In the blink of an eye, the Lantern Festival had passed.
The entire Changa An City was festooned with lanterns and streamers. With the curfew lifted, almost half the people in the city had poured out of their homes. The broad Vermilion Bird Avenue was packed with people, shoulder to shoulder, heel to toe. On the wooden posts set up every dozen steps along both sides of the road were strung long ropes, from which hung countless lanterns and riddles, drawing passersby to stop, admire, and guess the riddles, their laughter and chatter unending.
Shang Ruyi had originally planned for Yu Wenye to take her out of the palace that night for a stroll, but Yu Wenye did not agree; he only took her up onto the city tower to look down at the dense sea of people below, swarming like ants.
Then he said, "If we go down there like that, our feet will be flattened in no time."
Shang Ruyi watched the bustle below, still a little shaken. "Why are there so many people?"
