The villain king really doesn't want to rebel

The tradition of worshiping ancestors has a long history, and the ceremony is held grandly every year.

According to the precepts of the ancestors, all the royal blood who are alive must gather on the largest platform under the "Sacrifice to Heaven" to burn incense and worship ancestors. It is standard to carry out this grand and solemn sacrificial ceremony.

Xu Mingli is the Minister of Rites of this generation, and he is now confirming the final ceremony process.

There is still an hour before the ceremony starts, and there is no time to slack off, so after Xu Mingli has obtained the emperor's permission in the past few days, he can enter and leave the "Sacrifice to Heaven Building" in the palace at the specified time.

On the high platform, Xu Mingli stood on the periphery of the altar and glanced at the bottom. The eunuchs carried the offerings of fruit and wax in an orderly manner, and placed them in various places in an orderly manner.

These are nothing to worry about.At least Xu Mingli's heart is stable, because these basic things were arranged as early as two months ago, and he had already accepted His Majesty's order and started to arrange them.

And now the result is indeed as he expected, except for one part.

Thinking of that, Xu Mingli pondered carefully in his heart.

Someone asked softly behind him.

His deputy was clever, and he sensed the difference in the atmosphere. He glanced at his boss's undisturbed expression, and said cautiously, "My lord, can you see if there is anything missing from the list?"

Xu Mingli has always been kind-hearted, and he has become closer to his subordinates, so a slight nod of his head at this time is a sign of appreciation.

"It's okay, as long as the last few sacrificial objects are put on the table, the task His Majesty entrusted to us earlier will be completed."

The deputy breathed a sigh of relief, looked at the altar below together, and couldn't help sighing: "No matter how many times I look at it, I still feel that this place is really magnificent."

Xu Mingli didn't speak, and stroked the mustache above his lips. The well-trimmed mustache on weekdays can provide him with a good mood as always. It is not difficult for him to prepare for the sacrifice.

This is not the first time he has prepared a festival, counting carefully, it has already been three times.

Every time Mr. Xu watched the sacrificial ceremony be completed successfully, there were no accidents or mistakes, and it would take him a week to relax his tense nerves. It will not come from him.

The honor and disgrace of court officials can only happen overnight.

Xu Mingli sighed lightly.

So, things still have to be sorted out.

He turned his head and asked his deputy: "Where is Lu Jiu? I haven't seen anyone in the past few days."

The assistant frowned and recalled, "I don't seem to have seen Lord Jiuzheng in the past few days. However, Lord Lu is rigorous in his work, so there shouldn't be any mistakes."

"Yeah." Xu Mingli pondered for a while, and then boasted in a good temper, "Indeed, Lu Jiuzheng is always active in his work, and I haven't seen him make any trouble. The matter of offering wine was submitted early, and even After a few days, he walked fast, and I couldn't stop him."

"Maybe it's about those things at home." The deputy lowered his voice, "I don't know if my lord has heard of it, but it's about Lord Jiuzheng's young master. It is said that in a few days it will be time to release prisoners from the secret prison."

"Maybe Lord Lu is just worried about this..."

Xu Mingli interrupted him, "We outsiders don't need to worry about housework, we just do what we have in hand."

Without looking at the expressions of his subordinates, Xu Mingli raised his head and looked at the night sky illuminated by the candlelight, and no waves could be seen under his generous and calm face.

Withdrawing his gaze from Yue Hui, Wen Yan let out a breath of gloom while holding the partition by the window.

"what happened?"

A magnetic and deep male voice sounded next to his ears, and the concerned words were connected with the depression.

"It's okay—" Wen Yan casually returned in a lazily elongated tone.

Wen Zibo sat on the couch, put the scriptures in his hand on the small table at hand, only glanced at the girl leaning against the moonlight, and said jokingly: "It's okay with your appearance, it happens that this year and the seaside There are glazed mirrors from the latest tribute from the trade side, I will ask people to prepare more for the palace."

Wen Yan didn't know that she looked like a delicate flower that had just been beaten after a violent storm, but she could still hear the teasing in her own brother's tone.

Wen Yan suddenly didn't want to be in the same room with Wen Zibo, he opened his mouth and still didn't say a word.

Wen Zibo raised his eyebrows and was a little surprised. He didn't receive the expected response. It seemed that he was indeed worried.

There was no flaw in the man's stern face, Wen Zibo picked up the book at hand again and continued to read.

What was the devastated Jiaohua thinking?The system has the right to speak.

It listened to Wen Yan's voice, and the cold sweat in the sea of ​​​​consciousness was frightened. Although its internal structure is composed of codes, there is no sweat that humans will produce, but since downloading the rich emotional plug-in, it is more than ever. You must be clear about the deterrence from your own host.

A strange gray tone of boredom hovered in Wen Yan's consciousness.

The handsome girl looked at the gray-blue night, and there was something sprouting and hovering in her heart under the bright appearance.

Wen Yan really wanted to pay homage to his ancestors.

She swore that as soon as Wen Zilan appeared in front of her, Wen Yan would feel like vomiting.

The system asked cautiously: "I don't think things are that bad, do they?"

"I hate eating fish," Wen Yan said of things that have no logical connection, and his expression is even more serious, "Because I couldn't eat fish when I was a child, and even the most obvious fishbone in the texture was stuck in my throat .”

Wen Yan talked about her childhood memories to herself, every time she smelled the fragrance of fish and swallowed her saliva, the tingling feeling that brought her closest to death would flash back from time to time.

The system knew this, but still questioned after hearing this: "Then I've seen you eat fish before, it's not unusual."

Wen Yan smiled, the look in his eyes was slightly restrained, and he said lightly: "That's because I have to eat one fish for every meal in a row. You can try it too. If you eat fish for a month, you won't get stuck again." gone."

The electronic sound in the sea of ​​consciousness stopped and became a stable channel.

Wen Yan ignored the silence of the system, and continued to think: "But I still hate eating fish. Fishbone is the part that I can't understand, just like people like Wen Zilan. Why is he still alive? What about taking the part of the air that belongs to me?"

The system felt the host's venomous words, but his mood was more peaceful than usual, and he began to shut himself off.

Wen Yan knew that the system would not speak for a long time, so he naturally stopped talking.

The picturesque girl slightly raised her eyebrows and looked at the bright full moon in the sky. The wind in the distance brought the heat of the bonfire beside the altar. The warm light outside the house was reflected in her eyes, and the flames were endless in Wen Yan's eyes. .

------

There is still an hour before the "ancestor sacrifice".

Lu Mingzhi's trembling hands never stopped, and a little more wine spilled out, and the rich and mellow smell of wine slowly evaporated in the air.

He swallowed another saliva unconsciously, picked up the rag and wiped off the traces on the table again, but the more he wiped, the dirtier it became.

The feeling of piercing his body with the eyes from the side became more and more harsh, and it was like a blade scraping him painfully.

The middle-aged man's official uniform was covered with cold sweat from behind.

Lu Jiuzheng's hands trembled even more.

The man in black with a bronze mask standing beside Lu Mingzhi said coldly: "Lu Jiuzheng, if you don't prepare the wine, it will be too late."

The seemingly well-intentioned reminder is actually full of murderous threats.

The man called Jiuzheng was sweating profusely, and apologized stiffly, "Okay, okay, okay. I'll be fine soon."

Three good words in a row did not dispel the cold warning voice of the man in black.

Lu Mingzhi gritted his teeth, grasped the hand holding a jade bottle with one hand, and looked at the exquisite and unique jug in front of him. In the past, he would not put it down when he saw such an exquisite thing. Now in his eyes, this The murder weapon has turned into black and white impermanence, which is as deadly and soul-hunting as the man in black.

The pampered middle-aged man took three deep breaths, shook his hands full of bitterness, and shook all the powder in the jade bottle into it, clean it up.

The man in black checked it, and it was true that the powder was gone. Looking at the flagon again, the powder was immediately digested without a trace when it met water.Then, he smiled with satisfaction.

Before leaving, he took a look at Jiuzheng, who was sitting slumped on the ground, well-dressed. The man in black stopped deliberately, squatted down on the pale-faced victim, and patted him on the shoulder.

"I will keep an eye on you for the rest of the day. As long as you do well, your son will be released immediately."

Lu Mingzhi suddenly came back to his senses, and hurriedly grabbed the cuff of the man in black, "Then where is my antidote?"

"When the wine is finished, I will naturally give you your antidote." The man in black made a promise with a hoarse voice.

After leaving these words, the man in black disappeared into the night.

It took Lu Mingzhi a long time to get up from the ground, looking at the fine nectar in front of him, the memory of a finger sent to Lu's house and the man's words full of meaning just now kept stimulating his heart, but he could do nothing but be People are at the mercy of others.

"I'm sure to die a terrible death."

After a long time, a man's sobs came from the small room.

------

At the last quarter of an hour before the start of the sacrifice, all preparations had been made.

Xu Mingli also finally saw Jiuzheng, who had been missing for days and nights.

He glanced at the man standing in front of him.

"Lu Jiuzheng, are you feeling unwell?" Xu Shangshu hesitantly asked the bloodless fellow in front of him.

"It's all right, it's just that I may have gained some weight recently, and this sacrificial uniform is a bit uncomfortable." Lu Mingzhi smiled and waved his hands again and again.

"Okay, there are a lot of trivial matters these days. After the ceremony is over, we can take a good rest for a while, and make good use of the few days of vacation His Majesty granted us."

"Uh-huh……"

Xu Mingli glanced at Lu Mingzhi again and said no more.

Originally, he was just asking a question out of his responsibility for the sacrifice. He and Lu Mingzhi had a mediocre relationship, but only had the opportunity to work together during the sacrifices in the past few years. Nothing went wrong.

But this person's private personal style has always been criticized by others. He supported his concubine and suppressed his wife, fell in love with some secret villas for a long time, and his family style was wanton. Naturally, the son he raised was not a good thing.

Thinking of that reckless boy who didn't know etiquette, Xu Shangshu took another look at the pale man standing in front of him.

However, these were just going around in Xu Mingli's mind, so it was impossible to say them out of the mouth. They were just officials who worked together, so there was no need to delve into each other's private affairs too much.

Therefore, Xu Shangshu nodded slightly, watching Lu Mingzhi's slightly hunched figure slowly walking away.

No matter, let's go home and eat wontons and rice cakes after this sacrifice.Thinking of his wife and children at home, the man's eyes were filled with tenderness that could not be concealed.

Finally, the new year's sacrificial ceremony officially begins.

At this moment, the Son of Heaven walked up to the altar step by step, stroking his black and solemn dragon robe. The night was just right, and there were only a few people on the altar.

The ritual music starts, the priest reads out the congratulations, and the incense and fireworks rise from the burnt wood stove in front of the emperor. Wen Zibo walks slowly to the head of the tablet to worship, and then goes to the ancestors and ancestors to burn incense. Two kowtows, after kowtow, kneel three times nine times to the gods of heaven and earth, kowtow three times.

god,

Worship ancestors.

The last step is the wine sacrifice, the wine is being offered, the emperor accepts the ceremony, and the emperor enters the ancestors, and the ceremony is over.

Wen Zibo finished the first two items in order of etiquette and turned around.

Lu Mingzhi held the tray high with downcast eyebrows, the wine bar on the tray remained motionless, and beside it was a small wine jug with exquisite shape, which was not ordinary at first glance.

Wen Zibo's slender fingers picked up the small wine handle, and the rich and aromatic wine slid into the jug, without the slightest splash, as smooth as walking on the ground.

The majesty of the emperor, Wen Zibo looked at the clear wine in the jue, gently raised the jue with both hands expressionlessly, bowed three times to the tablet, straightened up and resumed a straight posture like a green pine, wrapped his cuffs, and covered his mouth. The wine glass slowly raised his head.

Lu Mingzhi's Adam's apple also rolled up and down several times, and what remained of his conscience and kind thoughts slipped down.

Wen Zibo put the wine glass back and turned around to return, the wine looked as usual.

Before the end of the last section of festival music, above the night, Kongming lanterns enshrined in thousands of families flew into the sky one by one, sparking a prairie fire, what a spectacle!

Everyone raised their heads one after another, the starlight in their eyes never resting, and they all sighed: This is a wonderful scene of the unity of the heaven and the earth and the world.

Wen Yan stood up, scattered with man-made fire lights, and under the countless brilliant lights, across the sea of ​​people, her light and shallow eyes stabbed straight at the figure in front of her.

At this moment, Wen Yan's eyes can only see, and can only reflect a person's expression.

——A tear shed by Wen Zilan's distorted expression.