Moments later, the sound of drums and music filled the air, and the crowd cheered. As they craned their necks to look, they were astounded. A parade of flower carts began at the Chunming Gate, with twelve colorful carriages in a row. The oxen pulling the carts were either covered in tiger skins or disguised as rhinoceroses and elephants, creating a bizarre spectacle. Beautifully dressed women on the carts played various musical instruments. Following them came elaborately decorated elephants, lively lion dances, performers in splendid dresses (including men dressed as women), and various troupes in uniform costumes.
At the foot of Qinzheng Tower, these performers began their acts. Being far away, Mudan could barely make out the details, straining her eyes. She regretted not having binoculars. Looking around, she noticed that despite not being able to see clearly, everyone was stretching their necks and staring intently without blinking.
Mudan sighed. The best viewing spots had been taken by officials and nobles, and their location, while relatively good among the remaining spots, was still far from ideal. She wondered how those even further away could see anything at all. Were they all blessed with extraordinary eyesight and hearing?
Suddenly, the crowd erupted in excitement, surging towards Qinzheng Tower. Mudan stood on tiptoes and saw golden objects glinting in the sunlight, raining down from the tower. People frantically scrambled to grab them. He Dalang and He Silang had already disappeared into the crowd.
“What’s happening? What are those?” Mudan asked anxiously, jumping up and down. Madam Xue, Madam Bai, and others were also stretching their necks to see, too preoccupied to answer her questions.
Li Xing, dressed in a pine-green narrow-sleeved round-collared robe, quietly squeezed through the crowd to Mudan’s side. He smiled and explained, “The Emperor is in high spirits and is distributing gold coins as rewards.”
“Cousin, you’re here too?” Mudan searched her memory and asked curiously, “Are those gold tongbao coins?” These gold tongbao weren’t in circulation but were specially made for imperial rewards. Most officials had some, and even the Liu family possessed a few, though Mudan had never had the chance to examine them closely.
“Yes, they’re gold tongbao,” Li Xing smiled slightly, gesturing for Mudan to open her palm. As she did so, he dropped two warm gold tongbao into her hand.
Mudan looked at the still-crowded mass of people and pointed at Li Xing in surprise, “How did you get these so quickly?” His clothes were neat, showing no signs of having just fought through the crowd. She then noticed that his headwear lacked the upturned corners.
Mudan pointed at him, “What happened to your hat’s corners?”
Li Xing casually touched the back of his head and said nonchalantly, “Everyone’s walking with upturned corners, so I decided to fly without them.”
Mudan asked him to turn around and saw that the corners had indeed been cut off, making him stand out from the crowd. She burst into laughter. In the sunlight, her rosy cheeks and lips glowed, with a fine layer of golden down on her youthful face. Her ivory-white narrow-sleeved gauze jacket paired with the jade-green long skirt cinched at the waist with a scarlet embroidered sash, made her look slender, pretty, lively, and adorable. An indescribable feeling welled up in Li Xing’s heart, violently pounding against his chest. He clenched his fists and, with great effort, tore his gaze away from Mudan, smiling as he looked into the distance.
Mudan examined the gold tongbao closely before passing them to He Zhizhong, Madam Xue, Yuhe, and others to look at. When she tried to return them to Li Xing, he softly said, “Keep them to play with.”
Mudan glanced at He Zhizhong, hesitating. Li Xing frowned slightly with impatience, “They’re just two gold coins. Your brothers ran so fast and pushed through the crowd just to get some for you to play with. If you don’t want these, do you plan to fight with others for more later? Or do you dislike them because they weren’t thrown directly by the Emperor’s hand?”
He Zhizhong suddenly said, “Danniang, if you like them, keep them.” Mudan did indeed want them, so she smiled at Li Xing and said softly, “Thank you.” She carefully opened the “Blooming Wealth” pouch at her waist and put the coins inside.
Soon after, the tower stopped distributing coins, and the crowd dispersed. The performances continued. He Dalang and He Wulang returned, covered in dust and sweat, their fists tightly clenched. They approached the group, laughing and talking, proudly showing everyone their catch. Thanks to their strength, they had managed to grab six or seven gold tongbao between them, a considerable haul compared to others.
About an hour later, the parade of flower carts had moved along the street towards the Jinguang Gate, greeted by cheers wherever they went. Li Xing informed Mudan, “Don’t worry if you can’t see now. They’ve set up high platforms over there. After receiving the imperial appreciation here, they’ll perform at those locations. There will be sword dances, pipa performances, horse acrobatics, sword juggling, ball juggling, sheep shows, monkey shows, pole acrobatics, rope walking, wrestling, feats of strength, bird shows, cockfights, polo, dragon and fish parades, sword swallowing, fire breathing, growing melons in pottery, and conjuring money from thin air. It will continue until tomorrow morning. You can go watch at your leisure later.”
Mudan found this very interesting, realizing there were many entertainment activities, including magic shows. Li Xing paused, then added, “There’s something even more fun tonight. People can wear masks and carry torches to play around, just like during the Lantern Festival. I’ve prepared men’s clothing and masks. If you receive good news later, would you like to join me?”
The Lantern Festival, on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, featured grand civilian gatherings everywhere. The night curfew was lifted, and people carried torches, mingling regardless of social status, gender, or age, singing and dancing all night long. To Mudan, it was like a carnival. The former Mudan had never been able to participate in such wild festivities due to her health, but now she could. Excited, Mudan turned to ask Dalang, Silang, Madam Xue, and others, “Will you all be joining in the fun too?”
Dalang smiled, “Why not? If you want to play, we’ll accompany you.”
Suddenly, a commotion erupted near Qinzheng Tower, followed by silence. News quickly spread to where they were standing. It turned out that performers from the Prince of Wei’s mansion were about to demonstrate stomach stabbing and nose cutting. Just as the performer raised a knife to his body, the Emperor, deeming it cruel, immediately stopped the act. He even issued an edict stating that these foreign performers were deceptive and unreasonable, ordering them to be sent back and not allowed to stay long in the capital.
Mudan vaguely remembered that the Prince of Wei was Princess Qinghua’s father and the current Emperor’s brother. Offering such a performance must have been quite inauspicious. She looked questioningly at Li Xing, who nodded with a smile and said softly, “These foreign performers were recommended to the Prince of Wei by Princess Qinghua.”
Realizing that Princess Qinghua would be scolded by her father, Mudan smiled with a touch of schadenfreude. Suddenly, she heard a familiar melody. Looking up, she saw a pair of children dressed in colorful brocade leading two horses—one black, one white—adorned with colorful jewels to the square in front of Qinzheng Tower. They were Li Xing’s horses. It was now Prince Ning’s turn to present his performance.
Mudan felt a warmth in her heart and looked at Li Xing, saying softly, “Thank you, cousin.”
Li Xing raised an eyebrow and smiled, “No need for thanks. I was going to present them to Prince Ning anyway.”
Mudan had a thousand words in her heart, wanting to express her gratitude, but ultimately felt that saying anything would be inadequate. So she remained silent, standing quietly and looking into the distance. Li Xing secretly glanced at her and suddenly said in a low voice, “Why did you change your fragrance today? Don’t you like the peony scent anymore?”
Mudan’s heart skipped a beat. She clutched her sleeve and looked up at him with a bright smile, asking in return, “Doesn’t this Qianjin Yueling incense I’m wearing smell nice?”
Li Xing pressed his lips together and said almost inaudibly, “It smells good.” Seeing that the horse performance was about to end, he quickly said, “I need to go now. I’ll come find you later.” He hurriedly bowed to He Zhizhong and walked away briskly.
Soon after, news came from Qinzheng Tower that Prince Ning’s horse performance had won first prize among the day’s presentations. At the end, the horses even picked up large golden cups with their mouths and knelt to offer wine to the Emperor and Empress. Of course, the Emperor and Empress couldn’t drink it, but it was a rare and delightful sight, especially compared to the stomach-stabbing and nose-cutting offered by the Prince of Wei’s foreign performers earlier. It was a completely different experience, and thus heavily rewarded.
Mudan observed the surroundings for a while, but as it was approaching the shen hour (3-5 PM), she felt tired. Thinking of her evening appointment and needing to be well-rested, she discussed with Madam Xue and, accompanied by a few others, went to the spice shop to rest in He Silang’s usual resting place. After waking up, she had dinner at the shop. Calculating that it was almost time, she carefully tidied her appearance and went to the agreed meeting place with Lady Bai.
As dusk approached, Qinzheng Tower was already brilliantly lit. Viewing platforms along the street and pavilions set up by official families were decorated with colorful lanterns. Strings of lanterns hung from trees, illuminating the wide street from Chunming Gate to Jinguang Gate as bright as day.
Just before the xu hour (7-9 PM), Nianyu, dressed fashionably in a brown round-collared narrow-sleeved robe, black and white striped Persian trousers, and light green embroidered shoes, hurried over. Seeing Mudan, Madam Xue, and others already waiting, she smiled with satisfaction. After greeting Mudan, she beckoned her aside to whisper, “You’re in luck. That noble person has come today and will be touring with our lady later. Princess Qinghua is also here. When someone comes to call you, just go over. The Princess will surely try to embarrass you, and then you should…”
Mudan nodded repeatedly as she listened, then grabbed Nianyu’s hand and asked, “Sister, can you tell me who this noble person is? I don’t want to accidentally offend them.”
Nianyu smiled and said, “It’s Princess Kangcheng, the Emperor’s elder sister. She’s known for her kindness and is highly respected. If she’s willing to help you, all your problems will be solved.”
Mudan carefully noted this information. She called Madam Xue, Madam Feng, Lin Mama, and Yuhe to join her, walking about seven or eight steps behind Nianyu toward Qinzheng Tower. Dalang, Erlang, and Silang followed behind with a few others, watching cautiously, not daring to even blink for fear of losing sight of Mudan.