Li Xia couldn't help but glance at Gu Liu, things arranged by Lu Yi were urgent and didn't need his opinion on whether something was missing or not... He and Fifth Brother were the same, both had a big heart and a thick skin, yeah, they really grew up looking out for each other.

  Lu Yi squatted down and picked up Li Xia, walking out together.

  The little boy in front carried a lantern and walked for about two hours, entering a small courtyard with two rooms. The old woman and the servant girl came out to greet them, standing in two rows.

  Lu Yi stopped and didn't go any further, putting down Li Xia at the gate of the courtyard. He smiled and said: "The Fifth Master will make do for one night, tomorrow morning, I'll let Cheng Ying come to pick you all up."

  Li Wenshan repeatedly thanked them, watching Lu Yi and Gu Liu walk far away, before leading Li Wenlan, with Li Dong leading Li Xia, one after the other, into the courtyard.

  Li Xia came out of the bathroom, got into bed and snuggled under the covers, yawning repeatedly. Half asleep and half awake, she listened to her sister and Su Ye's conversation.

  "...haven't seen lanterns..."

  "Brother Wu is right, it's all the same after a year... Su Ye, having seen such fireworks today, I feel that this lifetime, no matter what happens, I am content..."

  Li Xia was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly came to herself. What did her sister's words mean, this intense mixture of bitterness and sweetness that had merged into one?

  The next day, it wasn't until evening that the four siblings returned to the Hengshan County government office.

  Li Wenshan answered Li County Magistrate and Mrs. Xu's detailed inquiries, and was also caught by Mrs. Xu to check the things to be brought tomorrow morning, and finally managed to extricate himself and hurriedly went to find Li Xia.

  Two people in Li Wenshan's small study, facing the light of a bean lamp on the table, speaking softly.

  "Axia, it's all me... I'm so stupid! He told me to bring my younger brother and sister, I didn't think much of it. Dong Jie had already thought of going to Hangzhou city to watch the fireworks and lanterns, I didn't expect... really didn't expect..."

  "It's gone and it's come back, what's the use of thinking about these things?" Li Xia's expression was calm, this was a useless regret that couldn't change anything.

  "Axia, I always feel that Wang Ye said it was late and the Empress Dowager nagged, this sentence seems to be wrong somewhere, he never said so before." Li Wenshan always felt that something was not right, but couldn't think of what was not right.

  "The small courtyard where we stayed yesterday was only cleaned up after we arrived."

  "How did you know? Where did you see it?" Li Wenshan was stunned.

  "It's not what I saw, but what I heard. Earlier in the warm pavilion, Gu Liu said he wanted to take us to his home." Li Xia looked at Wu Ge.

  Li Wenshan nodded continuously, "Uh-huh, I heard you, what's up?" Li Wenshan racked his brains, what was special about this sentence? It seemed very ordinary.

  "If it had been arranged earlier, would Gu Liu still say this?"

  Li Wenshan suddenly realized, "Ah! No wonder Gu Liu said he wanted to take a look at what was missing. If you rush, you'll be short of things." Li Wenshan was indeed knowledgeable about such things.

  Li Xia paused for a moment, then continued: "Also, later on, I heard two little maids whispering to each other. One said that the one carrying the lantern was wiping it clean, but didn't know if it was really clean or not. The other little maid said that the nanny said it was good enough and they left before dawn."

  Li Wenshan blinked four or five times, and let out a long "oh" sound. "That's right, by the time we get to the outskirts of the city, it'll be dark already. It's really, too much trouble for others."

  "Uh, Fifth Brother, you should pay more attention to details. Actually, there's no need for Gu Liu to say this, it's all obvious. First of all, the Qin Wang and his men are wearing thick-soled sheepskin boots, just sitting in the warm pavilion watching the fireworks, they don't need to wear thick-soled boots." Li Xia swung her legs, looking at Li Wen Shan.

  "Moreover, look at the clothes Qin Wang and others are wearing today, they are all very ordinary, the fabric is just the most common satin, no silk embroidery, not even brocade, no dragon patterns, no sea water patterns. The piece of jade on the幞head is also very ordinary, the thick and solid gray fox fur worn when walking, are all dressed up to stroll around and watch the lights."

  They had originally planned to watch the fireworks, then go see the lanterns, and keep playing until dawn. After watching the lanterns being taken down, they would head back, and we would return. This is a custom in the capital city - this lively revelry is meant to last through the whole night. In that case, there's no need for us to arrange a place to stay.

  But yesterday, my sister went with a group of people and took her out for a stroll until midnight. What's the point of that? So, we could only watch the fireworks, and when they returned, they found us a place to rest for half the night."

  Li Wenshan listened while rubbing his face, one hand after another, sighing repeatedly, the more he listened, the more regretful he became.

  "Rub again, and the skin will be wrinkled." Li Xia kicked Wu Ge once, "I told you these things, not to make you regret it, but to make you learn to pay attention to details. You are at most 30% wrong, they are at least 70%."

  Besides, even if they made it clear, unless we all don't go to watch the fireworks, as long as we go, sister will definitely have to go. This kind of fireworks this year, if sister misses it, maybe she'll never get another chance to see it again."

  Li Wenshan stopped rubbing his face and stared at Li Xia. After a while, he nodded twice and said, "I think so too..." Without saying another word, Li Wenshan suddenly blurted out, "Ah Xia, this time it's definitely not like last time, you... after Dong Jie, there will be plenty of opportunities to see such fireworks."

  Li Xia Zheng's legs stiffened for a moment, staring blankly at Li Wen Shan, and slowly nodded.

  ………………

  Once past fifteen, years have gone far away.

  On the sixteenth, Li Wenshan arrived at the Wan Song Academy early in the morning and started school. County Magistrate Li paid respects to the yamen god, opened the yamen for business, and Madam Xu sent Hong's nanny to the newly opened slave market to find a matchmaker to buy people. The small classroom of Li Xia and Li Wenlan also started school.

  Everything remains the same, except that the person County Magistrate Li trusts most has changed from Chen Shiye to Guo Sheng, and there are six or seven more little maids in the county government's rear residence.

  Just after the Lunar New Year, Lin Ming-sheng, the Minister of Justice, fell ill and was bedridden for several days. His condition worsened, and he requested to resign and return home to recuperate.

  A month later, the newly appointed Magistrate Xie Yucheng hurried to Hangzhou City and took over the seal. The next day, Lin Mingsheng quietly left Hangzhou City and returned to his home in Beijing to recuperate from illness.

  Guo Sheng made several trips to Hangzhou City and inquired about Xie Yucheng. He returned and reported back to Li Xia.

  Xie Yucheng is forty-nine years old this year and has been appointed as the Procuratorate of Liangzhe Road, formerly the Right Servant of the Ministry of Punishment.

  Xie Yucheng was the elder brother of Empress Su, and the elder brother of Madame Xie, wife of Minister Su of the Ministry of Justice. In his thirtieth year, he passed the imperial examination as a jinshi and was appointed to the Ministry of Punishment for training. He served as a minor official in the Ministry of Punishment until he was thirty-six years old. That year, Empress Su entered the palace and gained favor with the emperor, and Xie Yucheng was transferred to the Four Directions Pavilion, where he became the pavilion's envoy.

  Four years later, Xie Yucheng was transferred to the Ministry of Works, where he served as a deputy officer with real power, and then promoted to Langzhong, in charge of the Water Department. Three years later, he was transferred to the Ministry of Punishment, where he became the Right Servant.

  This promotion is really a rapid rise to prominence.

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