Chapter 88: Yun Ranran of the Nine Provinces Academy

The temple stood in the most prosperous quarter of the Nine Provinces Continent, in its very heart: Peaceful City.

Lian had lingered a little longer than intended after passing a waterfall of breathtaking beauty, and by the time she arrived in Peaceful City, the sky was already strewn with stars, the moon hanging in a soft haze. Within the city, splendor reigned everywhere; trees of fire and blossoms of silver blazed like daylight. Several lantern towers stood especially grand and stately not far away.

The streets seemed even more crowded than usual, lined with all manner of lanterns and stalls, the cries of vendors rising one after another.

Lian casually picked up a fox mask from a nearby stall, slipped it on, and grinned at Chong Li. "Do I look good?"

"This mask does not suit you. A red fox would suit you better."

Lian puckered her lips with feigned maidenly grievance. "Fine then." She fiddled with other little trinkets. "Mister, is Peaceful City this lively every day?"

The stall owner chuckled. "From your accents, young lady and young master, you are not locals. I imagine you do not know our city’s custom. Today is the sixth day of the ninth month, so of course it is livelier than usual."

Lian handed over the mask she had chosen for him to settle the bill. "The sixth day of the ninth month?"

"Altogether sixty coppers. Small business, you see, but the lady has a pleasant face, so I’ll sell it to you for fifty!" The owner was a straightforward sort.

Chong Li took out his purse. Money should never be left to Lian Bao. He placed a broken silver ingot directly into the owner’s hand. "Keep the change."

The owner, untroubled by worldly concerns, had not expected to make an extra bit of profit. "Thank you, young master! The sixth day of the ninth month is the founding day of the Sacred Temple of our Peaceful Kingdom. You know about the Sacred Temple, of course, so today most people are out buying lanterns to make wishes!

"You should buy a couple yourselves and go to the river to pray. Whether for marriage or for safety, it is quite efficacious."

The owner glanced around. His stall was rather quiet. Covering his mouth with one hand, he lowered his voice. "I am only telling you because you two young newlyweds are from elsewhere. When buying lanterns here, there is a trick to it. See over there?" He pointed to the most crowded spot. "The lanterns sold by that mute fellow are the most efficacious. Whatever wish you make, it can come true. It’s a pity that every year he only brings two hundred lanterns. He has only just arrived today. If you hurry, you may still manage to buy one!"

He was so absorbed in speaking that Lian completely ignored his first remark. Chong Li, however, silently reddened to the tips of his ears, heat practically radiating from him.

After leaving the mask stall, Lian tugged Chong Li straight toward the place where the lanterns were being sold.

Everyone coming to buy lanterns crowded together, packing the area so tightly that not a breath of space remained.

Lian rose on tiptoe, but even then could not see clearly through the gaps. A pair of arms quietly encircled her slender waist from behind. Startled, she wondered which lecher would dare to commit such indecent behavior in broad daylight. Just as she was about to strike away those pig-like hands, they stopped at her waist, and the next instant her view opened by several feet.

Turning her head, she saw that the owner of those hands was Chong Li.

Lian was light, not difficult to lift at all, but the red flush in his ears made the matter difficult to put into words. Their gazes collided, and everything around them seemed to freeze in that moment.

Until, behind them, a woman laughed and scolded the man beside her. "Look how romantic they are, and then look at you?"

The man looked wronged, reluctantly reaching out as though to lift her. Just as her feet barely left the ground for a moment, they touched down again. His face flushed red. "Wife, it’s not that I won’t carry you. Can’t you have a little sense of your own weight..."

Everyone nearby turned to watch the farce with smiles. The woman, too, reddened, pinched the man’s ear, and snapped, "Move along, stop embarrassing yourself here! Oh, I’ve never been this ashamed in my life..."

The man walked away at an angle, shooting his wife a resentful sidelong glance all the while, yet not a word of anger escaped him. In truth, his wife was still first in his heart.

Because the woman was a little plump, their departure left some space. Chong Li set Lian down and, before anyone else could react, occupied the spot at once.

With a much better view now, Lian no longer minded Chong Li’s red ears. Through the gaps, she finally caught a glimpse of the owner’s true appearance: a one-eyed Daoist, speaking only with his hands.

The owner was steady and composed, and would occasionally refuse some buyers’ requests. The lanterns were sold at a price more than ten times that of ordinary stalls—indeed, in ordinary times they would be impossible to obtain without a fortune.

Lian put on the red fox mask she had bought at the mask stall, then handed the silver-white one to Chong Li and made him wear it too. From a distance, the two of them now looked like a newly married couple come to pray for a child.

Lian gently tapped the shoulder of a lady standing in front of them. "Madam, could you let my husband and me go ahead and ask for a lantern? We have been married three years and still have no children. Both our mothers are pressing us hard. We have already seen physicians, and there is nothing wrong. We heard that wishes may be made here with lanterns, so could you kindly grant us some convenience?"

As she spoke, she even squeezed out two crocodile tears, just enough for the glistening wetness to show through the eye slits of her mask.

When the lady heard that the two were so anxious, her heart softened and she gave way. Those in front of her also heard these pitiful words. Folk here were simple and kind-hearted, easily moved, and one by one they made room for Lian and Chong Li.

The two successfully reached the front. Chong Li still had some difficulty lifting his head, after all, there were many murmurs: such a distinguished-looking man, yet who would have thought he was unable to perform his duty... What a pity for such a fine girl...

Lian had made it all up, and yet she even cast him a look of sympathy. How could Chong Li endure that?

If there truly came a day, Chong Li vowed, he would make some reckless little girl understand exactly whether he could or could not.

Meanwhile, Chong Li was still distracted, while on the other side Lian was already using sign language to converse with the one-eyed Daoist owner.

She knew only a little sign language, but enough to make herself understood. In the end, under the owner’s suspicious gaze, she successfully obtained a lantern—of course, not by virtue of those clumsy gestures, but thanks to Chong Li’s private treasure.

Lian happily dragged Chong Li here and there, then hurried to the river. "Chong Li, do you think these things are really that effective?"

"Hard to say."

Many lanterns floated upon the water, and from afar it looked like an endless river of stars.

Lian took out paper and brush from her spatial storage and wrote on the page: Chong Li delights in Lian. Then she folded the slip into a paper crane and rested it in her palm, all without Chong Li getting a glimpse.

She placed a fresh slip of paper and the brush into Chong Li’s hand. "You should write one too!"

Chong Li gripped the brush tightly, and in the end turned his back and wrote: May Lian Bao be safe and sound every year.

Lian snatched the slip away. Just as she was about to open it, she closed it again and folded it into a paper crane. "I won’t let you see my wish, and I won’t look at yours either. We’ll just see whose comes true!"

Dear reader, this chapter is now complete. Wishing you a pleasant read.