After the rebirth, I was picked up by the prince

In the 23th day of April in the [-]rd year of Hongchu, at Yinshi in early summer, the distant sky was hazy and white with mist, and the singing of birds was scattered among the intertwined and lush green leaves.

And the capital, which was supposed to be gradually waking up from the night, was already full of noise at this time.

Countless people woke up from their sleep early and came to the sacrificial altar next to the National Teacher Pagoda.

According to the custom of the National Teacher Pagoda, each young pagoda master will perform his first sacrifice on a certain morning in the first early summer of the first summer when he lives in the National Teacher Tower, when the first ray of sunlight falls.

This sacrifice symbolizes the official determination of the successor of the National Master Tower. After the sacrifice, all major events that happened in the year will be linked to the future prestige of the Shaota Master and the national fortune after the Shaota Master succeeds.

——The common people have heard before that today will be the first sacrifice for the new Shaota master.

In addition to the people who were full of interest, Emperor Hongchu decided to stop for a day and ordered the prince to go to participate in the sacrifice.

The importance of the Shaota Master's first sacrifice is self-evident.

At this time, in the National Teacher Tower, Qi Zizhen was standing in front of the window on the fourth floor of the National Teacher Tower, watching the increasing crowd in front of the sacrificial altar, his eyes filled with thoughts.

Song Yaoxu walked to his side and smiled softly: "Come and change into the sacrificial attire."

Only then did he withdraw his thoughts, nodded his head and took a last look at the circle after circle of people outside the sacrificial altar, then turned and walked to the pile of heavy dresses.

At the end of two days ago, it was Song Yaoxu who sorted out the order and method of wearing these clothes little by little, and helped him put them on while talking to Qi Zizhen.

However, Qi Zizhen was distracted from the beginning to the end, and when Song Yaoxu asked him if he remembered it, he could only shake his head sincerely.

Song Yaoxu expressed helplessness, and finally decided to help him change it again on the day of sacrifice.

For this reason, they came to the National Teacher Tower one night earlier yesterday on the grounds of preparing for sacrifices, and rested together in the guest room on the fourth floor of the National Teacher Tower.

And Ning Qingwei estimated the time to wake them up early to wash and eat. Now as long as they change into their dresses, it is almost time for sunrise.

Qi Zizhen absentmindedly stood on the spot as a clothes hanger, letting Song Yaoxu carefully dress the layers of dresses for him neatly.

As the so-called first time is born and second time is familiar, this time Song Yaoxu's movements are much more skillful than the first time, and it took less than a quarter of an hour to arrange everything.He patted the wide cuffs lightly, and when he got up, he saw Qi Zizhen with his head down, wondering what he was thinking.

There is only one bed in the guest room on the fourth floor of the National Master Tower, and they slept together last night, Song Yaoxu naturally knew that Qi Zizhen did not fall asleep until very late.

He smiled and rubbed Qi Zizhen's loose hair, and asked softly, "Are you worried about the sacrifice later?"

Qi Zizhen was awakened by his gentle movements, and nodded slightly.

He had always thought that this sacrificial ceremony was just a little sacrificial ceremony for him to show his face and practice his hands. He didn't realize something was wrong until Emperor Hongchu ordered him to stop for a day yesterday. meaning.

From the current life to the past life to the present life, he has never participated in any very important or large-scale occasions except for playing the stone qin which he is best at - this is still a field he has never touched.

No matter how cold his temper is, he will feel a little nervous in his heart.

In case something goes wrong in any link, it doesn't matter if he can see it clearly, but the National Master Tower can't.He represents not only himself, but also the title of Master of the Young Pagoda that he bears, the National Master Pagoda behind him.

Qi Zizhen sighed quietly: "I shouldn't have agreed to live in the National Teacher Tower in the first place."

Listening to his complaining tone, Song Yaoxu smiled lightly: "Don't worry, I have already discussed with the national teacher when you had breakfast. Since you are famous for your stone qin, you will change it to the stone qin in the second half of today's sacrificial ceremony." Cui Liang has already gone back to pick up the stone qin.

"Playing a short piece of Shiqin on the spot, shouldn't it be difficult for our Zizhen?"

Hearing this, Qi Zizhen paused, and raised his head to meet the clear and pure smile in Song Yaoxu's eyes, like the sparkling lake light in spring, clean and beautiful.

After a while, a smile appeared between his brows and eyes: "Thank you, Your Highness."

Song Yaoxu didn't say anything, just smiled and said, "Sit down at the table, and I'll put the hair crown on for you."

Qi Zizhen was already used to being taken care of by him, so he nodded and sat down obediently, while he combed his messy hair, and then gently put on a white jade hair crown.The clothes were almost finished. After a simple check to make sure there were no problems, the two walked out of the fourth floor together and went down to the National Teacher Tower to wait for the start of the sacrificial ceremony.

Ning Qingwei and Ling Ning had been waiting downstairs.

Seeing Qi Zizhen walking down slowly, Lingning meowed softly, walked up to him and rubbed against him.

Song Yaoxu first bent down to pick it up, and while gently stroking its white fur, he smiled and coaxed the child and said, "Zizhen has something important to do, so I'm afraid I can't play with you for the time being."

"Meow~" Lingning didn't know if she really understood, she nestled in Song Yaoxu's arms and rubbed against her a few times like a baby, her pair of blue and gold pupils were full of ignorance and cleanliness that only belonged to small animals.

Qi Zizhen on the side was itchy to watch, but he still couldn't help reaching out and scratching Lingning's chin lightly.

Ning Qingwei only watched around them, and only reminded Qi Zizhen to get ready when the time was almost up.

Qi Zizhen withdrew his hand reluctantly after hearing the words, went through the process of the sacrificial ceremony again in his mind, calmed down his mind, and waited quietly for the time.

About another quarter of an hour passed, the sun rose in the east, and the light halo passed through the window sash facing east on the bottom floor of the National Teacher Tower, and fell leisurely on the white blanket.

At the same time, the gate of the National Teacher Tower was slowly pushed open, and the guard in light armor knelt on one knee, clasped his fists in both hands, and said loudly, "Welcome to the National Teacher, Young Pagoda Master."

The people outside the National Teacher Pagoda also knelt down on the ground one after another, with a submissive attitude

"Welcome to the national teacher, the young pagoda master——"

The black crowd shouted in unison, countless birds fluttered their wings from behind the sacrificial altar, and flew into the vast blue sky.

As a foil, Ning Qingwei was only wearing a wide-sleeved gown with a black background and fine golden crane pattern today, which matched the plain black mask with thin borders and gold inlays.

He walked in front of Qi Zizhen and led him all the way to the steps of the altar.

Qi Zizhen bowed his head to pay tribute to him, then paced slowly, and walked up to the sacrificial altar alone.

A section of the heavy and pure white dress was dragged on the ground, a large pattern of fine golden epiphyllum patterns interlaced with dark patterns of silver and white butterfly birds, hazy and holy in the light halo of the morning.

He walked forward step by step, stepping on the sacrificial altar with his boots with golden cloud patterns on the white background, making a few slow, light sounds in the quiet world.

The slender tassels on the white jade crown swayed slightly with his hair, and the tiny white jade beads collided with each other, making a crisp sound.

Qi Zizhen walked slowly, and his pretty face was even more indifferent, like a white lotus blooming alone in the middle of the sacrificial altar, elegant and cool.

He raised his eyes and looked at the common people standing up one after another under the sacrificial altar, and raised his hand to receive a string of bells handed over by the guards.

According to the process, every time the bell is shaken three times, a prayer must be recited to maximize the sense of ritual.

According to the ceremony, Qi Zizhen recited the prayers clearly and fluently, most of which were old sayings to bless good weather, live and work in peace and contentment, and peace and tranquility.

The melodiousness of the bell and the coldness of the young man's voice permeated, occupying all the movement in this small world.

Almost all the people present held their breaths and listened reverently and solemnly.

After the prayer was finished, Qi Zizhen put the bell back on the tray that the guard respectfully handed over, and walked slowly to the stone qin placed dignifiedly on a small round platform.

The small round platform was originally prepared for the next sacrificial ceremony, but now it has been changed to place the stone qin, and a white blanket from the National Teacher Tower was laid.The Shiqin has already been taken out of the wooden box and placed on the round platform alone, with a hammer placed on each side——

It was the pair of piano hammers that Song Shi gave to Qi Zizhen not long ago.

Qi Zizhen lowered his eyes to put away his emotions, walked to the white fur cushion in front of the round platform and knelt down slowly, and picked up the hammers on both sides of the stone qin.

He took a breath, quickly ran through a piece of music in his mind, and then slowly dropped the first note.

The ethereal and crisp sound suddenly shattered the usual desertedness in the sacrificial altar.

Followed by notes one after another, they jumped out of the keys of the stone qin with the hammer of Qi Zizhen's hammer, forming an extremely elegant melody.

It seems to be walking into a lush valley, with birds chirping and brooks, flowers and plants fragrant, without any trace of noise, it is extremely quiet.

"Ding--"

"Chirp!"

Just at this time, a high-pitched sound suddenly fell, and a group of birds suddenly flew up, singing and flapping towards the sacrificial altar, circling in the sky above the sacrificial altar to express their voices.

Chirping birds, singing and swallows, it is a rare bird singing together!After the treble, the Qingling qin sound turns suddenly, from deserted and elegant to cheerful and fresh.

All the birds are contending, and the sound of the zither is flowing. For a moment, it is not known whether the birds are accompaniment to the stone qin, or the stone qin is echoing the music of the birds.

Seeing this grand occasion, the common people around the sacrificial altar were amazed and speechless for a moment, until the sound of the zither stopped and the birds dispersed.

Even Song Yaoxu, who also witnessed all this in the National Teacher Tower, couldn't help but be surprised for a while, before finally turning his attention back to the young man in white clothes on the stage.

As the sacrificial ceremony drew to a close, the rising sun had long hung high in the blue sky, and a large piece of warm golden light hit the young man's white and straight body.

In a trance, people feel that he seems to be independent of the whole world, aloof.

Qi Zizhen sat on his knees and calmed down for a while, then put down the hammer in his hand again, and stood up with support.

His actions also completely brought back the spirits of the people, they all knelt down on the ground, and shouted again reverently: "Farewell to the young pagoda master!"

The sound was even louder than before.

Qi Zizhen greeted them vaguely according to the etiquette, then turned around, walked down the sacrificial altar under the guidance of the guards, and returned to the National Teacher Pagoda step by step under the watchful eye.

However, at the moment when the gate of the National Teacher Tower was closed, he suddenly softened and almost fell to the ground.

"Be careful." Song Yaoxu caught him with quick eyes and hands, and frowned slightly at the slightly pale lips, "What's the matter, but what's wrong?"

With his support, Qi Zizhen managed to stand still after a while, nodded and said, "I don't know why, but I suddenly felt dizzy."

Ning Qingwei who was on the side stepped forward upon hearing the words, narrowed his eyes and said, "Maybe I'm tired from the busy sacrifice these days, let's take a rest here first."

Tables and chairs were prepared on each floor of the National Teacher Tower. Qi Zizhen remembered the diagnosis made by the imperial physician before, and nodded to the side to rest temporarily.

Song Yaoxu supported him all the way, and even poured him a cup of hot water.

Fortunately, Qi Zizhen did not have any major problems. After resting for a while, he almost recovered, and was about to change out of the overly heavy dress.

At this moment, the guard waiting at the door came in and said that there was a boy who wished to meet the young pagoda master.

Qi Zizhen froze for a moment, a little dazed.

Ning Qingwei was very familiar with this kind of thing, and said calmly: "No accident, I will be your follower in the future, do you want to meet?"

According to what the guard said, the boy was probably in his teens, so Qi Zizhen decided to go out and meet him after a long consideration.

Considering his discomfort just now, Song Yaoxu followed him just in case.

Outside the National Teacher Pagoda, the bustling crowd basically dispersed, only a little boy stood anxiously in front of the tower gate, clutching the hem of his clothes tightly in one hand, and when he saw Qi Zizhen walking out, he hurriedly knelt down and saluted.

"The little one has seen the master of the young tower."

The boy's voice trembled a little, as if he was very nervous.

Qi Zizhen had no intention of embarrassing a child he didn't know, and said indifferently: "You don't need to be too polite. Why do you want to see me on a special trip?"

Xiaotong stood up slowly after obediently thanking him, biting his lips and clenching his hands, as if he wanted to say something but dared not speak.

On the other hand, Song Yaoxu, who was on Qi Zizhen's side, took a few glances at him, and suddenly asked, "Are you the kid who was with his sister by the stone bridge in the first lunar month?"

Hearing the word "Stone Bridge", the little boy looked up at Song Yaoxu in surprise, and only after a while did he remember: "You, are you the young master from that day?"

Song Yaoxu smiled: "Yes. So you asked to see him today because you wanted to ask if Zizhen was the one who played on the stone bridge that day?"

The thoughts in his heart were seen, the little boy nodded with a blushing face, looked at Qi Zizhen cautiously, and then said softly: "I, little, I have admired that fairy since the first time he played, but later the fairy never heard of it again." came……"

As the little boy said, his expression became a little lost, but he quickly realized that he couldn't lose his composure, and hurriedly picked up his emotions and continued: "But, but the little one just listened to the performance of the master of the pagoda. Immortals are very similar...

"That's why I dared to come to see you."

Considering the sanctity of the sacrifice, Qi Zizhen did insert a short piece of tune that he had played on the first moon stone bridge when he played just now, and made some changes in order to make the tune blend properly.

The whole episode is only five or six breaths long, and I never thought that this could be noticed.

He looked at Xiaotong's timid and admiring eyes, nodded for a while and admitted: "The person on the stone bridge on the [-]th is indeed me, but I am not some fairy."

Then he changed the subject and asked again, "What's your name?"

Before Xiaotong had time to be pleasantly surprised, when he heard him ask his name, he remembered that he had not reported his family name abruptly, and hurriedly replied: "Xiao, Xiao's name is Xiaoqi, and his surname is Xu, Xu Xiaoqi."

Qi Zizhen nodded and didn't speak, but his attitude was obviously not as alienated and indifferent as before.

After the previous simple conversation, Xu Xiaoqi could subconsciously feel that Qi Zizhen and Song Yaoxu were relatively friendly people, so he plucked up the courage and said tentatively: "Then, that, can you dare to ask the young pagoda master, why did you ask me why?" Suddenly no longer on the stone bridge? Little, little always thought that something happened..."

After speaking, Xu Xiaoqi seemed to feel that it was inappropriate, and quickly added: "I don't mean anything else, just, I just look forward to hearing the sound of the young pagoda master's piano again... and so on..."

At the end, Xu Xiaoqi probably felt that no matter how he uttered something strange, he lowered his head halfway and grabbed the corners of his clothes with both hands.

"So, so, will the young pagoda master play again in the future?"

Qi Zizhen heard Xu Xiaoqi's voice getting weaker and weaker, and was unable to speak for a while.

The nineteen days when he played on the stone bridge, in the final analysis, it was just his willful behavior for a while. He never thought that there would be people who would always worry about him because of his willful behavior.

He even didn't expect that in the huge capital city, there would be such a small and pure expectation.

He let out a soft breath, stepped forward and gently put his hands on Xu Xiaoqi's shoulders, his cold voice mixed with a bit of softness.

"If you want, you will. There will be some in the future sacrifices."

Xu Xiaoqi raised her head in surprise, her shining eyes were so clean that she didn't even care about her status for a while: "Really!"

Qi Zizhen nodded: "I promise you."

"Thank you, Master Pagoda!"

Xu Xiaoqi bowed solemnly and sincerely, and then finally hesitantly and cautiously left.

Qi Zizhen watched him walk away step by step, lowered his eyes to withdraw his thoughts, and went to change the dress together with Song Yaoxu.

Song Yaoxu didn't say anything except the first words to guide Xu Xiaoqi, and accompanied him back with a smile.

The brief but solemn sacrificial ceremony came to an end, and the two returned to the East Palace together after having lunch in the National Master Pagoda.

The sacrificial ceremony didn't go wrong, so you just need to pay attention to all kinds of major events within half a year. If it's auspicious, you'll praise your luck, and if it's unlucky, you can just make up a reason to make it better.

But none of them expected that this big event would come so quickly.

At Maoshi the next day, Qi Zizhen, who was used to not getting up until Song Yaoxu's next court, woke up early and couldn't fall back asleep even after tossing and turning.

He opened his eyes on the bed and looked at the bed curtain for a while, and finally got up early, after a simple wash, he took the sword and went to the yard to practice, but he was always absent-minded.

Qi Zizhen let out a breath, vaguely feeling that something bad was about to happen.

He looked up at the gray sky, put his sword back into its sheath, and prepared to wait quietly for Song Yaoxu to come down, and have breakfast together as usual.

But the last thing he waited for was Song Yaoxu who was dressed in a court uniform with a dignified face, and a battle report that just arrived this morning in his hand.

——The Wumeng Kingdom, which was originally friendly, launched an attack with lightning speed a few days ago, and captured two cities on the northwest border in succession. Two guards escaped and their whereabouts are unknown.

The author has something to say: the second is three o'clock in the afternoon~

Thanks to the nutrient solution and mines, both are unified in the update chapter mua at [-]:[-] p.m.