The entire Qin Dynasty jointly held sacrificial activities at the same time, which was unprecedented in scale.
Countless cattle, sheep, chickens and ducks were slaughtered, and the people worshiped the gods, praying that no strange beasts would appear in the world, and praying for good weather and no disasters in the coming year.
After experiencing the Xi Beast incident, everyone was extremely pious, and their trust in King Qin exceeded any other moment or era in the past.
The most lively place is Luoyi.
Luoyi is the main place for Xi Beast activities, and the people take the sacrificial activities more seriously. Moreover, this is also an excellent opportunity to respond to Yingzheng and show goodwill to the Qin Dynasty.
After the somewhat complicated ceremony was completed, the people began to throw the bamboo sections they had prepared into their fires.
All of a sudden, the market, beside the houses, and in the fields were all crackling.
Although the power is very different from that of firecrackers, there is no difference in meaning.
It is estimated that even if the Xi beast comes again, it will still be scared away.
Of course, those sacrifices cannot be wasted, and they have all become delicacies.
When people were celebrating the first anniversary of New Year's Eve, Ying Zheng, who had drunk a lot of wine, came to Zhao Gao's palace again.
If nothing else, the little guy will be out soon.
Brothers Meng Tian and Meng Yi hadn't finished drinking yet, but they couldn't find Ying Zheng anywhere. After asking around, they found out that Ying Zheng was here, so they followed him.
This time, Ying Zheng no longer placed the red egg on the sand, but took off his clothes and performed the final incubation himself.
Meng Tian looked at it and held back his smile and said, "Your Majesty, why can't I find you anywhere? You are hiding here to hatch eggs."
Ying Zheng said with a slight embarrassment: "According to the normal time, it will come out soon, but it is moving inside now."
Meng Yi smiled and said: "Don't ask him to bite the king, I'll do it."
After saying that, Meng Yi took off his clothes and took the red egg.
"Let's take turns. We can't let it out of sight tonight." Ying Zheng said.
Meng Tian asked with some worry: "Your Majesty, it won't really bite people, so let me do it."
Ying Zheng smiled and said, "Even if it bites, how big of a mouth can it have and how much meat can it bite?"
At this moment, Qiang Yu and Thorin also rushed over.
"Quick, quick, tell me to come first." Thorin said, "If it doesn't hatch, it will come out."
On weekdays, he would make a joke about hatching eggs and drink a few glasses of wine, but now he is rushing to do it.
But what Thorin said is not unreasonable. After it emerges from the shell, it really won't have this chance.
Meng Yi said angrily: "Why are you in a hurry? I haven't looked at the numbers. I'll give them to you when I get some heat."
Thorin rolled his eyes at him and said, "A quarter of an hour at most."
Ying Zheng smiled and said, "Stop arguing. I'm going to hold you accountable for scaring Nian Beast."
A few people laughed and stopped bickering and fighting over each other.
Zhao Gao ordered another banquet to be prepared. Several people drank while watching one of the eggs hatch. The scene was indeed funny.
"Why are Li Si going? Call him here too." Ying Zheng said.
Meng Tian said: "The king intends to appoint Li Si as the prime minister. The officials are taking this opportunity to please him, and they are probably still dealing with it now."
"That's right. I've ignored this matter." Ying Zheng said, "Forget it, let him go. Besides, it's already midnight."
Qiang Yu said: "Brother Wang, there won't be any problems with the transfer of power. After all, Mr. Changping has not made any major omissions."
"Don't worry, everything is settled." Ying Zheng said, "Mr. Changping is also willing to do this. There is an agreement between him and me behind this."
Meng Tian said: "Changping Lord has an obsession with Ying City. Whether it is the ancient capital of Chu State or the Western Chu army that destroyed Lao Ai, he cannot let go of it. Therefore, it seems that he is changing the power of the official, but in fact he is holding on to it. took his pulse."
"That's exactly it." Ying Zheng said, "What's more, I also hope that this position of prime minister will be held by one of our own."
Meng Yi said seriously: "Your Majesty, I have a question for you since I came here."
"Say it," Ying Zheng said.
Meng Yi took a sip of wine and said: "Then Wang Jian and his son, you also use them highly, but why don't you talk about everything like us and list them as a lineage of Tiancheng?"
Ying Zheng smiled and said: "In my opinion, all ministers cannot be included in the Tiancheng lineage. They should have their own division of labor. Those who should be the first to kill should just fight."
Thorin asked: "What does Brother Wang mean that in future wars, Wang Jian and his son will be the main generals?"
"Not entirely," Ying Zheng said, "but most of them will be."
"Then you can be a pioneer for your brothers." Before Thorin could finish his words, he suddenly let out a sigh.
"Brother Wang, it's scratching inside, as if it wants to break the egg." He took the red egg out of his arms.
Sure enough, there was a "chacha" sound from inside the eggshell.
As if realizing that everyone was watching it, the scratching sound stopped shyly.
"What time is it?" Ying Zheng asked.
Zhao Gao said: "Your Majesty, it's almost Yin time."
Ying Zheng said: "It seems that it may break out of its shell at any time."
Zhao Gaodao: "Didn't the King say that Senior Yaizhen once said that it would take a whole year to hatch it?"
"Yes." Ying Zheng said with certainty, "When I went there a few days ago, I asked about this specifically. They said that as long as there is no interruption in incubation, there will be no deviation."
Zhao Gao patted his chest and said: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, I can't guarantee anything else. This hatching will definitely not be delayed for a day, and it will even hatch a little longer every day."
"Haha, no matter how many times it hatches, it doesn't come out early." Meng Yi joked.
"As long as it doesn't come out late," Ying Zheng said, "Actually, this mission belongs to me, but it's inconvenient to carry it with me all the time, so I asked Zhao Gao to help me hatch it. When the beast comes out this year, I will reward Zhao Gao heavily."
Zhao Gao said in panic: "This slave can't be considered a meritorious service. Your Majesty might as well spare me."
"How can that be done?" Ying Zheng said sincerely, "It's just that there is no room for promotion in Zhongche Fu Ling, and you are not a good woman, so what can I reward you for..."
Zhao Gao: "..."
It’s not that it’s bad, it’s just that the conditions are not there.
"Yes," Ying Zheng said, "Let Ou Ping make you a peerless sword. After all, you still have a very difficult task in the future."
Zhao Gao said: "Then I will thank the king for coming."
In fact, Zhao Gao doesn't like swords very much, but Ying Zheng really has nothing to reward him. After all, it was already an exception for him to be an official before.
More than an hour later, the red egg was transferred to Meng Tian's arms. Ying Zheng, Suo Lin, and Qiang Yu were still chatting. Zhao Gao was sitting there dozing off. The two Meng Tian brothers, one stared at the red egg, and the other put his ear against the egg. Shell listened carefully.
Because they knew that the scratching and knocking sounds inside were getting denser and louder.
Finally, there was only a small crisp sound, and a slight crack appeared on the top of the red egg.
"Your Majesty, look!" Meng Tian shouted anxiously.
Ying Zheng, Qiang Yu, and Thorin hurried over.
Zhao Gao also became energetic, rubbed his eyes and ran over.
I saw another crack cracking at the top, and gradually extending downward.
Several people held their breath and stared at the blood-red eggshell.
The junction of the two cracks began to break apart bit by bit, gradually extending downwards.
There was a constant banging sound inside.
Qiang Yu took Zhao Gao's quilt and surrounded the red egg, as if he was afraid that the Nian beast would suddenly run out.
Meng Yi also brought a wooden bucket, half-lifted, ready to cover the broken Nian beast at any time.
Ying Zheng and Meng Tian held the red egg together, not daring to be distracted in the slightest.
Suddenly, the banging sound inside stopped, and the cracks in the eggshell stopped spreading.
"What's going on?" Thorin asked.
Qiang He said: "Maybe it is tired and wants to rest for a while, don't worry."
"Yeah, I should just take a rest." Ying Zheng said.
Zhao Gao said: "How about we help it?"
"How can I help?" Meng Tian asked.
"Crack this eggshell open," Thorin said directly.
Ying Zheng rolled his eyes at him and said angrily: "You are so impatient, what if you hurt it?"
"Let's wait and let's add some more heat to it," Meng Tian said.
Zhao Gao spread the fine sand that had been heated under the red egg to warm it up.
Not long after, the red egg moved again, and it was even stronger than before.
The eggshell that has absorbed nutrients is actually much more fragile than before, but the little Nian beast inside is weak after all, so you have to try it little by little.
Click, click...
With a loud sound, a gap was finally opened at the broken top.
As the gap got wider and wider, several people's hearts were in their throats, staring intently at the red egg in front of them.
More and more cracks spread downwards, and the top was finally broken, revealing a small head.
Seeing this head, Ying Zheng almost laughed out loud.
That appearance was exactly the same as Xi's, but it was much smaller.
The little Nian beast looked around, then retracted its head, and became silent again.
Several people looked at me and I looked at you, feeling a little confused for a moment.
"Zhao Gao, are you a little ugly, which scares him?" Meng Tian joked.
Zhao Gao retorted: "Your brother is not much better than me."
"Shh." Ying Zheng whispered, "If you keep talking nonsense, it really won't dare to come out."
Several people stopped talking and stared at the half-broken red egg again.
After a while, the longest crack in the middle continued to open downward, and this time the width of the crack became wider and wider.
The gaping hole became wider and wider.
Click...
The eggshell finally cracked completely, and fell to the left and right in the fine sand. The figure of the little Nian beast was also fully revealed, with a piece of eggshell on top of its head.
However……
It's still no different from the Xi beast.
It's not much different from what you imagined, except that its fur is still very soft and it looks very cute and cute.
The remaining people had never seen the Xi beast before, so naturally they didn't know what the Nian beast looked like, so they all stared at it with wide eyes.
I saw the little Nian beast looking around, then crawling down, as if it had exhausted its energy by breaking out of its shell just now.
"Quick, Zhao Gao, go prepare some meat scraps and rice soup and feed it some." Ying Zheng ordered.
Zhao Gao agreed and quickly went out to prepare.
Meng Yi curiously touched the tail of the little Nian beast, and saw that the little tail moved, as if he didn't want to be disturbed.
"Let it sleep for a while." Ying Zheng whispered, "If you are sleepy, you should also take a rest."
Several people were excited and shook their heads despite being sleepy.
Ying Zheng carefully took out the eggshell, and Qiang He helped pick out the fragments.
The little Nian beast raised its head, looked again, and seemed to have lost a lot of fear and hostility. Then it looked around, as if it was instinctively looking for its mother.
At this time, Zhao Gao brought rice soup and cooked meat scraps and carefully placed them in front of the little Nian beast.
It smelled it first, then licked it, and then started eating and drinking.
Divine beasts are mythical beasts. They are not as weak as domestic animals when they are born. They eat and drink in a decent way.
Several people gathered around it, watching it eat and drink slowly, but it tasted even sweeter than eating meat and drinking wine themselves.
After a while, it seemed to be full. It stretched its hooves and legs, stood up slowly, looked outside, and jumped hard, but was blocked by the wooden box board.
This is obviously because he didn't want to be locked up since he was born.
"It seems that we need to get an iron cage." Ying Zheng said.
Zhao Gao said: "I will take care of it now."
Ying Zheng continued: "Also, if the decree continues, the Xi beast has been eliminated, and the auspicious Nian beast has been sent by God to protect the peace of the world. The whole country has been ordered to celebrate for seven days to welcome the Nian beast into the world."
