Too much fruit

Chapter 994: The Great Festival
The next day, Emperor Jiang's order was sent back to the capital, and the day of the grand sacrifice was set.

That afternoon, a speedster traveled a thousand miles and brought back a report of victory: General Yin Tulong had cut down mountains and destroyed temples a few days ago, and had already conquered the Shangqing Sect. He was now collecting the sect's heritage and classics, and escorting the captives back.

For a time, the government and the people were all happy. The defeat of the Shangqing Sect also meant the end of the war, and the shadow of war should be far away.

Over the past few years, Yongzhou suffered a severe drought, followed by the rebellion of the Red Eyebrows, Liangzhou suffered a disaster, and the Taiping Sect rebelled, causing people in Liangzhou to die or flee. After that, the Yongzhou War killed countless people, and not long after it ended, another emperor ascended the throne. King Ji Wen of Yue invited the Holy Prince Ji Jiji to fight against the usurper emperor.

Now Ji Jiji is in danger, the three states have been pacified, the Shangqing sect has been defeated, the Nine States have finally been unified, and the government and the people can breathe a sigh of relief.

The people are not NPCs that are refreshed every day. If they die, they are dead. There is no way to replace them in a short period of time. The casualties over the years have accumulated to hundreds of millions, which has put a lot of pressure on the government and the opposition.

Now that Jiuzhou has been unified again, although there may not be celebration, the city of gods has become visibly lively.

On the day before the grand sacrifice, the Imperial Academy's chief priest sat in a plain-looking carriage and passed through the market outside the capital city in a low-key manner. He closed his eyes slightly, listened to the sounds of celebration outside the carriage, and whispered: "The people want peace. After the great chaos, great order will come, and the emperor's reputation will reach its peak."

At this time, even if the emperor said he wanted to marry his master, people would probably just laugh at him.

Of course, it's just possible.

The old man gossiped in his mind, which was rare.

He has his own intelligence channels, and when Tianxuan and Yu Shi Yuanjun were fighting, the old man was watching from a distance.

"It would be great if the emperor could accept Tian Xin." Xiao Zhi on the side said.

Great order comes after great chaos. Let's see what the emperor can do. Even if he can't quickly bring the Great Zhou back to its former glory, at least it won't get worse. But... the emperor has preserved his humanity through unknown means.

Even if the current emperor is a wise ruler, there is no guarantee that he will not change.

Especially when the Jiazi deadline arrives, no matter how wise a person is, he may become ridiculous before his death.

In fact, even if there is no limit to the life span, the current emperor can still become a tyrant. When the time span is extended to hundreds of years, no matter what kind of person he is, his state of mind may change.

Time is such a ruthless thing.

The Imperial Academy's chief academician has always admired the emperors of all dynasties because they would never do anything that would harm the country. No matter how wise the current emperor is, he can never surpass the emperors of all dynasties in this regard.

Therefore, the chief academic officer of the Imperial Academy had reasons to oppose the current emperor.

But what could he do?

Could it be possible that he would rebel like King Ji Wen of Yue?

Even the Heavenly King was defeated by the Emperor, let alone others. In this world, who else can stop the Emperor?

Xiao Zhi thought so and looked at the Imperial College Master, but saw that his teacher was calm and unmoved. Even if his great wish in life was difficult to fulfill, he still did not show any negative emotions.

This kind of Qi-nourishing skill made Xiao Zhi calm down as well.

"Calm down and concentrate." The Imperial Academy's chief academic officer said calmly.

"Yes." Xiao Zhi nodded.

While the master and the disciple were talking, the carriage had already left the market town and was speeding along the official road.

Since this grand sacrifice was to commemorate the souls of the heroes who died in the war and the civilians who died in the disaster, it was not appropriate to be held within the imperial city, so it was held at the Circular Mound Terrace outside the capital.

The circle is the sky;

Qiu means the land.

The Circular Mound Terrace can also be called the Heaven and Earth Terrace. It is another major sacrificial site besides the Temple of Heaven.

When the carriage was thirty miles away from the Circular Mound Terrace, the imperial guards came to check the identity of the carriage. After repeated inspections, they finally arrived at the Circular Mound Terrace.

At this time, there were already ceremonial officers setting up the surroundings. When they saw Fengchang, who was in charge of sacrifices and was also the chief academic officer of the Imperial Academy, arriving, a ceremonial officer immediately came to greet them and presented a memorial regarding the grand sacrifice.

The Imperial Academy Priest took the memorial and asked, "Has Your Majesty arrived?"

As he spoke, he looked towards the clothing stand not far away.

There was a small golden palace there. Before the grand sacrifice, the emperor would stay in the golden palace and change his royal robes.

"Not yet." replied the ceremonial officer.

In other words, the emperor is still in Dinghu Sect, as is the future queen, and the head of the Gongsun family...

It would have been fine if he didn't know the emperor's situation before, but now that he knows that the emperor has not lost his humanity and that his relationship with his master is a little complicated, the chief academic officer of the Imperial Academy is somewhat suspicious that the emperor may not need to wait until the future, but will become a tyrant now.

He frowned slightly while reading the memorial, but saw that the name of Mo Xuankong, the master of Mo Sect, was also on the personnel list.

This emperor obviously wanted to quickly promote Mohism and compete with Imperial College.

The chief academic officer of the Imperial Academy remained expressionless, and after pointing out a few omissions, he asked the ceremonial officer to continue the arrangements.

Afterwards, the Imperial Academy's chief academic officer glanced at the clothing stage from afar and saw a maid in red guarding the stage. It should be that the eldest princess had arrived first.

Seeing this, he did not go to the service table to take a look, but went somewhere else.

The Jufutai is a place for changing clothes. The eldest princess went in, perhaps to change into the formal dress to be worn during the grand sacrifice. As the chief academic officer of the Imperial Academy, it was naturally impossible for him to go there, and he was not even allowed to ask.

In this regard, the Imperial Academy Chief Academician was still quite cautious.

But the Imperial Academy Chief Academician did not know that at this moment, someone was watching his words and actions inside the golden hall on the formal platform.

The Haotian Mirror projected an illusory image, illuminating the words and actions of the Imperial Academy's chief academic officer. The emperor, who had not yet arrived according to the ritual officer's words, was now in the Golden Palace, looking at the Imperial Academy's chief academic officer together with the eldest princess.

"What? Do you suspect that the High Priest has ill intentions towards you?" The Princess looked at the High Priest of Imperial College walking away in the mirror and asked Jiang Li.

"I don't care whether he has any intention to rebel or not. What I care about is whether there is someone behind him."

Jiang Li looked at the mirror image and said calmly, "Just two days ago, I caught a trace of an enemy. I suspect he may have helpers in the court. The Grand Priest is one of the suspects."

In other words, he is the only suspect.

Apart from him, the others, even if they were undercover, would not be able to hinder the overall situation.

"Your Excellency?" the eldest princess asked immediately.

There are not many enemies in the world that Jiang Li cares about. It can even be said that at present, the only enemy like him is the Great Venerable.

As for other powerful ones, such as Ye Tathagata, he has not shown any signs of entering Shenzhou. It is even said that recently Buddha's light and demonic energy can often be seen coexisting in the Thousand Buddha Mountain of the Buddhist Kingdom. It is suspected that the master of the Fire House Buddha Prison is practicing in the Thousand Buddha Mountain.

Although Karma Tathagata was previously called a "demon", he actually has a solid foundation in Buddhism and is a completely self-aware person. Even the rumor that he contains the Dao fruit of the Lord of Great Freedom was exposed after the relationship between Karma Tathagata and the Awakened One was exposed.

However, he has now truly embraced the Dao fruit of Mara, the enemy of Buddha, and has seized the body of an enlightened being. Buddha and the devil have become one. To outsiders, this must require cultivation and integration.

On the other hand, there are two second-grade true spirits in the Buddha Kingdom, and Karma Tathagata should also regard them as the main opponents. That is why it is said that the Great Venerable will be Jiang Li's only strong enemy at present.

As long as there was news about the Great Master, the Princess would definitely pay attention to it. She hated the Great Master to the core, and even though she had tricked the Great Master once, it did not eliminate the hatred in her heart.

"Not the Great Lord."

Jiang Li denied it. "It was another enemy whose identity is still unknown. He was the one who instructed Hanba to cooperate with Tianjun."

"Really?"

The princess was a little skeptical about the truth, but Jiang Li's words were well-reasoned and she couldn't point out any falsehood.

She didn't ask any further questions, but just said that she could help if necessary, and then asked when Tianxuan and Gongsun Qingyue would arrive.

"He'll probably be there in the afternoon." Jiang Li replied with a slight movement in his mind.

"Afternoon?"

The princess said calmly, "Then choose another free time and invite the emperor to come to Nanli Palace for a chat."

As for what to talk about?
Of course, we were talking about state affairs.

The eldest princess has been handling all the recent state affairs.

Jiang Li’s ability to have free time to run around outside is inseparable from the eldest princess’ help.

After saying this, the princess left the Golden Palace.

Jiang Li couldn't help feeling helpless as he watched the door of the Golden Palace slowly close.

'Ah, man.'

······
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Time slowly came to the next day, which was the day of the grand sacrifice.

The sun was shining brightly that day, bringing with it scorching heat, a typical summer climate, which was just right for the fire virtue of the Great Zhou Dynasty and the current emperor.

Jiang Li came out from the golden palace on the robe platform, wearing the solemn twelve-chapter robe, which made all the ministers below bow to him.

Tianxuan and Gongsun Qingyue were both dressed in palace costumes, one with a veil, looking dignified and graceful, and the other with a phoenix crown, looking graceful and elegant, following Jiang Li.

As for Yu Shi Yuanjun, as an elder of Dinghu Sect, he followed a little behind, wearing a dark blue dress, looking quite low-key.

Then, a beam of fire came from the east, and after a circle in the sky, streams of light fell from the sky, revealing the figures of heavenly soldiers. The heavenly soldiers who were supposed to return soon were brought back directly by Yin Tulong in a human bag.

The heavenly soldiers lined up in an empty space that had been arranged long ago, and the flames flew down to the ground in front of the clothing table, revealing the figure of the little Taoist priest.

"I have met His Majesty."

Yin Tulong bowed like an adult and said, "The remnants of the Shangqing Sect have been completely exterminated. I am leading the army to report to Your Majesty."

Jiang Li looked down, but did not see the Monkey King as he expected.

'Where has the monkey gone?'

Sun Wukong was not affected by divination, and Jiang Li had no way of knowing where he was. Previously, he thought that he had gone to play with Yin Tulong again, but now it seemed that the monkey had gone somewhere unknown.

Maybe they don’t even know that Jiang Li is holding a grand sacrifice.

He couldn't help but complain in his heart, but on the surface, Jiang Li came down from the costume stage, supported Yin Tulong, and said, "My dear, you have worked hard. Come, follow me to offer sacrifices to the heroic spirits of our dynasty."

As Jiang Li's designated military tool, Yin Tulong will openly hold military power in the future. Since he is also Jiang Li's own fellow apprentice, Jiang Li naturally does not hesitate to show his closeness and elevates his status high.

In addition, although this Senior Brother Yin is now a third-rank expert, his aura is majestic...

I can only say that it is not enough, and I still need Jiang Li’s more help.

After Yin Tulong, Mo Guang appeared again. Mo Xuankong, the master of Mo Men, arrived and paid homage to the emperor. He reported that the epidemic situation in the three states had been almost resolved, which made all the officials feel relieved and they all congratulated the emperor.

Emperor Jiang did not mind the fact that Mo Men Ju Zi was wearing linen clothes, and he also helped him up with his own hands, praising Mo Men highly.

Although it was not stated that Mohism should be listed as official learning, the attitude had already been revealed.

Afterwards, Jiang Li would go to the Circular Mound Terrace with all the officials.

The eunuch standing near the Jufutai came quickly with a canopy and a yellow umbrella, following Jiang Li. The officials followed on the left and right, and would follow after Jiang Li had passed.

However, just as Jiang Li was about to enter the Circular Mound Terrace, the weather changed drastically.

The sky, which was originally sunny, was now filled with dark clouds. Strong winds blew the clouds away, twisting them into a whirlpool of truth, the depth of which seemed to lead to the very end of the sky, infinitely deep.

All the officials on earth looked horrified at the same time; such weather on the day of the grand sacrifice was not a good sign.

Moreover, looking at the obvious ripples in the vortex, they are ripples in space. There is definitely a powerful person at work. It is obvious that this grand ceremony will not go smoothly.

"The sky is changing very quickly."

Jiang Li looked up at the sky and smiled. He shook his head without worry and said, "But I don't like this sky color very much. Let's change it back."

As soon as he finished speaking, the celestial phenomenon was twisted abruptly, and the vortex was restored as if time was reversed. Even the disaster clouds were retreating and dissipating. In the blink of an eye, the abnormal celestial phenomenon was about to return to its original appearance.

However, the opponent had his reasons for taking action at this time. When the celestial phenomena reversal occurred, an invisible force pressed down from the sky and collided with the force that reversed the celestial phenomena.

"boom!"

The sky exploded with thunder, and the fierce wind wave was like a raging tide, about to roar across the vast sky, but——

The more the air wave spread, the weaker it became. Within a few breaths, it returned to calm, revealing a cloudless sky and the shining sun.

It was as if there were invisible restrictions fixing the sky, and no matter what happened, the sky would return to its original state.

This is naturally a magical power!
The emperor’s magical power!
Even if one resists with force, one cannot stop the changes in the celestial phenomena. In the core area of ​​the Great Zhou, near the capital of gods, Jiang Li's words seem to have become the natural law of heaven and earth and cannot be violated.

The magical power even fixed the space of the sky, prohibiting external forces from entering this space and prohibiting others from reaching the sky.

"continue."

Jiang Li, who had changed the celestial phenomena with a glance, had a calm expression. He just said that the grand sacrifice should continue, and then walked towards the Circular Mound Terrace. His steps were steady, and each step was of equal distance, without any sign of haste.

"Boom-"

There was no strange phenomenon in the sky, but there was a sound like a huge bell, as if someone was shaking the sky outside, trying to break this confinement.

(End of this chapter)