*
When the emperor ascends the throne, it is always at dawn; the mandate of heaven is first bestowed, like the rising sun.
At exactly 5:00 AM, the bells and drums sounded.
On the way to the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Lin Rui seized the opportunity and whispered to Nan Qing:
"Your subordinates have received the Regent and his entourage into the city."
"Mm," Nan Qing replied calmly.
Although time was tight, she knew he would make it.
In front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, civil and military officials, dressed in court attire, stood solemnly.
"Thump—"
The deep sound of the bell broke the silence, and all the officials knelt down, their foreheads pressed against the floor tiles.
Thirty-six armored guards, carrying ceremonial weapons, filed in through the Qian Yuan Gate.
After them.
Nan Qing, dressed in a black and red robe with twelve embroidered symbols, walked slowly towards them.
The robe is black with red gold patterns, featuring sun, moon and stars on the shoulders, mountain dragons and pheasants on the sleeves, and ancestral vessels and algae on the skirt.
Xiao Ba followed three steps behind her, its snow-white tiger claws stepping across the imperial path, its tiger face also bearing a solemn expression.
In the Hall of Supreme Harmony, on the steps, Fifth Prince stood with his hands behind his back.
"The Imperial Seal is bestowed—"
Amidst the official's long shout, Fifth Jing picked up the Imperial Seal from the dragon table and solemnly handed it to Nan Qing.
The jade seal has a white jade base, a glass dragon as its knob, and is engraved with four seal characters: "Received the mandate from Heaven, may it live long and prosper forever."
"Coronation—"
The twelve-tasseled crown was presented on a tray made of golden nanmu wood. Fifth Jing held the crown with both hands, looked at Nan Qing, and said in a deep voice:
"I, the Emperor, take the mountains and rivers as my witness, and the sun and moon as my proof."
"From this day forward, you shall be the ruler of the world."
The crown slowly fell, the jade tassels swaying gently, obscuring half of Nan Qing's face and the indifference in her eyes.
All the civil and military officials knelt down again, their foreheads touching the ground.
The armored guards, the imperial guards, knelt on one knee, their long halberds slamming to the ground.
They all shouted:
"Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"
Amidst the thunderous shouts of worship, Nan Qing raised her eyes, her gaze passing through the jade tassels and sweeping over Pei Linmo, who was sitting below her, meeting his eyes.
Dressed in a black python robe, he stood on the east side of the imperial steps, standing out among the kneeling crowd.
Looking at Nan Qing on the high platform, Pei Linmo's lips curled up almost imperceptibly.
Nan Qing withdrew his gaze and raised his hand, saying:
"My lords, rise."
As soon as he finished speaking, the sky suddenly changed. Seven-colored auspicious clouds appeared in the originally clear sky, and a flock of red-crowned cranes gracefully descended from the clouds, their snow-white wings gilded by the rising sun.
Further away, hundreds of birds flew in and circled around the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
At this moment, the Minister of Rites pointed to a patch of snow-white light on the horizon and suddenly shouted in a trembling voice, "The White Phoenix has arrived!"
Everyone looked up in response, and saw a white cloud gradually condensing above Nan Qing's head, eventually transforming into a white phoenix spreading its wings as if about to take flight. As the phoenix's wings spread, seven-colored rays of light flowed around them.
All the people of Wei know that when their new emperor was born nineteen years ago, auspicious omens arose from the heavens, and all birds paid homage.
But at that time, the strange phenomenon was kept hidden in the palace, and most people could only see the auspicious dragon and phoenix clouds in the sky from afar, and ultimately could not see them clearly because they were separated by the eaves and brackets.
Today, not only were the officials in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony astonished, but the people outside the Meridian Gate, who were hoping to catch a glimpse of the new emperor, also shouted in unison, "Long live the Emperor!"
Under a sky full of auspicious omens, the people bowed their heads in reverence, and the officials marveled.
Only Pei Linmo had eyes only for that figure.
Nanqing seemed to sense something and looked back at the past.
Through the swaying jade tassels, she saw the man's thin lips move slightly, and he silently uttered four words.
"My Majesty."
Nan Qing chuckled lightly. It was a perfectly proper form of address, yet he pronounced it with a hint of romance.
...
At the palace banquet.
Nanqing sat upright on the gilded imperial couch in the center of the high platform, while the retired emperor, Fifth Jing, and the empress dowager, Nan Wanqing, sat on slightly lower seats on either side.
Pei Linmo, on the other hand, was specially arranged by Nan Qing to sit in the first seat below the steps.
The other princes, dukes, and regional princes were all ranked behind him. Although their expressions varied, no one dared to raise any objections.
After several rounds of drinks, the music gradually subsided.
Pei Linmo suddenly stood up and, in the silence of the hall, walked step by step toward the emperor.
He raised his head and looked up at the high platform, his gaze burning brightly, piercing through the twelve jade tassels and looking straight into Nan Qing's eyes.
"Your Majesty, I, your humble servant, congratulate you on your ascension to the throne."
As he finished speaking, six eunuchs entered the palace in an orderly fashion, the two at the head each carrying a box.
The eunuch holding the sandalwood box knelt respectfully and raised the box high above his head.
The four attendants behind them stood in four directions, and first took out a roll of cloth from the long box on the left.
When unfolded, the officials in the hall discovered that it was a map, clearly outlining the current territory of the Liang Kingdom.
The Western Chu submitted, the Eastern Ying became a vassal state, and all the Northern Di tribes also submitted.
Its territory was so vast that it was comparable to that of the State of Wei.
The atmosphere in the hall was tense, and the ministers looked at each other, puzzled by the regent of Liang's actions.
Could it be that he's here to boast that his Liang Kingdom is now on par with the Wei Kingdom in strength?
But he slowly walked to another box, gently opened the lid, and revealed four black iron tiger talismans quietly displayed inside.
The tiger tally is ancient and heavy, with sharp lines, and it is the order to mobilize the Liang Kingdom's armies from all directions.
Pei Linmo turned and looked up, then suddenly knelt on one knee, staring directly at the high platform, his voice clear and firm:
"Your humble servant, offering the land and rivers of Liang as betrothal gifts and the tiger tally as a token, wishes to enter the inner palace and become Your Majesty's consort."
One stone stirs up a thousand waves.
The officials in the hall all paled. The older officials dropped their jade chopsticks with a clatter, and the younger officials were so shocked that they knocked over their wine cups.
Even Fifth Jing, who was on the high platform, straightened up slightly, his expression deepening.
This is simply unbelievable!
The young emperor of Liang was merely a puppet; the regent before them was in fact the uncrowned ruler of Liang, the true power holder.
For three years, the Liang Kingdom has waged wars to the east and west, expanding its territory. Now, it holds vast lands with the Western Chu, Eastern Ying, and Northern Di tribes all under its control, and commands a million elite troops. It is clearly a powerful and influential ruler, yet...
Yet she insists on offering up this magnificent land, willingly relegated to a position in the harem?!
This good thing was like a windfall for the State of Wei, but at this moment, no one dared to ask first whether the windfall was real.
Even the veteran officials in the court frowned, pondering what the regent of Liang Kingdom was planning.
They dared not agree rashly, nor dared they object, so they could only look up at the high platform.
Nanqing sat upright before the emperor, her face obscured by jade tassels, so others could not know what she was thinking and remained silent for a long time.
finally.
"Prince Pei."
The retired emperor, Fifth Jing, spoke slowly, his voice steady and powerful, breaking the tense atmosphere in the hall.
"As the Regent of Liang, wielding immense military power and possessing vast territory, you now willingly enter my Empress's palace to become the consort of my Empress of Wei..."
Fifth Jing leaned slightly forward, his tone suddenly becoming sharp:
"Why should I trust you?!"
Pei Linmo stood still for a moment, then suddenly chuckled, raised his eyes, and looked at Nan Qing with a soft look in his eyes.
"Even if one possessed the entire world, it wouldn't be a fraction as good as her."
"The Liang Kingdom's mighty army numbered a million, and with the four tiger tallies presented, from now on, only the Empress can drive them away."
Fifth Jing did not speak again, but simply turned his head to look at his daughter, who was now the empress.
Nanqing looked at the person in the hall below, her red lips slightly parted.
"Pei Linmo, have you thought this through?"
"This is my only wish in this life."
Pei Linmo changed his self-designation from "outer minister" to "subject," signifying that he was offering the Liang Kingdom to the high-ranking empress and from then on, bowing down and submitting to her.
Nan Qing chuckled softly, then slowly rose, her crown tassels jingling as she descended the imperial steps.
She stopped in front of Pei Linmo, took the tiger tally from his hand, and looked up at him with a gleam in her eyes.
"I accept this gift."
One gifted the country, and the other accepted it without hesitation.
From then on, the Liang Kingdom ceased to exist, leaving only the Wei Dynasty. Its founding emperor was Empress Chenji, the fifth Nanqing.
end.
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