In the early morning of Chinese New Year's Eve, Rui Huang Xingyou led a group of royal family members and Manchu Wenwu to the Yuanqiu Altar on the northern outskirts of Hengdu. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

On top of the mound altar, there are nine groups of gods, each of which is made of azure satin to form a temporary god. On the north side of the upper layer of the altar is the main seat, the Emperor God Tablet, whose god is in the shape of a polygonal cone. Next to the main throne is the spiritual seat of the ancestors of the Hengguo Dynasty. The east and west sides of the second layer of the altar are subordinate - respectively set up the sun, the moon, the stars, the clouds, the wind, the thunder, the rain, the snow eight tablets, the god is rectangular. In front of each god, a large number of offerings such as jade, silk, whole cattle, whole sheep, whole dolphin, wine, fruits, and dishes are arranged. On the south side, there is a celebration case, and the emperor's worship is in front of the case. On the east and west sides below the altar, there are 16 kinds of chimes, chimes, and bells, all of which have more than 60 musical instruments in total, in order to prepare for the sacrificial music and dance "Zhonghe Shao Music" soundtrack, the musical instruments are arranged neatly, and the scene is solemn and magnificent.

At the hour, the Taihe bell rang. With this, the festival officially began.

Emperor Xingyou wore a dress decorated with the pattern of the sun, moon, stars and dragons, wore a large fur, wore a crown with twelve folds on his head, and wore a large gui around his waist, holding a town gui, and walked from the southeast side of the mound to the throne. I wish the palace people on both sides of the case to take a few steps forward and burn the wood stove. In the misty clouds, the bell stopped, the drum music started, and the drums on the east and west sides rang out in unison, welcoming the emperor and the god to come down to enjoy the sacrifice.

Ruihuang Xingyou faces the north, offers incense in front of the tablet of the Emperor God, and bows three times and nine times. Next, Si Zhu held the blessing board in his hand and knelt down to read the blessing to the gods of heaven and earth. At the end of the reading, the liturgical chapters are converted. Emperor Xingyou also offered incense and bowed to the tablets of the ancestors and ancestors in turn.

After that, the palace people transported sixteen carts of sacrifices to the furnace for burning, and Emperor Xingyou moved to the burning position to watch the burning ceremony.

As the "Zhonghe Shao Music" came to an end, the ceremony finally ended, and Emperor Rui Xingyou led the crowd back to the palace.

~~~

That night, a banquet was held in the Hengguo Palace to celebrate the birthday of Emperor Rui. In addition to the royal relatives and important ministers of Hengguo who participated in the ceremony of sacrificing to the heavens during the day, and the lonely country Fu Wang Yuanhan, the lonely country Chanyuan county lord Chan'er, and the Victorian Helian County lord Helian Jialu who arrived in Hengdu earlier, there were also Xun Qi, the fifth prince of the Victorian country, Zuoqiu Yu, the little prince of the left hill of the Victorian country, Xiuxuan, the sixth prince of the Yi country, Xiuyan, the fifth princess of the Yi country, the great prince of the night country, and the righteous son Di Qiu of the night country Sima Jiang Yanpei.

When people from the four countries of Lonely, Wei, Yi, and Ye sat down at the banquet, the air seemed to freeze in an instant, and everyone suddenly felt an invisible undercurrent surging around them. There are historical reasons for this.

Since the orphan country Gong Wang Yuan Xia was assassinated by the Yi country, and at the same time there have been several wars in the past three years, the relationship between the lonely country and the Yi country has been very tense. Originally, Yuan Han was talking to Chan'er about something, but at the moment when Xiu Xuan, the sixth prince of Yi Kingdom, and Xiuyan, the fifth princess, entered the table, Yuan Han suddenly stopped talking, and Chan'er also fell silent.

But after only a moment, Chan'er sighed, looked away and said to Yuan Han:

"I thought I was going to be very resentful, but it wasn't, the two of them are only thirteen or fourteen years old now, and how can I count the accounts of nine years ago on them. Uncle Sanhuang, you ......"

"Don't worry, I won't mess around on this occasion. And like you said, what's there to do with them. It's just that I don't know if the six princes can also have such a magnanimous heart for the country. After Yuan Han finished speaking, he set his eyes on Xiuxuan, the sixth prince of Yi State, with the mood of watching a good show.

"Emperor Rui's birthday, Yi Guo only sent such two children, don't you even want to do face-saving work?"

"The news I received was that Emperor Jing only planned to let the six princes come alone on behalf of Yi Guo at the beginning, and the five princesses took the initiative to invite them to come together. ”

~~~

The festival of Yiguo and the country has to start with the composition of the royal family.

Regardless of the pattern in the past, among the five kingdoms today, the Yi country has the most royal bloodline, followed by the Wei country, and the lonely country, the Heng country and the night country are relatively thin bloodlines.

The Emperor was the second of his generation, with one sister and two younger sisters.

The eldest princess had a daughter, the lord of Moha, who was named Mohami. Princess Ru married into the Night Kingdom, was the first queen of the Night Kingdom, and had a son Nanying with Emperor Tao of the Night Kingdom. The son of Princess Mo is Zuoqiu Yu, the little prince of Zuoqiu.

Emperor Xian and Empress had three children, namely the second princess Tingyu, the third prince Ge Sheng and the fifth prince Xun Qi. In fact, Emperor Xian's original intention was to let the third prince Ge Sheng come to congratulate Emperor Hengguo Rui on his birthday, but Ge Sheng heard that Helian Jialu had left for him, and knew that she had the intention to dodge, so he asked Xun Qi to come over on his behalf. Xun Qi and Zuo Qiu Yu are cousins who have a good relationship, since Xun Qi is here, Zuo Qiu Yu has no reason not to come.

Emperor Xian's eldest son, the eldest prince, was born by a noble concubine, and the fourth prince was born from a concubine.

The queen of the emperor is jealous, and her mother's family is very powerful, so she will not allow anyone who threatens Xun Qi's status to exist. However, the concubine's family is almost the most powerful family in the country except for the queen's mother's family, Helian family and Tuoba family. But the concubine and the four princes are different.

Although Concubine Ji's other identity is the sister of Empress Yiguo, and both sisters are prominent, the Xu family is not a big family.

Twenty-five years ago, with the birth of the four princes, the emperor's favor for the concubines has increased dramatically, and he treats the four princes differently. The eldest son of the eldest son, Ge Sheng, the eldest son of the third prince, who was born ten months ago, is still the same as the eldest prince Bei Rong, whose name is two characters, and on the day of the full moon of the fourth prince, Emperor Xian actually said in front of the courtiers that he was going to name the four princes - this is an extremely noble custom in the United States.

At this point, the queen's maiden family finally couldn't bear it anymore, and the queen's brother decided to get rid of the four princes, so on a dark and windy night, the four princes "accidentally" fell into the water and disappeared from sight.

Although everything is carried out in secret, the one who is suspected is either the queen or the concubine after all. For Xiuxuan, the sixth prince who is the son of the Empress of Yiguo, Xun Qi, the fifth prince of the Victorian Kingdom, is likely to be the son of the enemy who killed his cousin.

However, for Xiuyan, the fifth princess of Yi Kingdom, who is relatively nervous, a prince and a little prince of Weiguo are really not enough to affect her mood. And Xiuyan is not really slow, but her heart is not focused on the affairs of the court at all.

~~~

"Yu, you said that when the six princes of Yi Kingdom saw me, their mood was the same as when we looked at 'him'......" Xun Qi, the fifth prince of the Wei Kingdom, said to Zuoqiu Yu, the little prince of Zuoqiu, but his eyes stayed on the great prince of the night country, and the "he" in Xun Qi's mouth was naturally this one.

"Well, I guess so. However, although Nanying is wandering the rivers and lakes, at least he still has a life. And the fourth cousin has no bones. From this point of view, the hostility of the six princes of Yi Kingdom towards us is greater than that of 'him'. Zuo Qiu Yu smiled self-deprecatingly, and said, "I'm thinking, the two of them are also my cousins, and they have also been victimized, why am I not hostile to you, but I have never been able to tolerate the Night Kingdom, is it because I am 'lenient and strict with others'?"

"I don't know whether to be happy that I'm your own man, or to be sad that this royal brother is killing each other...... But I really hope that the fourth brother is as safe and sound as Nanying's cousin. ”

~~~

At the end of the day, the song and dance performance prepared by the Taile Department of the Hengguo Palace began, and twelve brightly dressed and light-skinned musicians ascended to the square platform in the courtyard and danced to the music.

At the height of the song, the long sleeves of the musicians fly, and countless petals fall from the sky like a rain of flowers, and the fragrance of flowers hits people, which makes people intoxicated.

When the music came to an end and Rakuji's movements stopped, almost everyone thought that the performance was over, and many people applauded. And in the next moment, another clear piano sound sounded from the corner of the courtyard, and everyone was amazed, but they found that there was a man sitting on the ground in the corner of the courtyard with a piano in his arms.

The man's robe is made of light material and has wide sleeves, and as his hands flick on the strings, the dress dances in harmony with the dance steps of the musicians.

Let's talk about the sound of the piano, melodious, clear, tactful, profound, people are the piano, the piano is also a person, the sound of the piano is like a cloud of snow flying, has been perfected.

At the end of the song, the sound of the piano still echoed throughout the courtyard, and people fell silent.

It wasn't until the man stood up with the qin, bowed slightly to Emperor Rui Xingyou, and calmly turned to leave, that everyone seemed to wake up from a dream, and the discussion sounded one after another.

"The first pianist in the lonely country really lives up to his reputation, and the tune he plays is indeed rare in the world. I asked King Fu to convey it to Emperor Xuan on my behalf, and I admired this congratulatory gift and bothered him. As soon as Emperor Rui Xingyou's words came out, it was equivalent to solving the confusion of the people present.

"Your Majesty doesn't have to be polite. Fu Wang Yuanhan smiled and nodded.

Chan'er was not in her seat at this time, but went around the edge of the courtyard to the corner and met the well guard who was returning the guqin to the palace of the Taile Administration.

"The county lord. After a little surprise, Jing Hu bowed to Chan'er.

"Here's to you. Chan'er handed the palm-sized stove in her hand to Jing Hu, and said with a smile, "Your piano is really good." ”

"Thank you Lord for your compliment. The subordinates are not cold, and the hand stove is still used by the county lord. ”

"I've already taken it, so don't you excuse yourself. ”

"This ...... Subordinates obeyed. Inogo said, taking over the hand stove.

"Tonight, Uncle Sanhuang and I plan to keep the New Year's Eve and stay up all night, you can arrange it yourself, just rest early. ”

"Yes. ”

~~~

When Chan'er returned to her seat, it happened that Xun Qi, the fifth prince of the Victorian Kingdom, and Zuoqiu Yu, the little prince of Zuoqiu, each held the two ends of a scroll and walked to the middle of the courtyard.

"Thanks to the blessing of the emperor, we can also have the privilege of hearing the superb piano skills of the first pianist in the lonely country. But in this way, we are afraid that our congratulatory gifts will be compared. The fifth prince Xun Qi said.

"Where, this king has already heard that the five princes and the little prince of Zuoqiu have a deep knowledge of calligraphy, and it is never an exaggeration to say that a word is gold. The two of them seem to have improvised a painting, and it is also an honor for this king to have this opportunity to feast his eyes. Fu Wang Yuanhan took over and said.

"In my heart, there is no distinction between congratulatory gifts, and all I miss is the affection of the people who came from afar to send gifts. Ruihuang Xingyou looked at the fifth prince Xun Qi and Zuoqiu Yu, the little prince of Zuoqiu, with a smile on his face.

"The emperor and King Fu are too famous, so Yu and I will be ugly. The five princes Xun Qi and Zuo Qiu Yu unfolded the scroll, and a five-word poem written vertically from right to left was presented in front of everyone.

There are beautiful women in the southern country, dancing lightly with green waists.

The feast is in the autumn twilight, and the flowers are raining.

It is as graceful as a dragon and as graceful as a dragon.

The more beautiful the river is, the more white it is.

The slow state cannot be poor, and the complex posture is curved to the end.

The low lotus breaks the waves, and the messy snow lingers in the wind.

When it falls, it wanders, and the repair wants to go back to the void.

I couldn't catch it, so I flew away to chase the shock.

"The first, third, fifth, and seventh couplets are from Xun Qi's hand, while the second, fourth, sixth, and eighth couplets are written by this Xiao Wang. Zuo Qiuyu explained. On such occasions, each person has changed his or her name.

"The time is short, if there is a place where the battle is not neat, I still hope that the emperor will be able to Han Hai. ”

~~~

"Calligraphy is already available, but I don't know if my painting can also add a bit of brilliance to the emperor's birthday banquet. Xiuxuan, the sixth prince of Yi Kingdom, attracted the attention of everyone gathered on the scroll, and saw that there was a rice paper painting on the table in front of him, and the paint and brushes next to the painting had not yet dried.

The eagle next to the fifth princess Xiuyan picked up the painting from the table, and the painting seemed to be the "Three Friends of the Cold Year" with snow falling. Although the subject matter of the painting is relatively ordinary, it is difficult to believe that the painting can be painted by a thirteen-year-old child.

"The pine is long in all seasons, the bamboo is tenacious, and the plum stands proudly, and my sixth brother and I would like to congratulate the emperor on behalf of my father and the emperor on a long and happy life. The fifth princess Xiuyan said in a sweet voice.

~~~

"Father, we also have a gift for you. Princess Hengguo Youting pulled Mo Lanhui forward, and beckoned the eldest prince Yu Nan, the second prince Yu Shi, Mo Ziluo and Fang Yuyan to leave their seats.

Yu Nan and the other four walked to the side of the courtyard and took an object ten feet long, eight feet wide, and very thin from the hands of the Mofu servant, only to see that it was covered with a red curtain. The four of them each grabbed a corner of the object and walked towards the middle of the courtyard.

"Oh, what is this? You're still making a mystery. As he spoke, the four of them stood directly across from him and adjusted the objects covered by the red curtain to the most suitable viewing angle.

"This embroidery is embroidered by the six of us under the guidance of the Mo's silk embroidery girls, one by one, and the patterns on it represent the characteristics of the five countries. Yu Nan replied.

"Because it's the first time to do it, there must be something bad about embroidery, so it's good that my father shouldn't be surprised. ”

As Yu Shi's words fell, Mo Ziluo and Fang Yuyan's hands loosened, and the red curtain slid down the slope, revealing the entire embroidery pattern.

On the left side of the embroidery, there is a galloping horse, on the left side, on the bottom of the minerals, on the bottom of the minerals, on the right, on the right, there is a painting boat, on the right side is embroidered with exotic flowers and plants, and in the middle is a building. These differences mean that the grasslands of the country are vast, there are many horses, the southwest of the isolated country has many mines and produces a large amount of ore, the rivers of the country are widely spread, and there are many water towns; the night country is full of exotic flowers and plants, and the country of Yi is famous for its architecture and is quite distinctive.

"The idea of this embroidery is really very unique, and what is even more rare is the filial piety of everyone. The Great Prince of the Night Kingdom, who had not spoken, opened his mouth slightly.

The eldest prince was born to Emperor Tao of the Night Kingdom and a concubine, and is thirty-nine years old this year. For the first twenty years of his life, everything was triumphant, and he was recognized by the courtiers as the only candidate to succeed to the throne - after all, he was the only son of Emperor Tao. And when he was twenty years old, Princess Ru, who married from the United States, was also the queen canonized by Emperor Tao, and she was pregnant. From the day Nanying was born, the throne and all the glory and wealth will be taken away by a child who is twenty-one years younger than himself.

But that's history.

Today, Nanying is wandering outside, and he is still the future master of the Night Kingdom Palace.

At least, with the exception of Emperor Tao and the princess Xun'er born to Emperor Tao and another concubine, everyone in the Night Kingdom thinks so.

Because of this, many powerful people have tried their best to cling to the great prince. The people close to him include Sima Jiang Yanpei and his righteous son Di Qiu.

"There are quite a few of our Night Kingdom ministers, but this time I came with a military general. It just so happens that the piano of the lonely country, the characters of the Uyghur country, the paintings of the Yi country and the craftsmanship of your country have given everyone a lot of cultural edification, and I will not make an axe in front of the experts. Let's ask Di Qiu, the righteous son of Lord Sima Jiang of my country, to perform a knife dance. The eldest prince said slightly, and led Di Qiu forward.

"The subordinates obeyed. Di Qiu looked around at everyone and said, "The weapon has no eyes, please stand back." ”

When the middle of the courtyard was vacant again, Di Qiu took the scimitar handed by his men, pulled the knife out of the scabbard, threw the scabbard aside, and danced the scimitar with his left hand, and sang and sang as he waved the moves:

Who, by my hand, has taken me into madness for half my life;

Who, kissing my eyes, covering me for half my life;

Who, caress my face, comforts me for half a lifetime of sorrow;

Who, with my heart, melts the frost of half my life;

Who, hold me by the shoulders, drive me to silence all my life?

Whosoever forsakes me, and leaves me alone for the rest of my life;

Who can know my will, so that I have no regrets in this life;

Who can help my arm, vertical and horizontal for thousands of years;

Who, who can pour out my heart, every inch of land is just like nothing;

Who, can bury me, laugh at the vain world, and my heart is crazy.

Yi, cover my lips, dispel my past life;

Yi, take my arms, except for the frivolity of my previous life.

The hand of the son will accompany you to be crazy for a thousand lives;

Deep kiss eyes, accompany you in eternal reincarnation.

~~~

At the corner of the courtyard, the well guard leaned against the wall, silently watching Di Qiu's knife dance. At this time, Luo Dong appeared on the side of the well guard.

"How?" Sensing Luo Dong's arrival, Jing Hu asked in a low voice.

"Among the few of us, Jun Yin is good at using scimitars, and he said with certainty that he is not Di Qiu's opponent, Di Qiu has completely inherited Jiang Yanpei, and he is really a good hand at using scimitars. ”

"Yes...... Igo pondered for a moment, then spoke again, "I've always had a question. ”

"Huh?"

"Jun Yin can't be the eyeliner of other countries, right?"

"How?"

"He seems to know too much about the affairs of the other four countries. ”

"Don't worry. He was an orphan who was brought back to the palace by the emperor thirteen years ago, and he was indeed a lonely countryman. ”

"So, he's been in the palace longer than I am. ”

"Do you think that everyone is like you, who became a shining gold when they first arrived in the palace, and everyone knows it? I have been in the palace since I was three years old, and you didn't know about me until seven years ago. Luo Dong said, suddenly remembering something, "Speaking of which, I am the earliest among the ten of us to enter the palace, and I have a clear understanding of your details, except for Qihong, the rest are from a lonely country." ”

"Qi Hong didn't think about going back to the Night Country to find his relatives?"

His parents gave birth to him, and the emperor gave him a second life, and this kindness is also worth repaying him. As Luo Dong spoke, he caught a glimpse of the hand stove held between his hands, and teased, "But the favor can be clearly divided, don't turn against each other because of a hand stove." ”

"Hmph......" Jing Hu chuckled, his eyes crossed the crowd, and glanced at Chan'er intentionally or unintentionally, "From the day I decided to be the master, nothing could buy me." ”