The night is shrouded, the stars and the moon are out of the clouds, and the stars in the sky are like a vast rain of light, swaying and twinkling, pulling out a long rainbow of light and shadow in the night sky of Jixian County, starting from the distant mountains and ending at the end of the smoke and clouds. It also echoes the lights of the ancient city at night, shining so brightly that it makes people confused between heaven and earth.
The lights of heaven and earth are gathered together, but the difference between heaven and earth is only made by the crowds of people on the streets. This lantern festival is the first festival after the war. With the enthusiasm of the people for new life, this short night becomes lively and long.
The Weihe River runs through the whole county. There are long dragons of colorful lights on both sides of the river embankment, red, orange, yellow and green, in different colors. They are reflected on the faces of tourists on both sides of the river and are full of joy. Vendors shouted loudly along the way. Flower sellers, lamp sellers, candy sellers, puppet sellers, and fruit sellers were all dazzling.
Among the crowd, Xiaocui was wearing a brand-new floral dress and a bun, clutching a bunch of candied haws, walking through the crowd, jumping up and down like an elf, with a bulging money bag hanging around her waist, containing the money she had accumulated for a long time. Monthly money, happy tonight, little girl is going to squander it.
When I arrived at a small stall selling decorations, I saw a tabby cat mask. I put it on my face and made some gestures. I liked it very much. I took out the copper coins and gave them to the vendor without bargaining. After a while, he saw two fake beards again. He smiled and bought them again. He said to himself: "My uncle has a clean face and looks like a girl. I will bring it to my uncle when I go home. It will definitely look good." .”
Xiang'er's shout came from behind: "Xiao Cui! Xiao Cui! Where are you?"
Xiao Cui looked for the sound, pointed her toes and waved her hands: "Miss, where am I?"
For a moment, Xiang'er held Sang Sang's hand, and Sang Sang held Bai Rou's hand. Bai Rou was followed by A'er.
Several members of the family squeezed out of the crowd like beads and arrived in front of Xiao Cui.
Without saying a word, Xiang'er grabbed Xiao Nizi's head and pushed her behind her back. The girls cooperated and locked the escaping Nizi among several people hand in hand, and scolded her severely. : "Run, run, run! I won't punish you until I get back!"
"Even if you don't care how many people there are, where can you find them if they get lost?!"
Xiao Cui lowered her head and muttered: "Isn't this what I've never seen before?"
There was a movement of people while they were talking. Bai Rou felt like she was hit by someone. She touched her body subconsciously and screamed in surprise: "Oh, I lost my wallet!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Ah Er, who was accompanying him, bumped sideways, knocking over a dozen people, causing screams.
Fortunately, there were too many people and I didn’t know who hit him, but Ah Er caught someone as soon as he stretched out his hand.
The thief was cruel, turned around, took out a dagger, and stabbed Ah Er with all his strength.
But the thief didn't know that Ah Er was so powerful. In the blink of an eye, the dagger was snatched away, and the knife was inserted into his own leg instead, causing the thief to scream in pain.
Ah Er dug around again and took out a money bag from the man's body. It was Bai Rou who dropped it.
"Hero, spare your life! Hero, spare your life!" The thief begged for mercy again and again.
Ah Er didn't waste any time talking to him, took back the money bag, grabbed him by the collar, and threw him into the Wei River.
There were too many people on the street, and people would be pushed into the water from time to time. In order to ensure safety, the government sent officials by boat in the river to rescue people who fell into the water.
Pedestrians heard the sound of water and didn't care.
Bai Rou took back the money bag, and after a while, she was afraid and carefully tied the money bag tightly again.
Xiang'er lectured Xiao Cui on this matter: "Look, there are so many thieves on the street. You ran away alone and what should you do if you lost something?"
Xiaocui pouted: "It's not like someone else dropped it."
"You still said that!"
Xiao Cui lowered her head in grievance, and then a familiar voice came to her ears.
"Mrs. Lin, are you there too?"
Looking for the sound, I happened to meet Dongfang Bai and several of her maids.
Several women chatted passionately.
"The lantern festival is so lively, so you should come out and have a look."
"Eh? Why don't you see Mr. Bai?"
"My husband-in-law was invited by the head of the Chen family to go to the No. 1 flower boat to enjoy the scenery tonight, but he has no time to accompany a group of women in our family."
Dongfang Bai looked surprised when he heard this: "Huh? Mr. Bai was actually invited to go to the No. 1 flower boat? This is the first time in Youzhou's history that he has boarded the No. 1 flower boat at such a young age! Congratulations, Mrs. Lin."
Xiang'er's face was full of joy, her husband's face was long, and the whole family was honored. They smiled and socialized with each other.
Wang Xiaohua emerged from nowhere, holding an exquisite moon palace lantern, and handed it to Bai Rou like a treasure, and said shyly: "Sister Xiaobai, this is for you."
Bai Rou looked up and down. Although the lantern was exquisite, it was a bit too big. It was really inconvenient to go shopping with the lantern early in the morning.
Bai Rou shook her head: "No, I will choose it myself when I go back later."
Wang Xiaohua froze in place, feeling very disappointed.
He happened to be recognized by several girls on one side, and he was immediately surrounded by the other girls, saying "Mr. Flower" on the left and "Fude" on the right.
Wang Xiaohua was so anxious among the flowers that she was afraid that Sister Xiaobai would misunderstand.
But Bai Rou had already gone elsewhere and didn't take it to heart at all.
The street was bustling with activity, and people had to shout at the top of their lungs to talk to each other. No one noticed that on the dark river, a black shadow flew across the water, jumped from the water to the top of the slowly moving flower boat, and then jumped to the top of the slow-moving flower boat. Jumping from one flower boat to another, the shadow disappeared in an instant.
Bai Song couldn't see Xiang'er and the others on the other side of the river, but suddenly felt a chill on his back. Looking back from the crowd, he found nothing but ripples on the water reflecting the lights on the other side.
At this time, a sound of armor came from behind, and a border guard team appeared out of nowhere and penetrated the crowd.
The common people ducked for fear of blocking the soldiers' path.
Bai Song knew that Turks suddenly came during the day and alerted the border troops.
Border guards arrived in Jixian, but the Turks settled down again.
It is not unusual for border guards to appear at this time, and it seems that they are here to maintain order.
This explanation is very reasonable, but seeing the serious expressions on these soldiers, it is obvious that things are not that simple.
The more prosperous the scene is, the easier it is for unexpected things to happen.
At this moment, Bai Song remembered Qing'er's reminder that it was not appropriate to travel...
Could something really happen tonight?
There are many things Bai Song doesn't want to think about, but to this day, what Miss Qing'er has shown is really suspicious.
Previously, two scholars had spent all their wealth for her, but Bai Song believed that it was wishful thinking on the part of those scholars and had nothing to do with Qing'er.
But after seeing such a shadow behind the screen, I agreed to participate in a program at the lantern festival.
Bai Song vaguely felt that Qing'er still had an unknown side.
Thinking about the recent use of various methods by the Holy Lotus Sect to make money in Jixian County, it seems that all the evidence is proving one point.
Qing'er has a close connection with the Holy Lotus Sect.
Thinking of this, Bai Song's expression became unnatural, thinking that after tonight, he must go to Qing'er to find out how she could give him an explanation.
Bai Song's thoughts were a little confused and he shook his head. Looking at the crowded flow of people in front, he didn't know when he would arrive at the number one flower boat.
…
Tonight, Flower Street is the busiest area of the entire lantern festival, where you can enjoy flowers, lanterns and women.
The Huajie Hualou has not only many customers, but also generous spenders and generous rewards.
The girls from each family were so busy that they were afraid of missing an important guest.
But Yichun Hospital was closed, as if this rare carnival had nothing to do with their family.
The building was empty, with only one room upstairs still lit.
Miss Qing'er was sitting in front of the dressing table, dressing up carefully.
It's just that tonight's makeup has changed, not to make herself more beautiful and eye-catching, but to make her facial features more heroic. With a men's suit and a square scarf, she instantly becomes a suave young man.
A dark shadow fell outside the window, making no sound at all when stepping on the tiles outside.
Only a low voice came from outside: "Your Majesty the Holy Envoy, the money has been received, and the goods are being loaded, ready to leave the city at any time."
"Don't worry, tonight is not the busiest time yet. All the people in the court are paying attention to Mr. Bai. When the chaos breaks out at night, the city defenses will be relaxed. At that time, people will be asked to transfer the silver into dung carts and sneak out of the city. .”
"The Holy Envoy is really good at what he does. The golden cicada's escape plan tonight is admirable."
"After I leave, find an opportunity to burn this building down. Then there is one last thing for you to do."
"Are you trying to protect Mr. Bai's safety?"
"On the contrary, I want you to kill him!"
