Early in the morning on New Year's Eve, Dugu Yu entered the palace and offered sacrifices to heaven and earth and worshipped the gods with the emperor.
No one dared to make mistakes in such a solemn and large-scale sacrificial activity, so everyone got up early and waited outside the Golden Throne Hall.
Qin Yuelu received Qin Qingyao's reminder and told the prince on the way back to the palace that someone would want to harm him during the sacrifice, and asked him to be very careful to keep the prayers safe and to check them again before leaving.
Although he thought it unlikely, he still said, "I think it would be best if you could memorize the prayer, Your Highness. That way, no matter what tricks someone plays, you won't have to worry about it!"
The prince scolded impatiently, "Do you think I'm free? You know how much I have to deal with every day. I don't even have time to eat or sleep, so how can I find the time to memorize those obscure and complicated prayers?"
Qin Yuelu also knew that this was not very realistic, so he just tried to bring it up. Since the prince was so resistant, he did not insist any more.
The prince himself knew that if a mistake was made in such a sacrificial ceremony, the consequences would be serious, so after returning, he checked the prayer written by Qin Yuelu.
"Are you sure there are no mistakes? Are there any inappropriate words or phrases? Are there any omissions in the content?"
"This..." Qin Yuelu was a little nervous and unsure, "I'll go check it again."
"Go quickly!"
Qin Yuelu took the order and checked the written prayer word by word.
The handwriting was originally neat, but the more he stared at it, the more he felt that there was something wrong with the words.
The longer I read, the less confident I become, and the more I fear I might have made a typo.
In the end, he had no choice but to take the prayer to the library to look up information and verify it.
After browsing through books in the library for half a day and finally making sure that I had read every word correctly, when I came out I found that it was already late and the door of the library was locked!
Such an important place strictly prohibits fireworks, so there is no reason to light a lamp and read inside. There will be special people to close the windows and lock the doors at the appointed time.
According to the rules, before locking the door, you must go in and check to make sure that no one is inside.
One is to prevent someone from hiding in it and stealing or destroying the books; the other is to avoid bookworms like Qin Yuelu who seem to have forgotten the time.
But the person in charge of locking the door today was obviously lazy and didn't even go in to take a look. He just locked all the doors and windows.
Who would have thought that in such freezing cold weather and with no brazier in the library, there would be people staying inside until dark and not coming out?
So Qin Yuelu, this outlier, is doomed to tragedy.
Tomorrow would be his 30th birthday. He was so anxious that he broke out in a sweat, slapped and punched until his voice became hoarse, but no one came to him.
Qin Yuelu was cold, hungry and anxious. He huddled in a dark corner, shivering.
The next morning, the eunuch who was responsible for opening the door came over. As soon as he opened the door, a man fell out, which gave the eunuch a big shock.
"Reader Qin? You... Hey, wake up!"
Qin Yuelu was frozen all night, and he fell ill due to hunger, cold and tension. He had a high fever and was almost delirious.
…
At the altar, the sacrificial ceremony began on time, and when it came to the prince's turn, it was smooth and every step was in place.
There were still eunuchs presenting prayers for him, and he recited them in a loud and clear voice as planned, but he still - recited them wrong!
In fact, after he finished reading the opening words of warning to heaven and earth, when he read the main text, he felt cold all over, as if someone had hit him in the face with ice chips.
This was not the prayer written by Qin Yuelu. He had never seen this one beforehand!
Qin Yuelu, what are you doing!
Sweat was oozing from the prince's forehead, but he still had to pretend nothing had happened. At this moment, hundreds of eyes were watching him. If he dared to make even the slightest mistake, he would not escape others' attention.
So, he could only grit his teeth and continue reading, but the more he read, the more he felt something was not right.
At the end, he finally discovered the biggest problem.
The basic content of this prayer is correct. It seems that even those who use tricks would not dare to offend the gods. However, the words and tone in this content are obviously not written for him as the prince, but for the emperor!
He read for such a long time, and throughout the whole article he spoke in the tone of the emperor!
The old emperor isn't even dead yet, and you're already trying to get all the gods and Buddhas to know you, the new emperor? Aren't you being a little too impatient?
Fortunately, he had read the article written by Qin Yuelu several times, so even if he couldn't recite it word for word, he remembered the general idea.
Finally, he simply finished the work himself without even looking at what he was doing.
Stiff, stuttering, weak, and hurried.
When it was finally over, the prince's eyes went dark and he almost fainted beside the altar!
Prince Duan knelt down like all the other officials, lowered his head respectfully, his face almost splitting with laughter.
Qin Qingyao, you failed again...
The emperor had a serious expression on his face and it was impossible to tell what he was feeling. Anyone who was not a fool or illiterate would know that there was something wrong with the prince's remarks, but no one said anything at this time.
The emperor didn't say anything, everything should be carried out as usual, the sacrifice is important, the ancestors are the priority, and if there is any need to settle accounts, it should be done after the New Year!
The entire sacrificial ceremony lasted until the afternoon. The civil and military officials, who were exhausted after a busy day and whose knees were almost broken, finally left the palace and went home to celebrate the New Year.
Qin Qingyao had already prepared the dumpling filling and was waiting for Dugu Yu to come back and knead the dough to make the dumpling wrappers.
After Dugu Yu came back, Qin Qingyao dragged him around to post Spring Festival couplets.
Baizhi and Baiji took the paste and the written couplets, Dugu Yu climbed up and down to paste them by himself, and Qin Qingyao watched and balanced from a distance, taking charge of the instructions.
Dugu Yu was really helpless. The servants could do such trivial matters, so why did they have to wait for him to come back and post it personally?
It's okay inside the mansion, but the one posted at the gate is almost surrounded by people! Really, is everything fine at home during the New Year? Why are you still wandering around outside!
Qin Qingyao, "You leave everything to the servants. Do you want them to celebrate your New Year for you as well?"
Dugu Yu pursed his lips. It seemed that he had never celebrated the New Year seriously before. He was fighting on the battlefield every day. Who cared about the year or month?
The soldiers still have families to miss, letters from home to look forward to, and new clothes and bacon sent from their hometowns to receive. What does he have?
He has nothing.
No one missed him, and he had no one to miss him. No one made him new clothes, and no one wrote to him or sent him anything.
He is just a person, and he is a person wherever he goes.
After returning, he was conferred the title of king and established his own palace. For him, the biggest difference between the New Year and ordinary days was that he did not have to attend court during these days.
While other families were having a lively and reunion party, Prince Wu Ling's Mansion was as deserted as ever.
He still ate the same food, read the same books, and slept in the same large but cold bed.
But this year, things are finally different. This year he can finally celebrate the New Year with his family.
So he would listen to whatever Qin Qingyao instructed him to do, whether it was just pasting Spring Festival couplets or even tearing down houses!
After pasting the Spring Festival couplets, the servants had prepared flour and water and asked Dugu Yu to knead the dough.
As the saying goes, a gentleman stays away from the kitchen. Dugu Yu had never been in the kitchen, let alone knew how to make dumpling wrappers.
Qin Qingyao once again served as the on-site commander, and Dugu Yu once again looked at her with admiration. In the past, she always did some strange things that he had never seen before.
The chicken was coated in flour and fried, and the steamed buns were sandwiched between lettuce leaves. He thought Qin Qingyao didn't know how to cook at all.
But now I find that she really knows everything.
But all the strange things she had worked so hard to make were thrown away by him without mercy, without even eating a single bite.
When Dugu Yu thought about it now, he felt a dull pain in his conscience. He really wanted to taste it and see how it tasted.
But in the end, he couldn't bring himself to speak. Firstly, he didn't want Qin Qingyao to know that he had thrown it all away without eating it, although she might have known it all along.
Secondly, they were reluctant to let her go to the kitchen to help out. She used to live at her parents' house, and the Qin family would never allow her to go into the kitchen.
The more Dugu Yu thought about it, the more guilty he felt. He didn't know what to do. He suddenly took Qin Qingyao's hand and kissed the back of her hand, "Thank you for your hard work."
"Hey, it's not hard. Chopping dumpling stuffing is fun and satisfying. Just treat that piece of meat as your enemy and chop it hard. It's so satisfying!"
Dugu Yu, “…”
For some reason, when Qin Qingyao mentioned enemies, he thought she was talking about Ling Jingxuan. Can he still eat these dumplings?
Dugu Yu kneaded the dough, curled the corners of his lips into a smug smile, and rolled the dough into a big bun shape in his palm and held it in front of Qin Qingyao for praise, "How did I do?"
Qin Qingyao smeared his face with white handprints, "Excellent!"
Dugu Yuyi stretched out his hand and hooked it around Qin Qingyao's neck, pulling her into his arms and rubbing her hard, rubbing the flour on his face onto hers.
The two were just laughing and having fun when Wu Gang came in and announced, "Your Majesty, Princess, Master Murong has arrived."
Dugu Yu: “…”
Why is he visiting during Chinese New Year?
Qin Qingyao quickly got out of Dugu Yu's arms, rubbed her face which hurt from laughing, and ended up getting more flour on her face.
"Please invite them in!"
Dugu Yu asked, "Did you invite him?"
"Yes, Military Advisor Murong has no family or relatives in Yulin City. How pitiful it is for him to be alone."
"On New Year's Eve, everyone else's family is having a great time, but he's all alone at home, feeling lonely and miserable. Isn't he going to cry?"
Dugu Yu frowned. He wanted to celebrate the New Year with Qin Qingyao and didn't want anyone else to be a hindrance. But in the end, he didn't say anything. Since the person was already here, he couldn't just chase him out, right?
Murong Ce was also wearing festive attire today, a dark red robe that was not only festive but also looked very majestic.
"My Lord and Princess, Happy New Year!"
"Great Military Advisor, go wash your hands with Bai Zhi quickly. We are about to start making dumplings!"
Murong Ce looked up and saw the two handsome men. He couldn't help but smile, "Okay, I'll be right there."
Dugu Yu actually made dumplings with his own hands? How bizarre!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com