Chapter 859 An Unexpected Joy
Before Li San Niang and her entourage even entered the street where Chongwen Academy was located, their carriage was already blocked.
Fortunately, there were Imperial Guards maintaining order nearby, so Li San Niang and Qiu Xiang separated from the rest of the Li family at the outer gate of Chongwen Hall.
"I'll go into the inner hall first. You all wait here. The people who are going to watch the ceremony should be allowed to enter within half an hour."
Li San Niang raised her hand and patted Lu Zhu'er's head: "My child, stay close to your tenth uncle and Sister Fu Ling, don't get separated."
As soon as Li San Niang and Qiu Xiang entered the inner hall, they were stopped by the waiting servants.
"Medical Inspector Li, Director Wang wants to invite you over."
Li San Niang followed the attendant inside and saw that the Imperial Medical Bureau staff were gathered in groups of three or five around Wang Shuzheng.
"Imperial Physician Li is here? Quick, come and check the arrangements made by the Ministry of Rites. We mustn't make any mistakes when we go on stage and become a laughing stock."
Li San Niang had already seen the ceremony procedures for this grand event, which was arranged by the Ministry of Rites with the help of the Imperial Medical Academy. Now, Wang Shuzheng was sending someone to see it again, but she was just nervous, fearing that something might go wrong.
As Li San Niang, Ning Yizheng, and Sun Yizheng waited with Wang Shuzheng for the auspicious time to begin, they gradually heard the sounds of people entering the venue outside.
The opening ceremony was held in the large square outside the inner hall. Among the onlookers were physicians like Li's father and second brother, who were affiliated with the Chang'an Medical Alliance, as well as family members of officials from the Imperial Medical Bureau, such as Lu Zhu'er and Song Fuling.
Tang Mingguang and his entourage, who had rushed into Chang'an, were also taken to Chongwen Hall by Tang Mingyue, along with a large number of physicians from outside Chang'an who had come to witness this grand occasion.
Next came the officials from the Three Departments and Six Ministries invited by the Imperial Medical Bureau. Those who had good relations with the Imperial Medical Bureau, such as the Ministry of War, made sure to come.
There were also those who were opportunistic, seeing that Emperor Wu favored the Imperial Medical Bureau's actions, and thus joined in the fun.
The rest were divided into two groups. One group consisted of the managers of the five major medicine merchants in Chang'an City. For example, Zhongli Wenlian brought Cui Mama with her.
The other group consisted of ordinary people who came to see the spectacle and join in the fun.
However, these people are not ordinary citizens; they are people with some wealth, spare money, and time, who do not have to worry about meals.
For example, the head of Changshoufang brought his family to join in the fun;
The warden thought to himself, "Li San Niangzi is the female official of our Changshou Ward, so we have to support her at this place."
The manager of Xiang Gui Ji also came with his employees;
These people entered Chongwen Hall with their household registration certificates and stood in the main square to wait, following the directions of the soldiers and servants.
Many ordinary people gathered on the street where Chongwen Hall was located. Some of them were small vendors carrying baskets or shoulder poles, hoping to take the opportunity to sell some snacks and make a little extra money.
Some people made a spur-of-the-moment decision, but because they didn't bring their household registration certificate, they couldn't get in. They didn't want to leave, so they found a tea stall, sat down, and waited to watch the excitement.
These are just the people in the open; in the shadows, there are many soldiers in civilian clothes on guard at their posts.
The thugs have sent a lot more people to the streets, just in case.
As the sun gradually rose, many children with nimble legs ran errands on the street, buying bowls of sweet soup for onlookers.
The child who received the reward would say a few auspicious words to the man, but the man who was waiting to hear these words did not hear the child's joyful voice in his ear.
He looked up at the child, only to see that the child had turned his head away to look in the direction of the street blocked by the Imperial Guards.
The man followed the child's gaze and was surprised. He stood up and looked in that direction.
Four tall, powerful horses pulled a carriage adorned with colorful silk towards Chongwen Hall, followed closely by the Imperial Guards, who wore golden armor and carried swords at their waists.
This golden armor is quite unusual. The man was knowledgeable enough to tell that this person was at least a general.
Who is the person who can be protected by the general?
As the man was still wondering who was inside the carriage, it approached, and someone shouted, "Princess carriage, pedestrians make way!"
"It was Princess Taiping!"
Once the carriage had passed, the surrounding civilians dared to start discussing it amongst themselves.
"She's a princess! She's the saint's princess!"
"I knew it! Which noble person could afford to have a Lieutenant General as a bodyguard?"
"Oh? You still recognize which general that is?"
"...That's how I met this general and got to know him. He was also from a prestigious family and was a meritorious general."
"You've come to the right place today! Quick, eldest son, go home and have your mother bring out our family's household registration documents. Maybe we can still get in at the Chongwen Academy when we have a chance."
The man turned around and called for his son, telling him to hurry home and get the household registration certificate, hoping to take this opportunity to go in and see the excitement again.
His words rekindled the interest of those who had initially given up on entering the Chongwen Hall to watch the ceremony.
Meanwhile, Wang Shuzheng and his group, who were in the main square of Chongwen Hall, also received news that Princess Taiping was coming to observe the ceremony.
Wang Shuzheng was first surprised, then overjoyed!
"Good, good. If the sage doesn't come, but the princess does, then it must be the sage's will."
Okay, okay, okay.
Thinking this, Wang Shuzheng lifted his official robe and led everyone to the entrance of Chongwen Hall to wait for Princess Taiping's arrival.
Li San Niang followed behind Wang Shuzheng and the others. She was also somewhat surprised. She didn't expect that Emperor Wu himself would not come, but instead send Princess Taiping to show his support. This was quite a show of respect for the Imperial Medical Bureau.
When the princess's carriage arrived at the door, the first person to get off was not Princess Taiping, but a woman with a woman's hair styled in a traditional Chinese updo, wearing a golden crown and dressed in very gorgeous clothes, whom Li San Niang did not know.
"Shangguan Wan'er!"
Li Sanniang had sharp ears, and she heard the name from the official behind her. Only then did Li Sanniang realize that the woman was Shangguan Wan'er, another female official who had recently been pushed from the harem to the forefront by Emperor Wu.
After Shangguan Wan'er, Princess Taiping arrived, dressed in a formal gown.
"Greetings, Your Highness. May Your Highness be well."
After a series of greetings, the crowd escorted Princess Taiping into the Chongwen Hall.
Seeing this scene, the surrounding civilians became even more interested in the ceremony that was about to take place inside the Chongwen Hall.
If it weren't for the Imperial Guards maintaining order, many people would probably have been pushing and shoving their way in.
However, some clever ones went straight up to the three-story building next door, paid for a room, and opened the window to see what was happening inside the Chongwen Hall with their good eyesight.
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