Chapter 83: Sacrifice riot

The 361st year of the Divine Bird Calendar is technically the first year that Qifeng ascended the throne and took charge of the Xia clan as Emperor Changsheng. Naturally, this 362-year ceremony is also the first ceremony of Emperor Changsheng's reign, which is of great significance. Therefore, Changsheng

The emperor issued an edict that a Xia clan sacrifice will be held at the altar to pray for the sages to bless the country and the people. On the day of the sacrifice, people will also have fun on Shenque Street. This undoubtedly makes the 362nd anniversary of Shenque more lively than in previous years.

Before the sacrifice ceremony, various Yi markets in the capital were exceptionally prosperous, and the streets in the heavy snow were bustling with people. In the Imperial Academy of the capital, in order to pray for Emperor Chang Sheng, students began to be selected from the students in the upper and lower houses.

Sing the sacrificial text in sections for the ceremony.

Shangguan Lu was honored to be one of the students who sang the sacrificial literature due to his excellent academic performance and Song Dianbo's personal roll call. Therefore, since the winter season, he had studied in advance with the selected students to become proficient in the entire process of praying.

The process, especially the sacrificial text that has been drafted by the Grand Master of the Imperial Palace, requires one to be familiar with their own sacrificial text, and practice it almost day after day, so that they, the students, can sing it on the day of the memorial ceremony.

There will be no mistakes when performing the ritual, ensuring that the entire prayer is flawless.

"Pengzi, isn't that what the emperor is doing at the altar of the Xia clan? As for laboring so hard, I'm just reciting a few slanderous words and rehearsing them in advance." Because Shangguan Lu was in the capital, Shangguan Yuyuan didn't want to be alone.

Traveling and having nothing to do other than practice, what he looked forward to most was for his brother to rest his eyes, so that he could go to the capital for a walk. However, his hard-earned rest was not fulfilled due to praying, so he was naturally full of complaints.

"Brother Yuan, you'd better think about your practice. Brother Lu will definitely ask about it in a few days." Everyone was already familiar with each other, and Wei Peng knew Shangguan Yuan's weakness very well. In one sentence, Shangguan Yuan lost his temper and stopped talking.

Imperial College, Rest House.

"Yu'er, why are you here? Tomorrow is the ceremony. Can you leave the palace?"

At two o'clock in the morning, Shangguan Lu, who had just returned to the rest house, saw Guo Anyu waiting for him in the rest house. He was very happy. After all, the two of them had never seen each other since the last time he met across the wall.

"It's okay. I know you didn't return to Yaojun for the ceremony, so I came to see you."

As he spoke, Guo Anyu showed Shangguan Lu a lot of things he had brought, including meat, clothing, etc., which were all urgently needed for the ceremony.

"this······"

Following Guo Anyu's guidance, Shangguan Lu seemed to have no other emotions besides shock, joy and happiness when he saw the large number of items.

"Dude, Aunt Huang told me about the prayers and chanting. I was worried that Uncle Jiang and the others would not be able to handle it properly, so I asked Xiang'er to buy everything needed for the ceremony. But I had not been able to do it before.

I don't have time to send it to you." With a satisfied and happy smile on his face, Guo Anyu opened the boxes one after another as he spoke, checking the list for fear of missing something.

"Yu'er, it's just the four of us. Just keep it simple. Isn't this... too much?"

"Humph, are you calling me troublesome?"

"No, no..."

Facing Guo Anyu, Shangguan Lu seemed to have really become what the other person called a fool. He couldn't even tell that his sweetheart was pretending to be angry, and became panicked and stupid.

"Brother Lu, I know. It's just that you have been in the capital this year, but I haven't been able to see you often. I miss you." At the end of the sentence, Guo Anyu's voice became quieter and quieter, almost like a mosquito buzzing.

But even so, Shangguan Lu still listened clearly and shouted affectionately: "Yu'er..."

Their eyes met each other, full of deep love, spreading freely, everything was unspoken.

Guo Anyu came and went quickly, and he only stayed in the rest house for less than a quarter of an hour. Shortly after Guo Anyu left, Jiang Gui hurried back from the rest house and came to Shangguan Lu, who was counting his belongings.

The voice said:

"Master, Fei Caotang, something strange happened."

"Is there anything going on in Fei Caotang now?"

Shangguan Lu was a little unbelievable that the Tatars would actually take action at this critical moment of the ceremony. After all, they had found nothing since he and Jiang Gui confirmed that Fei Caotang was the Tatar hideout in the capital.

"Yes, just now, Toad and I were having a drink in front of the Wu Mian Market. He said that although he did not make an appointment with the shopkeeper of Fei Caotang, he learned through the Fei Caotang clerk that their shop owner just returned to the capital yesterday and then disappeared.

"

"Uncle Jiang, so the shopkeeper of Fei Caotang was not in the capital a few days ago?" Shangguan Lu was extremely sensitive to the word "return to the capital". He always felt that it was related to what he saw in the palace that day, and he couldn't help it for a while.

Penetrating.

"It's true. The guy said he's been away from Beijing for a while, but Qian Toad said he's very confident that we can meet up."

"It's best to meet in person. You can't hide the smell of Tatars. You will definitely notice it by then."

The two of them agreed on a plan with just a word, and how to deal with the matter after they were confirmed. Shangguan Lu subconsciously chose to escape, while Jiang Gu followed his master's lead.

This is the day, the day of sacrifice, the time of prayer.

The scene is grand, noisy and solemn, sacred and solemn

There is a sea of ​​people around the Xia clan altar. The Imperial Guards and the capital are jointly responsible for the security of the site. The capital is responsible for the entire periphery of the praying place. The three imperial guards in red, black and yellow perform their respective duties and guard the entire altar.

Like a wall of copper and iron.

The entire prayer ceremony was carried out in an orderly manner under the auspices of the Minister of Rites.

First, Emperor Changsheng of the Xia clan appealed to the ancestors of the Xia clan to express their merits and pray for protection. After that, the clan leaders of each surname burned incense and knelt down in turn. Then, Emperor Changsheng led the Zhongji Hall, Jianji Hall, and Huaying Hall.

, Huawen Palace, Wenyuan Pavilion, Dongyuan Pavilion, bachelors of the palace, the Ministry of Husbandry, the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Punishment, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Industry, the six ministers, ministers, doctors, as well as various counties and prefectures, the left and right governors of the five armies, and

There were hundreds of civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty, including ministers, supervisors, temples, and courtyards, as well as lords of the Xia clan, national scholars, nobles of the Zhuguo, and hundreds of heads of the Xia clan with various surnames, kneeling down to worship heaven and earth. Finally, Emperor Changsheng led the Imperial Academy to educate his descendants of the Xia clan.

All the people chanted sacrificial rites in heaven and earth.

The entire sacrifice was complicated and orderly. Because of the presence of the imperial guard camp, any disturbance was completely eliminated. What's more, the Xia tribe sacrifice was performed by the royal family on behalf of each tribe. On this occasion, no one could and dared not make trouble, otherwise they would inevitably

He was punished by the entire Xia clan.

Shangguan Lu was dressed in the uniform of an Imperial Academy student, all in white, with his hair tied up with a blue ribbon, and his belt changed to azure. The buckle was a dragon-patterned buckle specially made by the royal family for this ceremony. He wore black leather boots with lining

Shangguan Lu has a more elegant and unique style.

At this moment, Shangguan Lu stood solemnly on the altar, his eyes always searching for Jiang Gui who was going to Wumian Yi Market among the crowded crowd. The unusual movements in Fei Caotang and the Tatar in black robe made him uneasy.

It's hard to feel at ease.

"The clan members chant and pray to the sages to express their gratitude to the vicissitudes of life. Heaven and earth protect our country and the people, and bless our Xia clan to prosper!"

Just when Shangguan Lu was worried, he heard the high-pitched voice of an official from the Ministry of Rites.

Immediately, the students of the Imperial Academy began to sing their own sacrificial poems with great emotion and in the order they had been rehearsing before.

"Heaven and earth have a beginning, including our Xia clan, and the hardships of survival are insignificant. There were sages in the past who turned the tide before it fell, and supported the building when it was about to collapse. The world has changed, and everything has disappeared..."

······

The students sang the memorial text, and Shangguan Lu was the last one. As the impassioned singing voices of his classmates rang out one after another, the entire sacrifice seemed to be peaceful and uneventful. Shangguan Lu gradually felt more at ease, and was still trying to reassure himself whether he was overthinking.

Seeing that it was about to be his turn for the sacrificial rites to be sung, Shangguan Lu packed his mind and stopped thinking about it.

After the classmate beside him finished singing, Shangguan Lu slowly stepped forward, raised his hands high, and sang loudly.

"Today, the emperor of our clan, Chang Sheng, feels the great deeds of our ancestors. In the person of the emperor of this clan, he pays tribute to the ancestors of our clan..."

"I hope our ancestors will remember the difficulties of our family's survival and wish our family prosperity, people's well-being, and peace and prosperity for the country and the people."

After the last word of Shangguan Lu was sung, which was also the end of the whole sacrificial ceremony, the students of the Imperial Academy began to retreat from the altar one after another. The three troops of the Forbidden Army began to slowly drive out of the crowded crowd through a passage. Chang Sheng and the Baiguan

From this passage, go all the way to Shenque Street to have fun and carnival with the people. As for the Xia clan altar, the capital said that the soldiers would stay here to maintain order and allow the people of the capital to perform their own sacrifices.

But not long after Emperor Chang Sheng and the officials left the altar and before they arrived at the city gate, a group of powerful masked men emerged from the crowd on both sides of the passage. Holding daggers, they broke through the red-clothed and black-clothed men in an instant.

Three lines of blockade by the yellow-clothed imperial army broke into the ranks of hundreds of officials.

"Root out the traitors and restore peace."

"My lords, please step back."

"Force the Imperial Guard, stab!"

The first one to react was the Xiaolong Imperial Guard who had been following the emperor. They immediately guarded Emperor Chang Sheng in the military formation. The three imperial troops in yellow, black and red formed their formations almost at the same time to resist the masked enemy.

While people continued to rush into the officials, they also began to clear out the masked men in the military formation.

"His, stop moving, anyone who disobeys will be punished as an assassin!"
Chapter completed!