The atmosphere of the beginning of spring in the village was not very strong, but it was very lively in the capital.
This day was celebrated as a festival both inside and outside the palace, and officials from all levels participated in the Spring Festival ceremony.
Two opera singers, dressed in hats and ornaments as the Spring Official and the Spring Li, walked in front, announcing the arrival of spring along the streets.
"Spring is coming—"
"Spring is coming—"
Behind these two people, there were drums and music leading officials of all ranks, and behind them were farmers holding farm tools.
People on the street must bow and greet the Spring Official when they meet him.
When the heralds of spring pass by a shop or stall, they can take goods or food at will without paying, and the shopkeepers and stall owners will greet them with a smile.
After arriving at the Spring Market outside the capital with music and drums, all the officials knelt twice and kowtowed six times to worship the Mangshen Maer, and welcomed him and the clay spring ox back to the city.
On the way back, there was a man pretending to be a farmer, holding farm tools, waving a whip and shouting, reminding the people that spring had arrived and it was time to prepare for the new year's farming.
The people should carefully observe the position of the farmer. If he stands in front of the ox, it means spring is early. If he stands behind the ox, it means spring is late.
If the farmer and the ox walk side by side, it means spring has arrived at the right time, neither too early nor too late.
The brought-back Mangshen Maer and the clay sculpture of the Spring Ox were placed in front of the government office and various offerings were presented to them.
When Mr. Cen heard that Mrs. Ye and Qingtian had never seen such a custom, he took them out to watch the fun.
"Luckily your father was in a hurry and just ate a quick bite before leaving. Otherwise, he wouldn't have had time to come out and watch the bullfight!"
The grand "beating the bull" ceremony begins on time at noon.
There were already many people gathered in three layers at the gate of the government office.
If they had not been protected by the servants, the group of old people like Mr. Cen, Mrs. Ye and Qingtian, who were the weak, women and children, would probably have been dispersed by others in an instant.
As soon as noon arrived, drums and music started playing.
Officials held willow whips and took turns whipping the spring ox according to their rank, and then handed it over to the farmers to whip.
At this time, the more broken the Spring Ox is beaten, the better, which represents smooth farming this year. After everyone has finished beating it, the onlookers will rush forward, grab the broken pieces of the Spring Ox, take them home and scatter them in the livestock pen, praying for the prosperity of livestock this year.
After listening to Mr. Cen’s talk about the custom of beating the Spring Ox, Qingtian kept staring at the Spring Ox that was being beaten into smaller and smaller pieces.
When the officials had finished beating him, the peasants behind him started to whip him, and Qingtian twisted his body to indicate that he wanted to get off.
Sister Ye was watching with great interest when Qingtian twisted in her arms. She almost lost her grip and quickly came to her senses and asked, "What's wrong? Are you uncomfortable with my embrace?"
Qingtian pointed at the Spring Ox and said, "Mom, my great-grandfather said that if we bring it home, the harvest will be good this year!"
Mrs. Ye knew that this was just everyone's beautiful vision.
The imperial court held various sacrifices and prayers every year, but disasters also struck some places every year.
So Mrs. Ye never thought about stealing the Spring Ox.
But when she heard Qingtian say this, her heart suddenly moved.
Qingtian has always been a lucky child. If she could catch a handful of spring oxen and bring them home, maybe it would really bless her family with a good harvest and good growth of livestock this year.
But there were so many people here, she didn't dare let Qingtian grab it by himself.
"Hold on tight to my neck and don't move. I'll hold you and catch it." Mrs. Ye said.
Shi Lei, who was standing by, heard the conversation between the mother and daughter and took the initiative to say, "Madam You, I'll help you block the others."
After he finished speaking, he turned around and told Meng Yu: "Take good care of the master."
"Don't worry, don't worry about me." Meng Yu said, "You should take good care of Madam You and Miss Qingtian, otherwise the master will not forgive you."
Seeing that the Spring Ox was being beaten into pieces, the crowd behind began to squeeze in.
Shi Lei protected Mrs. Ye from behind, constantly helping her block the people rushing forward from behind.
Mrs. Ye held Qingtian in her arms and walked inside with the crowd.
It took a lot of effort to finally reach Chunniu.
At this time, Chunniu had been beaten into pieces.
The last person to whip the Spring Ox reached out and took the whip.
As he raised the whip, it fell.
“Pah—pah—pah—”
As soon as the third whip fell, everyone rushed in and started grabbing the Spring Ox fragments on the ground.
Mrs. Ye squatted down holding Qingtian and motioned her to grab two handfuls quickly.
Shi Lei stood by and protected the mother and daughter tightly.
Qingtian quickly reached out and grabbed two handfuls, not knowing what he had grabbed, and shouted, "Mom, I got it."
"Excuse me!" Shi Lei said as he grabbed Mrs. Ye's arm and lifted the mother and daughter up.
At this time, there were more and more people behind him, and only where the officials were standing were there no common people, so it was relatively loose.
Ordinary people did not dare to step forward at will. Shi Lei had followed Old Cen for many years and was not afraid of officials. He pulled Mrs. Ye and went straight to the direction where there were fewer people. He slipped out along the edge and soon found Old Cen and Meng Yu who were far behind.
"Did you catch them?" Mr. Cen breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Mrs. Ye and Qingtian coming out. He suppressed his previous worries and asked Qingtian in a relaxed tone.
"I caught it!" Qingtian said as he opened his hands, which had been clenched, to show them to a few people.
When they saw what Qingtian was holding in his hand, Mr. Cen, Shi Lei and Meng Yu were stunned and speechless for a long time.
The same confused expression appeared on Mrs. Ye and Qingtian's faces.
"Mom, did I catch the wrong person?" Qingtian turned around and asked Mrs. Ye nervously.
Mrs. Ye was also confused. She looked at Elder Cen and asked, "Grandfather, didn't Qingtian catch it correctly?"
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
