Lu Wanning failed to give away the rare book. Disgruntled, she tossed it into the storage room. Why was it so hard to cozy up to someone? That Sheng Jinyu was crazy. She had clearly made an appointment with him, but he neither showed up nor bothered to send a message. How infuriating!
For several days in a row, Lu Wanning was in a foul mood and didn't even step out of the house. It wasn't until the Lantern Festival on the 15th of the first lunar month that Lu Hannian spent quite a while persuading her. Finally, he managed to cheer her up a bit, and she agreed to go to view the lanterns in the evening with her second brother, second sister - in - law, and Lu Cheng.
On the 15th, those who went to view the lanterns were mostly unmarried men and women or children. Generally, married people wouldn't come out. But Shao Shi had grown up in Luocheng and it was her first time in the capital. She was curious about everything, so Lu Hannian decided to take her out to experience the Lantern Festival in the capital.
Lu Wanning sat in the carriage, looking around eagerly. Since she was a time - traveler, although the original owner had gone out to play during the Lantern Festival every year, it was like her first time, so she was naturally extremely excited.
Lu Cheng was just as excited as Lu Wanning. He was only three years old and had no memory of last year's events. He just wished he could play outside every day.
After getting off the carriage, a cold wind blew. Lu Wanning wrapped her thick cloak tightly and also wrapped Lu Cheng up well. Looking up, she saw Shao Shi wearing thin clothes and looking around curiously with a surprised expression.
"Aren't you cold, second sister - in - law? You're wearing so little!"
Shao Shi waved her hand. "I'm not cold. The winter in the capital is not cold at all. When you go to Luocheng someday, Ning'er, you'll know that in winter there you can't even step out of the door."
Lu Wanning burst into laughter. The family chatted and walked forward merrily.
The most interesting thing today was watching the colorful boats passing by on the Mi River. The dancers and singers on the boats had beautiful voices. Across the river, against the backdrop of the lanterns on the riverbank, it was truly a sight to behold.
Shao Shi was full of admiration. She pulled Lu Hannian and said, "The women in your capital are as beautiful as fairies in the sky. I used to think that only a high - born young lady like Ning'er was so incredibly beautiful. Now I know that even ordinary women can dance so beautifully. Oh, I really want to touch them."
Since Lu Wanning wasn't from this world, she wasn't offended when Shao Shi compared her to the dancers. Instead, she looked at Shao Shi curiously. Generally, even if a woman seemed generous on the surface, she would be quite unhappy if her husband looked at other women. But Shao Shi seemed to be speaking from the bottom of her heart without a trace of annoyance.
Shao Shi stared for a long time. Unable to contain her eagerness, she tugged at Lu Hannian's arm. "Isn't it popular to take concubines here? Take a couple for me, too?"
Such shocking words made two young couples nearby quickly quicken their steps and run away.
Lu Hannian scratched his head. "I can't. My father won't allow it."
Lu Wanning felt her ears were offended. So it wasn't that he didn't like the idea himself, but that he was afraid of being scolded by his father?
Lu Hannian said seriously, "Really can't. The Lu family's ancestral precept is that one can take a concubine only if he has no heir by the age of forty. I'm only twenty - one this year. Moreover, only good - family concubines can be taken. The women you fancy are low - born concubines and can't enter the mansion."
Shao Shi was very disappointed and stared longingly at the women on the boat.
Lu Hannian scratched his head again. "My father thinks indulging in pleasure will lead to the loss of ambition, so there are no dancers or singers in our family... Well, there are many women in the Prince of Qishan's mansion. I'll talk to the prince later and take you there to have some fun?"
Only then did Shao Shi turn from sadness to joy. Clapping her hands, she said with a smile, "That's great, great. Since there are so many women in the Prince of Qishan's mansion, he must be an interesting person, right?"
Lu Hannian shook his head. "I'm not familiar with him. I've just heard that he loves pleasure. His father is the younger brother of the founding emperor and his fief is in Qishan. Only he is in the capital."
Shao Shi didn't care about these details. She just kept asking, "So are the women in his mansion as beautiful as those women?"
Lu Hannian thought for a while. "Maybe. He has a noble status and loves beautiful women, so the women around him must be beautiful. Compared to them, these women here must be just ordinary ones."
Lu Wanning didn't want to listen to their continued discussion about beautiful women. Seeing that the lanterns in several nearby shops were very beautiful, she told the maids and servants to take good care of Lu Cheng and then went into the shops to look at the lanterns.
This year was the Year of the Rabbit, and all kinds of rabbit lanterns were extremely beautiful. Lu Wanning immediately took a fancy to the jade - colored rabbit lantern on the top, which was very similar to the rabbit - shaped jade pendant she wore.
That jade pendant was originally supposed to be given to her by His Highness, the King of Yu, at the Plum Blossom Banquet at the end of the year. At first, she wore it just to make a good impression on the King of Yu, but later she found the jade rabbit so cute that she was reluctant to take it off.
Just as she was about to ask the clerk to take down the rabbit lantern, a voice came from beside her.
"I'll take that rabbit lantern."
Lu Wanning was so angry that her nose twitched. She roared, "Fu Rongxuan, can you just be a decent person? There are so many lanterns. Why do you have to take the one I fancy?"
Fu Rongxuan's eyes were gentle. He blinked and said with a smile, "Since you like it, I'll give it to you."
The clerk took down the rabbit lantern and hesitated, not knowing to whom he should hand it.
Lu Wanning sneered, took the lantern, and pointed at Fu Rongxuan. "He'll pay."
Seeing that Lu Wanning had taken the lantern, Fu Rongxuan quickly paid and followed her. "Ning'er, I..."
Lu Wanning walked outside. It was the Lantern Festival today. There were many men and women on the street, walking in groups, and there were also many familiar faces.
She laughed without any restraint. "You're so insistent on giving me the lantern. I have no choice but to take it. But I think your things are dirty!"
With that, Lu Wanning threw the lantern on the ground, stepped on it hard, crushing the rabbit lantern. She raised her eyebrows, glanced at Fu Rongxuan, and then turned around and walked away.
At this moment, Lu Wanning suddenly felt a sense of pleasure as if she had successfully played the role of a villain. It turned out that tormenting a strange person was really so much fun. Hahaha, not bad, not bad.
As long as she didn't think about the dangerous consequences, everything would be fine.
Lu Wanning shook off the uneasiness in her heart and walked quickly towards a nearby shop. There were so many shops and so many lanterns today. She didn't believe she couldn't find a second favorite rabbit lantern.
After walking for a while, there was another figure blocking her way.
Lu Wanning felt that her patience was running out. Without hesitation, she took out her curved knife and slashed at the person.
The Crown Prince was caught off guard and almost got hit by the curved knife. Fortunately, the attendant beside him was quick - witted and pressed Lu Wanning to the ground, holding her firmly.
"Fu Rongxuan, you're really crazy..."
As soon as the words came out, Lu Wanning realized that, oh, she had mistaken the person. Oh, she had cut the wrong person.
She looked up at the Crown Prince pitifully. "It hurts, it hurts. Please spare my life, Your Highness the Crown Prince!"
The Crown Prince frowned and waved his hand. The attendant quickly released Lu Wanning and even thoughtfully helped her up.
Lu Wanning stared at the Crown Prince with a wronged look on her face. "Your Highness the Crown Prince, why did you suddenly walk in front of me? I thought you were that scumbag, so... Alas, give my knife back to me. My brother specially made it for me to defend against scumbags."
Hearing her call someone a scumbag again and again, the Crown Prince's face twitched. He thought to himself that Fu Rongxuan was really useless. After so long, he still hadn't managed to cheer up this silly girl.