't know what those people were going to do. Yuan Zi was a little hesitant.

.

How could Yulan see Xiaoyu being kidnapped and not care about her own safety? She said without hesitation: "What are you still waiting for? Go rescue people quickly! Let's go together!"

The three people finally squeezed out of the crowd and walked quickly towards the small alley. The small alley was between two large houses. It was dark and had no lights. Naturally, no one would come here. The three people faced each other.

After a quick glance, Yulan walked in first, and Yuan Zi and Xiaoyue hurriedly followed.
Chapter completed!