It was the Lantern Festival, and the four quarters of Bianjing—the capital of the Central Plains—were scenes of utter prosperity. The streets were hung with colorful lanterns, and balustrades and pavilions played host to cuju matches and acrobatics, while commoners performed lion dances and artists swallowed swords. Lanterns blazed through the night, a magnificent spectacle that would continue unabated for five days.
Yuling was standing by the street somewhere in the East City of Bianjing, watching the dragon lanterns. Young women on the street wore pearls and emeralds in their hair and carried lotus lanterns, moving in groups of three or five. Their soft, overlapping chatter was drowned out by the deafening roar of firecrackers. Seen from afar, the sea of glittering lights resembled a forest of fire and blooming silver trees, and the billowing silks and satins looked like clouds of brocade.
Dressed in a pinkish-white silk gown with a casual tassel bun, she had a gold hairpin adorned with jade-green agate casually slanted into her hair as she strolled leisurely through the night market.
Stumbling toward her from the opposite direction came a young girl with double buns. With an innocent smile, the child bumped right into her. Yuling laughed, bent down so she was at eye level, and asked, "Little one, where are your parents?"
Instead of answering, the child just smiled, her eyes shining with childlike brilliance. She handed a small red knot about the size of a jujube, attached to a tiny red lantern and clenched in her fist, to the older sister before her, murmuring in a childish voice: "For you!"
Yuling was filled with pleasant surprise, yet remained somewhat puzzled. "Why are you giving this to me?"
The child's voice was pure and sweet. "Because it's inconvenient for me to take this little trinket home, and since meeting you feels like we share a real bond, I give it to you! May you find your destined someone soon."
With that, she gave a mischievous little wink and hurried away.
Yuling watched the running child recede. Though still a bit puzzled, she was nonetheless gladdened at heart; after all, in the Lantern Festival market, there were no lack of lovers walking together in pairs.
To suddenly receive a stranger's unprovoked kindness from a child made Yuling, far from home, feel an inexplicable warmth, beauty, kindness, and comfort.
Looking at the tiny red lantern tied to the red knot in her palm, she found it utterly adorable and heartwarming. The sea of bright red lanterns all around her suddenly seemed so full of warmth.
Just then, several burly men in black forced their way against the flow of the moving crowd, charging forward headlong as if urgently searching for someone.
Abruptly, the leader shoved Yuling aside. The knot in her hand slipped to the ground and was instantly swallowed up by the surging crowd.
The men wore tight-fitting black robes embroidered with dark patterns, brutally pushing people aside as they asked around about something.
Suddenly, a man in black ahead turned back and whispered a few words into the leader's ear, and the group hurried off in that direction again.
Seeing that the surrounding crowd had thinned out considerably, leaving only a few street musicians beating gongs and drums, Yuling picked up the small lantern from the ground, brushed off the dust, tied it to her waist, and walked on toward the busier, more bustling market ahead.
The wind had picked up, and the late-night market always carried a certain chill. She took out a semi-transparent, pale hibiscus-red silk veil and tied it across her face, covering the lower half of her face and the exposed skin of her neck. The crisp, piercing cold wind swept past, and the veil managed to block at least some of the chill.
Paper lanterns hung all along both sides of the street. Some were strung together in the shape of long dragons, one end tied to a tree while the other danced in the wind; others were shaped like lotuses or peonies, with orange-red flames flickering inside and colorful paper inscribed with various blessings written in thick brush strokes wrapped around the outside. With just a slight approach of one's hands, one could feel a warm, glowing heat in the cold night.
Street stalls displayed bizarrely shaped lanterns depicting pavilions, birds, and beasts, wrapped in dyed silk. The craftsmen had truly shown ingenious skill, making each tiny lantern remarkably lifelike. Riddles were inscribed on the outer sides of the light-colored silk for people to guess and enjoy.
"Peddler, what is the reward for guessing your riddles correctly?"
The vendor struck a bronze gong with a mallet, drawing the turns and attention of numerous passersby. Unfazed, he called out in reply to the recent question from a male customer: "Listen well, gentlemen! One string of copper coins buys one riddle. Guess correctly, and you may choose to take the lantern and leave the competition, or you may choose to keep guessing all the way. Whoever guesses all the riddles at this stall will win the grand prize—a golden lotus lantern made of gold leaf."
The vendor opened his treasure chest and took out a gold-leaf lotus lamp with pink petals and a golden base, hanging it in the most eye-catching, prominent spot at the stall.
Many passersby stopped to watch. After repeatedly guessing wrong several times, most of them would finally guess one right, grab an ordinary lantern, and leave.
Yuling watched for a while, seeing the vendor neatly place strings of coins into his treasure chest and lock it before turning to greet other customers. After guessing for a long time and throwing in several strings of coins, many passersby ended up with nothing more than the most ordinary of lanterns. Seeing the vendor making a killing, they felt thoroughly cheated, and the once-crowded area gradually dispersed.
Yuling paused for quite a while, noticing that the only person left standing before the stall was a man in white. He stood tall and upright, gazing intently and with deep concentration at the riddles on the various lanterns. Even more strangely, the man was wearing a mask pieced together from white feathers and white porcelain.
Unable to hold back any longer, she stepped forward and said to the vendor: "Peddler, here are three gold leaves. Bring out all the hardest riddles you have at your stall!"...
Before Yuling could finish, the man beside her interrupted: "Oh! It seems this young lady is determined to win this golden lotus lantern. Well, I certainly won't yield either."
With that, the man pulled a small ingot of gold from his bosom and slapped it onto the stall's counter, his tone carrying a hint of overbearing arrogance: "I match that."
Yuling's fighting spirit was instantly ignited. She pulled out another five gold leaves and, imitating the man, slammed them onto the table: "Who's afraid of you! Peddler, let's begin!"
The vendor was overjoyed in his heart. He gathered up the two piles of gold, tucked them into his robe, and broke into a grin that bared all his teeth.
"Listen up, gentlemen! First question: Bright moon filling the sky. Guess a Chinese character."
After a few seconds of hesitation, the man spoke up first: "Sun! The answer is the character for 'sun'."
Yuling felt somewhat annoyed. The man wore a beaming expression and actually made a funny face at her: "The young lady might want to go home and read the Four Books and Five Classics, or perhaps Biographies of Exemplary Women or Precepts for Women. Why bother showing your face out in public all day?"
"What business is it of yours?!"
Was this guy mocking her for having a poor brain? Implying she should just stay quietly at home reading books on the three obediences and four virtues?
Yuling was boiling with rage; she really needed to take this fellow down a peg.
"Second question: Merfolk weeping tears—guess the name of a traditional Chinese medicine."
She answered in a split second: "Pearl powder. This medicine removes necrotic tissue, promotes tissue regeneration, calms the heart, and moistens the lungs. It's just right for the young gentleman here to take."
Veins thudding on his forehead, the man swallowed his fury for the sake of his pride, suppressing his anger so it wouldn't flare up.
Her bright, expressive eyes looked at him with a provocative air. The man's white-feathered mask concealed most of his eyes, leaving only the lower half of his face visible. Yet judging by the contours of his handsome face, his fair skin, and his flushed, ruddy thin lips, the face beneath the mask surely could not be bad-looking at all. He squeezed out a smile at her that was truly worse than crying.
She spread her hands, indicating that this was an absolute piece of cake for her and that she really couldn't afford to be modest.
"Upper and lower integrated—guess a character."
"Card," the man smiled, his expression refined and elegant.
"Candied coptis chinensis—guess an idiom."
"Sharing weal and woe!" The crisp female voice rang out first, overflowing with triumph.
...
The battle between the two actually dragged on to the forty-ninth question. All the previous forty-eight questions had ended in a draw.
Such fierce competition was something neither of them had expected, and even beads of sweat were now quietly beading up on the vendor's forehead.
"The final question! One question decides life and death. Who the pure gold lotus lantern ultimately belongs to rests entirely on this one! Come on, folks watching, give these two some applause to cheer them on!"
Only then did the two notice that a massive crowd had somehow gathered around them, sealing off the stall so tightly not even a drop of water could leak through.
With no intention of spending money to guess riddles, could these people all be here just to watch a show?
Inadvertently, their eyes collided. In that flash of sparks, each wished they could swallow the other alive and devour them flesh and bone...
Both of their nerves were strung tight as they waited for the riddle about to spill from the vendor's mouth, each determined to slam the other down onto the counter and grind the opponent's face into the dirt beneath their feet.
That handsome face beneath the mask looked so fair and pale; it would surely be perfect for getting a thorough grinding in this yellow earth, doing a fine job of cleaning the floor for this pure land beneath their feet.
How could this young lady, who looked so gentle, quiet, and delicate on the outside, have such a sharp and fiery temper on the inside?! Whichever young gentleman marries her in the future is truly in for a world of pain! Watch how I teach her a lesson; a temper like this needs a proper schooling and taming. I'll just consider it acting on behalf of heaven—ah, no, doing a good deed free of charge.
Harboring their own hidden agendas, the two glared fiercely at each other.
The vendor wiped the sweat from his brow with the cuff of his rough cloth tunic, slowly calming his frightened little heart as he thought to himself that these two had better not start brawling at his stall. If this blew up into some kind of incident that ended up at the magistrate's office, it would be dreadful. He stepped in as a peacemaker: "How about the two of you first sit down and have a cup of tea, and we can slowly—"
"Read the question already!"
"Give us the riddle!"
The two urged him in unison.
Some people in the surrounding crowd had already burst out laughing.
"These two are probably a couple of childhood sweethearts having a spat!"
"So romantic! I wish my husband could accompany me by my side just like this, entertaining me and making me laugh. Truly, comparing oneself to others makes one want to die of frustration."
"These two have talent and beauty, matching temperaments, and shared interests. A match made in heaven indeed!"
Were these people blind? Didn't they see the hair-trigger tension between them here?
Looking at the two of them, both half-hiding their faces yet still unable to mask that mutual drive to devour each other, the vendor almost burst out laughing as well, thinking to himself that they really were a perfect pair.
"The final question—" The vendor drew out a long, trailing note, pronouncing each word distinctly: "Ten. Guess an idiom."
"Vertical and horizontal alliances."
"Crisscrossing in all directions!"
The two blurted out almost simultaneously.
The merchant waved his hands and smiled helplessly. This was the last question already: "I declare it a draw between the two of you. This golden lotus lantern shall be presented to both of you as well. The Bianzhou Canal is right nearby. If you two have the mood, you might as well go to the riverbank together to float a lantern and offer up prayers in your hearts for the ones you miss. What matters most on the Lantern Festival is the sentiment, not the formality. As long as the sentiment is there, it's all the same. How does that sound to you two? It's getting late, and I should be packing up to go home and see my wife and son."
Packing up his stall, the vendor walked away carrying the treasure chest locked tight with full strings of coins in one hand, and holding a few unsold, tattered lanterns in the other.