The Emperor is Above

Chapter 293: Noisy Winter Festival

The great affairs of the country lie in sacrifice and military affairs.

The titles and ministers were responsible for performing sacrifices, with the spring and autumn sacrifices being the most important, and being called the spring sacrifices and autumn sacrifices.

The capital's winter festival ceremony was not only a sacrifice to the country and ancestral temples, but also a reward for military merit, so it was the most grand at this time.

Standing outside the gate of the Vassal Prisoner, Qing Yi immediately felt that the capital was much more lively today than in the past, and the atmosphere of joy and excitement was everywhere.

Whether it was the upper city where the king and the nobles lived, the middle city where the nobles and ministers gathered, or the lower city where the common people were the majority, cheers could be heard from time to time.

The boiling atmosphere reached the sky; even the mist floating near the upper city was quickly dispersed by the boiling cheers; all that could be seen were happy smiling faces.

"Victory--Victory--"

From below the cliff next to the Prisoner of the Vassal, cheers from the three divisions of the Central City continued to be heard. The meritorious soldiers, organized by their respective captains, battalion lieutenants, and colonels, lined up and sang war songs as they marched toward the Upper City:

"I took out my chariot and went to herd it. The king called me and said, "I am coming..."

"I put out my chariot and went to the suburbs. I set up this flag and raised that banner..."

"Your Majesty ordered my teacher to go to the city. The carriages came out with a bang, and the flags were flying..."

The passionate voices of thousands of elite and meritorious soldiers from the Third Division immediately drowned out the other noises, and also prompted the guards in the lower city and the guards in the upper city to sing war songs together to test their performance.

"Haha, today is a good day!"

Taishu Bingxin also finished dealing with some trivial matters and walked out laughing. He was holding a gilded borer that was half a meter long and wearing bright armor, which made him look particularly attractive.

He said with a smile: "Guqiu Yi Shangshi, it is already Chenshi, let's hurry to the Sheji Altar. After today, I will have to call you Xia Dafu Yi."

"So what if you are a low-ranking official? You are still a minister from a remote and barbaric country!"

Qing Yi responded with a smile on his face, showing no sign of having just been imprisoned for several days, which made Tai Shu Bing Xin slightly admire his calmness.

The two men, escorted by a dozen black-armored cavalrymen, strode toward the south of the upper city, where the Altar of Land and Grain was located. There were guards stationed along the way.

The larger the number of people attending the Winter Festival, the more attention the Royal Guards paid to the protection of the Upper City, and it was strictly forbidden for retainers and private armies other than vassals to enter the Upper City.

Even if the number of people entering the city was strictly controlled, the vassal officials and nobles pouring out from the central city alone formed a huge flow of people, not to mention the meritorious officers and soldiers of the Third Division and the City Guard.

Among the many nobles and ministers, those who knew each other greeted each other or exchanged greetings to reminisce about the past. Even those who met for the first time had a lively conversation and got to know each other.

However, all the nobles ignored Qing Yi. Only after he passed by could Qing Yi hear the discussion behind him:
"Look, that's Guqiu Yi, who attempted to murder the youngest son of the Marquis in the lower city a few days ago."

"How could this young man be so reckless? I heard that he has been arrested and imprisoned."

"Looking at Taishu Bingxin following him, I know that the Lord must have sympathy for the young talent and did not want to destroy his life."

“When I first heard about Guqiu Yi’s reputation and military exploits, I thought that since there was such a talented young man in the capital, I must meet him during this trip to the capital.

But I didn't expect him to be such a domineering person. Don't you know that he wanted to use the son of Shangqing Zhongxing Huan as a stepping stone to become famous in the Imperial College..."

Qing Yi smiled slightly and didn't care about these rumors. He just wanted to focus on building his own mound.

I don’t know how Gongsun Wu, Daniu, Mu Yi, Chai Yong, Dongmen Hu and Dongmen Bao are progressing with their respective tasks.

"Hey, brother - it's you - I'm so glad you're okay -" A surprised and happy voice suddenly came from behind me. I turned around and saw a round object approaching quickly. It was indeed Tu Shigu who I hadn't seen for many days.

"that is really good!"

Tu Shigu, wearing the black robe and black cap of a lower-ranking officer, ignored the surprised looks of the many noble ministers around him, and with tears in his eyes, he pulled Qing Yi up and down to look him up and down carefully, and then said with a mixture of sadness and joy,
"A few days ago, I heard that you were arrested for attempting to assassinate the king's youngest son. I couldn't believe you would do such a thing. Now it seems that I was right.

If you really did that, why would Commander Taishu take you to the Winter Festival? So those idiots are just spreading rumors."

Taishu Bingxin also knew Tun Shigu. When he heard what he said, he just smiled and said nothing.

Seeing Master Tu's true feelings, Qing Yi sighed slightly, then smiled and said, "Brother Master Gu, don't worry. This is a bit complicated, but I'm really fine.

I heard from you that you and Shi Ludan were almost assassinated by the cat ghost servant the other day, and you suffered some injuries because of it. You should be feeling better now, right?"

Tu Shigu suddenly looked exaggerated, his eyes widened, and he gestured, "My dear, brother, you don't know, I never expected that there would be cat ghosts, gods, servants, and servants in the capital.

I was sleeping soundly the night before yesterday when several cats, ghosts, gods and servants sneaked in. Fortunately, three priests, Yun Shengyan, Yue Chengqing and Linghu Ming, suddenly appeared and captured and killed them.

Who would have thought that there was a cat ghost servant hiding in secret? I was almost ripped open by its claws. Fortunately, the three priests fought hard and killed the cat ghost servant, which saved my life. "

Even though several days have passed, Master Tu Gu was still shocked when he mentioned this incident. He was afraid but also thankful: "Fortunately, since I came out of the Solitary Hill, I have never taken off this fourth-grade crocodile dragon armor.

The cat ghost servant appeared suddenly at that time. The armor provided good protection and only left a scratch on my stomach. But we men are not afraid of a little injury. After applying the magic ointment, I recovered quickly.

It's a pity that Shi Ludan was hit so hard that even though the three priests took out the best elixir, he still hasn't woken up yet."

"It's good that you didn't hurt your life. No matter how serious the injury is, you will wake up eventually." Qing Yi sighed with emotion, "Brother Shi Gu, I'm glad you're okay. Let's set off to the Sheji Altar as soon as possible!"

In previous years, the winter festival ceremony of Xing State was very grand. This year, since most of Xing State had experienced large-scale battles, not only were there a large number of meritorious soldiers, but there were also a large number of ministers who were granted titles.

Under the leadership of Commandant Xing Shuzhen, the imperial guards not only deployed defenses all the way from the upper city gate, but also had special personnel to guide the many noble officials to their respective areas.

The king, Marquis Xing, and the ministers in the court have not yet appeared, but hundreds of doctors have gathered in the doctor vassal area, and they are lined up according to the upper doctors, middle doctors, and lower doctors.

Qing Yi saw that the former Yanjin City defender Bao Bu Tong and the Beilin City defender Cheng Dong were among them, communicating with each other enthusiastically. The two men felt someone was watching them, and after turning their heads and seeing Qing Yi, they nodded and smiled slightly.

As for the areas where the vassal states were located, there were even more people. Just a small part of them that had arrived amounted to thousands of people, and more vassal states were quickly coming in.

These noble vassals were also divided into different formations according to the ranks of sergeants, corporals, and privates. When all the vassals were in place, there would probably be two to three thousand of them.

"Wow, there are so many people here. It is said that in previous years there were places for upper and lower commoners, but this year there are too many people and there is no place for them to stand."

Tu Shigu also shook his head with emotion, and then said to Qing Yi, "Brother, we two can only go to our respective positions and wait for your good news later."

Qing Yi smiled and nodded to Tun Shigu, then said goodbye to Taishu Bingxin and walked towards the camp of the sergeants. He, a sergeant who was not even sixteen years old, caused surprise among the sergeants present.

After all, among the other vassal lords, even those who inherited the title from their fathers and grandfathers, the youngest was thirty-five or thirty-six years old. No one had ever seen such a young vassal.

However, after knowing Qing Yi's identity, these senior officials and vassal states pretended not to have seen Qing Yi. After all, they also knew what had happened in the capital in the past few days.

No one paid any attention to him, Qing Yi was just enjoying the peace and quiet. It was human nature to seek benefits and avoid harm, but to his surprise, a man's voice soon rang out beside him: "Sergeant Guqiu Yi, we meet again!"

(End of this chapter)