My wife has a secret

Chapter 153: Chaos at the Ceremony
……

When Xu Qing woke up, his ears were buzzing and his head was in a mess.

The lady-in-waiting who waited on him stood by the bed and spoke to him, but she did not hear a word he said.

Until the female official looked at him with a sad face and said that the Queen Mother was worried about the injury on the back of his head. After the accompanying imperial physician examined him, he was allowed to pray for heaven and earth without fasting and exposure to the sun like other officials for three days during the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven.

Xu Qing subconsciously touched the back of his head and found that although it was wrapped in gauze, it was only slightly painful when pressed.

There is no doubt that this is another favor and favor from the Queen Mother.

However, Xu Qing was somewhat puzzled about the attacker. He had been helping the helpless Empress Gongsun in the palace out of kindness, and wanted to give her some benefits to make her his own.

But this woman was ungrateful, alright. Why did she even trick me into exploring the little emperor's coffin and secretly attack me?

Given the Queen Mother's current power and status, it should not be for venting her anger.

So why did she do this to herself?

Wait!
After Xu Qing thought about what happened yesterday, he suddenly thought of something extremely unusual, that is, the coffin containing the little emperor showed signs of cracks.

He subconsciously had a bad premonition, and propped himself up and asked the female official beside him, "What stage has today's heavenly sacrifice ceremony reached?"

The female official bowed her head and whispered, "It is now noon, the Queen Mother and all the officials should worship heaven and earth on the top of the mountain."

"Is there no one in Hanyuan Hall?"

The female official thought about it seriously and replied, "No one."

After listening to this, Xu Qing got up from the bed, picked up a coat hanging on the rack, opened the door and walked towards Hanyuan Hall.

As soon as he opened the door, he found tiny snowflakes falling outside the house, like fine diamond powder, fluctuating with the cold wind.

When the female official in the room saw that Xu Qing did not explain the reason, she hurried out, hurriedly picked up an oil-paper umbrella, and chased after him to hold the umbrella to shield him from the snow.

On the way to Hanyuan Hall, the patrolling imperial guards he met stopped and bowed to him.

Xu Qing suddenly stopped, picked a squad of imperial guards and asked, "Which battalion of the imperial guards was responsible for last night's security?"

Seeing that the imperial guards were silent, Xu Qing took out the jade pendant bestowed upon him by the Empress Dowager and repeated his question.

The leading team leader bowed his head and clasped his fists, and answered respectfully: "It is the Tianlang Camp where I am located, but I received an order from Lord Lianhua at nightfall yesterday. The Queen Mother ordered us not to get close to the bedroom and Hanyuan Palace."

"it is good."

Xu Qing got the answer he wanted and continued to walk quickly towards the Hanyuan Hall.

At the same time, because of what the imperial guards had said, he confirmed that his trip to Hanyuan Palace yesterday was most likely the work of the Empress Dowager.

Although he didn't understand why his aunt wanted him to meet Empress Gongsun, Xu Qing felt that the matter was not that simple.

More importantly, there was a third person present at the meeting last night.

……

When Xu Qing entered Hanyuan Hall again, the candles were brightly lit.

On the surface, the exquisite and elegant layout of the palace seemed to be no different from last night. Even the candlestick that Empress Gongsun used to launch a sneak attack on him had been replaced by a new one by the servants, without the slightest flaw.

There were palace maids wiping the candlesticks and wooden boards standing in the hall. When they saw someone suddenly stepping into Hanyuan Hall, they hurriedly knelt on the ground and paid their respects to the young master of the Xu family.

Although they were all maids brought out of the palace by the Queen Mother and were responsible for some miscellaneous trivial matters, everyone knew that the Queen Mother loved Xu Qing very much. Even Lord Lianhua did not dare to act rashly in front of her and could only call her "Young Master" in private.

Xu Qing, who had something on his mind, ignored the servants who were kneeling and bowing their heads, and walked straight to the little emperor's coffin.

The female official who chased in from the door saw Xu Qing rolling up his sleeves, stretching out his hands, and pretending to push the coffin lid. She was so frightened that she was stunned for a few seconds before she recovered.

"Master Xu! Emperor Xuan's body is still warm, you must not do such a treasonous thing!"

The palace maids around were so frightened when they heard the conversation of the lady-in-waiting that they buried their heads even lower.

Although it is unknown why the young master of the Xu family moved Emperor Xuan's coffin, this incident was already considered to be against moral principles and was a heinous crime.

I don’t know if the servants present here can escape this disaster.

Seeing that Xu Qing seemed not to hear and continued to push the lid of Emperor Xuan's coffin, the female official was frightened and ran forward to grab the other's arm.

Her face was pale, her eyes bulged, "Master Xu, Emperor Xuan is still a well-known emperor, even if... even if you are of noble status and are the nephew of the Queen Mother, you can't do whatever you want!"

Although the female official's persuasion was sincere and came from the heart, Xu Qing did not think twice and continued to push the coffin lid hard.

With his unremitting efforts, the coffin lid made a click and then moved back, revealing a corner of the coffin.

The female official quickly covered her eyes and tried to turn her body in the other direction, but Xu Qing grabbed her with one hand and stopped her in a low voice.

"You stay here and bear witness for me."

"What testimony..."

The female official was a little confused at first, but under Xu Qing's coercion, she suppressed her uneasiness and opened her eyes, but she saw a scene that was enough to make her heart stop.

The coffin that was supposed to contain Emperor Xuan's body was empty.

"Xuan...Where is Emperor Xuan..."

The other palace maids all bowed their heads on the ground, not daring to look up, but when they heard the female official's puzzled voice, they could not help but glance at the sacrificial hall in the middle.

This was a terrible sight, and almost everyone was frightened and didn't know what to do.

"really."

While the female officials and palace maids were still in astonishment, Xu Qing had already found the answer from the wooden lacquer on the inside of the coffin.

I saw that the inner wall of the emperor's coffin, which was painted black and trimmed with gold wire, was covered with several marks of varying depths and sizes.

After confirming his thoughts again, Xu Qing's expression changed slightly.

"It seems that the opponent's plan has already begun."

……

The grand ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven.

Nuo dance.

After a long offering ceremony, the Queen Mother, the Empress and others walked down from the prayer platform and stood before all the officials.

Then, two rows of dancers wearing masks and colorful costumes walked out from the imperial guards on both sides.

They gathered in the center of the prayer platform and moved slowly to the sound of gentle drums.

These painted wooden masks are mainly black, red and yellow, with exaggerated lines, bright colors, and bold, rough and fierce shapes. And as the sacrificial Nuo dance progresses, the five thunder generals hold axes, maces, chains, knives, flags and other weapons, and rush to every corner of the prayer platform to the fierce drumbeats, firmly attracting the attention of the queen mother and ministers.

Suddenly, the drumbeats stopped, and a dancer standing in the middle of the prayer platform twitched and trembled all over, and finally fell to the ground.

Princess Danyang thought that this was a program prepared by the Queen Mother and was about to applaud, but when she turned her young face, she found that Queen Mother Xu's expression was as cold as ice, and there was a hint of anger between her thin brows.

“When Heaven is about to confer a great responsibility on a man, it will first test his mind and spirit, exhaust his muscles and bones, starve his body, and deprive him of all want.”

When the five thunder generals in the Nuo dance shouted these slogans in unison, Lord Lianhua also discovered that there was something wrong with the dancers in this ceremony of offering sacrifices to the sky.

According to the dance that had been rehearsed previously, these people's Nuo dance should have ended at this time, and there would be no slogans shouted.

However, just as Lord Lianhua was about to give orders to the imperial guards beside the prayer platform, he heard the sweet, melodious, and majestic voice of Empress Dowager Xu coming from the main seat.

"Let them perform. I will watch from here and see what they can perform."

"Yes."

Lian Huajun bowed and withdrew. The civil and military officials standing behind the Queen Mother also bowed their heads and said loudly: "The Saint is magnanimous."

Although the "audience" below the stage was quite noisy, the dancers on the prayer stage seemed to have entered a state of selflessness, immersed in the performance.

They continued to dance around the fallen dancer in the middle until the other person's body seemed to be pulled by something and climbed up from the ground again.

The rhythm of pauses and pauses accompanied by drum beats stimulates people's heartbeats and makes their scalps tingle.

"Ordered by Heaven."

The dancer stood up and reached out to take off his mask.

When they saw the face hidden under the mask, all the civil officials and the imperial guards waiting on both sides stopped where they were, at a loss as to what to do.

Because it was a very young and childish face.

All the civil officials and commanders of the imperial guards who had seen the young emperor in person could confirm that this man's figure and appearance were exactly the same as that of Emperor Xuan... no, it was exactly him.

He stood on the prayer platform, facing the empress dowager who was standing on the high platform. Beside him were dancers who kept dancing and making exaggerated and bold poses. Behind him were thousands of civil servants, military generals, and royal merchants from aristocratic families.

"Mother, my son is back."

The day before the young emperor inherited the throne, he acknowledged the Queen Mother as his mother in the imperial palace in front of all the civil and military officials.

So when he went to pay his respects to Empress Dowager Xu every day, he used the same address.

Now that this name is spoken again, it seems extremely harsh.

Empress Dowager Xu, who had always been good at planning everything, trembled slightly. Although her face looked normal, she was holding the railing with all her strength, which was enough to show that this turmoil was completely beyond her expectations.

Then, the little emperor turned his attention to another person on the field.

"And you, bitch."

All the officials followed the little emperor's gaze and saw the bright-looking Empress Gongsun.

Her phoenix coronet and bridal gown were dotted with large white flowers, making her look pure, elegant and refined.

Moreover, her face, which was lightly made up, was round, her skin was fair, and her big, bright eyes were like the bright moon in the sky, beautiful and dignified.

According to the usual relationship between the young emperor and the empress, they should not address each other in such harsh terms. But I don't know what this reborn Emperor Xuan has experienced that he actually looked so harshly at his former empress and his legal wife, as if they had a blood feud.

Empress Gongsun was not as calm as Empress Dowager Xu, and she already had something to hide.

She bit her lip, not knowing what to say in response.

The little emperor withdrew his gaze and raised his voice, shouting in a childish voice: "I have returned to Da Qi by the will of heaven. I believe that the subjects of Da Qi should understand what this means... From now on, I will count in threes."

He continued loudly, "After the count, those who face the Queen Mother and have their backs to me, I will declare you innocent in the name of Heaven. If you still maintain your current posture, I will regard you as traitors to the Li Qi royal family and execute you all."

These remarks caused the civil and military officials below to explode in excitement, and they began to whisper to each other and discuss the current situation.

Although the Queen Mother was powerful, the country still belonged to the Li Qi royal family. Even a powerful figure like the Queen Mother could only borrow the name of Emperor Xuan at the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven and gradually replace the other party.

But now, Emperor Xuan himself has reappeared. What should these people do?
Even if he followed the Queen Mother and killed Emperor Xuan, with so many people at the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven, the news of the regicide would definitely spread.

By then, not to mention the instability of the people's hearts and the foreign states that had previously surrendered to the Li Qi royal family, even the various counties and prefectures within the country would probably be in trouble.

But if you don't listen to the Queen Mother, these imperial guards are not here to eat for free.

"three!"

As Emperor Xuan sounded the countdown, what was unimaginable to everyone was that those who betrayed the Queen Mother and ran towards Emperor Xuan were not the Confucian officials, but several deputy commanders of the imperial guards dressed in neat military armor.

This sudden change put the Queen Mother's trump card, the Imperial Guards, in danger.

Because those who could come to defend the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven were all elite members of the imperial guards, and even the deputy commander led his team to rebel, one can imagine what would happen to the teams in the various battalions that were close to them.

"two!"

After a part of the imperial guards followed their superiors out of the ranks, differences emerged among the civil and military officials. Several civil officials trotted out of the ranks and joined the little emperor.

The young emperor knew that this last "one" was the key to victory today, so he did not rush to shout it out, but used silence to put pressure on the ministers in front of him.

As long as there is the first person in the team who sides with him, it will inevitably trigger a chain reaction, causing more people to betray the Queen Mother.

The fact was just as the little emperor had thought. Some people were afraid that the sound would suddenly come, so they hurriedly ran towards the little emperor.

Just as the Queen Mother's power was gradually weakening, an inopportune male voice suddenly interrupted, attracting everyone's attention.

"You can just fake your death and disguise yourself to fool people, then find an inconspicuous place and live a good life. Why do you want to take the initiative to jump out and embarrass your ancestors?"

The little emperor looked towards the door with a bad face, and saw that the person who came was wearing a brocade robe, the pattern of the clothes was very gorgeous.

A trace of gloom suddenly flashed across the little emperor's young face, because he recognized the man's identity from the timbre of the voice.

Last night, he and his queen...

"You? Who are you? Are you qualified to talk to me?"

The little emperor sneered, and his young face showed an expression that was inconsistent with his age.

"I have come here in obedience of Heaven, and I will take back the imperial power that belongs to me during this grand ceremony..."

"Shut up."

Facing this child who was a generation younger than himself, Xu Qing did not show any sympathy, but instead exposed his true face.

"When the emperor breaks the law, he is guilty of the same crime as the common people... If it weren't for the Queen Mother who helped conceal the fact that the Prince of Dongwan had rebelled, you would have long been a prisoner instead of a murdered emperor."

(End of this chapter)