The emperor's outings were always extremely grand. Although this time the emperor and the empress simply left the palace to go to Ci'en Temple to listen to Buddhist chanting, the required etiquette and pomp were also quite complicated and grand. Although it was not as grand as the emperor's annual sacrifice to heaven, this time the emperor's outing also involved splashing clean water on the streets and blocking the roads.
The Zongzheng Temple has always been used to serve the genealogies of the royal family, clan members, and relatives by marriage, and to guard the royal mausoleums and temples.
And because Li Shimin once said, "Laozi is the ancestor of the imperial family", Laozi was regarded as the ancestor of the Li family. Taoism was made the state religion of the Tang Dynasty, and Taoist priests and monks had always been managed by the Zongzheng Temple.
And today is also the busiest time for the Zongzheng Temple. Since the hour of Yin, they have been busy with the Taichang Temple which is in charge of the rituals of the ancestral temple, the Weiwei Temple which is in charge of the ceremonial guards and tents, and the Taipu Temple which is in charge of the carriages and horses.
Naturally, the palace was brightly lit early in the morning. The attendants, guards, the left and right thousand-bull guards, palace maids, and eunuchs all got up and ran back and forth in the palace for today's two protagonists.
"Lian Tie, you go... forget it, I'm afraid he won't listen to you even if you go. Send someone to urge the prince so that he doesn't get late. Everyone in the East Palace has spoiled him in the past few years and let him do what he wants. Today is different than usual, so urge him a little." Wu Mei sat on a chair with a huge mirror in front of her. The beauty in the mirror looked at the palace maid helping her to put her hair up, and said with some concern.
Lian Tie, who was serving respectfully at the side, was immediately relieved when he heard that he was not allowed to go. If he went to urge the prince, he would probably be beaten out by the sleepy prince.
So he quickly found a palace maid who was usually favored by the prince from among the palace maids around him, and signaled her to rush to the East Palace to urge the prince.
"You are quite smart. You even knew to send a palace maid who is favored by the prince. But it's better this way, the monkey won't really get angry." Wu Mei said as she looked at the leaving palace maid in the mirror in front of her.
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It is no wonder that Wu Mei, as the mistress of the harem, cares so much about the prince's affairs. She knows better than anyone that whenever there is a major ceremonial event in the royal family, he is the most idle person in the entire palace.
He was the one who hated this kind of thing the most. It was the spring ploughing every year. He had experienced seven spring ploughings since he was four years old. Six times on the ploughing days, he would have a headache, fever or diarrhea.
So since he was named the crown prince, he only participated in the spring ploughing once. As for other royal ceremonies, this naughty monkey would run away if he could, hide if he could, and if he really couldn't hide, he would just deal with the situation.
On the other side, the prince was being helped by Bailu and Xiaoxue to bathe and change clothes. Someone, with sleepy eyes, stood there swaying, allowing Bailu and Xiaoxue to manipulate him.
Bai Chun looked at the maid's arrival, smiled slightly, pointed inside and said, "Go back and tell the Queen that the Crown Prince will be waiting for Your Majesty and the Queen at Chengtian Gate on time. Look, he is bathing and changing clothes now."
"Yes, thank you Miss Bai." After the palace maid bowed timidly, she hurried back.
After being waited on by Bai Lu and Xiao Xue, Li Hong ran out with his long hair draped over his shoulders: "Did the Queen Mother send someone to urge us just now?"
"Yes, the Queen was worried, so she sent someone to urge you." Bai Chun replied with a smile.
Li Hong yawned and sat down on the chair in front of Bai Chun. He looked at the sky outside which was still dark and said helplessly, "Don't tie your hair too tightly. It hurts my scalp."
"That's not appropriate. Today's matter is presided over by the Ministry of Rites and the Zongzheng Temple. I heard that people from the Censorate also followed suit. If you do this, the Ministry of Rites and the Censorate will have trouble with you again." Bai Chun smiled playfully, stroked Li Hong's long black hair, smelled it and said.
"I've been so unlucky these past two days. Yesterday I was tricked by that old bastard Xu Jingzong, and today I have to spend another day with the Ministry of Rites and the Censorate, who I've always been at odds with. Sigh... my life is so hard." Li Hong complained as Bai Chun tied his hair for him.
Among these three provinces, six ministries, nine temples, five academies, and the Censorate, the Ministry of Rites and the Censorate were the ones that Li Hong felt most guilty about.
Needless to say, the Censorate would always feel incomplete and like something was missing if it did not impeach the crown prince several times every year, every month, and every day.
Li Hong and the Ministry of Rites have always disliked each other. Since Dai Zhide was transferred to the position of Minister of Rites, he and Li Hong have been fighting even more fiercely.
The Ministry of Rites has always been in charge of the imperial examinations and educational affairs, so naturally it had a big feud with Dai Zhide over Li Hong's unauthorized changes to the Chongwenguan, including the reforms of the Imperial College and the Hongwenguan.
In addition, the Ministry of Rites was also in charge of guest etiquette, as well as extra-territorial or foreign affairs. Li Hong had always adopted a policy of intimidation towards Japan, Goryeo, Baekje and the countries in the Western Regions, and never gave them a good face.
This was incompatible with the Dehua policy that Dai Zhide had always advocated, so whenever Dai Zhide and Li Hong met, they would start quarreling after just a few words.
Yesterday, after Li Hong was appointed as the Minister of Revenue, an official joked with Dai Zhide after leaving the court, "Minister Dai, is it because His Majesty can't get enough of watching you two fighting in private that he brought you to the court so that he can fight you openly in front of him?"
"Minister Dai, you are already over fifty years old. Why are you fussing over a child? Haven't they taken action against the Imperial College and the Hongwen Academy? Besides, Yang Sijian is not anxious, so why are you so anxious?"
Dai Zhide naturally didn't care about these jokes. His old face darkened and he said, "I'm not afraid that he is the prince."
Whenever he thought about students who were not learning from the ancient books of sages but were instead fiddling with all that messy stuff, he felt that he had a responsibility to defend the next generation of students of the Tang Dynasty and to defend the imperial examination system of the Tang Dynasty.
Although the officials in the court were full of jokes, everyone was still looking forward to how the two powerful ministers would fight in the court.
Just thinking about the scene of an old man and a young man in the court, each arguing with each other and refusing to give in, arguing with each other until they were red in the face, made them look forward to it.
"Why don't you just say less? Isn't that why bother? Didn't His Majesty do what you want with the Imperial College and the Hongwen Academy?" Bai Chun said as he helped him tie up his hair.
"Well, that's different. Dai Zhide now gives me the feeling of Wei Zheng, so old-fashioned." Li Hong couldn't help shaking his head when he thought of Dai Zhide.
"Don't move. I just fixed your hair." Bai Chun reminded him softly, "Then you don't have to quarrel with him all the time. Recently, your quarrels in front of the Imperial College attracted a large number of people to watch. Besides, everyone in the court knows about it now."
"Forget it, I won't tell you. I'll just behave myself today and not give him any evidence against me. By the way, who's going to the Censorate? Don't tell me it's Wang Yifang!"
After Li Hong had tied his crown, he put on the bright yellow crown prince's attire. The dragon-shaped jade pendant on his waist shone brightly under the light. He looked much more energetic and handsome than usual.
Of course, apart from the slight smirk at the corner of his mouth, which seemed to be a symbol, it was still on his lips. Even when Bai Chun saw it at this moment, he felt that this guy might have made trouble again. No wonder every time the Queen saw his smirk, she couldn't help but want to beat him up.
"It's almost time. Let's wait at the gate of Chengtian. The royal etiquette is really annoying." Li Hong grumbled in dissatisfaction. Xia Zhi and Xiao Han were already waiting at the gate.
The eastern sky was slightly lit up with a pale sky. The prince's carriage had already stopped at the door before the emperor and the empress came out, and the relevant personnel from the Ministry of Rites and the Zongzheng Temple were already waiting in line.
Dai Zhide and the Minister of Zongzheng Temple were waiting in the palace. When Li Hong heard Bai Chun's signal that no one was from the Censorate and the Ministry of Rites, he immediately got out of the carriage and jumped out. Anyway he had to pay his respects to his father and mother in a while, so it would not be a problem for him to get off early.
The entire royal procession was much simpler than the royal grand activities such as offering sacrifices to heaven and death, but in Li Hong's eyes, this ceremony was already a headache for him.
For him, every time he participated in this kind of activity, he had the impulse of being possessed by gods or ghosts. Coupled with his strange identity of having been reincarnated nine times and ten times, he, who was originally an atheist, somehow became a little awed in his heart.
On both sides of Chengtian Gate, Qianniu Guards wearing Ming Guang armor stood solemnly on both sides. The swords on their waists gave people a chill even though they were not unsheathed, and the ceremonial lances in their hands reflected a menacing cold light.
Suddenly, the sound of ritual music was heard inside Chengtian Gate. First, six leaders and twelve large flags came out in a line, with the county magistrates of two counties in Chang'an mixed in. Then the Qingyou team, armed with bows and crossbows and horse spears, cleared the way for the last time in front, with flags of wind, rain, thunder and lightning, gold, wood, water, fire and earth leading the way for the officials of the Ministry of Rites, Zongzheng Temple and other temples and departments.
The twelve-step ceremony of the imperial carriage was omitted, and then the emperor's dragon chariot and the empress's phoenix chariot came out one after another, surrounded by the strict protection of the Qianniu Guards. Behind the two carriages, there were ritual music and various fan screens, small round fans, peacock fans, square fans, yellow flags, etc., which were dazzling.
The majestic royal procession paused for a moment at the Chengtian Gate. The Minister of Rites Dai Zhide ran to the front and spoke at length, shouting to the sky.
At this time, Li Hong also hurriedly walked past the carriage, accompanied by officials of all levels of the Prince's Mansion, and came to the emperor's dragon chariot to salute and kneel, then to the queen's phoenix chariot. He knelt one by one and stood below. Only after the emperor's carriage started to move could he return to his own carriage and follow closely.
Xu Jingzong, Li Yifu, Shangguan Yi and the three young masters of the Crown Prince's Mansion followed the Crown Prince to pay their respects. After the ceremony, Li Hong looked at Xu Jingzong beside him and whispered, "Why are you here? Stay away from me today. I get angry when I see you. You know why!"
Wu Mei looked through the window and watched Li Hong and Xu Jingzong whispering to each other. She knew that this boy certainly did not take this trip to Ci'en Temple seriously. But seeing that he did not yawn or look like he was dying, she felt somewhat comforted.
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