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and so the day had come - the autumn festival had now begun. the streets of the village flooding with people, the melodic sound of children's laughter filling their ears. nothing but joy filled the day.
xiaomei and yongqin walked around the village. they had four hours until they had to gather and get ready. the two of them had already ate and so they wandered the crowded streets, looking at anything they found interest in.
"li, what about this one? isn't this one pretty?" xiaomei asked, holding up a hairpin for the boy's long hair. "nah i like silver rather than gold."
(iyk the reference then ;) hehe)
xiaomei put down the pin with gold painted flowers back onto the table. while xiaomei put the hairpin down, a certain charm caught her eyes. she gently placed the hairpin down, placing the charm in her hands.
multiple jade green threads hung off the silver dragon. it held a ball in its mouth; a jade ball. the dragon's eyes were painted green, the same shade as the jade ball in its mouth. xiaomei delicately placed her fingers over the soft thread that hung below the dragon, above the dragon was a knot - just like every other charm that was found.
"qiuyue." "sorry?" xiaomei muttered, caught off guard by the sudden voice. "qiuyue the dragon, she is one who's poem is rarely told. she is also very known around the time of the autumn festival, hence her name meaning autumn moon." xiaomei nodded her head, appreciating the information told to her. with the lack of words from xiaomei, the owner of the stall continued to speak.
"you should take it. there's only two of a kind in china and i'll give it to you for free." the old lady smiled brightly at xiaomei. her eyes crinkling more than before while smiling.
xiaomei was by far taken aback by the kind gesture. "g-grandma i can't..there's only two of a kind i can't take this!" xiaomei shot back, shaking her head. she tried to place the charm back down but the lady wouldn't allow her to.
"it'll look good on you, child. you should hang it from your skirt during the dance, the people will love it." grandma smiled. before xiaomei could reply back, yongqin grabbed her hand and dragged her away. xiaomei looked back and yelled a quick 'thank you' before turning her head back to yongqin.
"did you buy anything?" yongqin asked the younger. "technically not, it was given to me. but it's not important, did you find a hair pin?" xiaomei asked back. the male nodded his head and turned his head for her to see.
pierced into his bun was a silver hair pin with a cherry blossom branch painted with its respectful colours.
xiaomei hummed in approval at the beautiful hair pin. "where shall we go next?" xiaomei asked with a smile. yongqin grabbed her hand and pulled her to an open area that sold lanterns in a variety of shapes and sizes.
"shall we get them together?" yongqin asks with an overflow of enthusiasm. xiaomei nodded her head in response, her being the one to drag yongqin with her now. she pulled the boy to the man who sat with lanterns beside him.
"and what lantern can i get you two?" "anything that you think is nice for us, we don't mind." yongqin smiled.
the man nodded his head, examining yongqin and xiaomei closely. he took notice of their clothing and every single detail on their body. he noticed the newly bought hair pin in yongqin's hair and the charm that slightly hung out of xiaomei's pocket.
again, the man nodded his head, reaching for two lanterns from the ground. "the the young lady, qiuyue, the mother of this festival. now, for the young man, a cherry blossom tree in the sun. that'll be $3 all together." the man smiles. xiaomei drops the coins into the mans hand.
the two of them thanked him before walking off into the distance. both of them settled by a bench, lighting up the lantern.
now that there was light inside, the paintings that decorated the lanterns became more clear. there was detail that they hadn't noticed before.
"it's so pretty!" yongqin exlaimed. he giggled like a young child, giddy about the lantern he received. when noticing the lack of reply, he turned his head to xiaomei.
the girl was too engaged by the detail her lantern to notice his stare. "mei? what do you think of yours?" "it's gorgeous..i love it." she smiled to herself. "shall we continue walking then?" xiaomei diverted her gaze back to yongqin with a nod of her head.
the pair set off, walking along the path. suddenly, king longwei had came into the way of their calming stroll. "yongqin, i have to take our general until we gather for the performance. is that okay?" "of course! i'll just go find renjun or something. now, excuse me your majesty." with a polite bow, yongqin flees, leaving xiaomei alone with the king.
"you've been quite busy recently, your majesty." xiaomei chuckles. the king returns the chuckle, looking up at the setting sun. "xiaomei, there is something important that i must discuss with you." the king stops walking.
only now did xiaomei realise her surroundings. they were nowhere near the main area of the festival, they were in a more empty area of town.
"after the sword dance, someone is going to come and pick you up. that someone is a close friend of mine so you will not need to panic. their name is jade so i need you to cooperate with them. okay?" "i don't get it, why are they coming?" xiaomei asked with furrowed brows. "jade is going to take you to the temple of Tacenda because the full moon of the autumn festival is when you are needed at the temple, understand?"
xiaomei stood frozen like ice. why was she needed? why tonight? why couldn't she just go by herself?
"i don't understand why i need someone to escort me to the temple? i already now my way there alone." king longwei sighs.
he couldn't tell her at the very moment why things were gonna happen the way they were going to - it wasn't the right time to.
"let's just say there's some things you need to settle about your family."
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