The ancestor worship process of the ancestor worship ceremony, first of all, the ancestor worship ceremony official took the lead in reading the book of the heavens, announcing that the world is the ancestor worship ceremony today, and inviting all the ancestors to come and observe. All the palace concubines and officials in the court need to wear formal ceremonial clothing, and the palace concubines also need to wear corresponding hairpins, Yingluo, waist pendants and other accessories. Everything needs to be in order.

After the recitation, it is time to offer incense and worship. According to the ancestral system, it should be the queen mother with the highest status first, then Song Jinyan and Kou Shushangxiang, then other concubines, and then Concubine Lan Xuan, who can do harem concubines, officials with grades in the court, and so on.

After everyone has finished the incense, it will be noon. The ancestor worship ceremony should not be fired, and all meals and lunches need to be simple, in order to symbolize the emperor's diligence and thrift, and the heart of honesty and honesty.

At the end of the day, the queue was full, and Kou Shu felt a little headache when she saw the trip.

"Niangniang-" Ripple stepped forward early in the morning with a whole tray of jewelry, yawning and muttering, "It's almost time, we should prepare." ”

Kou Shu nodded and sighed slightly, there are nine pairs of nine-tailed phoenix hairpins in the queen's ritual system, not to mention that she also has a heavy wind crown, which Yingluo needs to wear.

Sitting helplessly in front of the bronze mirror, he let the ripples and mandarin ducks come up and fiddle. I don't know why, Kou Shu always felt a little up and down in her heart, and her hands couldn't help touching the heart protection jade around her neck. His eyes were a little distracted.

On the third day of the first month of March, the ancestor worship ceremony began as scheduled. Kou Shu was wearing the phoenix crown costume made by the queen, standing beside Song Jinyan, standing side by side with a solemn face.

Finally, when the ancestor ceremonial officer took the lead in reading out the letter to heaven, the queen mother was supported by Mama Meng and stepped forward, and slowly took the three sticks of incense handed over by the ancestor ceremonial officer on the side. Slowly bent his knees against the altar and began to offer incense to his ancestors.

The bell rang slowly, resounding throughout the altar, and for a time the scene was extremely solemn, and everyone was holding their breath, for fear that they would accidentally do something disrespectful to their ancestors and ancestors on this solemn and solemn occasion.

Kou Shu stood beside Song Jinyan, hanging her hands and standing quietly not far from the Queen Mother. Because she had to dress up, Kou Shu got up very early today, and she lowered her head at this time, slightly sleepy.

A black shadow flashed extremely quickly, and Kou Shu saw through the afterglow that it was Yan Yi's figure. Kou Shu was puzzled in her heart, today is the ancestor worship ceremony, even if Yan Yi is Song Jinyan's guard, the protection should be far away and secretly protected, why did Song Jinyan get so close. Could it be that something has happened?

Kou Shu frowned and thought about it, tilting her head, but saw Song Jinyan looking at her with a smile. Kou Shu's eyes were still looking ahead, and in the eyes of outsiders, she was still standing upright, raising her eyebrows, and said in a low voice: "The emperor has something to say?" ”

A smile flashed in Song Jinyan's eyes, and he said, "Does the queen remember what I said before?" ”

Kou Shu was even more confused: "What does the emperor mean by this?"

Song Jinyan raised his head, his eyes staring straight ahead: "I once said that the queen is now a big tree, so she needs to be vigilant." Does the queen remember? ”

With a slight roll of her eyes, Kou Shu had already understood, I am afraid that in today's ancestor worship ceremony, Lan Ruoxuan is secretly making trouble again, adding something to herself. smiled faintly and said: "The soldiers will block the water and cover the earth, some things are not something that can be avoided by just dodging, if you must come, let him come." ”

A hint of approval flashed in Song Jinyan's eyes, and he only listened to the ancestor ceremony: "Please ask the emperor and the queen to offer incense to the ancestors." ”

The two walked side by side, climbing the stairs, and looking from a distance, it was a different tacit understanding and boarding.

Finally ended the day's ancestor worship ceremony, Kou Shu dragged back to Changle Palace with a full body of fatigue, and the heavy hair ornament on his head almost broke Kou Shu's neck. As soon as he stepped into Changle Palace, Kou Shu couldn't help but speak: "Ripples, help me remove the hair ornament on my head." ”

Hearing this, Ripple ran to Kou Shu's side in small steps, stood on tiptoe and wanted to stretch out his hand to directly pull out the golden hairpin on Kou Shu's head. But I heard Su Peiyuan's voice coming from outside the door: "Queen Mother, are you resting?" ”

Kou Shu raised her eyebrows, sighed long in her heart, and said in her heart that she probably wouldn't be able to sleep well tonight, so she nodded helplessly: "The palace is not sleeping, Gonggong Su, come in." ”

When Su Peiyuan heard this, he agreed, and pushed the door in. When he saw Kou Shu, he smiled and said, "Queen Mother, the emperor asked the servants to come, please go to Weiyang Palace." ”

Weiyang Palace is Song Jinyan's bedroom, Song Jinyan has been resting in Zhongcui Pavilion in the past month, and before he slept in Yilan Palace, when he encountered a lot of business, he spent the night in the imperial study, but rarely stayed in Weiyang Palace. Summoning himself to Weiyang Palace seems to be the first time this year.

Kou Shu nodded: "Okay, Gonggong Su will go first, and the palace will come over later." ”

As soon as Su Peiyuan left, Ripple stared at the side with wide eyes, and said curiously: "Niangniang, everyone has been busy all day today because of the ancestor worship ceremony, and it is so late this time, the emperor is looking for you, what else is going on?" ”

The mandarin duck frowned, stretched out his hand to pull Ripple's sleeve, and said in a low voice: "Ripple, not many mouths!" ”

Kou Shu didn't care about the ripples, and waved her hand and said, "Mandarin duck, you can go with me." ”

Changle Palace, Weiyang Palace, is taken from the name of "Changle Weiyang", which is intended to declare the peaceful and prosperous times, the wind and rain are smooth, and Changle is not stopped, so the two palaces are not far from each other, and after a while, Kou Shu arrived at Weiyang Palace.

At the beginning of March, the winter snow has gradually melted, but the winter has not completely faded, there is still a trace of chill in the air, the spring cold is precipitous, Kou Shu hurriedly went out, yes, and put on a thin single coat, a gust of wind blew, and I felt a little chilly.

Before he pushed the door and walked into Song Jinyan's bedroom in Weiyang Palace, he only heard Su Peiyuan report: "The queen mother has arrived-"

Kou Shu immediately stepped forward, her eyes raised slightly, Lan Ruoxuan, Bai Xuan are all above the dormitory at the moment, Lan Ruoxuan's face does not have a trace of emotion, but if you look closely, you can see a trace of schadenfreude in the bottom of your eyes. And Bai Xuan lowered his eyebrows and leaned against his palace maid, his eyes were red as if he had just cried, as if he had been greatly wronged.

Kou Shu was unmoved, walked forward slowly, and saluted Song Jinyan: "The concubine is the emperor." ”

Song Jinyan waved his hand and said, "Your Majesty, I came to you late at night because I had something to ask you." ”

Kou Shu nodded: "Your Majesty, please ask." ”

Song Jinyan's eyebrows raised: "Today, Concubine Xuan's incense on the ancestor worship ceremony was tampered with, and it was originally supposed to be three incense, but it became four." ”

Chapter 92: Planting Blame

"Three sticks of incense turned into four?" Kou Shu was slightly surprised, according to the custom of Daxuan, three incense sticks are to worship the ancestors, and four incense sticks are commonly used by folk opera troupes and used in opera songs.

The ancestor worship ceremony is the ancestors of the Great Xuan, according to the unified ritual should take three incense, if the concubine really took four incense, it is to compare the ancestors and ancestors to a play, it is a great disrespect to the ancestors.

Concubine Xuan's eyes were red again, and she wanted to cry: "Queen Mother, if you really don't like Bai Xuan, to put it bluntly, why use such means against me, I am just an ordinary official woman, and I am not as powerful as the Queen Mother, why use such methods to frame me?" Speaking of which, Concubine Xuan covered her face with a handkerchief, and she looked like she was about to cry.

Lan Ruoxuan on the side was also a relative, looking at Lan Ruoxuan very sadly, and said: "Senior sister, the most important thing for harem sisters is to get along in harmony, as long as the emperor is happy and can spread the branches for the royal family, what does it matter where the emperor loves to stay, senior sister is brave and advises senior sister to be generous." ”

Kou Shu raised her eyebrows, and a trace of coldness flashed in her eyes: "What do you mean by this, Concubine Xuan?" Hongu doesn't understand. ”

Lan Ruoxuan saw it, frowned and said: "Senior sister, Concubine Xuan has seen your own people who replaced the three sticks of incense with four, if it weren't for the fact that Concubine Xuan was born in the scholarly sect since she was a child, and she is well versed in rules and rituals, and knows that this sacrifice should use three sticks of incense, wouldn't it be a joke for nothing?" ”

Song Jinyan nodded, everyone used to participate in the ancestor worship ceremony was indeed prepared by the ancestor worship ceremony first, when the matter came, if he really found that he had been divided into four incense sticks, he had to bite the bullet, Concubine Xuan was able to escape this time, because it happened that Yan saw it at a glance, and he ordered him to go and change the incense.

Kou Shu smiled faintly: "Concubine Xuan, you said you saw it with your own eyes, dare to ask what you saw?" ”

Bai Xuan's face turned pale, and then he raised his head suddenly, staring at Kou Shu's eyes, and said; The concubine saw the girl named Ripple next to the queen's mother, and handed a piece of incense to the ancestor ceremony. And the concubine's incense is just one more, dare to ask the queen, is there such a coincidence in this world? ”

Kou Shu was stunned for a moment, and wanted to speak, but Lan Ruoxuan continued: "I also heard that a few days ago, the girl named Ripple was fighting with the palace maid in Concubine Xuan's palace for a bowl of blood swallows, and even fought because of this. Senior sister Mo didn't hold a grudge because of this, and the master and servant worked together to bully Concubine Xuan. ”

Kou Shu smiled coldly, she thought that the ripples were strange a few days ago, so they clearly dug a trap for herself to jump into. The ripples in the past few days are all because of injuries, and none of the things in Changle Palace let her help, but let her rest. Now Concubine Xuan said by name that she had seen ripples, and if she said anything about ripples again, it would be too deliberate.

Lan Ruoxuan's plan is linked one by one, I am afraid that the person who Ripple really misbelieves has jumped into the trap of others, no matter how Ripple himself, in the eyes of outsiders, Ripple is the person in his Changle Palace, and everything Ripple does is his own meaning. I'm afraid I won't be able to pick this thing clean. Kou Shu sighed slightly in her heart, and her eyes suddenly flashed what Song Jinyan said to herself at the ancestor worship ceremony in the morning.

Song Jinyan said that he was a big wind.

Kou Shu frowned, pondering these four words.

A hint of realization flashed in his eyes, and his heart suddenly brightened, and he pursed his lips and smiled, and said, "Concubine Xuan, you said that you saw Ripples hand an incense to the ancestor worship officer, and the incense you took happened to have one more, right?" ”

Concubine Xuan nodded and said: "At first, the concubine thought that she didn't notice it, lost a piece of incense, or was originally prepared to leak, and didn't care, but when it was the concubine's turn to worship the ancestors, she received an extra incense, and the matter came too coincidentally, and the concubine had to think about it." ”

Kou Shu nodded, there was no panic in her eyes, and said: "Since you said that it was done by ripples, this palace can't show favoritism, Gonggong Su, I bother you to go and spread ripples to confront you." ”

When Su Peiyuan heard this, he glanced at Song Jinyan, Song Jinyan nodded, and Su Peiyuan understood what Song Jinyan meant, and retreated towards the residence of Changle Palace.

After a while, the ripples were transmitted to the Weiyang Palace.

Approaching Weiyang Palace, Ripple walked straight behind Kou Shu, and whispered to Kou Shu with some pride: "Niangniang, just say that you want to bring me here, and you also want to bring mandarin ducks over, aren't you looking for me again?" ”

Kou Shu's eyes were cold, and he said sharply: "Presumptuous, you kneel down for me!" ”

Ripple was stunned for a moment, and the whole person froze in place as if she had been electrocuted, and before she could react, she only heard Lan Ruoxuan's voice become more severe: "You, let you kneel, do you dare not kneel?" ”

After that, Lan Ruoxuan looked at her, Youzhu understood that she would step forward, and kicked on Ripple's knee, Ripple was in pain, knelt on the ground coldly, and looked up at Kou Shu in disbelief.

"Ripples, today on top of the ancestor worship ceremony, Concubine Xuan's incense has one more, what should have been three sacrificial incense, but it has become four, let me ask you, did you secretly send an incense to the ancestor worship ceremony at that time, and ordered him to be sandwiched in the incense for Concubine Xuan?"

Ripple was stunned for a moment, and exclaimed: "It's not like this, someone told me that the queen's incense is missing, and asked me to send one to the ancestor worship officer, so I took a piece of incense!" ”

Lan Ruoxuan snorted coldly: "It's really a clever tongue, but the queen's incense is not less at all, but Concubine Xuan's incense is one more, if you don't notice, Concubine Xuan takes four incense sticks, but it is a big crime to despise the dignity of the royal family." ”

Ripples only then realized the seriousness of the matter, kneeled in front of Kou Shu's eyes, tugged at Kou Shu's sleeve and said, "Niangniang, Niangniang, Ripples really don't know, Ripples thought it was the queen who wanted it." Someone is hurting me! ”

Lan Ruoxuan snorted and asked; "You said that someone did it on purpose, so let me ask you, who told you to send incense to the queen?"

Ripples was stunned suddenly, trying to recall the scene during the day, only to remember that the girl was extremely eye-catching, and he had never seen it, no matter how hard he tried to recall it, he couldn't remember the girl's appearance. Holding Kou Shu's skirt tightly, she said, "Queen Mother, you must believe me!" ”

Kou Shu looked at the ripples coldly, as if looking at a stranger again, and said word by word: Don't say anything else for the time being, I just ask you, did you hand incense to the ancestor worship ceremony? ”

Ripple was stunned for a moment, only to feel chills all over his body, and said, "The slave has been." ”

Lan Ruoxuan's face showed a triumphant smile and said, "Senior sister, do you hear me?" ”