Return to the Song Dynasty

In the early morning of the next day, a faint ray of sunlight penetrated through the thick window paper and entered the room, shining on the face of the hangovered Zhao Canjun, causing him to instinctively turn his head to one side and continue to sleep.However, his drowsy time did not last long, and there was a continuous knock on the door.

"Bang bang bang, bang bang bang" "Xiao Man, get up, get up!" Yao Xiong slapped the door symbolically a few times, then pushed the door open and walked in.The morning cold wind blew in, Zhao Man was shivered by the blow, without opening his eyes, he wrapped the quilt tightly around his body, buried his head in it, and rolled himself into a huge silkworm chrysalis, only Leaving a head of black shiny long hair exposed outside.

"Hehe! How old is our Zhao Canjun? Are you still lying in bed?! Hahaha, let everyone come in and have a look, hahahaha." Yao Xiong laughed loudly while pulling Zhao Man's hair , and didn’t forget to pull Zhao Man’s quilt, trying to pull the silkworm baby out of the chrysalis.

"Get up, hurry up, after breakfast, let's go to the festival!" Yao Xiong was so excited that he wanted to get Zhao Man out.

"Cold, cold, cold, let go, let go..." Poor Zhao Man was finally pulled out alive, put on his clothes limply, and was dragged away by Yao Xiong in a daze.

"What festival are you watching? There is nothing to see, we can't enter the altar..." Zhao Man, who was dizzy, muttered along the way, and the boss was dissatisfied.That's right, anyone who is carried out of the warm blanket and dragged away before eating a few mouthfuls will definitely not be happy.

"What do you know?! This is a rare large-scale festival. Even if we can't enter the altar, we can still see the entire sacrifice. The scale is very large. I heard that it is very exciting. Mr. Zhang was also specially invited to the festival. , when the time comes, ask him what the ceremony is like, then we will work together..." Yao Xiong chattered excitedly.Zhao Man felt even more headache when he heard it, he felt very boring anyway, and he had to get up early, ah!What a torture.

Looking at Yao Xiong who was jumping up and down excitedly, through the seemingly ferocious beard, Zhao Man suddenly remembered that this frisky little bear is actually only in his 20s. In modern times, he is just a young man who just graduated from university, and he is more childish. , It's a lively scene, there's nothing wrong with it. 'Okay, let's take a look with you naughty little bear. Zhao Man helplessly pressed the forehead that seemed to be jumping non-stop since he woke up in the morning.

"Let's go, let's go! Let's get a good seat first, so we can get a better look." Yao Xiong, a burly man in black with a beard and a fierce face, stretched out his hand to pull Zhao Man, who was slender and had picturesque eyebrows, in a moon-white robe.Yao Xiong has big strides and walks very fast. Zhao Man obviously couldn't keep up, and he staggered when he was pulled. No matter how you look at it, he looks like a bandit leader who robbed a house and threatened the young son of a rich family.

Along the way, many people gathered to watch. Fortunately, Zhao Man would smile and nod when he saw the people's doubtful eyes, showing that he voluntarily followed Yao Xiong, so he was not arrested by the enthusiastic people and reported to the government.Zhao Man was deeply tired of this situation.Yao Xiong, who was walking vigorously all the way, didn't know: "What? What's the matter? Xiaoman, can you walk faster!"

Zhao Man was dragged by Yao Xiong all the way, staggered, passed through Bianliang City, walked all the way to the southwest, and soon set foot on the road to Qingcheng Zhaigong.

Qingcheng Zhai Palace, located outside Nanxun Gate in the southwest of Bianliang City, is one of the main venues for the annual official ceremonies of the Song Dynasty.The Zhai Palace is surrounded by mountains and rivers, with excellent scenery, so the vicinity of the Zhai Palace has always been a good place for Bianliang people to go outing.

Yao Xiong thought he came quite early, but when he got near the official road, he realized that the people who came to see the excitement had already surrounded the official road for three floors, and there was no place to set foot! (⊙o⊙)!Yao Xiong looked confused, "Why do you all come so early?!"

"Young man, did you come from another place? It's still early. The frame of the official's house has been gone for a long time. I guess the ceremony is almost over, so you just wait to see what you can rely on when you come back." An old man standing in front Hearing Yao Xiong's exclamation, the uncle enthusiastically turned his head and gave him some advice: "There is no good place to come here now, if you want to see clearly, go further along the official road, I guess the road ahead is far away , there can be fewer people."

Yao Xiong thanked the uncle excitedly, pulled away the dazed Zhao Man and ran forward quickly. "The ceremony started too early! What time is it? It's almost over?!" Yao Xiong muttered as he walked.

"The vernal equinox festival, we must start the sacrifice when the sun rises." Zhao Man, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly said something. He looked up at the position of the sun in the sky and continued: "At this time, I am afraid that the sacrifice is over. It is estimated that we will start our return journey."

"What?! Sacrifice starts as soon as the sun rises?! Then I want to see the official family leave the city, and come out before dawn?!" Yao Xiong heard this for the first time, and belatedly yelled: " You know you didn't say it earlier! Then why are we hurrying to see it?"

"In fact, everyone may have come to see the official's home. After all, it was too dark when we left the city, so we couldn't see anything." Zhao Man hesitated and was a little uncertain, explaining intermittently.The careless Yao Xiong didn't notice the puzzled look on Zhao Man's face who lowered his head and spoke.If Chen Canjun was there, he would definitely see Zhao Man's strange expression that seemed to startle him after he finished speaking.

Confused, Zhao Man let Yao Xiong drag him along and walked all the way to the empty seat next to the official road.When I got here, I was already far away from Bianliang City, and the people watching the excitement on both sides of the official road gradually became rarer, most of them walked in groups of twos and threes, and some carried baskets with food, probably planning to watch the official sacrifices Guard of honor, let's take a walk nearby.

Zhao Man looked at the eager people beside the road, at the faintly visible low hills in the distance, and then looked back at the Bianhe River behind him, and suddenly felt a very familiar, deja vu feeling.However, what this feeling brings to Zhao Man is not a sense of comfort in the familiar environment, but an indescribable feeling of tension, panic, palpitations, and even a strange and even painful feeling of beating drums and soaring adrenaline. It was as if a catastrophe was imminent.

"Xiao Man, what's the matter with you, Xiao Man?" Yao Xiong was terrified when he saw Zhao Man suddenly squatting on the ground covering his head, and hurriedly asked.

"No, it's okay, maybe I drank too much yesterday and my head still hurts." Zhao Man shook his head with his hands in his hands, and replied stiffly.He was overwhelmed by various mental and physical problems and discomforts.Someone next to him saw Zhao Man suddenly squatting on the ground in pain, and thought he was suffering from a sudden illness, and there was a kind person who brought food, took out water and snacks, and wanted to give Zhao Man something to relieve his pain. ease.

At this moment, Zhao Man only felt pain in his head like a pinprick, and his eyes were full of stars, as if the whole head was not his own.Subconsciously, he leaned against Yao Xiong, barely drank two sips of water, and thanked everyone with stiff lips.

"Clang clang! clang clang!" The noise made Zhao Man, who was already having a splitting headache, even more uncomfortable. He had to hold Yao Xiong's arm tightly to barely stand.

From a distance, Zhao Man saw the overwhelming support of the emperor.First, the "clearing team" composed of two teams of cavalry and six-row infantry team was responsible for clearing the road.Followed by two rows of soldiers holding dragon flags, there are 12 in total. The dragon flags are waving in the wind, and the golden dragon on it is circling and flying, and the golden dragon body is shining under the sunlight.

Looking back, there are twelve rows of cavalry guards with swords, bows and arrows.The cavalrymen were all tall and burly, wearing strong and sharp clothes, keeping their eyes straight, and awe-inspiring.The onlookers cheered and cheered excitedly.The guards in the front are so imposing, and there must be more exciting ones in the back, and the impatient ones stretch their necks on tiptoes, eager to try.

What followed behind the guard was not the emperor's carriage as everyone thought, but a huge advocacy band, which made the onlookers jump for joy, and it was they who made Zhao Man's headache.The band has a dazzling variety of drums such as big drums, cymbal drums, festival drums, snare drums, and Yubao drums. Percussion instruments, in short, what kind of instruments this band uses for its loudness, the main function is to make it heard for miles around.

Behind the band is a flag array composed of various streamers, buildings and flags.Behind the Qinglong Banner and Baihu Banner are the accompanying imperial court officials and the jade carriages on which the officials ride.Yu Ren is driven by the imperial servant, surrounded by many drivers in front and behind, and escorted by two generals on both sides.Following Yu Ren is the commander of the imperial army and the servant of the official family.On the periphery, there are many teams of cavalry and infantry of the imperial army. They are equipped with bows, arrows, knives and other weapons, ready to deal with emergencies at any time.

Zhao Man supported his head and leaned against Yao Xiong, who was watching the excitement with all his attention. He only felt that the scene in front of him was very familiar, like deja vu.Even the position and arrangement of each team, the appearance of the royal driver, and the posture of the accompanying officials are all very clear.It was as if, as if he had been in that team, and had walked all the way.

Zhao Man squinted his eyes, suffering from unbearable headaches, and couldn't get up to look carefully. Just looking at the majestic royal guards, for some reason, a thought popped into his mind: "There are so many people, it's useless, there are really assassins!" I can't stand it too." The words were full of loss and uneasiness.

Yao Xiong, who heard Zhao Man's words, was so startled that he almost jumped up on the spot. He looked around to make sure that everyone was concentrating on watching the official's trip, and he didn't have time to pay attention to Zhao Man before he could feel relieved. "Xiao Man, don't talk nonsense. If someone hears this, it will be terrible! You, you... are you cursing the officials?" Yao Xiong quickly straightened Zhao Man, who was on the slump, and carefully stuck to it. Zhao Man's ear reminded.

"Ah? I... what did I say?" Zhao Man seemed to be a little distracted at this time, and the eyes he looked at Yao Xiong were also blank, not as agile as before, and his face was even more frighteningly white.Yao Xiong saw that Zhao Man's condition was really bad, and he didn't care about continuing to watch the fun. He just wanted to take Zhao Man out of the crowd, go back to the post station, and go to the pharmacy to see the doctor on the way. In short, he had to leave here quickly.

Yao Xiong is a tall man, and he thought that he would open the way ahead and drag Zhao Man behind, and he should be able to leave the crowded crowd soon, but the official's royal driver just passed by, and there were too many onlookers. The outer three floors are full of ordinary people, so they are not allowed to push and push.Yao Xiong was so empty that he couldn't use all his abilities, so he had to take Zhao Man out slowly bit by bit.

"Huh? The official stopped." A little girl holding a basket looked out curiously.

"Yes, yes, why did you stop?" The people next to him began to discuss.

"Look, look, the official family is heading to the river!"

"Don't yell, it's not an official family, it should be a prince." A scholar who was squeezed to and fro made a correction.

"Only you can? That's obviously an official family, and they are wearing red robes!" said a strong man next to him unconvinced.

"The official didn't get out of the car at all just now. I can see it for real. This one came out of the accompanying official team." An old man also participated in the discussion.

"Besides, take a good look, this man is not wearing the Tongtian Crown. Officials have to wear the Tongtian Crown. Red robes are not only for officials!" The scholar interjected again.

"Then what is he tossing about?" The strong man scratched his head, looking at a certain prince who continued to walk towards the river.