After the rebellion was successful, I realized that this place was the Red Mansion

Chapter 74: The country is named Daqian and the reign is Guangqi

Early in the morning, Chu Yan woke up.

Yuanchun and Baoqin were still sleeping beside him.

When she came back last night, perhaps wanting to win favor, this beautiful and dignified virtuous concubine went all out and flattered Chu Yan to the utmost, doing whatever he asked her to do.

Although Chu Yan thought her movements were immature and she hadn't let go completely out of her instinctive shyness, the fact that she could let Chu Yan rest and take the initiative was already a remarkable improvement.

After taking a shower, the sky was just getting bright.

Chu Yan still went to the Linjing Hall and met with Chu Ming, Xu Zhiyi, Li Changjin and others first, asking about the progress of today's affairs. After confirming that everything was in order, he went to the Taihe Hall to accept the worship of all officials and then gave the order:

"Civil and military officials should follow the king to the southern suburbs."

Of course, we can't set off right away.

Chu Yan left the court and returned to the Qianqing Palace, where he took another careful bath and put on his crown and robes with the help of eunuchs and palace maids.

After they were dressed, hundreds of palace maids and eunuchs inside and outside the Qianqing Palace knelt and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty!"

Chu Yan ordered them to get up, get on the sedan chair and go out.

It’s not that he couldn’t walk, but the emperor’s dragon robe with twelve emblems was extremely precious. Although the material and craftsmanship were exquisite, it was not easy to use and would easily be scratched and tangled.

On the night he entered the palace, an embroiderer from the palace came to measure his body. Hundreds of embroiderers spent five days to make the robe. Fortunately, there were still a lot of dragon robe fabrics from the previous dynasty.

After leaving the palace, Chu Yan, sitting on the sedan chair, saw a group of concubines, all wearing luxurious palace skirts. When they saw him, they bowed down and called out in a delicate voice:

"Your servant respectfully escorts His Majesty the Emperor out of the city to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth!"

The concubines in the lead were Jia Yuanchun, Concubine Wu, Concubine Zhou and two newly appointed talented dancers. Baoqin was also next to Jia Yuanchun.

Behind them were Empress Zhang, Princess Qinghe, and two old concubines. Judging from their positions, they were the old Consort Dowager and Empress Dowager of the Shun Dynasty whom Chu Yan had never seen before.

Further back were the dozen or so young concubines who had not left yet and had not been taken in by Chu Yan, plus a group of imperial concubines who were allowed to live in the Cining Palace.

"stand up."

Chu Yan sat on the sedan chair and looked at Yuanchun, Empress Zhang and Qinghe. The three of them were more beautiful than all the other concubines, and each had her own charming demeanor.

Especially Empress Zhang, who looked particularly dignified and noble after changing into a slightly more formal gold-woven cloud-like dress. Although she was standing behind Concubine Wu, her aura and appearance still overwhelmed her.

With a sudden thought, Chu Yan ordered, "Tonight, I will move to the Qianqing Palace. You must wear your old concubines' clothes and come to greet me!"

Empress Zhang's heart tightened. What was this person going to do? Why did he want them to wear the clothes of the concubines of the Shun Dynasty?
Just to humiliate them and show off his dominance in the palace?

"Yes, Your Majesty~"

Concubine Zhou quickly agreed, and Yuanchun, Empress Zhang and others also accepted the order a little later.

Princess Qinghe certainly did not have any concubine's clothes, and the Ministry of Rites did not make any special clothing for the princess. They only stipulated that they could wear clothes with the same patterns as the kings.

So she raised her little face and asked, "Can I come too?"

Chu Yan smiled and said, "Just come with your sister-in-law. You can wear whatever you want."

After saying this, he signaled the eunuch to continue forward.

After leaving the Qianqing Gate, his personal guards were very excited to see him wearing the dragon robe for the first time. They all knelt on one knee to salute. Chu Yan waved his hand and asked them to stand up. They got off the sedan chair, sat on the ceremonial sedan chair, and went to the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Chu Yan did not go in again, but ordered Xia Shouzhong to convey the imperial edict and order all officials to accompany him.

Thousands of officials of all ranks, ceremonial guards, personal guards, eunuchs and palace maids walked out in order from the Hall of Supreme Harmony through the Fengtian Gate.

The five chariots that only the emperor was qualified to ride were already waiting outside the Fengtian Gate, with the jade chariot in the middle, and the golden chariot, leather chariot, ivory chariot, and wooden chariot in parallel.

But Chu Yan did not ride in a chariot, but in a dragon chariot pulled by six horses, which is called the Six Chariots of the Son of Heaven in Zhou Li.

The rest of the rituals still follow the old system of the Shun Dynasty. There is no way to follow them if you don't want to. The officials in charge of etiquette have no time to learn, and the eunuchs and palace maids are also familiar with this set of rituals. If you want to change it, you have to wait until later and the Ministry of Rites will customize it again.

The emperor's ceremonial procession was huge, with civil and military officials either riding horses, sitting in sedan chairs, or riding donkeys, heading together to the southern suburbs, while the people of the capital watched from afar.

An altar already existed in the southern suburbs, still following the Shun Dynasty pattern, with only slight modifications: the Lord of Heaven was placed in the first tier, with the Great Bright Nights—the sun, moon, five planets, the Hook, the North Pole, the Three Terraces, the twenty-eight mansions, and so on—as well as the seas, rivers, and mountains—placed in the second tier. Banners covered the sky around the altar, and civil and military officials were arrayed.

The ceremonial guard went first, followed by Chu Yan, who ascended the altar under the guidance of officials from the Ministry of Rites.

Welcome the gods, burn firewood, and offer jade and silk; receive sacrificial meat and clear the beans; send off the gods.

Finally, read the prayer:
"I humbly believe that the great heavens, with their presence, have observed the hardships of the people; their benevolence has long sympathized with the plight of the common people. In the past, the Shun family failed to control the emperor, and the emperor was unjust...

With the black bull, I declare the will of heaven:
To reform the old and establish the new, the name of the world is called 'Qian', and the name of the era is 'Guangqi'. This is in the heart of the emperor, and I wish to honor you! "

After the blessing was finished, the officials of the Ministry of Rites blew their whips, and then Chu Ming, Li Changjin, Xu Zhiyi and others led all the officials to salute to the north and shouted "Long live the emperor" three times.

At this point, the ceremony is completed.

The team returned to the palace in a grand manner. Chu Yan sat on the dragon throne wearing a dragon robe, and was knelt and worshipped by all the civil and military officials, who presented them with congratulations.

Next, Prince Zhongshun led the former Shun clan members to present a congratulatory message.

This is an additional ritual to indicate the transfer of destiny.

After presenting the congratulatory memorial, Chu Yan instructed the officials from the Ministry of Rites, "Announce the imperial decree."

The edict had been drafted long ago and was read out by the ceremonial officer, appointing Chu Ming as the left prime minister, Xu Zhiyi as the right prime minister, Li Changjin as the general, and the rest of the former officials of Prince Qian's palace were also transferred to officials of the six ministries and generals of various armies.

He has not been granted a title of nobility yet. We will wait until other meritorious officials from Jinling arrive.

After the court officials were appointed, Chu Yan issued another decree to Chu Ming, ordering him to present the imperial seal and appoint Xie, the concubine of Prince Qian, as the imperial concubine.

Chu Ming stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, I am now the Left Prime Minister, the head of all officials, and things are different now. If I present the imperial seal to appoint Xie as Imperial Consort, all officials will also submit memorials, implore Your Majesty to appoint Xie as Empress."

These words made Chu Yan silent.

He didn't want to make Xie Zhaojun his queen, but he also wanted to give her some special treatment.

After thinking for a moment, Chu Yan ordered the Minister of Rites to handle this matter.

Why not the Minister of Rites? Because the Minister of Rites was Xie Defu, the father of Xie Zhaojun.

Because Xie Zhaojun had not yet arrived in the capital, the enthronement ceremony was temporarily suspended. However, the decree would be passed to Jinling, and when Xie Zhaojun set off for the capital, the ceremony would be carried out as if she were a noble concubine.

After all the ceremonies were completed, Chu Yan was very tired and ordered the court to be adjourned. Another grand court meeting would be held three days later in the middle of the month.

……

night.

Chu Yan moved into the Qianqing Palace. The concubines, old eunuchs and female historians were waiting outside the palace. When they saw him, they all knelt down and saluted him.

Chu Yan entered the hall and sat down. Empress Zhang, Jia Yuanchun, Princess Qinghe, the old concubine, the queen mother and others, all dressed in ancient Shun clothing, stood on both sides and saluted him.

"Get up."

Chu Yan smiled and looked at them. After meeting them several times, Empress Zhang no longer had the look of grief and anger on her face. She was wearing a phoenix robe that symbolized the empress. It was a cross-collared and wide-sleeved robe embroidered with twelve lines of phoenix patterns. She wore a nine-dragon and four-phoenix crown on her head. She looked dignified and majestic, and because of her natural beauty, she looked graceful and charming.

Chu Yan's gaze stayed on her for a moment before he looked at Jia Yuanchun.

It was a different feeling from before. Yuanchun also changed into the clothes of a royal concubine. The fabric was gold-woven satin, and she wore a crown with seven phoenixes and two phoenixes, and earrings with precious butterflies and flowers. She looked very noble, which was completely different from her previous timid appearance. After being favored by Chu Yan twice, she could stand in front of him with a gentle and peaceful expression, and even dared to look up slightly and look at him.

Chu Yan smiled at her and then looked at Princess Qinghe.

She also changed into the princess's gorgeous dress, a crimson palace skirt with wide sleeves, looking delicate and graceful. When Chu Yan looked at her, she pouting slightly, with a hint of resentment in her eyes.

The last time he carried her back to the car, she became a little spoiled and no longer so afraid of him, so she showed more lively expressions.

After all, she was a princess of the Shun Dynasty, a former royal family. There were not many restrictions on her in the palace. Now Chu Yan had clearly given her the title of concubine, so she hardly felt the pain of losing her country.

You will probably understand it when she sleeps with you in the future.

(End of this chapter)