Daqian Night Emperor

Chapter 257 The Beginning of the Longevity Banquet

July 13, the 59th year of the Tianwu calendar.

The year of Guimao, the day of Renwu.

There are no taboos on the emperor’s birthday.

Zhao Qi'an got up very early and changed his clothes before dawn.

The ugly slave got up sleepily and helped him change clothes and wash.

When he finished his breakfast and went out in his carriage, the sound of roosters crowing was heard from the neighborhood.

The streets were deserted.

Yesterday's lively celebration seemed like a lifetime ago. There were few pedestrians along the way, but the number of soldiers patrolling the streets was several times more than usual. They were fully armed with armor and swords, which gave off a solemn and murderous aura.

Although today is the birthday banquet, the inner city gates are closed today and citizens are not allowed to go out at will. The entire Kyoto city will be under a state of alert and martial law to prevent the possibility of emergencies.

The emperor's birthday cannot afford to make any mistakes.

Because of this, Kyoto City is deserted today.

The Wanshou Banquet is a dinner party. Zhao Qi'an got up so early because he has his job to do.

Although he was not on duty very often, he was actually the secretary of the Zongzheng Temple.

He could leave his daily duties to his subordinates. No one in the Zongzheng Temple cared about him anyway, and the Duke of England always turned a blind eye to him.

But today is not possible. Zhao Qi'an himself must show up for this occasion.

When he arrived at Zongzheng Temple, many people in the temple had arrived earlier than him.

Ying Gongzheng was talking to two junior officials in the temple. When he saw Zhao Qi'an coming in, he waved to him and said, "Haiqing, you are finally here."

Zhao Qi'an stepped forward and bowed, "Duke."

Ji Liyuan smiled bitterly and was about to speak, but he looked at the two junior officials beside him and waved his hand, saying, "You go down first. I will have a few words with Zhao Sicheng alone."

"Yes."

After the two junior officials left, Ji Liyuan took Zhao Qi'an's hand and led him to the corner of the duty room. He lowered his voice and asked, "My dear nephew, why are you and the Second Prince at odds again?"

Zhao Qi'an glanced at him. It was true that his relationship with the Second Prince had taken a sharp turn for the worse, but it was not to the point of being made public. He did not expect that the old Duke was so well-informed that he even knew this.

He smiled calmly and said comfortingly: "It's just a little misunderstanding, don't worry, Duke."

"That would be great. Yesterday at the Zhaixing Tower... I was there." Ji Liyuan looked helpless. "How could you let the Third Prince in? Everyone in the hall knows about our relationship. I was on pins and needles yesterday. I treated you well, why didn't you consider me before you did anything?"

Zhao Qi'an felt a little ashamed. He really didn't know that the Duke of England was also in the Zhaixing Tower yesterday.

He cupped his hands and apologized: "It happened for a reason, please forgive me, Duke."

Ji Liyuan raised his hand but couldn't say anything.

To be honest, if possible, he really wanted to cut off all ties with Zhao Qi'an.

Now he has placed all his treasures on the Second Prince. Although he himself cannot enjoy the wealth and honor in the future, his descendants should be able to provide some protection.

Now that there is a rift between Zhao Qi'an and the Second Prince, who knows if he will be implicated?

But Ji Liyuan couldn't cut off his relationship with Zhao Qi'an. After all, he was implicated in the imperial land case. If Zhao Qi'an hadn't redeemed the land for him and made up for the shortfall in the account book, he would probably be in the prison of the Astronomical Observatory waiting for his fate, or he would have been stripped of his official uniform and returned home to retire. In this situation, how could he break off his relationship with Zhao Qi'an? Zhao Qi'an still had a small handle on him.

Ji Liyuan acted like an elder, raised his chin and said, "If it's just a misunderstanding, it's better to clear it up as soon as possible. I still have some face in front of the Second Prince, how about I come forward to mediate between the two of you?"

Zhao Qi'an looked at the old Duke's confident look, and for a moment he couldn't tell whether he was just pretending or really felt that he had such a big say in front of the Second Prince.

He said tactfully, "My Lord, today is His Majesty's birthday. If there is anything, we can discuss it later. How about that?"

Ji Liyuan heard this, thought about it, nodded and said: "That's true."

Zhao Qi'an asked: "What should I do today?"

Ji Liyuan said unhappily, "The Duke asked you to come a few days ago, but you didn't come. You missed the Qitian Hall ceremony, and now you're at a loss, right?"

The so-called practice of rituals is actually a rehearsal and preview.

During the day today, the most important event is the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven and ancestors. Emperor Tianwu needs to recite his achievements in front of his ancestors to prove that he has done a lot as the emperor.

During the entire ceremony, those who hold the sacrificial vessels must be members of the royal family. The Ministry of Rites can only help with behind-the-scenes operations, and those who are actually sent to perform are all arranged by the Zongzheng Temple.

For this reason, this is the biggest "big event" of the entire Zongzheng Temple in recent years, and the Zongzheng Temple started preparing for it a few months ago.

Ji Liyuan took good care of Zhao Qian'an and only allowed him to come over during the formal training ceremony a few days ago.

Here, Zhao Qian'an didn't even come.

Listening to the old Duke's somewhat resentful mumbling, Zhao Qi'an could only bow repeatedly: "Shame on you, shame on you."

Ji Liyuan sighed softly: "Forget it, anyway, you can't really come to the stage during this ceremony. As for other matters, the Ministry of Rites is in charge, and our people can't interfere. You just need to watch the ceremony from the side."

Although Zhao Qi'an can be considered a royal relative, he is only a relative by marriage after all. On an occasion like today, it would not be appropriate to ask him to hold a banner or a staff.

Zhao Qi'an nodded in agreement.

……

Today's ancestor worship ceremony was supposed to be held in the imperial mausoleum outside Beijing.

But because Emperor Tianwu was physically unable to walk, he had to be buried in the Qitian Hall as a compromise. After all, the tablets of emperors of all dynasties were enshrined in the Qitian Hall, and offering sacrifices to ancestors here was not considered to be beyond the ancestral rules.

The Hall of Prayer Heaven is located on the south side of the Imperial Palace, right next to the Imperial Palace and next to the "Xuanwu Lake".

When Zhao Qi'an and his group of Zongzheng Temple officials arrived, Ji Liyuan pointed to a temple-like building on a white marble platform not far away and said, "This Qitian Hall was not originally built here, but inside the imperial palace. Do you know why this hall was moved here?"

It was time for the British public's daily sermon.

Zhao Qi'an complained in his heart, but pretended to be confused on the surface: "Why?"

Ji Liyuan smiled and said, "Because the Imperial Master moved a fairy mountain and chose the location of the Heavenly Prayer Hall, I don't know what your Majesty was thinking. This place for enshrining the ancestral tablets had to be moved, and in the end the Heavenly Prayer Hall had to be moved outside the Imperial Palace."

In fact, Zhao Qi'an had already heard all these things from Dean An.

However, he still gave a few words of praise to the Duke of England.

Ji Liyuan felt satisfied immediately. He raised his chin and walked with a breeze.

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(End of this chapter)