In the era of imperial power, the sacrifice was a very formal activity, the so-called "major affairs of the country, in the worship and Rong", the emperor relied on it to set an example for the world, educate the people, restrain officials, in the eyes of the Son of Heaven, sacrifice is even more important than the use of soldiers.

The Imperial Family holds a variety of festivals every year, and a lot of preparation must be done before the festival comes, no matter how much manpower and material resources are spent.

Emperor Chen's pockets are bulging now, and he will not be stingy with silver.

A month before the festival begins, the various buildings and facilities of the place of worship are completely overhauled, and even all the streets through which the emperor passes from the palace to the altar are to be completely renovated.

With only five days to go before the royal festival, Kyoshi was already under full martial law.

There were obviously more guards patrolling the streets during the day, and the curfew at night was also advanced by an hour, in short, this period of time was the calmest days in Beijing that Tang Ning had experienced.

In these days, it is the dragon that has to be coiled, and the tiger has to lie down, and if anyone breaks the taboo without opening their eyes, Emperor Chen's guards will definitely make them regret that they have come to this world.

It is customary to send a prince to inspect the animals that have been prepared for slaughter during the sacrifice five days before the sacrifice.

King Kang has to preside over all kinds of major events of the festival, King Duan is always a bad thing, King Huai has recently been entrusted with a heavy task, so he went to see the pigs and sheep that are used to worship the heavens, and the task of growing fat and strong falls on King Huai's head.

However, Tang Ning himself has not been out of the way, Emperor Chen has always liked to tie him to King Huai recently, but he just picks some fat pigs and sheep, and also wants him to go with King Huai.

What Tang Ning didn't expect was that just an hour before departure, someone from King Huai's Mansion came to tell him that King Huai was sick, and the matter of selecting livestock this time fell on Tang Ning alone.

Tang Ning didn't know if King Huai was really sick or fake, after all, it didn't seem like a good errand, the place where the imperial court kept livestock in captivity was extremely unpleasant, he walked around there, and went home and took a bath three times before washing off the smell on his body.

Tang Ning was extremely suspicious that King Huai was lazy and pretending to be sick, but the next day he still did not go to Shangshu Province, and the people in the palace said that he was very sick and most likely could not even participate in the festival.

In this way, King Huai is really sick, as a colleague, Tang Ning, in the spirit of morality, went to King Huai's Mansion to see him after going down.

Huai Wang's Mansion, Huai Wang was lying on the bed, his face was pale and bloodless, Tang Ning looked at him and said in surprise: "Your Highness, what's the matter?" ”

"Occasionally, I felt a cold, and the doctor said that it would be good to rest for a few days." King Huai smiled and struggled to sit up, but fell down again.

Tang Ning hurriedly said, "Your Highness is still lying down." ”

As the saying goes, illness comes like a mountain, illness goes like a thread, King Huai's health is so good, it also means that illness is sick, Tang Ning looks at his situation, and it is not certain whether he can participate in the festival in two days.

King Huai glanced at him apologetically and said, "In the past few days, the affairs of Shangshu Province have all been borne by Lord Tang. ”

Tang Ning waved his hand and said, "Everyone has been busy with the festival in the past two days, and Shangshu Province has nothing to do, Your Highness should recuperate, don't worry about these things." ”

Tang Ning stood beside the bed, and after a few words with King Huai, he took his leave.

Not long after he left, a subordinate walked in and said, "Your Highness, Lord Tang is gone. ”

King Huai sat up from the bed, his spirit looked much better, but he was still a little haggard, looking in a certain direction expressionlessly, not knowing what he was thinking.

Princess Huai walked in slowly, sat side by side with him on the edge of the bed, and did not speak, but just sat quietly.

King Huai was silent for a moment and said, "After this incident, I will ask someone to send you away from Jingshi." ”

Princess Huai looked at him and asked, "Where to go?" ”

King Huai thought for a moment and asked, "How is the State of Chu?" ”

Princess Huai asked, "What about Your Highness?" ”

"I still have some things to do." King Huai looked at her and said with a smile: "When I finish these things, I will go to you." ”

Princess Huai shook her head, clasped his hand, and said, "Where you are, where I am." ”

……

After King Huai fell ill, Tang Ning realized that without King Huai, he suddenly needed to do more.

He had to go a day in advance to see if the words on the altar were neatly written, whether the mattress set up on the dressing table was neat enough, and whether there were three sky lanterns hanging on the altar according to the regulations, and whether there was one more or one less......

The number of sacrifices is also particular, the livestock should be twenty-eight cows, thirty-three sheep, thirty-four pigs, two deer, twelve rabbits, although Tang Ning does not know what the significance of these numbers is, but one more and one less, if it is found out, there must be many people who will be unlucky.

In addition, the placement of gods, offerings, and musical instruments on the altar also have their own places, and you can't make a mistake.

The officials who participated in the festival with the emperor had to bathe and change their clothes three days in advance, burn incense and fast, and Tang Ning did not have any meat at all in these two days.

So much so that he inspected the slaughtered, cooked offerings, and also had the urge to pick them up and take a bite.

Of course, there are many people around you who are watching, which is naturally impossible.

"This sky lantern, a little to the left, then ...... to the left, and then an inch to the right."

"This chime is missing, change!"

"This floor tile is unstable, let people come and pad it!"

……

Tang Ning was standing in the altar of Xishan, heard a voice from somewhere, turned his head to look, and saw a familiar figure giving orders to the small officials of the Ministry of Works in the field.

Since King Kang was stripped of the princely throne, he seems to have changed as a different person.

Specifically, he not only refused Emperor Chen's re-crown, but also spent most of his energy on his own job, and even Tang Ning was a little surprised by his conscientious dedication, King Kang in the recent period of time, can be called a model for officials in the DPRK and China, moved by Chen Guo's top ten model workers, people like Tang Ning and King Huai, thinking of him will feel ashamed.

This festival can be said to be organized by King Kang, and in the absence of ready-made precedents to learn from, people can't find a little problem, which shows his intentions.

Even Tang Ning wasn't sure if he was pretending, or if he sincerely repented and wanted to change his mind and become a new person......

As if sensing Tang Ning's gaze, King Kang turned his head and smiled at him, then turned his head and continued to be busy.

I don't know if it's Tang Ning's illusion, he always feels that King Kang's smile just now has an evil feeling.

He threw the feeling out of his mind for a moment, walked around the altar again, and when he didn't notice anything wrong, he prepared to go down the hill and go home.

Seosan Mountain is the highest mountain in the vicinity of Gyeonggi and is considered the closest place to heaven in the vicinity of Gyeonggi, which is why the royal family set up the altar here.

The road up the mountain is not steep, but it is definitely not smooth, and tomorrow those frail officials in the court and the central government are afraid that they will suffer.

The altar is on the mountain, taking advantage of the danger of the mountain road, it is easy to defend and difficult to attack, once something happens on it, it is extremely difficult to support, which is also the reason why Emperor Chen chose the guard so carefully.

If it weren't for the fact that the mountain road was not suitable for the march of the army, and there would not be so many people near the altar, the Praetorian Guards would be delayed for a lot of time when they came up from the mountain tomorrow, and he thought that Yu Linwei would come with him.

Tang Ning went down the mountain into the city, and when he reached the door of the house, a figure came running from a distance.

A child shoved a letter into his hand and ran away.

"Again?" This familiar scene made Tang Ning slightly stunned, he opened the envelope, and when he saw the content of the letter, his expression was stunned, and he blurted out: "......."