After Jia Zheng and his son sat down, Prince Jia Zhen of Ning County, as the head of the Jia family, knelt down again with the Jia family members and performed three bows and nine kowtows.
Jia Ke saw that everyone had finished their salutes, and then said to Jia Zhen below: "This year's ancestor worship will be presided over by the clan leader."
Jia Zhen heard this and hurriedly left work to agree.
Then Jia Ke helped Jia Zheng out of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. After arriving here, there was naturally a year waiting for the father and son to get on the chariot again.
At this moment, a group of people came to the side of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, headed by none other than Zhu Lin.
At this time, Zhu Lin held little Jia Zhi in his arms and came to Jia Ke's chariot surrounded by a group of palace maids and eunuchs.
Jia Ke frowned when he saw this situation. What was going on? Jia Ke didn't remember to ask two such young children to go with them to the Ancestral Temple to worship their ancestors.
Zhu Lin first knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Jia Ke, and then said: "My slave, Zhu Lin, pays your respects to Lord Long Live."
Jia Ke said with a displeased face: "Why are you bringing King Chu here?"
Zhu Lin lowered his head and did not dare to raise it, but said firmly: "Today is a big day for ancestor worship. Although the King of Chu is still young, he also has a filial heart, so the Queen asked the slaves to bring him to worship together.
Ancestors.”
Jia Ke stared at Zhu Lin with vicious eyes, trying to see through her heart.
Is it Zhu Lin’s intention this time or Qin Keqing’s?
This does not mean that the King of Chu has filial piety and wants to participate in ancestor worship. He wants to participate in the worship as Jia Ke's eldest son. In this way, Jia Zhi is the natural candidate for the prince.
Jia Ke is not willing to establish a prince now, not to mention that Jia Ke is also suspicious of Qin Keqing, so Jia Ke is silent in the royal chariot.
At this time, Zhu Lin, who was kneeling on the ground, did not dare to raise her head. She knew that it would be dangerous to do it this time, but if she succeeded, Jia Zhi would be the first to win. So the risk was still worth taking.
At this time, Jia Zheng, who was in the royal chariot behind Jia Ke, also knew the situation, so he sent a eunuch to send a message to Jia Ke, asking Jia Ke to take Jia Zhi to attend the ancestor worship ceremony.
After Jia Ke listened to Jia Zheng's message, he lowered his head and thought about it, and then called Li Deshan.
"You go to Jingren Palace and ask Concubine Liang to send someone to fetch King Wu. Since you are going to worship your ancestors, let's take them all with us."
Li Deshan received the order and immediately led his people straight to Jingren Palace.
At this time, the eyes of Zhu Lin, who was kneeling on the ground, flashed. It seemed that Jia Ke had not yet made up his mind about establishing the crown prince.
It didn't take long for Qiaolian to see Wu Wang Jiamao in her arms, and hurriedly ran towards this side with the palace maids and eunuchs.
Qiaolian came to Jia Ke's chariot, knelt down on the ground and said, "Long live my concubine Zhou Qiaolian, long live, long live, long live."
"My beloved concubine is free from all gifts."
After listening to Jia Ke's instructions, Qiaolian stood up.
Jia Ke said with a smile: "Today is the day to worship ancestors, but the weather is too cold. I didn't want the two children to participate. But the queen has sent someone to send Jia Zhi. I thought that since one is here, the other
You cannot be absent, so I ordered you to bring Jia Mao with you."
After hearing Jia Ke's words, Qiaolian's face turned gloomy for a while, then she turned around and glared at Zhu Lin, as if she wanted to eat her.
Qiao Lian was already a bit clever, but now after listening to Jia Ke's words, she immediately understood the cause and effect. This was Qin Keqing's fight for the position of prince, and he wanted Jia Zhi to be the first to pay homage to his ancestors.
Seeing that Qiaolian understood, Jia Ke said nothing more and ordered Li Deshan next to him: "Send you two young princes to my chariot, and we, father and son, will ride together."
Li Deshan hurriedly went up and carried Jia Zhi and Jia Mao into Jia Ke's chariot.
Jia Ke smiled and held the two fat boys in his arms, kissed them on each side, and then said to the people outside: "Let's set off."
Then the motorcade set off again and headed straight to the Ancestral Temple.
After Jia Ke and the others left, Qiaolian stood up and came to Zhu Lin, who was still kneeling there. Then she stepped hard on Zhu Lin's hand on the ground before leaving.
After everyone left, Mrs. Zhu Lin dared to stand up. She endured the severe pain in her hands and wiped the sweat from her forehead with her other hand. Then she returned to Kunning Palace and returned to Qin Keqing.
But on the way back to Jingren Palace, Qiaolian became less and less angry the more she thought about it, so she ordered the sedan chair to go around in a circle and go straight to Cining Palace and the Empress Dowager Zhou.
When Qiaolian arrived at the Cining Palace, the Cining Palace was being decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations, and the Queen Mother Zhou was also preparing to go to the Fengxian Hall to pay homage to Jia's ancestors tonight.
When Mrs. Zhou saw Qiaolian coming, she immediately beamed. Ms. Zhou is now extremely noble in the palace, and Qiaolian is her niece. The two of them often talk together, and she doesn't have any affection for her.
Lack can be said to be contentment.
"Is Qiaolian here?" Queen Mother Zhou greeted Qiaolian, just as Qiaolian looked behind her, she was looking for Jia Mao. Jia Mao was brought to Queen Mother Zhou to raise him not long after he was born. It can be said that Queen Mother Zhou is very interested in
Jia Mao's feelings are no less than those of Jia Ke.
"Auntie, stop looking for me. Mao'er is following his father to worship his ancestors."
After the Queen Mother Zhou heard this, she had no choice but to turn around and continue to look at her imperial clothes.
Qiaolian went to the Queen Mother Zhou and drove away the maids and eunuchs next to her. Then while touching the dress, she said to the Queen Mother Zhou: "Auntie, do you know? The emperor did not plan to bring two people with him today.
The child went, but the queen suddenly sent someone to send King Chu to the front of the emperor’s motorcade, so that the emperor could not get off the stage.”
"Oh, is there such a thing?"
Qiaolian saw that the success aroused the interest of the Queen Mother Zhou, and continued to add jealousy: "If the King of Chu is allowed to go to pay homage to his ancestors alone, what will the civil and military officials of the entire dynasty think?"
After hearing this, the Empress Dowager Zhou sat back on the throne and said with an unhappy face: "If this is the case, the civil and military officials of the entire court may think that the emperor has decided to make King Chu the crown prince."
Although Jia Zhi and Jia Mao are both grandsons of the Empress Dowager Zhou, their ten fingers are not the same length. In the Empress Dowager Zhou's heart, the one who can inherit the world is the King of Wu, Jia Mao, whom she raised since childhood.
"What happened next?"
Qiaolian said with a smile on her face: "My cousin was still thinking about us. When he saw this scene, he immediately ordered Li Deshan to pick up our Mao'er."
After hearing this, Queen Mother Zhou nodded, with a smile on her face. She felt that her son was indeed caring to her, and it seemed that she had thought of the same thing.
"You should be more careful in the future. I heard the emperor tell me that the nurse next to the queen is not an ordinary person."
Qiaolian nodded after hearing this. Her thoughts were now focused on King Jia Mao of Wu, and she regarded Queen Mother Zhou as her idol. She also dreamed of becoming the Queen Mother in Cining Palace one day.
Besides, after Jia Ke and the others went through a complicated ceremony at the Ancestral Temple, they offered incense to their ancestors and kowtowed.
Then he returned to the Hall of Supreme Harmony, and then ordered the eunuchs to send King Wu and King Chu to their mothers.
Next, Jia Zheng and Jia Ke took close relatives of the Jia family to Ningshou Palace to pay homage to Jia Mu, the old lady of the Jia family.
When they arrived at Ningshou Palace, they saw Qin Keqing, the queen, already waiting here.
After another round of etiquette, Qin Keqing followed Jia Ke and everyone into the main hall of Ningshou Palace.
In the main hall, Jia Mu is in the middle as the Empress Dowager, and Queen Mother Wang and Zhou are serving on both sides of Jia Mu.
Then everyone kowtowed again, and after the ceremony, everyone sat down in Ningshou Palace.
Sitting in the middle, Jia Mu glanced at the crowd and saw Jia Baoyu, wearing a royal robe and a crown, standing there respectfully.
So Jia Mu happily said: "Baoyu, come to me."
Jia Baoyu raised his head and glanced at his father Jia Zheng. Seeing that Jia Zheng had no expression, he came to Jia's mother with a smile on his face.
Mother Jia held Jia Baoyu in her arms and just rubbed her. Jia Baoyu also let go of her nervousness and kept acting coquettishly in Mother Jia's arms.
After a while, Jia's mother let go of Jia Baoyu and said to him: "Give your mother a gift."
Jia Baoyu then stood up and bowed to the Queen Mother, then glanced at the Queen Mother Zhou, then turned his eyes aside and returned to Jia Mu's side.
When Jia Ke saw this situation, he was furious. Jia Baoyu was too ignorant of etiquette. Did he still think that Queen Mother Zhou was the original Aunt Zhou?
Jia Ke was angry now, but he couldn't bear it, so he directly put the cup on the table.
As soon as Jia Mu heard this voice, she raised her head and looked towards Jia Ke, only to see Jia Ke's face was ashen and he was staring at Jia Baoyu with red eyes.
When she saw this situation, she knew that Jia Baoyu had not saluted the Queen Mother Zhou just now. Jia Ke thought that this was because Jia Baoyu was rude to the Queen Mother Zhou.
If Jia's mother could just say a word before, but now Jia Ke is the Nine-Five Supreme, and Jia Baoyu is like this, isn't this obviously giving him eye drops?
If Jia Ke can't be relieved today and let him remember this matter in his heart, Jia Baoyu may still be safe when he and others are alive, but once he and Jia Zheng are gone, Jia Baoyu may not be safe.
So Jia Mu smiled and said to Jia Baoyu, "Baoyu, come here."
Jia Baoyu woke up and went to Jia Mu's side. Just as he was about to act coquettishly in front of him, Jia Baoyu unexpectedly raised her hand and slapped Jia Baoyu on the face.
This time Jia Baoyu was beaten blindly. This was already the second time Jia Baoyu had been beaten by Jia Mu.
Before Jia Baoyu could react, Jia Mu shouted: "Kneel down."
Jia Mu's move shocked everyone in the hall. They had never thought that Jia Mu would be so harsh to Jia Baoyu.
At this time, the Queen Mother quickly stood up and came to Jia Mu and said: "Old Buddha, if there is anything wrong with Baoyu, I am here to kowtow to you to apologize for him."
After the Queen Mother finished speaking, she knelt down in front of Jia Mu.
However, Jia Mu ignored the Queen Mother and said to Jia Baoyu: "You are already very old and you are on the throne now. Don't you know etiquette? Why didn't you salute the Queen Mother Zhou just now?"
As soon as everyone in the hall heard what Jia Mu said, they immediately understood what had just happened, so they all focused their attention on Jia Ke. At this time, they saw Jia Ke sitting there with a gloomy face and saying nothing.