Jingxing, Year Eight · Lantern Festival
From the thirteenth day of the first month onward, every household lit decorative lanterns. The market wards stayed open through the night, and cheers rang through the streets until dawn. Not only commoners—even high officials and nobles came out to view the lights.
Yu Lü traveled light, bringing only two servants. He arrived in the Capital City on the thirteenth day of the first month. Though the wind cut to the bone, every household in the night had hung lanterns. Wealthy families competed in ingenuity, crafting magnificent colored lanterns: winding dragons coiled across some, shadowy immortals appeared upon others. Gold and color were laid on in lavish abundance, their brilliance dazzling the eye.
"Only eight years, yet it feels like a dream!" Yu Lü gazed upon it as though it were a splendid scene from the Heavenly Palace. Street performers displayed a hundred entertainments, and crowds pressed shoulder to shoulder to watch. Throughout the Capital City, lanternlight and moonlight shone together, bright as day.
On the night of the fifteenth, by custom, the Emperor would proceed to Xuande Gate to view the lanterns and celebrate with the people.
Though the time had not yet come, the bustling crowds already flowed on without end.
Yu Lü saw smiles on every citizen's face. They wore new clothes and looked well-fed and healthy; people with sallow, emaciated faces were seldom seen. He could not help sighing inwardly.
As he went on, taking in the sights along the cobblestone avenue, he saw not only lanterns but also shops packed closely together in every street and alley, filled to the brim with every sort of merchandise.
"Both sea transport and canal transport are open now. It truly has worked." Yu Lü had only just sighed when someone suddenly called