124. Sacrifice Ceremony

Mo Yanzhi had been busy since morning.

Today was the Sacrifice Ceremony. He spent a long time more than usual in terms of dressing.

For these days, he and Zhou You could manage to dress himself up, occasionally with help of Yuan Qing.

No one else had ever approached him, especially when it came to eating.

After finishing dressing up, Mo Yanzhi had to deal with other things.

On this day, although Lou Yuqing was the host of the ceremony, he needed more time to memorize the procedure because he was not the real Tian Yuexi. He couldn't make the slightest mistake, including his speech, declaration, rituals on sacrificial ceremony, and so on.

He had been busy for an hour, and it was not until half the morning that he started to eat breakfast. At this time, his stomach was protesting. Therefore, he had to eat two fruits.

At this time, a she-man came to report that Prince Chen’s husband and Prince Xian were waiting outside the imperial study.

They needed to participate in this ceremony.

Tian Yusu had participated in the ceremony every year, but Han Tingxuan was new this year. If he was not Prince Chen’s husband, he would not be qualified to take part in the ceremony. Even though he was Prince Chen’s husband, he was only allowed to take part with the emperor’s special permission.

Mo Yanzhi ate two fruits and a bowl of swallow's nest porridge before going to the study.

"Greetings to Your majesty" Han Tingxuan and Tian Yusu saluted together.

"Greetings," said Mo Yanzhi quickly.

Tian Yu and Han Tingxuan stood up. Mo Yanzhi said, "Are you both ready?"

"Yes, I am ready," the two replied at the same time.

Mo Yanzhi nodded. "That's great."

At this moment, a she-man's voice said again. "Consort Lou is here."

Lou Yanqing walked in, first greeting Mo Yanzhi, then greeting Tian Yusu, and finally Prince Chen’s husband.

After all, he was only a concubine, not the Empress. Otherwise, he would only need to salute the Emperor and Prince Xian. Han Tingxuan needed to greet him instead.

However, he was not the Empress, so he bowed to Han Tingxuan.

It was precise because of this that Empress Sun made Mo Yanzhi kneel when they first met. However, Mo Yanzhi didn't have to bow to the Empress!

Unfortunately, Mo Yanzh no longer existed in the world.

Lou Yanqing was here to report that he was ready.

As it was almost time, they walked outside.

The ceremony was held in the east square of the palace. There was a special sacrificial platform.

This sacrificial platform was usually guarded by soldiers because there were statues of previous emperors and golden dragons representing public opinion and the will of the heavens.

The golden dragons were revolving above the previous emperor statues.

It meant that all generations of emperors were protected by golden dragons. They were the Heavenly Emperor chosen by the golden dragons! The Heaven Empire was protected by the golden dragons.

There were 399 steps to the platform.

Lou Yanqing needed to first stand on the platform on the 399th step, waiting for the emperor to go up step by step on both knees.

It required the emperor to complete it alone.

During this period, the officials also needed to kneel and wait for the emperor to step up the stairs.

On such a big day, all officials with titles, even if they were seriously ill, as long as they were able to move, they needed to attend.

Han Tingxuan and Tian Yusu stood at the front of the officials. This was not because they had the highest position but because they were the representatives chosen by the royal family.

One step behind them was Duke Guan jing and Duke Yong’an. Duke Yong’an was already very old. He is the uncle of Tian Yuexi's grandfather, way senior to others.

However, Duke Yong’an did not have many descendants, Not like Duke Guanjing’s big family. Duke Yong'an only had one son who passed away four years ago. He had a grandson who, unfortunately, died on the battlefield ten years ago. His grandson had a kid. The he-man was three years older than Tian Yuexi and he hadn't married a male wife yet. His name was Tian Yuexin.

The middle name "Yue" was given to a specific person. Only Tian Yuexi and Tian Yueqi, sons of an emperor, were given “Yue”. The previous emperor named the he-man Tian Yuexin as a way of thanking the Yong'an family.

Behind Duke Guan jing and Duke Yongan were Dongfang Xu, the master of the Dongfang family, Nangong Yue, the master of the Nangong family, and Sun Luo, the master of the Sun family.

Behind these three people were their first lawfully sons, Dongfang Ye, Nangong Qingtian, who had rushed back from the border, and Sun Xiucheng. Sun Xiucheng was Sun Qili's father.

After that, they were Li Su, the left minister, Wang Yi, the Minister of Ministry of War, Tan Jun, the Minister of the Ministry of Commerce.

In this way, they were placed according to the ranks of officials.

As Mo Yanzhi stepped forward, all the officials lowered their heads.

The solemn sacrificial ceremony had just officially begun at this moment.

As Mo Yanzhi took one step at a time, he felt complicated.

This wasn't his position and he didn't want the position.

However, the moment Tian Yuexi found him, his life changed.

When they came to the City of Capital, they thought it was the beginning of their new life and their days would be better. In the end, he lost his first child.

Until now… he and his husband had no way to look back. They could only move forward!