According to the rules of Jiang State, if the king dies due to illness, he must remain in mourning in the palace for twenty days before being buried.
And according to the rules of burial, it is necessary to hold a sacrificial ceremony to the gods, use the falcon as a guide, call for the protection of the gods, and donate the human body to the falcon in exchange for the salvation of the soul.
Jiang Huan is the fifth princess of the Jiang Kingdom. Due to both emotions and reasons, she should attend this funeral.
Originally it was Jiang Zixu who should have presented the book to invite Jiang Huan to come, but this time Jiang Huan found an opportunity to come back on his own, so this courtesy was dispensed with.
But after all, Chen Ruyi also came with him, so Jiang Zixu still had to submit an invitation to Chen Guo due to human feelings.
The envoys from Chen State also came back quickly. Not only did they bring an imperial edict to commemorate the death of the late king of Jiang State, but they also sent a batch of gifts, which they said were some consolation gifts.
It's just that when Jiang Huan looked at the boxes of gold and silver jewelry, they didn't look like gifts of consolation. Instead, they looked like... bribes.
It's like buying something.
"This is the fold that was submitted in return, please excuse me." Jiang Zixu handed the fold with the seal of Jiang State to the envoy. The envoy of Chen State took the fold respectfully and left in a hurry.
In this huge main hall, only Jiang Huan and Jiang Zixu were left for a while.
Jiang Zixu dismissed all the palace people, leaving him alone to count the boxes of gold, silver and jewelry.
His expression was indifferent, as if he was not at all surprised at the gift of these jewels. From his familiar movements, it was easy to tell that he had done this many times.
Too many times, Jiang Huan could not imagine what happened in just one month to turn his once most beloved eldest brother into this.
Jiang Huan once admired the eldest brother the most. Although he was strict, he would secretly remind her, who couldn't recite a book, to remind herself every time that she would go around neighboring countries just to buy a bag of her favorite candies.
But now, Jiang Zixu is no longer like that.
"If you like any of these jewelry, just pick some and take them back." Jiang Zixu said calmly.
He handed the counted list to Jiang Huan and motioned her to pick some according to the list.
However, Jiang Huan pointed to a box and said with a smile, "Since Brother Wang is so polite, why don't you take this box back to me?"
Jiang Zixu did not refuse. He called the palace servants, raised his chin, and said, "Send someone to send all these jewels to Chen State and to the prince's house."
The palace man hesitated to speak and glanced at Jiang Zixu, but the moment he caught a glimpse of his cruel eyes, he immediately nodded in agreement and ran outside, calling the other palace men to kill these few animals.
The heavy and large boxes were moved away.
Jiang Huan looked at the group of people who had finished their work and came back to work again. He couldn't help but sneered, "Now that you have become the king, you don't need these mundane things. But I am just a useless princess."
Jiang Huan played with a luminous pearl in her hand. This luminous pearl was the one she took out from those jewelry boxes just now. At that time, it was just a matter of luck, but now it seems that this luminous pearl is actually the one that Donghai paid tribute to Chen Yan.
This luminous pearl is extremely precious. Only two of them were found in the entire East China Sea capital, and one of them was presented as tribute to the emperor of Chen State.
But now, Chen Yan will actually give it to Jiang Zixu.
What a win over.
"You will always be the fifth princess of the Jiang Kingdom. If you want to come back, you can come back at any time." Jiang Zixu said calmly.
There was no slight fluctuation in his tone, and he spoke this sentence as if he was reciting lyrics from a notebook.
"I'd like to lend you some good words." Jiang Huan waved the luminous pearl in his hand and walked out of the hall, "If you and I still have a chance to meet again."
A large sedan was already waiting outside the hall. This sedan was hung with expensive strings of pearls. Each string of pearls was priceless, and it was an amount that many people in the city would rarely see in their lifetime.
In the past, Lihuo Palace would not have been decorated with such extravagant decorations. However, when Jiang Huan saw the sedan today, she felt as if she had returned to the Chen Kingdom, especially to the Prime Minister's Mansion.
It seems that nothing has changed here, but everything seems to have changed.
Jiang Lu made an inviting gesture and motioned for Jiang Huan to get on the sedan.
Jiang Huan has not seen Jiang Lu for three days.
Mengyu told herself that Chen Guobing suddenly became restless in the bamboo forest, and Jiang Lu went to investigate the enemy's situation to see what happened.
There was no news from him for three days.
Now that we meet, we are going to attend the funeral of our father together.
Jiang Lu didn't say anything, he just rode on his horse and led the army to escort the fifth princess to the grassland.
Chen Ruyi, on the other hand, followed Jiang Huan in a carriage and never showed up.
This mighty army walked towards the grassland. They could only hear the sound of uniform footsteps, but not a single voice could be heard.
It wasn't until we reached the grassland that we heard the bearer say, "Fifth Princess, here we are."
Jiang Huan opened the sedan curtain and looked outside, only to feel a gust of cold wind blowing on his face. The wind was biting and cold, which seemed to indicate something.
But this is the wind that Jiang Huan is most familiar with. The free wind always passes through the ends of his hair, making him seem to grow a pair of wings and fly to the distant place.
At this time, Jiang Huan always likes to ride, and she always rides on this grassland with her third brother, saying that in the future they will shepherd sheep on this grassland together and be the most comfortable people.
But now, she was dressed in luxurious mourning clothes, supported by Mengyu, and walked step by step towards the sinkhole.
The priest who performed the ceremony was already standing in the sinkhole, and the coffin was placed in the center seat, surrounded by the falcon's favorite raw meat.
The queen mother also complained of illness and was not present today. The only ones present were her, third brother, and Jiang Zixu, who is now the king.
When the priest saw that all the important people had arrived, he announced the start of the ceremony.
He held up the colorful flags and danced Jiang Guo's unique god-sacrifice dance. He saw a few falcons hovering in the sky, as if they were about to swoop down at any time.
The drumming reached its most intense point, and the priest's dance became wild.
He yelled Jiang Guo's language loudly and tore his coat to pieces.
The mourning clothes turned into colorful strips, dancing with the cold wind, looking strange and secretive, symbolizing the mystery of this ceremony.
He only saw the priest inserting the colorful flag into the sinkhole, and he immediately retreated to the cave he had dug long ago.
The falcons suddenly swooped down, their hard claws clawing open the coffin and smashing the corpse inside.