After drinking the porridge, the refugees stayed around the altar and settled down under the open sky.

The young couple then moved into the palace.

That night, Xiao Qingyin met with Yi Shuihan and asked about the couple. She learned that they were Yelü Sui, the Crown Prince of Xilin Kingdom, and his wife, Lady Jian.

"Is there a story between Yelü Ang and Lady Jian?"

Xiao Qingyin asked while eating mutton pilaf.

She noticed that Yelü Ang stared at Jian Shi several times.

Yi Shuihan wiped the rice grains off her lips and chuckled, “Yelü Ang, Yelü Sui, and Jian Shi grew up together. Jian Shi was the most beloved granddaughter of the Empress Dowager of Xilin Kingdom. When the Empress Dowager arranged a marriage for her, she was asked to choose between Yelü Ang and Yelü Sui, and she chose Yelü Sui.”

Xiao Qingyin understood: "Yelü Ang lost the election, and he's resentful, isn't he?"

"Yes, he can't stand seeing Yelü Sui and Lady Jian together."

"That sounds rather pitiful."

After finishing the last bite of her meal, Xiao Qingyin wiped her hands clean and said with a smile, "Should we help him?"

Yi Shuihan raised an eyebrow: "How do you plan to help?"

"Of course we'll help him seize the throne. It's only polite to reciprocate. Xilin is causing trouble in Da Xi all day long, it would be too impolite of us not to retaliate."

Yi Shuihan smiled slightly: "That's exactly what I was thinking."

The two then conspired on how to instigate, no, cross that out, how to motivate Yelü Ang to work hard to achieve his goal.

The specific implementation was naturally handled by Yi Shuihan.

For the next two days, Xiao Qingyin practiced the blessing dance on the altar, just like the other young ladies-in-waiting.

Perhaps it was because the young ladies-in-waiting had fasted for many days and their movements were so agile and light that Xiao Qingyin was able to appreciate the beauty of the dance.

But there's a hint of something strange about the US-China relationship.

Especially the last pose, where he lies on the ground with his head raised and neck exposed, looks like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

This made her wonder if the dance was read as "prayer dance" and written as "sacrifice dance".

Just in case, she made some preparations.

The following day, the tenth day, was the grand ceremony to worship Heaven.

The emperor of Xilin Kingdom and the princes and ministers of the capital all attended the ceremony.

They sat in the makeshift stands, surrounded by layers of fully armed cavalry.

Xiao Qingyin's stand-in was also invited to attend, bringing with her a little red bird and a little white bird.

He sat in the stands with the Xilin nobles.

The refugees were on the opposite side of the stands, separated by an altar.

Because the altar blocked their view, the refugees could not see the emperor and others, but they were still very excited.

"I heard before that porridge would be distributed during the sacrificial ceremony and that we could see shamans and His Majesty. I didn't believe it, but I didn't expect it to be true."

"Me too! I'm so glad I came. It would be worth dying here to witness such a grand event."

"I don't want to die here. I still want to find a wife and have a child so I can tell the story to my child later."

"..."

There are many things to do for the ceremony.

First, a group of strong men performed an opening dance, then the shaman, the emperor, and the crown prince came on stage, and each of them recited a prayer that lasted for a quarter of an hour.

Then come rituals such as divination and consulting the heavens.

Finally, it was time for Xiao Qingyin and the other young ladies to perform the blessing dance.

They were still wearing the same robes that had been distributed to them, and the moment the drums sounded, they began to dance to the beat.

After dancing for about fifteen minutes, Xiao Qingyin noticed that the drumbeats were becoming more frequent and the rhythm was getting faster and faster.

The young women had to speed up their movements, spinning like tops being whipped, rapidly changing steps.

When the movements were so fast they were almost invisible, Xiao Qingyin heard a series of soft, synchronized clicking sounds coming from beneath her feet.

She glanced quickly at the ground.

They discovered many holes in the ground, each with a blade protruding slightly above the ground at the entrance.

The young women danced this dance wearing only silk stockings. When they stepped on the blades, their feet were cut open and blood seeped out.

But whether their attention was drawn to the dance or the numbing agent on the blades, they seemed completely unaware of their injuries and continued dancing with abandon.

It's truly dancing on the edge of a knife.

Xiao Qingyin had a headache.

She didn't want to be cut by the blades, but they were so densely packed that it was impossible to maintain her dance moves while avoiding them.

Just as she was struggling to stay afloat, the drumbeats became more intense, and the young women danced almost frantically, even their faces showing a strange smile.

It was as if they were ready to give their lives at any moment.

Xiao Qingyin became even more wary of the blades.

Fortunately, the chaos of the crowd gave her a chance to take advantage of the situation, and her unusual footsteps went unnoticed.

The frenzied dance lasted for about half an hour. Due to excessive blood loss, the women gradually turned pale and began to lose strength.

Xiao Qingyin sensed something was wrong.

We need to find a way to stop this bizarre dance.

Otherwise, I'm afraid none of them would survive.

There were five or six thousand cavalrymen on the scene, while she only had Yi Shuihan and a few dozen guards brought by her double. It was definitely not going to work if she tried to fight them head-on.

We can only outsmart them.

She glanced in the direction of Wu Li and wondered if taking him hostage could threaten the emperor of Xilin Kingdom.

But then Wu Li picked up a short flute, about the length of a finger, that he was wearing around his neck, put it to his lips, and played a peculiar tune.

The moment the flute sounded, the drumbeats stopped abruptly, and the young women lay down on the ground in perfect unison, looking up at the sky with satisfied smiles on their faces.

Two birds, one red and one white, flew over from the stands and landed on Wu Li's shoulder, screeching sharply.

Xiao Qingyin's heart tightened.

The next instant, the ground of the altar shook violently, and a crimson vine as thick as an arm broke through the bricks, shooting out about ten meters into the ground before sprouting countless roots.

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