sbdcsierra Chapter 211 Peach Blossom Party
Chapter 211 Peach Blossom Party
Continue walking along Taohua Creek and you will see a river. This river is Yu Shui, the mother river of Yuzhou Prefecture.
Taohua Creek eventually flows into the Yu Shui River, which flows from northwest to southeast. The Yuzhou Prefecture City was built on a small alluvial plain of the Yu Shui River.
Nearing the South City Gate, the official road and Taohua Creek gradually separated. Ye Changyan and his group followed the official road and followed the crowd towards the South City Gate.
When we arrived at the South City Gate, we saw that the place was already crowded with people, shoulder to shoulder and very lively.
Although there were many people outside the South City Gate, there were many officials on the scene to maintain order, so it was not as chaotic as it looked from a distance.
Ye Changyan looked up and saw colorful flags flying on the city wall. The city wall of Yuzhou Prefecture was about thirty or four meters high, which looked about the same height as a three or four-story building in his previous life.
Ye Changyan saw the scene in front of him and asked Zhong Yunfeng with some confusion.
"Why are there so many people gathered here?"
"The Peach Blossom Festival will be held here soon. It is the highlight of the Shangsi Festival in Yuzhou City every year."
Seeing that everyone was looking at him curiously, Zhong Yunfeng then explained the Peach Blossom Club in detail.
"This Peach Blossom Festival is a grand event for unmarried young men and women in Yuzhou Prefecture to meet and mingle. Later, a number of pleasure boats and flower boats will float over from the Yushui River. Each of them will be tied with colorful ribbons and hung with colorful flags."
As he spoke, Zhong Yunfeng pointed to the Yu Shui River not far away.
"If the boat floating on the river is a flower boat, it will usually be filled with young men, and many of these young men are talented young men from Yuzhou Prefecture's school."
"If it's a pleasure boat floating on the river, then on board it are usually some young girls who have just come of age."
On the Shangsi Festival every year, Yuzhou Prefecture would hold a grand Peach Blossom Festival at the South Gate Square. The government office would arrange for people to throw hydrangeas from the South Gate Tower. Ten hydrangeas would be thrown out at the same time each time, and all unmarried men and women of marriageable age could rush forward to grab the hydrangeas.
Young men and women who have grabbed the hydrangeas can line up at the South Gate Pier and wait for the arrival of the pleasure boats and flower boats. Each pleasure boat allows ten people to board at the same time, while for safety reasons, each flower boat only allows five people to board at a time.
In past events, the number of women who grabbed the hydrangeas was usually less than half of that of men, which is why the pleasure boats that can accommodate more people are mostly occupied by young women.
In order to give women who grab the hydrangeas more opportunities to board the boat, the flower boats are usually arranged to dock in the second half of the journey.
Ye Changyan thought that the Yuzhou government had taken great pains to create more opportunities for these young men and women of marriageable age to communicate and gather.
In order to ensure the safety of the scene, the government office will arrange yamen runners to maintain order at the scene.
After Zhong Yunfeng finished his introduction, Zhong Dingyi and Luo both smiled, and Zhong Yunfeng also spoke to everyone with a smile.
"My eldest brother and eldest sister-in-law met on the painted boat at the Peach Blossom Party."
I didn't expect that the eldest son and daughter-in-law of the Zhong family would have such a fate. No wonder the peach blossom festival in Yuzhou Prefecture is so lively.
"Dong dong dong..."
Then they heard the deafening sound of drums beating on the city wall, and everyone looked up at the city wall at the same time.
Suddenly the noisy crowd quieted down a lot.
"It looks like the first round of the ball toss is about to begin."
"We are standing in such a corner, and we don't know if the hydrangea will be thrown to our side."
Wu Lang's words caused everyone to burst into laughter.
"How old are you? You're already thinking about grabbing the hydrangea?"
"If I get it, I can give it to my brother. Let him go to the pleasure boat and take a look. Maybe he can find a sister-in-law for me."
Everyone burst into laughter again.
After a burst of drum beats, three clear gong sounds were heard from the city wall.
"Pay attention, the hydrangea is about to be thrown down."
Zhong Yunfeng had participated in the Peach Blossom Party several times with his brother and was very familiar with the procedures of the Peach Blossom Party. When he heard the sound of the gong, he issued a warning to Ye Changyan and others.
Just as Zhong Yunfeng finished speaking, all kinds of colorful hydrangeas were seen thrown from several different angles on the city wall.
For a moment, the crowd at the scene cheered loudly.
Sure enough, the position where Ye Changyan and his group were standing was too far away, and no hydrangeas flew in that direction. Soon, the ten hydrangeas were snatched away by the crowd. The people who grabbed the hydrangeas held them high, squeezed to the outside of the crowd with excitement on their faces, and went straight to the pier.
I heard from young men who have boarded the pleasure boats in previous years that the girls in the first few pleasure boats are the most outstanding, so everyone wants to be the first to board the pleasure boat.
Liang Jingcheng was one of the tallest people in the crowd. He saw two girls holding hydrangeas and heading towards the pier.
"Two girls got the hydrangea this round."
Hearing Liang Jingcheng say this, everyone stood on tiptoe and looked towards the pier.
Ye Changyan was of a decent height, and standing on tiptoe, he saw two girls holding hydrangeas and walking towards the pier.
Wu Lang and Lian Xiaolong excitedly pulled Ye Changyan and his clothes, wanting to see it too.
Seeing the excitement on the faces of the two children, Ye Changyan and Liang Jingcheng picked up one each and held the two children over their shoulders. Then they heard the two children shouting excitedly.
"Two sisters really did get the hydrangeas. They are so awesome!"
At this moment, the drum on the city wall was beaten again.
After Wu Lang and Lian Xiaolong were let down, they both shouted excitedly towards the city wall.
"Throw the hydrangea this way."
The children who were watching the excitement nearby saw Wu Lang and Lian Xiaolong shouting excitedly, and they also started shouting excitedly towards the city wall.
At this moment, three clear gong sounds were heard again from the city wall.
It seemed that the person throwing the bouquet on the city wall did not hear the shouting of the children in the corner.
On the city wall, ten hydrangeas were thrown from different corners again, but none of them flew towards Ye Changyan and his group.
They were quickly sold out and there was warm cheering at the scene.
Wu Lang and Lian Xiaolong were picked up again by Ye Changyan and Liang Jingcheng. They saw the people who grabbed the hydrangeas holding them high above their heads and squeezing out of the crowd towards the pier. They saw that men and women were separated at the pier and lined up in two rows, but the women's team seemed a little thin.
The second time, ten hydrangeas were thrown out, and three women grabbed them.
Wulang and Lian Xiaolong looked out over the river but saw no sign of any pleasure boats or flower boats.
Soon, the sound of drums was heard from the city wall again. Wu Lang and a group of children around him shouted excitedly towards the city wall.
Accompanied by three clear sounds of gongs, Ye Changyan felt the fingers on his right hand twitching a few times. He didn't know if the shouting of Wulang and his group of children was heard by the people throwing the bouquet on the city wall.
Ye Changyan, Liang Jingcheng and others saw several colorful hydrangeas being thrown towards them.