However, no matter how hard it was, the two of them still sat upright, smiling and greeting the people along the way.
The imperial carriage gradually disappeared as it turned the corner, the sounds of ritual music grew farther and farther away, and the people gradually dispersed, revealing a decadent young man sitting at the entrance of the alley.
This person was none other than Lu Yan.
Although the hundred beatings in court did not take his life, he was left with permanent disability - one of his legs lost sensation and became a decoration.
Ever since he knew that Qin Wan was about to become the queen and participate in politics openly, Lu Yan sat at the entrance of the alley every day, looking towards the direction of the palace, from sunrise to sunset. At noon, a toddler would bring him a steamed bun, and in the evening the toddler would call him home, and he would then hold the toddler's hand and walk home step by step.
Today, without waiting for the little kid to come find him, Lu Yan moved on his own. He struggled to stand up by holding on to the wall, and dragged his broken leg step by step into the alley.
The alley completely separates the noise and loneliness, and the two worlds can no longer blend.
***
At the Temple of Heaven, under the orders of the ceremonial officer, Qin Wan and Xie Qing walked hand in hand up to the platform step by step and performed the sacrifice according to the procedures.
The moment the ceremonial officer said "the ceremony is over", Qin Wan breathed a sigh of relief imperceptibly.
Xie Qing raised his hand slightly. Xiao Luzi walked forward holding an imperial edict and unfolded it, saying, "By the will of Heaven, the Emperor summons you: Today... a special decree..."
The titles and rewards for the two hundred newly-minted Jinshi, as well as for all the civil and military officials in the court, were all announced at this ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven. Therefore, there was no nonsense at all, and the officials were directly conferred.
Xiao Luzi was so thirsty that his mouth was dry after he finished reading the long imperial edict.
Xie Qing looked at the kneeling civil and military officials below and said in a deep voice, "I am thinking of the people of the world and have granted you these meritorious officials official positions to commend your contributions to the country and the people. You should fulfill your duties conscientiously and work diligently to seek the well-being of the people of our Great Zhou."
"We thank the Lord for His great grace!"
Xie Qingyi raised his hand and said, "It's been a hard day, let's go back."
"I will take my leave."
All the civil and military officials bowed once more, stood up, took a few steps back, and then dispersed in twos and threes. They couldn't go back. Many of them were new officials who had to go back to hand over their work, and their superiors also had to arrange work for the newcomers, so they were all very busy.
"Shall we go too?" Xie Qing looked at Qin Wan.
Qin Wan nodded cautiously, not wanting to move too much, as the phoenix crown would shake and pull on her scalp, causing pain.
Seeing her like this, Xie Qing simply reached out and took off her phoenix crown: "There are not many people here, why are you wearing it?"
Xie Qing handed the phoenix crown to Xiao Luzi and put it away, then took her hand and walked down carefully.
Yijia stepped forward and said, "My Lady, the clothes are ready. Do you want to change now?"
"Change." Qin Wan said decisively. She didn't know whether the queens in the past would change their dresses after the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven, but she was going to change anyway.
When I return to the palace, there are no concubines coming to pay their respects or anything like that. Wouldn't it be a punishment for me to dress so formally?
As emperors and empresses, their daily clothes were not so simple, but although complicated, they were comfortable to wear.
Qin Wan's hair was also loosened up and changed into a simpler bun. She also changed her phoenix crown to a more casual one. "We won't ride in the imperial sedan chair when we go back, right?"
They are both imperial sedan chairs. When I first came here, the one I used was for large-scale ceremonials. It was modified with several glazed windows, making it very convenient for viewing from both inside and outside.
Although the daily imperial carriage also has glazed windows, it is much more low-key.
Yijia smiled and said, "It's ready, please come in, Your Majesty."
Xie Qing asked all the civil and military officials to disperse, and without anyone else's help, he personally helped Qin Wan onto the carriage, and the emperor and empress returned to the palace together.
In the Qianqing Palace, the emperor's belongings had been completely moved out, and Xie Qing's belongings had all been moved here. He got angry when he saw that only his bedding was there: "Why aren't your beddings here?"
Qin Wan laughed and said, "I live in Kunning Palace. The Emperor and Empress don't live together."
"No, I want to live with you." Xie Qing immediately asked Xiao Luzi to move all his things to Kunning Palace.
Qin Wan said to Xiao Luzi, "You don't need to bring bedding, just some spare clothes."
Xie Qing's expression changed, and his lips pouted. Xiao Luzi was so frightened that he quickly asked everyone in the hall to leave. After the door closed, he heard their emperor beeping, "Are you really that unwilling to let me live with you?"
Qin Wan looked helpless. She raised her hand and touched his cheek to coax him: "That's not what I meant."
"Then what do you mean?" Xie Qing took advantage of the situation and grabbed her hand, hugged her neck, picked her up, walked to the bed and sat down: "How about you move to the Palace of Heavenly Purity?"
Qin Wan disagreed: "You often have court officials discussing political affairs here, which is not convenient."
Whenever Xie Qing thought about himself discussing political affairs with court officials outside, it seemed really inconvenient for Qin Wan to sleep or wash in the dormitory.
He sighed helplessly, "Then I'll have to go find you. But why don't you let me move the bedding? Are you afraid that I'll be late and wake you up?"
Qin Wan played with his fingers and asked with a smile, "If you're late reviewing the memorials, will you come to me?"
Xie Qing paused for breath and lowered his head: "I'm afraid of disturbing you, so I won't look for you. But..."
He looked up again with an unhappy face: "But, if I don't go to find you, can't you just say that you are looking forward to my coming? You just put me here directly, and you still say you are not abandoning me."
…
Qin Wan felt like she was coaxing a child. She couldn't help but pinch Xie Qing's cheek and said, "I know you'll feel bad for me. Besides, Xiao Luzi and the others have to move these things around. If you want to stay in the Qianqing Palace later without bedding, wouldn't that be inconvenient? Hmm?"
Xie Qing caught the words in her words and instantly became happy again: "So you are afraid that it will be inconvenient for me, so you don't let me move the bedding?"
Qin Wan nodded: "Of course."
"hey-hey."
After receiving a positive answer, Xie Qing contentedly held Qin Wan's cheek and kissed her hard.
As for what to do, she has to get up at midnight to bathe, burn incense, dress up and ascend the throne to be crowned queen. How can she have the energy to do anything else?
The two changed into pajamas and went to rest.
The first grand court meeting after ascending the throne.
Now that Qin Wan was participating in politics, she naturally had to attend court. Another chair was placed side by side next to the dragon throne. The emperor and the empress sat down, and after the civil and military officials kowtowed, they began to report on various matters.
Xie Qing is now able to handle these state affairs with ease. As for Qin Wan, he is also familiar with many things related to her.
When almost no one submitted memorials anymore, Xiao Luzi said as usual: "If you have something to report, please do so. If not, please dismiss the court."
Everything that needed to be said had been said. The court officials who had something to do were just looking forward to the court being dismissed early so they could get back to work. But they were sure not to work overtime. Their wives and concubines at home had complained about their overtime work some time ago.
Who knew that Cheng Yaojin would suddenly appear from the side.
A man came out from the imperial censors' team:
"I have a memorial."
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