Chapter Seventy-One: The Lantern Riddle

  Chapter Seventy-One: The Lantern Riddle

  The thing that Chao Sheng has been worried about finally has a conclusion.

  Looking at Aunt Li's calm and composed appearance, as well as the changes in Autumn Ink, one can guess it.

  Qiu Shan no longer had that anxious look, and her complexion seemed to have improved a bit. But she had lost weight, significantly so. Originally, she had a round face, and Cao Sheng's first impression of her was that her facial features were plump and endearing. The description of Bao Sister in the Red Chamber as having a "face like a silver basin" must have been similar to this. But now her cheeks had sunken in, and her clothes, which used to be puffed out, now hung loosely on her frame like they were draped over a rack.

  If you put your heart into it, if you are suffering from unbearable physical pain and great mental pressure, I'm afraid you won't be better than Autumn Ink.

  Today is January 14th. Tomorrow is the Lantern Festival on January 15th.

  After fifteen, this year is completely over.

  Everyone felt a little reluctant to part with each other, as the New Year's festival is a rare good day for everyone.

  "Before, when we were in the countryside, on the 15th of the first month, we would play with lanterns and send off the fire god. In town, there was also dragon dancing and guessing lantern riddles. The most impressive one was at the house of the wealthy Mr. Ma, where if you guessed their lantern riddle correctly, they would give you five kilograms of fine rice and flour."

  What a bargain!

  The fourth prince heard it in the house and laughed, saying: "What's difficult about this? I'll also come up with a few lantern riddles for you to guess. Whoever guesses correctly will be heavily rewarded by me."

  Chun Mo didn't give face and smiled: "Your Highness is here to tease people again. We haven't read books, can't even recognize characters, the difficult questions you asked are unsolvable for us, we can only stare at the reward blankly and drool."

  "Don't worry, I won't pick those hanging book bags out, they're easy to guess anyway. If you want to guess, let Xiao Shun read them out for you."

  Huh? Xiao Shun can still recognize characters?

  The eunuchs in the palace mostly came from poor families - who would send their children to be eunuchs if they were living a good life? If they couldn't even afford food, then those who could read and write were even fewer.

  In this case, Xiao Shun can still recognize characters, which is indeed rare.

  The fourth prince indeed took out a piece of paper, wrote a few riddles on it, and ordered someone to bring a lantern. He stuck the riddles on it and lit it up. The lantern slowly started to turn around.

  The lanterns were hung under the eaves, and people gathered around to watch.

  Someone then plucked up the courage to ask: "Your Highness, if we guess correctly, what will you give us as a reward?"

  The fourth prince smiled and said: "Don't worry, can you still be deceived?"

  Chao Sheng also went forward to watch, Xiao Shun smiled and asked her: "Do you want to guess too? I'll help you read it."

  Chunmo said from behind, "It's obvious that your relationship is better than others, what are you whispering about? Xiao Shun, I'll tell you, if you know something, secretly tell Chao Sheng to help her get the reward, we won't rely on it."

  Xiao Shun accompanied by a smile said: "How could that be? Everyone listen up, I'm going to recite now."

  Everyone around perked up their ears and listened in.

  Chao Sheng's eyes swept back - Qiu Yan was not there.

  Now Chaosheng saw Qiuyan, felt annoyed, couldn't see her, and felt worried...

  So some people say that having a dangerous person right under your nose is the best, if you can't see them with one eye, then you don't know whether they are plotting something again.

  She was so distracted that Xiao Shun had already finished the first one. The people listening next to her had thoughtful expressions, while others looked bewildered - probably because they didn't understand at all.

  Five words in four sentences, indeed written in plain language.

  Chao Sheng secretly admired the Fourth Prince.

  It's easy for bookworms to come up with a lantern riddle, but they often turn it into a word game rather than plain language. Ordinary people can't even understand the riddle, let alone guess the answer.

  The fourth prince is quite good at appreciating elegance and vulgarity together, enjoying himself with the crowd.

  Knows how to carry himself with the dignity of a prince, and also knows how to put aside his noble demeanor.

  Such a child has great prospects!

  Let's not talk about the future, at least you should be able to become a wise king or something like that.

  Someone asked Xiao Shun to recite it again, and as soon as he spoke, everyone echoed in agreement.

  Xiao Shun indeed lived up to his name and read it again in accordance with public opinion.

  Some people guessed: "Is it a duster?"

  Someone next to him laughed and said, "You're always with the servants and maids, you think you're one of them - Your Highness probably doesn't even know what a dustpan is used for, how could he use something as lowly as a dustpan to make a lantern riddle?"

  The man before was dissatisfied: "Then what did you say?"

  "I guess it's..." He suddenly stopped: "I won't tell you."

  It's quite lively and fun.

  The fourth prince sat in the house with a smile, listening.

  After a while, someone finally guessed it correctly. The fourth prince was true to his word and ordered someone to give him a purse. The small eunuch who received the purse was overjoyed and quickly knelt down to thank him. The fourth prince shook his head and said: "You usually have to thank me, but not this time. This is what you earned by guessing the lantern riddle with your own skills."

  Xiao Shun helped to recite the second lantern riddle, and one by one, they guessed them out. Except for two that many people discussed together but still couldn't guess, all the others were guessed correctly. The carousel was still slowly rotating under the corridor, with two lantern riddles hanging above, flashing before their eyes in turn.

  The fourth prince ordered someone to take down the lantern: "Can't you guess? What a pity, I'll bring it to the academy in a few days and let them guess."

  "Why don't I try guessing?"

  The people in the courtyard knelt all over the ground, and the fourth prince came out of the house to welcome them. Just as he was about to kneel down, the emperor stretched out his hand to hold him back: "You're quite good at having fun, are you guessing lantern riddles?"

  The fourth prince's previous relaxed and joking demeanor had vanished, and he replied seriously: "I report to the emperor, it was just a stolen leisurely half-day, and what I wrote were all some shallow things."

  The emperor raised his head with interest to look at the lantern riddle: "I said that I didn't see any lantern riddles this year, and the Lantern Festival was dull. But I saw one here in your place. Hmm, it's well-written, did you think of it yourself?"

  They're all just some small things that can be found in houses or courtyards.

  The others in the courtyard retreated, and Xiao Shun and Xiao Su had already moved a chair over. The emperor sat down and looked at the remaining two riddles on the lantern, but didn't say whether he could guess them or not. He stroked his beard, then suddenly said: "What has your second brother been doing these past few days?"

  Before the fourth prince could respond, the emperor said: "Order someone to go and bring him over as well, let's see if he can guess."

  Huh?

  Chao Sheng listened on the side, very unexpectedly.

  Tomorrow is the Lantern Festival, and there will definitely be entertainment and feasts in the palace. It's likely that senior officials and royal relatives will also be summoned to join in the fun. The Emperor should be quite busy, it's not right for him to come out on such a cold day, sneaking around like a ghost.

  If you want to talk to your sons, just pass them over.

  Compared to Chao Sheng's confusion, Chun Mo was beaming with joy.

  People in the palace are best at watching the wind direction. The emperor values the fourth prince, so why are others rushing to burn their Huaye residence's hot stove?

  The result was that the person who went to Songtao Pavilion next door came back quickly - only the messenger came back.

  That person somewhat cautiously replied to the emperor: "The second prince drank a few more cups yesterday and caught a chill, he can't get out of bed now."

  ————————

  Second watch of the night.

  No way, I must go to bed early tomorrow...

  By the way, can you help me pack?