"Your Highness, this is the last batch of firearms handover manual and the cost list that the British envoy just sent over!”Wen Xiang respectfully handed a small book to Li Qing.
Li Qing looked at the number on the list and said,"Something's not right?"
"Your Highness, it can't be wrong. This lowly official has verified all of these things. Mu Lei and Blang have already taken them to the north courtyard!”
Li Qing put down his notebook and smiled." This Prince isn't talking about that. It's the Lantern Festival today. Why didn't any of those foreign envoys send me any gifts?"”
After Wen Xiang heard this, he slapped his forehead and laughed,""Look at my memory. I would have forgotten if Your Highness didn't mention it. The American envoy gave Your Highness a pair of America's latest gold-plated Remington revolvers. The British envoy gave you ten hand-cranked machine guns and said that if God bless His Highness, these weapons will help you. The French envoy is a perfume…"
"That's great! It seemed that it would be great if they celebrated the festival every day.”Li Qing said excitedly.
Wen Xiang shook his head helplessly," Your Highness, it's not that I want to criticize you, but the Lantern Festival is supposed to be closed for three days. Look at you, you don't even take care of your health. What if something happens to you?”
"Oh, so there's a three-day holiday for the Lantern Festival. This king was just saying that everyone was listless these few days, their faces like frosted eggplants. So this king deprived everyone of their rest time!”Li Qing said with a smile.
After Wen Xiang heard this, he smiled awkwardly and said: " We are not that bad. We just want to let His Highness rest for a day. Moreover, today is the Lantern Festival. It will be very lively when the streets and alleys are decorated with lanterns and streamers at night..."
"Alright, alright, this king will leave. All of you are hypocrites. If you want to go, just say it.”After saying that, Li Qing ordered people to load the gifts back to the Prince's mansion.
After Li Qing left, Wen Xiang had just walked out when a group of officials from the Prime Minister's Office quietly surrounded him.
"Wen Xiang Daren, his highness left?”
Wen Xiang nodded.
A group of young officers jumped up excitedly." That's great! We can finally go to the lantern festival and guess the riddles today!”
"Brother Zhao, I think you're thinking about the Courtesan Belle selection, right?”
When the others heard this, they immediately laughed at Zhao Da's shy face. They had completely forgotten that there was a big shot beside them.
"Preposterous, a group of imperial court officials playing around in the yamen, what a disgrace. Now, all of you go and sort out the documents that BenGong received two days ago.”
"Ah! Lord Wen Xiang, please spare us, we'll do it tomorrow, alright?”
"No, because his highness said that the yamen will not open tomorrow, you can rest. Also, to make up for your hard work these few days, his highness has sealed your wallets with ten taels of silver each.”
As soon as Wen Xiang finished speaking, those officers shouted "Long live the Gong Prince" and ran towards their respective departments.
......
Gong Prince Mansion
When Li Qing packed up his things and went back, the sky had already darkened slightly. As soon as he entered the residence, the butler came up to him in surprise. "Wangye, why are you back so soon today?”
"What's wrong? This is this king's palace, when does this king need to ask a slave like you for instructions?”Li Qing looked at the somewhat abnormal butler and said angrily.
The butler, who was reprimanded by Li Qing, was so frightened that he knelt down and said in horror,"This servant doesn't dare. It's just that the Fujin and Ce Fujin thought that you would return very late tonight, so they went out to admire the lanterns with the Fujin and the others.”
"Then when did wangfei and the others go out? Do they have any personal guards protecting them?”
The butler saw that Li Qing's voice was not as cold as before. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and said,"We've just walked for less than an hour!”
Li Qing was very depressed. In the entire backyard, other than a few rough servant girls, there was not even a handsome servant girl. Li Qing couldn't help but sigh. It seems that girls of all eras love to be lively. Forget it, if you don't wait for me, this king won't go shopping with you.
In addition, this was Li Qing's first Lantern Festival after his rebirth. During the Spring Festival, Xianfeng was in Rehe, so there was not much excitement. However, the Lantern Festival was different. If the Spring Festival had a hint of politics, then the Lantern Festival was a completely folk activity. The entire capital was bustling with activity.
Thus, the bored Li Qing took out the gold-inlaid Remington revolver from the gifts given by the various envoys. He kept it for self-defense, changed his clothes, and walked out.
......
The city was full of lights, the streets were red, and the music was everywhere. It was really a peaceful night scene, and the moon was bright in the pavilions of thousands of families.
Li Qing had always loved crowds in his previous life. In addition, this was an original display of the Lantern Festival in the Qing Dynasty, so it was very attractive to a history student.
Hence, Li Qing quickened his pace. Ignoring the few personal guards who were sweating profusely behind him, he walked through the crowd alone. He saw that the crowd in front was so crowded that not even water could pass through. He stood behind the crowd and craned his neck to look inside. It was a snack seller. As he lowered his head to operate, he took the time to raise his head and shout,"Selling Yuanxiao! The Yuanxiao passed down by the royal family was bigger than the one in Gongyi Manor, sweeter than the one in Juqing Zhai, and cheaper than the one in Zhengming Zhai!”
Li Qing originally planned to try it, but he underestimated the strength of the foodie. After trying a few times, he could only give up.
When Li Qing came out, he looked around and realized that his personal guards had disappeared. Although this surprised Li Qing a little, he was happy in an instant. He could finally play alone.
He didn't look for her, nor did he shout, nor was he willing to wait. He just strolled around the streets like he was taking a stroll in the courtyard. He touched the purse tied around his waist. When he came out, he specially packed a few scattered silver pieces. Now, he was more confident. He hummed a song in his throat and turned around to walk away.
Not far away, there was a restaurant in front with the sign "Li Family's Dumplings Filled with Dried Vegetables". Li Qing was puzzled,"What kind of dish is Dried Vegetables?" With this doubt in mind, Li Qing walked in. A waiter came over and greeted him,"Sir…"
The waiter shouted in an unfamiliar Mandarin,"Sir, what would you like?"
"Don't you have Li's dumplings with dried vegetables?" Li Qing asked loudly. I didn't come here to eat dumplings, right?”
The waiter was stunned. He had never seen a guest speak so loudly, but he was a customer. He smiled and said,"Guest, you really know how to joke. I wonder if you want a private room…"
"I don't want a private room.”Li Qing came out to see the scene of the people. If he went to the private room, wouldn't he have no purpose?
Just as Li Qing was about to take a seat, the people outside suddenly roared crazily and rushed over.
Li Qing, who had a puzzled look on his face, casually found someone and asked,"Brother, what is going on outside? Why is everyone coming over?”
The man looked at Li Qing with disdain. "From your tone, you're also someone from the Imperial City. How could you not know this? Every year on the Lantern Festival, the capital chooses the top female scholar.”
"Female top scorer?"
"Even if the top courtesans of the brothels are fighting for the top courtesans, they are now parading through the streets of Fei Feng to attract popularity!”
Li Qing was curious after hearing this. He also stood up and looked outside. Perhaps it was fate. Li Qing saw a very familiar girl.
He couldn't help but think of a famous phrase from Xin Qiji: I've searched for him a thousand times in the crowd. When she looked back, that person was there, in the dim light.
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]