Fire Captain

This year, because Bai Ziyang's eldest brother got married, there was one more person in the family. It was no longer just the four of them who stayed up to celebrate the New Year. Bai Ziyang played tricks and called his eldest sister-in-law several times, which earned him a lot of good things. Bai Ziyang's eldest sister-in-law was the daughter of the Shangshu Ge Lao. Her surname was Liu and her name was Zhihe. She was from a real family of scholars. Her dowry included rare antiques, calligraphy and paintings. Bai Ziyang got two calligraphy books for free, one from a famous calligrapher in the previous dynasty, and the other from the current Ge Lao, that is, his eldest sister-in-law's father. You should know that Ge Lao Liu was once a top scholar in the imperial examination, and his calligraphy and painting skills were praised even by the current officials.

Bai Ziyang's elder brother teased him and asked, "Huh? Ziyang, tell me the truth, who did you want these two calligraphy books for?"

Bai Ziyang said without even looking up: "Of course I practiced it myself!"

Zhao Zihui said: "Do you think I have never seen your handwriting? You can write in your own style, but do you still need a copybook?"

Bai Ziyang put the copybook into his arms, turned around to look at the eyes that were watching the show, turned his head away proudly, snorted, and ran away...

The next few days were the same as in previous years, with Zhao Zihui and his wife as the main force. Bai Ziyang was still lazy as much as he could, except for entering the palace. The atmosphere in the palace became more and more tense. The intention of Prince Yong and Prince Yan to compete for the throne was already known to everyone, and the emperor seemed to be inclined to make Prince Yong the crown prince... Bai Ziyang's family watched this with cold eyes. The new daughter-in-law Liu Zhihe didn't know whether Zhao Zihui had said something to her or she was extremely smart, but she was very comfortable in socializing with the outside world. Princess Zhao nodded secretly after seeing this, and said to Prince Zhao: "If the second son's wife can do this, I will be completely relieved!"

Prince Zhao said, "After all, she was born to the daughter of Marquis Yongyi, so I think she can be pretty good. Besides, don't we have you?"

After the Chinese New Year comes the Lantern Festival, which is the most anticipated festival for young boys and girls, because on this day, the girls who stay at home can go out to watch the lanterns. The elders at home basically turn a blind eye to the rules. Some young men and women can also take the opportunity to have a date after dusk when the moon is above the treetops...

The widely circulated poem in later generations, "I searched for him among the crowd for thousands of times. Suddenly I looked back and found him, in the dimly lit place." Such a beautiful artistic conception describes the scene of the Lantern Festival.

The daughters of the Sheng family, accompanied by their two brothers, naturally went out to play together, but when they reached the crowded streets, the three sisters separated as they walked. Sheng Molan was dressed up and was busy attracting bees and butterflies along the way. Sheng Rulan was lively and curious, and was attracted by all kinds of beautiful lanterns along the way. She had already left the team. Sheng Minglan and Xiao Tao fell behind, quietly admiring the lanterns, but her eyes seemed to be unconsciously looking for something.

As she walked, Minglan was surrounded by people wearing puppet masks. The masked people performed all kinds of flattering gestures. Minglan smiled and said, "Little trick, little peach reward!" This is a trick that the people in the troupe do to ask for rewards, and it is also a custom of the Lantern Festival.

Xiao Tao said, "Yes!" She took out her purse and threw out a handful of copper coins. The troupe members were busy picking up the copper coins, and the master and servant finally "escaped".

Maybe because they were walking too fast, Minglan didn't pay attention to the road ahead and accidentally bumped into someone's arms. Minglan looked up and saw that it was a masked man. She quickly stepped back and said sorry, then took Xiaotao to the left and tried to bypass the man. But the masked man followed and took a step to the left.

Minglan didn't think much about it at first, thinking it was just a coincidence. Since the left road was blocked, she could just go to the right. As a result, the masked man also went to the right, blocking Minglan's way.

Minglan raised her head angrily and said, "You..." How could you be like this! She swallowed the last two words before she could finish them. The man in front of her lifted a corner of his mask, revealing his handsome face. Who else could it be but the man she had been looking for all night?

Just as Xiao Tao was about to call "Mr. Bai", Bai Ziyang raised his index finger and made a hushing gesture to his lips, then waved his hand. Xiao Tao understood and took two steps back, standing with the two servants following behind her. Then Bai Ziyang took a mask and put it on Minglan's face.

Minglan smiled and put on the mask without saying a word. Bai Ziyang could only see Minglan's smiling eyes through the mask.

The two walked side by side on the streets of the Lantern Festival without saying a word, but the silent atmosphere surrounding them was indescribably peaceful and beautiful...

Bai Ziyang did have a lot to say, but he didn't want to ruin the atmosphere at the moment. Minglan also had a lot to say, but she didn't know where to start. She wanted to say something that was not in accordance with etiquette, but she was also greedy for the feeling at the moment. She was afraid of being seen as frivolous if she said too much, so in the end she could only swallow the words and watch the lights in silence.

While admiring the lanterns along the way, when they were about to reach the foot of Aoshan Mountain, Bai Ziyang was bumped by someone. Turning around, he saw a man supporting a woman and walking away quickly. The man had an ordinary appearance and he could hardly be found in a crowd. On the contrary, the woman had a beautiful face and was dressed luxuriously. When she saw Bai Ziyang, she suddenly opened her eyes wide.

From the side, the two looked like two young men and women having an intimate meeting, which was very common during the Lantern Festival. However, Bai Ziyang knew the woman. She was Rong Feiyan, the sister of Concubine Rong in the palace, whom he had met at the palace banquet.

Bai Ziyang knew that Rong Feiyan was very picky and had always had her eyes on the sons of aristocratic families. When they met at the palace banquet this year, Rong Feiyan had even deliberately chatted with Qi Heng, so it was impossible for her to have a "secret meeting" with this ordinary-looking man with no family background. At this time, Rong Feiyan was able to move freely, but her expression was panic-stricken, and it seemed that she could not call for help. It was probably because this man had held her acupuncture points. Seeing this, Bai Ziyang shouted, "Brother, please stay!"

However, the man did not stop at all, and continued to leave quickly as if he did not hear anything. Bai Ziyang looked towards the street. At this time, Shang Cheng, Yun Jin, Su Rao and others were hiding in the crowd to protect Bai Ziyang. After receiving Bai Ziyang's signal, they nodded and followed Rong Feiyan away.

Bai Ziyang continued to visit the Lantern Festival with Minglan. Seeing this, Minglan asked, "What was that just now?"

Bai Ziyang said: "It's okay, let Shangcheng and the others handle it!"

After a while, there was a sudden panic on the street. It was thought that the servants of Rong Feiyan's family knew that Rong Feiyan was missing, but then it gradually calmed down. Bai Ziyang protected Minglan and avoided the panic. When he looked up, he saw Shang Cheng nodded at him, and he knew that Rong Feiyan's problem should be solved.

Seeing that the time was almost up, Bai Ziyang quietly sent Minglan to Sheng Changbai to reunite with the Sheng sisters. Then he winked at Minglan and quietly disappeared into the crowd.

Minglan held the mask and looked at the direction where Bai Ziyang left with a sweet smile on her face. Sheng Molan accidentally saw it and felt it was irritating. She said sarcastically: "Sixth sister, why are you laughing? Did you see someone?"

Minglan was in a good mood and didn't want to argue with her, so she said, "Sister, you are just in a good mood because you saw such a lively scene. How can you cry during the Lantern Festival?"

Sheng Rulan also said, "Yes, who wouldn't be happy to see such a beautiful lantern festival? Fourth sister is unhappy, maybe because she didn't meet the person she wanted to meet, and she wasted this outfit in vain!"

…………

After returning to the palace, Bai Ziyang asked, "Did you send Rong Feiyan back?"

Shang Cheng said: "Yes! I personally sent him back to Rong Mansion with my men!"

Bai Ziyang leaned back in his chair and asked, "Tell me, what's going on?"

Shang Cheng said: "Sir, it turns out that it was Prince Yong who did this!"

Bai Ziyang asked curiously, "Prince Yong?" At this critical moment, any disturbance could trigger all kinds of thoughts in Bai Ziyang. Hearing this, Bai Ziyang's mind immediately began to diverge: "Why did Prince Yong kidnap Rong Fei's sister? He is now the first candidate for the crown prince, and it is not very important whether he has Rong Fei's help. Could it be... Prince Yan's hand? Trying to put the blame on Prince Yong, so as to arouse the Rong family's hatred towards Prince Yong? By the way, have you checked it out? Are you sure it is Prince Yong, not Prince Yan?"

Shang Cheng was dumbfounded. He didn't expect that Bai Ziyang had thought so much because of his words. He immediately came to his senses after hearing Bai Ziyang's question and said, "Sir, we have captured their people. After interrogation, we found that it was indeed Prince Yong who did it. However, the reason is not as complicated as you think. In fact, Prince Yong sent people to kidnap Rong Feiyan just because of one person?"

Bai Ziyang asked, "Who?" He suddenly asked in disbelief, "Is it because of Qi Heng?"

Shang Cheng said with a smile: "My lord, it's really because of Young Master Qi! It's because Princess Jiacheng has long been interested in Young Master Qi. I heard that Rong Feiyan had proposed marriage to Princess Pingning for her sister Rong Feiyan a few days ago, but Princess Pingning has not agreed yet. Princess Jiacheng is anxious, so she plans to cut off the source of the trouble..."

Bai Ziyang said: "Ha... just because of Qi Heng? He is really a male beauty who brings disaster!"

At this time, Bai Ziyang didn't expect that this sentence would happen to him within a few days.