Gasp! She's a Time Traveler Using Modern Tech to Improve Ancient Life-Chapter 539: Lantern Festival Night

Days went by with visiting friends and relatives boisterously in the Great Tang, while scrolling through modern times quietly.

In the blink of an eye, it was the fourteenth day of the first month, and Lin Wanwan hosted a banquet in Xiaoxi Town.

After a whole day of bustling hospitality, Lin Wanwan just entered the room intending to return to modern times, when little Qingyu started knocking at the door, wanting to sleep with her.

Lin Wanwan initially planned to return to modern times to while away the time, but now she had to put it off, opening the door to let the clingy little one in, watching her pounce on her like an octopus.

Lin Wanwan dragged the little one to bed with both dislike and joy and leaned against the headboard to tell her a story to lull her to sleep.

Outside the mansion, the sound of gongs and drums resonated, flags and banners were raised; it was the time for flower lantern parades.

The Shangyuan Festival in the Great Tang started partying from the night of the fourteenth, Lin Wanwan entertained guests all day today and wasn’t energized enough to go wild outside, planning to truly experience the Shangyuan Festival tomorrow.

The little one fell asleep quickly in Lin Wanwan’s arms, and when she lowered her head, she found Qingyu already asleep with long eyelashes drooping.

She couldn’t help but lean towards Qingyu’s face for a kiss; she was totally relying on her, trusting her little one!

She awoke in the Shangyuan Festival, feeling the festive atmosphere all around from the early morning.

Especially in the big towns and cities like Chang’an in the Great Tang, they always imposed curfews, only during special days like the Shangyuan Festival could they celebrate for several days, and it was one of those.

Although Mao County did not have city walls and no actual curfew, at night workshops closed, Daoist temples and temples did not receive guests, and generally, people had no nightlife.

But it was different during the three days surrounding the Shangyuan Festival; it was so important to the Great Tang people, second only to New Year’s Eve. One could imagine the bustle, every Shangyuan night, where there were people, there were always countless lanterns, singing and dancing.

Bai Juyi, when in Hangzhou, wrote about the lively scenes of Shangyuan Festival "Every household has lights, music everywhere, longing for the capital, never tiring of Hangzhou."

The Shangyuan Festival night in the Great Tang wasn’t just about guessing lantern riddles, appreciating lanterns, eating snacks, or tug-of-war competitions. For the young men and women, it was also a rare "Valentine’s Day."

Even though the folk customs were open like in the Great Tang, there were still many restrictions on women. The commonly held notion of women riding horses down streets, living youthfully and freely, only existed in TV dramas, never in history books.

Noble women in the Tang initially had to wear veils or curtained hats when going out, and they had maids and servants in attendance; it wouldn’t be easy to go on a private date with the "male lead"!

Only working lower-class women and those of low status would expose themselves for the sake of life.

In the fifth year of the Zhen Guan in the Great Tang, unmarried noble women could not go out randomly, wanting to sneak out at night for private meetings was utterly impossible. The bigger the city, the more impossible due to the curfew.

Moreover, in the marriage market at this time, universal marriage pursuits were primarily "matching social status," "parents’ orders and the matchmaker’s words."

Where there is oppression, there is inevitably resistance. Parents’ arrangements might not meet one’s wishes, and the Shangyuan Festival was a particularly good time to vent.

The carnival night ignored beauty and ugliness, high and low, noble and base, everyone went out to celebrate, and it thus became a massive matchmaking night.

Men and women privately deciding their lifetime commitments happened repeatedly during the Shangyuan Festival, and some palace maids even directly ran away, never returning to the palace.

In the Old Tang Book, it recorded "also let out thousands of palace maids, night tour in open sights, as they secretly connected with outsiders, escaping and not returning."

In short, it’s a festival suitable for male and female revelry.

Last year’s Shangyuan Festival, Lin Wanwan followed Sun Lao, bearing emergency rescue responsibilities, barely having time to celebrate, but this year she could enjoy it properly.

But before that, she had to get little Qingyu to sleep first.

Although the county government recently cracked down on a wave of human traffickers, Lin Wanwan still didn’t want little Qingyu to venture out into the chaotic night, should she get lost; regret would come too late.

After all, human traffickers are like cockroaches and rats in a smelly gutter, never completely cleaned out.

Anyway, for little Qingyu, she could stroll the streets every day, no need to specially pick the most crowded, most populous Shangyuan night to go out.

Lin Wanwan vividly remembered in the Dream of the Red Chamber, Xiangling was abducted by a human trafficker on Lantern Festival Day due to the negligence of the foolish servant Huo Qi.

From then on, her fate drastically changed, from the wealthy young lady of the Zhen Family to Xue Pan’s concubine, frequently suffering domestic violence.

The first white-eyed wolf Jia Yucun in the Dream of the Red Chamber, who owed Xiangling’s father a great debt of gratitude, knew both mother and daughter’s whereabouts but never thought of passing on the information.

Lin Wanwan had already lost little Qingyu once, won’t let it happen again.

No matter how Qingyu clamored to go out for the lantern show’s fun, Lin Wanwan did not agree, she wouldn’t let Qingyu become a second Xiangling.

It’s only guessing lantern riddles and appreciating lanterns; Lin Wanwan had money; she could bring it home!

The courtyard of the Lin Mansion was hung with lanterns, during the daytime of the Shangyuan Festival, Qingyu had already invited nearby little friends in to play the lantern riddle and lantern appreciation game.

Because Qingyu played lantern riddles and appreciated lanterns in the daytime, her various acts of soft pleading failed to soften Lin Wanwan’s heart to agree to take her out to play, she didn’t make much noise.

The little one wasn’t stubborn. Seeing there was no hope, she quickly accepted the fact, if you can’t resist life, then enjoy life.

Soon, Qingyu happily asked Lin Wanwan to help her bathe, playing with water in the bathtub.

After bathing and drying her hair, the little one also fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

During the New Year, she had no homework tasks, playing as a guest every day, not willing to take afternoon naps, her energy released quickly, naturally she fell asleep early in the evening.

Lin Wanwan seized upon her slumber to immediately return to her room to change into clothes for going out.

On Shangyuan Festival today, besides the gatekeeper and a few people such as Ajing who were on duty for Qingyu, she gave all other servants the night off to go out and celebrate.

Hong Yan, Hua Nong, and Kun Lun, though granted leave, were unwilling to go out on their own and chose instead to accompany Lin Wanwan closely, she was fine with that.

Anyway, those who continued working would be given extra rewards!

She wasn’t like a "grasping landlord."

"Mistress, here’s the mask you wanted." Hong Yan handed the half-fox mask to Lin Wanwan.

"Good."

Lin Wanwan grabbed it and put it on her face.

Today, she wore a neat Hu suit, convenient for joining the crowd revelry.

Hong Yan and Hua Nong also wore masks and dressed in Hu suits tonight, as for Kun Lun, he wasn’t interested in these things, only interested in fighting.

Kun Lun was just waiting in case at the lantern festival, some lecher disturbed his mistress, he would make the guy pay.

Following his mistress for so long, Kun Lun never had any significant accomplishments.

One could see how comfortable Lin Wanwan’s life is now, the so-called peaceful years are largely like this.