Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 635: Appointment
Although it was not yet bright, with the sound of a drum, the soldiers in neat and uniform formation on the east and west sides of the Danchi had already set up their ceremonial guards and were ready for battle . There were flags flying, majestic horses, tigers and leopards bowing their heads, and drums and music resounding.
With the second drumbeat, all the civil and military officials were waiting at the Meridian Gate, and Shang Baoqing and many attendants and guards had already arrived outside the Jinshen Hall to greet the emperor who was wearing the imperial robes and crowns. And when the third drumbeat sounded, all the civil and military officials, Chinese and foreign envoys, monks and elders who were participating in today's enthronement ceremony, and even the famous scholars who had gathered in the capital for the imperial lecture, all took their places.
As for the biggest protagonist today, the Third Prince, he was at this time in the inner chamber of Fengtian Gate, and began to put on his elaborate formal dress. At first glance, his dress was not much different from the Third Prince's yesterday, even the crown was similar, the only difference was probably the black robe and purple skirt, and the jade sceptre in his hand was a little longer.
However, this tiny difference was the goal that countless sons and grandsons of the emperor fought for. He also knew that with the eldest and second princes still alive, he would become the target of countless people's criticism if he entered the East Palace at his age and background, not to mention that his two brothers would definitely be extremely angry. But since he had promised his father, he certainly made up his mind.
He put on layers of clothes, tied the leather belt and ribbons one by one, and when he finally put on the heavy crown, he felt that even his neck was stiff and he could not move. He could not help but think of a sentence Zhang Shou had said to him inadvertently - if you want to wear the crown, you must bear its weight. Therefore, when he saw this set of crowns for the crowned prince yesterday, his heart was as clear as a mirror.
The color of the prince's clothes is different from that of the princes, and this kind of dyed material cannot be produced by an ordinary weaving workshop. It must be made in advance by the Jiangnan Weaving and Dyeing Bureau. And such fine and thick texture must be customized according to his body size. All patterns must be in the specified positions, which is by no means a one-day job.
If we count from the day when my father announced that he would be crowned the crown prince, the imperial crown could not be made in a hurry. In other words, my father had made up his mind long ago.
How could this not make him feel terrified? How could this not make him feel deeply moved? How could this not make him swear to do his best?
As the beads of the crown were straightened out by the waiter and hung above his forehead, he heard the loud music outside, which indicated that the emperor had left the Jinshen Hall and headed for the Fengtian Hall. He immediately followed the guide to the door.
The drums and music stopped abruptly, and the sound of the emperor ascending the throne in Fengtian Hall was heard, followed by three whip sounds. The Third Prince felt as if the world had suddenly become quiet. He was even a little confused when he followed the four people in front of him into the East Gate of Fengtian. Until the ritual music sounded again, he stepped onto the seat that had been prepared long ago on the altar, and his heart was pounding, almost jumping out of his throat.
Bow, rise, stand up. Although the movements of kneeling and bowing were meticulous and even the most strict ceremonial officer could not find any mistakes, the Third Prince felt like a puppet at this moment. His mind was blank. He seemed to be completely unaware of the joy outside and all his movements were supported by instinct.
At this moment, he suddenly heard a very loud voice: "There is a rule!"
The Third Prince almost subconsciously knelt on the ground again, but the moment his knees touched the ground, he recognized who the voice belonged to. When he looked up again, it was not the Minister of Rites, but the Minister of War, Zhu Jing, Duke of Zhao!
"The edict said: Establishing a crown prince is to honor the ancestral temple and to value the country. It is not for the benefit of one family or one person, but for the public good of the world. The prosperity of the Xia, Shang, Zhou, Han, Tang and Song dynasties all followed this approach. The third prince, Zheng Rong, is intelligent and kind, filial, friendly and respectful, and is qualified to inherit the ancestral temple. Therefore, on October 15, the 27th year of Yongchen, he was established as the crown prince."
Upon hearing the simple eight-word comment, the Third Prince felt his heart tremble. It was not until the ceremonial officer shouted at him to prostrate himself that he woke up as if from a dream. He hurriedly bowed to express his gratitude, and then followed the guide officer into the Fengtian Hall, where he bowed again.
He was in a daze, prostrating himself and thanking him, until the official who was reading the book read out the contents of the book in a loud voice, and then he suddenly realized. Even without looking up, he could tell that it was Zhang Shou's voice! When he stood up after the ceremony, he had just come in from outside and experienced the cold and warm world. He tried his best to stand up straight, and then he met Zhang Shou's usual smiling face.
After reading the edict, Zhang Shou handed the golden edict to the Grand Secretary Kong who was standing beside him. Although Grand Secretary Kong had not yet officially become the Prime Minister, in such an occasion, he was the one who presented the golden edict to the crown prince on behalf of the emperor, which showed that he was actually the Prime Minister.
Academician Kong should have felt proud of such an honor, but when he saw that the person who read out the text in the Golden Book was Zhang Shou, and also when he saw that the Third Prince and Zhang Shou smiled at each other on such an occasion, as if everything was self-evident, he felt extremely uncomfortable.
He felt particularly bad when he thought about the fact that the emperor had not only added Zhang Shou to the East Palace lectures recommended by these bigwigs, but also had recommended Liu Zhiyuan to be squeezed in, he felt very bad.
Therefore, when he presented the golden book and golden seal to the third prince, he didn't even need to pretend to be serious. Seeing this little prince who had become the crown prince but was once ignored took the golden book and golden seal with both hands, and then solemnly handed them to the eunuch who was in charge of holding the golden book and golden seal at the side, and then bowed down to express his gratitude again to the drums and music, he couldn't help but smile in his heart.
Even though the first and second princes had many faults, they were at least adults. But the third prince was too young. If the emperor went on a tour or something else, and wanted to leave the crown prince to supervise the country, the crown prince would have to entrust all affairs to the ministers. Moreover, he looked kind, respectful and frugal, so he should be easier to deal with than the emperor.
In the eyes of the fourth prince, who was also wearing a full set of imperial robes and had to keep a straight face, his third brother was a kowtow worm today. He had been kneeling and bowing since the beginning when he was listening to the imperial edict of enthroning the crown prince in the cold wind on the altar. He even counted on his fingers out of boredom and was shocked to find that he stood up and knelt down at least five times, and kowtowed more than ten or twenty times.
It is not easy for the third brother to be a good prince! He will accompany his third brother to Qingning Palace and the two palaces later, and he will have to kowtow again!
While the little naughty kid was feeling tired for his third brother, the third prince had already left the Fengtian Hall under the escort of the guide officer. He bowed to the throne and saluted again, then went to the east side room of the Fengtian Gate, preparing to meet the empress dowager first, and then the two palaces.
Now that the Central Palace was without a master, Concubine Yu and Concubine He, as noble concubines, took care of the palace affairs together. Although to him one was his stepmother and the other his biological mother, not the Central Palace, they could have gone to the audience or not according to the ritual system, but the emperor still made a change in the ritual system of the Ministry of Rites.
The emperor specially ordered him to go to the two palaces to pay respects to the two imperial concubines, but the etiquette was reduced. He was naturally extremely grateful for this. After all, a life of grace is like a mountain. Moreover, Concubine He has always been extremely caring for him as a son. Although Concubine Yu is cold, she has never relied on the emperor's favor to look down on him and his son. In the past, she even tried her best to protect him in front of the deposed queen. Of course, he is willing to take this opportunity to express his gratitude.
He was surrounded by people carefully selected by the emperor, so no one advocated that he, the crown prince, should take advantage of his entry into the Eastern Palace to find a way to make his biological mother and concubine the empress, so as to cut off the possibility of the concubine's young son shaking the throne in the future. But such a statement was not unheard of by others. And the person who said this was none other than Liu Feng, who had caused the fourth prince to be beaten before.
The Third Prince was originally thinking over and over whether he should expose this guy in front of his father, but the next day the case of the Fourth Prince suddenly broke out. He heard that Liu Feng was beaten to death, and he regretted it deeply. But if he went to his father and told him at that time, it would inevitably mean shifting the blame to a dead man, so he finally kept silent, but at this moment he couldn't help but think of this matter again.
The newly crowned Crown Prince must first pay his respects to the Empress Dowager and the two Imperial Concubines Yu and Hefei. However, the civil and military officials cannot just disperse like that, because before paying homage to the Eastern Palace, they must escort the imperial edict of the Eastern Palace to the outside of the Meridian Gate for reading. After all, here also gathers representatives of Shuntian Prefecture's officials, civilians, and gentry who have been carefully selected by Shuntian Prefecture.
Although compared to the Lantern Festival lanterns in the Lantern Market Hutong at Dong'anmen on the 15th day of the first lunar month, the hundreds of people gathered at the Wumen Gate at this moment are nothing, but any intelligent person knows that compared to the Lantern Festival when the emperor and the people enjoy themselves together and aim to promote peace in the world, the public issuance of the edict to enthrone the prince at the Wumen Gate today naturally has a completely different meaning.
This time, the one who read out the edict to enthronize the Eastern Palace was no longer Zhang Shou, but Wu Ge Lao, commonly known as the emperor's yes-man.
Although he had been cursed behind his back by countless people as sinister and immoral in the past, when he actually read the imperial edict aloud this moment, his voice was no less than those specially selected officials of the Honglu Temple with loud voices.
What was even more rare was that he was able to read out the simple edict of enthronement with a rhythmic sense of intonation.
After finishing reading it, Lord Wu did not blush or breathe heavily, but seemed even more energetic, especially after receiving a few compliments from Grand Secretary Zhang, he laughed even more happily.
"When I was young, I was timid and hesitant in speaking. I was even worse at dealing with people. Later, I learned from my mistakes and went to a deserted place in the back mountain to recite poems and articles facing the stone wall. Day after day, year after year, I finally became able to speak clearly and articulate words. Even in the college and provincial examinations, I was favored by the examiners. Today, the emperor asked me to read the edict of enthroning the Crown Prince. It was really like a lightning."
Hearing that Wu Ge Lao did not forget to praise the emperor at this time, Confucius frowned first. But even if there were many people around him who were as annoyed by Wu Ge Lao's yes-man nature as he was, when he heard the selected monks and elders in the capital cheering and dancing, who would say something to spoil the mood at this time?
It was just following the crowd and praising the emperor. Praising the emperor was the easiest thing to do. Although countless people cursed Wu Ge Lao as a yes-man behind his back, who wouldn't want to replace this yes-man?
Zhang Shou, who was standing in an inconspicuous position, could not help but think that even though all the civil and military officials were present today, they were not as crowded as the imperial lectures, so he did not see Zhu Ying. But he still remembered that Zhu Ying had told him proudly that she would definitely come to watch the enthronement ceremony today.
If that's the case, where did he go? Could it be that he just peeped through the corner gate of the Fengtian Temple and that was it?
When Zhang Shou was thinking this, he took the Fourth Prince to Qingning Palace to meet the Queen Mother's new Crown Prince. After going through a series of ceremonies with music starting and stopping, when they finally stepped into Qingning Palace where the Queen Mother was, they saw an extraordinary scene.
Unlike what he had imagined, his biological mother, concubine and Concubine Yu were all here. In addition, all the concubines and princesses were present. Among these people, the most conspicuous one was none other than Zhu Ying.
Because the new crown prince, the Third Prince, clearly remembered that his father had teased him and the Fourth Prince yesterday evening that Zhu Ying's outfit would not be inferior to his crown. The Fourth Prince asked curiously at that time, but his father cited the Nine Di and Four Phoenix Crown as an example, and he immediately realized that his father had given Zhu Ying the crown and clothes of the Princess.
But at the moment, although Zhu Ying's bright red wide-sleeved shirt was eye-catching, and her headdress was also shining with gold and jade , but it was only the style of a first-rank lady. In fact, because she was not married yet, her bun was much simpler than that of a first-rank lady.
He had no idea that the Duke Zhao's Mansion had sent someone to urgently deliver a letter written by the Dowager Dowager to the Qianqing Palace last night, stating that Zhu Ying had accepted the crown and clothes but was unwilling to wear them today. At this moment , the Third Prince could not help staring at Zhu Ying again and again until she smiled broadly at him. Only then did he wake up from his dream and hurriedly performed the eight bows under the guidance of the female official.
"I, Zheng Rong, have received the imperial decree and would like to express my gratitude to Her Majesty the Queen Mother."
This was the old rule when the East Palace met with the Queen Mother. For the Queen Mother, who had been a princess and a queen, she had seen her own son become the Crown Prince, and now she saw her own grandson take the throne of the East Palace. She had mixed feelings. Especially since the little boy in front of her was not what everyone expected, but now he was as serious as a little adult, she thought more and more of the two brothers who had been blessed but didn't know how to appreciate it.
There was no extra words in the audience ceremony, but the Queen Mother understood that the reason why Concubine Yu and Concubine He came to her today was simply because they didn't want the Crown Prince to go to her palace to thank her again. So after accepting the greetings, she smiled and said, "Since your two mothers are here, you should also pay your respects."
The Fourth Prince, who was following behind the Third Prince as a servant, blinked his eyes and saw his mother, Concubine Jiang, winking at him, obviously telling him not to speak carelessly. He couldn't help but feel confused. It would have been fine if it was Concubine Yu, but Concubine He came here specially. Could it be that she didn't want to say a few words to her third brother, who had become the Crown Prince, in person in her own palace when he was conferred the title?
However, he didn't understand, but the Third Prince knew that his mother didn't want to cause trouble for him. He respectfully saluted Concubine Yu and Concubine He, but Concubine Yu was in front and Concubine He was in the second place, just like their positions in the palace when they were concubines in the past. But then, he didn't forget to salute the other imperial concubines, including Concubine Jiang, one by one, and his respect was exactly the same as before.
Who among the concubines would not be happy to see such a gentle, respectful, frugal and modest new crown prince? Compared to the eldest and second princes entering the East Palace, if the third prince becomes the crown prince, if they follow the emperor in the future, they will not be afraid of a bad ending!
After thanking all the concubines one by one, the third prince's eyes finally fell on the princesses. Now that the eldest and second princes were exiled, he had no brothers left, only these sisters. Therefore, he took a deep breath, and finally bowed solemnly to the princesses including Zhu Ying and said: "I, Zheng Rong, have been appointed. Today, I am here to thank all the imperial sisters for their care over the years."
