The sky was so bright that people couldn't see the twinkling stars in the sky, and the trees swayed in the wind, like a mysterious sonata, like a tribute to something, and as if they were crying silently.

The sound of footsteps broke the solo of the branches, and columns of heavily armed soldiers were gathering in a certain direction, as if something was calling them, and the slowly whitening sky pointed in the direction they were walking.

There is a palace hidden in a forest outside the city of Linyang, surrounded by high walls, which looks very gloomy against the background of tall trees, and under a towering tower in the palace are gathering more and more soldiers, they are walking neatly, setting off a kind of anxiety in the silent air, they are scattered in all corners of the palace, with their heads held high, their eyes sharp, under the tower, they are neatly arranged in two rows, all the way to the exit of the palace. It's like you're greeting something.

This palace is called Li Palace, it has existed for many, many years, longer than the history of Da Chen, so far away that the Da Chen Dynasty does not know when this palace was built, the first Taizu of Da Chen only knew that this was a sacrificial palace, so he ordered to go down to slightly repair, used for royal sacrifices, before this palace was not called Li Palace, but called the palace, when Chen Taizu felt that the word "away" was not good, it was changed to "Li", so the Li Palace has been preserved until now, and the monarchs of Da Chen have sacrificed here.

Yesterday, Chen Xuanyuan announced that the imperial driver would march in person and let the Ministry of Rites prepare to sacrifice to the sky, so today's Li Palace has been prepared, waiting for Emperor Chen Xuanyuan to come to worship the sky at any time.

It is the most solemn and solemn sacrificial ceremony of the Xia nation, which originated in ancient times. It is a form of "communication" between man and heaven. The ritual of worshipping the heavens is usually presided over by the "Son of Heaven". By worshipping the heavens, people express their gratitude for the nourishment and nourishment of all things, and pray for the emperor to bless the people of Xia.

In the ancient Zhou Dynasty, the main festival of the heavens was held every year on the day of the winter solstice in the southern suburbs of the national capital. "Yuanqiu Worship Heaven" and "Fangqiu Sacrifice Land" are both in the suburbs, so they are also called "suburbs". The mound is a circular altar, the ancients believed that the sky is round, and the circle is the image of the sky, and the circle is the same circle. Before the sacrifice, the Son of Heaven and all the officials were to fast and examine the sacrifices and sacrificial vessels offered to the gods. On the day of the sacrifice, the Son of Heaven led hundreds of officials to the suburbs early in the morning. In the temple of worship, incense is offered to the heavens, and prayers are silently recited, hoping that the heavens will protect the people of their tribe.

The general sacrifice is attended by all the people, but the Dachen Dynasty sacrifices to the sky, divided into the imperial sacrifice and the people's sacrifice, the people's sacrifice is held on the day of the winter solstice every year, it is the annual ceremony of the Dachen, and the imperial sacrifice does not have a fixed time, and because the imperial sacrifice only involves the emperor and ministers, ordinary people can not participate, it is very convenient to hold, as long as there is the need for the imperial sacrifice, it can be prepared at any time, the emperors of Dachen have also had the imperial conquest, the day of departure must be the emperor's sacrifice, pray to the heavens, and protect the Dachen for thousands of years.

Therefore, Chen Xuanyuan decided to drive the expedition yesterday, so he accordingly sacrificed to the sky today.

Yangxin Pavilion has already been lit with candles, because the imperial sacrifice can not wear the usual court clothes, there are special imperial sacrifice clothes, so the emperor Chen Xuan got up very early, and then put on the sacrificial clothes under the service of the palace maid, looking at himself in black dress in the bronze mirror, Chen Xuanyuan's eyes were calm and resolute, without any expression.

At this time, the Jingyi Hall is also bright, last night Wang De brought the will of the emperor Chen Xuanyuan, this time the imperial driver accompanied Concubine Jing Su Jin, ordered him to take care of everything, and accompany the emperor to the south. Therefore, today's sacrifice to the heavens was also required in the will last night, and it was to accompany the emperor to worship the heavens.

Lin Qing was also a little surprised at the time, this is not an ordinary accompaniment, it is a sacrifice to the sky, according to the system, only the queen is qualified to accompany the emperor to worship the sky, because the queen is the mother of a country, the mother of the world, protected by God, but this dynasty has not yet established a queen, even so, it is generally according to seniority, and this time Chen Xuanyuan directly asked Lin Qing to come, Lin Qing was indeed a little surprised, I don't know how many more concubines in the harem are gnashing their teeth.

When Wang Delai announced the decree last night, he not only taught the concubine etiquette of the heavenly sacrifice, but also brought the court clothes that Lin Qing should wear when the heavenly sacrifice was made, so Lin Qing got up early this morning under Xiaohuan's service and dressed, had breakfast, waited for the notice from the front hall, and went to the Li Palace with Chen Xuanyuan.

The sky slowly began to brighten, the morning sun appeared on the horizon in the distance with the glow, and the wisps of sunlight shone through the clouds on the cornices of the Zhaoyang Palace, and there were traces of slanting on Lin Qing's soft hair.

Lin Qing had already accompanied Chen Xuanyuan to stand in the big square in front of Zhaoyang Hall at this time, and as far as his eyes could see, there were a group of ministers standing respectfully, all of them were wearing their usual court clothes, and the whole square seemed very solemn.

"Your Majesty, the time has come," Wang De said softly while standing beside Chen Xuanyuan

"Well, let's go now," Chen Xuan looked at the rising sun in the distance and said in a deep voice

Lin Qing was pulled by Chen Xuanyuan and boarded the carriage, although Lin Qing was a little uncomfortable being pulled by Chen Xuanyuan, but he also knew that he had to cooperate with Chen Xuanyuan in public, so he didn't break free, and when he got into the carriage, Lin Qing immediately broke free of Chen Xuanyuan's hand, and sat on the side of the carriage with the skirt that was in the way, Chen Xuanyuan didn't say anything, and sat on the other side of the carriage, his eyes didn't change at all, so that people couldn't see what he was thinking.

The carriage drove slowly and walked in front, and the ministers behind also had their own carriages, and when they left the palace, they got into their own carriages and followed behind the emperor's carriage.

Out of Linyang City, the road became a little bumpy, Lin Qing sat in the carriage a little uncomfortable, raised his hand to stroke his stomach, gently rubbed it and slowly relieved it, and suddenly missed Xiaohuan, usually at this time she would rub it for herself.

After the discomfort was somewhat relieved, Lin Qing held his head with his hands, supported his arms on his thighs, squinted slightly, and waited to reach his destination.

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Lin Qing looked up at the plaque in front of him, and two old big characters came into view-Li Palace, he thought softly in his heart, and then followed Chen Xuanyuan into the palace. It is a palace attic on both sides of the aisle, there is a soldier standing guard every few steps on both sides of the walkway, walking along the promenade, there is a palace attic not far away, and the palace density of the Li Palace is extraordinarily large.

After walking for about half an hour, I saw that the attic of the palace in the distance began to slowly spread out, revealing a towering tower, under which a large number of soldiers had gathered, and they guarded the entrance of the tower to various places.

When Lin Qing walked in, he found that the door of the tower had been opened, and he saw that it was deep and far away, and he couldn't see anything clearly.

Lin Qing has been following Chen Xuanyuan, to the tower, a cadre of ministers consciously stood outside the tower, and Chen Xuanyuan has been leading Lin Qing to the tower, stepping on the threshold of the tower, into the eyes to see the situation in the hall, the hall is full of candles, it is not so dark, the hall wall is full of inexplicable murals, it seems very mysterious, a large offering table stands in the hall, it has been filled with sacrificial livestock, there are candles and some small offering tables on both sides.

Chen Xuanyuan went straight to the big offering table in the middle and rear, and stood on the cushion in front of the offering table, the old eunuch Wang De didn't know when he had already stood next to the offering table, holding two bundles of tribute incense in his hand, Lin Qing and Chen Xuanyuan took the tribute incense in the hands of the old eunuch, knelt on the cushion, kowtowed to the offering table, Lin Qing waved his obstructive sleeves, kowtowed three times, and then got up with Chen Xuanyuan and inserted it in the incense jar, without any other action in between.

After Lin Qing came out of the tower, he still hadn't returned to his senses, and the sacrifice to the sky passed like this, which was much easier than he imagined. Looking at the minister who was still kneeling outside the tower, Lin Qing and Chen Xuanyuan returned to the palace along the corridor they came in, and began to prepare for tomorrow's imperial expedition.

"After the ceremony, the hundred officials are flat" The hoarse voice of the old eunuch Wang De came into Lin Qing's ears.

Lin Qing looked at the already bright sky outside the palace, the weather is really good today, the white clouds and the breeze make people feel very happy, looking at the beautiful scenery outside through the curtain of the carriage, Lin Qing began to yearn for life after leaving the palace in the future. Letting go of the curtain and turning his head to look at the silent Chen Xuanyuan, Lin Qing suddenly felt a little sympathy for him, the emperor would never have such happiness.