The general will give birth soon

The Summer Sacrifice is a traditional grand ceremony of the Great Xia Dynasty. It is held once every three years. It is performed to worship the heavens and perform martial arts to sacrifice the land, in order to pray for good weather, prosperous Wenchang and prosperous martial arts, and peace and prosperity for the country and the people.

This is the first summer festival since Emperor Chengxuan ascended the throne, and it coincides with the emperor's pregnancy, so the grandeur is unprecedented.

The sky is high and the earth is wide, and the flags are flying.

In the Lanlin Garden built on the mountain, there are high altars, where princes, nobles, courtiers, and soldiers occupy their positions, and the momentum is huge.

Si You wore a purple robe with arrow sleeves and carried a chopping lance on his back. As soon as he entered the Lanlin Garden, he saw that dignified and dignified man.

"It's been almost two months since I came back, and I haven't entered the house. Have you forgotten your last name?" The man's voice was not loud, but full of displeasure.

Si You stopped and bowed slightly, "I will meet Uncle Ding at the end."

"Presumptuous!" Si Xing suppressed his anger and stared.

"Today's summer festival is an important court meeting, and there is nothing wrong with matching officials and ranks. If Uncle Ding has any advice, please pass it on to the last general after the summer festival." Si You walked forward.

"where are you going?"

Si You paused, "After returning to Beijing, the last general has no military position for the time being. The Holy Majesty ordered the last general to visit the nine temples and five prisons on Xiao Shijun's behalf. The last general will serve in front of the Holy Majesty and the envoy."

Si Xing snorted dismissively, "Don't think that I don't know what you've been doing recently. If you don't restrain yourself, even if you are my only son, I won't be polite."

Hearing the word "son", Si You clenched his hands tightly.He forced himself to be patient, said "casually" and continued on his way.

Walking to the bottom of the imperial seat, you can see all the people of Taichang Temple wearing white robes and gray belts and black gauze round hats, neatly divided into two areas.One of the areas is the eulogy array led by General Dou. When the emperor and the envoys came to the stage to worship the ancestors of heaven and earth, and after that, they would recite ritual texts and dance with ritual instruments.

General Dou's spirit improved a lot, and he smiled slightly at Si You, showing the relief of "don't worry, I've seen it all". Said that he actually... wanted to give birth to a child.

General Dou is the same as Si You, although he is the son of a prince, he has not experienced much family warmth, and Si You can understand that he wants a child to love and accompany him.

General Dou was busy preparing for the summer sacrifice recently, Si You didn't bother him, and we'll discuss it in detail after preparation, and was about to ask him to meet tomorrow, but saw his gaze move to the side meaningfully, Si You followed and looked over, slightly surprised ,Laughed.

Fair and tender round face, silly and presumptuous smile, triumphant expression, a pair of small dragon horn bangs protruding from the forehead that no matter what hat can't hold back.

In the ceremonial and music formation of 30 people, Gu Chongming sat at the front, wearing a sacrificial uniform with a black sash symbolizing his special status, and a piano on the table in front of him.

"Are you Yue Shou?" Si You asked.

The qin is the most important ritual instrument in the Great Xia. During the summer festival, elegant music and martial arts are played throughout.The musicians in the ritual music array are all Taichang Temple musicians, and the music head leads the musicians. In addition to playing the established elegant music and martial arts music, they also make music and perform it at any time according to the content and atmosphere of the ceremony.

The head of the music requires superb piano skills, extensive knowledge and adaptability, and is a very important role in the ceremony.In the history of the Great Xia Kingdom, there are several music heads who were appreciated by the emperor through the summer festival, and thus made great progress.

Si You was puzzled.

General Dou served as the Minister of the Taichang Temple for a period of time. This time, he was supposed to be the head of the music. Even if it was replaced, it shouldn't be Gu Chongming, a newcomer. Could it be...

"Didn't expect that?" Gu Chongming looked at Si You proudly and said with a smile.

Si You crossed his arms, and smiled with a hint of disdain and affection, "It's such an important task, you can't neglect it, you can do it yourself."

"General Si, is this a kind reminder, or is it a deliberate sarcasm?" Gu Chongming raised his eyebrows and lowered his voice, "Do you still remember what I said the day you and I met?"

Si You was taken aback, recalled for a while, and said firmly: "Forgot."

"You must remember." Gu Chongming had an accusing expression of lying.

"If you forget, you just forget. I'm too lazy to argue with you."

Si You lightly dropped a few words, and walked away lightly.Walking to the throne and standing still, his face was calm, but in his heart he tried hard to suppress the instinct to raise the corners of his mouth.

In the early summer of that day, at the head of the Liushui bridge in Shang'an City, Gu Chongming grabbed his collar and swore in shame and anger that he would be equal to him within a year, or even crush him, and then he would be able to marry him.

At this time, Gu Chongming was staring down at the strings of the zither, and from the corner of his eye was Si You on the one hand, and Bo Sixing Dingguo, who was at the forefront of all the ministers, on the other.

He saw the confrontation between Siyou and Sixing just now.Although he didn't hear what they said, Si You's expression said everything.

He and Si You haven't reached the point where they can talk about everything, and they don't want to see him angry and sad, so they can only try to make him happy.

On the other side, General Dou also looked at the two of them, his deep eyes were half regretful and half blessing.

At Chenshi, Emperor Chengxuan and Xiao Yuheng arrived, entered the throne, and after the audience bowed down, they climbed a high platform to worship the sky and worship the ancestors.

The high platform is sacred, and the attendants followed to the bottom of the platform. Emperor Chengxuan and Xiao Yuheng stepped up the spiral steps hand in hand.

Gu Chongming led the musicians to play elegant music, General Dou led the crowd to recite the etiquette, and all the officials worshiped again.

The gentle wind rolled up the banners, and the solemn trailing tails of the emperor's and queen's clothes were spread on the steps.

After burning incense and praying, the emperor and empress bowed down on the high platform to the ancestors in heaven, closing their eyes and praying sincerely.

After the three sticks of incense were burned out, the emperor and empress worshiped new candles and drank sacrificial wine.The ceremonial officer in the audience then poured three cups of sacrificial wine for the ministers, the first cup to worship the sky, the second cup to worship the earth, and the third cup to drink by yourself, implying to drive for the country.

At the end of the ceremony, the emperor and empress descended from the high platform holding hands, and returned to the throne on the north side of Lanlin Garden.

General Dou led the crowd and continued to dance with eulogy and music in the wide open space under the throne with sacrificial utensils.

The scene was orderly, grand and grand, Xiao Yuheng smiled gratifiedly, and his elegant and dignified face showed a little vitality.

"Your Majesty, today's Yale is very different. There is a third of chicness in the simplicity and vigor, which is refreshing."

"What Aiqing said is true. I have never heard this kind of piano sound in the palace. Today's music is..."

The emperor and the empress looked to the right, and Si You said in time, "Le Shou is Gu Chongming, a new Jinshi seconded by the Ministry of Rites to Taichang Temple."

"Oh? It turned out to be him." Xiao Yuheng said.

"What? Do you recognize him?" Emperor Chengxuan asked.

Xiao Yuheng turned his head sideways and said: "I met him when he was visiting Taichang Temple. He has good handwriting, literary insights, and cleverness. From now on, he is an all-rounder."

Emperor Chengxuan said: "Aiqing has been used to being a teacher since she was a child, her eyes are as bright as a torch, and she loves and cherishes talents."

"Your Majesty was joking." Xiao Yuheng raised his warm smiling eyes, "From what Your Majesty just said, it seems that you know this person too?"

Emperor Chengxuan leaned back on the dragon chair, and said in a normal way: "It was Jiang Qin who said when he presented the examination paper that Gu Chongming's paper was originally answered very well. His writing was very messy, so he downgraded the file. Later, after checking, he found that he had a stomachache on the day of the exam and couldn't leave Gongbai for a moment, so he sat on Gongbai to answer the paper."

Xiao Yuheng suddenly opened his eyes wide, and his expression was a little uncontrollable.

Si You pursed his lips to suppress a smile, and pinched himself secretly with one hand behind his back.

Emperor Chengxuan continued: "Jiang Qin also said that such acts should have been punished as disrespect. After reading his articles, he was found to be really talented. He may be a pillar in the future. I hope I will forgive you. I couldn't laugh or cry at the time. Every time I eat, I think of Gu Chongming sitting on the bucket to answer questions. Hey, if you don’t report such trivial matters to me, it will be fine. If you report it, it will affect my mood, so I sent him to the Ministry of Rites , Thinking about it makes Jiang Tan disgusting. But...Qing just said that Jiang Tan transferred him to Taichang Temple? Well, he really is an old fox..."

"Your Majesty." Xiao Yuheng coughed, "It's the summer festival."

Emperor Chengxuan saw his serious expression, and said quickly: "Okay, okay, I won't say anything, it was just after Qing asked me."

Gu Chongming, who was playing music, didn't realize it, his face was full of pride, and he glanced at Si You from time to time, thinking that it would be great if he could meet the eyes of thousands of people with a heart-to-heart.

Little did he know that even if Si You looked at him now, he could only laugh at him.

When everything was just right, blue smoke suddenly rose from the mountains in the north, Si You narrowed his eyes, and his murderous aura suddenly rose.He quickly unloaded the chopping lance from behind and held it upside down in his hands, standing in front of Emperor Chengxuan and Xiao Yuheng.

"Your Majesty, be careful! Escort!"

The pungent billowing smoke descended from the sky, sweeping through everyone in an instant, the clear sky turned into darkness, one could not see their fingers, and chaotic shouts and coughs came and went one after another.

Emperor Chengxuan took Xiao Yuheng into his arms to protect him, and pulled out the Wenjian hanging from his waist with one hand, Si You said in a deep voice: "Beware of the poisonous smoke, Your Majesty, please hold your breath."

But in the blink of an eye, there were shouts of killing everywhere, the imperial guards and assassins fought in the thick smoke, and blood was sprayed in the thick smoke.

Si You patrolled around vigilantly, worrying in his heart: thick smoke blocked his sight, and now there were only two escorts besides him, if he took the initiative to attack, Emperor Chengxuan and Xiao Yuheng would be in danger, if he stood still, he might not be able to take the initiative to reverse the situation .

The sounds of shouting and killing and fighting became more and more thrilling.

Xiao Yuheng started to cough, Si You stood on the ground, pushed out his palm, and immediately blew away a clean area, but thicker smoke and dust came over faster.

Si You frowned.

Suddenly, the interrupted piano sound suddenly descended from the sky above, playing the music of marching in the northern border that was originally used for performing martial arts later, the roaring sound was decisive.

This music conveys the commander's order, where to attack and how to make moves are all directed by rhythm, and drum music can also improve morale.

Si You understood: it was Gu Chongming, who climbed up to the high platform holding the piano in the chaos, saw the direction of the assassin's attack, and instructed him how to defeat the enemy with the sound of the piano.

Si You closed his eyes.

Following Gu Chongming's guidance, he flew out, and quickly and accurately killed the assassins in the thick smoke one by one.The rest of the guards, who knew the joy of marching, did the same. More and more assassins fell, the smoke gradually dispersed, and the sight seemed to be clear. At this time, even without the sound of the piano, they could calmly deal with the enemy.

Just thinking about it, the strings of the qin suddenly cracked, and the sound of the qin was interrupted in astonishment.Looking up, two men in black, Gu Chongming, who was wearing a white robe like a chicken, flew down from the high platform, landed on the horse and galloped away.

Si You was in a hurry, looked at Emperor Chengxuan and Xiao Yuheng behind him, gritted his teeth and knelt down, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, almost all the assassins here have been killed, there should be no danger, the last general... wants to save Gu Chongming."

Emperor Chengxuan protected Xiao Yuheng and raised his hand.

Si You smiled comfortingly and pleasantly, kowtowed and flew away.

"Xiao You, be careful!" Xiao Yuheng escaped from Emperor Chengxuan's arms, and shouted in the direction where Si You disappeared.

Emperor Chengxuan frowned deeply.

On the open space under the throne, there were many casualties of assassins and bodyguards. General Dou was among them. He pressed his stomach with a pale face, and murmured in pain: "Ayou...Ayou, be careful."