Chapter 4: The Lantern Festival — This Dating System Wasn’t Entirely Useless… part 1
Ying Xi stood half a street away from the scene of the arrests.
He had sent Yu Jing to negotiate with the patrol squad. Once the Chief Eunuch revealed his identity, it was impossible for the matter to fail. Thus, Ying Xi absentmindedly looked around, his attention drifting.
He spared a moment to converse with Sweet Tub inside his head: “Is this a reward for Me sparing them?”
Sweet Tub sounded dazed: “Who did Your Majesty spare?”
Ying Xi closed his eyes.
Sweet Tub sensed that it wasn’t on the same page as its host. It adjusted its phrasing: “It’s the reward for wiping General Xie’s spear last time.”
Ying Xi nodded, his eyelids lowering slightly as he offered a cool assessment: “The efficiency of your office is quite low.”
Sweet Tub defended itself weakly: “This System just connected to the Great Qin server, so there’s a bit of lag.”
Sweet Tub’s voice sounded like a fifteen or sixteen-year-old at most.
Ying Xi had a younger brother and a female cousin around the System’s age. He had been taught from a young age to shoulder more responsibility, so comforting a child came naturally to him.
“I was speaking of the office, not you. You are fine.”
His noble, elegant voice made the System giggle for a moment.
Sweet Tub said crisply, “Then, these 500 Charm points are now issued.” As soon as the words were spoken, a momentary glow rippled around Ying Xi.
Ying Xi secretly marveled at the magic of binding with a system.
However, he still couldn’t quite figure it out.
He received a reward for condescending to polish a subject’s spear, yet received nothing for forgiving so many slanderers. What exactly were the Dating System’s criteria for rewards?
Ying Xi pondered this privately but couldn’t find an answer for the time being.
And what were Charm points used for?
While his mind was immersed in exploring the System’s functions, a convoy of carriages squeezed into the narrow path. The leading carriage was wide, but no gauze lantern displaying a family name hung at the front.
If the convoy brushed past Ying Xi, the dirty water kicked up by the wheels would inevitably splash all over him.
Ying Xi absolutely could not tolerate that.
So, before the convoy reached him, Ying Xi stepped out of the narrow path to make way for them.
The carriages filed past, one after another. In the end, there were too many to count. To avoid them, Ying Xi had unconsciously walked a considerable distance away.
Fortunately, none of the carriages sped by or splashed filthy water.
Strangely, however, when the carriage drivers saw him, some scratched their heads, some blushed bright red, and some young gentlemen inside revealed shy, bashful grins.
The teenage Emperor, Ying Xi, stood in the middle of the street, tilting his head in confusion.
“…” Not good.
He had exited the narrow path a long time ago, yet he hadn’t reunited with his subordinates.
He should have returned to them by now, but perhaps they had gone looking for him; the original spot was completely empty.
Ying Xi frowned slightly.
After a long silence, Sweet Tub asked with concern, “What’s wrong, Your Majesty?”
“I have become separated from my subordinates,” Ying Xi replied briefly.
Sweet Tub, however, thought this was a catastrophic event, its voice raising an octave: “Then we must find them immediately! It is very dangerous for Your Majesty to be alone.”
But Ying Xi remained calm. “It matters not. I can simply take a walk by myself.”
Sweet Tub was skeptical.
The young Emperor, however, had already begun to stroll leisurely through Chang’an City.
The Imperial Capital in early spring was just showing hints of green—grass that looked like a carpet from afar but sparse up close. The humid verdancy was particularly pleasing to the eye.
Ying Xi wandered through several long streets.
He saw that the first lunar month had not yet passed; wealthy households were still decorated with lanterns and streamers, setting off firecrackers. The air carried the scent of gunpowder from spent explosives.
He also saw alleys even filthier and smellier than the previous path, with sundries piled in disorderly mounds and the sour stench of slop permeating the air. One or two large rats, their fur sleek and oily, darted through.
Peddlers walked the streets shouting their wares.
Women held their sons, basking in the sun.
…These were all things he had never seen in his past life.
Unknowingly, he walked into Chang’an’s market district, seeing massive rows of shops neatly arranged along the streets.
The East and West Markets were still hung with brightly colored lanterns everywhere.
It was the Lantern Festival. Even though the fifteenth of the first lunar month had passed, the common people loved the bustle. Their yearning for prosperous days never diminished.
Ying Xi strolled through the lantern market.
Technically, living in the Imperial Palace, he was accustomed to the world’s finest luxuries. Yet, the trinkets sold by the common folk were different from those in the palace. He observed with reserved curiosity, finding a dazzling array of goods everywhere.
Standing next to a tanghulu stall, he looked at the red fruits wrapped in sugar coating, crystal clear and bright.
Ying Xi was attracted by the agate-like fruits.
The stall owner, a young girl, plucked the fullest skewer of sugar-coated haws and handed it to Ying Xi.
“Here—”
Ying Xi realized he hadn’t brought any silver. “I left in a hurry; my purse is not at hand, and I have been separated from my attendants.”
The girl smiled and said, “Take it anyway. You look like a young master from a wealthy family; just give my business more patronage in the future!”
Ying Xi felt awkward taking it, but also awkward refusing. In the end, he accepted it politely.
“Many thanks.”
However, he had been restricted from eating outside since childhood. So, holding the tanghulu, he walked a short distance and then gave it to a child running through the lantern market.
This drew the gratitude of a crowd of children, who stuffed him with various unique trinkets from the market.
Ying Xi naturally couldn’t carry so many, so he picked out a rabbit mask and put it on.
“Thank you, Big Brother~”
“Brother, you are the white rabbit, I am the tiger! I’m going to chase you now, you have to run…”
It must have been over a decade since he had come to Chang’an, and he hadn’t played with anyone like this since.
Ying Xi’s actions preceded his thoughts; he immediately started running. He was chased to the end of the lantern market before the children scattered.
Ying Xi stood there and thought for a moment.
Perhaps this was the effect of the Charm points? Obtaining a certain amount of Charm would make people around him view him favorably?
In that case, this Dating System wasn’t entirely useless, after all.
At least he had received the most handsome tanghulu on the street, and now he had a rabbit mask to wear.
“Did you hear? The Emperor’s decree—all the commoners who slandered the court have been released!” a passerby said.
“Even those wandering heroes who threatened assassination were let go!”
“Sigh, back then, arresting people relied entirely on the Jingzhao Prefecture’s word. If they said you slandered, you slandered. If they said you were innocent, you handed over enough money and they let you leave immediately. Releasing them is good; they shouldn’t have been arrested in the first place.”
“Does that mean the court isn’t afraid of the people’s discussions?”
“If one has no ghosts in one’s heart, what does it matter if others gossip? I see this new Emperor has capacity.”
He didn’t recognize the commoner speaking, and the other party didn’t recognize him, but this was the first good word Ying Xi had received since his rebirth.
The market lights were brilliant. Behind the rabbit mask, the corners of Ying Xi’s mouth slowly curved up.
In the moment of that smile, his gaze met that of another masked person. The figure was familiar, slightly taller than him, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. He was wearing a fox mask—the fox face enchanting and mysterious, effortlessly lending the wearer an unpredictable air of romance.
The man let out a frivolous hum.
Ying Xi furrowed his brows.
Ying Xi took a half-step forward. Out of conditioned reflex, he intended to darken his face and lecture the man, but the person before him had already vanished.
The lantern market flickered with magnificent light. That grand encounter amidst thousands of lights happened so quickly it felt like an illusion.
Ying Xi took off his mask, dazed.
…
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