Volume One, Chapter Eight: A Thousand Lights Illuminate the Homes

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Qingwei, upon witnessing the scene, found herself growing quite fond of Li Xian and candidly remarked, “This young man truly cares for the people. Perhaps Your Majesty was right to keep him by your side.”
Gong Yuyan smiled wryly and sighed, “Such a vast imperial palace, yet it lacks the warmth of a small village at the foot of the royal city. It’s rather ironic.”
The royal city was festively decorated with lanterns and banners in celebration of the New Year.
But within the palace, the atmosphere of family reunion was sorely missing; inside, she felt deeply lonely.
Though she had ascended to the throne, the reality was harsh — siblings had either been killed or fled. Within the palace, she still had her closest kin, her mother, but due to her usurpation of the crown prince’s position, her mother had refused to see her for five long years. They had not met since and were like sworn enemies.
Qingwei comforted her, “The princess seems to be adapting well here. Your Majesty, with her here, you can rest assured and focus on state affairs, and occasionally visit the little princess — wouldn’t that be wonderful?”
Gong Yuyan nodded thoughtfully and murmured to herself with a complex expression, “That phrase — it was he who said it.”
As the empress of Great Qian, she was well-versed in the classics. Such an enduring line could not have remained hidden all this time.
Therefore, this poem she had never heard before must have come from Li Xian.
When she read the letter from Gong Xinyi, the young lady had specially emphasized that this was a saying from her father, which she found very profound and wanted her mother to hear it. Such a remarkable verse would be a shame if unheard by others.
Qingwei paused, then nodded with a hint of strangeness in her voice, “Indeed, perhaps even he does not realize that you are the empress…”
Gong Yuyan shook her head and said, “Let’s go. I’ll visit Yiyi after the New Year…”
With that, Gong Yuyan and Qingwei disappeared not far away.
At that moment, next door to Li Xian’s small courtyard, fifteen-year-old Cuihua followed her father forward.
Lowering her head, she dared not look at Li Xian but, after her father coughed lightly, she shyly accepted a parcel of local grain similar to ‘rice’ and said, “Thank you, Brother Li Xian. Happy New Year.”
Looking at the simple farmer’s daughter before him, Li Xian smiled without a trace of disdain.
He naturally understood the neighbor’s intentions; they had long hoped to marry their daughter Cuihua to him. Cuihua was quite pretty, with a rustic charm unique to the countryside, and clearly a capable housewife.
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However, since he already had a wife and daughter, no one else dared to think further.
Cuihua’s father looked at Gong Xinyi with suspicion and asked curiously, “Brother Xian, who is this girl?”
The question drew the attention of other villagers still waiting for their grain.
Indeed, who was this finely featured little girl?
Li Xian had a young attendant beside him named Xiao’an, so people knew that much.
But this girl seemed to have arrived only recently.
Li Xian blinked and said, “She’s my daughter.”
The words caused many village girls to swoon, some nearly collapsing on the spot.
They had waited for Li Xian all these years.
Yet unexpectedly, he already had a child, and such a beautiful one at that!
In no time, the entire Li Family Village knew of Li Xian’s child. Many families with daughters felt heartbroken and resigned to finding other matches for their girls.
Meanwhile, Li Xian returned to his kitchen and began kneading dough.
He prepared two fillings: one of pork and cabbage, the other of chives and eggs.
In this world, aside from a few items differing from the ancient world he remembered, most things were quite similar — chickens, ducks, fish, pigs all existed. It was essentially a replica of the ancient times.
Its level of development was roughly equivalent to the Qin and Han dynasties, though it lacked the Qin state's unification strength.
In short, aside from minor details, this was a tangible world akin to the Three Kingdoms era combined with Qin-Han development levels.
Great Qian was the weakest nation on the continent. To the north, due to frequent blizzards, nomadic tribes often raided Great Qian, pillaging and slaughtering before swiftly retreating.
By the time Great Qian’s soldiers arrived, the attackers were gone, leaving the borderlands in misery.
The empress of Great Qian must be so worried that her hair is nearly gone.
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“Daddy, what is this?”
Gong Xinyi looked curiously at the food before her. In all her life, she had never tasted such strange food; it looked truly unique!
“Dumplings — a must-have food during the New Year. From now on, whenever you want to eat them, Daddy will make them for you. Once they’re cooked, you’ll know how delicious they are…”
Li Xian smiled.
This was their first time eating dumplings.
Of course, dipping sauces were also available. Grain vinegar had long been produced by the common folk in Great Qian. Mixed with wild onions, wild garlic, and other spices, making a dumpling dipping sauce was no problem. Compared to the memories he had, this sauce was even better because the food here was almost all natural and pure in flavor.
After wrapping the dumplings, Li Xian had a simple lunch. In the afternoon, he went to his storeroom, took out a makeshift firecracker, and placed it in a high spot. Then he piled up a simple bonfire in the yard.
This was not his personal custom but a tradition throughout Great Qian, or rather, the entire northern region.
On New Year’s Eve, bonfires were lit, called “Wanghu” in some places he remembered, all variations of the same tradition.
After building the bonfire, Li Xian glanced at the sky and noted the time was late. He took out a firestick, blew on a pile of dry grass below for a moment, and then ignited it. He then fanned the flames with a fan.
Soon, a bright firelight filled the courtyard.
Li Xian instinctively patted his pocket for his phone and, finding none, shook his head helplessly. That habit was hard to break. Every year when lighting the fire, he would post on social media; especially this year, with a daughter, it was hard not to forget he was now in Great Qian.
Shaking his head, Li Xian looked at the two children playing with the fire and smiled warmly, feeling the scene was truly heartwarming.
Before long, Li Xian headed to the kitchen to begin preparing the New Year’s Eve feast.
“Your Majesty, would you like to come in?”
Outside, Qingwei glanced at Gong Yuyan and spoke softly.
The Empress had already visited Li Family Village twice today; wouldn’t it be nice to sit down for a while?