Quick Wear: Cousin, Come to the Bowl Quickly

"This feeling is as bright as ever across thousands of miles, and it is most distinct today of the year."

The full moon was high in the sky, illuminating the world with brightness. Every household in Jiankang city was decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations, and the aroma of osmanthus wine filled the air. The female members of the Anguo Mansion had a happy dinner, and then Mrs. Xie and Mrs. Yu urged the girls to go back and wash up.

Back in the room, Lan Xue wanted to drink another cup of osmanthus wine, but Yu clapped her hands and scolded her, "Isn't it enough that you drank so much at the banquet? If you go out drunk and walk around the moon, no prince will be interested in you."

"If they don't like me, then they don't like me. There are so many girls in Zou Yue's circle, I'm afraid they will be overwhelmed by the choices and will not be able to see me." Lan Xue curled her lips and said nonchalantly.

Yu was about to raise her hand to hit her again when she heard her nonsense, but Lan Zhi, who had been paying attention to them, stopped her and said, "Mother, please don't talk about her anymore. It seems that a bead has fallen off the flower crown I want to wear. Please help me find it."

When Yu heard this, she no longer had time to scold Lan Xue. She hurriedly picked up Lan Zhi's wreath and examined it carefully.

In Xunchun Courtyard, there was also chaos and confusion. Lin Xi really couldn't understand why Xueyun always looked like she was going to the battlefield every time she was dressed up. The outfit had been decided long ago, but she still had to check it over and over again, making all the maids in the courtyard nervous.

"Girl, please don't sit there and drink tea. If you hadn't insisted on climbing the tree yesterday and scraped the back of your neck, how could you have changed the fine Yanyun Luo into Tianxiang Sha and made a high collar?"

Xue Yun felt suffocated when she saw Lin Xi's calm and composed look. She had picked out the fabric for the dress she was going to wear on Yue Yeh a long time ago and hired an embroiderer with exquisite craftsmanship to embroider it for a whole month. However, Lin Xi scratched the back of her neck yesterday, so she could no longer wear the low-necked dress. It was too late to have it remade, so she had to rush to the clothing store outside to buy it now.

But this year, Yanyunluo was in short supply and the ready-made clothes had been picked up long ago, so there was no suitable one left. The shop owner saw that Xing'er was really anxious, so he recommended this Tianxiangsha to her. Although it was not as good as Yanyunluo, it solved her urgent problem.

After getting it back, Xueliu changed the size according to Lin Xi's measurements overnight, thus avoiding the situation where Lin Xi could not go out for the moon walk because she had no clothes.

"They are all white dresses anyway, so it doesn't matter if they are roughly the same. I have several more in my box." Lin Xi was pulled up by Xue Yun and obediently served as a human clothing stand.

"Those styles are from many years ago. If you wear them out, people will laugh at you." Xue Yun tied the belt for Lin Xi and looked her over carefully, trying to make sure there were no mistakes.

Xue Liu also chimed in, "That's right. Every year during the Moonlit Night, the ladies all wear white dresses, but the fabric, cut, and patterns are all different. For example, the most popular one this year is Yanyunluo. Although it has the precious gimmick of 'an inch of gold is worth an inch of scarf', it is still in short supply. Every family with some wealth will buy one for their unmarried daughter."

"The young lady has already lost the advantage by changing into Tianxiang gauze. If she continues to wear the skirt she wore a few years ago, I'm afraid the whole Duke's Mansion will talk about her behind her back, saying that they are mistreating the young lady."

Hearing that it would bring trouble to the Duke's Mansion, Lin Xi had no choice but to close her eyes obediently, allowing several maids to busy herself around her and force her to fiddle with the dressing table.

On the moonlit night of August 15th, every household hung up lanterns early, and the whole Jiankang city was as bright as day.

The so-called walking on the moon means that on the night of August 15th, people will go out of their homes and play under the bright moonlight. Because of an incident in the previous dynasty where a girl in a white dress met her destined man on the night of walking on the moon, which became a beautiful story, many unmarried women later imitated the girl and wore white dresses to walk around the streets on the night of Mid-Autumn Festival in order to pray for a good marriage. This custom has been passed down gradually and has become a Mid-Autumn Festival custom.

On such occasions, the ladies would not personally go out to meet their future sons-in-law or daughters-in-law. Instead, they would send people to book a room in a teahouse along the street early on, and sit up high to have a full view of the actions of the young men and women on the street.

When the women of Xie family arrived, there were already quite a few people on the long street. Girls in white clothes and white skirts could be seen everywhere, wandering in the street in groups of three or five, watching the moon or boating on the lake. There was no separation between men and women on this day. The young men were all dressed in luxurious clothes and gathered together, seemingly singing and dancing with the moon, but in fact their eyes could not help but drift to the dancing girls in white skirts.

Yu had to stay in the mansion to look after Gao Ge'er, so only Xie brought the three girls out. After asking the maids to take good care of the young ladies, Xie went upstairs to chat with the ladies she was familiar with.

Lin Xi, Lan Zhi and Lan Xue all held a lantern suitable for the occasion. Lin Xi's was a Moon Palace Toad Lantern, while Lan Zhi and Lan Xue's were identical Rabbit Lanterns. It was the first time for Lin Xi to see the ancient Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival with her own eyes, and it was also the first time for Lan Zhi and Lan Xue to revisit the place after returning from Shanzhou. Therefore, the three of them were in high spirits and enjoyed admiring the lanterns and guessing riddles happily.

On the Moon Viewing Tower, Emperor Hui led all the officials to admire the moon. After accepting the people's worship, he looked at the peaceful and prosperous scene in front of him and could not help but feel happy. "The moon without poetry is not perfect. You all should write poems. If there are good ones, I will reward you."

Everyone wrote poems and handed them over. Emperor Hui and the empress looked at them for a while. The empress picked out one and handed it to Emperor Hui. After reading it, Emperor Hui frowned and said, "It's well written, but the words are too ornate and the meaning is lost."

The queen's face froze, and her well-maintained nails dug into the paper. This was done by her brother, and the emperor only needed to follow her wishes and give him a compliment, but he didn't even want to give her this respect, so it was no wonder that she changed her expression.

However, Emperor Hui seemed unaware of this and continued to flip through the pile of poems. The ritual officials serving beside him had long been accustomed to this. It was no secret that the Empress was not loved by His Majesty. If it were not for the constraints of ancestral rituals, I am afraid that the one standing next to Emperor Hui today would be the pregnant Concubine Cen.

Emperor Hui looked through the books for a while, and finally smiled. He picked out three and called the etiquette officer with a wave of his hand, "These three can be ranked as the top three."

The ceremonial officer took it respectfully, glanced at the three names on it, understood what was said, and then went to look at the content, but was stunned. The reason was that among the three poems, two were indeed lofty in ideas and brilliant in writing, but the remaining one was really hard to read. Not to mention the literary talent, it didn't even have the most basic rhyme.

But he was just a messenger, so he gritted his teeth and read out the names of the top three to the officials behind him, and then recited the three poems aloud in everyone's expectant gazes. As expected, after he finished speaking, he saw everyone looking at each other with complicated expressions.