Before going to Xiangguo Temple to pray for blessings, Emperor Youning finally finalized the marriage of Xiao Changfeng and Shen Yingruo. The two daughters of the King of the Northwest, one became the Crown Princess, and the other married a hereditary prince. The only son will inherit the family business and will also be the King of the Northwest in the future. The family is full of nobles, and there has never been such a prominent family since the founding of this dynasty.
I can't help but think that if Shen Xihe gave birth to another legitimate son and he became the crown prince, the Shen family... would be immeasurable.
"Oil is boiling over a raging fire." These days, Shen Xihe also heard the rumors that came out about the arranged marriage between the two. Some people even hinted that the Shen family was too aggressive in their words and deeds.
I think this is also the second reason why His Majesty granted marriage to Shen Yingruo and Xiao Changfeng. The more popular the Shen family is, the more people who are truly sober will avoid them, and only those who curry favor with the powerful will come to them.
"Your Majesty attaches great importance to reputation, so he thinks that others are the same." Xiao Huayong chuckled from behind his nose.
Shen Xihe also laughed. In fact, neither he nor his wife cared much about reputation.
And these rumors will soon disappear without a trace, today.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince, Your Highness the Crown Princess, the prayer is about to begin. Please follow me." As soon as he thought of this, someone came from outside to invite Shen Xihe and Xiao Huayong.
Shen Xihe and Xiao Huayong looked at each other, and they followed the people sent by the Ministry of Rites. His Majesty's prayer was a big deal, and in order to ensure that the whole process was flawless, the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Astronomers cooperated with the monks of Xiangguo Temple to practice many details for a long time. There was a person from the Imperial Astronomer following His Majesty and Xiao Huayong, who reminded them in a low voice.
Everything went smoothly until Xiao Huayong, Shen Xihe and others surrounded His Majesty and stood in front of the high platform. His Majesty held the incense in both hands, bowed three times, stood up and was about to insert the incense into the incense burner himself, when suddenly sparks flew in the direction of His Majesty, who was so startled that he dropped the incense and it fell to the ground.
Some sparks flew on the ground, but they were all extinguished immediately.
His Majesty has ordered that people should not be disturbed when they go to Xiangguo Temple to pray for blessings. People can still come to the temple to pray normally, but they have to go through layers of searches. Many people are not in a hurry and are afraid of the government, so they will naturally choose to postpone it to another day.
Some people were really anxious to seek peace of mind, while others were bold enough to catch a glimpse of the emperor's face. Therefore, there were still people coming to Xiangguo Temple. There was an empty road in front of the palace, surrounded by guards holding spears on all sides, but there were also people who tried every means to peek, and as long as they did not overstep the mark, they would not be driven away. No one had expected that His Majesty's incense would cause such a glitch.
I don’t know if the royal relatives and ministers who accompanied the emperor saw it with their own eyes, and even some ordinary people saw it as well.
People at that time believed in these things very much. When they saw the incense that His Majesty was burning for blessing inexplicably emitting sparks and falling to the ground, they felt that this was a very ominous sign and that something bad was bound to happen. For a while, they were terrified and talked about it.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Jinwu Guard General Zhenbei Hou immediately sent people to evacuate the people and warned them. The Minister of Rites hurried forward and said tremblingly: "Your Majesty, the incense has golden stars, which is a call for great luck..."
Since the Minister of Rites could say such insincere words, others had no choice but to agree with him.
Only Emperor Youning looked very bad, and his heart suddenly felt empty and uneasy, as if something wrong was going to happen. This time he was ostensibly praying for blessings, but in fact he wanted to seek peace of mind because of the bad luck in the past two years.