Daqian Night Emperor

Chapter 259 The real dragon appears!

The ancestor worship ceremony lasted a whole day.

They displayed sacrificial animals and wine, offered vegetables and fruits, prayed to heaven, and made wishes known to their ancestors.

The whole process lasted from morning to evening.

You have to know that it is already mid-July, and the capital city is already hot. Moreover, the sun is shining brightly today, with no clouds in the sky, and all the civil and military officials are dressed formally. The heat is really unbearable.

Zhao Qi'an was fine. His cultivation had reached the level of a god and he was no longer afraid of cold or heat. Even after standing for a whole day, he still stood straight.

But it was really fatal for some older officials. They were trembling and swaying while standing in the train. Many even fainted from heatstroke.

Fortunately, the doctors from the Imperial Hospital were accompanying them and had already prepared medicine, so they were able to provide timely treatment and no one was killed.

Finally, when the emperor sat in his sedan chair out of the Hall of Prayer and went up to the altar in front of the hall, today's grand ceremony came to an end.

When the drums and music stopped, the Duke of England knelt on the altar, burned the sacrificial text in his hand into the golden basin, and then kowtowed and said:
"In the year of Guimao, on the day of Renwu, Emperor Tianwu respectfully proclaimed this before the spirits of our ancestors."

He then stepped aside, and all the officials watching the ceremony turned their eyes to the emperor's sedan chair on the altar.

Inside the chariot, behind the gauze curtain, a steady voice sounded, echoing in everyone's ears.

"I have received the mandate of heaven and have worked diligently since ascending the throne..."

The content of the sacrificial text describes the civil and military achievements of Emperor Tianwu.

Demolish temples and destroy Buddhism, quell border riots, restore order to aristocratic families, reform the imperial examination system...

When the current emperor ascended the throne in his early years, he did achieve many achievements.

However, he later became obsessed with seeking immortality, levied heavy taxes, was lazy in his administration and ignored state affairs, which earned him the reputation of a tyrant among the people.

While everyone's eyes were on the emperor's sedan chair on the altar, Zhao Qian'an's gaze fell on the Fifth Marquis Thousand Years Old not far away.

I saw Wu Hou Qiansui putting his hand on the back of a young eunuch, and the young eunuch's throat was moving. It was obvious that the emperor was reciting the sacrificial text by someone else.

But at this moment, Wu Hou Qiansui's gaze suddenly turned to the east of the inner city.

Almost at the same time, Zhao Qi'an also looked in the same direction.

"Roar!!!"

Faintly, there was a sound like a dragon's roar exploding beside his ears.

……

As the ancestral worship ceremony at Xuanwu Lake began, the main road in the inner city was bustling with traffic.

The diplomatic corps of various countries entered the inner city from the outer city in an orderly manner. Each delegation brought dozens of baggage carts loaded with various treasures that were hard to find in the world. The gold and silver items mixed in made them look tacky.

That was the birthday gift presented to the capital from the nine states of Daqian and even the surrounding vassal states. Since the gates of Kyoto were opened in the early morning, the convoy of carriages was endless and did not end until the evening.

Although each carriage was covered with thick oilcloth, it gave us a glimpse of how much wealth was delivered to the palace in one day.

Among the endless procession on the official road, a group of people escorting baggage carts attracted everyone's attention.

It was a two-story high baggage cart. It was pulled by more than a dozen tall horses, but it still looked extremely laborious. Near the giant baggage cart was an armored general. Although everyone's armor was polished to a shine without a trace of dirt, a murderous aura that soared to the sky was fully displayed from this powerful army, which made the other teams transporting the birthday gift dare not get too close.

The leader rode on a horse, leading the way for his team.

Under the heavy helmet was a face with a scar running through most of the face. He looked around with a cold gaze, guarding against any possible accidents.

He held a long flag in his hand, on which was a fox pattern, indicating the origin of this team.

Western Desert, Zhou’s Army!

Just as the team crossed the gate of the inner city and headed towards the palace.

Suddenly, the giant two-story-high cart began to shake, as if some ferocious beast was trying to break free from its cage, and it kept making crashing sounds.

This sudden change was obviously beyond everyone's expectations.

The surrounding Western Desert troops immediately pulled the iron locks, trying to stabilize the iron cage on the baggage cart.

But the struggle became more and more intense, until finally the entire cart tipped to one side with a loud bang, and landed heavily on the street.

The bluestone slabs on the main road in the inner city were cracked like spider webs, and the oilcloth covering the cart fell aside, revealing the sturdy iron cage inside.

When the people around looked at the iron cage with trepidation, they were all shocked when they saw what was locked in the cage.

"dragon……"

Among the six guards of Kyoto who were responsible for maintaining order, someone pointed at the cage and uttered this word in a trembling voice.

Inside the cage, a creature several meters long was curled up.

It has a slender and agile body, and every scale emits a sparkling golden glow. It has four claws on its belly, two horns on its head, two long whiskers fluttering in the wind, and a mane growing on its back.

Snake body, deer antlers, fish scales, eagle claws, and cow ears.

It’s really like the dragon in mythology!
The golden dragon appeared before the crowd, and there was an uproar all around.

"Golden Dragon!"

"Do dragons really exist in this world?"

"impossible!"

Shouts of horror rang out one after another, and people gathered around.

The leading general of the Western Desert Army immediately frowned and dismounted from his horse.

He took the spear handed to him by his personal guard and stabbed the golden dragon in the cage with it.

The scales were broken and blood was gushing out!

"Roar!" The golden dragon roared in pain and twisted its body in struggle.

But that shot seemed to have pinned it down by the vital point, and no matter how it struggled, it could not break free.

Finally, when the spear was pulled out, its breath weakened and its struggles became less intense.

The Western Desert Army general retracted his spear, looked around with a stern face, and shouted in a low voice: "What are you standing there for? Lift up the baggage cart!"

"Yes, General!"

The armored troops took the order and stepped forward quickly.

As the hook rope hooked the iron cage, everyone worked together to pull up the overturned cart.

When the oilcloth was covered on top again, Jin Long glanced in the direction of the imperial palace.

Its eyes... are full of fear!
……

Xuanwu Lake, outside the Hall of Prayer Heaven.

The ancestor worship ceremony had not yet ended, but many people had already gathered outside. They all seemed to be the confidants of the officials in the court, and they had all hurried here without any prior arrangement.

All the officials in the court had noticed this scene, but because the ancestor worship ceremony had not yet ended, they could not call their trusted aides to their side.

After more than half an hour, the ancestor worship ceremony was finally over.

The Imperial Guards and the Astronomical Observatory immediately stepped forward to protect the emperor's sedan chair and the concubines in the palace and left the Hall of Prayer. The civil and military officials also hurried to their own sedan chairs and reunited with their confidants.

There is still a long time between the end of the ancestor worship ceremony and the start of the longevity banquet.

Normally, after His Majesty finishes the ancestor worship, he should first receive the envoys from various vassal states in the imperial palace, and then hold a banquet for a thousand elderly people who are over 100 years old.

After that, it was the most grand birthday banquet, and only then was it the occasion for Zhao Qian'an to attend.

It was still early, and Zhao Qi'an originally planned to go back home to take a shower, change clothes, and rest for a while, so he said goodbye to his colleagues in the Zongzheng Temple and left first.

However, when he was looking for his own carriage, he saw many adults along the way talking to their confidants. Everyone had a solemn expression on their face, some happy and some worried.

problem occurs?
Zhao Qian'an frowned slightly, vaguely guessing that it was related to the dragon roar he had heard before.

He quickly found his carriage, and when he was getting on, Old Nie helped him.

When he got into the carriage, a thumb-sized bamboo tube appeared in his hand.

He opened the bamboo tube, took out the secret letter, unfolded it, and couldn't help but let out a soft hiss:
"Real dragon?"

This time, the Third Prince had quietly made a big move. He caught a real dragon as a birthday gift, and was going to present it to Emperor Tianwu at the birthday banquet today?

If that dragon is real... then no matter what kind of treasure anyone offers tonight, it will pale in comparison to the real dragon.

Even the emperor is called the "true dragon emperor". Is there any other creature in the world that can be more worthy of the word auspicious than the "dragon"?

Zhao Qi'an thought of the consequences of the appearance of this real dragon, lifted the curtain of the carriage, and said to Old Nie: "Old Nie, please return home quickly."

Old Nie didn't say much, just nodded silently, then stretched out his palm and waved towards the horse pulling the cart. The old horse instantly started to gallop as if it had been injected with chicken blood.

……

When Zhao Qi'an returned home, many people had gathered in front of the gate.

There are people like Gou Xiangxi and there are people like Zhao Nishang.

The two of them were originally whispering something, with anxious looks on their faces. When they saw the carriage coming, they hurried to greet it.

Zhao Qi'an got off the carriage and the two men surrounded him.

"Dongjia (foster father)..."

The two spoke in unison, obviously both having something to report.

Zhao Qi'an made a stop gesture, then pointed at Zhao Nishang: "Nishang, you speak first."

Zhao Nishang nodded, and then said anxiously: "The real dragon has appeared in the world, and the worshippers in the worship hall can't sit still. Taoist Huanglong wants to enter the palace to ask for dragon bones."

"Go to the Treasure House and ask Dean An to return to the academy. No one is allowed to leave the worship hall without permission today."

Zhao Qi'an was not polite and directly brought up Dean An.

He knew Taoist Huanglong. He was crazy and it was impossible for ordinary people to reason with him.

However, Dean An is the most reasonable person in the world, and he should be able to convince Taoist Huanglong.

It doesn't matter if he is not convinced by reason. After all, Dean An also knows some martial arts, and he will surely be able to make Taoist Huanglong sit down and listen to reason calmly.

Zhao Nishang immediately took the order, got on the carriage beside her and hurried towards the west market of the city.

After she left, Gou Xiangxi stepped forward and saluted: "Master."

Zhao Qi'an glanced at him and asked, "What brings you to your residence?"

Today, Zhao Qi'an had official duties to attend to and could not leave, so he chose Gou Xiangxi as the person in charge of escorting the birthday gift into Beijing on behalf of the Zhao family.

Logically speaking, Gou Xiangxi should still be in the palace at this time.

But he put down the birthday gift, hurriedly left the palace and came to the princess's mansion to find him, so something big must have happened.

Gou Xiangxi bowed and said, "Master, the Second Prince's companion has found me and asked you to go to Chengping Palace to discuss something important."

Zhao Qi'an couldn't help but sneer.

This is urgent.

(End of this chapter)