"Your Majesty has arrived!"
With a loud shout from the chief eunuch, the emperor's ceremonial procession slowly moved forward, and a group of officials and guards knelt to greet them. Mei Ya, dressed in a red silk robe with five phoenixes embroidered in gold, stood in front of the ladies. Looking at Zhong Mingwei, who was dressed in a dragon robe and walking forward with steady steps, she couldn't help but smile. As she knelt down with the ladies, she couldn't help but secretly glance at the man who was getting closer and closer to her, watching the hem of his dragon robe gleaming with dazzling golden light in the morning light, and also looking at the pair of yellow court boots with auspicious cloud patterns. She knew that inside the boots, on the man's feet, were the socks she had made herself, embroidered with little bats and bamboos. She couldn't help but smile even more. From Ningguta to the capital, from a poor commoner to the current emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the identity that this man cared about most was never the emperor, but her husband. She knew it, and she had always known it.
Suddenly, the pair of yellow court boots with auspicious cloud patterns stopped in front of her. She looked at the boots in surprise, as well as the pair of big hands that came with them and stretched out in front of her. She raised her head in astonishment, and the man's smiling face was just around the corner: "Get up."
Mei Ya looked at the man in surprise, and then she looked around. Sure enough, she saw that everyone was looking over here. Her face turned pale immediately, and she pouted at the man and whispered, "What are you doing? What day is it? Don't mess around!"
But Zhong Mingwei seemed not to hear her. He just held her hand and pulled her up. Then, under the gaze of everyone, he took her up the stairs.
"What are you going to do?" Meiya panicked. Even though she looked calm, her calves were cramping. Looking at Zhong Zhiling standing on the stage and smiling at them, she felt uneasy and suspicious. "Did you and Daddy plan to plot against me?"
"What's the plot?" Zhong Mingwei smiled slightly, looking at the anxious little girl from the side, "Girl, today is my big day, of course you have to stand by my side."
"What's that..." Meiya asked with a frown, but her eyes widened halfway through her words. Then she tried to calm herself down, but her voice trembled when she spoke, "Where's your dragon crown? Why... why aren't you wearing it? Oh my God, what... what should I do? The dragon crown is not lost? Why didn't I find it before?"
Zhong Mingwei felt like laughing when he heard her voice that sounded like she was about to cry. He gently squeezed her hand and pointed his chin forward: "Girl, look over there."
Mei Ya looked forward obediently, and saw Kong Wenmin holding a tray and Cheng Weiran, the old minister of the Ministry of Revenue who was over seventy years old, standing behind the King of Pingxi. On one of them was the imperial seal, and on the other was a dragon crown.
Mei Ya understood immediately: "Zhong Mingwei, you..."
She couldn't say any more. The smile on Zhong Mingwei's face said it all. Her heart suddenly felt warm, and all her uneasiness and panic disappeared. She held the man's hand tightly.
…
The emperor and the empress walked side by side to the front of the hall. Zhong Mingzheng sat on the dragon throne, and Mei Ya stood below the King of Pingxi. The seventy-year-old Minister of the Ministry of Revenue Cheng Weiran and the new commander of the Imperial Guards Kong Wenmin, one on the left and one on the right, held trays and knelt respectfully in front of Zhong Mingwei.
At the auspicious time, the chief eunuch read out the edict of enthronement: "Your Majesty, your minister Mingwei, dares to use Xuanmu to announce to the Empress and Empress: With the grace of heaven and the blessings of the gods, our Great Zhou has an eternal foundation. Our ancestors worked hard to govern the country and created great achievements. Now I am inheriting the eternal cause, which makes me very nervous. I must be diligent and work day and night. I hope that the ministers who guard the country will not be tired inside, and the loyal and brave people will sacrifice themselves outside, so as to revive the country. The temple name of the late emperor is Jiasheng. Next year, the new year will be changed to Tianding. The whole country will celebrate for three days and a general amnesty will be granted. I decree this!"
At that moment, the King of Pingxi walked up to Zhong Mingwei, took the imperial seal from the old minister's tray and handed it to Zhong Mingwei. He patted Zhong Mingwei's shoulder with a smile and knelt down respectfully.
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