old friends return

On May 15th, the [-]th year of Shunqing of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Maoshi.The sky is still dark, and the morning star in the distance still has a little light.The inner room of the East Palace had been lit for a long time, and the people inside and outside were busy, but there was no noisy sound, and everything seemed to be very orderly.The maid was about to come forward to change Cheng Muzhi's clothes, but he waved his hand and walked up to Liu Qingyan who was waiting by the side, "Ah Yan, why don't you come?"

The smile is full, but it cannot be refused.

Liu Qingyan looked at the maid next to her who was holding the clothes, nodded, and signaled the maid not to worry.As the prince's companion, he has never done these things before, not to mention the cumbersome auspicious clothes, and it would be very unlucky if he accidentally made a mistake. However, Liu Qingyan is very proficient in underwear, middle clothes, Straight, unlined upper garment, and finally the apricot-yellow outer robe, each of which was perfectly put on by Cheng Muzhi.

The jade belt hook newly made in Neizhi's mansion for two days was also fastened carefully. Liu Qingyan tidied up all the corners for him, and finally turned his attention to his hair.

He combed Cheng Muzhi's hair, and then gently tied it up with a hair tie, "Your Highness, I can't tie your hair today, and I want the mistress to do your hair for you."

"I know." He waved his hand and asked the maid to wait outside, "Retire first, I will be fine soon, and the time for the hair tie ceremony will not be delayed." Then he put it down, "Ayan, don't you give me the gift you gave me at this time?"

Liu Qingyan shook her head, seeing his expectant look and feeling a little bit reluctant, but she still didn't give him anything, "Your Highness, I will give you a gift after today's hairdressing ceremony." The mistress of the hair tie ceremony was not happy about it, so she kept the things to please him, so how could he just take them away in a coquettish way?Still a little worried about his mood today, Liu Qingyan quietly held his hand and wrote the word "Ping" in his hand.

"Your Highness tied your hair today, I can only wait for you to come back in the East Palace, Your Highness..."

"I know, Ah Yan doesn't need to worry too much, then I'll just wait for your gift." Cheng Muzhi smiled back and held his hand, leading him all the way to the threshold of the inner room, Liu Qingyan finally broke free Kailai, "Your Highness... you?"

Cheng Muzhi let go of Liu Qingyan's gentle hand with some reluctance, and raised the prince's serious air again. Gao Jin, who had been waiting outside the door, rushed up to meet him, "Your Highness, we should go to the Temple of Heaven."

It wasn't until he got in the carriage and separated from Liu Qingyan that his face turned completely cold, and he didn't even want to put on a serious air. When he thought that today's mistress is the concubine Yan Gui who killed his mother, how could he be completely calm!What's more, he didn't think Concubine Yan Gui would make his hair tie ceremony smooth sailing, and the uneasiness in his heart became more intense when he didn't see Concubine Yan Gui at the entrance of the Temple of Heaven.

According to the etiquette of the prince's hair-tying ceremony in previous years, the emperor first waited for the mistress and the recipient to enter in front of the ancestral temple, but this time Cheng Muzhi's hair-tying ceremony had some changes.No one came to inform in advance that he walked into the ancestral temple alone today, and when he was at the main gate of the Temple of Heaven, he was the only one.

After waiting in place for a stick of incense, Su Wenquan, who was beside the emperor, hurriedly informed him, "Your Highness, you need to enter the inner room of the ancestral temple alone today. The mistress suddenly feels unwell, and I'm afraid I can't be with you. The mistress has already Waiting for you in the inner room."

Cheng Muzhi didn't care about this change, as expected, I'm afraid this is just the beginning... Walking slowly towards the ancestral temple, he saw the emperor and concubine Yan Gui waiting for him inside the ancestral temple.

Cheng Muzhi flicked the hem of his clothes, stepped across the threshold, then knelt down respectfully, and made a big salute, "My son knocks on my father, long live my father." Then he turned to Concubine Yan Gui, "Kowtow to the Lord Mother, the mistress is blessed and safe."

Concubine Yan Gui hurriedly helped him up, seeming to be polite, "Your Highness the Crown Prince does not need to be overly polite. Today's hair-tying ceremony suddenly changed due to my palace's physical discomfort. It is really an accident. Fortunately, the auspicious time was not delayed. I hope Your Highness will not blame you. "

Cheng Muzhi looked at Concubine Yan Gui. She was wearing a golden silk crown with a phoenix pattern and tail feathers, and a golden phoenix inlaid beaded crown on her head. It was already a standard queen's configuration. explain?However, even though he knew it in his heart, what he said was still generally appropriate, "It is Mu Zhi's good fortune that Concubine Yan Gui is willing to send hair to the mistress for Mu Zhishu, so how can I blame you?"

"That's very good." Concubine Yan Gui smiled happily and looked in the direction of Emperor Hengde. After finding that Emperor Hengde didn't care about this conversation, she was even more satisfied. You, the prince, have done so ungraciously, and you have been abolished. , it's not too late!

Emperor Hengde, who had been silent all this time, finally said, "Prince, go and salute your ancestors first, the hair tie ceremony is about to begin." "Yes." Cheng Muzhi took two more steps inside, posing He knelt down in front of the neatly arranged tablets, and kowtowed to each ancestor three times in turn.

The last one just got up after kowtowing, on the jade steps outside the ancestral temple, a total of [-] drums on both sides were sounded at the same time, and after six vigorous drum beats, the hair-tying ceremony officially began.Cheng Muzhi left the ancestral temple and walked along the jade steps to the altar in the distance.The emperor and Concubine Yan Gui are still in the ancestral temple, waiting for him to perform the haircut ceremony for him after the first receiving ceremony.

The high priest had been waiting for him on the altar for a long time, and it was the most auspicious hour of the day just after Chen.Cheng Muzhi saluted to the high priest, and then, under the signal of the high priest, faced the altar, clasped his hands together, left hand outward, and saluted three times towards the altar.

The high priest read a congratulatory speech for him next to him, "On the auspicious day of the month, I will start to add yuan clothes. Abandon your young ambitions, and follow your success. Shoukao Weiqi, Jieer Jingfu." Cheng Muzhi bowed again. ancestors.

"Jiyue Lingchen, Shen Erfu. Respect Er Weiyi, Shu Shende. My eyebrows will live forever, and I will receive Hu Fu forever." He turned around and saluted again, this salute was to the heaven and the earth.

"With the righteousness of the year, with the order of the month, Xianjiaer is obedient. Brothers are present, so that they can become Jude. The yellow scorpion has no boundaries, and it is celebrated by the sky." Cheng Muzhi saluted to the left and right. This salute is the same as the previous one. The combination of the two rituals is to worship the four directions.

"The ceremony is over!" After the three paragraphs of eulogy were congratulated, all the ministers who watched the ceremony knelt down and saluted, "I wish His Royal Highness the crown prince a success in receiving the gift from heaven!"

"My palace thank you ministers. Please hurry up, ministers." Cheng Muzhi returned the gift.

The high priest on the side handed the hair crown and hair belt buckle to Antai, the priest who was waiting under the stage, and proclaimed loudly: "Go to the ancestral temple, the mistress will tie her hair!" The lengthy tone announced the end of the hair tie ceremony. One step at a time, Cheng Muzhi returned to the ancestral temple with the deafening drums on both sides of the jade steps.This time, the eighteen drums beat eight times in total, corresponding to the time of Chen Shi.

Cheng Muzhi crossed the threshold, exchanged salutes with Concubine Yan Gui, then knelt and sat on the cushion facing outwards, with courtiers on both sides of the jade steps who came to watch the ceremony.The scent on Concubine Yan Guifei's body became more intense behind him. He felt that the hair tie was taken off, and his hair was completely loose. He frowned imperceptibly, and his anxiety grew stronger.

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Note: The three congratulatory speeches read by the high priest in the article are all from "Yili Shiguanli", the author is from the pre-Qin period, and the author is unknown.