Houfu Key Class

But that was a matter of a lifetime...

That year, it was the Lantern Festival.

Zong Zhao, 24, had woken up from a seven-year coma and had returned to Beijing for a year, but since he had experienced the pain of losing his brother, he had become even more taciturn than before.

The old lady saw it and felt pain in her heart: "Zhao'er, go out and have some fun. Mother heard that there are a lot of lanterns on the Lantern Festival this year, all to celebrate that you and the Crown Prince solved the dance house case. You should also go and see the people who are happy because of you, so that you will have the motivation to keep going."

Zong Zhao didn't want to go.

The arrogant and domineering Luo Jingfeng was eyeing him covetously, and the Crown Prince was weak. All his energy was put into helping the Crown Prince defeat the Luo family, and he had no time to go out and have fun.

But mother... she was so worried that she almost cried.

Zong Zhao thought of Zong Yan again.

In the past, when his brother was around, he always pestered his mother to play, and would never make his mother sad now. Now that Zong Yan was gone, he had to take on this responsibility.

Zong Zhao stood up and said, "I'll go for a walk."

The old lady burst into laughter when she heard this. She said repeatedly, "Okay, I'll ask housekeeper Liu to follow you. He knows the affairs of the capital best and can tell you about the fun of the Lantern Festival."

"Okay."

Zong Zhao went out and listened to housekeeper Liu, who knew everything about astronomy and geography, talking about customs and human affairs. He didn't listen at all. He just stood in the surging crowd and felt the boundless loneliness.

Not far away, the boss suddenly praised: "Girl, you are so smart, you guessed this lantern riddle correctly again! This tenth lantern is also yours!"

The girl laughed: "Excuse me, I only want this red lantern, I'll give you the others, I wish you a prosperous business."

"Oh, girl, you are really kind-hearted, you can understand our difficulties, I'll give you this rabbit lantern, the red one is too monotonous."

"No, I just like red, it's happy to see it."

"Okay, okay, girl, come to my stall again next year, I'll prepare a red rabbit lantern for you, you will definitely guess it right."

"Thank you in advance."

Zong Zhao listened to the conversation between the two and thought that the soft female voice would be the daughter of a rich family, but turned his head to look.

The girl was plain-faced, dressed in simple and elegant clothes, and almost no jewelry, but such a clean profile was as bright as moonlight, with a faint bookish air and a trace of worldly fireworks.

The girl was holding a simple red lantern, her eyes were smiling, she stood at the bridge, using the lantern to illuminate the moonlight, and chanted softly as if no one was around: "Fire trees and silver flowers are together, the star bridge is locked. The dark dust follows the horse, and the bright moon follows people... It really fits the scene."

The maid's impolite voice came from a distance: "Miss, why are you wandering around by yourself again? If you get lost, the lady will punish us again. It's not that you don't care when you are scolded, right?"

The girl said "oh" and ran down the bridge quickly, still apologizing: "I'm coming, I didn't go far, sorry, sorry, I made you worry."

The maid was still scolding her: "Next time you run around like this, I will tell the lady not to take you out. What is this in your hand? It's so ugly, throw it away..."

The red lantern was thrown on the ground and kicked away by passers-by. It became dirty in just a few breaths.

Zong Zhao walked over, squatted down and picked up the lantern.

It's very simple.

There is no pattern.

Liu, the butler, asked at the right time: "Young Marquis, do you want a lantern? This one is a little dirty. I'll buy you a new one. There's an identical one."

"No need."

Zong Zhao patted the red lantern lightly, as if he wanted to shake off the dust on it. Liu, the butler, quickly brought a handkerchief and asked him to wipe it clean with this.

The dirty lantern was wiped clean, simply.

Zong Zhao took it home.

The old lady soon noticed something unusual and asked Liu, the butler, what happened. Soon her eyes lit up and asked him to check the identity of the girl quickly. Liu, the butler, realized that the lantern that the young marquis had taken a fancy to was not that lantern!

But the news was not good. Liu, the butler, said regretfully: "Old lady, the girl is the eldest daughter of Xu Shangshu's family. Her name is Xu Wan. She is eighteen years old this year. She has just made an engagement with Chen Yunyu, the eldest son of the Duke of Jin's mansion. She will get married on the eighth day of next month."

"Ah?" The old lady felt like the sky was falling.

My eldest son has never been married. He finally met a girl he likes, and she has already promised to marry someone else. This... this...

The old marquis told housekeeper Liu: "Don't mention this to Zhao'er. Maybe he doesn't think about anything. He just likes the red lantern."

The old lady also thought so, but the moment she looked up, she saw Zong Zhao at the door. He looked normal and didn't show any emotions.

She said in a panic: "Zhao'er, you, why are you here? Do you have something to do with us?"

Zong Zhao replied: "The prince asked me to go to the patrol city to do some things. I won't be back for a while. I came to tell you."

The old lady hurriedly said: "Oh, okay, you go, you go, we are watching over the family."

Zong Zhao nodded at them, turned around and left.

The old lady swallowed her saliva and asked the old marquis: "Zhao'er, he, he shouldn't have heard it?"

The old marquis: "... I think he heard it."

The old lady said worriedly: "What should we do? The girl from the Xu family hasn't married yet, otherwise we go to grab the marriage?"

The old marquis twitched his lips: "We are a marquisate after all, not a bandit or gangster, why would we rob a wedding? Besides, Zhao'er didn't react, you must have guessed wrong before, how could he fall in love with the girl at first sight?"

"I... I just feel it..." The old lady was unsure.

On the eighth day of February, Zong Zhao was still in the patrol city.

The wedding of the eldest son of the Duke of Jin was held in a lively manner, and even many people from the patrol city went to drink the wedding wine.

After the commander of the patrol department finished talking to Zong Zhao about business, he changed the topic and talked about the most popular groom in Beijing today: "That Chen Yunyu, he has a good family background, good character and good academic performance. He has become a fourth-rank official at a young age. Many girls in Beijing want to marry him. I heard that he is too picky and has never found a girl he likes. It was not until the plum blossom viewing banquet held in their mansion a few years ago that the picky Chen fell in love with the bride at first sight. But I heard that the girl from the Xu family is not a beauty that can topple a city. I don’t know if the rumor of love at first sight is false."

They didn’t understand.

But only Zong Zhao knew that it was not false.

The girl holding a lantern under the moon, even if she didn’t have a stunning appearance, had a gentleness that could soothe people’s hearts, which made people unable to help themselves.

It’s just a pity...she married someone else.

The person she is going to marry is also very good.

Zong Zhao thought.

It’s fine, as long as she can live happily.

The wine pot on the table gradually emptied, and the bright and gentle crescent moon was slowly covered by dark clouds.