Chapter 168 Ceremony
At the same time, the Small Imperial Master’s Mansion.
Yuan Ruan yawned and was about to turn over and hug Bingyu to sleep for a while, but suddenly someone dug him out from under the quilt.
Yuan Ruan rubbed his eyes: "Who is it?"
"It's already noon." The prince laughed warmly, "If you don't get up, Ninth Sister will be late for lunch."
Yuanruan said "Oh" and yawned lazily again.
The prince looked at her worriedly: "Why do you look so listless? Are you not feeling well?" However, when the prince approached, he was stopped by a pair of chubby hands.
Yuanruan: [It's so hot! When my nephew came over, I felt like I was wrapped in a fire and was about to melt.]
The prince didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He took an ice bowl from the side and handed it to Yuan Ruan: "Hold it, you can't eat it."
Yuan Ruan's eyes suddenly lit up, and he rubbed his face against the ice bowl: "Thank you, brother."
Yuan Ruan: [My nephew, save my life. ]
The prince did not let Yuanruan linger in the cool for too long. After a cup of tea, the prince took the bowl of ice out of Yuanruan's arms with a smile, and then carried Yuanruan out.
Yuan Ruan asked, "Brother, where are you going?"
The prince said, "Several dukes and princes have come to the capital to ask for help. Father is planning to hold a large-scale locust extermination..." After a pause, the prince changed his words and said, "A locust extermination ceremony. Ninth sister, as the imperial teacher, you will be in charge of lighting some incense later."
Yuan Ruan nodded repeatedly, and muttered to the system: [I thought this locust extermination ceremony had already been held.]
System: [I guess we have to wait for the dukes and kings to come. ]
Yuan Ruan: [That's right. It's a good opportunity for me to go and see what kind of people these dukes and princes who are troubling me are, so that I can continue to give me spoilers.]
System: [Ouch!]
The prince smiled lightly and couldn't help but hug Yuanruan closer. However, just a few seconds later, he was pushed away again by a pair of chubby hands.
…
When Yuan Ruan arrived at the sacrificial site, the Qin Tianjian people had already arranged for the Taoist priests to take the stage.
The prince put Yuanruan down, and Yuanruan slowly placed the lit incense on the incense burner. Afterwards, the warden of Qintianjian carefully carried her down.
System: [That's all? Ah Ruan, do you want to show off your skills? ]
The warden who was holding Yuan Ruan staggered, and then he took a sudden step forward and finally held Yuan Ruan steady again.
Yuan Ruan: [No need. If I show off my skills, I will be stealing the show.]
System: [Ah? Why? Ah Ruan, you are the national teacher, it is natural for you to be in the Daxia altar. Why are you making a scene to seize the host? ]
Yuan Ruan: [Tong'er, the theme of today's altar is different. When Daxia faced a locust plague in the past, it mostly offered sacrifices to the locust god, praying that the locust god would come less often in the future. But the theme of this time's sacrifice is "Man must kill the locusts", which is to highlight that man can conquer nature. If I show off my magical powers here, people who don't know may think that the locust god has appeared, which will weaken your theme of "Man can conquer nature". There is no need.]
The emperor who had just ascended the throne felt warm in his heart: Jiuer has really grown up and has become my sweet little darling.
The emperor looked at the crowd of people in front of the altar. He suddenly drew out the long sword from his waist and pointed it to the sky.
"…I am commanded by Heaven to destroy the locust plague in the world…to comfort the heavens and the gods on all sides…" The emperor first denounced the disaster caused by locusts to Daxia, and then said that he would catch locusts in accordance with Heaven's command to warn Heaven and the world of peace.
Afterwards, the emperor said loudly: "I and all the people swear to eat locusts and to eradicate the locust plague in the world."
After saying this, the emperor threw the sword away.
He grabbed the fried locusts in one hand and picked up the wine pot in the other and started eating. While eating, the emperor also chatted with the many common people below and introduced which part of the locusts was delicious after being fried.
Yuanruan saw that his brother was performing so hard and felt that he should give him a helping hand.
She hooked her little finger lightly.
There were a few faint thunders in the air, and soon a hole was torn in the dark clouds in the sky.
At that moment, a ray of sunlight fell right on the emperor.
This beam of sunlight stunned everyone near the altar. Almost everyone looked up at the sunlight setting in the sky, and some even unconsciously wanted to reach out and touch it.
The court officials were the first to react, and they all looked at the snickering Yuan Ruan.
I didn't tell you this would happen!
But... the little national master is really awesome, the effect is great.
Prime Minister Li suddenly performed a great salute and shouted, "Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven's Mandate. Your majesty is feared by the world, as powerful as thunder and lightning, and as glorious as the sun. You will surely defeat the locust plague and protect Daxia forever! I bow down to you."
The officials of the Great Xia court were first startled by Prime Minister Li’s disgusting words: Bah, you bootlicker.
Then they followed suit and performed the great salute: "Your Majesty is a great authority in the world. May you forever protect Great Xia. We, the subjects, bow down to you."
The common people followed suit, kneeling down and paying homage to the emperor with thunderous cheers.
After the ceremony.
The court officials stood up first, and then one by one they grabbed the fried locusts and stuffed them into their mouths.
At the same time, the more powerful court officials took portions of fried locusts and walked toward the common people, eating as they walked, and promoting them to the frightened common people.
The emperor and his court officials played a very important role in taking the lead. Seeing this, the common people no longer hesitated about eating the locusts and began to taste them one by one.
Fried locusts tasted pretty good, especially for someone who only eats meat once a month.
"Eat! I didn't expect locusts to be so delicious. Ha, long live your majesty!"
"And the Imperial Master is great! Before, we all offered sacrifices to locusts, but the Imperial Master led us to kill the locusts, so that we would not go hungry. Long live the Imperial Master."
"It smells so good, I almost regret exchanging all the locusts for silver."
"Goudan, I heard that the King of Huainan is a bad man and the locusts are rampant. The emperor is preparing to organize a team to go south to deal with the locust plague. How about we go together!"
…
The emperor, Yuan Ruan and his entourage were very satisfied.
The group of people led by Prince Huainan who were standing in the corner were all stunned.
So when the Minister of Rites brought the fried locusts with a smile, the Prince of Huainan and his entourage were stunned and subconsciously reached out to stuff them into their mouths.
While eating, the King of Huainan stared at the people kneeling on the ground with jealousy: "How is this possible! How is it possible that he is loved by so many people?"
Prince Jing mechanically refused and pointed at the beam of sunlight above the emperor's head: "He is loved not only by the people, but also by God."
The King of Yan patted the King of Huainan on the shoulder and said, "Give it up. It's better to live in peace."
Rebellion can be said to be the obsession of King Huainan.
He woke up with a start; "What are you talking about! It's impossible for me to... King Yan, what did you eat in your mouth? Why are there insect legs in your mouth?"
The King of Yan paused, then seemed to come to his senses. He pointed at the King of Huainan and said, "There are still three locust legs on your lips."
Prince Jing took another one and put it in his mouth: "I didn't expect the emperor to have so many tricks to solve the locust plague, including government purchases, chickens and ducks, and people eating them. They are also delicious and crispy. I don't think the locust plague will cause any trouble this time."
The Prince of Yan and the Prince of Jing flanked the Prince of Huainan on the left and right, both praising the emperor's intelligence.
The King of Huainan thought of the anger of the people in his fiefdom, and then looked at the peace and prosperity here.
He felt even more upset.
Why should that murderer be the emperor? He refused to accept it!
At this time, the sacrificial ceremony ended and the crowd gradually dispersed.
The King of Huainan stood there with a gloomy face. When he was about to do something, he suddenly heard a conversation:
[Is this the King of Huainan who was destined to tragedy? ]
[Yeah. Look at his melon, he has been used all his life, tsk tsk tsk…]
King Huainan: "Who?"
When he jumped up and was about to curse, he was suddenly captured by Prince Jing and Prince Yan.