Your Highness, Please Love Me Tender

141. The Enthronization Ceremony

Translator: Flying Lines

State Yanling, Founding Ceremony.

This was the day the new emperor of State Yanling ascended the throne.

The charming yellow imperial robe was meticulously dressed by Su Jie. The imperial robe and the golden flower on the young man’s faces added radiance and beauty to each other, which looked exceedingly harmonious. Each and every thread of the exquisite and expensive imperial robe was declaring its luxury. The young man in imperial robe was handsome and slightly pursed his lips, looking more confident and majestic than usual days.

The first process was the Ancestral Ceremony, a must process that every emperor of State Yanling had to go through.

Worshiping the immortal aimed to remind people of State Yanling not to forget their origin. The ancestral hall was not only the faith of the people, but also their spiritual support.

It was recorded in the “Immortal Quotes” that the immortal taught people to be tolerant, but not in the stupid way. All that records passed down were to lead people to be kind.

The immortal was the religion of the State Yanling. Some people thought that those who did good deeds would go to the immortal word to enjoy their afterlife under the guidance of the immortal, but some didn’t believe it. But they would still worship the immortal as a way to pay resect to their ancestors.

A few young men in the same and solemn gray robes were chanting the runes.

The huge sandalwood incense was lit, its smoke wafting through the air, giving off a faint and pleasant fragrance.

After chanting was finished, Su Jie held three lit incense sticks in his hand, inserted them into the altar and bowed three times.

“Ancestors, I, descendant of the Su family, Su Jie, have taken back the lost throne, may you bless the country prosperity and long-term stability.” Su Jie knelt on the cattail hassock and kowtowed three times to the statue of the immortal.

Beneath the immortal statue were the newly prepared memorial tablets of previous emperors, as most of the old ones were destroyed by Lan Buhui.

Su Jie kowtowed to the tablets again and lit the incense again. Then the ceremony was completed.

“The ceremony completed!”

The eunuch announced in a loud voice that spread far away.

Then, the eunuch read out the imperial edicts that rewarded those who helped Su Jie to retake the throne.

“By heaven’s will and His Majesty’s edit, General Zhanbei, Ju Liandao, has guarded the border for many years, protecting the country and people from harm. His military talents and his loyalty to the country are what make the restoration of the country possible, his contributions to the state beyond measure, thereby, by His Majesty’s imperial edit, Ju Liandao is granted the title of Protector of the State, first-ranked military official, and inheritable title of nobility, Marquis of the North, along with one hundred acres of fertile farmlands.

“Vice-general Gongsun Yi has demonstrated great valor and made great achievements in war! He is to be bestowed the title of the second-ranked military official, Great General Zhenjun, the inheritable title of nobility of Marquis Anding, and fertile farmland.”

“Vice-general Lian Cang, loyal and devoted, famous for his good name of punishing the evil and praising the good. By his majesty’s imperial edit, he is to be granted the third-ranked official, General Huaihua, the title of nobility, Earl of Zhongyong, and a royal blue armor to award his valor and military merits.”

“Military advisor Zhu Ce, well-informed and excellent in military strategy. By his majesty’s imperial edit, appoint him as the head of Imperial Hanlin Academy for his intelligence and courage, junior first-ranked official, along with five hundred tales of gold.”

“Deputy Lieutenant Shang Liu…”

“Deputy Lieutenant, Xuan Wu…”

…

After reading out the long edits, another eunuch opened a special decree in his hand and announced, “By heaven’s will and His Majesty’s edits, Zhou Zaiyue, with superb healing skills, exceeding intelligence, is to be appointed as the Prime Minister, for his relentless contribution to the state and a reward of ten thousand tales of gold.”

“Long live your majesty!”

After the eunuch read out all the decrees, all courtiers knelt down and acknowledged their allegiance to the young emperor.

“You may all rise.” The young man’s voice was casual as ever, not quivering in front of so many people. Every move and act of him demonstrated extreme nobility and elegance.

The eunuch announced again after all the officials stood up, “Return!”

Su Jie got onto the carriage specially prepared for the emperor, followed by the officials and soldiers all the way back to the palace.

Then there were a lot of complicated rituals and ceremonies, which exhuasted Su Jie. It was almost noon. Envoys of other countries all presented their gifts, and Su Jie arranged a banquet to entertain them. By the time everything was settled, it was already deep at night.

“Your Majesty, memorials to the throne.” The two eunuchs said to Su Jie, each holding a pile of memorials in their hands.

“Well, just put them here. I won’t go to Imperial Study today.” Seeing the loads of work to be done, Su Jie felt a little helpless and couldn’t help but complain to himself. He hadn’t had a minute of rest during the day. Finally, everything was over yet memorials were sent directly to him before he could even have a minute to undress. Were they planning to tire him out?

Though worn out, Su Jie still maintained his cold posture.

This morning, Su Jie was still nervous about his ascending to the throne. After all, becoming an emperor meant a great responsibility. But after an exhausting today, Su Jie couldn’t even afford the time or the strength to be nervous.

The memorials piled on high the table, higher even than Su Jie’s head.

Su Jie’s expression was stiff, he constantly howled in his heart as he read the memorials, the candles swaying in his palace with two young eunuchs standing behind him.

“Your majesty, please have some tea.” Said the eunuch.

“Put it there.” Su Jie responded, and then buried himself in the middle of the memorials.

*

At the same time, the envoy from State Yanhui couldn’t put his mind at ease, shocked to the extreme.

He was Man of Sacrifice under the Guqin Master’s command. Because he was not good at martial arts, he was asked to be an official in State Yanhui. Usually, he maintained a neutral attitude, and this time he took the order from Emperor of Yanhui to congratulate the new emperor of State Yanling on his ascending to the throne.

However, he was also carrying an important mission – to see if the emperor of State Yanling was the person in the portrait given by the Guqin Master, which was why he carefully observed Su Jie during the banquet.

And the findings surprised him as the only difference was that golden flower on the emperor’s face, which was said to be the state flower of Yanling, also called Immortal Flower.

He was supposed to tell the Guqin Master and Prince Qin what he saw after returning, but he didn’t want to.

Ten Men of Sacrifice came to carry out the mission this time, all the rest were arrested by Vice-general Yan. Only he safely arrived in the imperial city and saw Su Jie.

“That damn Guqin Master has controlled me with Death Gu for so many years, but he didn’t protect my only son and let my son die in that mission. My wife shed tears every day, and she fell severely ill…” muttered the man as he looked up at the moon.

There were tears in his eyes. This strong man had comforted his wife when his son died, but he didn’t shed any tears. At this time, in the land of a foreign country, the bright moonlight seemed to remind him of his child reciting the verses expressing homesickness.

In his eyes blurred by the tears revealed traces of loss and reminiscence, but he stubbornly raised his head and refused to let his tears flow down.

He kept muttering as if recollecting his whole life.

After a long time, he finally snorted at Chenchen, “My son is dead. My wife also blamed me. It was the Guqin Master who ruined my house… my son…”

He said incoherently, as if recalling his life.

After the tears in his eyes were dried, the man washed his face and returned to his usual calmness. There was a vengeful hatred on his face as he said, “This time I will never tell the Guqin Master that the emperor of State Yanling is the person in the portrait. Although my action can’t affect the Guqin Master much, it can at least make him spend more effort to find the young man in the portrait.”

Having made up his mind, he sneered after a glance at the moon, turned around and went back to the room.

The Guqin Master, who was far away in State Yanhui, never would have imagined that Man of Sacrifice, the only one who had seen the new emperor of State Yanling, would dare to lie to him. So when the Guqin Master learned that Man of Sacrifice Sharp Sword was the emperor of State Yanling, Su Jie had gained firm and strong foothold in the country, and… by that time, he no longer had the ability to control the former Sharp Sword.

At this moment, the Guqin Master was sipping tea elegantly, listening to Man of Sacrifice’s report about the palace.

“I’ve been giving the Emperor medicine on time every day. But recently the Emperor seemed not in the mood for food, so he didn’t take much.” The Man of Sacrifice knelt in front of the Guqin Master and said.

“Not in the mood for food?” the Guqin Master’s voice was nonchalant.

The Man of Sacrifice didn’t answer.

“If he doesn’t have a good appetite, then give him more medicine. I have planted a Gu worm in his body. Without the nourishment of the drug, my precious baby can’t live for long.” The Guqin Master frowned. He had cultivated the worm for nearly three months and planned to give it to the emperor in two years. But infuriated by the emperor’s action of hunting down Busha Pavilion, he gave it the emperor in advance. The worm was still young and was hard to survive, which was why he ordered the Man of Sacrifice to add the medicine that aided its growth in the emperor’s food.

“Yes.” The Man of Sacrifice too the order and left with five packages of medicine powder from the Guqin Master.

Xiao Luoxuan, on the other hand, was accompanying his concubine, Xiu Ning. He named the daughter Xiu Ning gave birth to, Xiao Ruyue. When his daughter was first born, Xiao Luoxuan did not care much about this young life. But these days when he was free, he would come here to look at his daughter.

Xiao Luoxuan dared not hug her, for she looked so little and fragile, so he could only watch Xiu Ning coaxing the child.

“Your highness, Ruyue fell asleep.” Xiu Ning was a kind-hearted woman. Ever since she became Xiao Luoxuan’s concubine, she had been even been plotted against by other maids. But Xiao Luoxuan handled it a rather straight and merciless manner. Xiao Luoxuan directly punished those who offended Xiao Luoxuan, even though the evidence was against Xiu Ning.

Under such a tough and strong measure, the restless girls in the mansion all gave up their thoughts of replacing Xiu Ning. Prince Qin’s protecting Xiu Ning regardless of facts, right or wrong, made them shiver. They were all gossiping about why Prince Qin took a facy on Xiu Ning.

Xiao Luoxuan didn’t think too much. At first, he just wanted Xiu Ning to give birth to a child for him. After Xiu Ning got pregnant, he specially sent two Men of Sacrifice to secretly protect Xiu Ning. He had been waited for this child to be born so he could call Sharp Sword back.

But now, Xiao Luoxuan really liked to stay with Xiu Ning. She was kind, gentle and considerate. Every time he was in a sour mood, he would calm down the very moment he saw Xiu Ning.

Gradually, Xiao Luoxuan told Xiu Ning about the Man of Sacrifice, Sharp Sword.

“It’s his blessing to have your love. One day he will return to you, your highness.” Xiu Ning gently put the baby girl on a soft bed and said to Xiao Luoxuan.

Xiao Luoxuan kissed her on the forehead and said, “Although Sharp Sword is my favorite, it doesn’t stop me from taking a fancy on others. I also like you a little now.”

In Xiao Luoxuan’s eyes, it was very normal for a prince to have wife and concubines. Even if Sharp Sword was by his side, he would gradually take other women he had fallen for as his concubines. Sharp Sword was just the man he wanted the most.