……

After passing through the tall city gate and walking into the capital city in the flow of chariots and horses, Lin Tuo left the small episode of Fang Cai behind and observed the world with interest.

This is the first time he has entered the Dachi Dynasty, and it is fresh as far as the eye can see.

Fortunately, many of the imperial people who came to Kyoto for the first time in their lives would have a similar demeanor, and before entering the city, Lin Tuo managed to get a robe of a local, which was not very eye-catching.

Especially......

For the citizens of Kyoto, because of the upcoming celebrations in the past few days, there are a lot of people inside and outside the capital, which makes Lin Tuo seem inconspicuous.

……

"This is Chi Country." Walking in the streets and alleys, Lin Tuo admired the shops and buildings on both sides, at this moment, the sun had risen, and the whole city was alive.

On the streets, there is a growing flow of people.

The voices of people talking provide him with a lot of useful information.

One of the most frequently used words is the "Ritual of Worship to the Gods".

"Am I so lucky? The first time you came in, you just caught the festival? After confirming the meaning of this so-called celebration, Lin Tuo couldn't help but be dumbfounded, and then became interested.

And realized, perhaps, that this could be an opportunity for his next move.

Yes.

Lin Tuo didn't intend to break into the palace directly, although he was sure of it, but there was no need.

Just as he said to the officer guarding the city, he was only here to see the world.

……

"Look! The royal car is coming! When Lin Tuo walked aimlessly to the banks of the Taochuan River, which runs through Kyoto, he saw countless peach blossoms on both sides of the river, as well as the boats on the water.

Then he saw the figure from the boat pouring out, pointing to the bridge in the distance.

The Chi Empire is enlightened, and so is the people, that is, Kyoto, although the law is solemn, but it is not strict, so it is natural for this scene to happen.

"The royal car?" Lin Tuo immediately looked over and saw a string of gorgeous chariots coming slowly under the guard of a group of palace people, and there was music fluttering around him.

It turned out to be a carriage honor guard procession.

There was no one in the car at the head, only a flag was erected, the flag was bright yellow, drawing the ancient totem of the Chi Empire, fluttering slowly in the spring wind.

"This is part of the ceremony of sacrificing to the gods, the imperial chariot arch flag travels all over the city, and then it will go to Xiyuan, His Majesty the Emperor and the ministers are over there, and there are still waiting, the festival is really going to start, and it will be afternoon."

There were already a lot of people around Lin Tuo.

At this moment, everyone heard the prestige, and immediately a local person in Kyoto explained, and his tone and expression were not lacking in arrogance.

"Isn't Your Majesty in this ranks?"

Someone asked, tiptoeing out of the crowd.

The Kyoto native scoffed, shook his head and smiled:

"How is that possible? How many hours does this car take, if the monarch has been following, where will he have the strength to worship the gods in the afternoon?

This is a hard work, besides, the car travels through the city, there are many people, what should I do if something happens? ”

"It's ...... too"

"It's a pity, I still want to take a look at the current saint."

"Let's go to Xiyuan in the afternoon to see, but at that time, it was crowded, and you couldn't see it."

On the banks of the Momogawa River, there are many discussions.

Lin Tuo was in the middle of it, his eyes lost focus for a short time, and he cut his consciousness back to his body, condescendingly, overlooking the whole city, and found the location of Xiyuan.

"Well, this forest garden should be it, right?" In the old house of the martial arts hall, Lin Tuo stood by the sand table, leaned over to look at the west of Kyoto, and saw that there were already many human beings gathered there.

"The Great Ceremony of Worship to the Gods...... Perhaps, it's a good opportunity. ”

Lin Tuo got up, looked at the wisps of clouds above the sand table, and fell into thought.

……

……

Since the speed of time inside and outside the sand table was adjusted to 1:1, Lin Tuo also needed to wait patiently until the afternoon if he wanted to observe the ceremony.

He was not in a hurry, and just took advantage of this time to observe the city.

In a sense, the capital of a country can reflect the country's style and social conditions.

In Lin Tuo's eyes, this is probably an era similar to the Han and Tang dynasties.

In the 500 years since the founding of the country, there have been many wars in history, but most of them belong to the infighting of the descendants of the royal family, so no matter who wins, the name of the dynasty has not changed.

The current monarch has been on the throne for several years, and he has been quite proud of his ancestors, and he has ordered the elimination of malpractices, and the government has been harmonious, and the atmosphere of the empire has been changed.

has a good reputation among the people, and it seems that he is an enterprising emperor.

This made Lin Tuo very satisfied.

Unfortunately, many problems cannot be changed at all due to the inefficient productivity of the current society, so the so-called "progress" is only tinkering.

"It's good to have the idea of reform, otherwise, I think the push for this empire will inevitably have to be delayed for a few more decades."

On the bank of the Taochuan River, Lin Tuo leaned over and picked up a river lamp from the river, his eyes flashing.

……

At noon, I switched to the body and ordered takeout to eat, and in a blink of an eye, it was afternoon.

When Lin Tuo switched his consciousness to the body again, and when he opened his eyes, he saw that the streets were full of pedestrians, in groups, heading west.

Apparently he was going to attend the festival of worshipping the gods.

Some people are dressed in ordinary clothes, some are dusty, and there are some singers and dancers in the crowd who are dressed in bright red, light pink, or goose yellow classical costumes, and their faces are also painted with heavy makeup, embellished in the sea of people, as bright as peach blossoms.

No, not if.

In fact, Lin Tuo noticed that almost half of the people in Kyoto, no matter what they were wearing, were holding a branch full of peach blossoms in their hands.

It seems to be some kind of holiday etiquette.

While walking, the fragrant wind hits people.

"God bless the country of Chi!"

When Lin Tuo also followed the crowd, he passed a street corner.

A dancing girl who didn't know if it was arranged by the imperial court or spontaneously pulled out a branch from the huge flower basket beside her and handed it to him, saying in a gentle voice.

"Thank you." Lin Tuo was stunned and took it, at this moment, he finally sensed the atmosphere of the festival.

Held for hundreds of years, the festival has long since developed from a simple royal ceremony to a folk festival of the entire dynasty.

……

When Lin Tuo finally followed the flow of people and came to Xiyuan, he saw that it was already full of people.

The surrounding forest was rushed, and there were guards of the Royal Forest Army in front of them, stopping the crowd in this way.

Further on, you can see a huge circular altar that rises above the ground.

At this moment, flags have already been planted around the altar, and the current emperor of the Chi State is leading the ministers under the altar, and the surrounding palace officials are busy, and the ceremony of sacrificing to the gods is about to begin.

Lin Tuo was submerged in the crowd, extremely inconspicuous, he didn't try to squeeze forward, he only needed to occasionally switch his consciousness back to his body, and he could be condescending and overlook the whole city.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

Suddenly, there were drums around the altar, and thousands of Kyoto people were still whispering and chattering around the entire garden.

But as the drum sounded, he closed his mouth in a few breaths.

When those outsiders saw this, they also stopped talking, and for a while, tens of thousands of pairs of eyes looked at the altar of the West Garden.

"Silence! God! Ceremony open! ”

The priest shouted, and in an instant, the ceremony began to operate according to strict regulations.

The first step, the second step......

The ceremony proceeded in an orderly manner, and the Guards marched through the crowd to prevent riots.

In the crowd, Lin Tuo watched it for a while and thought it was interesting, but gradually, he began to wander.

Through a morning of understanding, he already knew the whole process of the festival.

Knowing that when the previous steps are over, the emperor of Chi will ascend to the altar, go to the sky, count the merits of the past year and the year, and then divinate and pray to the gods.

Kindness...... The latter part is basically the sacrificial officials reading according to the prepared lines, anyway, no one has ever seen the gods, and what the heavens say depends on the nonsense of those officials.

After learning about this, Lin Tuo had a plan.

He slowly raised his head and looked at the sky.

Today is quite clear, only a few light wisps of clouds fluttering, the scorching sun is across the sky, and many people who watch the ceremony are exhaling vigorously, not to mention the emperor and the ministers and officials.

"It's so thick that you can't sweat." A simple-looking citizen next to him muttered quietly.

Lin Tuo glanced at him, showed a chuckle, and also whispered, "I think it may be cloudy later." ”

"How could this ......?"

Seeing that others didn't believe it, Lin Tuo didn't explain, just continued to wait.

After about half an hour, with a burst of music, I saw a figure in a yellow robe ascending the altar under the watchful eyes of everyone.

"The monarch has come up!"

"Is that the Emperor?"

"It's out, it's out......"

Seeing this scene, the somewhat wilted crowd suddenly rioted again, but fortunately, there were guards from the Royal Forest Army, and they soon calmed down again.

Almost all of them, at this moment, set their eyes on the figure on the altar in front of them.

No one noticed that a young man in the crowd suddenly lost his luster in his eyes, his expression was dull, and he stood in place like a puppet.

……

Lishan Martial Arts Hall, inside the old house.

Lin Tuo, who was sitting on the rattan chair, suddenly "woke up", slowly got up, looked at the location of Xiyuan in the sand table, and a smile appeared on his face.

"It's finally here, you can keep me waiting."

Whispering a word, Lin Tuo suddenly raised his hand, leaned over slightly, put his arms into the sand table, and hugged the sky of Xiaobanchi Country in the sky.

Gather slowly!

So, at this moment, I saw that the countless wisps of clouds that were originally scattered and floating in the territory of the country were forcibly detained by two invisible arms to Kyoto!

While making this action.

He poked his head into the heights below the clouds, and then coughed vigorously.

"Ahem!"

……

……

At the same time, the Oike Dynasty, Kyoto Nishien, on the altar.

The sweaty Emperor Chi slowly stood still, and then looked at the several bronze tripods placed on the altar in front of him.

In the largest statue in the center, a flagpole was erected, and it was the totem that traveled around the city hung on it, but at this moment, it was full of words.

It was a book of worship to the gods written by the head of the civil servants before the ceremony began.

The content is also very simple.

Roughly speaking, it means praying for revelation from the gods to guide the world to peace.

It's not that I really want the gods to say something, it's just a tradition, that's all.

As Emperor Chi came to the stage and finished reading out a set of sacrificial words, the courtiers next to him threw a thing into the tripod, and immediately, a raging flame rose in the bronze tripod.

Gradually, the whole totem was ignited.

This is the most important ritual of the festival to the gods.

The "letters" "offered to the gods" are lit, and then the decrees of the gods are "interpreted" by special officials.

Everyone watched the scene calmly.

No one thought it would be any different this time.

After all, a similar process has been carried out countless times.

However......

Today, right now.

When the flames in the ding, tens of thousands of Kyoto citizens stared silently, very suddenly, the blazing sun disappeared violently.

……

in the crowd.

The Kyoto man who had just complained silently was stunned, then raised his head and looked at the sky that was still clear for a second.

Immediately, his face was stunned, and he exclaimed:

"This ...... Sky...... It's really cloudy!! ”