Da Li Temple - Chapter 77.1

Chapter 77.1
New Year’s Eve

In the next few days, Su Moyi was busy and has yet to return to the Heir Residence. After the conflict between the Golden Guards and Da Li Temple, Emperor Yonghui punished each of them with 50 planks and suspended Chen Yan and Su Moyi.
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Although Su Moyi had instructed Lin Wanqing early on that she didn’t need to worry no matter what kind of news came out of the court, she almost thought that Emperor Yong Hui secretly imprisoned Su Moyi during these days.
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The news in the court could not be leaked to the outside. Lin Wanqing could not find someone to inquire, so she could only hang on to her heart, keeping an eye on the movements around her at all times.
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During this winter, some of Sheng City’s roads and rivers were frozen, making it difficult for boats to pass. But the city was still as usual. As New Year’s Eve approaches, scenes of joy and family reunion are everywhere, without the slightest difference in sight.
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Three days ago, Emperor Yonghui invited the royal family to the capital for the New Year’s Eve Palace Banquet, and tonight, he will hold a banquet at the Lin De Palace by the Taiyi Pond. Perhaps because of the royal feast, the court is particularly concerned about security. In the evening, after the relatives entered the palace, Sheng City was under curfew, and even the city gates were locked in advance. The good thing was that the Heir Residence didn’t lack anything, and soon after nightfall, a table of sumptuous New Year’s Eve feast was ready.
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Lin Wanqing called Liang Weiping, Lailuo, and Ye Qing together.
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Lailuo and Liang Weiping were used to following Lin Wanqing and had always treated her as a friend, so they didn’t feel that eating together was out of line. But Ye Qing had been following Su Moyi for a long time and treated Lin Wanqing as the mistress, so she had to waste a lot of words to persuade him to sit down. The dishes were all served, and the courtyard was warm and cheerful.

Lailuo was still an imperial prisoner, wearing shackles according to Su Moyi’s orders, but this did not affect her mood to eat and drink well on New Year’s Eve. After downing a pot of wine, she suddenly felt she could consider defecting to the Emperor. Being together with Lin Wanqing to eat and drink, laughing and joking, made her not want to die.
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Liang Weiping was a glutton for wine but wasn’t strong enough to drink. After three cups, he was flushed and drunkenly started to ask Lin Wanqing to help him put in a good word with Lord Su to transfer him to Da Li Temple.
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Lin Wanqing laughed and snorted, adding a bowl of shark fin soup to Ye Qing. Ye Qing lowered his head and ate diligently.
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The Xiao family’s case will be thirteen years old after the New Year. Like that year, snow was falling outside the window, but in front of her eyes was a completely different scene. She suddenly felt contented and turned her head. Her eyes fell on the shadow of a few people swaying in the screen.
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Lin Wanqing remembered that this was the first time she had worn a new dress on New Year’s Eve in so many years, just like when she was a child. All those years of upheaval and uncertainty are gone. Now, she has a lamp in the dark, an umbrella in the rain, a few friends, and a few glasses of wine. These are all things she did not dare to hope for in the past. Her eyes hurriedly swept over the round table and landed on the empty seat – tonight, everything was good except that he wasn’t here.
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“Aih ……” She sighed, got up, and pushed open the window.

Bang!??

The sky exploded with muffled sounds, and there was a sudden shock of brightness overhead, sparking up a thousand trees of flowers. Like the rain of the starry river blown down by the night wind, they pattered down, dragging out alluring traces along the way.
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“Fireworks!” Lailuo excitedly approached the window, dragging the chains on her ankles with a clanging sound.
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Liang Weiping and Ye Qing also put down their bowls and came over, sticking their heads out to look outside.
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“Fireworks are released–“
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Unsure which courtyard’s little maid called out excitedly, and for a while, everyone walked up to the open space and looked up.
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In the direction of Daming Palace, colorful fireworks dyed the sky. Amid the light and loud noise, one could hear more voices. Under the heavy night, a few deep red sky lanterns shake in the wind and snow, especially conspicuous.
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“This is …… sky lantern?” Ye Qing looked for a while, seemingly unintentionally mumbling a sentence.
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“What?” Lin Wanqing was curious. She saw Ye Qing speak with a blank face, “I remember Sheng City has forbidden the release of sky lanterns.”
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“Why?”
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“Because sky lanterns are all used for military news transmission at night. If the people release the lanterns at will, I’m afraid it will disrupt…”
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Bang! A loud bang shook the ground, completely surpassing Ye Qing’s words. The bowls and chopsticks on the tabletop shook, incompatible with the strength of the fireworks explosion.

They were stunned and looked up at the sky—the fireworks feast in Sheng City was still happening. The sound of heckling in the courtyard grew louder and louder; the sound of the people and the fireworks masked the strangeness of the party, as if everything was just an illusion.
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Lin Wanqing felt strange. She turned around, grabbed the cloak on the shelf, and ran towards the attic that the Heir Residence used for viewing.
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In Sheng City, fireflies-like lights blazed up the darkness of the night, and Daming Palace was still brilliantly lit up with fireworks.
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Lin Wanqing looked for a while and did not find any more abnormalities. “Could it be that I misheard just now?” she muttered, furrowing her brows in contemplation.
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Ye Qing stood behind her, and after a moment, he echoed, “It should have been a mishearing; a firework explosion wouldn’t have such a big commotion.”
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Bang! There was another shocking bang, and Lin Wanqing felt the floor beneath her feet jump and creak. This time, Lailuo dragged the chain and climbed up to the attic. She grabbed Ye Qing and said gloomily, “Give me the key! Hurry!”
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Ye Qing was stunned; looking at Lailuo in such a panic made him lose his movement for a moment.
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“Ye Qing!” Lin Wanqing’s voice sounded behind him. She tugged on his sleeve with one hand and pointed toward the Sheng City gates. “It’s explosives. The gates seem to have been blown open.”

T/n : Please report if you find any mistakes in my translation!