The clouds were getting lower and lower, and the humidity and sweltering heat made the civil and military officials and envoys from various places who had been in the square all morning miserable. Their clothes were soaked with sweat and sticky on their bodies. The discomfort was so painful that it made people crazy.
The servant, who had been staring at the carvings, waved a copper rod and knocked on the bronze chime beside him, telling people that it would be noon in a quarter of an hour and the ceremony to worship the heaven would officially begin.
Zhu Sheng, who was sitting high on the rooftop, opened his eyes slightly, glanced at the crowd below, and saw the three people standing in the first row on the left.
Prince Zhu Yun, King Yong Zhu Cheng, and King Qi Zhu Yan.
Although they had been standing all morning, Zhu Yun and Zhu Yan still maintained a dignified appearance, not as naughty or lazy as usual, which made Zhu Sheng extremely satisfied.
Yong Wang Zhu Cheng put his hands on his back, raised his head high, and met Zhu Sheng unexpectedly with his eyes from bottom to top. Not only did he have no intention of evading, his eyes were full of provocation.
Looking at each other for a moment, Zhu Sheng closed his eyes first. If he didn't close his eyes, he was worried that the anger in his heart would burst out from his eyes and burn Zhu Cheng alive.
Winning in the face of each other made Zhu Cheng even more proud. He thought this was a good sign and a good start, indicating that he would win a big victory today.
When no one was paying attention, Zhu Yan quietly turned to look at the prince's nephew. As if feeling Zhu Yan's gaze, Zhu Yun also looked this way. The two little ones exchanged glances with Zhu Yong for a while, and reconfirmed their plan to apologize after the ceremony.
Although the officials belonging to the Yongdang lineage among the hundreds of officials were extremely sticky and uncomfortable, their expressions were full of excitement and expectation. In fact, except for a few top bosses, most people don't know what happened specifically. They just received the order to wait for the opportunity last night.
To make it so mysterious, there must be a big move. If there is a big move, there will be a big opportunity. When I think of the benefits, the sin I suffered at this time is nothing.
Although the royalist faction that could originally compete with the Yong Party felt something was wrong in the atmosphere, because the backbone of the old chief assistant was not there, no one could stand up and make an idea.
Although Qin Feng and Cai Jian, the left and right censors of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, did not know about the loss of the jade seal, they still smelled the smell of turmoil with their keen sense of smell developed by being immersed in officialdom for many years.
As the most notorious troublemakers in Dayan officialdom, the two Du Censors were the most excited people in the room except the Yong Party.
I thought that when the new emperor ascended the throne half a year ago, there would be a bloody storm in the court. The two censors were eagerly waiting for it, but the expected liquidation did not happen, which made them regretful.
It's just that the situation at the scene seems a bit strange, why are all the Yong Dang members as excited as if they were shot to death. On the other hand, the royalist lineage was lifeless and had no fighting spirit.
Could it be...
Cai Jian raised his foot and touched Qin Feng's calf lightly, and when he saw the other party looked at him, he quickly gave him a questioning look.
Qin Feng first shook his head slightly, and then glanced at the sky.
Cai Jian raised his head and understood immediately.
This is... going to change!
When... when... when...
The copper chime sounded twelve times in a row.
"Noon has arrived and the ceremony begins."
As Ma Hong's shrill voice spread throughout the audience, Zhu Sheng opened his eyes and stood up independently on the top of the sky-sacrifice platform, and the heaven-sacrifice ceremony officially began.
There are many etiquettes in the ceremony, so I won’t go into details one by one. The most important content is that the emperor first recites the prayers to the Emperor of Heaven. Then, in order to prevent the Emperor of Heaven from hearing or remembering the prayers because he is old, the prayers need to be written by the Emperor himself. The prayers were written on the imperial edict, and finally stamped with a jade seal, burned and sent to heaven.
"The emperor ascends to heaven and shines on the earth below. He gathers the spirits of the earth and sends down sweet wind and rain. Everyone finds his place, and common people live in groups..."
Zhu Sheng spread his arms on the altar, prayed devoutly to the Emperor of Heaven and reported his work. After finishing the prayer of more than a thousand words, Ma Hong presented the blank imperial edict, Zhu pen, cinnabar and other study utensils that had been prepared. .
Zhu Sheng wrote the prayer he had just recited on the imperial edict with his pen, and then took out the jade seal from the brocade box and stamped it with the royal seal. The prayer was completed.
At this time, a chamberlain brought the brazier, and Zhu Sheng rolled up the prayer and tied it with a ribbon. He only had to throw it into the brazier, and the main content of the heaven-sacrifice ceremony was completed.
"Your Majesty, wait!"
At this moment, King Yong Zhucheng suddenly stepped forward and walked out of the queue and shouted loudly.
"My brother believes that submitting prayers is a major matter for the country and needs to be done with caution. Gu Qie suggested that it should be verified by Gao Ge Lao and Dai Shangshu before submitting it to heaven."
Come, come, King Yong finally attacks!
…
In the palace, there were nearly five to six hundred Feiyu Guards rounding up Rong Fei and Xiao Shunzi. They were surrounded from all directions, trapping the two in a very small area and preventing them from escaping.
"Xiao... Xiaorong... the princess should have taken... Yuxi out of the palace... Huchi... Huchi..."
Xiao Shunzi asked, already running out of breath.
"She is a princess after all. As long as they don't finally break up with each other on the rooftop, they don't dare to do anything. And with the two of us here to attract firepower, there is no reason to stop her from leaving the palace. The only thing they need to worry about now is What matters most is whether King Yong and Fan Liren have made arrangements outside the sacrificial platform, and whether the princess can deliver the jade seal in time and smoothly."
"But women are not allowed to step into the Tiantian Sacrifice Platform. This is the ancestral teaching."
"There is no way. The only one in the palace who can be trusted and can handle this matter is the Sixth Princess. It is up to others to plan the matter. As for the final result, we can only leave it to fate."
"I don't know if the jade seal can be delivered in time, but it is certain that we two unlucky guys will have no way to escape."
"Don't worry, I haven't lived enough yet, and I won't leave my life here casually. The time has almost been delayed, and now it's time for both of us to save our lives."
After that, Rong Fei pulled Xiao Shunzi and turned into a corridor. When he rushed out of the corridor, the scene in front of him suddenly became clear.
"Hey, isn't this the garden where the prince and King Qi play? Why did we come back here?"
After seeing the surrounding landscape clearly, Xiao Shunzi said in surprise.
The shouts of the pursuing Fei Yuwei came from outside the courtyard wall. Rong Fei didn't have any extra time to explain. He pulled Xiao Shunzi into the garden that was flooded by the water from the golden scale pond, and then plunged into the diversion ditch and swam to the golden scale pond. inside.
The water in the Golden Scale Pond has been drained, revealing the thick silt at the bottom of the pond. After crawling out of the ditch, Rong Fei took off his shoes and threw them next to the gap. He also tore off two dry lotus stems and pulled Xiao Shunzi to the center of the pool.
"Lie on your side, wait until the mud and water can cover your body, and then slowly turn back to lie flat."
Rong Fei inserted a lotus stem into Xiao Shunzi's mouth and warned.
Having said that, he also held the lotus stem in his mouth and waded into the mud.
The footprints left by the two of them when they came over have been restored by the mud, but after all, the body is relatively large, and it will take more time to completely sink into the mud.
The chasing Feiyuwei had already entered the garden next door. After searching to no avail, he naturally focused on the hole cut in the wall.
At this time, the two of them had just laid down in the mud, and the top of their bodies was not covered by the mud. Xiao Shunzi was frightened when he heard the sound and wanted to raise his head to check, but was stopped by Rong Fei in a low voice.
"Don't move. The sky is gloomy and the light is unclear. The gap in the meeting wall here is far away. We are both covered in mud. As long as we don't move around, they shouldn't be able to find us."
"But the footprints..."
Xiao Shunzi only said half of what she was worried about, and then she remembered the scene where her shoes were stuck in the mud and the mud quickly closed up to repair itself, and she shut her mouth tightly.
"It's strange. I obviously saw the two of them running into this garden, but they were nowhere to be seen."
"Look, sir, there is a pair of shoes here. Those two people must have ran out from here."
"Humph, it's a little trick to make a fool of yourself in the east. I deliberately left the shoes here to lure us here to delay time while the two of them escaped in other directions."
"My lord is wise, from the looks of it, these two will definitely not be here anymore."
"It should be so. But we have to be careful that this is a way to hide from others. You take two flags and stay here to search, while the others go to search around. Remember, you don't want anyone alive, just the things on the two of them."
The Feiyu Guards of the brigade left, and the remaining twenty Feiyu Guards, led by a general flag, entered the Golden Scale Pond to search.
"Oops, my shoe is stuck in, please help me."
"Damn it stinks here."
At this time, Rong Fei and Xiao Shunzi's bodies had completely sunk into the mud, and they kept breathing close to the hollow lotus stems in their mouths. Their ears were filled with mud, cutting off the transmission of outside sounds.
In the deathly silence, Xiao Shunzi seemed to hear the sound of blood flowing in his body, and his heartbeat sounded like a drum.
The mud smells fishy, so the searching Feiyuwei will naturally not dig it out with his hands. He just pokes the long hairs on his hands into the mud every few steps to confirm whether there is anyone hiding underneath.
Puff puff…
In the silence, Xiao Shunzi heard a very regular abnormal noise. Just when he was curious about what was coming from it, he heard a swishing sound next to his right ear, and then he felt a stinging pain in his ear.
puff!
There was another strange sound, and there was a sharp pain in the thigh.
Xiao Shunzi had already guessed what happened, and was so scared that she shut her mouth tightly, for fear that she wouldn't be able to hold back the pain and scream out.
The popping sound gradually faded away, and Xiao Shunzi was no longer as nervous as before. He felt slightly sleepy as he relaxed.
I don’t know how long it took, but Rong Fei dug Xiao Shunzi out of the mud in a daze.
"Hey, wake up."
Rong Fei slapped Xiao Shunzi on the face and shouted.
"Ah~"
Xiao Shunzi felt as if his eyelids were heavy as if they were hung with iron pendants, and his mind was feeling dizzy and not very clear.
On both sides of his neck, there were six or seven fist-sized, round, black and red leeches hanging, with patterns on the surface.
Seeing such a terrifying scene, Rong Fei was also frightened.
It was these leeches that made Xiao Shunzi feel sleepy and dizzy. If he was sucked by them for a while longer, this place would probably become the resting place of the little chamberlain.
