The Lantern Festival

After reading the letter, Su Qing burned it as she always did.

She left no trace behind.

It wasn't that she was worried about the Prime Minister's people discovering it; after all, she could handle his subordinates without even trying, let alone the Prime Minister himself. She simply wasn't concerned about them.

What she was worried about was the little ones seeing it.

With Su Qingyu's personality, if she found out about these matters, she would surely circle around Su Qing, pestering her with endless questions.

When that happened, a headache would be inevitable.

Therefore, the person she was guarding against wasn't an enemy, but one of her own.

Once she had disposed of the letter, Su Qing returned to the front hall to oversee things.

Su Qing's clinic had remained busy lately. Even though a war was raging, the citizens of the capital didn't seem particularly tense. They went about their daily business as usual, and one rarely heard the commoners discussing the war.

It was unclear whether they simply weren't worried about the war reaching them, or if they just didn't care.

Regardless of the reason, it didn't matter much to Su Qing; she was merely a bit curious about it.

In the front hall, Su Qing's arrival didn't cause much of a stir among the patients.

They knew that Su Qing wouldn't personally treat everyone at all times, so there was no need to get overly excited.

Everything as usual—that was for the best.

Su Qing was happy to have it that way. She sat there just as she had before, quietly waiting for events to unfold.

And so, time flowed on.

Soon, it was a new year.

Today was the Lantern Festival.

In the Northern Continent, within Great Emperor Zhenwu's Domain, Su Qing was preparing dumplings and tangyuan. Just like her manifestations in the mortal world, she intended to celebrate the Lantern Festival properly.

Su Qing didn't actually celebrate every single festival.

Aside from the Mid-Autumn Festival, she only celebrated others occasionally as a way to add a bit of flavor and joy to her life.

As for why the Mid-Autumn Festival was an exception—it was because she had to. She had promised Chang'e. If she ever forgot, Sister Chang'e would certainly make a fuss.

She didn't want to deal with Sister Chang'e throwing a tantrum by her side; that feeling was truly terrible.

But back to the point.

Su Qing was busy in the kitchen, and the dragon girls were naturally and helpfully acting as her assistants.

When their mistress wanted to cook personally, they didn't dare say a word; helping out obediently was the correct course of action.

While Su Qing was busy, she suddenly thought of something and stopped to perform a quick divination with her fingers.

'On this Lantern Festival, calculating the dates, Tang Sanzang and his group should have reached Jinping Prefecture by now,' Su Qing thought, her brow twitching slightly.

As she thought about it, she refined her calculations.

Her guess was correct; the master and disciples had indeed arrived at Jinping Prefecture.

'If the tribulation at Jinping Prefecture hasn't changed too much because of me, Tang Sanzang will likely face disaster tonight.'

'And Wukong will probably come looking for my help in a few days.'

'However, if he comes in a few days, he'll miss out on these Lantern Festival tangyuan and dumplings...'

'Oh well, I'll just send some to him.'

'A festival should be enjoyed together!'

'I am his Big Sister, after all. On such a holiday, I shouldn't forget him entirely.'

Although Su Qing was still somewhat annoyed that he came to her every time he ran into trouble, he truly viewed her as his Big Sister, so she couldn't just refuse to help. Besides, even putting that aside, she had promised the Buddhist Court that she would assist.

Furthermore, these factors couldn't really be set aside anyway.

Having made her decision, Su Qing calmly continued kneading the dough, preparing to make extra tangyuan and dumplings.

Su Qing was quite skilled at cooking, so in no time, she had finished wrapping all the tangyuan and dumplings.

Once they were ready, she stepped back and prepared to leave the rest to the servants.

"I'll leave the remaining steps to you," Su Qing said to the dragon girls.

Hearing this, the dragon girls naturally had no objections. They nodded and took over the work.

As for Su Qing, she had other things to do.

As she had said: a festival should be enjoyed together.

So, Su Qing planned to invite a few people over to celebrate together.

Ao Ying, Leng Xiang, and Bai Yuhe went without saying; Su Qing had already called them back.

As for the rest...

On the first full moon night of the year, how could Chang'e be missing?

Therefore, the first place Su Qing went was naturally the Moon Palace.

Su Qing's Somersault Cloud was very fast.

In the blink of an eye, she arrived at the gates of the Moon Palace.

After politely greeting the female generals, Su Qing entered.

She was intimately familiar with the Moon Palace and quickly found Chang'e's location.

At that moment, Chang'e was sitting barefoot under the osmanthus tree, holding a wine cup and tilting her head back to take a sip. Perhaps because she drank too quickly, wine spilled from the corner of her mouth, tracing down her snowy swan-like neck and sliding into her collar.

This carefree appearance actually looked quite impressive, full of atmosphere, as if she were a great poet.

However, Su Qing knew very well that this woman couldn't compose a poem to save her life; all she knew was how to drink.

So, in Su Qing's eyes, this woman didn't look like a great poet at all; at most, she was just a drunkard.

Su Qing walked up and sat down in front of Chang'e, saying, "Sister Chang'e, are you drinking away your sorrows?"

"Sorrows? Do I look like the type to drink away sorrows?" Chang'e looked up at Su Qing, then resumed her pose and said, "Don't you think I look beautiful like this?"

Su Qing blinked at those words, feeling that Chang'e's mental state was becoming increasingly unhinged.

Su Qing spread her hands helplessly and said, "If I'm being honest, it is indeed quite beautiful... but it feels too forced. Sister Chang'e, you didn't strike this pose on purpose just because you knew I was coming, did you?"

Chang'e's eyes darted away, and a look of embarrassment appeared on her face. She hurriedly shook her head and said, "What are you thinking? Am I that kind of person? I wouldn't do something so boring! I definitely didn't want you to see me like this so you'd shower me with praise and then stay to drink with me!"

Hearing this weak denial and blatant self-exposure, Su Qing's eyelid twitched.

Fine. Although Sister Chang'e's mental state was indeed worrisome, this was definitely the Sister Chang'e she knew.

Still a beautiful mental patient with a bit of a screw loose.

"Right, right... whatever you say. As long as we both know the truth," Su Qing said, crossing her arms and nodding mockingly.

Chang'e gave a light cough, then stood up and said with a condescending air, "So, why have you suddenly come to see me?"

The change of topic was exceptionally clumsy; it was clear that Chang'e really didn't want to continue the previous conversation.

Well, even Chang'e had to save face sometimes.

Su Qing didn't continue teasing her. She just looked up into Chang'e's eyes and said, "I came to invite you over as a guest, of course. Today is the Lantern Festival, the first full moon of the year. Since you happen to be the Palace Mistress of the Moon Palace, I thought I'd invite you for a meal! Well? Want to go?"

Hearing this, Chang'e was stunned for a moment, and then a smile she couldn't hide broke across her face. Clearly, she was very interested—extremely interested.

She leaned her face close to Su Qing's, nodded, and said, "I'll go! Of course I'll go! Not only will I go, but I'll also bring some treats for you!"

Su Qing looked at the face leaning in close, seeing the fine downy hair on her skin, her crimson lips, and the faint glimpse of her snowy chest. For a moment, Su Qing was dazed. Chang'e truly was the most beautiful patient in the Moon Palace, and even the Heavenly Palace. Whether seen from afar or up close, her beauty was breathtaking.

Even Su Qing felt she could hardly restrain herself at times.

She took a deep breath; the air felt sweet and heavy.

She said, "You're not going to bring another pile of mooncakes, are you? Please, no more mooncakes... even Yudie is sick of them. Also, tell your Jade Rabbits to stop researching new flavors... Yudie even turned her nose up at the leek-filled mooncakes last time."

Chang'e was caught off guard by Su Qing's words.

Her gaze drifted, and she didn't dare look Su Qing in the eye anymore.

Su Qing had indeed seen through her plan, making her feel a bit awkward.

Furthermore... the leek-filled mooncakes hadn't been researched by the Jade Rabbits; they were a sudden whim of hers. Who knew they would taste so bad?

She said, "I wasn't planning on bringing mooncakes! I was going to bring other delicious things!"

Su Qing looked at her skeptically but ultimately chose to trust this unreliable Sister Chang'e once more. "In that case, I'll trust you one more time!"

Su Qing knew Chang'e wasn't very trustworthy, but she chose to believe her anyway.

She felt that since it was a holiday, she shouldn't ruin her good mood.

Upon hearing Su Qing's words, Chang'e nodded quickly and said, "Of course you should trust me! If you don't even trust me, you won't have anyone left to trust!"

Su Qing curled her lip and didn't retort further, only saying, "Then Sister Chang'e, go and get ready quickly so we can head back together. After everything is ready, I still need to make a trip to Mount Li and Jinping Prefecture!"

Chang'e nodded, having no objections, but asked curiously, "What are you going to those two places for?"

"It's the Lantern Festival. Some people can't come, so naturally, I should send some things to them," Su Qing explained simply. "A festival should be enjoyed together."

Hearing this, Chang'e felt it made a lot of sense. She said, "I'll go with you!"

Su Qing looked at Chang'e with surprise and asked in confusion, "You want to go too?"

"Yeah! I'm idle anyway."

"Aren't you going to play games with Yudie and the others?"

"I can't beat them, so I'm not playing! I'm a sore loser!"

"..." What a shameless statement.

Su Qing was left speechless.

But despite her speechlessness, Su Qing still very much liked Chang'e's straightforward personality.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have been involved with her for so long.

After all, she was the most beautiful patient in the Heavenly Palace!

"Alright, I'll go get the things. Wait for me here for a moment," Chang'e said.

Su Qing nodded in agreement and watched as Chang'e left her sight.

The wait wasn't long; in a short while, Chang'e returned with the items.

Su Qing saw that her hands were empty but didn't ask what she had brought. She would find out once they got back.

The two didn't bicker any further.

They simply rode a propitious cloud toward the domain in the Northern Continent.

Before long...

The two arrived at the inner palace.

Chang'e's arrival was unexpected for Yudie and the others.

So, upon seeing Chang'e, they were all exceptionally delighted.

"Auntie Chang'e, you're here too! Yay! Today's going to be so lively!" Yudie said, skipping and hopping as she circled Chang'e twice.

Hearing this, Chang'e crossed her arms and said, "Call me Sister! You're not allowed to call me Auntie!"

In truth, given Chang'e's age, calling her 'Grandmother' wouldn't be unfair, let alone 'Auntie.'

She just didn't like being addressed that way.

"Okay, Auntie-Sister~" Yudie called out mischievously.

Chang'e was momentarily speechless, then she pinched Yudie's cheek and repeated her words emphatically.

Su Qing ignored the two bickering. Their personalities were often like children's; it was normal for them to be noisy, so there was no need to worry.

She simply walked into the kitchen and asked how the preparations were going.

Su Qing had returned at the perfect time; as soon as she reached the kitchen, the items were almost finished.

"It's almost ready..." Zidong replied. "Should we pack them for you, Mistress?"

Zidong and the others knew Su Qing's next plan.

That was why she asked.

Su Qing nodded and said, "Then I'll have to trouble you to pack them."

"Of course, Mistress."

Zidong and the others nodded and began packing.

In a short while, they had prepared two food boxes—one large and one small.

The small one was naturally for Little Bai. Since there were only two people to eat, there was no need for too much.

As for the large one, it was for Wukong. There were four of them plus a horse, and one of them was even a pig, so naturally, she had to prepare more.

Su Qing didn't strictly need to prepare for anyone other than Wukong, but that would seem a bit petty, so she had prepared things for everyone.

It wasn't a big deal anyway.

"Good, thank you for your hard work." Su Qing looked at the two packed food boxes and nodded in satisfaction.

"It is our duty," Zidong said with a smile and a shake of her head. "Is there anything else you need us to do, Mistress?"

"Wait for me to come back," Su Qing said with a smile.