Lantern Festival
The next two days were brutal for Prince Xiao. His day consisted of chats with the emperor in the morning, and then he would spend time with Jie You in the late afternoon, followed by events happening in the city.
On the first night, it was the annual lantern festival in Southern Han. The streets of Chen'an were lit and heavily decorated with lotuses and bright red lanterns. Many of the shops were closed for this event, only a few of the bigger restaurants and tea houses were opened to the public. The busiest area around this time was the Eastern Gate road where people gathered around the booths to play games, solve riddles and talk merrily among themselves.
Eastern Gate road is viewed as the most extravagant corner of the city. If a foreigner was to enter the city of Chen'an, the first thing that would attract them was the nice side of the city, Eastern Gate. It was surrounded by white marbled arched bridges, plum blossom trees and a clear river that stretched for miles. There has been many legends about the arched bridges, bring together couples. Legend says, if two people meet on the opposite side of the bridge by chance under a full moon, they are fated to be.
In the crowd, wearing a black tunic was Prince Xiao, accompanied by Jie You. Previously, the emperor had suggested he accompany Jie You to the lantern festival. In his heart, he wanted to refuse but dared not to offend the emperor at the moment. This left him with no choice but to follow Jie You around. At first, she felt awkward and fearful around him but then her maid Li Lu changed her mind. She was going to be his wife, why should she fear him? And they've got a long time to learn about each other. She didn't believe she couldn't move his heart. With this thinking, she decided to act feminine with him, holding onto his arm, smiling at him and making small conversation while walking around the streets. Xiao Yuan on the other hand was not amused, the more she talked, the more he felt he couldn't stand her. Once he got back to Northern Liang, he would never allow her to act this carefree around him.
While Jie You and her maid was busy picking out a lantern, Fei Li, Xiao Yuan's personal guard arrived. He was just like Xiao Yuan, he wore a black knee high tunic and he had no facial expression on his face. He stepped over to Xiao Yuan and reported what he was told to find out. "Did you find her?"
"Reporting to your highness, I could not find Da Ying Gongzhu. Maybe she didn't come out?" he suggested.
"Search again and report to me,"
Xiao Yuan was not the only one who was looking for Da Ying. Qin Xie De who was accompanying the three princesses' had discreetly tried to look for her. This evening, he had planned to go over to the palace and escort Wen Wan along with the others outside but who knew, Wen Wan would be more impatient and came to his estate first. His actions did not go unnoticed by Wen Wan. She tugged on his arm, "De'gege, who are you looking for?"
"I'm not looking for anyone. I can't help but find everything here beautiful," he smiled at her.
"Gege, don't lie to me. I can tell just by looking. Is it a girl you fancy?" she perked her ears up, ready to hear him say yes. Yueli and Ying Me who was standing next to Wen Wan gripped their handkerchief tightly. Just the thought of him liking another woman, they would never allow it. "Jie jie is thinking too much, how can De'gege fancy any of these ordinary women," Yueli spoke.
"That's true; we've walked around a few times already and have not yet seen a beauty. De'gege can't really have such low standards. Am I right De'gege?" Ying Me looked up at the dumbfounded Qin Xie De. He coughed softly, sighing at the ridiculous comments from these women. "Silly, you three are thinking too much. How can I have time to look at other women when I have to consistently watch over you trouble makers? Come, I'll treat everyone to food," he managed to change the subject and lead them to a famous tea house in a matter of minutes.
Right after the four of them ordered food, Lui Yi and Lui Xi Feng happened to walk up to the second floor. [Feng'gege] Wen Wan's eyes brightened when she saw him coming towards her. "Lui Yi?" Wen Wan called out her name. "Gongzhu," she replied back brightly. Lui Yi rushed over and Xi Feng followed. "Greetings to gongzhu," he replied.
"What a coincidence to meet you two here. Come join us," Ying Me offered.
"Pardon us for intruding then," Xi Feng said before taking seat. Xi Feng quickly greeted Xie De with full respect when he realized who he was seated next to. "Since Sir Feng is here, I can relax my mind, leaving my mei mei's in your care. I have an urgent matter to attend to, hopefully Sir Feng won't mind accompanying my troublesome sisters?"
"No problem at all. If the Duke of Lan has urgent matters, please leave first. I promise to bring them back safely,"
The only place that was silent as the night was the palace. Majority of the maids and servants were allowed to go out since their masters left too. That left, Da Ying, Ban Shiang and Bai Zhi behind. The guards and maids who watched her courtyard were allowed to leave for the night too. It was only Ban Shiang and Bai Zhi who refused to leave her alone. Da Ying was in her room, lying sideways on her bed, eating grapes lazily. "Xiaojie, the city is so beautiful tonight; won't you even take a step out once?" Bai Zhi tried to persuade her to go out. "That's right. Or at least, light up a lantern and make a wish," Ban Shiang added. Da Ying ignored their request, continually putting grapes into her mouth. "Go enjoy yourselves. I'll be fine, there hasn't been any movement tonight, I don't believe anyone will make an attack on me,"
"We'll be back in a little bit," Bai Zhi said happily. Ban Shiang wanted to refuse the offer but was quickly dragged out of the room by the happy Bai Zhi.
Da Ying had spoken too soon, not long after they left, she sensed movement…