From a son-in-law to a favorite of the empress

Chapter 234

Offering sacrifices to the heavens and ancestors, with grand and complicated ceremonies, has always been one of the most important things for the country.

The previous emperor spent a million taels of silver every year on sacrifices. It was not until Empress Zhaojing ascended the throne that this extravagant sacrifice was stopped.

However, this year is different. Perhaps because the state affairs are too difficult, Empress Zhaojing also made it grand.

The newly built square is full of purple colors, the ground is covered with silk, and the yellow flags are fluttering, shining in the sun.

Empress Zhaojing wore the most solemn sacrificial clothes, accompanied by royal relatives, civil and military officials, and walked step by step to the Circular Mound Altar.

Twenty-four copper pillars in front of them reached the sky, as high as nine feet, meaning that the number is as high as the sky.

Further ahead, next to the Circular Mound Altar, nine large bronze tripods surrounded it, with infinite momentum.

On the Circular Mound Altar, god tablets stood in rows, and tributes were neatly placed.

Whole sheep, whole cows, jade, fruits, grains, everything is there, everything is complete.

The divine tablet is covered with a divine tent, the main seat is the Emperor of Heaven, and the side seats are clouds, rain, wind, thunder, sun, moon and stars.

As more than 200 people including Empress Zhaojing walked forward, the huge band around them began to play music, and various instruments such as chimes, drums, jars, and chimes sounded together, and the scene was grand.

More than 200 people all came to the Circular Mound Altar, the music stopped, the sky lanterns were hung, the ground candles were lit, and green incense was burned.

"Welcome the Emperor God!"

The high priest in charge of the heavenly sacrifice ceremony was the Tianshi of the Quanzhen Shenlong Dao in Zhongnan Mountain, and he shouted at this moment.

According to the process, Empress Zhaojing went to the Circular Mound Altar, knelt down to worship the tablet of the Emperor of Heaven, and after burning incense, she knelt down to worship the tablets of her ancestors and continued to burn incense.

Following the instructions, he returned to the worship position and knelt three times and kowtowed nine times to the gods, wishing the country a prosperous and good weather in the coming year.

The process was extremely complicated, and then there were "laying down jade and silk", "offering the sacrificial offering", "performing the first offering", "performing the second offering", "performing the final offering", "removing the food", etc., which took two hours.

During this period, there was naturally instrumental music, which was very lively.

At this moment, hundreds of thousands of refugees also swarmed all the way to the foot of Wanshou Mountain and outside the sacrificial square.

The shouts shook the sky, and countless people in the capital turned back and turned pale with fear.

The hungry ghosts attacked, covering the sky, and the people in the capital did not know what was happening.

The commander of the imperial army immediately changed color and asked, "What's going on?"

"Sir, there are many hungry ghost refugees coming, and they are approaching this side."

The commander of the imperial army said in a deep voice, "We must stop them! No one can be held responsible for destroying the heavenly sacrifice ceremony."

Here, he narrowed his eyes and said, "Don't kill people easily. It's too sensitive now. Let's talk about it after the sacrificial ceremony is over."

The man said bitterly, "Sir, these hungry ghosts are like lunatics. They can't be stopped without killing them!"

"Hundreds of thousands of people, only by killing the front and killing their courage, will they be honest."

The commander of the imperial army knew this truth, but killing people during the sacrificial ceremony is an unlucky sign!

It's really strange. How did these refugee hungry ghosts chase here? Is the garrison camp in Shenjing just eating dry food!

What's the situation with the Jinyiwei? Why didn't they notice the movement in advance?

"Sir, these refugees are very strange!"

The man said in a low voice: "They are all young and strong, no women, no old or young, I am worried..."

"Shut up!"

The commander of the imperial guards hurriedly stopped him, in fact, his face had changed.

Looking at the people offering sacrifices to the sky, he finally gritted his teeth and said: "I will report it."

Everyone knows that reporting at this time will definitely not end well, but things have come to this point, and they dare not delay!

"Pious!"

"Memorial!"

"God of Heaven!"

The clear voice of the sacrifice spread all around, and the royal family, civil and military officials all knelt on the ground, closing their eyes and thinking.

The commander of the imperial guards walked over with his head held high, but he did not dare to go directly to the front, but saw the Minister of War Wu Qingrong kneeling behind him.

He immediately knelt behind him and said in a low voice: "Lord Wu, something big has happened."

Wu Qingrong opened his eyes and whispered: "What are you doing! Can't we talk about it after the big thing is over?"

The commander of the imperial guards said: "Hundreds of thousands of refugees are surrounding us outside, and we can't stop them."

"Oh my god!"

Wu Qingrong was so scared that his face turned pale. He slapped the commander of the imperial guards in the face and gritted his teeth and said: "I'm going to be killed by you! You bastard, you threw this problem to me!"

The commander of the imperial guards had no choice but to beg: "Lord Wu, help me!"

"Help... someone save me!" Wu Qingrong also wailed.

He finally stood up, bent over and rushed forward quickly. Under the glare of the civil and military officials, he came to the front.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, hundreds of thousands of refugees are rushing towards the imperial guards. Should we kill them or not?"

His voiceAlthough the sound was small, it was too quiet around. As soon as the words came out, everyone in front heard it.

Empress Zhaojing opened her eyes and said coldly: "Does Lord Wu want me to slaughter my own people in front of the gods?"

"No... I dare not..."

Wu Qingrong greeted the eighteen generations of ancestors who led the imperial guards in his heart again, and then whispered: "Your Majesty, please make the decision."

Empress Zhaojing said: "Let them in and see what they have to say!"

In fact, it was no longer possible to pretend that they didn't see it. After all, the refugees rushed in, and there were so many of them that the people of Shenjing were frightened and screamed.

It was really unreasonable to pretend that nothing had happened at this time.

Everyone stood up and frowned as they looked at the chaos outside the imperial guards wall in the distance.

Yang Guozhong said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, there are many refugees with complex backgrounds. It is hard to guarantee that there are no assassins among them. It is not appropriate to let them in."

"Give them half an hour to select 20 prestigious representatives to come in."

Empress Zhaojing nodded and said: "That's right."

King Jing said indifferently: "Marquis Wu'an, you go to mobilize the soldiers of the Beijing camp and support them immediately. Once hundreds of thousands of refugees go crazy, they must be suppressed by force."

"Yes."

Wei Wei responded, strode out, mounted his horse and galloped towards the Beijing camp.

Empress Zhaojing sneered in her heart, but did not stop it. She just said slowly: "Please ask the Heavenly Master to contact the Heavenly Emperor to keep us for an hour."

The high priest recited the Taoist scriptures, holding a whisk, with a solemn expression.

At this moment, a guard came running over in a hurry and shouted, "Your Majesty, there are people claiming to be the county magistrate of Zhongyuan and want to see Your Majesty."

Hearing this, the hearts of all the officials sank, and they knew that something big was going to happen.

You are a county magistrate from Zhongyuan, and you came to Shenjing to meet the emperor in such an occasion. There is no way that good things will happen.

Some high-ranking officials, such as Yang Guozhong and others, have already understood that King Jing is finally going to take action.

Empress Zhao Jing narrowed her eyes and said, "The county magistrate of Zhongyuan? I'm afraid there are more than one. Let them all come!"

"I want to see what they want to say!"

She had already prepared herself mentally to face everything.

Scraping the bone to heal the wound, the poison in Shenjing must be cleared. If there is no peace in one corner, how can there be peace in the world.

So, she saw hundreds of officials walking out of the crowd of people in Shenjing.

This scene shocked all the civil and military officials and royal relatives present, and the people around also paid attention.

"We pay our respects to His Majesty!"

Hundreds of officials shouted in unison and knelt on the ground.

Empress Zhao Jing looked very unhappy. Although she had prepared herself mentally, she did not expect so many people to work for King Jing and be willing to be his daring ministers.

She took a deep breath and said coldly: "You are all successful candidates in the past years and have served in various places in my Great Jin. How come you all came to the capital?"

Civil and military officials lowered their heads. They knew that the real struggle was about to be exposed.