MDZS: Still Lament Prologue

Chapter 12: Dengmi (Lantern festival Riddles)

As the sun began to set, the three children slowly enjoyed their time on the lit streets of Yunmeng for the Lantern festival. Thinking they had enough time with socializing and eating snacks along the way, they began to walk back home. However, a few sentences on the bright red lanterns caught Little Zhuqin's attention. She curiously ran over to the stall and raised her right hand to one of them. As Wei Ying and Jiang Cheng caught up to her side, the young girl concentrated hard on the written sentences.

The couple looking after the lantern booth came out and respectfully greeted the children, "Jin xiao jie, Wei gongzi, Jiang gongzi wanshang hao (Good evening young miss Jin, young master Wei and young master Jiang). Yuanxiaojie kuaile (Happy Lanterns festival)."

"Wanshang hao. Yuanxiaojie kuaile," Jiang Cheng and Wei Ying greeted back.

Slightly pausing on her concentration, Little Zhuqin cheerfully greeted, "Yuanxiaojie kuaile (Happy Lanterns festival) ✾◕ ‿ ◕✾!" then immediately went back into reading the sentences.

The two couple silently looked at each other and let out a small giggle.

The woman began, "Jin xiao jie has really good eyes. To come and test her own knowledge, I must praise such young talent."

"Dui, dui (Right, right)! Such a young talent indeed," The man added.

Wei Ying confidently chuckled, "Haha ~ women jia de xiao xiao jie shi zhende congming (Our family's little young miss is really intelligent) (๑>ᴗ<๑)!"

"Ei, shi...shi xiao dizi bu dui ma (Hey, it is little disciple is it not) (⊙ᗜ⊙)?" Jiang Cheng whispered.

Wei Ying shushed the young lad while Jiang Cheng just irritatingly crossed his arms together. Little Zhuqin finished reading and if anything, she finished solving them. Solving?

The young girl happily looked up at the couple the questioned, "Zhexie shi dengmi ma (Are these Lantern festival riddles) (◕▿◕✿)?"

"Dengmi (Lantern festival riddles)?" Wei Ying and Jiang Cheng questioned.

"Dui a (That is right)! I have heard of them but I never got to see one ⊙▽⊙," Little Zhuqin responded. "Buguo... (However)...don't we all read riddles every day (◕◞౪◟◕✿)?"

The two boys knew the young Jin maiden had referred the riddles to their daily studies of the ethics for the cultivation world. As they thought of the Jiang mistress constantly nagging them to study, Wei Ying and Jiang Cheng could only nervously smile with a sweat dropping down the side of their head (^▽^;).

The woman chuckled and gently turned the riddle towards her direction. After reading it, the couple smiled at each other and inquired if Little Zhuqin wanted to share the answer.

The young girl replied with a confident smile, "Hao ba (Ok) (⊙ᗜ⊙)!"

She cleared her throat and as the nine-year-old child recited the riddle from memory, she naturally caught the attention of nearby residents. Fengmian and Ziyuan coincidently finished their family visits and secretly stood by to watch the three children.

...Although Ziyuan was obviously questioning why Wei Ying was out on the streets rather than at home.

Little Zhuqin began reciting, "...Quan hong, meiyou zui (All red with no mouth). Ta kan qilai yi ge xiang fenghuang he zhuque zai yekong zhong (It looks like a phoenix and vermillion bird in the night sky). Ta chi le henduo...ta pa shui dan bupa ziran, xuezhe he bupa fengli (It eats a lot...it is afraid of water but is not afraid of nature, scholars and the force of the wind)...."

"Dajia...xiang cai ne (Does everyone want to guess)?"

Then she answered, "...Ta shi huo (It is fire). Dangran huo shi hongse dan huo benshen ye kan qilai xiang yi ge fenghuang he zhuque, yinwei chengse he huangse (Of course fire is red, but the fire itself also looks like a phoenix or vermillion bird because of orange and yellow). Yinwei shui xi qu le huo, huo ziran shi pa shui de (Because water washes away fire, fire is naturally afraid of water) (⊙ᗜ⊙).