The First Auxiliary Road from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 1228: 囍

The ceremony of enthroning the Crown Princess was scheduled after the Waking of Insects, and on the day of the ceremony, the sun was shining brightly and the sky was clear blue.

The nine gates of the majestic imperial city opened one after another. As majestic music sounded, a large red carpet embroidered with auspicious patterns rolled forward.

When the time for the ceremony arrived, hundreds of whips were cracked at the same time, and the decree to enthrone the Crown Princess came out from the East Pavilion and was announced by the Court Hall. Then, nine people, including the Commander of the Internal Guard, the Consul of the Military Affairs Camp, the Commander-in-Chief of the Nine Cities Army, the commanders of the five armies and the Minister of War, came out in a column one after another, holding the imperial edict.

Their driving route started from the white marble steps outside the imperial palace, along the central axis of the imperial city, passed through the nine palace gates, circled the entire Kyoto, and then returned along the original route.

Along the way, dozens of propaganda teams composed of representatives of officials and students sang the original text of the enthronement decree along the streets and alleys of Kyoto.

After the nine people returned to the imperial city, the imperial edict was handed back to the chief minister of the cabinet. At that time, he led the cabinet members to the Lanzheng Hall and handed the edict of enthronement to Princess Zhaode who was waiting in the hall.

Afterwards, Princess Zhaode changed into the royal attire for the Crown Princess as per the rules, and, escorted by eunuchs and palace maids, she led the cabinet officials toward the imperial palace.

She will kneel down in the imperial palace to pay homage to Emperor Yanping, completing the final step of enthroning the crown prince and taking over the crown prince seal bestowed upon her by her father.

According to the arrangement of the Ministry of Rites, since the crown prince was still young, she was not allowed to walk to the court, but had to ride in a sedan chair instead.

However, this well-considered arrangement was repeatedly vetoed by the emperor and empress.

Emperor Yanping said: "The Crown Princess is the heir to the throne, the successor to the dynasty, and the ruler served by all officials. She should personally lead the cabinet ministers to Xiangyang."

Empress Sheng Yan said: "Although the princess is young, she must also take responsibility; although the journey is long, we must do our best."

Therefore, the Ministry of Rites had no choice but to make adjustments and change back to the original enthronement process.

……

As a second-rank official of the imperial court, Sheng Yuan naturally wore a six-beam crown on his head, a jade belt with a purple robe, an ivory tablet in his hand, and a goldfish bag around his waist on this important occasion.

According to the procedure, she, as the Minister of Revenue, was just a member of the atmosphere group at the enthronement ceremony, and her main job was to accompany the ceremony.

But who would have thought that after Emperor Yanping saw the arrangements made by the Ministry of Rites, he would directly write an imperial edict and bring out her name of Liu Yuan, making her the mascot of the enthronement ceremony.

As a mascot, Sheng Yuan also has to recite aloud the message written by Emperor Yanping to the Crown Princess after she has taught her.

The difference between this message of more than a thousand words and most of the crown prince enthronement ceremonies in previous dynasties is that it was indeed written by Emperor Yanping himself, and the words reveal his high expectations for the Crown Princess.

After Sheng Yuan read the message, he personally handed the article to the Crown Princess and then he could leave.

But even when she returned to the team, all kinds of gazes did not leave her. Those gazes full of inquiry, doubt, dissatisfaction, jealousy, curiosity... kept circling around her like a shadow following her.

There is no way. Although the decree of the Princess Royal Tutor has not yet been issued, Sheng Yuan has completed what the Princess Royal Tutor should do in this ceremony. How can this not make people think too much!

Not to mention the officials of Da Chu, even the envoys from overseas diplomatic ties who came to celebrate could not help but take a few more glances at Sheng Yuan, looking at this female official with an extraordinary appearance and great demeanor in confusion.

Sheng Yuan had long been accustomed to being stared at by others, and had also learned to ignore these uninvited glances.

At this moment, she was facing countless gazes and began to imagine the upcoming enthronement banquet. Of course, before the banquet, the Crown Princess would ride on a float and parade along the main route of Kyoto to welcome the worship and congratulations of the people of Kyoto.

……

"Sister Yuan, come here!" When Sheng Yuan arrived at the banquet hall and was about to look for An Yu, she heard his cheerful greeting.

As the Marquis of Ancheng, he could share a table with a second-rank official, especially since they were husband and wife.

"Will you feel comfortable sitting next to the civil officials?" Sheng Yuan originally wanted to sit next to the nobles, but An Yu found a seat before her.

"You are looking down on me! I am also a successful candidate in the imperial examination! I passed the imperial examination based on my own ability and have participated in the Hairpin Flower Banquet and the Qionglin Banquet! How can I not be considered a civil official?"

Since they are all civil officials, no matter who is uncomfortable, An Yu will not be the one.

"I just wonder if there will be any delicious food at the banquet later!" An Yu sat upright, and his first reaction was to think about food.

On the contrary, Sheng Yuan looked uninterested: "This isn't your first time attending a banquet. Have you ever been able to enjoy the food to your heart's content at such a grand banquet? The food at the banquet is just for show. It may look good, but it really has no taste."

"I can't do that this time. It's the ceremony for the crown princess's enthronement! Given how much the emperor and empress value it, they must give something special." An Yu took out a bag of nuts from his sleeve pocket and handed it to Sheng Yuan. "Yuan Jie'er, I think the crown princess's inspection will take a long time. You should hurry up and eat some nuts to fill your stomach!"

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

"I'm fine. I'm not hungry yet. How about you?" Although he said this, Sheng Yuan was not polite in his actions. He ate, talked and looked around.

"Not bad, not bad!" An Yu nodded, looked around, leaned close to Sheng Yuan's ear, and whispered, "Let me tell you, just now when I came out of the court, I heard the foreign envoys talking in their language, which was quite strange."

"What are they talking about?" Sheng Yuan knew that An Yu was not the kind of person who liked to talk nonsense. Since he brought it up, it must be something extraordinary.

"I really don't know their language, but when I temporarily memorized it, I marked it with the pronunciation of our Great Chu Mandarin. Can you tell which language it is?"

As An Yu spoke, he lowered his voice again and repeated it haltingly in Sheng Yuan's ear.

"..." To be honest, the foreign languages ​​marked with homophones really test Sheng Yuan's knowledge and memory.

Seeing that Sheng Yuan didn't say anything, An Yu immediately repeated it again. This time, he repeated it much more fluently.

Then, he heard his sister Yuan'er scolding in a low voice that sounded like anger and ridicule: "It's just wishful thinking!"

“???” An Yu blinked, and then asked excitedly in a low voice, “Yuan Jie’er, did you understand? This means I remembered it correctly! Hehe, I am really a capable person!”

"..." Sheng Yuan, who was still angry at the other party for being a toad wanting to eat swan flesh, laughed out loud when he heard him boasting to himself.

"Sister Yuan, what did they just say to make you so angry?" After laughing with Sheng Yuan for a few times, An Yu asked curiously.

Sheng Yuan snorted and whispered in his ear.

"They want to send their own children to be husbands for the Crown Princess? They? They are not worthy! They are ugly and ugly, and they want the Crown Princess of our Great Chu? Who gave them the courage?!"