Hongli nodded and held Xianyue's hand tightly to share with her the hard work of going up the stairs. Fortunately, the steps of the Circular Mound Altar were much fewer than those of some towering altars.
He was not feeling well, but his breathing became more and more urgent. Rong Yuan and Song Zihua stayed under the Circular Qiu Altar. If anything happened, they could go up and get treatment immediately.
When the emperor and empress ascended the Circular Mound Altar, the bells stopped and the drums started, and the ceremony officially began. A calf was burned in the southeast of the Circular Mound Altar, and a sky lantern hung in the southwest. The smoke pretended to be clouds, and the candle shadows swayed, which was solemn and mysterious.
On the altar are placed the tablets of the sun, moon, stars, clouds, rain, wind and thunder. The altar is rectangular. In front of the altar are placed a large number of offerings such as jade, silk, whole cattle, whole sheep, whole crops, wine, fruits, dishes, etc.
The empress knelt three times and bowed nine times in front of the shrine, and then Hongli read out the sacrificial inscription written by himself, "I am worried about the people's hardships, and I miss Ning's place, so I send a special sacrifice. I pray that the deity will be manifested and Ganshu will be sent to you as soon as possible.
Comfort the people!" Hongli's voice was not loud, but on this circular mound altar, it sounded extremely loud, like an oracle from heaven!
After reading the rumored sacrificial inscription, Hongli and Xianyue waited together on the altar, waiting for the rain to fall from the sky. Not only them, everyone was waiting for the moment when the rain fell on their faces. This... was already theirs.
The last hope.
The sky gradually brightened, and the sun jumped out from the clouds, casting sunshine as thick as gold. The weather turned out to be even clearer than the previous few days, and there was no sign of rain.
Seeing this scene, Hongli's heart gradually sank, and he looked unkindly at Tang Qizhang who was standing under the Circular Mound Altar. The latter was holding a compass and calculating nervously. No matter how he calculated, today was the best day to communicate with Heaven.
On the day of the gods, why did the emperor and empress pray so sincerely without seeing a drop of rain? If it doesn't rain today... the people will definitely be in chaos, and he, as a prisoner, has reached his end.
As time went by, the sun became more and more intense. Even though Sixi brought a red-topped golden umbrella and propped it up on their heads, they could not hide the heat. After a while, they were sweating profusely.
Compared with the heat he felt on his body, Hongli was more worried about Xianyue and said: "You are pregnant with Liujia, so go to the Zhai Palace to rest first. I will guard this place."
Xianyue wiped the sweat from her face, shook her head and said, "I came here with the emperor to pray for rain. If I leave first at this time, it would be disrespectful to God. Your Majesty, don't worry, I can hold on."
Hongli raised his head and glanced at the scorching sun in the sky. He felt really uneasy. When he was about to speak, Xianyue had already said, "It's okay. If I feel really unwell, I will tell you!"
Hongli couldn't resist her, so he had to say: "Okay, don't force it."
After waiting for another hour, there was still no sign of rain. The initial expectations of the people outside the Temple of Heaven gradually turned into despair. Some people wriggled their chapped lips and murmured: "Could it be... that God really wants it?"
Are you going to kill us? Why? What have we done wrong to cause such a disaster?!" At this point, he said sadly: "God, just do your best and make some rain. Are you really going to make us thirsty to death?"
Die?"
A middle-aged man beside him heard what he said and whispered in his ear: "We did nothing wrong, and God did not want to destroy us. What he wants to destroy is the queen and the disaster star!"
"Queen..." The man repeated these two words, his eyes were distracted, and the middle-aged man said decisively: "Yes, she is the queen! Since she was appointed as queen, people have died one after another in the palace, and disasters have occurred in various places.
How could she be like this if she wasn't a disaster star? Also, you didn't listen
Tell me, as early as when the queen was still a noble concubine, people said that she was a disaster star one after another, but the emperor did not believe it and suppressed those words. Now God is angry and sends disasters to punish the queen!" At this point, he emphasized his tone,
Word by word: "If she doesn't die, it won't rain!"
His words seemed to have magic power, causing the man to repeat them over and over again. When he came back to his senses and wanted to see clearly, the man had disappeared.
At this time, he vaguely heard someone shouting "Disaster Star" in the distance, and he started shouting too. Later, the sound became louder and louder, attracting the attention of the officers and soldiers. However, the officers and soldiers' scolding caused them to gather around him.
Come over and shout louder, saying over and over again: "Unless the disaster star is removed, it will not rain!"
Seeing that the crowd was surging and unable to suppress it, the officers and soldiers hurriedly reported to Li Wenzhong, who was the governor of Shuntian Prefecture at the time. The latter did not dare to make the decision alone, so he went to see Fu Heng. The latter frowned and said: "What disaster star, what are they talking about?
"
Li Wenzhong sighed and said: "Lord Fu, you don't know something. There are rumors in the capital in the past two days that... the Queen is a disaster star. I guess the disaster star they are talking about... refers to the Queen!"
"Insolent!" Fu Heng scolded with raised eyebrows: "For them, the Queen came to the Temple of Heaven with the Emperor to pray for rain even though she was pregnant with Liujia, but they said that the Queen was a disaster star. This is simply unreasonable!"
Li Wenzhong frowned and said: "Now those people are gathering at Zhaoxiang Gate. If they are not appeased as soon as possible, they may cause trouble."
Fu Heng glanced at Hongli and Xianyue standing on the circular mound altar from afar, and said to Liu Hu behind him: "Take a team of guards armed with muskets to follow me to Zhaoxiangmen."
Liu Hu followed his instructions and brought more than twenty second-class sword-wielding guards with him. The people were pushing and shoving the officers and soldiers blocking the door, shouting "get rid of the disaster star" and other words. The officers and soldiers
If you are facing a formidable enemy, you will defend the Zhaoxiang Gate and dare not give in!
"The Queen loves her people as her own children and is kind to all people. How can she be a disaster star? Don't talk nonsense!" As soon as Fu Heng finished speaking, he heard a voice coming from the crowd, "If she is not a disaster star, why is she in the palace?"
So many people died in Zhonghui, why is there a severe drought in the capital!"
This sentence was like oil poured into the fire, making the people angry and hissing: "Yes! She is the one God wants to punish. Why should we suffer together? Why should we die of thirst?"
After these words, another voice came from the crowd, "Yes, as long as the emperor executes the disaster star, God will naturally rain down to relieve our suffering!"
Fu Heng stared at the direction of the sound and said in Liu Hu's ear: "Someone is inciting trouble, go and catch that person!"
After Liu Hu left, he added: "There are no disaster stars in this world, let alone the Queen. There are unforeseen circumstances. This is a natural disaster, and it affects everyone!"
Some people said sternly: "You don't have to speak for her here. The disaster star is the disaster star. Otherwise, if they came to ask for rain today, how could God not even drop a drop of rain?"
Fu Heng glanced at them coldly and said in a cold voice: "Then who of you dares to guarantee that after executing your so-called disaster star, it will definitely rain? Who dares?!"