300 Lantern Festival

"We'll be fine, Grandfather." Feng Ao Si was looking at the gate excitedly while tightening his coat for his mother to see. Wind City had more snow compared to the Capital City, so he was wearing more than usual. It was not like he felt cold but his mother was worried that he would fall sick.

"Don't go too far."

"Yes."

Nan Hua was helpless when her aunt tightened the coat around her body. It was clear that Nan Si Qiao would never let her out if she didn't bundle herself enough to fight against the cold.

She was a martial artist. This amount of cold was actually nothing.

"Come on." Nan Si Qiao grabbed Nan Hua's hand and led her out. She was being very careful as if she was handling a very small kid.

Nan Hua: "…"

She was really not used to be treated like a fragile object.

The other three followed soon afterwards as they walked onto the streets. A lot of people were celebrating the Lantern Festival as the streets were swamped with a sea of people. Beautiful decoration was all that they could see no matter where they were looking.

"Are you excited, Hua'er?" Nan Luo asked curiously.

Nan Hua looked at her twin brother and noticed the faint glimmer in his eyes. She immediately understood what he was thinking just from that.

Lantern Festival was the most favorite festival for ladies. This was the only chance they were allowed to come out of their house without carriages and mask. They were allowed to blend with the crowd with only some bodyguards for noble ladies to celebrate New Year by lighting up lantern.

The street would be crowded, but everyone was excited. There were countless love stories that people often said when they were talking about Lantern Festival. It was not only in Fei Yang Kingdom but also in other kingdoms.

It was mostly famous amongst the ladies.

After all, who wouldn't want to meet the man of their dream?

However…

Nan Hua already had a fiancé. She naturally would not go out of the line and tried to court another man. There was another reason for her excitement, which was for her to travel all around the city legally.

"I heard that the Lantern Festival in Wind City is different from the Capital City," Nan Hua replied softly.

Nan Si Qiao let out a faint laugh. "There are not much differences in Lantern Festival as you might think. It's mostly the same with only a bit of variety."

"How about food?"

"Ah? I think it's usually some glutinous rice?" Feng Ao Si was trying hard to remember. He didn't really pay attention because he was not interested in the food. There were not many novel foods on the street during this era.

With wars raging on, most people would care more about the food that they could cook with their limited ingredients. Sometimes, the taste would be delicious but more often than not, it would be unbearable.

Feng Ao Si would never admit that he had once tasted it, though.

Nan Hua blinked her eyes. "It's glutinous rice balls, Brother Si."

The food in Lantern Festival were small glutinous rice balls filled with fruits and nuts, called yuanxiao or tangyuan. It was usually eaten with family to signify the wholeness and unity within them.

However, the price of food was a bit expensive in Wind City. Looking at the small number of food stalls and more performances, Nan Hua could guess that not many people could profit from opening small stores like this.

They were all trying hard to skimp on food to save.

"The dance is quite interesting. How about if we watch the one in that area?" Feng Ao Kuai pointed to one direction.

Nan Si Qiao nodded. "Right, I heard that the two dance halls are competing with each other. Watching their performance can also help us to understand more about the current development of art."

"The topics recently are either romance or war." Feng Ao Si pursed his lips. He didn't really have much appreciation towards art. In his eyes, those things were nothing more than activities that would waste time for him.

Nan Luo ignored his cousin who had zero talent in art. "In that case, we should visit them one by one. It's rare for us to be in Wind City and I don't know how long Grandpa will allow us to be here. What do you think, Hua'er?"

"Mhm."

"Since Nan Hua had agreed, let's head to the first one…." Before Nan Luo could finish speaking, he could see a young man walking in their direction. He nearly cursed if not for his good upbringing.

"Madam Feng," Long Qian Xing greeted with a smile. His men told him that the group had already walked out of the residence, so he chose to speed up. He was staying temporarily in an inn that he had booked because Long Family didn't have a residence in Wind City.

He couldn't become a spendthrift either and bought a residence when he was only passing by this city for a short period of time.

"Young Commander Long." Nan Si Qiao nodded. She smiled faintly. "Hua'er wants to watch performances. Would you like to come along?"

"Yes, I'm also curious about the performances in Wind City. The Capital City Lantern Festival highlight is always the food," Long Qian Xing agreed readily.

Nan Hua passed a look at Long Qian Xing. At this time, she didn't know whether he was trying to look down on other nobles or he was trying to showcase his curiosity. After all, the Capital City's noble people were all still living lavishly despite the fact that they were in the middle of war.

Mhm, they wouldn't be able to last that long, though.

Emperor Yang Zhou should have started to press more tax from those little 'landlords' right?

Nan Hua forgot the exact timeline of when he started to do that because the story didn't mention this too much. It was only mentioned in passing when it was done.