“I’ll do it myself. Let’s go home.”
Inside the Starry Sky Sect, there are protective barriers that keep it warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Stepping outside, however, the air was truly biting cold.
Cultivators can use their spiritual energy to keep themselves warm, but I decided to skip that. I tied the strings of my heavy cloak and got into the carriage.
The journey wasn’t short, and we wouldn’t arrive right away. I suddenly remembered that people set off fireworks during the New Year, and I wondered if this world had such a thing.
I lifted the curtain and asked A-Yun if he knew what fireworks were. Seeing that he didn’t quite understand, I explained that they were something you lit on fire to make them explode into floral shapes in the sky.
A-Yun said that on the outskirts of Luo City, there was a man who knew how to make something similar, so I asked him to take me there to see it.
Entering Luo City, the carriage headed in the opposite direction of the Prince Rong Manor. Slowly, we drove past the end of the street and onto a narrow country path, with farmland on both sides.
It was currently winter, and the haystacks in the fields were covered with snow. Further in the distance were rolling, undulating mountains.
“Young Master, it’s here.”
A-Yun stopped the carriage outside the courtyard of a thatched-roof house. To call it a courtyard was generous; it was merely an open space in front of the door enclosed by half-man-high wicker fences.
A little girl of about seven or eight years old was squatting on the ground, drawing in the dirt with a tree branch. Hearing the commotion, she raised her head and looked over.
The little girl’s gray cotton-padded jacket was covered in patches, but she looked clean and cute, with her hair styled into two small braids tied with red strings.
After exchanging a glance with A-Yun to confirm this was the right place, we didn’t step inside. Standing outside the wicker fence, I asked, “Little sister, are there any adults at home?”
The little girl threw down the wooden stick, ran into the house, and left a crack in the door, poking half her head out to observe us.
“Am I that scary?” I asked A-Yun.
At that moment, a man in his twenties walked over from a distance. Despite the freezing cold, his upper body was bare, revealing a solid build of muscular flesh.
At a glance, he was clearly someone accustomed to year-round physical labor. In one hand he held a fishing spear, and in the other, a fish basket. As he drew closer, he asked with a somewhat fierce tone who we were looking for.
“We want to buy some fireworks.” A-Yun helped me explain, adding, “Gunpowder flowers.”
He sized me up a few times, presumably realizing we didn’t look like bad people.
“Come in.”
He dumped a few fish into a wooden basin, scooped a few ladles of water into it, and the little girl happily went over to play with the fish.
He wiped his hands on his pants.
“Wait for me a moment.”
With that, he went inside the house.
I squatted down to watch the little girl catch the fish. The fish weren’t very big; there were three of them.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
Instead of answering, she caught a fish, held it up for me to see, and smiled very happily.
“She doesn’t talk.” The man soon came back out, carrying a pile of bamboo tubes in his arms.
He dropped the things onto the ground, picked one out, walked a few paces away to set it up, struck a flint against the fuse a few times, and lit it.
After the fuse burned down, with a loud bang, it exploded in the sky. It really was a fireworks display! Since it was daytime, it must look even more breathtaking at night.
“How many do you have? I want all of them.”
He turned and went back inside to get more. I wanted to go help him, but A-Yun pulled me back.
“Young Master, I’ll go.”
They carried out many more bamboo tubes. I quietly asked A-Yun if he brought money.
“You can just take them all. Keeping them at home is useless and just takes up space,” the man said.
Seeing our carriage and clothing, he should have known we were wealthy people, yet he was willing to give the items away for free. He truly was a forthright and generous person.
I had five taels of silver on me, and A-Yun had one tael. We gave all of it to him, and the carriage was soon filled to the brim with bamboo tube fireworks.
A-Yun drove the carriage while I sat beside him, chatting idly.
I learned that this man was named Lei Jiang, who had lost both parents since childhood and possessed quite a bit of skill. The little girl was a mute who had been abandoned by her parents because they disliked her condition, only for Lei Jiang to take her in.
When we arrived at the Prince Rong Manor, another carriage was parked at the entrance, one no worse than mine. As I looked it over, A-Yun reminded me, “It’s the Prince’s carriage.”
I jumped down from the carriage. Before I even stepped inside, a man walked out to welcome us, looking to be in his thirties.
The original body’s owner was twenty-three, so his father had to be at least over forty. This Prince really did look young; his face was fair and tender, adorned with a short stubble of a beard.
His eyebrows and eyes actually bore a few similarities to mine. My original appearance in the modern world was identical to this body’s owner, but my father didn’t look like him. My father had a striking, heroic appearance with strong features, whereas I took after my mother.
“Yu’er is back.”
Prince Rong walked up to me, seemingly wanting to give me a hug. I glanced at him, and he awkwardly withdrew his arms, rubbing his left hand with his right.
“Well, a few days ago, I had someone custom-make some new clothes for you at the Xiuxian Workshop. Yu’er can try them on to see if they fit.”
“Thank you, Father.” Seeing me smile, he let out a huge sigh of relief.
“Where is Niannian? Why don’t I see him?” I asked.
Prince Rong looked toward the woman standing behind him, who smiled ingratiatingly.
“Oh, Niannian, he’s still sleeping after his nap. Should we go wake him up?” Without asking, this was undoubtedly a concubine.
The original owner’s mother had died early, and the deaths of women in such ancient noble courtyards were rarely pure coincidence, though it wasn’t easy to probe into it right now.
For this woman to enter the Prince Rong Manor and live safely and soundly until now naturally meant she was no simple character.
Fortunately, the original owner had been capable enough that no one dared to provoke him at home. His father’s concubines all lived in the West Third Quarters, which were a few hundred meters away from the Crown Prince’s Quarters where I lived.
Though this manor wasn’t overly extravagant, its grounds were still quite vast.
“Has Niannian been well over this past year?” I asked.
With certain people, if you act too easygoing, they will climb right over your head. You still have to maintain your dignity when appropriate.
“Good! He’s been doing very well, eating and drinking nicely, sleeping soundly too, and he’s even gotten chubbier.”
I looked at A-Yun to verify this. He nodded slightly, and only then did I feel reassured.
“Let’s go inside.”
The manor’s New Year’s Eve dinner was naturally quite lavish. Old Lord Rong had also sent over a dozen jars of his family’s home-brewed osmanthus wine. I hadn’t drunk alcohol before, but after taking a sip, the flavor turned out to be surprisingly good.
When the sky turned completely dark, I called for A-Yun and brought Niannian along. Niannian’s hands were chubby. He might not necessarily have gotten fatter overall, but he certainly hadn’t lost any weight.
Out in the front yard, the fireworks had already been arranged in a row.
“Watch closely now, don’t blink!” I prepared to look cool, though unfortunately, there were no young maidens around to see it.
I gathered my spiritual energy at my fingertips and swept my hand across, instantly igniting the entire row of fireworks. The sounds of explosions rang out one after another.
Niannian was startled at first, so I gently lifted his chin to make him look up at the sky.
True to form, the fireworks soared straight up into the heavens, gradually unfolding as countless flower petals painted the pitch-black night sky in brilliant, multicolored hues.
Niannian let out cries of awe and ran around in excitement.
A-Yun was also watching intently. I asked him if he had any wishes, but he didn’t hear me, so I raised my volume and asked again. He seemed not to quite understand what a wish was.
“I mean, for example, thinking about what age you’d like to leave the manor to live a free life,” I said.
“Young Master, I don’t want to leave the manor,” he answered earnestly.
I nodded. “Then let me know whenever you change your mind.”
Looking up at the sky, I asked him, “Isn’t it beautiful?”
“It’s very beautiful,” he smiled, a rare expression for him.