After leaving the capital, under the protection of the golden feather guards on the left and right, a team stretching for several miles walked slowly on the official road.
The bumpy official road had been filled with loess and compacted by officials from the Ministry of Works a few days ago. If the emperor stumbled over a bump on the way to the ceremony, both the Minister of Works and the Minister would end up dead.
.
At their current traveling speed, they can probably reach the altar around noon.
Tang Ning looked at the crowd of people walking slowly behind her and sighed that it was lucky that it was winter and not summer. Otherwise, before reaching Xishan Mountain, some people would have died on the road.
Although it was a little cold when I woke up in the morning, I didn't feel cold anymore as I walked.
It is naturally impossible for this team of hundreds or even thousands of people to keep order along the way. Although there are courtesy officers patrolling along the way, they turn a blind eye to most situations.
Academician Zhang was exempted from attending the ceremony due to health reasons, but as Prime Minister, Prime Minister Wang was required to attend.
Tangning fell a few steps behind, looked at Wang Xiang who was walking in front of the civil servants, and asked, "Is Wang Xiang feeling okay?"
Although he had walked more than several miles, Wang Xiang still didn't blush or breathed, and said: "Excuse me, Mr. Tang, for your concern. My legs and feet are quite nimble. There is still no problem in walking and climbing mountains."
The elderly ministers in the court are all in good health. Although Wang Xiang is very old, he seems to be more energetic than the young officials behind him.
Tang Ning looked back and saw that some young officials were already sweating on their foreheads and their faces were expressionless.
He walked beside Wang Xiang and whispered: "Prince Wang must be more careful and protect himself during the ceremony."
Prime Minister Wang raised his eyebrows sharply and asked, "What do you mean?"
Tangning didn't speak, she just looked up and looked ahead.
Wang Xiang looked over and finally rested on King Kang.
He was silent for a while and asked: "How sure are you?"
Tang Ning said: "Take precautions before they happen."
Wang Xiang thought for a long time, looked at him, and said solemnly: "Your Majesty cannot make any mistakes."
Tang Ning said: "Do your best."
It took everyone an hour to reach the foot of the Western Mountain. It would take another hour or so to climb the mountain. At this time, the team became even more scattered. Everyone was helping each other to climb. The official of the crowd was also very tired and did not
Criticize this behavior more.
It doesn't matter much now, but when they get to the altar on the top of the mountain, no matter whether they are the royal children or the powerful officials, they are not allowed to make noise, cough, or spit. Before that, the first thing to ensure is that they can climb up.
The guards of the east gate escorted them to the bottom of the mountain, but they could not go up the mountain. The mountain road could not accommodate so many people. On both sides were the soldiers of the west gate guard of the right.
Chen Huang walked at the front. Even though his legs were already a little sore, there was still a hint of excitement in his eyes as he looked up at the top of the mountain.
For the emperor, there is nothing more exciting than having achieved something that is enough to boast in front of his ancestors, and then publicizing it again in front of all the civil and military officials at the ceremony, and in front of all the dignitaries in the capital.
This ceremony is enough to be recorded in the annals of history, enough to make him famous throughout the ages.
Thinking about it this way, the trace of soreness in his legs seemed to have disappeared in an instant.
Chen Huang, who was immersed in excitement and couldn't extricate himself, naturally didn't notice that not far behind him, King Kang looked up at the top of the mountain, the excitement and fanaticism on his face was even worse than his.
…
With Tang Ning's current body, even if Xishan were doubled or tripled in height, it wouldn't be difficult for him.
But it was different for the rest of the people. When they climbed to the last distance, everyone, including Chen Huang, stopped on the steps to rest.
This is their last rest time. Once they reach the top of the mountain, everyone must abide by the etiquette of the festival until the end of the festival.
The ceremony is divided into several steps, such as welcoming the gods, offering libations, offering gifts..., removing the food, and sending off the gods. The process is lengthy and the etiquette is complicated. There is music and dance in each sacrificial link, which are strictly stipulated in the etiquette.
, and every step is led by Chen Huang and assisted by the clan.
For the rest of the people, this seems much easier. They only need to stand where they are, kowtow from time to time, stand up, and kowtow again.
The first step of the ceremony was for Chen Huang to go to the gods and ancestors to offer incense and bow, which is called welcoming the gods. The ceremony was accompanied by music, which sounded very solemn. Everyone held their breath and did not dare to make any noise.
Between the music, there is only the mountain breeze and the occasional bird song.
After the silk laying ceremony, the king's prime minister read out the memorial text.
The memorial text was very long and obviously had a fixed format. The first few paragraphs seemed a bit obscure even to Tang Ning.
The following content is somewhat straightforward and easy to understand.
It probably means that during the years when Emperor Chen was in power, the court was purified, the outside world was at peace, the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, had more than enough food every year, the treasury was full, and so on...
It was obviously a very honorable thing to brag about one's achievements in front of the gods and ancestors. Seeing Huang Chen's face glowing with joy, Tang Ning understood why he was so proud.
The ceremony should be held in the Western Mountain.
He looked at King Kang and saw that King Kang was just standing in his position with his head lowered, knowing that he had not waited for a good time to take action.
The festival has many processes and is cumbersome, and it takes more than two hours to complete.
During this period, a thousand Youximen Guards officers were guarding outside the altar, while the rest were distributed along the mountain road and throughout the Western Mountains to be on guard.
Back mountain.
A captain, leading a hundred of his men, stood outside a dense forest somewhere, wondering: "What's going on? It's been one night, why haven't they come back yet?"
One person looked ahead and said, "It was dark at night. Did they fall off the cliff?"
The captain glanced at him, pointed at a few people, and said, "You guys, go take a look in the woods over there."
After hearing this, more than ten people walked towards the dense forest beside the cliff.
The captain's eyes flashed with excitement. He turned back to look in the direction of the altar and murmured: "Success or failure depends on one move, life or death, today..."
The group of people waited outside the forest for a long time, but did not see anyone coming out of the forest. A trace of vigilance appeared on his face, and he stretched out his hand to signal back, slowly approaching towards the direction of the forest.
…
On the altar.
Suddenly, a noisy bird song came from the sky in front of them. Tangning raised her head and saw a flock of birds rising from the forest in the back mountain and flying over their heads.
At this time, the festival has already progressed to the step of offering gifts.
This process requires the royal family, including Emperor Chen, to kneel down three times and bow down nine times.
Women were not allowed to participate in the ceremony, so Queen Mother Zhao Man and the concubines in the palace did not come. The only ones qualified to perform this ceremony were Emperor Chen, Prince Fu, Prince Duan, Prince Kang, and Prince Run.
After Emperor Chen took his seat, he did not speak to the ceremony officer for a long time and looked up.
The ceremony officer was about to announce the start of the ceremony when he saw that everyone was in place, except King Kang, who was still standing at the edge of the altar and reminded in a low voice: "His Royal Highness, King Kang, please take your place quickly!"
King Kang just looked at him with a smile, a smile appearing on the corner of his mouth.
Emperor Chen turned around, looked at Prince Kang, frowned and said, "Why are you still standing there? Why don't you get in position quickly!"
"What?" King Kang looked at him, smiled slightly, took two steps back, stood behind a group of guards, and asked with a smile: "Of course it's a rebellion - father, didn't you see it?"
