Yun Shuyue turned around, her eyes immediately lighting up.
"Real?"
Seeing her happy expression, Gu Moran deliberately spoke slowly, "On the condition that you don't let anyone into the fireworks area tonight."
Yun Shuyue immediately straightened her back.
"Anyone who dares to jump the rope, I'll hang them on the lamp stand."
Lin Qingdai walked over from a short distance away and, upon hearing this, merely glanced at her indifferently.
"Catch him and hand him over to Xue Huan."
Yun Shuyue shrank back and quickly changed her mind. "I'll blow the whistle first, then hand it over to Brother Xue."
Seeing her like this, Gu Moran couldn't help but reach out and touch the pom-pom on the top of her hat.
Yun Shuyue was stunned.
The pom-pom shook even more violently when he touched it.
Her ears quickly turned red, and she raised her hand to cover her hat, her voice slightly stuttering.
"This was sewn for me by Sister Shen, so don't touch it."
After saying that, she covered her head and ran away.
Gu Moran stood in the river breeze, watching her run into the middle of the express delivery station, a smile still lingering on her lips.
Shen Ling'er walked over with the ginger soup, and when she saw him standing in the wind again, her expression immediately turned sour.
"My husband."
Gu Moran around.
Shen Ling'er handed the bowl to him.
"Drink."
"I just took my medicine."
"That's medicine, this is ginger soup."
"Ginger soup also tastes medicinal."
Shen Ling'er didn't argue with him, she just held up the bowl.
"If you don't drink, I'll call Su Yao over."
Gu Moran immediately took the bowl.
As he lowered his head to drink the ginger soup, Su Yao indeed walked over from the direction of the lantern market, carrying a thick stack of subscription documents in her hand.
"The naming rights fee for the rice stalks has been collected, and many of the remaining merchant light boards have also been sold."
As she spoke, she turned to the latest page of the ledger.
"If everything goes smoothly tonight, we can make a lot of money just from the lantern market stalls, fireworks sponsorships, and storybook stalls."
Gu Moran handed the empty bowl to Shen Ling'er.
"Don't just calculate the revenue; you also need to include manpower for patrols, medicine, clearing operations, lamp oil, and cleanup."
Su Yao looked at him.
"I've already decided against it."
"There's one more thing. A grain merchant from the north of the city wanted to buy a spot for the final fireworks display, but I stopped him from doing so."
Gu Moran looked up.
"What's the reason?"
"He asked too many detailed questions."
Su Yao closed the ledger.
He asked what medicinal ingredients Red Flame used, and why Golden Flame could stay suspended in mid-air.
Gu Moran didn't ask any more questions.
Lin Qingdai had already turned around and gestured to several guards in the shadows.
The city's residents simply viewed tonight's fireworks display as a bit of excitement.
But they all knew that the final round of fireworks wasn't really for the merchants, the intellectuals, or the children.
Instead, they were former members of the Liu Clan scattered throughout Chuan-Shu.
As dusk settled, the lights of Yi Prefecture City gradually came on.
The lantern market in the south of the city was packed with people.
The snowman lantern from Mixue Ice City hangs at the highest point, its chubby white face painted with red lips. Next to it are freshly made hot milk tea and roasted red bean cakes. Children run around the stall, shouting that they want to see fireworks.
A newly published copy of " The Strange Tales of Jinguan " was displayed in front of the storybook shop, and scholars crowded together to turn the pages.
Standing on the high point of the riverbank, Gu Moran heard through the crowd that his reputation as the "sick prince" was being sold as a storybook again, and his face showed some helplessness.
Xie Wanqing stood beside him and whispered, "If the people love to read it, the bookstore will keep printing it."
Gu Moran glanced at her.
Xie Wanqing pursed her lips, unable to suppress a smile.
The drums sounded.
Xue Huan stood in the middle of the riverbank, holding a torch high.
"Everyone back off!"
The messenger blew a bamboo whistle along the barrier rope, and the people moved back, but all craned their necks to watch.
The first firework rose into the night sky.
Golden light spread out high above.
A collective gasp rippled through the crowd.
The second firework shot up immediately after, leaving a trail of golden rice ears in the night sky, with tiny specks of light hanging down, as if the entire bountiful field were suspended in the heavens.
The grain merchants crowded in the front row, their faces flushed with excitement.
"That's the name of my family's grain store!"
"Excuse me, excuse me!"
As the third firework lit up, the waterwheel pattern spun in mid-air.
The people from the timber industry, iron workshops, and shipyards were all dumbfounded.
The Shu brocade pattern then unfolded, with red, gold, and blue-white colors overlapping, illuminating the river surface south of the city.
The Gan Family steward, who had originally come to cause trouble, was now staring at the pattern in the sky with a grim expression.
He finally understood that the fireworks display at Prince Yi's Residence was not a waste of money at all.
They are trying to tie all the merchants in Yi Prefecture to their own car.
Whoever pays the money gets their name in the covenant.
Whoever didn't contribute any money could only stand below and watch others shine.
Fireworks rose in waves.
The cheers of the people crossed the riverbank and reached the distant city walls.
Finally, just when everyone thought the fireworks were over, the riverbank suddenly fell silent.
Gu Moran stood in the night and raised his hand in greeting.
Xue Huan lit the last set of medicine cartridges.
Three shots.
The flames shot up, then stopped at their highest point.
People on the riverbank are waiting for the next round.
The wind swept across the river, causing the lanterns to sway slightly.
Seven breaths later.
Two explosions followed in quick succession.
Crimson fire spread across the sky, followed by two golden beams rising from either side, finally piecing together a tattered old flag.
The corners of the flag are folded up.
Half a tiger's head was hidden in the golden fire.
Ordinary people couldn't understand it; they just thought the pattern was strange. The children cheered even louder.
Wow, there really is a giant tiger!
"Wow, it's huge!"
"Awooo! Bite the bad guys to death!"
Gu Moran stood on the riverbank, her eyes devoid of any smile.
After tonight, Yi Prefecture will no longer be the Yi Prefecture that only cared about building canals, opening shops, and selling milk tea.
Someone will come from the shadows.
Old acquaintances will return.
The enemy will come too.
The embers of fireworks fell onto the river, and the crowds at the lantern market had not yet dispersed.
At Tailwind Express South City Station, a gap was left in the door panel.
This is a wartime assembly point known to all former members of the Liu Clan Army.
An oil lamp was lit inside the room. Tuoba Mang sat on a small stool by the door, holding a hot pancake in his hands and with sesame seeds on his lips.
He looked at the people coming and going on the street as if he were waiting for a takeout order, but in reality, the short axe in his hand never left his side.
Xue Huan sat behind the curtain at the counter, a thin booklet in front of her.
The booklet did not contain any names.
It's divided into just a few columns.
Old military buckle.
A copper coin with a missing corner.
Broken blade fragments.
The waist tag has a subtle pattern.
An elderly man with a limp arrived at the door first.
The old man's clothes were very old, and he was carrying a load of firewood on his shoulder.
He walked to the counter, took out a rusty brass button from his sleeve, and gently placed it on the wooden board.
"Shopkeeper, bring me a bowl of wine."
The clerk at the counter looked up at him.
What kind of wine?
The old man looked at him and spoke in a low voice.
Sixteen years ago, someone owed me a bowl of wine.