Hammer in her left hand, sword in her right, the eldest sister is connected to both worlds.

Chapter 147 New Year’s Eve

Noticing the change in the girl's mood, Xue Lan put the candied hawthorn in her mouth and patted her shoulder with her free hand.

Xue Tong was abruptly pulled out of her emotions by Xue Lan, only to find that Yu Niang and the other woman had already gone far away.

Xue Lan looked at her with a smile on her lips. The girl's grayish-white eyes attracted strange looks from many people around her.

Those gazes held a mixture of inquiry, fear, and disgust. But the Wolf King remained calm and composed, while the young girl simply looked at Xue Tong quietly: "What are you thinking about?"

Xue Tong spoke: "I'm wondering... are you a living, breathing person, or just a passage of text in a story?"

Xue Lan was amused by the little girl's words. She groped for Xue Tong's hand, but after groping for a while, she couldn't hold it. In the end, Xue Tong took the initiative to put her palm into Xue Lan's open palm.

Xue Lan smiled and grabbed her arm: "There's no need to think about these things too much right now?"

The two slowly caught up with Yu Niang and Xu Shi. Xue Tong asked with some confusion, "Are you treating me like a child now?"

Xue Lan didn't refute this time either. The girl gently asked in return, "Isn't that right?"

The appearance and temperament of a child.

Xue Tong was speechless after Xue Lan's question. She took Xue Lan's hand and continued walking forward, the two of them stepping into the slightly darkening sky.

Some vendors in the market hung small red lanterns on their stalls before the Lunar New Year, while those without red lanterns pasted red paper on their stalls.

As darkness fell, some of them lit the red lanterns, creating a faint red river across the chaotic street.

This shallow red river flowed ceaselessly, carrying Xue Lan and the others out of the street. As time passed, with the rising and setting of the sun and moon, it ignited the entire capital city in a sea of ​​red.

On the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, at Wansheng Palace.

A lantern painted with a five-clawed golden dragon in gold powder was lit by a young eunuch and re-hung on the eaves of Wansheng Palace. The festive red lanterns throughout the palace emitted a warm light, but the face of the Emperor of the Great Shun Dynasty under this light showed no joy whatsoever.

A guard in black armor walked up to Xie Xiao and whispered, "Your Majesty, all the ministers have entered the palace."

Xie Xiao nodded slowly. In a place unseen by others, thousands of imperial guards had already been laid in ambush in this festive imperial city, just waiting for Xie Xiao's order to spill blood at the New Year's Eve banquet.

Xie Xiao tapped the chair armrest lightly with his fingers, then asked a question to the shadows behind him.

Do you think this can work?

A dark voice emerged from the shadows, and Xie Xiao heard a soft female voice: "Your Majesty, everything is foolproof."

Xie Xiao was somewhat dissatisfied with her answer: "Why be so sure? Your uncle isn't stupid."

The man seemed to ponder for a moment before replying firmly, "If anything goes wrong... I am willing to atone with my life. The blood of the palace banquet will never splatter on His Majesty."

Xie Xiao nodded in satisfaction: "Who knows? I can't bear to see you die. With your deep cunning, you're more suited to staying by my elder sister's side."

The slender young man stood up from his chair and walked out of Wansheng Palace. Just before leaving the palace gates, the young emperor stopped and pointed to a precious sword hanging on the wall.

"I remember that was a gift from my imperial uncle. Lai Shun, take it with you!"

Grandpa Laishun hurried over, took the sword down from the wall, and respectfully followed Xie Xiao, holding it with both hands.

In the northern corner of the capital, Yu Niang and He Xiuzhang were putting plump white dumplings into a pot to cook. Xue Tong was in the main room adding a cup of tea for her elderly grandfather, Gensheng, only to find that the teapot was empty.

The little girl went to the kitchen to get water and saw Xue Lan dressed in a festive crimson outfit, standing in the courtyard looking at the southern sky.

What are you looking at? Can you even see it?

"I'm watching for trouble!"

Xue Tong knew that Xue Lan was probably assessing the atmosphere of the capital city again, and the young girl wasn't annoyed at all: "It's the New Year!"

As Xue Tong's footsteps receded into the distance behind her, Xue Lan gave a somewhat sarcastic smile: "Yes, it's the New Year."

In Xue Lan's eyes, the sky in the direction of the palace was already a sea of ​​fire, and a massacre was taking place.

Yu Niang's voice came from behind: "Xiao Lan, time to eat dumplings!"

Xue Lan turned and went inside to eat her dumplings in peace.

Well, they're all just a bunch of damned people!

Yu Niang and her daughter, Gen Sheng and his grandson, along with the two sisters Xue Lan and Xue Tong, the six of them gathered around the table and happily ate a meal of dumplings.

Then I cried for most of the night.

First, Grandpa Gensheng cried. The old man was in tears, saying that he had never had a family reunion meal since Gensheng's father joined the army.

Then there was He Xiuzhang, who couldn't stop crying whenever she thought about her daughter getting married next spring.

Next was Xue Tong. She didn't know why she was crying, but she just felt sad, as if she had forgotten something important.

The group laughed and cried until 9 PM before stopping. Yu Niang saw Gensheng and his grandson off at the door. As she turned around, she saw Xue Lan and Xue Tong behind her. Xue Tong was carrying a small basket.

She asked curiously, "It's so late, are you two going out?"

Xue Lan nodded and said softly, "Sister Yu Niang, there is a custom in our hometown that we must worship our ancestors at the crossroads on New Year's Eve."

So Yu Niang opened the door she had just locked and picked up the lantern beside her.

"It's already late at night, I really can't let the two of you go..."

Sister Yu Niang, we were just paying our respects to Father and Mother at the alley entrance, so please don't worry.

After much persuasion from the two, Yu Niang finally handed the lantern to Xue Tong and let them leave.

The moment Xue Lan stepped out the door, Yu Niang suddenly felt dizzy and then completely lost consciousness.

Looking at Yu Niang, who was staring blankly at her, Xue Tong asked Xue Lan with some concern, "Won't this cause any harm to her body?"

Xue Lan waved her hand at her: "Don't worry about me!"

After saying this, the girl waved her hand at Yu Niang: "Sister, go back to sleep!"

Xue Tong watched as Yu Niang slowly returned to her room, her gait and posture resembling that of a normal person, and only then did she feel relieved.

She was genuinely afraid that Xue Lan would be like the Taoist priests in those TV dramas, hypnotizing people so they could only hop around.

Xue Lan slowly closed the courtyard gate. With a slight movement of magic light in her hand, the loose lock flew up with a "whoosh" and locked onto the gate again.

As the two walked out of the alley, Xue Tong, unable to contain her curiosity, asked, "You suddenly want to go to the palace in the middle of the night? Is it because of that so-called trouble you mentioned before?"

Xue Lan didn't hide anything from her. After a while, she saw it. The girl replied casually, "Half of the noble families in the capital have had their official careers cut off tonight."

"I'm quite interested in this."