Chapter 41: New Year (Part 2)

After the house was thoroughly cleaned, the atmosphere in the mansion was refreshed, with every corner spotless and pleasant to the eye. Palace lanterns hung everywhere, ox-horn lamps in the halls, wall lamps on the walls, and silk lanterns in the garden pavilions and corridors. The palace lanterns and various silk lanterns in the rooms and pavilions were frequently set up, and although it was not yet New Year's Eve, the festive atmosphere was already thick.

As night fell, the lanterns in the mansion were all lit. Zhao Cheng, dressed in a dragon robe and wearing a soft-footed hat, formally led everyone to the family temple and entered the small courtyard on the east side. Only men were allowed to enter the courtyard; women were absolutely forbidden, and even eunuchs were not allowed in—everyone was excluded.

The head of the family naturally had to be the main sacrificer. Although Zhao Cheng was young, he was the head of the family and took on this "great responsibility" without hesitation. Zhao Cheng felt a bit nervous as he entered the room; he didn't understand the rules here! In his previous life, he had seen the Kitchen God ceremony in the countryside. His grandmother would take down the images of the Kitchen God and his wife, which had been hanging in the kitchen for a year and were already so dirty from smoke that they were unrecognizable. She would smear some sugar on their mouths, mutter a few words, and then burn them. After a while, she would put up new images. Everyone would watch the commotion, have a big meal, and that would be it—there were no taboos or formalities, just a bit of fun.

This room was where the ancestors were worshipped and the sacrificial offerings were prepared, known as the "Kitchen of the Gods." It was also a kitchen, but the highest-ranking one in the mansion. Zhao Cheng looked up and saw that the "Kitchen God" was hanging alone over the stove, with no wife beside him. It seemed he was still a bachelor! In front of the stove, an altar had been set up with offerings, including longan, lychee, red dates, chestnuts, a few pastries, as well as hay, water, incense, candles, and a paper horse.

The door closed, and only the chief steward Zheng Fu and the third steward Zheng Shou remained by his side. "Your Highness, please light the incense!" Zheng Fu said, handing him three sticks of incense.

Zhao Cheng took the incense and lit it on the candle, bowing three times while muttering the two lines he had learned on the way: "Thank you, Kitchen God, for protecting my family and home. When you return to heaven, please speak well of us." After saying this, he inserted the incense into the incense burner.

"Your Highness, please smear this on the stove door!" Zheng Shou whispered, as if afraid the Kitchen God might hear.

"Um!" Zhao Cheng grabbed what Zheng Shou handed him and suddenly smelled alcohol. He sniffed it hard and felt it with his fingers. It was loose and soft, and he realized it wasn't "sugar." "Zheng Shou, what is this?" he asked curiously.

"Your Highness, this is wine lees. The Kitchen God will report to heaven the next day, so we send him off with a feast and ask him to speak well of us. The wine lees are smeared on the stove door, called 'drunken steward.' The Kitchen God will be drunk and only say good things!" Zheng Shou whispered.

"Oh! Isn't this just fooling the Japanese devils?" Zhao Cheng understood. In those days, they didn't give the Kitchen God sugar; they gave him wine lees. The intention was the same—to bribe him. But if you want him to get drunk, at least give him some wine, not just wine lees. He wondered what the Kitchen God would think, maybe he was a contented and easy-to-please god!

"Your Highness, what are you saying?" Zheng Shou didn't understand, holding the basin and asking.

"Nothing, I just think the Kitchen God is lonely, squatting here by himself. We should find him a wife someday!" Zhao Cheng said, grabbing more wine lees and smearing it on the stove door.

"Um, ah?!" Zheng Shou quickly covered his mouth, almost shouting out loud in this solemn setting. The prince was really something, wanting to play matchmaker for the gods. He glanced at Zheng Fu, who was also struggling to hold back, his face turning purple.

"The ceremony is complete, please send the Kitchen God to heaven!" Zheng Fu shouted, and the people in the courtyard lit the fireworks. The sound of firecrackers filled the air, and the two stewards removed the image of the Kitchen God. Zhao Cheng burned the image and the paper horse, and the ceremony ended in a wisp of blue smoke.

Zhao Cheng walked out of the room, and the entire mansion was filled with the sound of firecrackers, shaking the sky. The residents outside the mansion were also celebrating, and the sound of firecrackers continued, one after another. After a while, the drunk Kitchen God rode his horse to heaven. Zhao Cheng wondered if there was a "drunk driving" law in heaven, and if the Kitchen God might be imprisoned for six months, delaying his return to the mortal world.

After the firecrackers were finished and the lights were extinguished, the Kitchen God ceremony was over. The servants collected the offerings, and everyone in the mansion, regardless of age or gender, shared a bit of the food for good luck. After dinner, the busy people went to bed early, and the mansion was filled with the sound of watchmen's calls and the shouts of the night guards.

Zhao Cheng returned to his courtyard, changed out of his formal clothes, and took a hot bath. When he entered his bedroom, he noticed a flicker of light under the bed. "Fire!" he jumped, grabbing the teapot from the table to throw it under the bed. The house was made of wood, and with the dry weather, a fire could be disastrous.

"Second Master, don't throw it! The light under the bed is lit by us!" Hearing the shout, Guahua, who was on duty in the outer room, rushed in and quickly said, seeing the prince holding the teapot to throw it.

"Why light a lamp under the bed?" Zhao Cheng frowned, puzzled.

"It's a custom in the capital. Lighting a lamp under the bed tonight is to 'illuminate the void' and drive away evil spirits!" Guahua took the teapot from Zhao Cheng and put it on the table.

"Oh, I see," Zhao Cheng nodded. He suddenly noticed Guahua, who had come in a hurry and was only wearing a light robe, revealing a bit of her skin. His nose tingled and his throat felt dry, making him, a former old bachelor, feel a bit uncomfortable.

As the New Year approached, the market in front of the mansion, which had previously been just a few scattered vendors, had now become a fixed market. On the 3rd, 6th, and 9th of every month, people from the surrounding villages would come to trade. The mansion had tried to drive them away several times, but it didn't work. Later, the stewards decided to designate a piece of land outside the mansion for them to operate, and soon it gathered a lot of people. People from all over the countryside would come to trade, buying agricultural products to supplement their income.

Today was the 20th of the twelfth month, and tomorrow was New Year's Eve, the last market of the year. The mansion had already given a holiday yesterday, and those who lived nearby had gone home for the New Year. Zhao Cheng had given each of those who were in debt two pounds of pork and five pounds of flour to take home for the New Year. Those without duties could "freely" go out to buy things today.

"Second Master, you shouldn't go out. There are all kinds of people outside, and some of them might be troublemakers. If anything happens to you..." Zhao Cheng listened to the vendors outside, feeling itchy to go out. He had never spent his own money since he came to this world and wanted to go out and see. When he walked to the main gate, the chief steward stopped him.

"Why can't I go out? What's there to be afraid of at my own doorstep?" Zhao Cheng looked at the bustling crowd outside the mansion, his neck stiff.

"Second Master, you must be careful. Besides, all the guards are out, and no one is with you!" The chief steward continued to plead, thinking that the prince had almost been attacked in his own garden. He would rather die than let him go out.

"Let Second Master go with us. We will protect him, and nothing will happen!" Zhao Ren, seeing the prince's eager look, pleaded for him. The last batch of vegetables from the greenhouse had been sold, and the rest were left for the New Year. They were also on holiday today, and each of them had taken some money from the counter, wanting to go out and play.

"Nonsense, can you kids protect Second Master? There are so many people outside, and you might get separated!" Zheng Fu glared at them.

"Second Master, don't go out. If you like something, we can buy it for you!" Zhao Xin, seeing the chief steward's fierce look, stuck out his tongue and said to Zhao Cheng, like a big sister coaxing a little brother.

"Yes, Second Master, whatever you want, we can buy it for you!" The servants all chimed in, feeling sympathetic towards the prince, who had treated them well and was like a brother to them.

"Alright, you all go and have fun, but don't get separated. Everyone go together and come back together!" Zhao Cheng, seeing Zheng Fu's "resolute" look, knew he couldn't go out. He looked longingly at the outside, gave some instructions to the servants, and dejectedly led two eunuchs back.

In the courtyard, the eunuchs were picking up the leaves that had fallen the night before, under Fengxi's direction. Seeing them, Zhao Cheng sighed. These eunuchs were not much older than him, but they looked old and worn out, resigned to their fate, and had no youthful vigor. They had entered the palace as children, becoming the property of the royal family, and had suffered irreversible damage to their bodies. They did the hardest and most tiring work, enduring pain that ordinary people could not bear. Without the king's order, they could only live in this courtyard, never stepping out of the mansion, until they could no longer work.

"Tomorrow is New Year's Eve. Let everyone rest today. We'll play a game together!" Zhao Cheng called out, gathering the eunuchs. He looked around and said, "Fengxi, there are too few people. Go get the eunuchs from the Winter Garden too!"

"Yes!" Fengxi, seeing the prince's enthusiasm, quickly agreed and went to the Winter Garden to call people. He was quite clever, knowing that the prince was young, and called only the eunuchs in their teens, not the older ones.

"Alright, everyone listen to the prince. Do as he says!" Fengxi gathered the eunuchs and instructed them.

"Don't be stiff. We're just playing a game together. Relax and smile!" Zhao Cheng directed everyone to sit in a circle, standing in the middle and smiling.

"Smile, smile, the prince wants everyone to smile!" Seeing the eunuchs' blank faces, Fengxi urged them. Zhao Cheng watched as they all squinted and forced smiles, but they looked more like they were crying. They had become numb from their repetitive lives and had forgotten how to smile.