At the beginning of the ceremony, drums and music sounded.
Master Dongyue walked up the ninth floor holding the incense of three treasures and chanted: "Pure moral incense, I offer it to the Emperor of Xu, and look at the auspicious light of the Dharma from afar."
After the incense is released, first insert one in the middle of the furnace, then insert it on the left side, and insert three incense sticks on the right side. The three incense sticks mean 'Dao Bao Xiang', 'Jing Bao Xiang' and 'Shi Bao Xiang' respectively. The distance between them is about one inch, which is called "inch heart".
White smoke surrounded the surroundings. Master Dongyue stood on the high platform, wearing a white Taoist robe with blue edges fluttering in the wind. He was not like a common man in the world, but had an air of immortality.
Today, the dojo is tightly guarded. Except for the students from Jixia Palace, there are also a group of local officials headed by the governor of Licheng. They are all solemn and pious and dare not show their dignity.
Yun Qi and Lu Anran were among them. They didn't believe in Buddhism and were just watching the excitement, but they also felt that Dongyue Master's performance was much more advanced than Zhang Tianshi.
He didn't have a mahogany sword in his hand, and he didn't breathe fire from his mouth. He just offered a simple and unpretentious incense, but he exuded a boundless noble temperament.
"It's not unreasonable for Sanyuan Palace to do so well." Yun Qi lowered his voice and said at the same volume as two people: "Just this investment must cost a lot."
Lu Anran stared straight ahead, moving his lips as he looked ahead, "Returning to nature, truth is the original meaning of Tao."
Yun Qi chuckled: "Did you let Xunqing get infected?"
Lu Anran glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, "Your Majesty, please pray to heaven and don't make any noise."
"My prince, it's a pity that the good time was wasted on a group of Taoist priests." I don't know what he thought of, and he lightly swept his sleeves, bringing up a breeze, "I'll give you a good thing."
Lu Anran's wrist was turned over, and something was stuffed in. After holding it in for a long time, he couldn't help but lower his eyes and glanced at it. It was a candy wrapped in mulberry paper, with two corners tied into rabbit ears.
"I bought this for Xiao Xunqing yesterday. When I saw this candy, I suddenly thought of you. Does it look like it?"
Lu Anran's eyes twitched. How did she look like a rabbit?
(Xunqing at home was extremely depressed looking at the table of cute snacks. He is already a mature Taoist priest, not a child anymore!)
He has been standing here since before dawn. He has been standing here for three or two hours. The bowl of porridge in Lu Anran's stomach has long been digested. At this moment, the red sun is shining above his head, and his mind is full of the first day in Diqiu. The bowl of rice rolls cooked by Shi Qiu Chan.
When I was hungry, I suddenly felt that rice rolls tasted delicious.
Lu Anran squeezed the candy in his palm, but still couldn't do the behavior of opening it and eating it secretly in this situation.
"Ah~" Yunqi exclaimed softly.
Lu Anran looked over subconsciously, and saw the brocade in front of her eyes like white clouds, covering her eyes. She opened her mask, moved her mouth, and felt the sweetness on the tip of her tongue.
When he raised his eyes, he met Yunqi's smiling and cunning eyes.
Yun Qi raised his eyebrows--is it delicious?
Lu Anran pursed her lips, and a hint of sweetness seemed to pass from her taste buds to her heart.
"Ahem—" A very light cough came from the side. Nangong Zhi raised his head and looked straight ahead, with an expression on his face that was hard to describe. These two people were almost done.
Lu Anran and Yun Qi returned to their thoughts on the heaven-sacrifice ceremony. At this moment, Master Dongyue stepped aside. The prince took out his left foot and walked to the futon in three steps. He stood upright with his eyes lowered, calmly and calmly. The distance between the feet is two inches and the distance from the kneeling mat is about five inches. The toes are about eight inches apart and face outward in a figure-eight shape.
The hands intersect in front of the abdomen to protect the middle Dantian. The thumb of the left hand is inserted into the tiger's mouth of the right hand and pinches the sub-line of the ring finger of the right hand. The thumb of the right hand pinches the midday line of the middle finger of the right hand. The remaining four fingers of the left hand hold the right hand. This is the "Tai Chi diagram" on the outside and the "Tai Chi diagram" on the inside. Pinching 'Ziwu Jue' means 'holding the yuan and keeping one'.
When saluting, your hands are level with your nose, palms facing inward, and your right hand draws a natural arc to the right. At the same time, you bow, bend your knees, and squat down. Your right palm is placed on the futon, your left palm draws an arc downward to the left, and intersects with the back of your right hand. Insert your thumb into the palm of your right hand, place your knees against the outside of the futon, and then bring your head and hands close to the Hegu point three times, which is called three knocks.
After completing it once, release your left hand and return to the middle Dantian. Hold the futon with your right hand and stand up slowly. Concentrate the energy in the middle Dantian and arch your hands.
Repeated three times, it is called three kneels and nine knocks, which is the highest Taoist etiquette.
Originally, the emperor would come to pray in person when offering sacrifices to heaven, but the emperor's hill was far away from the royal capital, and the emperor could not leave easily. The prince was the successor to the throne, so the prince knelt in heaven instead.
Master Dongyue dipped his index finger into the wine cup on the prayer platform, flicked it on the prince three times, and muttered a long paragraph. The ceremony was almost completed.
However, the dojo lasts for forty-nine days, and this is when the questioning begins.
However, there is no need to be present for the whole process later. I saw Master Dongyue and a group of Sanyuan Palace Taoist priests taking their places. After everyone bowed their hands with Taoist rituals, they exited the dojo one by one.
They were already pampered, but when they relaxed, the students felt that their legs were not their own, and they could not move forward. They had to be supported by the servants so that they would not be embarrassed.
The students have to come to listen to the sermon tomorrow, but at least they have futons to sit cross-legged on, so they don't have to stand the whole time.
Lu Anran's legs and feet were sore, but it wasn't like she couldn't walk. She often ran out on her own in Mengdu, which was much better than most of the delicate ladies who traveled in sedan chairs.
She followed the crowd outside and suddenly called someone to stop.
"Miss Lu." There was surprise in the visitor's tone, "I heard that students from Jixia Palace went to Diqiu to listen to sermons. I thought that the young lady must be here too. I just saw her from a distance, so I don't want to disturb her. I am here to pay my respects to the young lady." .”
The conversation here attracted the attention of others. Everyone saw a Baba wearing a magistrate's official robe running to greet Lu Anran, and they couldn't help but be amused and ironic.
This official is really confused. He doesn't pay tribute to Princess Ding'an or Nangong Shaofu, but instead goes to Lu Anran, a young lady from the Mengdu clan. Maybe he wants to go to the north to blow sand.
No matter what other people think, the two here are really happy to meet old friends.
Lu Anran's dark eyes lit up, "In the county magistrate?" After looking at the style of his official robe, he said again: "In the magistrate's office."
Unexpectedly, the newly appointed magistrate of Huaiqing Prefecture turned out to be an old acquaintance.
Yu Fangjing waved his hand, "It's just a title, they're all the same."
"How can it be the same when a sixth-rank magistrate is transferred to a fourth-rank magistrate?" Yun Qi swung his jade bone fan and said with a smile, "Yu Zhifu was promoted very quickly."
Although Yu Fangjing is not from Mengzhou, he has been in Mengdu for many years, so he has had contact with this romantic prince. He smiled and shook his head and said: "Your Majesty, please don't laugh at me. For me to be promoted, I still entrust Miss Lu to do this." blessing."
If Lu Anran hadn't intervened in the case that day, he might have been unjustly, falsely or wrongly convicted. When he thought about the people from Jixia Palace mingling in Mengdu, Yu Fangjing almost broke out in a cold sweat.
"Miss Lu is extremely intelligent and has astonishing talents. It is a great honor for me to be able to take care of you."
Lu Anran had been away from Mengdu for a long time, and when he saw Yu Fangjing, he always felt like he was from his hometown. Even his naughty ways didn't make him annoying anymore.
Yun Qi patted Yu Fang Jing's shoulder with a jade bone fan, "You still have a lot to offer, otherwise this girl's care will be in vain."
Yu Fangjing was startled by the intimacy in his tone. Before he could think more, Yun Qi said again: "Huh? So you are the one who deceived me to come here in the memorial?"
"Your Majesty... I really didn't mean to make things difficult for you. This Yaksha can't be seen or touched. It's difficult for me to handle."
Yun Qi smiled and said, "Come on, how can I argue with the emperor if I argue with you?"
Yu Fangjing didn't dare to talk about this.
As the magistrate of Huaiqing Prefecture, Yu Fangjing had a lot of things to do, so he gave a few simple compliments and hurriedly said goodbye to the two of them and took the first step.
"Although Yu Fangjing is not a very talented person, he can see the situation clearly and is able to bend and stretch." Yun Qi commented: "You made him lose face on the spot, but I can see from him that he is truly grateful to you and is a man who knows the current affairs." people."
If you are not afraid of stupid people, you are afraid of not being able to carry it clearly.
When the two of them walked out of the mountain pass, the officials' carriages and horses disappeared. Unexpectedly, the group of students from Jixia Palace had not left yet.
"Everyone is tired. The princess said that there is a Zhuangzi down there. She has sent someone to inform them and asked them to prepare lunch and eat before returning to the county office." Nangong Zhi saw the doubts in the eyes of Yun Qi and the two people, so he walked over and asked them to go back to the county office. explained.
It takes about half an hour to get back to the county office from the monastery by horse and cart. It only takes a stick of incense to go to Zhuangzi below. Once the students heard about it, they couldn't walk.
Yun Qi was never the one who wronged him. He closed his fan, held it in his hand, and said with a smile, "Young Master is really considerate."
Nangong Zhi smiled lightly: "It should be."
Others got into the car one after another. Yunqi got into the carriage this time and rode alongside Nangong Zhi.
"Whose Zhuangzi is in this place without a village or shop..." The word "ghost place" in Yun Qi's mouth seemed inappropriate when he thought that the emperor chose this place to set up a dojo, so he seamlessly switched to, "A good place." "
Nangong Zhi had obviously asked about it and replied: "The richest family in the area has a surname of Zhou, and the head of the family is Zhou Hou."
"Name yourself a honest person?" Yun Qi raised his lips, always looking lazy, and said in a nonchalant tone: "Once the emperor's dojo team evacuates, this place will be really a good place in the future, a blessed place, a great blessed place. Ah, he made a fortune for nothing.”
The Royal Dojo, Sanyuan Palace Dongyue Zhenren personally participated in the battle, and it became a blessed place even if it was not a fairyland.
Nangong Zhi held the reins loosely with his hands and laughed when he heard the words: "Prince Yun's words sounded like those of a troupe actor."
"Young Master will not go to the Emperor to complain, right? After all, the Emperor is very fond of you."
Nangong Zhi's smile faded slightly, white clouds came into his eyes, and his gaze became a little lighter, "Prince Yun is too worried, I just do my duty as a courtier."
Yun Qi touched his chin. Nangong Zhi was smiling, gentle and polite to everyone, so he always said Nangong Zhi was hypocritical, but in his heart he recognized Nangong Zhi's gentlemanly demeanor, but he didn't know why he suddenly became cold.
Everyone in the world doesn't know that the emperor values Wu'an Hou Mansion, and his trust in Nangong Zhi is extraordinary, and sometimes even the prince can't compare with him. But now, is there something hidden in Nangong Zhi's attitude?
"What is Prince Yun thinking?" Nangong Zhi interrupted his wandering mind.
Yun Qi came back to his senses, "When you mentioned the Zhou family, I remembered that the first people Yasha left to eat in the deep mountains and old forests were the Zhou family. Does Zhou Hou have a daughter named Zhou Pei?"
Nangong Zhi shook his head, "I... never asked." He couldn't ask someone's daughter's maiden name right away for no reason.
"I guess there aren't many very wealthy people named Zhou from Diqiu, right?"
