Chapter 168 Jingyou 4th Year

In the afternoon, after the banquet, it was almost evening.

Zhao Zhen led the civil and military officials and many nobles to the Donghua Gate. Before night fell, bonfires were lit inside and outside the city gate, and fireworks began to bloom.

There was a small episode in the middle. When Zhao Jun went to the toilet, he accidentally met a clan girl.

And this clan girl was the one who was abducted by Guifanlou last time. In the end, she was rescued by Zhao Jun. After learning that it was Zhao Jun who came out, she actually sent someone to send him a sachet, which made Zhao Jun laugh and cry.

You should know that this clan girl is a descendant of Zhao Dezhao, and the family tree records that their branch is also a descendant of Zhao Dezhao, a branch of the Southern Song Dynasty clan. Because of the invasion of the Mongols, they eventually drifted from Zhejiang to the mountainous area of ​​Hunan to hide and reproduce.

In other words, in terms of blood relationship, this clan girl belongs to the direct ancestor of Zhao Dezhao's lineage, not a collateral branch like Zhao Guangyi's lineage. According to seniority, Zhao Jun probably has to call her a great aunt.

If I agree to someone's love confession, I don't know whether to call it a sunset grandparent-grandchild love or an ethical love?

"What a sin!"

Zhao Jun held the sachet in his hand, in a dilemma, he couldn't throw it away, nor could he keep it, he could only hold it carefully all the way.

Occasionally, he could see a girl's spring-like eyes in the crowd, which made him feel like a thorn in his back.

"What's wrong, grandson?"

The group went up to the Donghua Gate Tower. Zhao Jun's position was close to Zhao Zhen. Seeing his strange face, Zhao Zhen asked in a low voice: "Are you feeling unwell?"

"No."

Zhao Jun had to hand the sachet to Zhao Zhen and said: "This is the sachet that Caifu Zong's daughter sent me. According to seniority, I guess I have to call this great aunt. It's not good for me to throw it away, nor to keep it. Brother, you have to help me deal with it."

This is a common way for women in the Song Dynasty to express their love. If you throw it directly, it will definitely hurt people's hearts, so they often take a tactful way.

Zhao Zhen naturally understood folk tricks, and helped him collect it with a smile, saying, "Then I'll let the queen talk about it later, saying that your family and the Zhao family are distant relatives, and people with the same surname should not get married."

The Song Dynasty law inherited the "Tang Law Commentary", which clearly stated that "people with the same clan and the same surname cannot get married."

Note that it is the same clan and the same surname.

After the Tang and Song Dynasties, as long as the surname is not the same clan, it can get married.

For example, Zhang Ju's "Chaoye Qianzai" in the Tang Dynasty recorded that Wei Gun of the Jingzhao Wei family married another Wei family, and King Mu of Zhou married Sheng Ji, who was also a daughter of the Ji family.

What's more, the law only prohibits people with the same clan and the same surname from getting married, but does not prohibit people with the same clan and the same surname from being concubines.

Zhao Si, the King of Cai in the Northern Song Dynasty, married Zhao, a clan girl of his own clan, as a concubine.

So the Zhao clan daughter thought that since Zhao Jun was not listed in the genealogy, he must not be from the same clan as her. However, she did not know that Zhao Jun was from the same clan thousands of years later, and was a direct descendant. The two were destined not to be together.

It was already evening, and the sun was setting in the west. Zhao Jun looked at his watch. It was about five o'clock, close to six o'clock, but it was already dark, and the cold wind was blowing slowly.

The western sky gradually dimmed, and only the sky over there was still hanging with gorgeous clouds of fire, bringing a hint of gray light to the earth.

There were crowds of people outside Donghua Gate.

The royal family hired a large number of artists who usually performed in various tile houses in Bianliang to set up a stage outside the palace gate for performances.

As the sky got darker and darker, the performance quickly began.

A large number of bonfires were ignited, becoming lighting objects. The open space outside Donghua Gate was full of jugglers on the stage.

Some people spewed flames, shocking the crowd of onlookers to shout. Some people walked around on stilts. Some people even set up ropes in the air, and two people walked over together, and even danced on the ropes.

"Wenxian Tongkao·Music 20" records: In the Song Dynasty, the rope-treading "was tied with a large silk rope to two pillars, several feet apart, and two dancers danced on the rope, walking on the rope, meeting each other on the opposite road, and their shoulders were touching without leaning."

The acrobatic performances of later generations had already appeared in the Song Dynasty, including aerial trapeze, tightrope walking, pole climbing and even fancy diving, which can be said to be wonderful and rich.

Standing on the Donghua Gate, you can take in the grand occasion below.

Zhao Jun had previously worried that such a celebration would cause a fire if it was set on fire everywhere.

But Zhao Zhen told him that every year, the military patrol station would be on standby around such performances to prevent fires.

It can be said that once there is a little movement, the military patrol station can immediately extinguish the fire in its infancy.

Zhao Jun was relieved.

The military patrol station established in the Song Dynasty was the first fire brigade in history, with more than 2,000 people, and was very experienced in dealing with such scenes.

At this moment, the sky was completely dark, but the enthusiasm of the people did not decrease. A large number of vendors gathered outside and the crowds surged.

As time passed, the celebration entered its climax.

Zhao Jun stood on the tower and looked down. He saw that there were dense crowds of people outside the city. Under the light, the whole street seemed to be blocked.

All kinds of cheers, shouts, and the sound of firecrackers came into his ears, announcing the arrival of the New Year.

The vendors on the street shouted, and the tourists put on new clothes, shuttled between the performance stage and the many vendors outside, and a feeling of joy was overflowing.

Then he heard the sound of "咻!" "Bang!".

Zhao Jun hurriedly raised his head to look.

There were hundreds of fireworks on the open space on both sides of Donghua Gate. The guards went to light them one by one. From the fireworks, a dark light shot straight into the sky, and then exploded, turning into a gorgeous streamer of light.

Although the glow was short-lived, it made Zhao Jun a little distracted.

Because the childhood memories suddenly emerged with the "crackling" sound of firecrackers and the glow of the fireworks when they exploded.

I remember when I was a child, my family was not rich at that time. My parents went out to work and I was a left-behind child.

Every New Year, they would come back with new clothes and fireworks.

He and his friends in the village, as well as his cousins, held fireworks in their hands and threw firecrackers. After lighting them, they threw them out in a hurry, screamed strangely, and then ran away in panic.

Then there was a bang behind them. They laughed and drew a second firecracker and threw it on the ground. In the fields and yards, chickens and ducks were scared and ran all over the ground.

That feeling is like the sugar jar hidden by my mother when I was a child. I would risk being beaten and tiptoe to put my dirty little hands in to dip some sugar and lick it. The happiness at that moment would be magnified countless times.

But now.

I can never go back, and I can't experience the atmosphere of celebrating the New Year with so many relatives when I was a child.

He doesn't even have relatives, let alone celebrating the New Year together?

Zhao Jun stared at the sky blankly.

People say that the sunset is the end of the world, and you can't see your home even if you look to the end of the world.

It's not spring yet, but I've been away from home for more than half a year, and I will never go back.

I don't know how my family in the future is doing.

I don't know how my parents are doing after losing me.

I think it must be very sad.

Zhao Jun looked at the fleeting fireworks, and there was only endless depression in his heart.

As if sensing his mood, Zhao Zhen's mellow voice sounded in his ears, "Hanlong, what are you thinking about?"

"Nothing."

Zhao Jun tried hard to hold back the tears of missing his family, turned his head and forced a smile, "It's New Year's Day today, I'm very happy."

"Alas."

Zhao Zhen sighed, patted his shoulder gently and said, "I said that the Song Dynasty has always been your home."

Empress Cao looked at him curiously.

The harem was not allowed to interfere in politics, and because Zhao Zhen didn't like Empress Cao before, Empress Cao had hardly seen Zhao Jun.

But even if she hadn't seen him, she would naturally have heard of him. Now he is the head of the Political System Institute, a powerful figure.

This is the first time I have seen him today.

I didn't expect that Zhao Zhiyuan was homesick, and the emperor said that the Song Dynasty has always been his home.

Could it be that this Zhao Zhiyuan is not from the Song Dynasty?

Queen Cao thought to herself.

"Yeah."

Zhao Jun just responded.

Yan Shu said, "Hanlong, why don't you go to my house for dinner tomorrow?"

"Forget it, I don't like visiting relatives during the New Year."

Zhao Jun waved his hand, "The custom over there is that we can only visit relatives after the third day of the first lunar month."

"Then come back on the third day of the first lunar month."

Yan Shu smiled.

"What's so good about your house?"

Lü Yijian came over and smiled, "Why don't you go to my house?"

"Old Lu!"

Li Di came over and glared at him, saying, "The prefect is busy with all kinds of things, why go to your house? In my opinion, you should go to my house."

"Does Hanlong have so much time that he can't go to my house, but he can go to yours?"

Lü Yijian said indignantly.

"Of course, the prefect is a talented young man, and I am just going to introduce my grandson to the prefect."

"What kind of talent does your grandson have? Is he worthy of Hanlong's eyes?"

"Bah, how dare you, an old man, insult me."

．

The two of them quarreled again, and the smell of gunpowder became stronger.

The rest of the people were also attracted by them, so Zhao Zhen went to persuade them to stop fighting. The two old men would fight whenever they met.

Only Zhao Jun raised his head and continued to look at the sky.

The fireworks stopped.

The air was filled with the smell of saltpeter.

The moon rose to half of the sky.

The fireworks were over, and Zhao Zhen and his friends were going back to the palace to continue the dinner.

The prosperity outside the city continued.

Tonight and the Lantern Festival were a time for the people of Bianliang to revel all night long.

But Zhao Jun listened to the voices beside him and looked at the people in front of him, but he always felt a sense of desolation and loneliness.

He looked up at the bright moon and lowered his head to think of his hometown.

The hometown in front of him was still there, but the hometown in his heart had gone far away.

The ministers around him prepared to return to the palace as Zhao Zhen left.

Zhao Jun lowered his head woodenly and turned his head to leave.

So be it.

After tonight, it will be the fourth year of Jingyou.