Jun Jiuling

That is, things that she didn't like were not beneficial and she did not need to do them.

Liu’er came to her own conclusion and nodded her head in relief.

“Young Miss, look at these lanterns…” she said excitedly. But when she looked at Miss Jun properly, she squeaked. “Young Miss, where is your lantern?”

That was the lantern Young Miss got from reaching the first dead-end. Young Miss had taken it and said she was going to wait outside.

Why is she empty-handed?

“I gave it away,” said Miss Jun,

Gave it away? Liu’er stared.

“Young Miss, who did you meet with? Was it Miss Lin?” she asked.

Miss Lin and Young Miss were on the best terms, but they hadn’t met for some time.

“What are you giving it to other people for?”

“Your Young Miss was happy to give it away,” Miss Jun said with a smile.

Miss Jun had always been aiming for the Ning Family, but the moment she saw Tenth Noble Son Ning on the 15th day of the 8th month, her heart was filled only with thoughts of that person.

It was a pity that she had died without that person seeing her.

She had randomly gone beneath the tree to rest her feet and watch the match. There were a lot of people on the street, while not many people beneath the trees. Carelessly, she had commented what she would have done when the person next to her actually answered. Thus, they began to play blind Go.

The first thing she had learned from her master was to play Go. She knew how to play before and wasn’t bad, but she still studied Go with her master for a year. She hadn’t done anything that year but play and play and play and play.

Her master said that it would polish her personality.

She felt that she was suffering greatly, that her temper had always been very good.

For the first few years she had played against her teacher, but then her teacher wouldn’t play with her. There was no one else, so she could only play with herself.

She had planned just to play Go against herself; she hadn’t thought that the person next to her would respond to her move.

It was very fun and very lighthearted, and even more carefree.

She didn’t care who the person next to her was. Of course, she wanted to know a bit after they finished their games. She just never thought that the one beneath the hood was actually the most familiar person in her memories.

Tenth Noble Son Ning Yunzhao.

So she had given him that lantern, and he had accepted it. For Jun Zhenzhen, this was the happy moment she had forever yearned for.

Although Liu’er thought she was speaking strangely, as long as she heard she was happy, it was enough.

“Young Miss, Young Miss, what are we going to see next?” she asked excitedly.

“We’re going to see the lantern I made,” said Miss Jun with a smile.

This, she was very happy to do.

“Yes, yes, Young Miss made a lantern.” Liu’er nodded. “Where is Young Miss’ lantern hanging? At the residence or on Fire Temple Street?”

The Fang Family had hung their lanterns by the residence entrance so that Fang Chengyu could see them.

“Fire Temple,” said Miss Jun.

Liu’er nodded.

“Right, Young Miss’ lantern is not for that cripple to see,” she said.

“That’s not it,” corrected Miss Jun with a smile. “If I hung it over there, then no one would care to see my lantern.”

This of course was not because Young Miss’ lantern was no good, but rather because the people over there only wanted to see the dying cripple. Liu’er believed her wholly, and she and Miss Jun made their way to the Fire Temple.

This was the busiest place on the street. The lanterns here were also much more exquisite. The many beautiful lanterns elicited exclamations of admiration from the viewers. 𝙗𝒆𝒅𝒏𝙤𝒗𝒆𝙡．𝙤𝒓𝙜

Liu’er could not tear her eyes away from a lantern carousel with paper horses and twinkling and tinkling bells.

“Young Miss, your lantern is here?” she asked.

Miss Jun nodded.

Young Miss made her lantern at the workshop, unlike the Fang Jinxiu and the others who had made theirs at home. Young Miss’ lantern definitely must be beautiful.

“Where?” Impatience and expectation stretched across Liu’er’s face.

She already knew it. When Young Miss pointed out her lantern, everyone would definitely gasp in awe and would know how amazing she was.

“It’s that one.” Miss Jun stopped and looked straight ahead.

Liu’er excitedly followed her line of sight.

She immediately shouted, “Wow, how…” But when she saw the lanterns, she immediately stared, shocked. The word ‘beautiful’ on the tip of her tongue had vanished and it was replaced by… “Black!”

How black.

The lantern only had flowers, no lamp [1], and this lantern was made very big.

It was square-shaped, occupied a large space and was pitch-black without a shred of light. All around it were sparkling, glittering lanterns, just like a bead curtain surrounding a pool of sludge. It was so stupid and ugly, and made people uncomfortable.

Differents words of praise flitted through Liu'er's mind, but she couldn't use any of them now.

She was an honest child, but more importantly, she believed she had the same aesthetics as Young Miss.

Right now, she could not falsely praise the lantern, and Young Miss was no idiot.

"There are no lights in the lantern," she said immediately. Her eyebrows furrowed in anger as she looked at the lanterns. "What is going on? Why didn't anyone light that lantern?"

Of course there were people viewing the lanterns, so there were safety precautions in place to prevent fires or other sudden occurrences.

At the moment, someone was standing next to the pitch-black lantern. Under the light of the lamps he looked poor because his facial expression was so ugly.

"Young lady, if you don't understand, then don't talk nonsense," he said angrily. "This lantern is not to be lit."

Hearing Liu'er angrily speaking, the people who overheard this jumped in to ask questions.

"What kind of lantern doesn't have a light?" someone asked. "What is it doing here?"

The man looking at the lantern snorted, then pointed.

“Do you not see what’s written there?” he said.

Something is written there?

Everyone followed his finger to see a banner hanging from on one side of the lantern. On the banner was inscribed with large, golden letters.

Triumph in Go.

“What does it mean? Did they write the wrong words?” someone asked.

“It means that to light the lantern there is a condition. This is a Go board, and the decorated lanterns are the stones. Right now, the black stones are one move away from winning. If someone stops them in one move, then the lantern will be lit,” said the man next to the lantern.

This was interesting.

Bystanders immediately began to gather round, scrutinizing the Go board carefully. Someone started to reach out an arm.

“Slow down,” cautioned the man watching the lantern, using a wooden stick to bar the way of the person reaching out for the lantern. “This is not something just anyone can try.”

“Then how can we?” asked the person who was blocked

The person looking after the lantern rapped his wooden stick.

“A fee,” he said.

Everybody looked to the two glass bowls stationed underneath the banner. One of them already had silver coins covering the bottom, while there was a single silver banknote in the other.

Silver banknote.

The eyes of the people gathered around immediately twinkled. When they saw the sum on the banknote, their jaws dropped.

“Five thousand taels.”

A voice cried out, causing more people to gather around.

Liu’er gasped loudly and looked at Miss Jun incredulously.

Right now, she no longer doubted that Young Miss had made a mistake with the lantern.

“Young Miss, what is the purpose of this?” she couldn’t help but ask.

[1] the word for (festival) lantern is huadeng, hua meaning flower and deng meaning lantern/light.