Chapter 222: Dragon Pool Banquet, Gathering of Heroes

Tonight, Chang'an was exceptionally lively. Qian Chen and the others rode Princess Yuzhen's carriage toward Xingqinggong. Along the way, the streets were filled with nobles and commoners dressed in their finest, from Zhu Que Avenue to Chunming Gate, with flower-decorated floats parading through the streets.

The Zhu Que Avenue was paved with large slabs of white jade, the ground having just been washed with spirit spring water, leaving it brimming with spiritual energy.

Si Qingguo excitedly lifted the curtain, peeking out with the big yellow chicken, Feng Shi.

She saw that beside the ceremonial guards supported by female attendants, the people of Chang'an were already accustomed to the majestic carriages passing by. The bustling crowds were all dressed in festive attire; the women wore chest-high ruqun skirts and wide-sleeved ceremonial robes, their brows adorned with peach-blossom makeup or floral huadian ornaments.

Those huadian, shaped like divine birds or exotic flowers, were painted on the brows or corners of the mouth by commoners using rouge. The wealthy used gold powder and gold leaf to apply them to their brows.

Cultivator women, however, painted divine patterns on their brows and temples. In the dark of night, these divine patterns emitted a faint light that extended to the back of their heads, forming a halo. Those beautiful faces, with halos suspended behind them, walked leisurely through the crowd on the white jade street of Zhu Que Gate, looking like immortals from the Jade Capital of Heaven.

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

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

The men mostly wore round-collared, narrow-sleeved robes. The young ruffians of the capital and the young chivalrous heroes carried swords and sabers, whistling past the ceremonial carriage in groups.

The procession moved slowly yet steadily. Soon, they drifted through the crowd and passed a peacock divine bird flower float. The bright lanterns on its tail feathers spread out ten zhang, made of gilded copper and adorned with kingfisher feathers and malachite. The light flowed over the golden tail feathers, which, when fully spread, resembled a great sun.

Dozens of monks sat upon the bird's crest, chanting sutras loudly, casting down heavenly flowers and auspicious light upon the pious believers below, praying for blessings and enlightenment...

Seeing the female Daoist attendants leading Princess Yuzhen's procession, the monks on the divine bird float sat up straight, their chanting growing several times louder.

The precious banners and Buddhist pennants beside the divine bird float suddenly shone with great brilliance. The sutra cylinders on the banners spun, the characters upon them emitting bright light, accompanied by the vast sound of Buddhist music, clearing the minds of those nearby and making them feel as if they were soaking in a warm pool.

The peacock divine bird beneath them even spread its wings, flapping twice and hovering in the air.

The people of Chang'an below let out cries of surprise. The heavenly maidens of music and dance invited by the monks also took flight, circling the divine bird and stretching out their graceful, flying-apsara-like postures.

Si Qingguo had just wanted to offer praise when she heard the leading female Daoist attendant shout angrily: "Sisters! Those lowly maids and thieving monks raised by Qinglong Temple are provoking us again. We cannot lose our momentum; show them what we're made of!"

The female Daoist attendants and palace maids in the procession shouted in unison: "Yes!"

The female Daoists, holding lotus-shaped and cloud-shaped screens and banners, flicked their fingers, releasing infinite auspicious clouds and heavenly flowers. The five-colored auspicious clouds fell around them and beneath their feet, lifting the procession into the air to fly.

The four white deer pulling the carriage emitted spiritual light from their celadon-like antlers, forming a path resembling a star trail in the air. The white deer trotted upon the starlight, and the cloud carriage they pulled suddenly billowed with green gauze, the layers of green gauze cloud-barriers dancing to form a palace within the clouds.

The female Daoists behind, holding precious vases and lotus flowers, dipped their fingertips into the sun and moon spirit dew in the vases and sprinkled it downward. The drops of spirit dew turned into a rain of light, falling upon the people parading on the street.

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

The citizens of Chang'an 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 Buddhist names or bowed to the Daoist Ancestors and Heavenly Venerables, the two sides evenly matched, neither willing to yield.

Beside the peacock divine bird were heavenly maidens holding Kucha musical instruments.

Within the procession were female Daoist cultivators playing zithers and drums.

Both sides played Buddhist music and Daoist sounds, vying for beauty. The flying heavenly maidens dancing gracefully performed exquisite dances, but in this regard, the Buddhist sect was ultimately more skilled. Those heavenly maidens of music and dance were gorgeously dressed, dancing with great liveliness, even appearing somewhat vulgar. Yet, this colorful dance blended very harmoniously with the atmosphere of the day.

Conversely, the dancing postures of the Daoist side, while beautiful, were slightly too cold.

The female Daoists let out a muffled grunt of unwillingness and simply changed their posture, dancing the "Jinghong Dance" that Consort Mei had performed earlier that day.

In an instant, Zhu Que Avenue was filled with clamor. The shouts of ruffians and idlers were deafening, and everywhere was packed with people. On both sides of the street hung lanterns raised on long poles dozens of zhang high. Each colored lantern was covered with a green gauze shade, hanging down like pennants...

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

Ropes were tied with colorful flowers and hung with lanterns. Rope towers nearly a hundred zhang high were built on both sides. On the ropes, dozens of sorcerers were jumping and performing acrobatics. Some spat out several giant fire dragons, their scales and fur vivid and lifelike, driving the dragons atop the towers.

Others performed juggling and flying swords, the sword light scattering in the air to create dazzling, eye-catching colors, transforming into various exotic beasts, divine demons, and even palace lanterns and pavilions. Others still had colorful silk ribbons attached to their sword light, weaving back and forth in mid-air, interlacing into brocade.

There were also beast-taming plays, where tamed phoenix birds and suanni beasts spat smoke and fire, releasing giant colorful fireworks in the sky.

Some wore lion skins, wearing green lion pants and golden claw boots matching the lion's body. These were warriors from the palace and the common folk dressed as flower lions. A lion-tamer from the palace held a rotating embroidered ball, brilliant with spiritual light, with dozens of golden rings spinning, hidden within which were a fist-sized spirit pearl and various magic tools.

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

Regardless of the countless cheers and shouts from below, he tossed the Hundred-Treasure Embroidered Ball. A small sprite inside the ball held the spirit pearl, stepping on the ball and escaping in a streak of spiritual light, traveling between the hundred-zhang rope towers.

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

A silver-skinned lion, stepping on spiritual light, was driven by two sorcerers wearing lion skins. In the air, it transformed into a Capricorn fish with a lion's head and a fish's body, swimming toward the Hundred-Treasure Embroidered Ball.

Halfway there, however, countless silver threads fell, forming a giant net that trapped it.

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

But a centipede with a hundred legs 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 five cultivators holding the dragon lanterns had their formation broken instantly, and the chubby little sprite in the embroidered ball hurriedly stepped on the ball, escaping the formation.

Si Qingguo watched through the curtain, laughing uncontrollably.

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

Si Qingguo turned to Ning Qingchen, who was watching the dragon-lion play beside her, but she also knew that tonight's main business was too critical, so even though she loved this lion play, she didn't have anyone stop the carriage to watch.

As the carriage moved further away, the rope towers and the hundred-lion dragon plays upon them gradually faded into the distance.

Ning Qingchen also withdrew her gaze and laughed in a low voice: "Princess, you could invite people to perform this after you return. Why not learn from the Great Tang and hold a Princess's Birthday Festival yourself?"

Si Qingguo sighed: "Senior Sister, don't tease me like that. The aristocratic obsession with status and hierarchy is so annoying. They act as if everyone in the world is their household slave; how could they ever perform such wonderful 'Hundred Plays'?"