[Red House] Lixian

There are three types of official sacrifices. The sacrifices to heaven, earth and ancestral temples belong to the great sacrifices, which are only in the hands of the emperor, which is the right of the emperor.

What Wei Qian did in Southern Qin Dynasty was to do this, which was recognized by heaven and earth, and established the pillar of heaven and earth.

As a queen, the highest standard of sacrifice is the first silkworm sacrifice, which belongs to the middle priest.Offering sacrifices to Leizu, the silkworm god, the wife of the Yellow Emperor, is a ceremony to show the rights of the queen.

"The son of heaven plows for silkworms, and the son of heaven for silkworms for sacrificial clothing." The son of heaven plows and the empress reels silk, showing the unity of the emperor and empress.

But in many cases, it is difficult for the queen to be separated, or there is no queen, so other concubines are asked to do it for her.This acting concubine undoubtedly demonstrates the imperial power, is the representative of the imperial palace, and represents the concubine with extremely high power in the harem.

According to the etiquette system inherited by the Zhou Dynasty, the emperor of Zhou had a queen and three wives, and his status was noble.Now it has been passed down from generation to generation, and the standard of the emperor regards the four concubines as the upright category by default.It is the person who entered the roster of jade ultimatum and recorded the genealogy.

After Wei Qian became a concubine of virtue, she was cautious, and now it was the first time that she stood in front of others and exercised her rights.

Of course, it is nominally to replace the queen to perform the first silkworm sacrifice.

Picking sticks slowly drove out from the Danfeng Gate, Wei Qian was wearing a fine attire, sitting on the chariot and watching her luck.

It is the privilege of the emperor and empress to pass through the Danfeng Gate.Her lucky phoenix is ​​even more impressive.Standing tall and looking up, arrogant, and next to him is the imperial decree and luck transformed by the red dragon.

Situ Yun personally ordered Wei Qian to preside over the first silkworm sacrifice, and gave her special treatment, walking through the side door of Danfengmen.

As Danfeng walked through the Danfeng Gate, the wings of the phoenix spread, and the five colors followed each other. The huge phoenix fell into the suburbs with a group of flying birds behind it, which symbolized the luck of the concubine.

At this time, many wives and princesses of various mansions were already waiting in the outskirts of the city.

There is a phoenix coming to the instrument, and a hundred birds turn to the phoenix.

Seeing the vision of colorful clouds in the sky, some priestesses and Taoists with good morals trembled in their hearts.

"Looking at the weather alone, the real phoenix is ​​coming. Could it be that the empress is here in person? No, isn't the imperial concubine acting as the agent for the news in the palace?"

"The Queen's Empress is seriously ill, and the Divine Phoenix of Luck is far from having such spirit. Besides, the Empress's Empress is a Jinfeng, not a Danfeng."

Everyone dare not be careless, the two levels are different, and the etiquette they have to prepare is also very different.

Hastily asked people to inquire about the news, and when they saw the red silk sedan chair, they felt relieved: it was not the queen's phoenix carriage, it was still the standard of a concubine.

The queen is called the honor guard, and the concubine is called the picking stick. The regulations are very different.But those who are interested can see that from the number of golden silk dragon sparrow fans and red luan fragrant wood flower branches, this painting of picking sticks has exceeded the number of princesses.

This is the Empress Dowager's decree to take it out of her guard of honor, specially for Wei Qian's face.

Mrs. Wei was weak, so she didn't come this time.Jia Mei, as the representative of the Weifu, watched the staff picking team walk slowly among the crowd.

"This day has finally come!" Jia Mei was surprised and delighted, she looked down on the Queen's background at all.Now that my daughter presides over the grand ceremony, there may be a day when she will ascend to the throne. "I heard that the empress is not in good health. I'm afraid she will die soon. When Qian'er ascends the throne, this will be the empress's peace."

Jia Mei looked excited, and the old lady of Jia's mansion and Mrs. Xing were also present.Because Mrs. Wang is not in the fourth grade because of her fate, although she is the mother of the imperial concubine, she doesn't even have the chance to appear on the stage.

When Mrs. Jia saw Wei Qian picking up the staff, she knelt down and bowed with the crowd: "Congratulations to Concubine Ningde for a thousand years of peace. I wish you all the best of luck." Although she was not reconciled, although she looked down on Jia Mei's daughter, her status is very different now. , have to worship.

Xue Baochai followed Wei Qian and attended as a female official.His eyes lingered over Jia's mansion, he was disappointed to see if he saw his mother.

"Didn't I know this a long time ago? How can my mother be qualified to attend this scene?" The worst wife present was a fourth-rank woman.Not even her aunt was eligible to attend.

Seeing Xue Baochai's expression, Hongchun said in a low voice: "Don't be distracted, I can ask your mother for mercy to let you go out of the palace to buy it, and then you can go back and have a look."

Xue Baochai's heart moved, and she quickly thanked her.

"Excuse me." Wei Qian asked everyone to get up, and slowly got out of the car with Hong Chun's support.

"My palace is following your majesty's edict and the empress dowager's order to preside over the first silkworm sacrifice on behalf of the queen's sister." Wei Qian signaled, and Xiang Ling held the imperial edict and read it out.

After the establishment of Yeting, the female official system prevailed, and the original eunuch system was suppressed again, cutting off the possibility of eunuchs controlling the government.

After everyone bowed again, Wei Qian was asked to change clothes first.

The First Silkworm Sacrifice is an extremely troublesome and large-scale ceremony.Compared with the Houtu Sacrifice in the imperial land, the Silkworm Sacrifice took more time and lasted intermittently for a month, so it was the largest sacrifice held by the empress.

The first silkworm sacrifice is divided into three parts, which is roughly the sacrifice to the silkworm god, then picking mulberry and feeding the silkworms, and finally reeling silk a month later.If you count the time for the silkworm king election at the beginning, from February to April, the queen needs to be busy for the first silkworm sacrifice.

Before offering sacrifices to the Silkworm God, one needs to take a bath and fast, and Wei Qian prepares for this for three days.

Taking off her regular clothes and changing into a formal dress, Wei Qian paid respects to Leizu on the altar with a solemn face.

The statue of Leizu shone with aura, and that brilliance was far higher than any statue she had ever seen.Even the Empress Doulao in Doulao Temple and Empress Nuwa in Wahuang Peak are not as good.

"It's not that the level of the god is high, but that there are many mortal sacrifices?"

For some reason, Emperor Wa did not enjoy the sacrifice alone, but as a part of Houtu or Taihao.

In terms of the divine power accumulated in the statue, the statue of Nuwa in Southern Qin Dynasty was sacrificed for only a few years, far inferior to the statue of Leizu in Chang'an, which was sacrificed for a hundred years.

However, when it comes to the quality of divine power, although the brilliance contained in the Leizu statue is vast and bright, it is not as distant and profound as Nuwa Empress.

The protective and fraternal atmosphere inherited from the wilderness is not possessed by the statue of Lei Zu.

"In the end, it's nothing more than Confucianism's disapproval of the Empress. If Empress Nuwa had not made great achievements in the past and was recognized as the Empress, I am afraid that even her position would have been taken away."

Even so, the late Tang Dynasty also put forward the saying that the rooster crows, chaotic heaven and earth.It is believed that only men can be emperors, and women cannot be emperors.

What, Nuwa used to be an empress?Sorry, that was the ignorance of the people in the barbaric era.Now that the folk customs are civilized, where will the empress appear?

Moreover, for Nuwa, the past dynasties have followed the principle of avoiding taboos, so if you can't mention it, don't mention it.Merits can be reduced as much as possible, and they can be sacrificed together with other people, and they must not be sacrificed alone.Those who can sacrifice to other gods will definitely not sacrifice to Nu Wa.

Such a thought flashed through Wei Qian's mind, and he thought to himself: "I still don't believe it, my Southern Qin sacrifice to Nuwa must be included in the ancestral training, and later descendants must sacrifice to Nuwa Empress."

After all, Empress Nuwa is the ancestor of Mount Li.

Wei Qian respectfully sacrificed, another thought came to his mind.

"Speaking of which, shouldn't we also prepare our own sacrificial levels in Nanqin? At least these great gods need to be sacrificed to show our civilization inheritance."

With a thought, suddenly a ray of light from the statue of Lei Zu fell into Wei Qian's hands.The brilliance turned into a divine seal, and Wei Qian took it back to sacrifice in Nanqin.

Obviously, the wife of the Yellow Emperor also recognized Nan Qin's status, and even more recognized Wei Qian as the empress.

Wei Qian was overjoyed, and hurriedly presented the coins and sacrificial animals prepared in advance.

After the ceremony, Wei Qian went to the mulberry forest to pick mulberry leaves.

According to the rules, the queen picks three sticks, the princess concubines and first-rank wives and princesses pick five sticks, and the remaining second-rank to fourth-rank wives pick nine sticks.

Wei Qian came in place of the empress, so she first picked three branches to symbolize the queen, and then picked three branches instead of the empress dowager.Next came Concubine Gui and Concubine Shu, and finally Wei Qian herself.

Wei Qian lamented in her heart: "Although it is to show my power and status, I am more tired than other wives!"

After Lin Lin finally figured it out, Wei Qian picked a total of 21 branches.

"Sister Huangfei, do you want to take a rest?" The girl in formal attire smiled and drank tea beside her.

Wei Qian nodded and sat next to Princess Yihe.This Princess Yihe is the youngest daughter of the Supreme Emperor and Situ Yun's half-sister.Because he has just grown up and is still living in the palace, he has a good relationship with Situ Yun.

The girl was innocent and innocent, and Wei Qian rarely smiled: "Sister is not easy, is it possible that you are easy? After the concubines are picked, they will be princesses. Although you are the only adult princess in the palace now, don't forget that our family Two little girls. You will suffer later."

Yihe stuck out his tongue and said, yes, when she picks mulberries, she will replace the two princesses Jingjia and Roujia in the mulberry picking ceremony, which is also not easy.

Wei Qian stood on the mulberry viewing platform to read, and the concubines who were not sick stepped forward to break off the branches, and handed five branches to the silkworm women to greet them on their knees.

Mrs. Jia and Mrs. Xing looked at the dignified Wei Qian with different thoughts.

Mrs. Xing didn't think too much about it. Anyway, Concubine Ning couldn't forget her share, and often sent gold and silver jewelry.Although she was helping Jia Amnesty, Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng, she was also willing to support this empress.

"After entering the palace, the eldest sister thinks of helping the second room every day, and giving her mother a prestige. If it wasn't for Concubine Ning who supported me and Feng girl every day, wouldn't she be forced by the second family?"

Jia's mother had another thought, complaining to Jia Yuanchun in her heart: Now that the queen is seriously ill, what a chance this is to compete for favor?I heard that the imperial concubine is also sick.At this time, as Concubine Shu, if you don't come out to preside over the silkworm sacrifice yourself, you will let this girl seize the opportunity for no reason.

For people outside the palace, how do you judge how much the concubine is favored?Even if you get a reward in the palace, outsiders won't be able to see it, right?Even if you win the internal battle, how can people outside the palace know?

The real display of status to the outside world is in sacrifices and celebrations.

Who is closer to the emperor, who personally presides over the sacrifice, these piles show the status of the concubines.

Now that Wei Qian is presiding over the silkworm sacrifice, it is not because of the concubine's illness that other people think that Wei Qian has a high status in front of the empress dowager and the emperor.

Moreover, in order to cooperate with Wei Qian's first silkworm sacrifice, Situ Yun also farmed in the suburbs.

Men farming and women weaving, this is a true portrayal of ancient life.How important is food and clothing to the common people?

The emperor personally cultivated, praying for a year of good weather and abundant grains.The queen sacrifices silkworms and reels silk, and as an example, she weaves cloth and makes clothes herself, advocating harmony between husband and wife, and the world is safe and peaceful.

Jia Mu was dissatisfied in her heart, but her face remained silent.After Princess Yihe picks mulberries, she and Mrs. Xing go to the mulberry forest to pick mulberries.Then hand it over to the sang woman next to him and send it to Wei Qian.

Wei Qian looked around, with a displeased look on her face.I found Xue Baochai and ordered in a low voice: "Go to Mrs. Li Guogong and tell them to pay attention."

Mrs. Li Guogong and the old lady rested under the tree, and did not do it themselves.

Wei Qian saw it at a glance and knew that these people didn't care about her status as imperial concubine.Take one of Ruyi and hand it to Xue Baochai: "Seeing Ruyi is like seeing the emperor, take it and scold them, and let them pick it quickly to feed the silkworm king. If you feel unwell, the maid next to you will replace it, and let the prince and his son take the maid Accepting Guomen as a concubine's room, it can be considered that they have managed the government of the country."

"Yes." Xue Baochai went to pass the message, and the two wives rushed to work when they heard it.

The two had been ordered earlier, and wanted to take the opportunity to make trouble for Wei Qian.But Wei Qian made it clear that if the two of them excused themselves to be unwell, they would just let the maid next to them do it for them.When you turn back and enter their house, it is still the two of them.Just like Wei Qian helping the queen pick mulberries.

The two dared not neglect and picked mulberries obediently.All the concubines and wives see it in their eyes.Knowing that this Concubine Ning doesn't rub the sand in her eyes, and there are four old concubines under the orders of the Empress Dowager, cheering from the side, she finally finished all this without any danger.

Wei Qian looked at the mulberry leaves collected by his wife with satisfaction, and ordered: "Come here, let's have a banquet."

Hosted a banquet for all the wives, behaved generously and elegantly, and everyone nodded secretly: Compared with last year's empress, she is indeed a bit more noble.

After that, Wei Qian personally fed the silkworm king with the mulberry leaves she picked. These silkworm kings were selected by Wei Qian herself, without any mistakes.After watching, Wei Qian said to Hongchundao and Xue Baochai: "You can do things at ease in the palace. In order to ensure that there will be no mistakes in the future, you two will take turns guarding the palace during this period, so you don't need to go back to the palace."

With 12 points of energy, for fear that someone would trip her up, after finishing all this, Wei Qian led everyone back to the palace.During this period, there was no chance to catch up with Jia Mei.

When he returned to the palace, it happened that Situ Yun also came back.

Wei Qian sacrificed silkworms, and Situ Yun personally plowed to sacrifice to Xiannong. The two were exhausted. After returning, Situ Yun went directly to Qingsi Hall to rest.

"It's hard for you this time." Situ Yun sighed: "I'll finish plowing and persuading farmers in one day, but your side will last a whole month."

Wei Qian lay on the bed, and said angrily, "Speaking of it! Otherwise, why would the sisters hand over this job to the concubine? The concubine has already let Hongchun and Baochai stay in the silkworm house. If there is any problem, it will be Someone is framed, and I will ask His Majesty to make the decision at that time."

"It's natural." Situ Yun yawned and fell asleep soundly.Wei Qian rested and fell asleep lightly, but she was worried, and secretly asked Xiang Ling to ask Ling Lan to help take care of the silkworm king to ensure that the silkworm babies cocoon smoothly.