The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Chapter 542 Dominate the world
Today is the day when the new emperor ascends the throne. All the eunuchs and palace maids have to get up at the end of the hour of Chou. Zijuan, who has changed into festive clothes, walks out of the room, raises her head and looks towards the sky above the courtyard of Kunning Palace.

There is no moon tonight, only the sky full of stars above the courtyard.

There was a sound of footsteps and Zijuan looked over.

The little fat man came hurriedly and whispered, "Girl, it's time to get up."

Zijuan nodded and said, "Let's get ready first." Then she walked to the palace door, gently pushed it open, and went straight to the bedroom.

The fat man waved his hand toward the outside of the palace gate. Under the light of one hundred and eight lanterns, thirty-two eunuchs carried the emperor's dragon sedan in. The thirty-six lanterns were in front, representing the thirty-six Heavenly Gangs, and the seventy-two lanterns were in the back, representing the seventy-two Earthly Fiends.

As soon as she entered the bedroom, Zijuan burst into laughter out of anger. Xueyan and Qingwen, who were on duty here, actually fell asleep on the chairs beside the palace.

Zijuan walked lightly outside the gauze curtain and listened quietly with her ear tilted.

The voices of Li Hu and Lin Daiyu could be heard faintly from inside, and Zijuan then said softly, "Your Majesty, it's time to get up."

Li Hu's voice came from inside: "Come in."

Xueyan and Qingwen both woke up at this time. They stood up hurriedly and looked at Zijuan with a flattering look on their faces.

Zijuan said unhappily: "Go and prepare your toiletries." After that, she lifted the gauze curtain, closed it, and walked in.

He was about to ascend the throne, and it would be a lie to say that he was not nervous. Li Hu almost did not sleep all night, and so did Lin Daiyu. The two of them lay in bed and talked for half the night.

I heard that the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven would take an hour, so Li Hu only drank half a bowl of porridge. Drinking too much would lead to frequent urination.

Li Hu swallowed the bun in his mouth, picked up a piece of food with chopsticks, and then said to Lin Daiyu: "Get ready, I will come back to pick you up."

Lin Daiyu: "Pick me up, what for?"

Li Hu took the towel handed over by Xueyan, wiped the corners of his mouth, and said with a smile: "Follow me to Fengtian Hall to accept the worship of all officials."

Lin Daiyu was slightly startled: "This, this is against the rules."

Li Hu held Lin Daiyu's hand and said, "Regardless of the rules, you and I are husband and wife. I will not enjoy this honor alone. Let's ascend to that seat in Fengtian Hall together!"

After a pause, he said, "I'm sorry that you've been wronged this year. You've been shouldering all the hard and difficult tasks, and no one dared to gossip about you."

After hearing what Li Hu said, Lin Daiyu's eyes instantly turned red.

Li Hu was about to say something when the fat boy came in at an inopportune moment and said, "Your Majesty, the auspicious time is approaching."

Li Hu glared at him and said to Lin Daiyu, "Be obedient, change into your formal dress, and wait for me to come back and pick you up."

Lin Daiyu said "hmm", took the cloak handed by Zijuan and put it on Li Hu, and straightened his robe for him, saying: "It's an auspicious day, no matter how complicated the ceremony is, you have to endure it and don't get angry. They are also following the rules."

Li Hu smiled and said, "Okay, I'll listen to my sister and never get angry."

Lin Daiyu also smiled and said, "Go ahead." Then she walked out with Li Hu.
It was almost the hour of Mao, and a hint of paleness had already appeared in the sky. Nearly ten thousand officials had gathered in the Temple of Heaven Square. All officials in Beijing had to attend, not only the officials in office, but also the officials who were dismissed or retired. There were also the leaders and nobles of the Mongolian tribes who had returned to Beijing with Li Hu, as well as members of the Aisin-Gioro clan and the Korean royal family, all of whom filled the entire square.

The Minister of Rites Jia Yucun was doing his final review at this time. He stood under the Altar of Heaven and quickly scanned the altar.

The Altar of Heaven was first built during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty. It is a carved three-story open-air circular platform with a bluestone surface and carved white marble railings and columns. The two square outer and round inner walls symbolize "the sky is round and the earth is square."

The ancients called the odd numbers one, three, five, seven, and nine "yang numbers," or "heavenly numbers," and nine was the extreme of yang numbers. Therefore, the number of floors, the diameter of the platform, the paving stones, and the railings around the altar were all based on heavenly numbers. In particular, the number of stone slabs and railings on each floor were multiples of nine, implying the meaning of "the supreme ruler."

In the center of the first floor is a round stone slab called "Heavenly Heart Stone". If you shout loudly on the Heavenly Heart Stone, the echo will be very loud, as if one call will get a hundred responses, so there is a saying that "the heaven shows signs, and billions of people will follow".

In addition, from the perspective of astrology, the "Tianxin Stone" is the coordinates of the star of Huangtian Shangdi (the Jiajing Yi Haotian Shangdi is Huangtian Shangdi).

At this time, the tablet of Emperor of Heaven was enshrined on the Tianxin Stone, and a bronze tripod was placed in front of the altar. On the east and west sides of the second altar, tablets of Li's ancestors, the sun, moon, stars, clouds, rain, wind and thunder were enshrined, and in front of the altar were jade, silk, whole cows, whole sheep, whole pigs, wine, fruit, dishes and other large tributes.

Li Hu's worship position is located in the south of the upper and middle platforms.

On the east and west sides of the south steps of the Altar of Heaven, there are more than sixty musical instruments, including sixteen kinds of chimes, chime bells, and 鎣钟, arranged in an orderly manner, solemn and spectacular.

"Boom~"

The bell rang, and everyone understood that the emperor was coming!

The rustling sound of footsteps came with the vibration of the ground.

Soon after, a mighty procession of yellow umbrellas, flags, banners, and spears appeared before everyone’s eyes.

Behind the ceremonial guard, Li Hu, wearing the emperor's crown and robes, strode forward with his head held high.

The golden sunlight broke through the clouds little by little, and the bell rang again, echoing in the sky above the Temple of Heaven and Earth.

In order to ensure that there would be no mistakes in the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven, Li Hu personally went to the Temple of Heaven several times. When he walked onto the first level of the platform, the first ray of morning glow shone on the Temple of Heaven and on Li Hu, making it look sacred and solemn.

The ceremonial officer shouted: "Welcome~God~"

The ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven officially began. Keeping Lin Daiyu's instructions in mind, Li Hu patiently carried out the ceremony one by one according to the requirements of the ceremonial officer. He knelt for countless times and finally heard the loud shouts of "Send the gods away!"

If you invite the gods, you must send them off. After sending the gods off, you must burn prayers, sacrificial silk and other offerings.

At this point, the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven has come to an end.

However, there is still a crucial step. Li Hu has to announce his accession to the throne in front of heaven and earth and take over the jade seal that symbolizes imperial power.

The next step is to return to the palace, formally ascend the throne in the Fengtian Hall, and accept the worship of all officials!
"Dong~" The sound of Jingyang bell echoed over the imperial city!

A grand music to welcome the emperor was played in the Fengtian Temple Square.

Amid the solemn and dignified sound of ceremonial music, the tall chariot that Li Hu was riding in gradually approached.

"All officials welcome the emperor!" Jia She led all the officials to kneel down in front of the sedan chair.

The imperial carriage stopped, the fat man opened the door and Li Hu came out. The fat man quickly reached out and held Li Hu's arm. The eunuch in charge of Kunning Palace placed a step stool next to the door in time, and Li Hu stepped on the step stool to get out of the car.

"Long live! Long live! Long, long live!" All the officials cheered almost at the same time without anyone leading the cheers!
Li Hu still stood beside the imperial carriage, motionless.

All the officials looked surprised!
A man actually came out of the imperial carriage and was helped out of it by Li Hu himself, stepping on a step stool.

Although the officials did not know Lin Daiyu, they recognized the queen's crown and clothes she was wearing.

"Long live the Queen!" Jia She's voice, who was kneeling, was so loud!

"Long live the Queen! Long live the Queen!"

Among the officials, Jia Yucun was the most excited. The deeper the relationship between Li Hu and Lin Daiyu, the smoother his future career would be. As long as he did not seek death, with Lin Daiyu's golden face, Li Hu could not touch him easily.

Although Lin Daiyu had been in charge of government affairs on behalf of Li Hu for several months, she had never seen such a big scene. She felt a little nervous and subconsciously held Li Hu's hand tightly.

Li Hu gestured to Lin Daiyu, "Don't be afraid, I'm here," and then led her towards the Fengtian Hall.

Just this one look gave Lin Daiyu a warm feeling in her heart, as well as great courage, and she followed Li Hu towards the Fengtian Hall.
(End of this chapter)