Qi Huang

Ten days later, the Double Ninth Festival Ceremony finally started under the eyes of everyone.The prince, wearing a golden crown, leaned over a high platform to burn incense.

For such a grand ceremony, everyone with status needs to be present, even the emperor is no exception.

The emperor looked ruddy, and his eyes were divine. Sitting beside him, the queen mother seemed to glance at him inadvertently: "Your Majesty has been radiant recently."

Xie Qingshan: "It must have been arranged by the heavens, the ancestors didn't want me to see them in embarrassment."

The Queen Mother smiled and said: "Then Your Majesty must take good care of his health in the future, and strive to attend court affairs in person as soon as possible, so that the Empress Dowager Regent, who is not well-known, can return to the harem to enjoy happiness as soon as possible."

It was clearly just a few homely greetings, but Dequan, who was standing beside the emperor, was covered in cold sweat.At this time, only Zhao Xian dared to talk too much.

"Your Majesty, how can you say that? Your Majesty has seen it through working hard for the country day and night."

The queen mother said lightly: "Really?"

This time, even Zhao Xian was repelled by the chill in the Queen Mother's words.

The sacrificial ceremony was scheduled outside the royal ancestral hall, and as far as the eye could see, the entire ancestral hall was crowded with people.In order to ensure the order and safety of the sacrificial site, General Wang Qi personally led the Imperial Forest Army outside the Wenxuan Gate, and many hidden guards were placed around the sacrificial site to ensure the smooth progress of the sacrificial ceremony.

However, the Queen Mother didn't seem to care about it.

Her eyes fell on Xie Duan who was standing on a high place.

It was a temporary altar set up for the ceremony, and it was also the place closest to the sky, where the tributes and the tablets of the royal ancestors were located.The common saying is that the imperial power is granted by heaven. Throughout the ages, countless emperors were born in this square inch of land. Now, it is Xie Duan's turn.

All the ministers thought, as long as His Royal Highness can preside over the ceremony satisfactorily, then after the death of the emperor, he will be the king.

Xie Duan's crown prince position is given by the queen mother, unless the queen mother loses power, or... the emperor appoints a new king.

The incense used for sacrifices is naturally the best incense in the world. When the ministers leaned over, the smell lingering at the tip of their noses was extremely strong.The three incense sticks are half burned, and the drums and sheng are played, and the ceremony is completed.

The long and thick sound of the drum was transmitted thousands of miles away. As long as one was in the palace, one could hear the sound of the drum, which symbolized the authority of the emperor.

Knock three times before the ceremony to comfort the ancestors, knock three times during the ceremony to tell the gods, and knock three times after the ceremony, so that it can be said that the Great Zhou will last forever.

boom--

boom--

boom--

boom!

Some courtiers heard something was wrong, and anxiously asked their colleagues around them for confirmation: "Am I deaf? Why did I hear four knocks?"

The colleague was also terrified, and stroked his beard again and again: "I heard that right, it's four times. It seems that something big is going to happen..."

A burly middle-aged man next to him snorted coldly: "What big things can happen? The Empress Dowager sits here. When have you ever seen things go wrong under her nose?"

The one who was so anxious that he kept stroking his beard was a fourth-rank official. He heard the sound and said, "Who are you? Why don't you wear an official uniform?"

If you don't wear official uniforms, you don't have a rank.There are thousands of officials in Dazhou, who can know who when they take off their clothes?Only with the official uniform on his body can he adjust his attitude according to his rank.Seeing the temperament of a scholar in this middle-aged man, the officials of the fourth grade couldn't help feeling suspicious.

Fortunately, the middle-aged man held his head high and declared his family name: "I am the owner of the dealer."

Fourth grade official: "I don't know."

The owner of the dealer: "..."

"I only know the four great families—Wang, Li, Fengqin, which one is the banker? Farmer?"

The surrounding officials who listened to the excitement couldn't help but hold back their laughter, which made the owner of the banker's face sullen and his ears turn red.It is mixed with "I know, I know, is it the banker who works under the Qin family? A family with only a few dozen people dares to call itself the head of the family, and they are not afraid of being laughed out of their teeth" and so on.

The owner of the dealer took a deep breath and looked in the direction of Xie Duan with a cold look on his face.

After the sound of the four drums was heard, more people noticed that something was wrong. It was okay for one person to question, but under the large number of people, no matter how small the voice was, it seemed abnormally restless under the empty altar.

Many voices came rustling, and there were people sitting as firmly as a mountain under the seats.

For example, the Queen Mother.

Xie Duan's palms were sweating. It's not like he didn't notice such a big movement, and he also noticed the abnormal sound of the drum, but he had to be steady, such an important ceremony could not be defeated by his hands.

After burning incense, it is necessary to lead all the ministers to worship the ancestors.

But before that, we must first bow down to the current emperor.

However, the emperor lost power, and the empress dowager sat one step higher than the emperor, so the ministers wanted to change the object of worship.Since the establishment of the Great Zhou Dynasty, there has been no precedent for worshiping women, even if the Queen Mother holds great power and is in charge of the life and death of the people in the world.

At this moment, a stern voice suddenly broke through the air.

"Wait a minute—"

Everyone looked up one after another.

At the very end of the crowd, a man in black came walking quickly and shouted loudly: "The Queen Mother Wang Jinse disregards morals, kills husbands and kings, cruels loyal and good people, and it is too difficult to write down! The truth has been dusted for many years, today's righteousness will definitely kill evil!"

There was an uproar.

Xie Duan shook his hand, almost knocking off the tribute on the altar.But he tried his best to strangle his trembling hand and let out a slow breath.

On the high seat next to him, Dequan and Zhao Xian were already kneeling on the ground in horror.Only the emperor and the empress looked indifferent, and the emperor could still understand that after being tortured by illness for so many years, he had already cultivated a stone-like face, but...

Suddenly being accused of several crimes, the queen mother remained expressionless, and didn't even stand up, as if she was watching a farce that had nothing to do with her.

Someone identified the man's identity by his clothes: "Golden collar with lotus pattern...that's Xuan Jinwei from the Feng family!"

"Could it be... the Ninth Prince is in the capital?!"

"I'm afraid the sky in the capital is about to change..."

As if confirming their conjecture, after Xuan Qi shouted loudly, Feng Jiuyuan slowly stood up from the crowd.

King Huaiyuan - the Ninth Prince, because he is not in the capital all the year round, few people can recognize him by his face alone.If you want to identify the identity first, you must be the first to recognize Xuan Jinwei who was left behind by Huaiyuan Wang Fengyi.

The Feng family is also a relative of the emperor. Although they are kings with different surnames, their status should not be underestimated.Now, even the Feng family has come forward to accuse the Queen Mother. Now, the Queen Mother may no longer be able to deal with him like rumors in Beijing.

Killing husbands and kings... Could it be that the first emperor died at the hands of the queen mother? !

Such a terrifying idea gradually sprouted in the hearts of everyone.

If the first emperor had died at the hands of the empress dowager, then the empress dowager's methods and temperament would be beyond the reach of ordinary people!

In panic, the Queen Mother slowly opened her mouth.

"Jiuyuan." The queen mother said calmly, "If you just listened to rumors, Aijia can forgive you."

Feng Jiuyuan: "Your Majesty, do you want evidence?"

With a chuckle, he pulled out a person from among the Xuanjin guards who surrounded him with his backhand: "How about this evidence?"

Everyone took a closer look, only to see that the man was wearing Xuan Jinwei's strong attire, but his eyebrows and eyes were somewhat similar to Xie Qingshan.The fourth-rank official stroking his beard was surnamed Liu, and his eyes widened when he saw this person: "This is... this is... King Yong!"

King Yong Xie Qingyan, brother of Xie Qingshan.

There seems to be some kind of curse in the royal family of the Xie family in the Great Zhou Dynasty. The descendants of the royal family have never seen the grand occasion of flourishing branches since some generation.After the branches and leaves were finally bloomed, the dead and crazy died again, and most of them died young.Especially in the year when the first emperor passed away, only one Xie Qingshan remained from the descendants of the royal family of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

It stands to reason that Xie Qingyan should have passed away due to illness in the 32nd year of Pingjia, which was the last year of the late emperor's reign.

Why is it reappearing here now?

Unless...the death of the royal family's descendants was something else.

The answer is already on the horizon.

Since Feng Jiuyuan dared to throw Xie Qingyan out in front of so many people, he must be fully prepared.

Xuan Qi nodded at Feng Jiuyuan, and took a step forward: "Back then, the late emperor was poisoned and died by the queen mother Wang Jinse, and the prince under her knee was also murdered. In order to conceal this big lie and steal the imperial power, she killed the late emperor. Dozens of princes were slaughtered!"

"His Royal Highness King Yong narrowly escaped death and was rescued by Feng's family. He has been raised in Beijiang until now. The Ninth Prince wanted to completely bury this past. Unexpectedly, many years later, the Empress Dowager repeated the old trick and used the method she used to treat the former emperor. Used it on His Majesty today!"

"That's right." Master Liu said heartily, "The descendants of the former emperor were withered, why did it come to His Majesty, and there are not many princes under his knees? I don't believe it if there is nothing tricky. Besides, the Queen Mother always announced that His Majesty was seriously ill, and said yes The disease brought out of the mother's womb, now that I think about it, it is full of loopholes!"

While he was thinking about it, he suddenly felt a person beside him "swipe" and stood up.

Master Liu took a closer look, and found that it was the owner of the banker who had a dispute with them at first.He searched his memory for a while, and finally remembered that this person seemed to be the uncle of Qin Ting, the patriarch of the Qin family. What's his name...Zhuang Qing!

Zhuang Qing seemed to be filled with righteous indignation: "Just by pushing out one person, he can be identified as His Royal Highness King Yong? Everyone knows that the Feng family was forced to go to the place where the birds don't shit in northern Xinjiang ten years ago. How can we prove it now?" Didn't the Ninth Prince hold a grudge in his heart, deliberately framed the Queen Mother!"

"Hey, Uncle, long time no see, your mouth has changed a lot."

Suddenly, another voice came from Feng Jiuyuan's side.

Qin Ting, who was supposed to be squatting on the bank of the Yongzhou River eating mud, came slowly from behind Feng Jiuyuan.No matter when and where, even on such a serious occasion, he wears a solemn official uniform and also wears a folding fan.Now that he took it out, he smiled gracefully, but he was a little embarrassed.

"Uncle, didn't you say that you would swear to the death that you would not bow to the royal family of the Xie family? What kind of favor has the empress dowager given you now, and you are so anxious to defend it?"

Zhuang Qing suddenly turned livid: "You!"

"However... the lower officials don't believe this either." Qin Ting changed his voice, stretched out his folding fan and pointed at Feng Jiuyuan, who pushed him away with two fingers, "What uncle said actually made sense, who knew that His Highness King Yong Is your identity true or false?"

After that, he kowtowed to the queen dowager in the distance as if proving himself: "The empress dowager, although the lower officials hold the same views as my uncle, but uncle Zhuangqing's heart is incomparable, the empress dowager is a clear lesson. "

Zhuang Qing's face turned darker: "Qin Ting!"

The old case that should have shocked the government and the public gradually began to develop in a strange direction because of Qin Ting's appearance.The horrified state of mind of the ministers was mostly washed away by this playful scene, and when they remembered the reaction of seeing the queen mother, the queen mother was still sitting firmly on the high platform.

So they became suspicious.

Could it be...Feng Jiuyuan is the one talking nonsense?

In an instant, the situation was like looking at flowers in a fog, making people confused.

Until a thunderous news exploded in the crowd with a bang.

The little eunuch who came to report must have just arrived, and rushed all the way into the sacrificial place, the panic expression on his face was beyond words.He passed many ministers all the way, and then knelt down at the feet of the queen mother with a "bang".

"Empress Dowager! General Wang Qi entrusted the younger one to report that the Yongzhou rebels have surrounded the capital, and another group has sneaked into the imperial city at some point!"

Master Liu stood up abruptly: "What?!"

It is no small matter for the rebels to appear at this time!

What's more, they actually entered the palace everywhere!All of a sudden, the officials who were trapped in the sacrificial field due to today's mutation panicked.

How can life-threatening things not panic!

Master Liu was in a hurry, trying to think of a way to sneak out of the palace first.It’s fine if it’s just a small-scale assassin. If it’s really a rebel who needs to dispatch an army, then how should they protect themselves, these civil servants who can’t lift their hands or shoulders!

However, he was in a hurry and panic, and the undercurrents hidden among the many courtiers also quietly emerged at this time.

Master Liu didn't notice the excitement that flashed across their faces when they heard the appearance of the rebels.

At the moment when everyone was in a mess, the queen mother stood up.

Her height is not considered tall among women, but because she is standing on a high platform and is the current master of the world, others can only look up when they see her.

Her eyes swept over everyone one by one, anxious, angry, fearful, watching the theater, all beings with all kinds of appearances.

After a while, she looked back at Xie Qingshan: "Your Majesty, what do you think?"

Xie Qingshan: "What?"

"They have listed countless crimes against Aijia, Your Majesty, do you believe it or not?"

Xie Qingshan raised his eyes slightly.

In fact, when it comes to talking about it, Xie Xuan is only three points similar to him in appearance.And the similarity of these three copies lies in this look.

The chaotic sacrificial field became strangely quiet after the Queen Mother spoke out.In an instant, everyone's eyes fell on Xie Qingshan.

Xie Qingshan was silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled and said: "Brother Huang died more than ten years ago, it is impossible to come back from the dead."

"Your Majesty means that the King Yong brought by the Ninth Prince is a fake?"

"It's fake." Xie Qingshan glanced at Xie Qingyan from a distance.Even if the latter heard this sentence from the crowd far away, even if he was an idiot, he wanted to run forward in a hurry, but Xuan Qi grabbed him back.

He was about to cry, he didn't know whether he was sad that Xie Qingshan didn't recognize him, or he was sad that he couldn't convey his thoughts.

So the Queen Mother laughed: "It is indeed a fake."

The ministers looked at each other.

Some people are eager to try, especially after the empress dowager personally denied it, the idea of ​​rebellion on the spot is even more ready to come out.

"Clap clap-"

The queen mother clapped her hands: "But even if it's fake, you have to be convinced."

As soon as the voice fell, two imperial guards came slowly, holding a figure hostage.

I saw that this man was wearing a prison uniform, with loose hair, and was forced by the Imperial Forest Army to raise his head. His face was exactly the same as that of "Xie Qingyan" standing on the other side of Feng Jiuyuan!

Queen Mother: "It is true that King Yong is not dead, but more than ten years ago, he failed to assassinate His Majesty and was captured by the Imperial Forest Army on the spot. His Majesty thought of his brother's affection and locked him in the underground water prison of the Royal Ancestral Hall. This article was written ten years later..."

She looked from a distance, looking in Feng Jiuyuan's direction: "Jiuyuan, have you been deceived by the thieves?"

Feng Jiuyuan lowered his eyes slightly.

"As well as everyone in the audience, the Ai family can see clearly who you are loyal and who hides evil intentions..." The queen mother looked away, glanced around among the people, and suddenly said sharply: "Yu Linjun, arrest them all!" !"

"Yes!"

Mr. Liu was still in a state of ignorance, until the colleague sitting next to him suddenly changed his official uniform into a armor, and instantly became the Imperial Forest Army guarding the palace, and he suddenly understood.

Many imperial guards pretended to be among the courtiers, and following the Queen Mother's order, like a tide, all the undercurrents were instantly swept away.

Under the chaos, most of the courtiers were surrounded and moved to a safe place. Only Zhuang Qing covered his head and dodged left and right, for fear of being shot by random arrows.

He came alone, without his personal guards.But even though he was extremely embarrassed at this time, he was happy in his heart.

He bet right!Qin Ting stood with Feng Jiuyuan at this time, and the whole Qin family might suffer.The dealer has been suppressed by the Qin family for so long, it's time to stand up and become the master!

"Zheng-"

Suddenly, an arrow flew over, pierced into the pillar above Zhuang Qing's head with a buzzing sound, interrupting his imagination.

Zhuang Qing let out a loud cry, and lay on the ground trembling with a bang.

But the owner of the arrow could barely withdraw his hand.

When being protected by Xuan Jinwei and retreating with Feng Jiuyuan, Qin Ting still had the leisure to shoot the arrow.

However, his archery skills are really not flattering, he couldn't even hit the shadow from a distance of three feet.Qin Ting gave a soft "tsk", and passed the bow to Feng Jiuyuan: "You are good at archery, help me kill him?"

Feng Jiuyuan: "?"

"I didn't like him a long time ago, but now is a good opportunity." Qin Ting smiled, but his eyes were full of murderous intent, "Leaving him is a future trouble~"

Feng Jiuyuan turned around and left.

Qin Ting was not reconciled, and while squinting his eyes and set up the arrow again, he kept talking: "You help the Queen Mother play tricks, let her find out people who are still against her in the court, and you will not be afraid that she will break the contract at that time and put Feng's family at risk." together?"

Feng Jiuyuan: "She has to have that chance too."

"Huh?" Qin Ting vaguely heard something, and the hand that drew the bow paused slightly, "His Highness, he intends to..."

With the sharp arrow in his hand, it shot out like thunder again, covering up the second half of his words.

This time, I don't know if he was lucky, or Zhuang Qing relaxed and no longer lay on the ground like a dog.As soon as he straightened up, a sharp arrow pierced through the wind, piercing his face instantly with the strong wind.

Zhuang Qing's eyes widened, and she fell down in the chaotic footsteps like a door panel.

"bingo!"

Qin Ting withdrew his hand, turned around and found Feng Jiuyuan was looking at another place.

That was the high platform where the ceremony was held.Most of the three incense sticks were burned, and the royal ancestors' ranks were still in it, looking at the chaotic crowd under the altar precariously.

But the person who presided over the sacrificial ceremony had disappeared.