As the nobles poured into the Dongyang River, Pang Yuhai knelt and presented a bow to Li’er, while Li Zhi offered his father a wolf-fang arrow. Fifty paces ahead, only a tiny flame flickered in the cold wind. Li’er habitually drew his bow and nocked the arrow. An emperor who had risen from the saddle was indeed different from a peacetime emperor—the bowstring thundered like lightning, and the arrow flew like a shooting star. That tiny flame was instantly extinguished. Just as everyone was puzzled, a massive burst of flames suddenly erupted where the light had gone out. Dozens of fire dragons writhed across the river’s surface in the night, and wherever they traveled, the ice lanterns were instantly ignited. The river surface immediately blazed with brilliant lights, beautiful as a dreamlike illusion.
Li’er closed his eyes, thoroughly enjoying the sensation of being cheered by thousands of people. Empress Zhangsun stood beside the emperor, receiving the bowing courtesies of the nobles. In front of Li Tai was the fattest panda, and with a cheer, he drove the panda cart to chase those winding fire dragons. This was something he had designed himself—thin ropes coated with fire oil and sulfur could ignite in the shortest time, and after burning, the ropes turned to flying ash, leaving the nobles with the image of fire dragons burning out of thin air.
But a fat panda doesn’t necessarily have strength. Yun Ye’s bear cart, Zhangsun Chong’s bear cart, Cheng Chumo’s, Li Zhi’s, Fang Yi’ai’s, Gao Yang’s, and even Dou Sijie’s bear cart all slowly glided past Li Tai’s bear cart. The panda pulling Li Tai’s cart actually stopped, turned around, and opened its mouth to ask him for food. Its lazy appearance made Li’er laugh heartily. Empress Zhangsun also bent over with laughter, and those noble ladies laughed until their bodies shook. What was supposed to be a proper race had turned into a big joke. Li Tai’s face was as black as if dyed with ink.
He took out a piece of cake from his sled, and the panda was finally satisfied, pulling the sled and slowly swaying forward. Whose words did pandas listen to most? Without question, it was Dou Sijie’s. The panda pulling her cart gripped the ground tightly with all four limbs, running forward with all its might. Worried that she would catch cold, Li Tai specially wrapped his white bear fur cloak around Dou Sijie, wrapping her entire person into a snow-white ball. Her little face was rosy red, and she shouted loudly to cheer on her panda. With a distance of less than five hundred meters, Dou Sijie’s lead was substantial. Gao Yang’s panda dragged her into a dark area to relieve itself, infuriating Gao Yang so much that she kicked the panda’s rear twice. However, when she saw that it was Dou Sijie in the lead, she became happy again. She jumped down from the bear cart and ran quickly on the ice surface. The nails on the soles of her shoes gripped the ice firmly, and she soon caught up with Dou Sijie, standing to the side and loudly cheering her on.
Yun Ye was disqualified from the competition for cheating by using a bamboo pole to help the panda push the sled. Zhangsun Chong was chasing closely behind, making even Li’er worried for Dou Sijie. However, most unfortunately, Zhangsun Chong’s bear cart was going too fast. When turning a corner, he accidentally flipped the cart, and his entire person was thrown out, sliding a long distance on the ice surface. By the time he crawled back and flipped the sled over again, all the nobles of Chang’an were cheering for Dou Sijie, because her bear cart had already broken through the ribbon and was the first to reach the finish line.
Dou Sijie was extremely happy. Her usually pale little face was covered with a rosy glow. Sun Simiao came over smiling to congratulate Princess Dou Sijie on her victory, but his hand probed at Dou Sijie’s neck and wrist. He turned back and nodded to the emperor to indicate there was nothing wrong. Only then did Li’er loudly announce that Princess Dou Sijie had won the victory. In his excited mood, he actually bestowed his personal jade pendant to Dou Sijie, the victor.
Du He came in second but attracted a chorus of boos. He could only cover his head and flee from the front of the crowd. Everyone knew that the other participants were just accompanying Dou Sijie at play. Flattering Dou Sijie had far better effects than flattering Li’er himself. From the frequency with which Li’er kept raising his ice cup to drink grape wine with the big shots around him, one could tell that Li’er was in an excellent mood.
They had made the panda cart advertisements very appropriately. Those noble ladies and young ladies all hoped they could ride in a panda cart for a bit. Thus, graceful academy students appeared. When Pang Yuhai selected these students, he specifically stated he didn’t want clever ones, only handsome ones. These students, whose clothes were washed extremely clean, spoke in the most refined language to those noble ladies who were blocking their daughters behind them: “If Madam wishes to ride in a bear cart, that is naturally possible. To host this lantern festival, the academy has specially prepared fifty bear carts, all free of charge. As long as you like it, this student will bring one over for you right away. Sitting in a bear cart and viewing these earthly wonders in the cold night will surely make this an experience you’ll never forget.”
The words were spoken softly, and the smile looked very amiable. Whether these handsome students were looking at beautiful women or ugly women, their eyes showed the same admiration, making people unconsciously develop good feelings.
The naive pandas pulled the carts over and even knew to rub their big heads against these golden pigs’ skirts, making these noble ladies and young ladies so delighted they stamped their feet. The young, elegant students arranged the noble ladies into the bear carts and then bowed and withdrew, their etiquette so thorough that no one could criticize it. But ah, once they sat in the carts, problems arose. The pandas wouldn’t move. No matter how they were urged, they wouldn’t budge, constantly rubbing their heads against the noble ladies’ skirts.
Before the noble ladies could get angry, that very polite student walked over. He slapped the panda’s head twice and found it still had that lifeless look. He awkwardly told the noble lady that to make the panda move, one must first feed the panda until it was full. This fellow’s mouth was very picky—except for the academy’s cakes, it wouldn’t eat anything else. Speaking of this, he showed an embarrassed expression. The academy’s cakes were very expensive. Especially that black-hearted Judge Xu had set the price of cakes supplied tonight and tomorrow night very high. He himself couldn’t afford to buy them. Otherwise, we won’t ride the bear cart—the student could accompany Madam and the young lady for a stroll on the ice, which wouldn’t be bad either.
Seeing that other families’ pandas had already started to move slowly after being fed cakes, although the noble lady had some complaints about the price of two silver coins per cake, under her daughter’s urging, she still bought several pieces. The bear cart moved slowly, and the student followed alongside at a leisurely pace, explaining to them the origins and stories of those ice lanterns. Thus, the noble lady watched the lanterns entranced, while the young lady secretly glanced at the student, her mind in a daze.
“Brother Jintai, could you please not have little brother serve the Chamberlain’s wife and daughter again? That mother and daughter pair don’t look at the lanterns at all—they’re completely staring at little brother. We’ve already circled around twice. The panda is so tired it’s panting heavily. We’ve earned quite a few silver coins, but little brother really wants to vomit. We scholars who study…”
“We scholars who study must seek welfare for the masses. Whether over two thousand brothers can eat pure braised pork next year depends on our brothers’ performance tonight. We’ve been refined and courteous throughout, with nothing improper, nothing for people to criticize. Isn’t your elder brother also accompanying Minister Han’s daughter? That daughter weighs a full two hundred jin. Not only does your elder brother have to chat and laugh cheerfully, but he also has to help the panda push the cart. The hardships involved are truly beyond description. Thinking of the joy the junior students will have eating meat next year, your elder brother doesn’t care about it.”
“From now on, little brother has given up on young ladies from noble families. If one marries such a wife, even if it means promotion and ennoblement, life in the future will certainly be a fate worse than death.”
“Who told you to evaluate other people’s daughters? A gentleman does not discuss others’ rights and wrongs. What we need is the money in their purses. If people who come out of the academy still need to cling to the powerful and wealthy, aren’t you afraid of being unable to hold your head up among your colleagues?”
The academy was making money with great enthusiasm. Those little children squeezing through the crowds were also very busy. Compared to those black-hearted academy people, these adorable young boys and girls were much more lovable. Small ice lanterns at five copper coins each could really be considered reasonable.
These little children were purely ignorant, so they were also fearless. A seven or eight-year-old little girl with double buns blocked Li’er’s path, insisting on giving Li’er an ice lantern, believing that when it was dark, it was very inconvenient to have no light. Li’er happily accepted the small ice lantern and thanked the little girl, but discovered that the little girl wasn’t leaving. Just as he was puzzled, Yun Ye pulled out five copper coins from his pocket and handed them to that adorable little girl. Only then did the little girl happily run off to continue finding suckers to give lanterns to.
“This is the poetic propriety and ritual governance you advocate?” Li’er looked at the ice lantern in his hand and asked Yun Ye.
“It’s very good! She gave you an ice lantern out of goodwill—this is propriety. You gave her five copper coins in return—this is also propriety. The little girl is strictly carrying out the ritual of a gentleman. We all say that a drop of kindness should be repaid with a gushing spring. You’ve merely returned the little girl one drop of water now. What’s improper about that? Moreover, the friendship between gentlemen is as pure as water. We cannot receive people’s kindness without cause, so it’s better to immediately return the favor. From the Buddhist theoretical perspective, this is ‘every drink and every peck has its predetermined lot.’ Kindness is a karmic obstacle that must be quickly removed. Only thus can one transcend the material world. From the Daoist…”
“Shut your stinking mouth. You’ve twisted good principles into what?” Li’er already had the impulse to beat someone.
“Your Majesty, what this subject means to say is that good intentions and goodwill need to be encouraged.” Yun Ye hid far away and spoke his final sentence.
Ahead was the Dongyang River waterfall. Now standing here was a giant Buddha statue. Dozens of high monks were continuously chanting sutras. Li’er listened carefully and discovered it was the “Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva’s Fundamental Vows Sutra,” a scripture for praying for the deceased, personally translated by Xuanzang. It seemed to vaguely contain the ultimate principles of heaven and earth. The noisy tourists would immediately quiet down as soon as they reached this place, offer a stick of incense, and then hurriedly leave when the jade chime sounded. Behind them were countless people waiting to offer incense.
Li’er stood with his hands behind his back and watched for a while, saying nothing. He continued walking forward with Yun Ye. No matter how composed he was, when he reached the sculpture of Laozi riding an ox, he could no longer remain composed. The entirely snow-white statue of Laozi was full of ancient charm, and the green ox beneath him had an adorably naive appearance. Yuan Tiangang was explaining the “Dao De Jing” to believers. No one knew whether he was speaking correctly or not. In any case, Li’er looked completely indifferent. He walked forward and offered a stick of incense, expressing his respect and adding some wish-power to his old ancestor before leaving. Only the voice of Yuan Tiangang’s sutra lecture behind him became even more resonant and solemn.
The appearance of the Great Tang phoenix was now entirely based on the birds of paradise from the Southern Garden, only the body was enlarged many times over. Empress Zhangsun sat narcissistically in a chair, and old Yan stood less than one zhang in front of the empress, painting her portrait. The background was that colorfully splendid phoenix. Li’er went over to Yan Liben and looked, nodded, indicating that the empress need not rise. He continued wandering about with Yun Ye. Tonight, he was thoroughly enjoying this evening’s pleasure.