There are three main preparations for the Imperial Festival.
The first is that the Ministry of Clan Affairs counts and verifies the royal roster, the second is that the Imperial Astronomical Observatory predicts an auspicious day and time, and the third is that the Ministry of Rites finalizes the requirements for the grand sacrifice.
But in addition to these three, there is also a three-month process within the royal family.
——Pray to heaven.
This kind of fasting method is the highest standard among various fasting and sacrificial methods that have been passed down for a long time, and only people with noble status or above can use it.
The specific Qitianzhai consists of three parts.
The first part: no food, no drink.
From the beginning of the fast until the day of the great sacrifice, the person presiding over the sacrifice cannot eat a grain of rice or drink a drop of water.
Second, bathe and burn incense.
Every day, the main priest washes his body, burns incense and meditates in the morning and evening.
The third one is to grant missions and convey wishes.
This is quite special and is completed jointly by the relatives of the main priest and the main priest.
Simply put, relatives bring prepared willow branches and sprinkle the freshest dew on the main priest.
The ordination is to recognize that the main priest prays to God on his own behalf.
To convey the blessing is to pass on the content of one's prayer to the officiating priest.
This kind of large-scale sacrifice is usually performed by the head of a prominent family and the main priest is usually the head of the family.
As for the royal grand sacrifice, the person who presided over the sacrifice was naturally the emperor.
In other words, during the three-month preparation period, a large number of royal family members will need to carry willow branches and enter the back hall of the Tianji Hall to complete part of the Qitianzhai.
Lou Youzhi, Prince Qian and others, of course, also noticed this.
He also knew that this traditional ritual of Qi Tian Zhai might allow Emperor Yongtai to spread more demons.
But they didn't mind this.
After all, it is impossible for the vast majority of royal family members to believe in Emperor Yongtai.
Even if they have been infected with the evil seed, this evil seed can most likely be removed using Xu Chong's method.
in addition.
Although Emperor Yongtai facilitated the advancement of the grand sacrifice, he still allowed three months of preparation time.
This is the same as in previous years.
Therefore, including Lou Youzhi, Dou Tianyuan, and those royal family members who opposed it, everyone believed that Emperor Yongtai really wanted to hold a grand sacrifice.
Even if something is done, it will only be revealed during the grand sacrifice.
And shortly afterwards, the royal family members who entered the back hall came out intact, which also proved this point indirectly.
Prince Qian even secretly tried a few royal family members who were also not fond of Emperor Yongtai, and found that they were not controlled by the demons.
Therefore, Lou Youzhi and others temporarily let down their guard and secretly made preparations for possible changes during the grand sacrifice.
Time goes by day by day.
The capital city is as peaceful as ever.
But this tranquility seemed so unusual when compared with the preparations for the grand festival that were in full swing.
Until three months later.
Boom——
Boom——
Boom——
Boom...
Before dawn, twelve loud bell sounds rang out throughout Dingtian Prefecture.
The inside and outside of the Tianji Palace were already filled with people.
Except for some court officials who assisted in the grand sacrificial ceremony, the rest were representatives of the royal family.
Of course, other members of the royal family also need to participate in the grand ceremony.
However, there was not enough space for so many people to stand outside the Tianji Hall. They could only wait for the chief priest to go to the place of sacrifice, and then come out from the inner courtyard cave one after another and follow him.
"Cheers!"
The Minister of Rites sang the ceremony loudly, "The chief priest moves to the Qitian Terrace!"
In an instant, all eyes were directed towards Tianji Palace.
To be precise, it should be the golden curtain in the Tianji Palace.
Even those who were similar to King Qian and were not fond of this generation of emperors had the same reaction.
Although they had already met Emperor Yongtai in the back hall during the prayer ceremony, they still had some doubts as to whether Emperor Yongtai could come out of the back hall.
Just like that, under the gazes of countless eyes, after a cup of tea, the golden curtain was finally lifted.
First, an old face appeared.
The chief eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department was Yan Zhong.
"Your Majesty is ill and cannot walk."
Yan Zhong looked at the two main assistants in the royal ceremony, Prince Qian and the Minister of Rites.
Unable to walk?
Many royal family members and officials were slightly moved.
As expected, I still can’t get out from the back hall?
Lou Youzhi was standing in a relatively remote position in the hall at this time. When he heard these words, he inexplicably felt relieved.
Dou Tianyuan, who was standing with him, had the same reaction.
However.
"But the grand sacrifice has been decided and cannot be changed."
Yan Zhong glanced around with an unclear look in his eyes, and suddenly shouted: "Your Majesty, please move!"
!!!!
Everyone's eyes were startled and they all stared at the open curtain.
Six eunuchs, carrying a huge golden dragon couch, slowly walked out from behind the curtain.
After they walked around the dragon throne, a man who was much older than Yan Zhong, and even older than King Qian, appeared in front of everyone.
How old is it?
He was thin and shriveled, his face was full of wrinkles, and his teeth and hair were all gone.
It is His Majesty the Present, Emperor Yongtai!
It’s out!
He really came out!
Some people were excited and their eyes were moist.
Some people were shocked and shaken.
"Your humble servant, I pay my respects to Your Majesty!"
"…Your humble servant, I pay my respects to Your Majesty."
I don't know who took the lead, but after a brief pause, the sound of worship shook the sky.
"Everyone, please stand up."
Emperor Yongtai raised his hand.
However, such a simple action caused Emperor Yongtai to suddenly press on the edge of the bed, gasping for breath.
"His Majesty!"
An official couldn't help but step forward and said, "Your body..."
The others also straightened up, looking puzzled.
"No problem."
Emperor Yongtai shook his head slightly, "It should be no problem to survive the first ceremony."
The first game?
Lou Youzhi's pupils suddenly shrank.
The royal sacrifice takes three months to prepare, and the entire sacrificial process also takes more than three months, with a total of 108 ceremonies of varying sizes.
As the main priest, he is required to preside over all nine major ceremonies.
The span of these nine games is also three months.
But your majesty said that he can only hold out for the first game?
What's the meaning?
The first game is today.
Could it be that after today, His Majesty will...
Lou Youzhi was a little confused.
You know, Emperor Yongtai's appearance in this manner has overturned most of the previous judgments.
The cave in the back hall, natural disasters to prolong life... and so on.
And if Emperor Yongtai died after the first grand sacrificial ceremony, it would undoubtedly prove this point completely.
This made Lou Youzhi feel a little at a loss.
Not to mention others.
Some members of the royal family even choked up and asked for permission to perform the grand sacrifice so that Emperor Yongtai could return to the back palace to recuperate.
"No need to say more, I have made up my mind."
Emperor Yongtai said calmly, "Hurry up and set off. Don't miss the auspicious time."
So, everyone, with all kinds of complicated emotions, surrounded the golden dragon bed and left the Tianji Palace.
Gongs, drums, horns, singing…
Red carpet, flowers, flags...
The entire capital city came alive at this moment.
Members of the royal family kept coming out of the inner courtyard and joining the team, marching out of the city in a mighty procession.
The team's destination was the center of Qingling Mausoleum, more than 20 miles east of the capital.
In order to show sufficient piety, the entire team had to travel on foot, with the only exception being Emperor Yongtai.
In fact, according to the rules, even Emperor Yongtai had to walk across the sixty miles.
However, seeing that Emperor Yongtai looked like he was about to die and might breathe his last at any time, even those troublesome censors chose to remain silent on this point.
However, during the process, many people noticed something different from the last grand ceremony... there were very few people lining the streets to see them off.
After only a few miles were discharged, it began to gradually decrease until it disappeared.
Compared with the last grand sacrifice, when the whole mountain and field were filled with human heads, stretching for sixty miles, this scene seems a bit too desolate.
A forgotten person appeared in everyone's mind at this moment.
The deposed crown prince, Jiang Xinghe.
It turns out that Jiang Xinghe's actions have shaken the people's hearts to this extent...
The whole team seemed even more silent in contrast to the noisy band.
Two hours later, they arrived at Qingling.
The huge mausoleum complex almost formed a mountain range, and there was a tall altar in the wide empty area in the center.
It is the Qitian Terrace used for sacrifices.
When the dragon couch stopped in front of Qi Tiantai, everyone's eyes involuntarily turned to Emperor Yongtai on the couch.
The Qitian Terrace is 19 zhang high and has 333 steps.
The main priest needs to climb these 333 steps on foot while reciting the sacrificial words.
In previous years, almost no one paid attention to this step. After all, even an ordinary person could successfully reach the top of the stage, and at most just pause for a rest. What about the Emperor of Daqing who was so powerful that he could not be judged?
But now, if even this step is to sit on the couch and be carried to the Qitian Terrace...
The solemnity turned into the comical.
The fundamental meaning of the great sacrifice will be lost from the very beginning.
But then again, if not, given Emperor Yongtai's physical condition, would he be able to successfully go on stage?
Under the gaze of everyone, Emperor Yongtai spoke.
"Yan Zhong, help me down."
"yes."
The dragon couch landed on the ground, and Emperor Yongtai, with the help of Yan Zhong , slowly got down from the couch.
And at the moment his feet touched the ground, they suddenly bent.
If Yan Zhong had not reacted quickly, Emperor Yongtai would have fallen in front of everyone.
"His Majesty……"
Yan Zhong showed reluctance and said, "Can I carry you up on my back?"
"Nonsense."
Emperor Yongtai reprimanded calmly, "I know what's going on."
Having said that, he struggled to break free from the support.
"Your Majesty, here is the sacrificial text."
The Minister of Rites leaned forward and handed over a scroll with both hands.
"No, this time, I want to say something different."
Emperor Yongtai didn't even look at the scroll. He walked straight past the Minister of Rites and started to climb the stairs.
Different?
Prince Qian, Lou Youzhi and Dou Tianyuan exchanged glances.
They knew that the highlight was coming.
Why did Emperor Yongtai bring the grand sacrifice forward, and what changes could the grand sacrifice bring to Emperor Yongtai?
Everything will be revealed at this time.
However, they never expected that just the first sentence would be like a bolt from the blue, shocking them completely.
"You should have all remembered what Du Qianchuan said, right? I can tell you... everything he said is true."
!!!!
Except for the royal family whose body and mind were completely controlled, everyone was horrified!
What did Du Qianchuan say?
Having lived such a long life, I must have said many things, both privately and publicly.
But the only one that was well known to everyone was the memorial impeaching the previous emperor.
Whether to impeach or not is secondary, no one will really care.
What people really remember is the remarks about "no relief when there is a disaster".
Although everyone has believed those words at this moment, no matter how much they believe them, they were all said by Du Qianchuan.
It is far from the same concept as hearing Emperor Yongtai admit it with his own ears.
"Spring of the 42nd year of Wenchang."
Emperor Yongtai spoke slowly as he stepped onto the stage.
Although he looked shaky, his steps were firm and steady.
"I was chatting with the late emperor and mentioned Yuan Shouyi's departure from Beijing to visit his relatives."
"The next day, the late emperor ordered me to submit a letter proposing to move up the grand sacrifice."
"After the natural disaster, Bingzhou was in mourning."
"Eighty percent of the people should have died in the disaster, but thanks to Lou Youzhi's brilliant idea, only half of them were saved."
"I realized it only after the disaster was alleviated, and then I realized that someone was secretly holding back disaster relief."
"So, I took the initiative and killed the henchman who was pretending to be a refugee and wanted to sue Lou Youzhi."
"Immediately afterwards, he went to the palace to meet the late emperor at night and reported the matter to him."
"hehe……"
"I never expected that this audience would turn me into an executioner."
"An executioner who had to use natural disasters to kill his subjects."
Having said this, Lou Youzhi was not moved at all, instead his eyes became even more stern.
Maybe.
Perhaps before the drought in Bingzhou, Emperor Yongtai was still the good prince who cared about the world.
But what kind of reason could make Emperor Yongtai choose the same approach as Emperor Wenchang?
Isn’t the reason life span?
As soon as Lou Youzhi thought of this, Emperor Yongtai gave the answer.
"Lou Youzhi, you must be suspecting that both the late emperor and I are using natural disasters to prolong our lives, right?"
Emperor Yongtai did not even turn his head and continued on stage, "Whether you believe it or not, I tell you... it is not."
"Having the blood of the Great Ancestor means that the Purple Mansion is incomplete."
"Since we are unable to cultivate the Dao Purple Palace, our life span is also destined to be short. Even if we are always free from disasters and illnesses and cultivate our bodies and minds, our life span is still shorter than that of ordinary people."
"If you want to prolong your life, the Lu family's side techniques can't do it, and the rules of longevity can't do it."
"Unless the Purple Palace can be repaired, the life span will remain the same and cannot be changed."
"Now you must be wondering, since life span cannot be changed, then why did the previous emperors and I use natural disasters?"
Having said this, Emperor Yongtai stopped and stood quietly for a while, as if he was recovering his strength.
After a long while, he smiled and continued speaking.
"hehe……"
“Are those people, those refugees, innocent?”
"It must be innocent."
"You may not know that I personally visited Bingzhou during the drought."
"I have witnessed with my own eyes how those people who should have been able to live well gradually lost their humanity under the natural disaster and became livestock that only knew how to eat."
"But I have no choice."
“They don’t have a choice.”
"because……"
"If one province is not destroyed, the whole world will be destroyed!"