"Stir-fried beans, spicy stir-fried beans, watch and eat at the same time!"
"Cooked pancakes~~My wife kneaded the pancakes herself, crispy and delicious~~"
"Crisp pear—"
"Come and try one!!"
The morning sun of late spring lazily extended across the entire city. Many people walked in the city. The news that there were more temples and high platforms overnight spread, and people gathered from nearby and even farther directions to the southeast Hibiscus Pond.
The nearest Quchifang was already crowded with people. Peddlers and vendors were walking on the street outside the crowd with their loads on their shoulders, shouting loudly. The windows of the attic above were also filled with people, looking into the distance at the temples and altars not far from the lakeshore.
"What a new temple!"
"How did that high platform come about? I didn't see it yesterday afternoon, but I saw it early this morning."
“… You see, there are four small platforms around that platform.”
"Where is it? I can't see it. The one in front of you, lower your head!"
"Bullshit! If you shrink, you'll become a turtle! Stand on your tiptoes and stretch your neck to see!"
"Isn't that still a turtle?!"
…
Min Yuerou frowned slightly and glanced at the four dark-skinned scholars beside her, then pulled Tu Ling away. The little maid was not reserved at all, she raised her little arm and squeezed in front of her lady to clear the way.
"Let me, my son wants to take a look, and compose some poems to pass down through the ages..."
No one paid any attention to her, but a bearded man nearby saw that she was a little girl, her face covered in sweat as she was squeezed in the crowd, so he helped her squeeze through and made way for her.
"Thank you, big brother!" Tu Ling turned around and said, "Young Master, hurry up and catch up, or someone else will squeeze in."
"Tu Ling, be careful not to get squeezed and fall."
Min Yuerou followed closely behind, and bowed to the man to express her gratitude as she passed by. However, the man looked familiar and she was afraid of being recognized, so she quickly turned away and followed the maid to squeeze to the front.
The master and servant finally approached the fence leading to the Hibiscus Pond at the southernmost end of Quchifang. From here they could clearly see the high platform in the distance, which was eight feet high. The location of the pavilion in the back that Min Yuerou knew before had now become a small hill. The temple stood on it, and there were thick branches and old trees nearby to cover it.
"Miss, that is the temple that suddenly appeared last night. It is so huge. Do you think there are gods inside? How did it come from? Why did it appear in Chang'an City? Miss, look, the water in the Hibiscus Pond seems to be much more turbulent than when we came here last year."
The little maid holding the fence pointed excitedly at the temple and the high platform, and then shouted excitedly about the lake, which made Min Yuerou pat her head with her hand, and she calmed down for a while.
It was just a high platform and a temple. Min Yuerou looked at it for a while and didn’t find it anything special.
"There are no gods. There must be people pretending to be gods. If there are really masters, I have seen many of them..."
Tu Ling tilted her head and saw that the young lady was lost in thought while looking at the temple. She pursed her lips and smiled secretly: "Young... Sir, you are talking about Mr. Lu, right?"
"You're too talkative." Min Yuerou reached out and quietly pinched her slender waist. "Let's go back. There's nothing to see."
Outside the separated crowd, the long and bustling street suddenly surged. The yamen runners who were maintaining order pushed people to the sides with water and fire sticks, shouting at pedestrians to move back. Soon, the sound of horse hooves could be heard on the street. Hundreds of knights with long weapons and flags walked in front, and behind them were carriages with riveted shafts pressing down on the street as they drove from the direction of the imperial city.
One of the carriages lifted the curtain and looked outside. The master and servant who were about to leave, Tu Ling's eyes were sharp, and she called out in a low voice, "It's the master!"
Min Yuerou was also startled, and hurriedly pulled Rabbit Bell to bury her face. When the sound of the cart shaft passed in front of her, she glanced at it out of the corner of her eyes, then raised her face and let out a breath.
"Luckily, Dad didn't find out, otherwise I would have been spanked."
At the side, Tu Ling nodded seriously and suddenly asked, "Sir, didn't the master go to court?"
Yes, when Yue Rou thought of what the maid asked, she realized that not only her father had come here, but also the carriages passing by were all marked with officials.
Could it be that all the civil and military officials have come
As he was thinking, he heard the sound of rumbling footsteps. It was the sound of many people walking on the ground together. He turned his head and saw flags standing in rows, spreading from the Qinglong Square.
boom!
boom!
Rows of armored soldiers led the way, their footsteps hitting the ground heavily, shaking the armor plates on their bodies and colliding with their weapons, making metallic friction sounds.
A long dragon-like team came over, and the people standing under the eaves stood on tiptoe, stretched their necks and leaned in to take a look.
"Isn't this a soldier from the palace?"
"Look at the carriage behind. This... This is the current emperor's imperial sedan chair."
Behind the flags and infantrymen, the imperial chariot was pulled by nine unblemished horses. Its heavy wheels moved smoothly over the ground.
Min Yuerou grew up in an official family and was familiar with this kind of scene. Civil and military officials, as well as the current emperor, were all here. Could it be that there really were gods in that temple
The curiosity that had originally subsided was aroused again, and she pulled the little maid to squeeze back in. However, this time there were soldiers holding long weapons to impose martial law, ordering the people not to get close. They could only watch from afar as the imperial carriage stopped nearby and the emperor lifted the curtain and walked out.
Yang Jian walked out from behind the curtain in red lacquered wooden shoes and stood on the carriage. He wore a crown on his head, a black robe and a purple skirt with the sun and moon woven on his shoulders. He walked down the ground with the help of his personal eunuch.
The emperor looked at the rippling lake and sighed, "A dragon has entered the lake. It is definitely different now."
He let go of the eunuch's hand and walked to the altar in front of him. Li Yuan on the other side hurriedly came forward and bowed: "Yuan, I pay my respects to your majesty."
Yang Jian nodded, then looked up and looked at the stone platform that was eight zhang high and four zhang wide, as well as the small stone platforms around it.
"Were these five stone platforms really built in one night?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, it was indeed completed overnight. It was Mr. Lu who cast a spell and drove countless little ghosts to build it overnight. His magic is really profound."
"You're still calling him Mr. Lu. You should call him the Imperial Master."
This young man was his relative and had often lived in the palace before he became emperor. His tone was slightly more relaxed than that of the ministers.
As he spoke, Yang Jian summoned the Grand Master of the Imperial Household.
"Pray to God, if you need anything else, go and prepare it quickly. Don't wait until the Imperial Master arrives before you realize anything."
"yes!"
The official took his leave. At this time, hundreds of civil and military officials, great and small, came over in an orderly manner and stood behind the emperor. They all wore different black robes from their usual court robes, which were only worn for grand ceremonies.
At the mountain gate, Li Yuan was alone, holding down the hilt of his sword and dragging his cloak as he quickly ran up the stone steps. At the same time, flags representing good weather and good harvests were erected on the small platforms around him, fluttering in the wind.
The Grand Master bowed slightly and walked up to the platform step by step, holding the blessing.
"Today, the Great Sui Dynasty has established a national master to appeal to the heavens and the earth, just for the nine provinces to have good weather and good harvests, and for the people to have a full granary..."
The high-pitched voice drifted away with the wind, and the huge crowd of onlookers suddenly became silent. Only then did some people realize what was going on.
In the attic of Zishan Temple, someone raised his hand to tie the Tongtian crown on the open window frame. Lu Liangsheng sat in front of the window, looking outside. There was a high altar and small platforms around it with fluttering flags of the four gods: Moon, Wind, Rain, and Earth. When he heard Li Yuan's voice outside, he slowly turned around and walked out of the room.
The sunlight shines into the open attic door, and a pair of auspicious cloud shoes kicks the hem of the robe and walks into the golden light. On the body illuminated by the morning sun, the black thread gilded water pattern robe is embroidered with the sun, moon, stars, mountains and rivers.
Wow!
Brushing aside his wide sleeves woven with fire patterns, Lu Liangsheng, with the Yuelong Sword hanging from his waist, strode past Li Yuan and walked to the front, straight out of the mountain gate.
The morning sun rises high, it is an auspicious time.