The ancient Moon Worship Festival is the Mid-Autumn Festival celebrated by modern people.
On a quiet night, the moon hangs high in the sky, casting silver light and covering the earth with a mysterious veil.
Liu Qi stood on the tower and could almost see the whole city from a distance.
People gather in the square at this moment, facing the moon, and holding a solemn and mysterious ceremony.
In the center of the square, a bonfire was burning, and the firelight reflected a warm yellow light on people's faces.
Around the fire, some people held musical instruments and played melodious music, while others sang and danced to the music.
On the other side, an old man in a robe stood on a platform where sacrifices were being offered.
The table was filled with various foods and drinks, which were gifts to the Moon God.
The old man muttered words to the moon, praying for peace, harvest and happiness. His voice was solemn and deep, as if he was talking to the moon.
The people around watched quietly, their faces filled with awe and respect.
This ceremony is not only to celebrate the harvest, but also to express gratitude to the nature in which they live.
The moon, as the most mysterious existence in ancient times, is regarded as a symbol of strength and wisdom.
"Your Highness, the ceremony is about to begin, so you'd better go there early."
Liu Qi turned his head, looked at the waiter beside him, and nodded.
In contrast, the atmosphere in the imperial city was less lively, but seemed particularly solemn and mysterious.
At this time, the main hall of Weiyang Palace was already crowded with all kinds of people. They were gorgeously dressed, wearing exquisite jewelry, holding various offerings in their hands, waiting for the start of the Moon Worship Festival.
In the center of the square, there is a huge moon pattern, made of velvet fabric, extremely exquisite.
In front is an offering table filled with various delicacies and exquisite mooncakes.
After a while.
Follow the waiter's voice and sing. The square suddenly became quiet.
The emperor and empress walked out of the hall slowly in their gorgeous attire. Behind him were members of the royal family, including Liu Qi.
At the bottom of the steps, everyone stopped. Only Emperor Qing came to the altar table with a serious expression.
As the ceremony began, melodious music echoed in the square, and everyone looked solemn.
Emperor Qing picked up a plate with a mooncake on it. He solemnly offered it to the moon, then slowly walked to the offering table and put the mooncake back on the plate.
The subsequent ceremony was more solemn, including the singing of ancient moon worship poems and a series of complicated moon worship dances.
It wasn't until the fireworks resounded in the sky that this grand ceremony came to an end.
The ceremony is over, but the celebration has just begun.
Following the footsteps of Emperor Qing, everyone came to the main hall of Weiyang Palace.
Despite the large number of people, there was no feeling of crowding in the temple at all.
After the emperor sat down, he said, "Sit down." Then everyone sat down one after another.
Is the celebration about to begin?
of course not.
Facing the rich food on the table, some people were already craving for food, but the emperor did not speak, and no one dared to use chopsticks first. Ancient people attached great importance to etiquette.
First, the emperor held a wine glass and said many blessings, and then reviewed the blessings of this year with the ministers, and then announced the start of the celebration.
But if you think, can you use chopsticks and have a feast? If anyone wants to do this at this time, it will definitely be the leader's choice and I will change the table, because he thinks his career is too long.
"Your Majesty, it is the festive season, and I have specially prepared a gift. I hope your Majesty will accept it."
Afterwards, Jia Siming, the Minister of Household Affairs, displayed the gifts he had brought in front of everyone.
It is an exquisite landscape calligraphy and painting.
Here, not all officials have to give gifts, only those with status and status can do so.
He must be an official of at least third grade or above. This is also out of sympathy, as lower-level officials are paid very little.
Meager?
Liu Qizhen didn't think so.
Throw away the nobles and members of the clan. The officials here are all at least fifth grade. Almost everyone is rich.
But this is tradition and must be respected!
Afterwards, various officials displayed their gifts one after another. After the emperor and empress thanked them, the dedicated attendants took them back.
In this link, other people who did not give gifts could only watch quietly, cooperate with the gift givers, and express their blessings to the emperor and empress.
After going on for a while, the members of the royal family finally arrived.
Here is the time for princes, princesses, consorts and concubines to express their filial piety to the emperor and empress.
First came Liu Yin.
"Father, this is a fine carved bow specially presented to you by my son. Secondly, there is also a shawl specially made of snow fox skin by my mother."
Emperor Qing smiled happily.
"Yin'er is interested."
As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Xuan stood up from behind the table. He took a box from the waiter behind him.
After opening it, you can see that there is a crystal clear stone inside.
Emperor Qing and the Queen glanced at each other, neither of them knew what it was.
"Father, this is the star stone that I brought here to Youzhou. I ordered people to build it day and night before engraving this word on it."
After taking it out, everyone was surprised to find that the word "Longevity" flashed on the stone.
"I wish my father and mother a long life, and I wish Daqing to enjoy eternal peace!"
The so-called star stone, Liu Qi knew, was the so-called meteorite.
But for ancient people, this thing came down from the sky. It was not only rare, but also represented a revelation from heaven.
At this time, Emperor Qing's eyes were bent with laughter.
"Okay, okay. Xuan'er is interested. My father and mother like her very much. They like her very much!"
"Father, father, look at mine."
Immediately afterwards, the princess, the prince-in-law, and the concubines each presented the gifts they had prepared to the emperor and queen.
It wasn't until everyone retreated that everyone saw that the prince was still where he was, sitting peacefully.
"Brother Imperial, are you not prepared for anything?"
Liu Yin's words suddenly silenced the atmosphere at the scene. At this time, all eyes fell on the prince.
Liu Qi looked at him, chuckled disdainfully, then slowly stood up and walked to the emperor and empress.
Seeing Liu Qi's empty hands, Liu Yin laughed.
"Haha, I said, Brother Huang, what do you mean by this? You just prepared a mouth."
Liu Qi didn't even look at him, and saluted to Emperor Qing and the Queen with a calm expression.
"Father, Emperor and Mother. The gifts prepared by my subjects are not inside the palace, but outside the palace. Therefore, I would like to ask Emperor Father and Queen Mother to move outside the palace and accept the gifts from my subjects!"
One sentence immediately aroused the curiosity of everyone in the hall.
