Chapter 938 With the blessing of Heaven, our Emperor will surely live a long and prosperous life, and his empire will be forever secure!
Before even entering the Taiji Hall, Li San Niang heard cheerful palace music coming from inside.
Even though Li San Niang didn't know much about music, she could tell that this music was different from the music she usually heard in the neighborhood.
Sure enough, after the court officials, ranked by seniority, entered the Taiji Hall one by one, Li Sanniang looked into a corner of the hall and saw at least thirty court musicians, either sitting or standing.
Li San Niang originally thought there were quite a few people, but when she sat down at the table as instructed by the palace attendant, she looked up and saw that there were more than twenty musicians in green round-necked robes standing to the side.
The musicians stood waiting in front of two sets of instruments, consisting of chime bells and chime stones, hanging on a frame.
At this moment, looking at so many court musicians, listening to music that she would never hear in the neighborhood, and looking at the bowls and dishes on her table, Li San Niang finally realized that she had become capable, and not only was she able to attend the palace banquet, but she could also sit in the front row.
Yes, Li San Niang's position in the Imperial Medical Bureau was in the front row. In front of her were Director Wang and two other senior medical directors. She and another medical director were in the second row.
Looking at the nine magnificent golden pillars in the main hall, Li San Niang wondered how much copper powder it would take to paint them.
And with the lights illuminating the hall like daytime, how many candles must have been lit and how many different kinds of lanterns must have been placed there?
This cost a real fortune!
Before Li San Niang could finish her thoughts, she heard the musicians change the tune, and the sounds of palace attendants leading the way could be heard outside the main hall.
The accented Mandarin voice drifted over, and Li San Niang, like everyone else, looked up towards the entrance of the main hall. Sure enough, a procession of vassal tribes, dressed in colorful clothes and with braids, walked in.
Leading the way should be the current Great Khan of the Eastern Turks. He is easy to recognize because his hairstyle is quite unique even among the various ethnic groups.
As this person passed by the Court of State Ceremonial, he stopped and bowed to the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial, who naturally rose to return the bow.
Then, over the next half hour, palace attendants led about a hundred people of different races into the main hall.
The first twenty or thirty foreigners were able to get a seat at the front, but the later foreigners had to sit in places farther away from the main seats.
The chief of a small tribe was happily seated at the entrance of the main hall. Even though he was at the entrance, he was still in the same hall as Emperor Wu.
This is much better than sitting in the front row in the Liangyi Hall.
After waiting for about half an hour, when Li San Niang's bottom was getting numb from sitting, the musicians finally changed their tune, and a melodious yet solemn piece of music rang out in the hall.
Li Sanniang quickly stood up like the other officials, as the officials of the Ministry of Rites had long anticipated that Emperor Wu would make his appearance.
The palace attendant's sharp but clear voice stood out amidst the music: "The Sage has arrived."
"Wishing you good health."
Li San Niang bowed and paid her respects to Emperor Wu along with the other officials. Although she could not look directly at Emperor Wu, she could still feel the supreme power of the emperor just by watching him walk this far.
After Emperor Wu walked up the steps to the top of the table and sat on the imperial throne, Prince Xiang and other members of the royal family went to their seats.
Next to arrive were the first and second-rank officials, dressed in purple robes, who were in charge of various departments. Among them was Mr. Bu Ke.
Mr. Bu Ke was the first person to the left of Emperor Wu, while the first person to the right of Emperor Wu was Prince Xiang, and next to Prince Xiang was Princess Taiping.
Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that Mr. Bu Ke was Emperor Wu's confidant and his most favored person.
Next came the routine: greetings, returning the greetings, introducing the leaders of the main vassal states and tribes, and a barrage of flattering words.
Then, starting with Prince Xiang, the imperial family members offered their birthday wishes to Emperor Wu. After the imperial family finished, high-ranking officials of the third rank and above would say a few words in a refined manner. Finally, people from the vassal states and tribes would come forward.
At this point, Li Sanniang leaned forward slightly to look ahead, as she was quite curious about what good things these vassal states could offer as tribute.
While we shouldn't be too proud, the Tang Dynasty at that time truly deserved the title of "Celestial Empire, Abundant Resources".
"...One hundred large-sized pearls and one piece of high-quality red coral from the South China Sea..."
The lengthy chanting of names made it difficult to focus on the offerings brought out by the palace servants. Li San Niang couldn't help but think to herself, "Good heavens, really good heavens, how much manpower and resources must have been spent to find these."
Countless people must have died in this...
Before Li San Niang could even marvel at how all the people coveted this supreme imperial power, a team of eight soldiers carried a tall frame covered with a red cloth into the main hall.
"The Luoyun tribe of the South China Sea presented a strange stone, ten feet tall, as tribute."
The load, carried by eight people, was carefully lowered to the ground. Li San Niang felt a dull tremor, which gave her an idea of how heavy the boulder was.
Empress Wu held a small wine cup in her hand, looking leisurely at the huge rock covered with red cloth below. "Haha, interesting. Come, my son Taiping, lift this red cloth for me and see what kind of good thing the Luoyun tribe has sent me."
"Yes, sage."
Princess Taiping rose and bowed in response. Then she walked towards the huge rock in the open space in the middle of the hall. When she got closer, she grabbed the red rope and pulled down the red cloth covering the rock. It had a luster like white jade, and a huge rock about two people tall was revealed in front of everyone.
"ah!"
"So that's how it is!"
"Wonderful, wonderful!"
Princess Taiping, who was standing beside the boulder, was also stunned by its appearance. After a couple of breaths, she turned around and bowed to Emperor Wu at the head of the table, saying, "Your Majesty, this gift is very well presented!"
There is a strange stone in the world that resembles the image of a sage; this must be a blessing from heaven for the sage's long life and the eternal stability of the empire!
As soon as Princess Taiping spoke, the conspicuous official Bao Lang immediately stood up and echoed, "Blessed by Heaven, our Emperor will surely live ten thousand years and his empire will be forever secure!"
With the atmosphere set, all the officials, ministers, and even vassal states and foreign tribes stood up and shouted: "Blessed by Heaven, our Emperor will surely live ten thousand years and our empire will be forever secure!"
Regardless of what everyone is really thinking, on the surface they are all incredibly loyal.
In Li San Niang's opinion, the shape of that white jade-like strange stone was not far-fetched to say that it resembled a woman, but to say that it looked exactly like Emperor Wu was just resemblance for the sake of resemblance.
However, from ancient times to the present, such objects have always been hyped up by people to create hype.
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