The sacrificial process that Fu Zhiyu was in charge of was indeed not difficult. Just as Yuan Lu said, it was just a matter of three incense sticks, but the sacrificial clothes were really difficult to wear.
It was very complicated. The last time this dress was used was six years ago. The previous governor of Jiangnan was much fatter than Fu Zhiyu. The embroiderer took great pains to modify the dress, and the result was that it became even more complicated, with layer after layer. The crown was also heavy, so heavy that it seemed like it would break a person's neck.
It took Fu Zhiyu half a day to put on all these things. Although there were a lot of sacrificial clothes, most of them were made of gauze and silk, so they did not feel cumbersome after putting them on. When he tied the belt around his waist, his waist looked even thinner.
"… You strangled me to death," Fu Zhiyu took a breath and couldn't help complaining to her mother, "What a trouble! I'm tired before I even leave the house."
"Sacrificial rites are always like this," Yuan Wanyun was also going to attend today and had dressed up a little, "You've already agreed, you can't go back on your word, just bear with it until today."
The sacrificial garment was mainly gold and red. After putting on the golden crown, Fu Zhiyu looked in the mirror and found it more and more strange.
"Like a wedding dress," he muttered. "It's weird."
"Don't talk nonsense," Yuan Wanyun looked at him and urged, "Hurry up, hurry up, we have to go out."
The Luanzhou governor said that he would be welcomed by the people on his way to the temple, but he did not elaborate. Fu Zhiyu's initial imagination was relatively simple, that is, he would just be riding a horse on the road, but he did not expect that there would be a special sedan chair.
The sedan chair was carried by sixteen people, and it was very beautiful with carved beams and painted pillars. This sedan chair only had the lower half, without a top. Fu Zhiyu's neck was hurt by the crown, and he felt that he would definitely have neck pain when he woke up tomorrow morning.
… As expected, there is no benefit in being the King of Jiangnan.
As he sat in the sedan chair, he felt that all his attention was attracted by his aching neck. He could not move in front of the people, so he could only sit upright in the sedan chair.
When will it be finished
Fu Zhiyu thought absentmindedly.
As for the looks of people on the street, he didn't care too much. Fu Zhiyu had been accustomed to being stared at since he was a child, and he had a good acceptance of being watched.
But where have the people ever seen such a person
The governor of Jiangnan who was in charge of the grand sacrifice was also fat. He was wrapped in this golden and red costume, like a ball. With that complicated crown on his head, he looked very auspicious, like the festive people in the New Year pictures. After looking at him for a long time, it seems that this is the image I have accepted.
But when you change the person, the impression changes suddenly.
Fu Zhiyu said that this sacrificial dress looks like a wedding dress, which is actually not without reason. Originally, the person performing the sacrifice was a woman, and her identity was a bride offered to the god of land or the god of river. In some places, the "bride" would be killed during the sacrifice before being sent to the god. This bad habit was corrected several times, and finally the sacrificial activity was retained, but the poor woman was replaced by a person in a high position, and the act of sending the bride became a prayer to the sky. No girl lost her life because of this anymore, and this change is also a good thing.
Although the costumes have been modified, they still retain the image of the bride Jifu.
The young man in the sedan was wrapped in this overly bright color, and the golden pearls and jade on his crown trembled. After all, he was a man, so he didn't need any makeup. He just had a red lotus pattern painted on his forehead, which made his face look more unusually pretty and people dared not look directly at him.
Fu Zhiyu never dressed up seriously when he went out. He always just put on some clothes and went out. He was not as gorgeous as he was today, which fully brought out the good looks of his face.
The crowd was noisy and people were talking about all sorts of things.
"Is this King Zhao?"
"He looks like this... Is he a goblin?"
"No wonder I heard that Prince Zhao was the most handsome man in the world when I was in the capital. Now I see that he is indeed extraordinary."
Because it was too noisy, Fu Zhiyu really didn't hear clearly, and he didn't pay much attention to those overly compelling gazes. It was because the sun was very hot today and it was noon now. The sedan chair was inlaid with a large piece of colored glaze, and with the gems he was wearing, the sedan chair was swaying, which made his eyes hurt, and the reflection made Fu Zhiyu unable to see clearly.
I’m tired. Being an official is so hard.
At this moment, a dark cloud blocked the sunlight. Fu Zhiyu blinked and felt that he seemed to have seen a familiar person in the crowd.
He turned his head to look, and the golden crown swayed with his movements, but the streets were crowded with people on both sides, and many different faces of men, women, young and old were looking at him. It was difficult to tell who was who, and there seemed to be nothing unusual.
Fortunately, this section of the road was not long and was just a formality. A banquet was held in the White Horse Temple outside the city and the place was full of people. Fu Zhiyu walked slowly up the steps to the front as planned. The long robe he wore dragged on the ground and he naturally became the most noticed person in the place.
When he reached the top, Fu Zhiyu bowed to the abbot according to etiquette.
On the highest platform that everyone was looking up to, that person stood out among the crowd of monks who were worshiping Buddha.
He doesn't look like a worshipper, he looks like God.
Those who can sit in seats at such occasions are not ordinary people, but well-known figures in Jiangnan. Although they are all Fu Zhiyu's subordinates, most of them have never seen what the King of Jiangnan looks like.
I don’t know how many people saw this person, clenched their fists under the table, looked at the person on the stage with unfathomable eyes, and no one knew what they were thinking.
According to the rules agreed upon before, the abbot would read three paragraphs. The language he used was difficult for Fu Zhiyu to understand, and he spoke very quickly.
The Luanzhou prefect had explained to him before that this was a question to God. The first question was whether God would bless the country with good weather and a good harvest; the second question was whether God would bless the country with peace and prosperity and the people would live and work in peace and contentment; the third question was whether God would bless the country with no illness or disaster and happiness for all families. After each question, there would be a short pause. At this time, Fu Zhiyu would burn a stick of incense and worship the statue, which was considered as the God's answer.
It was indeed not difficult. The three incense sticks in Fu Zhiyu's hand were already lit. He just had to insert them one by one into the incense burner in the front according to the rhythm.
But when burning the first incense stick, Fu Zhiyu discovered something was wrong.
There is something wrong with this incense burner. Usually, the incense burner is filled with incense ash. When offering sacrifices like this, the incense ash is made more solid so that it is stable. But this one is different. When the incense is inserted, the inside is soft, the kind that cannot stand up at all.
This couldn't be an accident, someone did it on purpose.
This is a special incense used for sacrifices. It is thicker and heavier than ordinary incense. If an ordinary person inserts the incense in this way, the incense will fall over immediately.
It is a big taboo to let the incense fall over at this time. It is very unlucky and means that the gods are unwilling to bless everyone.
He had been the governor of Jiangnan for so many years and had never had any problems. But now that Fu Zhiyu has taken over, he is in trouble. One can imagine how the people of Jiangnan will view him.
He was estimated that the people would talk about him to an uncontrollable degree. If anything happened in Jiangnan, they would definitely put the blame on him and say that the disaster was caused by the fact that the King of Jiangnan was not recognized by the gods. It was unknown whether there would be people who would use this public opinion to do something at that time.
Fu Zhiyu didn't realize until now that this was a trap. Others had set it up and were just waiting for him to fall into it, but he was the only one who was still foolishly praying for others.
Is this a belated show of force, or has he finally decided that I'm easy to bully after observing me for so long
Fu Zhiyu thought about this for a few times and paused for a while at the incense burner. His fingers holding the incense also stopped there and remained still for a while.
What's wrong
The abbot was a little confused and asked in a low voice: "Prince Zhao, what are you doing?"
But Fu Zhiyu slowly and steadily pressed the incense down, then motioned for him to continue.
But the abbot felt that the incense seemed to be shorter, but fortunately it was okay, and this moment was not too long. He breathed a sigh of relief and continued to read the next words.
Everything that happened next went very smoothly. After the worship was over, the three long incense sticks stood steadily inside and did not burn out until the end of the banquet.
After Fu Zhiyu got off the platform, he quickly took off all the cumbersome decorations, moved his stiff neck, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He changed into lighter clothes, but the lotus pattern on his forehead could not be wiped off. No one knew what it was drawn with.
"Master, what's wrong up there?" Yuan Mingdao was behind him. He knew something was wrong when he saw it. "Is there something wrong with that incense?"
Yuan Wanyun was also watching from below. She also clearly sensed that something was wrong and was now looking at him worriedly.
"Yeah," Fu Zhiyu nodded and said, "It's okay, it's solved."
After he finished speaking, he thought about it again, shook his head, and sneered: "No, judging from the situation, this is just the beginning."
He told the two what happened on the stage, and then said: "It's just that I must have broken the incense burner. I will compensate the White Horse Temple with one later."
With great force, he managed to thread the incense into the bottom of the copper incense burner. There were three holes at the bottom of the incense burner, so it was stable.
But in this case, the action must be aimed at Fu Zhiyu. If he really doesn't have the ability, then things will be very serious. He, the King of Jiangnan, doesn't care about things. The people didn't accept him at first. After all, everyone is afraid of change. But it seems that nothing has changed in the past three years. Everyone has more or less accepted his existence. Moreover, Fu Zhiyu is very low-key. Most of the time, people can't feel his presence, even though he is the master of the entire Jiangnan.
If the incense really fell, Fu Zhiyu's reputation would not be so good anymore, and he would have plenty of excuses to cause trouble for others.
The person who did this had ulterior motives and had very vicious intentions towards him.
It is a crime to possess a treasure. At this moment, Fu Zhiyu really couldn't tell who was targeting him. He just felt that anyone could be targeting him.
"I won't go to the banquet tonight. Ming Dao, please help me turn it down," Fu Zhiyu said. He sighed and said, "I'm not in the mood anymore. I want to go back to the mansion."
He had to return the clothes and the crown to the Luanzhou government. These two complicated things made him physically exhausted, but the things on the stage instantly made him mentally exhausted.
He originally thought that Jiangnan was a pure land, so he spent three years in a carefree life. However, he eventually realized that where there are people, there are conflicts, and he could not avoid them wherever he went.
Deng Jinghe's appearance on time and the accident that happened before his eyes were both clear reminders to him.