Fortunate Young Gentleman

After leaving the capital, under the protection of the left and right Golden Feather Guards, a team stretching for several miles walked slowly on the official road.

The bumpy official road had been filled and compacted with loess by officials from the Ministry of Works a few days ago. If the emperor sprained his ankle and fell on the way to the ceremony because of a pothole, the Minister of Works and the Vice Minister would have finished their work.

At their current speed, they could probably reach the altar around noon.

Tang Ning looked at the crowd walking slowly behind him and lamented that it was fortunate that it was winter instead of summer, otherwise some people would die on the road before reaching the West Mountain.

Although it was a bit cold when I got up in the morning, I didn't feel cold as I walked.

It was naturally impossible for this team of hundreds or thousands of people to keep it in order all the way. Although there were ceremonial officials patrolling along the way, they turned a blind eye to most of the situations.

Zhang Daxueshi was exempted from participating in the ceremony due to physical reasons, but Wang Xiang, as the prime minister, had to attend.

Tang Ning fell behind a few steps, looked at Wang Xiang who was walking in front of the civil servants, and asked, "How do you feel, Wang Xiang?"

Although he had walked for more than a few miles, Wang Xiang was still calm and said, "Thank you for your concern, Lord Tang. My legs and feet are still quite agile. I can walk and climb mountains without any problem."

The elderly officials in the court were all in good health. Although Wang Xiang was old, he seemed to be more energetic than the young officials behind him.

Tang Ning looked back and saw that some young officials had sweat on their foreheads and looked pale.

He walked beside Wang Xiang and whispered, "At the ceremony later, Wang Xiang should be more careful and protect himself."

Wang Xiang raised his eyebrows and asked, "What do you mean?"

Tang Ning did not speak, but just looked up and looked ahead.

Wang Xiang looked over and finally stopped at King Kang.

He was silent for a while and asked, "How sure are you?"

Tang Ning said, "Prevent it before it happens."

Prime Minister Wang thought for a long time, looked at him, and said solemnly, "Your Majesty must not make any mistakes."

Tang Ning said, "Do your best."

It took them an hour to reach the foot of the West Mountain. It would take another hour to climb the mountain. At this time, the team became more scattered. Everyone supported each other to climb. The ceremonial officer in the crowd was also exhausted and did not blame this behavior.

It's not a big deal now, but when they get to the altar on the top of the mountain, no matter whether they are royal children or powerful officials, they are not allowed to make noise, cough, or spit. Before that, the first thing to ensure is that they can climb up.

The East Gate Guards escorted them to the bottom of the mountain, and they could not go up the mountain. The mountain road could not accommodate so many people. On both sides were the soldiers of the Right West Gate Guards.

Emperor Chen walked in the front. Even though his legs were a little sore, he looked up at the top of the mountain with a hint of excitement.

For the emperor, nothing could be more exciting than to have achieved something that he could boast about in front of his ancestors, and then to publicize it again in front of all the civil and military officials and dignitaries in the capital at the festival.

This festival was enough to be recorded in the history books and make him famous for eternity.

Thinking of this, the slight soreness in his legs seemed to disappear in an instant.

Emperor Chen, who was immersed in excitement and unable to extricate himself, naturally did not notice that not far behind him, King Kang looked up at the top of the mountain, and the excitement and enthusiasm on his face were even greater than his.

…

With Tang Ning's current body, even if the West Mountain was twice as high, it would not be a difficult task for him.

But it was different for the others. When they climbed to the last distance, including Emperor Chen, everyone stopped on the steps to rest.

This was their last rest time. Once they stepped onto the top of the mountain, everyone had to abide by the etiquette and regulations of the festival until the end of the festival.

The ceremony was divided into several steps, including welcoming the gods, laying down silk, offering gifts, etc., removing food, sending off the gods, etc. The process was lengthy and the etiquette was complicated. There were music and dances in each sacrificial link, which were strictly stipulated in etiquette, and each step was led by Emperor Chen and assisted by the royal family.

This was much easier for the rest of the people. They only needed to stand in place, kowtow from time to time, stand up, and kowtow again.

The first procedure of the ceremony was that Emperor Chen went to the gods and ancestors to burn incense and kowtow, which was called welcoming the gods. The ceremony was accompanied by music, which sounded very solemn. Everyone held their breath and concentrated, not daring to make any noise. Between the music, there was only the mountain breeze and the occasional bird calls.

After laying down silk, Wang Xiang read the sacrificial text.

This sacrificial text was very long and obviously had a fixed format. Even Tang Ning found the first few paragraphs a bit obscure.

The content later was somewhat easy to understand.

The general meaning is that during the years when Emperor Chen was in power, he rectified the court, kept the country safe and secure, and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, with surplus food every year and a full treasury, etc., etc.

It was obviously a very honorable thing to brag about one's achievements in front of the gods and ancestors. Seeing Emperor Chen's red face and overjoyed look, Tang Ning understood why he insisted on holding the ceremony in the West Mountain.

He looked at King Kang and saw that King Kang just lowered his head and stood in his position, so he knew that he had not waited for a good time to take action.

The ceremony had many procedures and complicated procedures, and it would take more than two hours to end.

During this time, a thousand soldiers of the Right West Gate Guards guarded outside the altar, and the rest were distributed on the mountain road and various places in the West Mountain to be responsible for vigilance.

Back Mountain.

A captain led a hundred men and stood outside a dense forest. He asked in doubt: "What's going on? It's been a night. Why haven't they come back yet?"

One man looked ahead and said: "It's dark at night. Did they fall off the cliff?"

The captain looked at him, pointed at a few people, and said: "You guys, go to the forest over there and take a look."

More than ten people heard this and walked towards the dense forest beside the cliff.

The captain's eyes flashed with excitement. He looked back at the direction of the altar and murmured: "Success or failure depends on this move. Life or death, it's today..."

The group waited outside the forest for a long time, but no one came out of the forest. A trace of vigilance appeared on his face. He stretched out his hand to signal behind him and slowly approached the direction of the woods.

...

On the altar.

Suddenly, a noisy bird call came from the sky in front. Tang Ning raised his head and saw a group of flying birds startled from the forest behind the mountain and flew over their heads.

At this time, the ceremony had already reached the stage of offering gifts.

This process required the royal family, including Emperor Chen, to perform the three kneeling and nine bowing ceremony.

Women were not allowed to participate in the ceremony, so Queen Mother Zhao Man and the concubines in the palace did not come. Only Emperor Chen, Prince Fu, Prince Duan, Prince Kang, and Prince Run were qualified to perform this ceremony.

After Emperor Chen took his seat, he looked up when he saw that the ceremonial officer had not spoken for a long time.

The ceremonial officer was about to announce the start of the offering ceremony, but saw that everyone was in place, except Prince Kang, who was still standing at the edge of the altar. He whispered, "Your Highness Prince Kang, hurry up!"

Prince Kang just smiled at him, with a smile on his lips.

Emperor Chen turned his head, looked at Prince Kang, frowned and said, "Why are you still standing there, hurry up and take your place!"

"What for?" Prince Kang looked at him, smiled slightly, took two steps back, stood behind a team of guards, and asked with a smile, "Of course it's a rebellion------Didn't Father see it?"