Lanterns Bright as Day at the Yuanxiao Flower Fair

At the palace banquet on Yuanxiao, Zhou Zhaozhao dances for the dog emperor, batting her eyes at him again and again. As fireworks light up the sky, she clings to his arm and coquettishly wheedles him. But the moment she returns to her chambers, she sneaks off to curse the dog emperor as a no-good scoundrel. She curses him every chance she gets, and is already plotting how to kill him. Yuan Xi was once a proper scholar, determined to make something of himself in the court. “This is how we establish our hearts for Heaven and our lives for the people.” Last year, on the night of the Lantern Festival, the flower market blazed with lanterns. The moon rose above the willow tips, and lovers met after dusk. This year, on the night of the Lantern Festival, the moon and lanterns are just as before. But last year's beloved is gone, and tears soak the sleeves of her spring robe. But Zhou Zhaozhao has no intention of letting tears soak her sleeves. She wants to watch the Yuanxiao lanterns once more with the young man who wore such a bright smile last spring.