Translator: ChiFu
Chu Shuli didn’t expect to see such a scene when she turned her head.
And to top it all off, Wen Mingyu looked back as if he sensed her gaze, smiling at her, and while holding hands with the tall man beside him, continued to face the bustling street scene under the fireworks.
Chu Shuli froze, dumbfounded. Everything around her seemed to have faded in color and sound; the only two side-by-side silhouettes not far away remained vivid and captured her heart and soul.
Chu Shuli felt a lot more excited than when she first read Yu Mu’s novel. Since she wanted to act mature and steady, she tried to hold back, afraid that she would scream out and scare the passersby around her silly.
She deftly shielded Wei Chen’s eyes, but this guy was stubborn as a mule and struggled to take off her hand. By this time, however, Wen Mingyu and Mu Zhan had already blended into the crowd.
Wei Chen was unwilling. “What is there that I can’t see? Have you also noticed something wrong with that Mu Mu person?”
Chu Shuli covered her heart and waved her hand.
Yes yes yes, something was wrong. She felt like her heart was about to explode from the excitement.
She made an effort to tense her face into an expressionless one, pretending to be solemn.
Although she accidentally discovered their relationship and they were rather composed and didn’t mind being found out, she was not the one involved and couldn’t talk carelessly.
Thus, she simply shook her head and changed the topic. Looking at the appearance of other fairy couples, she would also be unable to resist thinking about the possibility of experiencing a similar kind of love. But very quickly, she snapped out of it and looked at the men around her: a lackadaisical dude, a cold, straight man, and a narcissist stinky brat… There was not a single normal, reliable one.
Chu Shuli jolted and quickly brought herself to her senses. What kind of man do you want? What was better than the sweet sight of the golden list? If she could pass the first exam, regardless of whether she was the first or the third one on the list, she could wake up laughing in her sleep.
And so, a little girl’s newly emerging thoughts were quickly put out of her mind by herself, and she plunged herself into the festive season. She also, for some reason, got into a guessing lantern riddle contest with Wei Chen. He solved the riddles rapidly, and not long after, Shao Yan also joined them. Only the slacker Ye Xu stood there in confusion, feeling out of place in the world.
The other side.
Wen Mingyu and Mu Zhan strolled through the bustling streets of the capital city.
In order to avoid colliding with others, they were virtually shoulder-to-shoulder. Because of their outstanding appearance, they stood out from the crowd at a glance, and from time to time, dainty and lovely girls with scarlet faces would peek at them. A few who were more daring would even try to get close and tactfully find a way to get to know them.
There were not many hard restrictions on women in this dynasty, which was quite liberal. They won’t be asked to stay at the entrance of the house, and Mu Zhan also made a significant impact by advocating for women to take part in the imperial examination.
Mu Zhan initially did all of this for the sake of the big picture. However, when he saw the young ladies peeking at Wen Mingyu and attempting to approach him, his expression became very ugly. He wished he could shrink Wen Mingyu and tuck him into his sleeve pocket so that no one would be able to see him.
Wine pheromones spiked, clearly cranky. Wen Mingyu sensed it instantly and looked at Mu Zhan unhesitantly. He saw that he was wearing a chilly, dissatisfied expression.
Wen Mingyu froze a little, then looked at the young girls around who wanted to get closer but were frightened away by Mu Zhan’s dark face and terrifying aura. He reacted fast and was torn between crying and laughing. He leaned down, looked at him, and stated seriously in a quiet voice, “I don’t like them, I only like you.”
Mu Zhan paused for a second, and his stinky face immediately lightened up. There was even a hint of a smile that couldn’t be concealed.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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The young ladies had no choice but to stop, feeling regret in their hearts. But then they realized that because the boy was so good-looking, it was likely that they would never be able to have him. Instead of being good with another girl, it was better to watch him with another attractive man, or else they would die of jealousy.
As a result, the more open-minded people from the capital who happened to catch a glimpse of this eye-catching male couple mostly sent blessed glances.
There were several street performances throughout the Lantern Festival, including lion dances, dry boat rowing, and other feats of amazing ability.
The area where the performances were held was packed and in full swing. One could easily spot it at a glance with no need to worry about looking for it.
Just ahead came the angry roar of an old man: “Rise up!”
A majestic dragon head rose high, and sturdy young men carried it with their hands and shoulders, leading the dragon lantern crew forward. A long winding road of lanterns meandered beside the sound of synchronized gong, drum, and suona horn playing. Along the way, people holding lanterns would join the dragon procession, and the dragon lantern would grow longer and longer. Fireworks would be set off to greet them from time to time, and the sky would be shaken by firecrackers, red and fiery, making it incredibly lively and bustling.
Curious, Wen Mingyu leaned over to have a look, but a large crowd of spectators, including some fathers who asked their children to sit on their shoulders to watch, had already gathered in front of him. The kids were so thrilled that they waved their chubby arms and giggled. Wen Mingyu, who was standing behind, felt a bit miserable, only able to see a little portion, and jumping up was of no use. He had been considering whether to move places to watch, so he turned to face Mu Zhan and was about to speak to him when his waist suddenly tightened and two powerful arms grabbed hold of him. In the next moment, his whole field of view expanded, and his body hung in the air.
It was Mu Zhan who lifted him up.
Wen Mingyu’s heart briefly panicked, but he soon calmed down when he realized it was Mu Zhan.
“Can you see?”
Mu Zhan’s deep voice came from behind. Wen Mingyu subconsciously nodded, but then thought that he might not be able to see it, so he responded to him.
After being lifted higher, he could finally see the lengthy dragon lantern procession in front very clearly, which was a really stunning sight.
Wen Mingyu’s eyes widened. In his eyes reflected lights as brilliant as the Milky Way.
Just after watching for a while, the child in front inadvertently turned his head and happened to lock eyes with Wen Mingyu. He realized that this brother was even taller than him. Obviously, he was the tallest of the bunch here when he sat on his father’s shoulder just now.
The child’s tiger-like eyes widened in shock. His mouth opened wide as he exclaimed, “Brother, you’re so tall!”
After this outburst, he instantly caught his dad’s attention and looked over as well. When he saw Wen Mingyu, the child’s father froze for a moment, then he unconsciously looked at Wen Mingyu and Mu Zhan two more times and smiled.
Wen Mingyu felt his face heating up and felt embarrassed, as if he were just like that three-year-old who wanted to be held so he could watch the performance. He hastily patted the hand on his waist. “Quick, quickly put me down.”
Mu Zhan smiled. “Not watching anymore?”
Wen Mingyu said unhesitantly, “Not watching anymore.”
If he looked much longer, he’d end up in a social death here.
Mu Zhan laughed quietly and let him down, but his actions were a touch slow. Wen Mingyu’s anxiety got the better of him, causing him to grip onto his hands, but he didn’t dare press too hard, lest he let go and collapse to the ground.
It was less than a quarter of an hour, but Wen Mingyu felt that it was unreasonably long. The scarlet coloring his cheeks could not fade for a while.
Mu Zhan reached out and touched his face, and it was really hot, so he couldn’t help but laugh.
Wen Mingyu caught his restless hand, gripped it firmly, and they both moved forward.
Mu Zhan asked, “Why aren’t you watching?”
Wen Mingyu bowed and murmured, “… I’m not a child.”
But Mu Zhan said, “You are a child.”
Somehow, Wen Mingyu felt as if he wasn’t quite right, but when he heard these words, his heart unexpectedly jumped. He was very happy.
They continued to watch the dragon lantern. This long dragon lantern kept lengthening and seemed to reach thousands of feet, as if there was no end in sight. A tour like this was bound to last for several hours. During the lantern festival, the capital would be sleepless all night.
Fireworks burst, and lions and dragons danced.
The east wind released thousands of flowers at night, and even more so, when it blew down, the stars fell like rain.
The streets were full of lanterns, flowers, and swinging lights everywhere. The style of the frames was intricate and varied, and the execution was exquisite. Palace lanterns, animal lanterns, trotting horse lanterns, flower lanterns, bird and fowl lanterns, and the list went on.
Wen Mingyu and Mu Zhan walked side by side ahead and would pause to look at everything that caught their attention.
A group of people were arguing around a red lantern; they saw it and walked over.
It was a lantern riddle; several people have tried but failed to guess it.
When Wen Mingyu went to have a closer look, he learned from other visitors that although the lanterns in this stall were exceptionally well-made, they weren’t sold and were only given to visitors who guessed the riddles correctly.
When he looked up, he saw many beautiful lanterns all around, and a good number of them even had rotating ink drawings on them, which must have required a great deal of effort.
Wen Mingyu suddenly wanted to give Mu Zhan one.
His attention was drawn to an octagonal palace lantern, with a fine wood as the skeleton, laid with silk gauze, and adorned with colorful tassels below. On the screen, there was a golden enormous dragon, with the dragon’s scales painted very meticulously and lifelike. The most important thing, of course, was that looking at it reminded him of Mu Zhan. Although he had never seen Mu Zhan’s dragon form, from the golden scales of his tail, one could imagine a magnificent golden dragon.
As the name implied, the palace lanterns were exclusively used within the Imperial Palace. However, in celebration of the Lantern Festival, it was especially allowed to craft some among the people for appreciation, only they were not to be sold.
“Which riddle do I have to guess to get this lantern?”
Wen Mingyu asked aloud.
The stall owner followed the sound and momentarily stopped upon seeing Wen Mingyu’s appearance before responding in a warm tone. It happened to be the large red lantern that had just been surrounded by a sizable crowd of people who were still stumping for the answer to the riddle.
The dragon painting lantern could be said to be the most luxurious and finest in the vicinity, so it was only natural that the riddles were more challenging.
Wen Mingu looked along and wanted to give it a try.
Below the lantern hung a slip of paper with a riddle:
The white snake crosses the river, a red sun above its head. (Play a common object of the day, and use a riddle to solve the next line.)
Wen Mingyu rested his chin on his hand and frowned thoughtfully.
Mu Zhan, who was standing by his side, inclined his head and asked with a lowered voice, “Do you like that lantern a lot?”
Wen Mingyu subconsciously nodded his head, then hurriedly grabbed his sleeve and said, “I want to guess by myself. I’ve already thought of the answer, I’m just thinking of the next line.”
Upon hearing this, Mu Zhan stood beside him to keep him company and didn’t say much.
It didn’t take long for Wen Mingyu to give his own answer. He said in a voice as clear as day, “The black dragon goes up the wall, clad in ten thousand points of golden stars.”
“The answer to the previous line?”
“Oil Lamp.”
“Congratulations! This lantern belongs to this distinguished guest.” The stall owner smiled and carefully handed the dragon-painting palace lantern over to Wen Mingyu.
The crowd was shocked and realized that the answer to the riddle was this: The wick represented the “White Snake,” while oil represented the “river,” and the flame, when lit, represented the “red sun.”
But just as they understood the first line of the couplet, there was another one. The crowd became confused, and they started to think hard again.
Wen Mingyu did not look at the others but directly handed the lantern he had just received to Mu Zhan.
Mu Zhan: “I’ll hold it for you?”
Wen Mingyu shook his head and smiled brightly. “No, it’s for you.”
ChiFu: My top up is only sufficient for studying, but I tried to pinch this chapter. I’m sure there are many mistakes as I did this in a hurry! Please correct me ~ Thank you! And sorry for the long wait. Although I wanted to, having no internet is really hard… as for the riddle, don’t think too much ~
Oh, it’s good, I love festivals~
Thank you for your translation and Happy May for everyone 💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛
Study is really important, so don’t worry about translation schedule!!! Do it in your tempo
+1
Thank you for the chapter 💜
The black dragon is the shadow cast by the light of the wick? No, no, translator-nim said not to think too much about it…! 😂
Thank You for the new chapter (๑´ლ`๑)♡ Good luck with studies! Take Your time ❤
I want to experience a lantern festival with my friends one day!
Thanks for the chapter
Thank you for the chapter 😍 ❤️ ❤️ ❤️
Thank you for taking the time out for this. The imagery is beautiful and their interactions so precious ❤️.
Thank you!