The day for the imperial title arrived soon. Guo Shao led the ministers to pay homage to the Taimiao first, and then a group of people returned to the palace to meet Fu Jinzhan.
Just after coming out from in front of the statue, Guo Shao still had a trace of mystery and solemnity in his heart, and a sentence was still echoing in his mind, a sentence in the proclamation that most of the content was incomprehensible: "The emperor follows the laws of heaven." In this era, the dynasties changed too quickly before, and the mystery of the emperor had been greatly reduced, but the idea that the gods of heaven and earth had divine authority still existed. Not to mention that people at this time had no materialistic ideas at all, even Guo Shao had an intuition that it was better to believe in mysterious things than not to believe in them. It was like an ordinary person walking into a temple, even if he didn't believe in gods, he would inexplicably feel awe.
Even if he became an emperor, he would still be solemn when facing the tablets of the many spirits in heaven.
And Fu Jinzhan, who was honored with the title today, was nominally the empress of the late emperor. Guo Shao had an indescribable feeling that he actually didn't like the title Duanci; but reason told him that this title was more appropriate, as the two characters of ancient people were generally not words, but two separate characters, both of which meant to praise Fu Jinzhan, and there was nothing wrong with it.
Guo Shao rode on the imperial chariot and arrived at the Zide Hall surrounded by a large crowd.
The chariot in the palace has a yellow canopy on top and is open on the other sides. A large group of palace maids and civil and military officials accompany them in front and behind, including envoys from Wuyue Kingdom in Tokyo and the ruler of the extinct Shu Kingdom. Zide Hall is the residence of the current Empress Duanci. The ceremony of conferring the title of the emperor must be held here, and it is already part of the harem; foreign officials rarely have legal access to the harem area. Guo Shao has been a military general for several years and has never entered, but he can enter during such a grand ceremony.
In such occasions, Guo Shao has always been the focus of everyone's attention. He will have some kind of pleasure similar to satisfying weakness, but on the other hand, he is also more reserved. Stars also have to perform properly on stage, so as an emperor, Guo Shao feels that if he wants to have acting skills, it is impossible for a person to be born with such a solemn face and behavior, but to fit his status, he pretends to be so. Moreover, majesty will in turn affect the mentality. If he is always so upright, he will also accept such a state of mind.
When they reached the main gate of Zide Hall, countless palace servants knelt and kowtowed; noble ladies from another route also gathered here. Guo Shao then led everyone into the main hall.
The Zide Hall was also built on a platform, located on the central axis of the imperial city. The area around it was quite open, so the lighting was very good. The sunlight from the doors and windows shone in, casting a layer of yellow light on the exquisitely carved wooden furnishings in the main hall, making it look even more gorgeous and noble.
Fu Jinzhan was sitting on the couch in the north wearing a loose yellow dress, looking graceful and dignified. Guo Shao approached and took a stack of memorials from the eunuch Yang Shiliang, presented them to Fu Jinzhan, bowed and said: "The emperor's sister-in-law is of noble status, loves the soldiers, is kind to the people, has a dignified character, and is deeply respected by the world. The whole court, civil and military officials, present the honorific title, please take a look at it, the emperor's sister-in-law."
Fu Jinzhan sat upright and said calmly and slowly: I am very pleased that the emperor and his ministers have this intention.
When Guo Shao handed over the memorial, he saw Fu Jinzhan's face up close. She was the widow of the previous emperor and had been the empress dowager. Her title, Empress Duanci, was also very old-fashioned. Her identity reminded people of the ghost-like portraits in the Imperial Ancestral Temple; but the person in front of him was very different, full of the beauty of life. The yellow brocade on the couch, her robes and jewelry were very bright and gorgeous, and her skin was even whiter and more delicate. The sunlight shone on her smooth skin, as if there was a layer of beautiful halo.
The gold and jade jewellery on her hair, ears and neck were colorful, sparkling in the sun, making her fair skin and rosy lips look even more beautiful.
Her full forehead, round oval face, ink-like eyebrows and lively eyelashes, curved black and white almond eyes, are full of life like moonlight, clear water, and spring breeze. Guo Shao likes the edge of her hair and ears the most. Between the hairline, the white skin and the black and neat black hair complement each other, making people feel very delicate. With such a face and demeanor, there is no trace of the gloomy atmosphere in the temple. Every detail reveals the vitality of life.
Even though the gown was so large and complicated, it was already the second half of April and the temperature was relatively high, so she couldn't wear thick clothes. The softness of the silk couldn't hide the seductive outline of her figure. The round and upright lines on her chest were full, but not stiff at all, soft and beautiful. When she was sitting, the waist and hips near the waist of the skirt were very beautiful. Guo Shao even smelled the clean and faint fragrance, and couldn't help but feel admiration and closeness.
But under the watchful eyes of the crowd, even if others didn't dare to look at him, he didn't dare to show the slightest inappropriate behavior. He could only avoid Fu Jinzhan's gaze to keep his composure.
Guo Shao then slowly took the seal and golden book from the plate held by the eunuch and presented them to Fu Jinzhan.
After the ceremony of presenting the seal, Guo Shao bowed and walked a few steps to the west. There was a treasure couch on the west side of the upper throne. At this time, except in the army, the position was more honorable to the east. Although Guo Shao was the emperor and a peer of Fu Jinzhan, Fu Jinzhan was older than Guo Shao in name, so he was more honorable. He turned around and took a look. Fu Ermei, who was standing in front of a group of women, smiled and walked forward.
Although Fu Ermei had not yet been crowned as the queen, she was Guo Shao's principal wife, so her status was also very high. She held her hands slightly in front of her belly and walked up slowly, with a proper and proper manner. Seeing this, Guo Shao thought that although the second sister was usually naughty, she was from a noble family after all, so she still had good manners. She was still in the confinement period and needed to rest, but more than ten days had passed since giving birth, so she didn't have to lie in bed all the time.
She walked to the couch on the west side. Guo Shao couldn't help but gently supported her and whispered: Slow down.
The second sister's face turned slightly red and she sat down slowly.
Although the upper seats were divided into east and west, Guo Shaoli sat very close to Fu Jinzhan.
At this time, the sound of drums and music began to play, and men and women in the hall all performed the ritual of kowtow three times and bow nine times to congratulate Empress Duanci. Then people wrote letters of congratulations according to their status, and the atmosphere in the hall gradually became lively with the sound of music.
Guo Shao sat there with a calm face, accepting people's worship and congratulations. He slightly side-glanced, looking at Fu Jinzhan from the corner of his eye, as if he saw a fairy goddess in the sun, sitting there quietly, with a spring breeze on her face. Guo Shao felt very happy, he wanted to see Fu Jinzhan smile and wanted to see her happy, but this title was not enough, he hoped that one day he could give her more glory.
At this time, Meng Chang and Lady Huarui came forward to congratulate. Guo Shao looked down and saw that Meng Chang was fatter than before. At this time, he heard a gentle voice saying: Thank you, Her Majesty Queen Duanci, for your grace.
Guo Shao glanced slightly to the side, and saw the plump and beautiful white skin under the collar. Lady Huarui was wearing a flannel-collared silk skirt. Compared with the half-exposed breasts in the Tang Dynasty maid paintings, the style at that time was much more restrained and subtle; flannel-collared clothes usually only showed the collarbone, not at all. But when Lady Huarui knelt on the ground with her hands clasped in front of her abdomen, looking down from above, one could see the spring scenery through the collar.
Guo Shao was immediately stimulated by the soft and dynamic lines of the jade-white neck. He seemed to smell the unique fragrance emanating from the woman's skin, and his heart was beautiful; but when he thought about such a solemn occasion, if he showed his lewd behavior, it would really damage his dignity. So he responded with a blank expression, and his face was a little stiff.
He calmed down and found that Fu Jinzhan and his second sister seemed to be paying attention to him secretly, which made him more nervous. He even felt that Meng Chang's face looked a little strange, and he didn't know if it was his illusion.
The ceremony of congratulations was still going on, but Guo Shao was already a little distracted. From time to time, he thought about the attractive beauty of Lady Huarui, but reason told him that there was no need to go too far. After all, there were many women in the harem, and killing Meng Chang for a beauty would not have a good impact.
Near noon, Fu Jinzhan held a banquet in Zide Hall to entertain ministers and their wives, and there were various singing, dancing and music programs to liven up the atmosphere.
Men and women were seated on both sides of the table, and a palace maid came up to dance to the music. Guo Shao stood up and left his seat to change his clothes.
Going out from the back door of the main hall, there is a winding corridor, and the eunuchs and palace maids took Guo Shao to a convenient place. He took a long breath inside, adjusted his mentality, and thought that he would be able to ask his wives and concubines to sleep with him in the evening. In such a grand occasion, it is better to calm down.
He came out and hurried back to the main hall to sit down, striding in front. Unexpectedly, just as he turned the corner, a white shadow suddenly appeared nearby. He almost bumped into it. As a warrior, he immediately raised his hands to protect his vitals and pushed forward. His palm touched a soft place.
With a cry, it turned out to be a woman, her body was so weak that she was easily pushed to the ground, with her hands covering her chest. Guo Shao's face was immediately embarrassed, and the palace maids and eunuchs who followed him were also stunned.
Eunuch Yang Shiliang was a relatively powerful eunuch in the palace, but he did not scold the woman who offended the emperor. Guo Shao looked closely and found that it was a concubine of the previous emperor beside Fu Jinzhan, Concubine Du, whom he had seen before.
Mrs. Du fell to the ground, then quickly turned over and knelt down, saying: "I have offended Your Majesty unintentionally, and I deserve to die."
Guo Shao stepped forward and helped her up: You didn't fall, did you
He really didn't think much at this time, and didn't pay attention to pretending to help her. He just felt that she fell, so he helped her. Unexpectedly, as soon as his palm touched her forearm, he felt Du's body tremble obviously, very strongly like an electric shock, and when he looked at her again, her face was red.
Mrs. Du whispered: "I am fine, thank you, Your Majesty."
It was then that Guo Shao discovered that Mrs. Du's shawl and skirt were made of very thin and transparent materials. Although she was wearing a bra and trousers, a large area of her skin was still faintly visible under the thin clothes. The half-covered skin could arouse people's imagination even more.