the cat in emperor's arms

lantern festival

“Meimei, do you want to guess the lantern riddles?”

Upon hearing this, Ming Luomeng was pleasantly surprised. "Is that allowed?"

She knew that he was the Crown Prince, and having him accompany her out of the palace was already not easy. She had given up on joining the crowd to partake in the fun, only intending to stop for a brief moment to enjoy the scene before leaving.

But how could Pei Shenyu not see what she was thinking?

The rules of the lantern festival were simple: participants had to pay three hundred coins to guess the riddles.

If they guessed incorrectly, they would receive two kumquats as consolation; if they guessed correctly, the prize was the lantern hanging next to the riddle.

Pei Shenyu calmly took her hand. "Of course it's allowed. Which lantern do you like?"

Ming Luomeng, following his words, glanced in a direction, her long eyelashes fluttering.

In Pei Shenyu’s heart, the answer was already clear.

He gently led her to the lantern she had her eyes on. It was crafted in the shape of a phoenix, adorned with hanging feathers, holding a candle with pearl ornaments hanging below. The lantern was elegant and exquisitely detailed, with each feather embroidered in gold, looking lifelike.

The beautiful phoenix lantern had already attracted a crowd eager to solve the riddle.

Nearby, a couple was chatting:

"Lang, how many tries have you had? Why haven’t you guessed it right yet?"

"Wife, maybe we should switch to another lantern. This one is too hard. We've spent so many coins already... Honestly, I don’t think they even intend for this to be won."

The man wore a frown, while the woman continued to scold him, "Hmph, that's just an excuse. The truth is you're useless..."

Ming Luomeng overheard and felt her cheeks warm with embarrassment. She hesitated.

"Isn't it too difficult?"

Pei Shenyu, however, gently squeezed her hand, his expression calm. "Meimei, you just need to trust gege."

He walked up to the lantern, studied it for a short while, then nodded slightly and led her to find someone to submit the answer.

The woman behind them, seeing this, complained even more to her husband.

"Look, that gentleman is so confident. This lantern is clearly going to be his..."

Pei Shenyu approached the stall, paid the fee, and was handed a piece of paper and a brush. He wrote down his answer and handed it over.

The stallkeeper glanced at it and smiled.

"Oh my, sir, you've guessed it right! You’re quite remarkable."

"This lantern is a phoenix lantern, handcrafted by Master Zhang himself. It's the only one of its kind. Even the riddle was written by Elder Zhang from the family, and over a hundred people have tried but failed to solve it."

His words made those around them even more envious.

Pei Shenyu, however, remained composed, as if it were no surprise at all.

The stallkeeper smiled and retrieved the phoenix lantern, handing it to Pei Shenyu.

"Here’s the phoenix lantern you won, sir."

Ming Luomeng was astonished that Pei Shenyu had truly solved the riddle. She felt a sense of pride and couldn’t help but smile.

But the stallkeeper wasn’t finished. He added with a congratulatory tone, "I also wish you and your wife a long and harmonious life together, like phoenixes in harmony."