Chapter 220

Chang'an was bustling with activity tonight. Brother Qian Chen and the others rode Princess Princess Yuzhen's carriage toward the Xingqinggong. Along the way, there were Chang'an scholars, officials, and commoners dressed in their finest; from Zhu Que Avenue to Chunming Gate, there were flower floats parading through the streets.

Zhu Que Avenue was paved with large blocks of white jade, the ground having just been washed with spirit spring water, rich with spiritual energy.

Si Si Qingguo excitedly lifted the curtain, peeking out with the Big Huang Ji, Master Feng.

She saw that beside the ceremonial guard held up by maids, the Chang'an commoners were already accustomed to the majestic carriages passing by. The bustling crowd was all dressed in finery; women wore chest-high ru skirts and wide-sleeved ceremonial robes, their brows adorned with peach blossom makeup or flower-shaped forehead ornaments.

Those flower ornaments in the shapes of divine birds and exotic flowers were painted on the forehead or corners of the mouth by ordinary families using rouge. The wealthy used gold powder and gold leaf to apply them to their foreheads.

Cultivator women, however, painted divine patterns on their foreheads and temples. In the dark night, the divine patterns on the foreheads of these cultivator women emitted a faint light, spreading all the way to the back of their heads to form a halo. Those beautiful faces, with halos hanging behind their heads, walked leisurely through the crowd and along the white jade street of Zhu Que Gate, like immortals from the Jade Capital in the heavens.

They painted two red crescent-shaped patterns on their temples, known as "slanting red."

Like a waning moon, or like faint scars, they carried a hint of sharpness.

Men mostly wore round-collared, narrow-sleeved robes; the ruffians of the capital and young heroes held sabers and carried swords, whistling past the ceremonial carriages in groups.

The ceremonial guard seemed slow but was actually fast. Soon, they moved slowly through the crowd, passing a flower float of a peacock divine bird. The bright lanterns on the peacock's tail feathers spread out ten zhang, made of gilded copper, covered with emerald feathers and peacock stones. Light flowed on the golden tail feathers, all spread out like a great sun.

On the crest of the peacock divine bird sat several monks chanting scriptures. They loudly chanted Zen, causing heavenly flowers and auspicious light to fall upon the surrounding pious men and women who worshipped Buddha, praying for blessings and consecration for them...

When the monks saw the Daoist nuns leading Princess Princess Yuzhen's ceremonial guard, they all sat up straight, their Zen chanting becoming several times louder.

The precious banners and Buddhist streamers beside the divine bird flower float suddenly shone with great light. The prayer wheels on the banners rotated, the scripture characters on them shining brightly, accompanied by the vast Buddhist sounds, clearing the minds of the surrounding people, invigorating their spirits, and making them feel as if they were soaking in a warm pool.

The peacock divine bird beneath them even spread its wings, flapping them twice and flying at a low altitude.

The surrounding Chang'an citizens let out exclamations. The peacock divine bird dragged its tail feathers, and the celestial musicians invited by the monks beside it also danced gracefully, surrounding the divine bird and stretching out their graceful, flying-like figures.

Si Si Qingguo had just wanted to praise them when she heard the leading Daoist nun shout angrily, "Sisters! Those cheap maids and thieving monks raised by Qinglong Temple are provoking us again! We cannot lose our momentum; show them our stance and give them a taste of our power!"

The Daoist nuns and palace maids in the ceremonial guard shouted in unison, "Yes!"

The Daoist nuns holding lotus-shaped and cloud-shaped curtains and banners channeled their magic power, shaking the banners in their hands slightly. Immediately, infinite auspicious clouds and heavenly flowers fell, emitting five-colored light that landed beside and beneath their feet, lifting the ceremonial guard and making it fly in mid-air.

The four white deer pulling the carriage emitted spiritual light from their green jade-like antlers, forming a path like a star trail in the sky. The white deer stepped on the starlight, jumping and prancing as they ran past the peacock divine bird in a show of force. The cloud carriage they pulled also suddenly puffed up with green gauze, layers of green gauze and cloud barriers dancing to form a palace in the clouds.

The Daoist nuns behind, carrying precious vases and lotus flowers, pinched spirit flowers with their fingertips, dipped them in the sun and moon spirit dew in the vases, and sprinkled them downward. The drops of spirit dew turned into light rain, falling upon the commoners parading on the street.

For a time, it was a magnificent sight, truly the style of the immortals.

The Chang'an citizens below were half-shrouded in heavenly flowers and Buddhist light, and half-bathed in spirit dew and immortal rain. For a time, they either pressed their palms together to chant the Buddha's name or prostrated themselves before the Daoist Ancestor and Heavenly Venerables, the two sides evenly matched, neither giving way to the other.

Beside the peacock divine bird were celestial musicians holding Kucha musical instruments.

Within the ceremonial guard were Daoist nuns playing the zither and drums.

Both sides played Buddhist music and Daoist sounds, competing in beauty. The dancing celestial maidens performed graceful dances, but in this respect, the Buddhist sect was ultimately more skilled. Those celestial musicians were dressed in finery, dancing with great liveliness, even a bit flirtatiously. But this gorgeous dance blended very harmoniously with the atmosphere of the day.

On the contrary, the dancing posture of the Daoist side, while beautiful, was slightly too cold.

The Daoist nuns hummed in dissatisfaction and simply changed their posture, dancing the "Jinghong Dance" that only Concubine Mei had performed that day.

In an instant, Zhu Que Avenue was filled with noise, the shouts of ruffians and idlers were deafening, and it was crowded everywhere, with people pressed against people. On both sides of the street hung lanterns raised by long poles dozens of zhang high, each lantern covered with green gauze shades, hanging down like banners...

Zhu Que Avenue was three hundred zhang wide, and both sides of the street were now a grand hall of a hundred performances.

Ropes were tied with colorful flowers and hung with lanterns, and rope towers nearly a hundred zhang high were built on both sides. On the ropes, dozens of sorcerers were jumping and juggling; some spat out several huge fire dragons, their scales and hair lifelike, riding the dragons on the towers.

Some performed juggling and flying swords, the sword light scattering dazzling brilliance in the air, transforming into various exotic beasts, gods, demons, and even palace lanterns and pavilions. Others had sword light adorned with colorful silk, weaving back and forth in mid-air, intertwining into brocade.

There were also beast-taming performances; tamed phoenix birds and suanni spat smoke and fire, releasing huge colorful fireworks in the air.

Some wore lion costumes, wearing green lion pants and golden-clawed hoof boots of the same color as the lion's body. These were warriors from the palace and the folk dressed as flower lions. A lion-tamer from the palace held a spinning embroidered ball, brilliant with spiritual light, with dozens of golden rings rotating, and inside it were hidden a spirit pearl the size of a fist and various magic tools.

The lion-tamer shouted loudly, "His Majesty has bestowed the Hundred-Treasure Embroidered Ball! Whoever wins this ball shall be this year's Lion King and Dragon King!"

Having said that, regardless of the countless cheers and shouts from below, he threw up the Hundred-Treasure Embroidered Ball. Inside the ball, a small sprite holding a spirit pearl stepped on the ball and escaped in a streak of spiritual light, traveling between the hundred-zhang rope towers.

Hundreds of warriors wearing lion costumes and holding dragon-head lanterns shouted in unison, each using their unique skills to chase after it.

A silver lion, stepping on spiritual light, was driven by two sorcerers who transformed the lion skin into a Capricorn fish with a lion's head and fish's body in mid-air, swimming toward the Hundred-Treasure Embroidered Ball to swallow it.

Halfway there, countless silver threads fell, turning into a large net that trapped it.

These silver lights fell from the mouth of another single-horned dragon-snake. The five cultivators controlling the single-horned dragon-snake with dragon lanterns waved their lanterns, setting up a great formation, and immediately pulled out a hundred-zhang dragon body, coiling toward the Hundred-Treasure Embroidered Ball.

But then a hundred-legged centipede killed its way out from the side, crawling rapidly along the rope tower. Its hundred legs moved, each a blade of spiritual light, cutting the single-horned dragon-snake into segments. The formation of the five cultivators holding the dragon lanterns was immediately broken, and the chubby little sprite in the embroidered ball fled in a panic, stepping on the ball to escape the formation.

Si Si Qingguo watched through the curtain, laughing with delight.

"Great Tang is truly wonderful, much more interesting than Great Jin!"

Si Si Qingguo turned to Ning Ning Qingchen, who was watching the dragon-lion play beside her, but she also knew that the important business tonight was too critical. Even though she loved this lion performance very much, she did not let anyone stop the carriage to watch.

As the carriage moved away, the rope lantern towers and the hundred-lion dragon play on them gradually faded into the distance.

Ning Ning Qingchen also withdrew her gaze and laughed in a low voice, "Princess Sixteen can go back and recruit people to perform it. Why not learn from Great Tang and have a Princess Thousand-Autumn Festival?"

Si Si Qingguo sighed, "Senior Sister, don't mock me like that. That whole set of aristocratic hierarchy is so annoying. They practically wish everyone in the world were their house slaves; how could they ever perform such wonderful hundred-plays?"

Ning Ning Qingchen was also somewhat helpless about this. Let those aristocratic disciples of Wei Jin talk about profound mysteries and discuss the Dao; they could talk endlessly, but like Great Tang, personally performing songs and dances for the "lowly people" in their eyes? That was truly impossible, even if you killed them.

Like the Wang and Xiao Xie families, Xiao Xie Xiao Xie Xuan was also a person proficient in music, but would he go and play popular folk tunes to please the general public?

The scholars and cultivators of Wei Jin would all view it as a great humiliation.

"Punishment does not reach the high officials, and the law does not apply to the commoners." The art of cultivation would only be used to highlight status, consolidate rule, and become a symbol of identity and position. Like today's Thousand-Autumn Festival, a group of cultivators in the Penetrating Law Realm wearing lion skins and holding dragon lanterns, competing for an embroidered ball in front of the Chang'an commoners?

In Great Jin, if any cultivator saw this scene, they would likely angrily mount their magic tools and flying swords, slaughtering this group of people who "insulted" them.

Although they had no good comments about the Xiao Xie Xuan Emperor, several of them had no good words for him.

In reality, it was a feeling of "hating that iron does not become steel." When it came down to it, the Xiao Xie Xuan Emperor was broad-minded and had an extraordinary bearing; among the folk scholars, ethnic minorities, and even Hu people and demonic cultivators, he had a good reputation.

Compared to those aristocratic families of Wei Jin, his bearing was far superior.

Having seen those absurd emperors of the Master Sima family, Si Si Qingguo actually had a favorable impression of him.

Being able to create such a peaceful and prosperous age, the Xiao Xie Xuan Emperor's civil and military achievements were not bad. Including the fact that Brother Qian Chen and others were dissatisfied with him, it was only because of the Xiao Xie Xuan Emperor's laziness and slowness in the face of the demonic calamity.

But when it came down to it, the Xiao Xie Xuan Emperor had no moral failings. The world was peaceful, there were no starving people, and there were no countless commoners who could not survive and had to raise the banner of rebellion. The smoke of war in the world was not caused by commoners who could not survive, but by the schemes of demon ambitious people for their own selfish desires.

Compared to the prosperity of Great Jin under the aristocratic families, where every year there were commoners who could not survive and converted to side-door evil cults to rebel, the Great Tang Xiao Xie Xuan Emperor was far superior.

It could only be said that the hearts of the people in the world still belonged to the Li Tang, and the Xiao Xie Xuan Emperor was temporarily muddled but had no moral failings.

Ning Ning Qingchen had no intention of discussing these things with Si Si Qingguo. Although the Master Sima family had all sorts of faults, Si Si Qingguo was, after all, a princess of the Master Sima family. Even if she might not care about the Master Sima family's national destiny, saying these things would only increase the awkwardness.

She changed the subject, "That little sprite seems to be a ginseng treasure?"

Si Si Qingguo nodded, "It is indeed a shapeshifting spirit medicine. It should also be a reward for the Hundred-Treasure Embroidered Ball. The ginseng treasure baby is best at escaping, so it is suitable as a spirit creature to manipulate the embroidered ball's escape. There must be some formation seal on the embroidered ball to keep it from escaping the lantern tower."

"It's a pity if such a natural spirit creature is damaged!" Ning Ning Qingchen sighed. The ginseng baby that had become a spirit was used as a prize and fell into the hands of the cultivators competing for the embroidered ball; the outcome went without saying.

Both of them were kind-hearted people, and if possible, they would have liked to save this natural spirit creature, but unfortunately... today there were things a hundred times more important than this.

At this time, the vermilion gate of Xingqinggong was already in sight, with nobles coming and going constantly. The peacock divine bird lantern also followed several monks into the palace gate. They were carrying the princess's ceremonial guard, so naturally, no one stopped them, and they followed the crowd straight into the imperial palace where the Xiao Xie Xuan Emperor lived most often.

At this moment, Brother Qian Chen outside the carriage suddenly threw something in.

It was the little Ear-Dao God. It was pulling the chubby ginseng baby, rolling into the carriage while stepping on the embroidered ball. It drooled at the ginseng baby, which was several times larger than itself, but the ginseng baby did not understand the little thing's malice.

After escaping the seal, it was jumping around excitedly there.

The ginseng baby saw Ning Ning Qingchen and the others, feeling a bit cautious and afraid, but then it flatteringly held up the embroidered ball to offer it to them, making the two of them quite fond of it.

But the Big Huang Ji, Master Feng's malicious gaze, immediately shone from beside the carriage window. The magnificent Big Huang Ji looked covetously at the poor ginseng baby. The ginseng baby, having just escaped the wolf's den, fell into the tiger's mouth and was dumbfounded. Fortunately, Ning Ning Qingchen managed to grab Master Feng in time.

The ginseng baby pulled the Ear-Dao God and scurried behind Si Si Qingguo.

Si Si Qingguo exclaimed in surprise, "How did you trick someone else's prize away?" The Ear-Dao God babbled, pointing and gesturing quite proudly, and even put its hands on its hips for a while, looking extremely proud of itself.

Brother Qian Chen outside the carriage snorted coldly, "You really know how to cause trouble for me!"

They had just passed the lantern tower when a ghost-faced lion shook off a golden net, catching the little sprite stepping on the embroidered ball. The ghost-faced lion reached into the net to grab it, but the touch felt wrong; the embroidered ball and the ginseng baby in its hand had both turned into a puddle of ink.

The cultivator dressed as a ghost-faced lion opened his palm, looking at the puddle of colorful ink, confused, "Where's the prize? Where's my Hundred-Treasure Embroidered Ball?"

The lion-tamer beside him also hurriedly flew over, looking at his palm, "The embroidered ball was swapped! Which hero stole the embroidered ball? The Lion-Dragon Play doesn't forbid these methods; as long as you wear the lion robe, you are this year's Lion King and Dragon King! Please take out the Hundred-Treasure Embroidered Ball for me to judge."

He shouted three times, and the Chang'an citizens watched the fun, laughing and pointing below, but no one stood out.

After a long time with no answer, the lion-tamer and the ghost-faced lion stood on the lantern tower, looking at each other, both confused.

What on earth was going on?