Chapter 17: The Wedding (3)
After the long and tedious reading of the festival astronomy, incense and candles were lit on the stage, and the officials of Taichang Temple carried the raw and cooked offerings one by one, and the surrounding honor guards blew loud horns to the sky.
After the sacrifice was over, the little eunuch beside Fang Hongtian said loudly: "Now the envoys of various countries will present congratulatory gifts to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. ”
So, Wei An, who was at the front of the line, strode up, handed over a delicate box, and said with a slight smile: "Congratulations on the prince's wedding, if he has time in the future, don't forget to come to our Cai Kingdom to play." ”
Fang Ce suddenly showed a somewhat disgusted expression, and he looked too lazy to pay attention to him.
Fang Hongtian looked very calm, and said lightly: "Wei Hou is polite, I hope he will see you again in the future, and you will still greet him with a smile." ”
Although it was only two sentences, the murderous intent hidden in these words was very deep, Wei An laughed out loud and stepped aside.
The eunuch next to him read out after opening the box on one side: "The envoy of Cai Guo sent a pair of white jade carved unicorns." ”
Subsequently, each envoy gave gifts, and the eunuchs had to read out the things they sent, and these envoys were all gifts on behalf of the country, mostly gold and jade, jade and jewelry, all of which were worth thousands of gold and carved exquisite things.
Fang Hongtian listened to the gifts one by one, listened to the beautiful words spoken by the envoys of various countries, and was also slightly satisfied, and said a few words to Queen Song from time to time.
Queen Song was smiling, with a noble posture of a mother's world.
After the envoys of various countries had finished giving the gifts, the little eunuch shouted, "Now the courtiers will present the congratulatory gifts!"
So, according to the order of official products, first the emperor's relatives, princes, etc., and then according to the first and second products, each time one is sent, the eunuch still opens the inspection and reads it out loud.
Fang Ling saw it in his eyes, and also understood that the gifts given by these officials were also very knowledgeable, you know, the salaries of officials were not high, although the imperial court also had subsidies and the like, but it could not be compared with those giant businessmen and rich people.
If you give something like gold and jade jewelry, it is expensive and easy to be called a corrupt official, and if you give something cheap, it is really difficult to sell, after all, this is a gift for the prince's wedding.
Therefore, the officials are very clever to choose rare medicinal materials, although these medicinal materials are not easy to come by, but they can be said to be collected by relatives, dug up in their hometowns, etc., and they can escape the suspicion of corrupt officials by making up a story casually.
Moreover, these medicinal materials are also necessary for the royal family, and the amount of medicinal materials for a hundred years is just right.
Of course, there are also really poor officials, who give some relatively ordinary objects, but when they are read out, they will attract a burst of whispers from the courtiers, although they are not ridiculed in public, but they are regarded as outliers.
After everything was over, Fang Hongtian bowed slightly and said: "Today is the day of Ce'er's wedding, and the emperor is also very happy, especially so many foreign envoys have come tirelessly, and the emperor will hold a banquet in the Qingming Palace at noon, and all the ministers can enjoy it at the same time." Now, let's enjoy the dance of the palace singers and add some joy to this wedding day. ”
As soon as he finished saying this, Xue Zhiqiu strode to the position in front of the hall, knelt down, and shouted: "Your Majesty, Weichen has something to do!"
Seeing this situation, Fang Ling's heart was hot, and his eyes were a little red, Xue Zhiqiu was over seventy years old, and he should have been at home for a long time, but he had repeatedly admonished him for himself, and now on such a grand occasion, he had to come forward again, how could he not move himself?