Near Zhanghuatai is the Bell and Drum Tower, and the sound of the bell in the early morning wakes up the sleeping people. The fine incense in the incense burner has long since burned out, the sunlight penetrates through the carvings on the door, and the fine dust dances lightly in the beam.
Chen Ziqi opened his eyes and touched his chest.
"Chirp?" The fluffy little chick, still sleeping soundly on his chest, snorted dissatisfiedly as he was rubbed through his clothes.
The chicken is still there!
"Squeak—" The heavy carved wooden door was pushed open, and strong light poured in.
Chen Ziqi narrowed his eyes and saw a group of people walking in the backlight, led by Emperor Zhenglong.
"Your Majesty, look at the divine choice, it should be done by the ministers..." The national teacher followed behind the emperor, and his words seemed to be suppressing something.
"This is a big event, and I naturally want to come to watch the ceremony." The emperor ignored the advice of the national teacher and strode into the hall. Behind him, followed by a team of Jinwuwei.
The princes all woke up and stood up one after another. Chen Ziqi raised his eyes and looked at the people who were wearing brocade clothes embroidered with gold leaves and snakeskin moiré knives on their waists. This was the rumored Jin Wuwei. All of them are martial arts masters. On the surface, they are the emperor's guard of honor, but in fact they are the emperor's personal guard.
Di Yeqing, who had not seen him for a long time, was one of them. He was standing in the position closest to the emperor at the moment, holding the handle of the knife in his hand and not looking sideways.
"Your Majesty, if you let Jin Wuwei come in, it will disturb the gods." The national teacher stood in the center of the hall with a cold face. He didn't wear the floor-dragging robe again, and changed into clothes that just fell to the ground. Wearing a silver crown on the head, there are nine pearls the size of soybeans on the front, which are supported by twisted silver and spread out like a small fan, which is very unique.
It was also today that Chen Ziqi saw the appearance of the national teacher. Around the age of 20, with a long body and a handsome temperament, a handsome face is cold and white, and he does not eat human fireworks. But at this moment, there is some anger.
Not only the emperor's Jin Wuwei, but also several important officials in the court, also walked in. A maid held the crown prince's jade belt and an apricot-yellow dress embroidered with golden dragons and waited aside.
Dan Yi popped her head out of her clothes, looked at the situation around her, and narrowed her eyes slightly.
"National teacher," Emperor Zhenglong greeted the national teacher with a smile, squeezed his wrist slightly, and said with a hint of meaning, "It's time to start."
"Princes, please check if the cherry in your mouth is still there." The national teacher glanced at the emperor, withdrew his hand forcefully, and glanced at the princes. When he saw Chen Ziqi, his eyes stopped suddenly.
At the azure neckline, there is a fluffy red bird's head, which is very conspicuous.
"Mine is gone!" The eldest prince said immediately, looking flustered.
"It seems that the eldest son of the emperor is the god's favorite prince." A courtier said aloud.
"The eldest prince has both political integrity and talent, so he will naturally be favored by the gods." The others echoed.
The prince chosen by the gods? In other words, the person without the cherries is the candidate for the prince!
Chen Ziqi's heart skipped a beat, and he looked down at the small hair ball in the front of his shirt, and then looked at the national teacher standing in front of the statue. The national teacher also happened to look over, and the eyes of the two collided in the air.
The national teacher shook his head imperceptibly.
"Maybe the eldest brother swallowed the cherries himself when he was asleep," the third prince sneered and chewed his own cherries, "Why don't the national teacher take a look, which prince's cherries are missing? ."
The selection of the prince is the result of the balance between the Sword Alliance and Qi Zong, and it has long been determined. It's just that the third prince has always disliked the eldest prince and wanted to block him.
The princes all spit out the cherries and put them in their palms again.
"My cherries are gone." Amu raised his hand stupidly.
Everyone's attention turned to Amu, and Jin Wuwei immediately stepped forward to check. The national teacher, who should have gone to check, was left aside.
Jin Wuwei checked Amu's mouth and said, "Report to the emperor, the eleventh prince has cherry residues in his mouth, and he should have swallowed it himself."
"Xiao Qi's is gone too." The third prince said loudly.
Jin Wuwei came over immediately, and the thick-soled shoes stepped on the hard ground of Zhanghua Hall, making a clear clicking sound that echoed in the hall where the needles could be heard. Chen Ziqi took a peek at the snake-skin cloud-patterned knife in Jin Wuwei's hand, and felt a chill in his neck.
"Xu is too sleepy and accidentally ate it." Chen Ziqi squatted down, picked up the cherry pits that Little Red Bird had thrown on the ground last night, and showed them to everyone.
Emperor Zhenglong was very satisfied with the result, and said loudly: "The will of the gods has been made clear, and there is no need to discuss it any further. Passing on my will, from now on, the eldest son of the emperor, Chen Ziyuan, will be crowned the crown prince, and the ceremony will be done on an auspicious day."
The maid on the side immediately stepped forward with her clothes in hand and put them on the eldest prince. The apricot-colored crown prince's clothes were added, and the eldest prince was complacent and knelt down to thank him.
The size of the clothes happened to be for the sixteen-year-old eldest prince.
The little red bird grabbed Chen Ziqi's shirt with both claws and blew up all the hair.
The national teacher didn't say a word, knelt down in front of the statue, and chanted with his eyes closed. He didn't mean to bless the new prince at all, but seemed to be asking the gods for sin.
The courtiers looked at each other, no more words, and left Zhanghuatai with the princes.
"National teacher, who is the prince chosen by God?" Everyone left, only Emperor Zhenglong and the national teacher were left. The emperor waited for half an hour, but the national teacher could not open his eyes, so he couldn't help but ask. .
"Who the gods choose doesn't mean anything to the emperor, so why bother asking." The national teacher opened his eyes, looked up at the phoenix statue that was about to fly, and said in a cold tone.
"I just want to know, what is the difference between the prince chosen by God?" Emperor Zhenglong reached out and touched the lines on the statue of Qinglong.
"Going against the sky is not good for the country," the national teacher did not intend to answer him, but only warned coldly, "Emperor Wanwang, you can do it yourself."
"Do it yourself? Oh, go and ask those ministers, who will be convinced of the crown prince selected by offering cherries?" Emperor Zhenglong sneered, "Since my grandfather's generation, no one has been able to practice the dragon singing skill! The gods have long since left the royal family. And go, the big family is the foundation of the country!"
The national teacher stood up and looked at the emperor quietly, with pity in his eyes.
"What do you mean by looking at me like this?" Emperor Zhenglong was a little guilty when he was seen by the national teacher.
The national teacher withdrew his gaze, poured the incense ash from the incense burner into a piece of silk cloth, wrapped it up, and left without saying a word.
Because Amu also ate the cherries, Chen Ziqi was not so conspicuous, and no one pursued this matter anymore, so he returned to Qingyun Palace with the chicken in his arms.
Dan Yi was still furious, walking up and down the table with two small claws.
Chen Ziqi was lying on the table, staring at the little chick, the national teacher obviously knew the existence of this guy. If he understood correctly, the national teacher shook his head this morning, in order to keep him silent. Although he didn't know the truth, Chen Ziqi subconsciously felt that if he said that the little red bird ate his cherries, the snake-skin dragon-patterned knife would immediately kill him.
"You are the god that the national teacher said?" Chen Ziqi stretched out a white and tender finger and poked the chick's butt.
When the little red bird heard this, he stopped and raised his head proudly.
"The protector of the country is actually a chicken?" Chen Ziqi poked again in disbelief.
"Pfft," Dan Yi fell headfirst on the table, flapping his wings in a rage, saying that he was a god, why did he say chicken again
Chen Ziqi held the fallen red bird in the palm of his hand, and his movements were unprecedentedly soft: "The gods have grown into chickens, so if they were breeding chickens, wouldn't they be able to give birth to thousands of divine chickens?"
Dan Yi looked at Chen Ziqi with drooping eyes, not wanting to talk to him.
"I've made a fortune!" Chen Ziqi hugged the chick and lay down on the bed and rolled, kissed the chick's fluffy head, and kissed the two little feathers down, "Hahahaha, I'm a god. The chosen one!"
"Boom!" The light red fluff immediately turned bright red, Dan Yi raised her small wings, rubbed the top of her head, and straightened the two fallen down hairs.
"I won't call you upside down in the future, I'll call you a god chicken!"
"Chirp!"
"God chicken, can you do tricks?"
"Chirp!"
"What will you change? Try to change into a thousand taels of gold?"
"… "
"Nothing, what's the difference between you and other chickens? Do you grow slowly?"
…
Chen Ziqi was so immersed in the excitement of getting a divine chicken that he couldn't extricate himself, but he didn't feel anything about the crown prince he didn't get. After all, half a month ago, he was still a country boy who eats bran and veggies, and living well is the most important thing.
Tired of worshipping the heavens, Chunxi Palace gave the princes a day off. Chen Ziqi and Little Red Bird played all day in the garden of Qingyun Palace.
Due to the needs of the Midsummer Moon Festival, many cherries were offered in various places. After the sacrifice, the remaining cherries can be eaten at will. In the afternoon, Emperor Zhenglong suddenly thought of Qingyun Palace to see Chang E and rewarded her with a large basket of cherries.
The next day at Chunxi Hall, Chen Ziqi picked up the sleeping little red bird and carried it in his arms. He grabbed another handful of cherries and let Fuxi dress it up so that he could "enshrine the gods" at any time. The little red bird seems to like eating cherries very much. Yesterday, Fuxi washed a large plate, and almost all of it went into its stomach. I don't know how that small body can hold so much cherry meat.
The eldest prince was already the appointed prince, and the atmosphere of the entire Chunxi Hall was different from before.
The princes went up to congratulate them one after another.
The third prince did not step forward, but stood beside the second prince, looked at him coldly and said, "What is there to be proud of, do you really think that he was chosen because of his ability and morality? In essays, in martial arts, which one can he match? you."
As the prince directly descended from the queen, the second prince is supposed to have more status, but the prince was taken away by the son of the noble concubine.
The second prince smiled lightly: "This is the result of the game between the Sword League and Qi Zong. If I hadn't made him the prince earlier, I wouldn't be able to learn swordsmanship, and I'd be content."
The members of the royal family can only practice that line of Dragon Yin Gong, and as for other skills, they are not allowed to practice. The second prince was able to practice the swordsmanship of the Sword League, and it was also in exchange for giving up the position of the prince. Nowadays, the world respects martial arts, and the so-called peerless magic of the royal family has been practiced by no one for three generations, and it is unknown who will die in the future.
The crown prince was surrounded by a group of people, very proud, turned his head to see Chen Ziqi and Amu standing on the side, narrowed his eyes and said: "Xiao Qi, I heard that the father and emperor gave your mother a big basket of cherries, do you see that you are Do you like to steal cherries?"
At that time, the cherries of these two boys were gone, and they were not happy for him. How long has it been since he entered the palace, could it be that he has already become the second prince
Chen Ziqi was suddenly named, startled, looked up at the prince, and saw the unconcealed malice in his eyes.
"Hmph, you dare to eat cherries even if you don't even look at your background. Are these cherries edible for you?" The fourth prince immediately followed. The implication was that these cherries should only be eaten by noble princes.
Chen Ziqi blinked and said innocently, "I didn't eat, I just fed the chickens."
The author has something to say: Small Theater:
Bird Attack: Say it again, I'm not a chicken!
Qiqi: I am a chicken for you
Bird Attack: I'm not a chicken!
Qiqi: What is that
Bird Attack: I am your old attack!
Qiqi: Oh ~ that's the chicken holder
Bird Attack:…