Chapter 503 Thousand Lights Make the Sky River

Although Emperor Guangwu made Luoyang his capital, Chang'an was the capital of the West, and at that time there was also a sacred order to repair the palace.

But after all, it was only Xijing, and most of the time it was only used as a stop for the emperor's western tour. Therefore, only Weiyang Palace and Changle Palace were repaired, while Jianzhang Palace, Mingguang Palace, etc. were all dilapidated.

As for later, the people of Chang'an watched the emperor being kidnapped by Dong Zhuo and invited away by Cao Cao, leaving only an increasingly dilapidated palace in the end.

This emperor's uncle is interesting. He also decided that after the Three Qin Dynasty, he entered Chang'an and spared no effort in the renovation and reconstruction of the old houses and the East and West Markets. However, he only skipped these royal palaces, leaving them still in a dilapidated appearance.

As for the emperor's uncle himself, he found a general's mansion and repaired it slightly and lived in it.

People in Chang'an can also understand the notice posted now. The old palace should be referring to Weiyang Palace.

In front of the old palace, it should be in front of the Xi'an Gate and Anmen Gate to the south of Weiyang Palace.

So many people go to these two doors every day to see what is going on.

Fortunately, the emperor's uncle had no intention of hiding it from others. As the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month approached, a tall wooden frame was actually erected south of Weiyang Palace.

What puzzles the people of Chang'an is that although this shelf is tall, there is nothing magical about it at all.

However, considering that the emperor's uncle has kept his word over the past year, most people in Chang'an are willing to give the old Liu family a face, so it is not too late to wait until the 30th of the twelfth lunar month to see what the magic is.

As long as it doesn't snow, people will make a special trip here, grab two hot steamed buns from the emperor, and squat on the roadside to watch the emperor's soldiers busy in front of the Weiyang Palace.

Or use a sledgehammer to tamp the road, then spread a layer of gray mud to smooth it, and then order the sergeant to guard and strictly prohibit stepping on it.

Or a group of lightly-armed sergeants went up and down, using logs supplemented by wooden spokes to build a wooden frame.

Although they don't understand what it is used for, the Chinese New Year is approaching, their families have new houses, and there is food stored in them. Under such circumstances, the people of Chang'an don't mind watching the excitement at all.

In the past two months, there have been more and more salesmen on the streets of Chang'an. They have also come here after hearing the news, so there is a strange scenery to the south of Weiyang Palace.

The straight street is wide, and the north side facing Weiyang Palace is full of busy sergeants, either preparing roads, building wooden frames, or transporting supplies.

On the south side of Zhi Street, people are selling greeting cards to door gods or selling delicious food such as jiaoer bean curd. Occasionally, the two parties who have reached a deal will exchange a few auspicious words, which is very lively.

The salesmen had a very keen sense of smell, and they gathered here in just one day, thus making the long-declined Miyagi Naochi Street prosperous again.

If they could still see the dilapidated corner of Weiyang Palace to the north, some Chang'an people would have to dream back to the rule of Ming Zhang and the rise of Yong Yuan.

"Sister Shu, there will be a lot of people rubbing shoulders in front of Weiyang Palace today, why don't you go early?"

Ma Zhong knocked on the door of Li Shu, who came to Chang'an to study with him, and planned to ask the girl to go to Weiyang Palace early to get a seat.

Soon the courtyard door opened in response, but behind the door was not Li Shu's beautiful face, but a stern and slightly old face.

Ma Zhong was stunned for a moment, and then he hurriedly bowed:

"Mr. Li is fine, I..."

Before he finished speaking, Mr. Li looked Ma Zhong up and down and said:

"I heard from my dear mother that your uncle has changed your name to Ma Zhong?"

Ma Zhong nodded carefully, and then saw the person in front of him nodding with a straight face, turning sideways and saying:

"Since you have stood out through the imperial examination and gained the respect of Duke Xuande, I should remember your name and do not make any mistakes."

Seeing Li Shu smiling at him behind Mr. Li, Ma Zhong breathed a sigh of relief and said he would keep it in mind.

After entering the courtyard, Ma Zhong hurriedly made his intention clear. Unexpectedly, Li Shu took out a bill from her arms, shook it and said:

"My father arrived in Chang'an ten days ago and made a reservation for us on the second floor of Chaling Restaurant that night."

Chaling Restaurant is quite famous in Luoyang, so many hotels from other places borrow its name, and it is the same now in Chang'an City. As far as Ma Zhong knows, this restaurant is located south of Weiyang Palace, which is an excellent viewing location.

I remember Li Shu had said before that her eldest brother was quite talented in studying sugar. Mr. Li once wanted to use his family wealth to help his eldest son open a sugar mill. Now it seems that it may be possible?

Mr. Li tapped his crutch on the ground, glanced at Ma Zhong and said:

"Tell your great father that I will be here within five days of Yuanzheng. If you want to talk about Shu, you can come by yourself."

Ma Zhong was startled for a moment, and then his face looked overjoyed. The meaning behind these words was so obvious that he responded solemnly.

Li Shu was smiling beautifully at the side, her beautiful eyes were looking forward to it.

At this time, the street directly in front of Weiyang Palace has been completely renovated. The new road paved with cement prevents snow and mud from walking on it, and it is much more comfortable to walk on.

You Chu watched the soldiers stacking pine and cypress branches on the wooden shelf, sniffed and said:

"This is the iron tree, what about the silver flower?"

Zhang Ji raised his head and looked at the dim sky, guessing: "Maybe we'll know when it gets dark."

To be honest, Zhang Ji didn't really want to join in the fun, but You Chu insisted that there was a good place to pull him out.

Unexpectedly, he found a crack in the palace wall. After walking around twice, he climbed up the broken palace wall. Although it was windy, looking at the hustle and bustle on the street below made Zhang Ji feel a little calmer.

Standing here and looking at the five-story high-rise building opposite Weiyang Palace, Zhang Ji was a little curious:

"This Chaling Restaurant is magnificent. I wonder who is the rich man? Isn't he afraid of following the footsteps of Xu Ying of Puyang?"

You Chu opened his mouth, not knowing how to answer.

As far as he knew, the Chaling Restaurant was probably closely related to Lord Xuande, because the blueprint of this five-story building was drawn by Zhuge Military Advisor.

Such a godly figure who could help Lord Xuande establish this foundation, how could Xu Ying, a fool who wrote bribery on the test paper, be compared?

Shaking his head, You Chu looked at the magnificent scene below and exclaimed softly:

"This paper is really a foreign object. If the Han Dynasty revives and regains control of the Western Regions, this thing will surely be sold to foreign countries."

It was dusk at this moment, but the streets below were full of paper lanterns, illuminating this small world like daylight.

Then, on the half-person-high platform that had been set up under the palace wall, a man dressed in armor and as mighty as a god, smashed the drumstick on the big drum in front of him with all his strength.

The first sound was like thunder, and then the interval between each drum beat became shorter and shorter. Soon the drum beat was like a storm, making the whole street completely quiet, and everyone stretched their necks and stared at it.

With the increasingly urgent drum beats, Nuo masters wearing various ghost masks began to take the stage. When all parties stood still, the drum beats stopped immediately.

The mighty general threw the drumstick and roared:

"Qi Zi Bei, please drive away the epidemic--"

The tall ghost-faced strong man who led the Nuo masters opened the prelude to the exorcism with a more powerful voice:

"... Jia Zuo eats evil, Yue Fu Wei eats tigers, Xiong Bo eats ghosts, Teng Jian eats bad luck, Lan Zhu eats trouble, and Bo Qi eats dreams!"

The people of Chang'an are a little unfamiliar with the exorcism play, but not so unfamiliar.

After all, Chang'an was the capital during the Western Han Dynasty. It is said that the royal family would also let Nuo masters perform Nuo in front of the palace to show the grace of heaven.

But since Emperor Guangwu, the capital was changed to Luoyang, and the place for exorcism became Luoyang, and it had nothing to do with Chang'an.

Later, Dong Zhuo captured the emperor here, but at that time, there was chaos and war, and the emperor had no intention of praying for blessings, and the people had no blessing to enjoy it, so now it can be said to be a completely different scene that is completely unimaginable.

Before the exorcism was over, some people among the people cried softly and looked at each other with tears in their eyes.

Zhang Ji was stunned. He felt that he should not recognize it wrong. The one beating the drum must be Jin Ma Chao, and the Yongzhou accent was quite obvious.

And even if the leader of the Nuo master was wearing a mask, he could recognize it at a glance. It must be General Zhang Yide!

"If there were no such chaos, even if the third brother did not join the army, he could be a good Nuo master."

On the top floor of Chaling Restaurant, Liu Bei hugged Adou and commented like this.

Previously, Liu Bei was concerned about Mrs. Gan's frailty and the uncertainty of the war, so he did not let his family follow.

But later, Madam Gan wrote to say that after being treated with Zhang Zhongjing's decoction, her health had improved a lot. In addition, Chang'an was stable, so she finally sent people to pick up her family in October.

"The soldiers of Yizhou have returned. The elders of Chengdu all remember the kindness of the three generals. If you become a Nuo master, the people of Yizhou will definitely support you."

Liu Bei turned his head and met the autumn eyes of the person who said this. He did not avoid it and nodded openly:

"If you know what Madam Wu said, you will definitely be happy."

It was not surprising that the daughter of the Wu family came north with Madam Gan and Madam Sun to find him.

Maybe the decision of Guanzhong changed Liu Bei's mentality, or maybe Adou said a lot of things about Madam Wu's kindness to him.

The idea of ​​blindly avoiding in Yizhou no longer exists. The idea that Liu Bei now has in his heart is:

I wonder if Madam Wu can decide her own marriage?

But thinking of what she said reminded Liu Bei of Xiahou Yuan, and even more of Zhang He who was still stranded in Chang'an. He hesitated for a moment and didn't know how to respond.

What drew Liu Bei's attention back was the pain on his chin. When he lowered his head, he saw Adou pulling his beard:

"Dad said that we won't talk about official business on New Year's Eve today."

Liu Bei had to smile and promised to obey. Adou smiled.

However, he couldn't help thinking of his second brother who had been stationed in Jingzhou for a long time.

I hope that on New Year's Eve next year, the three brothers can gather together, as the two phoenix emperors said in their poems, to celebrate the new and old years together and welcome and bid farewell in one night.

The grand exorcism ceremony brought Chang'an the emotion of recalling the powerful Han Dynasty in the past, and the subsequent iron tree and silver flowers brought endless amazement to the people of Chang'an.

The strong man went on the stage naked, hit the molten iron into the air, and the brilliant sparks burst on the pine and cypress branches, decorating this "tree stage" with dazzling brilliance.

Thousands of flowers bloomed on the trees, stars fell like rain, and paper lanterns filled the road.

The sound of stringed instruments rang out. This was the musical instrument that Liu Bei tried his best to find and collect. Kong Ming and Pang Tong spent a day looking for players and tried their best to compose the music.

It was not very nice, but Liu Bei heard the praises of the people downstairs and knew that it was enough for them.

The strong men who beat the molten iron to make iron trees and silver flowers had been replaced three times, but the people were still fascinated by it.

In the end, a general came out and announced loudly that the prepared molten iron had been used up, and the people were reluctant to leave.

It was still not over yet. I don’t know when the stage where the Nuo opera was performed was already covered with small lights, but none of them were lit. There were nearly a thousand densely packed lights.

Liu Bei carefully held A Dou and approached the railing to watch. He knew the whole process well, so it was not surprising to see Kong Ming appear on the stage in formal clothes.

Thinking carefully, this seemed to be the first time he saw Kong Ming wearing a wide robe with long sleeves, red and black, decorated with jade belts, flowery boots, and a ribbon crown. With his serious face, he was 50% similar to Prime Minister Zhuge in the light curtain.

And his military advisor's words on the stage, with the help of the soldiers shouting loudly, the whole street can hear clearly, there is no red tape in the words, and they are quite straightforward.

Even the illiterate old farmer can understand the meaning:

The military advisor said that from the time when Dong Zhuo destroyed the fertile land of Guanzhong, to now when the Three Qins have been settled and have surplus food, the chaos in Guanzhong has ended.

And now there is a bright lamp on the stage that can fly to the sky. If there are parents who died in the chaos, they can go on the stage to light the lamp and pray for their parents' souls.

After saying this, the military advisor stood aside with his hands folded.

The people on the street looked at each other, and soon someone came on the stage with a sad face, took the fire stick from the soldier's hand, blew it, and carefully lit the nearest lamp.

Seeing the lamp swaying and flying, the young man burst into tears, knelt down and kowtowed to the small lamp that flew into the sky.

Soon, more people came on stage, and the fire starter was passed among these silent people one by one. Soon, someone borrowed a fire starter from a street vendor and went on stage to light the lamp.

Thousands of lamps flew together, like silent souls floating over Chang'an, connecting the sky above and the people below. Even Liu Bei had an illusion for a moment, as if this simple little lamp could really carry souls and allow people separated by yin and yang to communicate.

Liu Bei was not the only one who felt this way. He saw and heard with his own eyes that some people below were roaring at the river of lights, and some were crying out their names.

Some were talking about trivial matters at home, some were expressing their longing for their loved ones, and some were telling each other that they were safe.

Everyone present was sad.

"Daddy, I miss my aunt."

Liu Bei lowered his head and saw Ah Dou looking at him eagerly, with tears in his eyes.

He sighed lightly, hugged Adou tighter, looked up at the sky with thousands of lights, and seemed to see a beautiful young figure through it.

Kong Ming stood on the stage with his hands clasped, watching the widows remembering their dead, and the soldiers around him, who were either reluctant or staring, probably thinking of their deceased relatives.

Finally, he looked up at the sky with an expressionless face, and clenched his fists slightly in his sleeves.

In the south of Chang'an, Zhang He looked at the stars in the sky in the north. Although he didn't know what was going on, he suddenly missed his family in Yecheng.

...

Unlike the snowy scene in Han Chang'an, Li Shimin couldn't remember how many times he had lamented the hot weather in July.

But compared to the hot weather, what was more anxious was his heart.

Fortunately, ten days after watching the light curtain, a messenger finally came to report:

"The Duke of Dai is escorting the bandit chieftain to the west Jinguang Gate of Chang'an!"

Li Shimin jumped up and threw the answer he had already thought of:

"Order him to escort the prisoners to the south of the city and enter the city from Mingde Gate!"