Red Mansion Rebirth: Ghost Phoenix

The next day, Wang Xifeng was very busy with the funeral procession in Nan Mansion, He Ke's return to the palace, preparations for the Ghost Festival in the harem, checking the damage to Dajiaoguan, and so on.

When she finally got a chance to sit down, He Ke leaned over to her again and massaged her shoulders and legs sensibly.

Wang Xifeng felt so soft-hearted that she hugged He Ke and lay down with him, whispering privately to him. The two of them were very close to each other and fell asleep while talking.

The next day was July 15th, the Ghost Festival.

Taoism claims that this day is the birthday of the Earth God, a second-rank imperial official in charge of pardoning the sins of the dead.

At this time, all kinds of crops in the fields in the north have matured, so today is the day to worship ancestors and offer new grain.

In Buddhism, this day is the Yulanpen Festival, which is mainly for offering alms to monks and praying for the souls of the dead. The eminent monks of all major temples will explain the "Buddha's Yulanpen Sutra", and the popular lectures will tell the story of "Mulian saving his mother" again and again.

Therefore, although there are various ceremonies to worship ancestors during the Ghost Festival, the most important one must be to worship the deceased mother.

Everyone in the palace calculated that Li Xuanyi, now should be called Jin Xuanyi, Shi Ronghua and He Ke, all three had lost their mothers.

Wang Xifeng was very considerate. Early in the morning, everyone followed Empress Mo, who "forced herself to get up despite her illness," to perform the ceremony of worshipping ancestors in the inner palace. When everyone returned to the palace to rest and wait for the lunch banquet, she directly entrusted He Ke to Jin Xuanyi. Accompanied by Nanny Ji, the three of them went to a small Zhaode Temple in the palace to kneel down and recite scriptures to worship their deceased mother.

She returned to Yinyu Palace, and closed the palace door under the pretext of taking a nap.

The Ghost Festival is a great opportunity.

For those who wanted to use the lightning strike at Dajiao Temple to attack Emperor Chongzhao, this was a good opportunity to accuse the new emperor of being unworthy of the throne. At the same time, for Emperor Chongzhao, it was naturally a good opportunity for him to clear his name through filial piety!

But to Wang Xifeng, isn't it just playing tricks?

Who in the world could be better than her? !

So, when she received the message from Chen Duo and learned that Changying had obtained the tacit approval of Emperor Chongzhao and wanted to cause trouble at the ancestral worship ceremony, she readily agreed.

Because Emperor Chongzhao had just ascended the throne and the Empress Dowager was still in power, this sacrifice was only held in the square in front of the Sanqing Hall.

Emperor Chongzhao personally ordered the construction of a bamboo Ullambana basin, which was filled with clothes and paper money for the dead, and was lightly decorated with gold and jade to show solemnity.

All the ministers joined in the worship, the elegant music played melodiously and the scene was solemn.

In the middle of this, there is naturally a step, which is that Emperor Chongzhao burns incense and lights the paper money and other items in the Ullambana basin.

Someone has secretly tampered with the clothes and paper money in this basin, so I guarantee they won't burn!

By then, they can use the excuse that the ancestors of the Shen family refused to accept support from Emperor Chongzhao, and add the lightning strike at Dajiaoguan to accuse him of being unfilial!

At this moment, Emperor Chongzhao slowly stepped forward to burn incense.

At this moment, Wang Xifeng was also kneeling on the ground in the bedroom facing the same direction, closing her eyes and clasping her hands, chanting the "Ullambana Sutra" softly.

Emperor Chongzhao took three incense sticks, kowtowed upwards, knelt in front of the hall, clasped his hands together and prayed silently.

At this moment, the ministers who were kneeling at the back and secretly looking up to watch the excitement suddenly discovered that the smoke from the three incense sticks in Emperor Chongzhao's hand, which had been blown away by the wind, suddenly floated together quietly, like a straight line, rising up into the sky!

The line of incense smoke floated gently and slowly to the top of the Sanqing Hall, then slowly dispersed and formed a white lotus just above Emperor Chongzhao's head!

"Long live our emperor..."

The old uncle of the emperor, Prince Jing, who was kneeling behind Emperor Chongzhao, looked up tremblingly and in horror, and almost collapsed to the ground!

However, Changying suddenly looked at him.

Old King Jing covered his mouth with his hands and dared not utter another sound!

If the lotus was dispersed by my scream, and this auspicious sign could not be seen by everyone in the palace, I would be committing a great sin!

After the silent prayer, the unaware Emperor Chongzhao opened his eyes, kowtowed three times while holding the incense stick, then stood up and inserted the incense stick in the incense burner.

Cigarette disconnected.

But the white lotus smoke above Emperor Chongzhao's head floated forward with him for three steps before dissipating!

Everyone knew at this moment that the time had come!

He immediately knelt three times and kowtowed nine times, shouting "Long live the emperor!"

Emperor Chongzhao was a little confused by their excitement, so he looked forward to Changying's victory.

Chang Ying's face had already turned red, his eyes were filled with tears, and he stepped forward quickly, whispering, "Your Majesty, I pray sincerely, and may our ancestors bless you. The smoke from the incense you just burned is rising up and forming a lotus seat above your head!"

After saying this, he knelt down again with excitement and tears in his voice: "God bless our emperor, God bless our emperor!"

All the ministers followed suit and cheered three times.

Emperor Chongzhao looked up unexpectedly, but saw only a clear sky without a single cloud.

Forget it, just bear with this for now and we’ll talk about it later.

Emperor Chongzhao smiled and asked all the ministers to stand up: "It seems that our ancestors are still satisfied with me."

Then he turned around, took the candle, and lit the clothes and paper money in the Ullambana Basin.

Neither object moved.

Emperor Chongzhao raised his eyebrows and leaned the candle further inside.

Still no movement.

Emperor Chongzhao narrowed his eyes.

He put the candle aside, stepped back, bowed deeply to the ground, and prayed loudly: "I, your unworthy descendant, bear witness to this. I pray that our ancestors will accept this gift!"

Before he could finish his words, a crow flew over the sky. When it was over the Yulan Basin, it opened its mouth and shouted, "Ahhh!"

I don't know what it was, but it fell into the basin with this cry!

With a whoosh, flames shot up into the sky and the Ullambana basin burned fiercely!

Among the ministers, a few people who had shown contempt and smugness on their faces just now suddenly turned pale and indescribable.

Yinyu Palace.

After Wang Xifeng finished reciting the scriptures, she kowtowed respectfully, then stood up, washed her hands in the basin, changed her clothes, and fell on the bed.

A shrike flew in from outside the window, chirped twice, and then flew away.

Jin Ercai also shouted.

Wu Jin leaped out in a flash.

Wang Xifeng glanced outside from a distance and yawned: "I can only help you up to this point."

Exhausted, I turned around and actually began to take a nap.

By lunch time, the news of the Sanqing Temple had spread throughout the Daming Palace. Everyone said that the current emperor must be the reincarnation of a god, and that the court would be peaceful and prosperous in the future.

Wang Xifeng sneered in her heart, but on her face she was only concerned about the food and drink of He Ke who was sitting next to her.

"This is delicious, this is delicious, and this is also delicious!" He Ke ate heartily and whispered to Wang Xifeng,

"The food in Aunt Yongning's house is much worse than that in the palace! Sister Lin and I don't really like it.

"Also, the county lady has lost weight recently!"

Wang Xifeng felt distressed when she heard this: "Tomorrow I will get a cook from the palace for you to take with you."

"How can that be possible?" He Ke smiled, "I'll take it away. What will mother eat?"

"Isn't it only natural that the good cook I trained should serve you?" Wang Xifeng insisted, "It's settled!"