His Majesty the Emperor, of course, will not have a brain pump.

The officials of Yingchuan, large and small, welcomed Mrs. Xu in like a starry moon, and according to the convention, they first received a banquet.

In the past, Mrs. Xu had never been involved in these things, and the officials obviously knew a little bit of Xu Lao's temperament, but if they could not participate, they could not help but prepare.

If they don't do something authentic, they are always uneasy. ‘

Mrs. Xu is a member of the imperial court, His Majesty's confidant and favorite general, this group of petty officials who are no more than five grades, how dare they make his old man dissatisfied.

Besides, it is rumored that the emperor will also come to Yingchuan this year to worship his ancestors.

A group of officials were even more joyful and frightened.

The Yingchuan Chen family is also a big family, but in fact, Taizu was an ordinary side branch back then.

has a very low status in the clan, although it is said that he is also literate and literate, and he can be regarded as a solid person, but the serious Chen family does not take this emperor seriously.

That is, later, Taizu relied on his strength, and in troubled times, he entered the dynasty as an official, and the official became bigger and bigger, so he became a little closer to the Chen family.

But back then, Chen Guo emphasized literature over martial arts, and a number of military generals, even if they were second-class officials, did not have the confidence to meet a third- or fourth-grade civil official.

And most of the generals are civilian officials, and the status of military attachés can be imagined, even when Taizu was the most developed, it was still nothing at home.

Later, Taizu established the country, although Yingchuan became the land of Longxing, it has not received much attention for a hundred years, on the contrary, for a while, but there are people on the side of Yingchuan who rely on some kinship with Taizu who can't be beaten, and do evil. Let that one catch it out and cut it, and have a good time killing chickens and monkeys.

More than 100 years have passed, and it is really the first time that the emperor has returned to the land of Longxing with great fanfare to sacrifice to the sky for disaster relief.

The local officials have not entertained the emperor, there is no palace in this palace, which one should be arranged to take over, and all kinds of trivial matters, the most important thing is that there is a great drought in Yingchuan now. The disaster relief must be completed before the arrival of the Banzai Lord. His Majesty must not be allowed to see the chaos.

Under all kinds of thoughts, a group of officials prepared a very sumptuous reception banquet, so as to make Mrs. Xu stunned and made a friendship.

The big black man frowned after a glance.

Yingchuan does not say that the red land is thousands of miles, and the disaster is serious enough. A group of officials did not want to rush to reassure the victims. It's all about this vain thing.

Mrs. Xu is not as extreme as him. He laughed in a low voice: "Didn't Miss Hongchen say yesterday that something good will happen at the wine table today?" Our errands will never be difficult. ”

The old man laughed a little when he spoke, so much that he didn't take it seriously. However, because the lady Hongchen was magnificent, not chaotic at all, he was also a little less anxious, and steadily dealt with the enthusiasm of officials, squires, and clan elders, which did not bring too much pressure to people, but he was very peaceful and reasoned with everyone.

If the big guy contributes to the disaster relief activities, the emperor can see it with his own eyes, and others can't erase such great credit.

Seeing that his old man was so good-tempered, the squires were also relieved, and they were generous when they didn't pay attention, and they didn't play any good money, and they took out all the private money one by one, and there were many people who donated food and medicinal materials, and some people took the initiative to take on the heavy responsibility and let the children of the clan organize disaster relief, and it seemed that they also wanted to let the long-lived master personally write a plaque of 'accumulating good people' for himself.

The emperor is the emperor Lao Tzu, with his own halo, and everyone has just smelled a little bit of his old man's smell, and they are already dizzy and ignorant of the east, west, north and south, and they are extremely fanatical.

Mrs. Xu instantly felt that this errand was really easy to do, and what Miss Hongchen said was true.

Disaster relief is disaster relief, but the drought is incomprehensible, and the coming year will still not be able to continue, and all the people are looking forward to early rain.

The matter of sacrificing to the sky and praying for rain can never be avoided.

The chosen spirit boy and spirit girl, except for Hongchen, has always had an expression that the sky has fallen.

The boy seemed to have accepted his fate, and refused to come out of the house, motionless, the situation was worse at first, as soon as the big black man saw his expression, he felt cold in his heart, and even felt that he might take advantage of the night to take a knife and slaughter everyone, and then Hongchen told them a story, the boy also listened to a few words, listened and listened, and his mentality gradually became calm, although he was still silent, but the feeling was not so terrifying.

There is also the spirit girl Fang Yi, she still wants to wipe her tears when she thinks about it, and she wants to faint when she is a little windy, but she also tries to cheer up, eats and drinks more than before, and pulls Hongchen and says, she doesn't want to be too cold on Huangquan Road, she has to learn to drink some wine, if she really dies, everyone is together, she must not be afraid.

Hongchen is the most special one, she is really relaxed, full of confidence, and she doesn't seem to feel that she will die here.

It is not the first time that Yingchuan has done such things as praying for rain, speaking of which is rich here, there are few droughts, but the sky is unpredictable, no matter what rich place, natural disasters and man-made disasters cannot never happen.

This great drought has lasted for a year and three months, and not a single rain has fallen.

The preparations for praying for rain were done early in the morning, and when Hongchen came, he smiled and pointed out how to set up the altar, place the incense table, what other sacrifices were needed except for the living, and what bits and pieces should be prepared.

After saying this, even the spirit master in charge of the main sacrifice was dumbfounded.

The spirit master came from the capital, surnamed Yang, he is not young, but he has deep qualifications, and Mrs. Xu also calls him Master Yang.

The old man didn't show up at all along the way, but he also heard that Hongchen's spirit girl was a little different, and now when she saw it, she couldn't cry or laugh: "She is so interested, why do I feel so creepy, I always think that something will happen to pray for rain this time." ”

Nonsense, I didn't see the other spirit boy and spirit girl when they heard the altar or something, and immediately shivered, but Hongchen was still able to pick and choose, and went to see the materials for making the altar by himself, as well as the furnishings of the utensils on it, and whether the flag was inserted in the other place. It's not too big or small, and it's very serious.

The big black man was worried about whether there was something wrong with her head, and went around the bush to inquire.

Hongchen was so confused by his question: "We came to pray for rain at the behest of His Majesty, of course we asked for rain, and relieved the great drought, so as to live up to the king's trust, the sacrifice is a big event, how can we not be careful?" ”

After a long time, are you really going to ask for rain?

"This sacrifice is useful?"

The big black man was stunned, and he accidentally leaked the truth.

Hongchen was even more surprised: "What are these words?" How can it be useless to worship the heavens? We are worshipping heaven at the behest of the Son of Heaven. If there is a spirit in the heavens, he will definitely know the wish of the Son of Heaven. ”

She was serious, her words were conclusive, and her tone was decisive. Even Mrs. Xu felt for a moment what she said. are all wise sayings.

“……”

The altar was quickly erected.

Master Yang personally calculated. Calculate the auspicious time and auspicious day, and let the spirit boy and spirit girl fast and bathe. Sit in the ashram and meditate for three days.

When the time comes, it is finally the big day to worship the heavens.

Mrs. Xu always got out of the cumbersome matters of disaster relief and came to lead the people in person, and his big black guard also followed, but the two of them were not in a good mood.

Fang Yi and both of them were so frightened that they fainted, they could barely walk, and they had to be supported.

The big black man looked at Hongchen and stopped talking.

Hongchen's face was also quite serious, but his complexion was very good, and he didn't look like he was going to die at all.

For a moment, even Mrs. Xu almost thought that maybe everything was going well, maybe God was raining.

Although the sky is clear, the sun is shining, there is not a trace of clouds, the earth is dry and cracked, standing on the empty wilderness for a while, there is a feeling that the body is bursting with sunburn, Xu Taifu still sighed lightly: "If there is a spirit in the sky, please rain heavily, relieve the suffering of the people, and save the lives of these living beings." ”

Unfortunately, everything went as expected.

Every step of the ceremony is solemn.

The spiritual master completed all the steps meticulously, and the common people of Manyingchuan were dressed in neat clothes, kneeling on the altar, and chanting the sacrifice aloud.

The sky was still so blue, and there was still not a hint of wind.

Several old men wailed and cried: "Heaven, heaven! ”

Master Yang sighed and knelt down uprightly: "Now my Great Zhou has selected three spirit children and spirit girls to sacrifice to the sky, and I hope that the Emperor of Heaven will know about it, have mercy on us, rain it, and relieve suffering." ”

Everyone fell silent.

Mrs. Xu sighed softly.

Fang Yi sat stunned, seeing someone coming, lifting them up and putting them on the top of the firewood, the light of countless torches illuminated his face red.

The round, originally fat and obscene boy has lost weight three times in a short period of time, and now he is a very beautiful child, and he also lowered his head and said nothing, as if resigned to his fate.

Hongchen was still smiling, and sat there with her eyes closed, and the soldier told her to carry her to the firewood.

In the crowd below, the few people who were hidden breathed a sigh of relief.

"Big brother, I think we can pick up a sum of money for nothing this time."

They were looking for an opportunity to kill the little girl along the way, because there were many officers and soldiers around the other party, and they also contacted many people to work together, but every time they set up an ambush, they were unsuccessful every time, and the other party was like having an eye in the sky, causing them to suffer heavy losses and be exhausted.

Six men dressed in black walked over with torches.

There was silence around the altar.

Those ordinary people sighed in their hearts, and there was a slight longing.

Maybe the living sacrifice really works!

But they were also afraid, and they also knew in their hearts that this was the last resort, and if it didn't rain again, it would be the sin of heaven, and it was the sin of these people.

The effect of the brainwashing of the Great Zhou Dynasty is still there, and almost most of the people have helplessly admitted that if the living sacrifice is not successful, it is their own sin, no wonder others, let alone the Shengming monarch.

Yang Shi turned his head, closed his eyes, and waved his hand.

The torch was raised and thrown on the fire.

The fire burned little by little, steaming hot, and thick smoke was thick.

As soon as Fang Yi and the others came over, they rolled their eyes and fainted.

Many people below couldn't help but bow their heads, they couldn't bear to look at it anymore, Mrs. Xu grabbed the big black man who was trembling all over, his face was expressionless, but his palms were covered with cold sweat.

"It's all fate!"

"What life? Does a good person have to be burned alive? "Even if it is really sacrificed to the sky, it is better to sink the river than to burn it to death.

The big black man clenched his fists.

Mrs. Xu let out a long sigh and patted the guard's arm. The two of them looked at each other, but finally turned their heads away and stopped looking, nor did they speak.

A dignified man, so powerless!

"Ahh Fang Yi cried loudly, crying so loudly that many people below didn't dare to look at it.

The crying became louder and louder, very loud, crying until his throat was hoarse, and he hiccuped one after another.

Everyone frowned and looked up. Take a look at the past. Deng Shi was stunned, the fire burned for a long time, not getting bigger and bigger, but getting smaller and smaller. It was extinguished in the blink of an eye.

Yang Shi was stunned. looked at the six big men in black.

The big men could only wink. commanded everyone to add firewood, but in fact, the firewood didn't burn much at all, and there was still a lot left. But since it didn't burn, maybe because the firewood was not good to burn, I changed a batch.

Second ignition.

The big black man glanced at it, only to feel that Miss Hongchen's face was extremely calm.

The second fire burned again.

…… It was only a moment before it went out again.

Everyone: "......"

Yang Shi was very calm, and said in a low voice: "Change firewood, add fuel to firewood." ”

So I changed it.

Everyone else wondered in their hearts, with the current climate, the weather is dry and dry, let alone a special fire, even if there is no open flame, those dead branches and leaves may have to be burned.

Third ...... Fourth ......

By the sixth time, even Fang Yi couldn't cry, and sat on the firewood pile in a daze.

You say that this death, once scared, twice scared, three times even more afraid, if you die for half a day in a row, you won't be able to die, you will really become quite numb.

The people kneeling below were all dumbfounded.

Yang Shi's heart also beat a drum - what is the situation? He became a spiritual master at the age of forty and is now sixty-five years old, and for more than 20 years, he does not know how many times he has presided over the heavenly sacrifices, and there have been several living sacrifices, which one is like today...... It's been confusing!

After thinking about it, it was impossible to toss like this, and the big men who were in charge of lighting the fire were so frightened that they were so frightened that they muttered in private, this matter is so evil, maybe the gods don't want those spirit children to serve at all.

If this continues, I'm afraid no one will dare to light this fire again.

For a moment, the entire altar was silent.

"Ahem." Yang Shi waved his sleeves, opened his mouth seriously, and just wanted to speak, Hongchen suddenly raised his head, raised his eyes into the distance, made a look of looking directly at the sky, and said loudly: "Hongchen obeys the law!" ”

Before the sound fell, a gust of wind suddenly blew in the sky, crackling, all the firewood collapsed, and the seats fixed on the top of Hongchen and the others also fell instantly, crackled, and fell on the altar.

Hongchen stood firmly.

Fang Yi and the two fell headlong, dizzy, Hongchen easily lifted the two of them up, threw them aside, and then said: "Everyone, just now the Heavenly God Niangniang sent down the decree, the Heavenly Court Heavenly Emperor has gone through a catastrophe and declined, and another Jade Emperor succeeded to the throne, the Heavenly Way is benevolent, all living beings are not allowed to take the living as sacrifices, various sacrifice procedures, and other instructions." ”

Everyone was stunned.

The corners of Mrs. Xu's mouth twitched, looking at her in disbelief.

The other ordinary people are also full of incredulity, this amount of information is a bit big, Hongchen is just a little girl, of course I don't believe it, but the kind of scene I saw just now, no matter how I say it, there is a sense of wonder, I can't find evidence if I don't believe it.

A middle-aged man who had been standing behind Yang Shi suddenly frowned, stepped forward, and shouted angrily: "Nonsense, you are a woman, and you dare to speak to the sky?" The living sacrifice was the rule set by the god Niangniang back then, how can you say that you can change it, in my opinion, you don't want to go up to serve the god Niangniang, so you deliberately said this! ”

There was silence at first, and then someone shouted loudly: "That's right, if we don't hold a living sacrifice and don't rain again, we won't be able to live our lives?" ”

The common people were in an instant riot.

Hongchen glanced at it lightly, and wrote down the appearance of those people, as well as the person next to Yang Shi, probably Xia Chan's person, even if it wasn't, it couldn't get out of it.

She didn't hear it at all, and raised her voice: "The god Niangniang said that she has heard the appeal of the others, if you want to rain, you need the Son of Heaven of the Great Zhou to personally preside over the sacrifice to the heavens, and decree the abolition of the living sacrifice, if the Son of Heaven sincerely sacrifices to the heavens and sits on the altar for three days and nights, it will rain in Yingchuan." ”

Everyone was shocked.

Hongchen said in a loud voice: "If Your Majesty listens to what I say, if there is no rain, I am willing to be punished with a thousand knives." ”

As soon as she said this, the audience was full of shocks, and the person next to Yang Shi, as well as the people below, still remembered to coax. But they can't set off the wind and waves, to put it bluntly, the common people really want to ask for rain, but unlike these few, it is purely for killing.

"Is it true?"

"I don't think it's fake, Your Majesty will definitely agree."

"I have to try it, I don't think this woman is like a mortal, maybe she really has the ability to reach the sky?"

"People are the spirit girls elected by our Great Zhou Dynasty, and there is no problem in serving the Heavenly God Niangniang, what is strange about being able to receive the decree of the Niangniang!"

Mrs. Xu stroked her beard. It's on this one. He was not in a hurry, Master Yang sighed, greeted, and everyone cleaned up the altar. Let's talk about it first. Anyway, today's ritual of worshipping the heavens will definitely not be completed.

Fortunately, His Majesty's royal car is not far away. It can save the effort of sending people to the capital to deliver letters.

A messy day is finally over.

The big black man held his face, squatted at the door and stared at Hongchen, stammering. But he couldn't say a word.

During the day, he just saw the girl who was going to be burned at the stake and didn't save him, and when he turned around, he had to get together and pretend that nothing had happened, and his skin was really not so thick, he really couldn't do it.

Now standing with Miss Hongchen, he is a little eager to crack the crack in the ground, let him get in and never come out again.

The room was equally quiet.

Now Hongchen and the three of them belong to the key surveillance targets, and there are twenty or thirty officers and soldiers outside the door alone, and the guards are stricter than the prison.

Fang Yi occasionally probed, so frightened that the terrifying atmosphere outside didn't even dare to cry, Hongchen felt that it was normal, not to mention that there was such a scene today, I am afraid that it would be a lot of stimulation for everyone, just say that the three of them survived from the fire, who can guarantee that no one will see that the situation is not good, and they will run away desperately?

Ants still steal life, let alone people!

Shrinking his shoulders, Fang Yi looked at Hongchen cautiously and said in a low voice, "...... Are you telling the truth? We really don't have to serve the gods anymore? ”

Her mood is very complicated, although she doesn't have to die today, she is also relieved, but the person in front of her dares to pull the Long Live Lord in, if the Long Live Lord does it, but it doesn't rain, it is the crime of bullying the king, and it will not only be them who will be unlucky at that time, but also their families will suffer together!

Even if she is young, she knows that a companion is like a tiger, and once it comes to the Lord of Long Live Lord, no one can afford to be careful.

Hongchen smiled, sat comfortably on the chair, and asked the people outside to prepare tea and snacks for her and eat slowly.

"My life is precious, and I won't throw it away."

Even the big black man squatting at the door felt relieved when he heard her say this, even if Hongchen was still young, but along the way, what she did, it was difficult to treat her as an ordinary girl.

Although the sacrifice to the sky was not successful, but the situation in Yingchuan has not deteriorated, Xu Taifu is a capable official, this time His Majesty is here, in terms of disaster relief food allocated by the imperial court, no one can do anything, no matter how greedy the moths are, it is impossible to make trouble under the emperor's nose, and there are still a few famous families here, such as the Wu family, the Chen family, etc., which are considered to be a century-old family, in order to show their faces in front of the emperor, they are also doing their best in disaster relief.

In just a few days, everything was in order.

When the imperial driver arrived, the emperor summoned Mrs. Xu, and other officials asked a few questions, and they were quite satisfied with their errands.

Xu Taifu slowly said about the sacrifice to heaven that day, and the emperor squinted his eyes and was silent for a long time before raising his eyebrows and said, "Oh? Do you want me to personally preside over the sacrifice to the heavens? ”

As soon as he heard this, he guessed that this little girl was afraid that she wanted to use herself, the emperor, to abolish the living sacrifice.

"Hehe, interesting, so daring!"

The emperor didn't say much, sent Taifu Xu away, turned his head and asked the father-in-law beside him, "You say, if I abolish the living sacrifice, will this rain really fall?" ”

The father-in-law smiled in a low voice: "Anyway, Qin Tianjian didn't see any signs of rain over there. ”

The Qin Tianjian of the Great Zhou Dynasty is more valued than other countries, and he naturally has great ability, and he predicts rain or something on weekdays, and he will not make mistakes easily.

The emperor smiled all of a sudden: "I was going to sacrifice to the sky, but now it doesn't hurt to ask for rain by the way." "As long as his head is not broken, he has to do this, do you want the people to say that he, the emperor, doesn't care about the life and death of his people?

"If it doesn't rain, the daughter of the Xia family will be completely gone, anyway, there will be no her for so many years...... You go and let Peng Huan draw up the purpose. ”

The journey was hard, and the emperor was a little tired, so he lay on the couch very casually, closed his eyes, and said.

The big eunuch carefully covered the master with a thin quilt, and went out to explain it, so that people could draw up the decree as soon as possible, took two steps, and couldn't help but look back, he already knew that His Majesty's news network was not only them, but also those embroidered messengers.

I'm afraid that the Xia family is making trouble, and the real and false lady is new, and she has already been used as a snack for her own master and used to accompany the wine.

The second day of the Holy Coming.

The decree came down, and His Majesty personally presided over the sacrifice to the heavens and prayed for rain.

The people of Yingchuan were so excited that they sang praises to the people, of course, the emperor didn't have the energy to see it, so let the people below collect it, and make a note in the history books. (To be continued......)