In the capital, the bustle before the New Year's Day is far beyond what Yancheng can compare with.
In the imperial city, there was singing and dancing and all-night banquets. Even the maids who lived in the palace for a long time and served the royal family were dressed in costumes and sang loudly under the bright lights. Outside the imperial city, everyone, no matter how high or low, walked out of their homes and wandered around the streets to enjoy this rare night of joy. As a result, this New Year's Day has become a carnival feast for the government and the people to enjoy together.
In this feast, in addition to lanterns can be seen. There are also hundreds of various and complicated plays to enjoy. Baixi developed from the jousting play with obvious political purposes during the Warring States Period in order to show off force to other countries and frighten other countries. Including performances in which fish and dragons spread out to imitate animals, as well as excellent haiku horns, etc., and then continued to develop, integrating and absorbing a variety of acrobatics.
According to custom, the emperor will entertain all officials on the night before the New Year's Day. Firstly, it is to make a good ending to the past year and thank the officials for their contribution to the Xia Dynasty in the past year. Secondly, it is for hope. They will continue to play for Daxia in the future. In fact, it is all a joke. Whether these noble families or the royal family, they are just competing with each other for their own interests. Who is really doing it for this country and the people living here.
Above the main hall of the palace, Zhao Wuji sat at the top, and the imperial concubines of each palace were arranged on the left and right. Sitting on the main hall were full of civil and military officials. Those who could sit here were all high-ranking officials. Some countless officials could only sit on both sides of the main hall. The side hall.
A group of dancers walked slowly in the center of the hall. I saw these dancers wearing green buns, glazed rings in their ears, fragrant shoulders and jade bones, half-exposed breasts, faintly visible tube tops embroidered with red peony patterns, and slender waistbands. Wearing a yellow ribbon and a green landscape skirt, it made people watch the fluctuations of lust. The ministers who were changing glasses were attracted by the beautiful scenery, and they all put down their glasses and looked up.
The dancers formed a bud shape in the center of the hall. As melodious music played, the bud gradually opened, revealing two women intertwined with each other in the center of the bud. One of them was wearing apricot silk gauze, and the neckline of the skirt was very low, revealing her plump figure. Her chest is like a hibiscus, her eyebrows are like willows, her eyes are full of spring water, and her clear waves are looking forward to it. On her head is a bun with a jade dragon and phoenix hairpin inserted sideways, her skin is like snow, her red lips are slightly open, and the corners of her mouth are raised, which makes people marvel. Beautiful woman. Looking at another person, she is dressed in pink transparent gauze, with a curvy figure, curvy figure, plump breasts and pretty buttocks, a slender waist and a belt, and lightly kneaded jade legs; her facial features are exquisite, her face is like a peach blossom, and her beads are round and jade-like; just look back at her pretty eyes, and you will see her. Like peach blossoms blooming, people feel pity for them.
Accompanied by the sound of flutes and bells and drums, the dancers danced gracefully in the field, and the two women were surrounded by people in the center, like the stamens of a flower. Zhao Wuji, who was originally calm, sat up slightly from the dragon couch and squinted his eyes to look at the dancer below. To be honest, as a middle-aged man in his forties and the current emperor of the Xia Dynasty, it can be said that he has had countless women. He was exhausted physically and mentally from dealing with the overt and secret fights of the major families in the court, and he had no intention of seducing women. , at this moment, my mind seems to have returned to my youth, recalling the young man hugging him from left to right.
Queen Zhang on the side looked slightly ugly after seeing the emperor's expression, because the emperor had not favored the concubines in the harem for a long time, not only her, but also Concubine Xue. Of course, they also knew that they were no longer young and had already As they age, they no longer ask for such gifts. They have only one purpose now, and that is to fight for the throne for their prince.
It was not only the emperor who fell into addiction, but also the prince, the eldest prince and the ministers. Of course, there were a few people who were unmoved, such as Xue Qing, the Minister of Household Affairs. It was not that she was not good at women, but that these two women were arranged by his order in order to send them to the emperor. Xue Qing took a sip of wine and looked at the absent-minded emperor and princes with a faint smile on his face.
The ecstatic time always flies by. The palace rang the New Year's bell. The emperor walked out of the hall and led all the officials to bow to heaven and earth, begging for blessings on the prosperity of Great Xia. After the dinner, the two women were detained by the emperor in the palace and arranged corresponding residences. However, the emperor still wanted to be with the queen on Yuan Ye, so he did not take care of the two stunning beauties for the time being.
Wangjiang Tower is still brightly lit at this moment. Many wealthy businessmen and wealthy people living in the capital gather together to eat hot pot in Wangjiang Tower to watch the New Year. Now there is more than one hotpot restaurant in Wangjiang Tower in Beijing, and its business is visible The hot businessman began to imitate secretly. This was a place where he had not learned its essence at the beginning. Even so, he welcomed a lot of customers. Many people who could not afford Wangjianglou would go to other hotpot restaurants to eat cheap ones. .
On the Luo River in front of the Wangjiang Tower, flower boats swayed, and the sounds of drinking and having fun kept coming. In the brothel, the music was playing harmoniously, and the music was rising and falling; civil and military fights were staged one after another, as the saying goes:
Holding hands and shoulder to shoulder,
Walk into the orchid house and tie up the red door.
The fragrance is ambergris, the mat is soothing to the cold jade,
Pillow and glass, we meet,
In the green gauze tent embroidered with hibiscus,
How many peach blossoms are there in the west of the flowing water bridge?
I lean against the screen curtain and take off my clothes slowly.
Enjoy some rain and timid clouds,
The evil force is as strong as the moon inviting the week.
Hahaha, you really are free and at ease, you really are a happy world, are you really the only king in the world who doesn’t go to court early? Of course not, as long as they are powerful and wealthy, who would not be happy in this gentle town. Mr. Wang and Sun, who stayed up all night and did not return home, bought a thousand pieces of gold and gave me a smile. It's a pity that behind this pink beauty, there are many corpses of ordinary people. It's a pity that in this world, animals eat their salary and rotten trees are officials. Compared with the prosperity of this corner of the capital, there are too many sufferings in the world, and there are many people outside the wealthy family. Dead ghosts, there are the charcoal sellers who are worried about the price of charcoal and wishing for the cold weather; there are farmers who starve to death because there is no free land in the world; there are the old women in Shihao Village who are old and frail and ask for help from the official at night; there are those who go in and out without unfinished skirts. The breastfeeding woman, the soldier He Caocao, the soldiers who built the city at Tongguan Road, and the father-in-law, wife, and father-in-law walked to see each other off, but the military men from Xianyang Bridge were nowhere to be seen.
In the early morning of the next day, dozens of horses finally arrived at Yancheng after running for a whole day and night. White air came out of their noses and white frost hung on their eyelashes. Both horses and people looked tired. Xiao Chu couldn't catch up after all. Returning to Yancheng before the New Year, the city gate slowly opened. There were already many pedestrians on the street, congratulating each other on the arrival of the New Year. Zhao Bin got up extra early today. This was something he had insisted on in his previous life. No matter how easy he usually slept, But on the day of the Chinese New Year, he has to get up early. This is a tradition and a rule. In the north, it is called the fifth watch (iing).
Xiao Chu entered the palace with a large amount of copper coins. Zhao Bin and others were very happy when they saw Xiao Chu coming back. Zhao Bin sat in the middle of the hall, with several people sitting on both sides. However, Xing'er Chunxi and the others were not there, otherwise everyone would Done. Zhao Bin used some of the remaining red paper to wrap red envelopes for everyone. Each person received one tael of silver. Although the money was not much, it meant so. After everyone received the red envelopes, they all stood in the center of the front hall and bowed to Zhao Bin together. Year. Zhao Bin was a little sad. No one here was his real relative, but when he thought about it, he felt that he was too pretentious. Everyone here seemed to have no relatives present, so what else could he ask for? Although they are not related by blood, these people are willing to follow him to this dangerous and cold frontier. How is this different from real relatives?
There was a noise outside the gate, and the guard ran in to report: "Your Majesty, there are many people outside, saying they are here to wish you a new year."
"Hahaha, okay, okay, take some more copper coins and let's give out red envelopes to the people." Zhao Bin said with a smile.
Several people had pocketed a lot of copper coins with their clothes. The door creaked open, and Zhao Bin was the first to step out of the door. Many people gathered outside the door, some from the countryside outside the city, and some who had been working as corvees in the city before. When everyone saw Zhao Bin coming out, they knelt down and shouted: "Congratulations to the prince on the new year, congratulations on the new year to the prince, congratulations to the prince on the new year."
Everyone had a smile on their face. Zhao Bin, Wang Wu, Ling'er, Cui'er, Xiao Chu, Lu Biao, and Xu Ling walked down the steps one after another. Everyone stuffed two or three copper coins into their hands. Zhao Bin opened a sling of copper coins. Throw it into the air. . . . . .
