After returning to the mansion and finishing their meal, Chen Kan and Zhu Yuelan took their two little kids out again.
The Lantern Festival is held on the Qinhuai River. The entire Qinhuai River from south to north is illuminated by various lanterns, making it look like a palace in the sky.
Wuyi Lane, where the Hou Mansion is located, happens to be the busiest section of the Qinhuai River, so Chen Kan and Chang Ning took a little kid in hand and chose to go out on foot.
The lantern festival at night is even more lively than the temple fair during the day, and both sides of the Qinhuai River are densely packed with people.
From the painted boats on the river came bursts of songs praising peace, and combined with the fireworks all over the city, it really was the epitome of a peaceful and prosperous age.
Chen Kan and Chang Ning stopped in front of a lantern riddle guessing stall.
The two chubby little guys stared at the stuffed doll behind the lantern riddles.
"I like that tiger."
Zhu Zhanji pointed to the tiger doll behind a lantern riddle and could no longer move.
Despite his extremely noble status as the emperor's eldest grandson, there are no toys like this in the palace.
Hua Shi also fell in love with a goshawk doll made of bamboo strips.
The stall owner was a rich middle-aged man who came up to him with a smile: "The two young men have good taste. These two dolls are the most popular ones in the little man stall. But I still haven't been able to guess the answer to the crossword puzzle. It's a bit... It’s difficult.”
He looked at the stall owner and looked at Chen Kan with a smile: "You can play for five cents a time."
Chen Kan waved his hand, and the ten eldest men flew towards the rich middle-aged man.
"When it is drawn, it is round, when it is written, it is square, winter is short, and summer is long. It is the word "日," right?"
As soon as Chen Kan finished speaking, he saw the stall owner taking off the goshawk doll and handing it to Hua Shi with a smile.
He also complimented: "This young master is very clever, but the next question will be more difficult than this one."
Chen Kan turned to look at the word puzzle in front of the tiger doll. There were only two very simple words: "Raging Tide."
Smiling, Chen Kan softly uttered: "Relaxation."
"Oh my, this young master is so powerful. This little tiger belongs to this young gentleman."
The rich man took off the tiger doll and showed an expression of great loss on his face, which made Zhu Zhanji feel proud.
Each of them got the toys they wanted, and the two children had a great time playing. Even the desire to shop was not as strong as when they went to the temple fair.
After walking along the Qinhuai River for a while, the two children saw someone setting off lanterns on the other side of the river, and started clamoring to put out lanterns again.
I came out tonight just to have fun. Chen Kan had no reason not to agree to such a small request.
As for the lanterns costing ten cents each, that's not a problem.
The stall owner also kindly provided paper and pens for customers who came to buy lanterns.
Just write your wish on paper, fold it and put it in the lantern, and your wish will come true.
The two little brats couldn't write many words, so they had to let Chen Kan do it for them.
Zhu Zhanji's wish was simple and rude. If he didn't return to the palace, he would just play outside and keep playing.
Although his dream was destined to never come true, Chen Kan meticulously wrote down his wish for him.
When it was Hua's turn, a look of thought appeared on his little face, and then he said: "My wish is to become a very powerful person so that I can protect my mother."
It was a very simple wish, and Chen Kan believed that his wish would definitely come true.
He took the two children to the river, lit the wick, and placed the lantern on the river. A breeze blew by, and the lantern was carried far away by the waves.
Chen Kan and Zhu Yuelan looked at each other and smiled.
"Madam, would you like to put one in too?"
Chen Kan asked and found that Zhu Yuelan's face was obviously moving.
However, due to her identity, she bit her lip and still did not nod in response.
Upon seeing this, Chen Kan ran to the stall owner and took out two lanterns, and also took the paper and pen provided by the stall owner.
"Take it, I'm just going out to play today. Have fun as you please. There's no need to be restrained."
Chen Kan smiled and put the lantern into Zhu Yuelan's hand, and saw that Zhu Yuelan's big eyes were visibly moist, and the look in his eyes was simply breathtaking.
Chen Kan thought for a while, wrote the words "retire and lie down" on the paper, and slid the lantern into the river.
I wanted to see how far it could float along the current, but unexpectedly, a wave hit and knocked Chen Kan's lantern upside down.
Then, Chen Kan's expression darkened visibly to the naked eye.
Zhu Yuelan, who had witnessed everything, laughed so hard that she almost burst into tears. She pulled Chen Kan's sleeve tightly: "Husband, you are destined to have a hard life in this life. Even God can't stand it anymore. Oh, laugh." It's killing me, I can't do it anymore..."
Zhu Yuelan laughed so hard that Chen Kan snatched the note with wishes from her hand with a dark face, and his face instantly became good-looking again.
He fiercely put down the lantern for Zhu Yuelan, and saw the lantern carrying Zhu Yuelan's wishes quickly moving away along the current.
Even if you encounter an oncoming wave, you can always turn danger into good fortune.
"snort!"
With an angry groan, the two of them started wandering around with their two little kids.
"Rice noodles, I sell rice noodles."
A shout caught Chen Kan's attention, and he touched his hungry stomach. It just so happened that it was time for a midnight snack.
Chen Kan waved to the child: "Shopkeeper, come here."
"Do you want to eat rice noodles? My rice noodles are delicious. The rice milk is thinly sliced into thin strips, supplemented with various salty and fragrant condiments, and poured with sea fish bone soup. Grandpa Taizu said it is good after eating it."
A little boy, about the same size as Zhu Zhanji when he was young, squeezed through the crowd and walked in front of Chen Kan. He had two small hairpins on his head, just like a little Nezha.
Chen Kan smiled and said: "Eat, cook fifty bowls for us."
"Fifty bowls?"
Little Nezha's eyes widened for a moment, then he turned around and ran away: "Mom, there is a guest here who wants fifty bowls of rice noodles. Dear guest, come quickly."
A woman in an apron was dragged over by a little boy. When she heard that Chen Kan wanted fifty bowls of rice noodles, she thought Chen Kan was joking with him.
"This... this young man..."
Seeing the inferiority complex flashing across the woman's face, Chen Kan smiled and said, "Why, not enough rice noodles?"
As we all know, Chen Kan never jokes with Xiaomin.
"That's enough. I just see that you only have four people, young master."
Chen Kan smiled and said: "Who told you that there are only four of us, Fang Xu, greeting the brothers to eat rice noodles."
After calling Fang Xu, Chen Kan put a silver ingot into the little boy's belly pocket and said with a smile: "Why don't you go cook it quickly?"
"Go right now, go right now."
Seeing that Chen Kan was not joking with her, a smile instantly appeared on the woman's face.
Then a dull and honest man carried a burden, and a family of three began to work on the Qinhuai River.
The woman is responsible for putting the rice noodles cut into thin strips into bowls, the man is responsible for cooking, and the little boy continues to shout business.
It can be seen that this is a very happy family of three.
And tonight, there were quite a few families like this one who came out to sell all kinds of food and gadgets.
Chen Kan ate two bowls of rice noodles before putting down his chopsticks. He had to admit that the little boy was right, his rice noodles tasted really good.
"The store still has rice noodles. Make me a bowl too."
An old voice sounded, and Chen Kan subconsciously turned his head to look at the source of the voice.
This voice was the voice of the owner of the carriage who had a conflict with Xiao Pangdun at the temple fair this morning.
"Is this fate?"
Chen Kan murmured to himself, and then told the store owner: "The old man's rice noodle money is recorded in my account, and there is no need to change the rest."
When the store owner heard this, he suddenly smiled, and the little boy even sang a fat song to Chen Kan: "Thank you for the reward, young master."
The silver ingot that Chen Kan gave to the little boy was worth two taels of silver. A bowl of his rice noodles cost five cents. Fifty bowls were worth two hundred and fifty cents of copper.
Chen Kan was so generous, so the store owner naturally reciprocated the favor and filled a large bowl of rice noodles for the old man.
The old man glanced at Chen Kan, bowed his hand to Chen Kan in thanks, and then took the rice noodles and started eating.
"Haha, let's go!"
Sometimes it is a skill to spend money to make you feel happy.
Chen Kan was in a very happy mood now. He was walking on the street with his two little kids, not knowing what he was thinking.
As the old man watched Chen Kan walk away, he frowned slightly, and then subconsciously moved the beads in his palm with his fingers.
"Has he already noticed me?"
...
zWalking on the street, Zhu Yuelan asked: "Husband, do you know the old man just now?"
Chen Kan shook his head: "I don't know him."
"Then why did you treat him to a bowl of rice noodles for no reason?"
Zhu Yuelan didn't understand. She also heard the old man's voice.
Chen Kan smiled and said: "The left and right are just a bowl of rice noodles. There are millions of people in the capital. It is a kind of fate to meet him twice in one day."
Chen Kan's idea of inviting the old man to eat rice noodles was not strange.
I just simply feel that the two of them are destined.
In addition, the old man gave Chen Kan a very friendly feeling, as if he had met him somewhere before.
After hearing Chen Kan's explanation, Zhu Yuelan stopped asking questions because the two chubby little guys had already run towards a stall selling fireworks.
"Be careful and don't play with fire."
Zhu Yuelan was afraid that something might happen to the two little guys, so she quickly chased after them.
Chen Kan looked at the various fireworks of the Ming Dynasty and suddenly felt a strange feeling in his heart.
Gunpowder, a major invention that gradually began to be used in the military during the late Tang Dynasty, Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, seems to have been slightly distorted by the Han people.
The types of firearms in the Ming Dynasty were pitiful, with only a few types such as fire blunderbuss, Hongwu cannons, and hundreds of tigers running together with arrows. On the contrary, there were many types of fireworks.
Fortunately, Chen Kan came and forced the development of firearms in the Ming Dynasty back on track. Otherwise, by the late Ming Dynasty, even cannons would have to be imported from Europe.
Pushing the weird feeling out of his mind, Chen Kan and his two little kids set off fireworks in Wuyi Alley for a while.
It wasn't until everyone's faces showed a look of joy that a group of people went back home.
The servants in the mansion took the two little kids to wash up, and Chen Kan and Zhu Yuelan went back to the backyard together.
After playing outside all day, both of them couldn't hide the tiredness on their faces, so they simply washed up and got into bed...
The next day, Chen Kan still slept until the third o'clock in the morning before getting up from the bed.
As long as he is at home, Chen Kan has the habit of sleeping in.
And Zhu Yuelan would not disturb him when he was sleeping in.
So when Chen Kan walked out of the bedroom, he found that the house was quiet.
Zhu Yuelan is not here, and neither are Zhu Zhanji and Hua Shi.
The little maid brought Chen Kan washing utensils, and Chen Kan began to rinse his mouth.
"Gululu~"
Hold a mouthful of water and spray it out vigorously. The water mist will reflect a small rainbow under the sun.
Unfortunately, it's winter now and the sun isn't too harsh.
Chen Kan was a little disappointed when he didn't see the rainbow.
But when the cook served a tray of steamed buns stuffed with chives and pork and a steaming bowl of millet porridge, Chen Kan's mood suddenly jumped up again.
After eating the steamed buns and the porridge, Chen Kan instantly came back to life with full blood.
He called Yuncheng who was busy and asked about Zhu Yuelan's whereabouts. Chen Kan felt relieved when he learned that she had taken two little kids out of the city to fly kites and brought more than 200 losers with her.
Then he asked Yuncheng to set up the ox cart, and then he went out and headed north of the city.
Today is the second day of the Lunar New Year. People in the Ming Dynasty often celebrate the New Year until the seventh day of the Lunar New Year. These seven days are also rare days when the ladies and daughters-in-law of the Ming Dynasty can go out and have fun.
At the same time, these seven days were also a period of high growth in the marriage rate during the Ming Dynasty.
Many young ladies who have not yet left the court will take this opportunity to go out and find a good match of their own.
If they see a man they like while walking on the road, the little girls will pretend to drop the handkerchief in front of the man, and then shyly run away.
If the man is interested, he can follow the address left on the handkerchief and send a matchmaker to propose marriage.
Chen Kan, as the youngest and most promising young prince in the entire Ming Dynasty, there were countless women who wanted to have sex with Chen Kan or marry him as their concubine.
Although there is no sign of Jinghaihou Mansion on the bullock cart that Chen Kan is riding today, there are still many people who recognize Chen Kan.
Moreover, Chen Kan has red lips and white teeth. Although his face is slightly feminine, he has a chilling air about him, which is very in line with the aesthetics of the Ming Dynasty people.
As a result, Chen Kan's bullock cart was quickly filled with handkerchiefs.
Most of the women who threw handkerchiefs to Chen Kan did not know Chen Kan's identity, but there were also some who knew Chen Kan's identity and still dreamed of marrying into a wealthy family.
Fang Xu and Zhang San would pretend to be blind whenever they saw a woman throwing a handkerchief to Chen Kan.
This resulted in more and more handkerchiefs on Chen Kan's ox cart.
Chen Kan was sitting on the bullock cart, looking at the pile of handkerchiefs in front of him, his handsome face thoughtful.
He was thinking about how to deal with these things. It seemed not good to lose them, but if he kept them, he had no plans to marry a little wife.
Looking at Fang Xu and Zhang San who were adding fuel to the flames in front of him, Chen Kan suddenly had an idea.
He divided the handkerchiefs into two piles and said calmly: "Since you don't stop me, these handkerchiefs belong to you, and you can use them to beg your little wife."
"ah?"
Fang Xu and Zhang San looked at each other, then stuffed the two piles of handkerchiefs into their arms rudely.
The ox cart rolled over the bluestone floor, making a squeaking sound.
Two hours later, the ox cart stopped by the river.
Fang Xu bowed and said, "Master Hou, we are here."
