Chapter 1133: The Enthronement Ceremony

Xie Ming trembled all over as he heard this.

The ceremonial music outside had been playing for an entire morning!

Solemn and grave.

This is Longyan!

This is the Imperial Palace!

Xie Ming kept clenching his fists tightly. Why, when it reached his generation, did it have to be a constitutional monarchy? He hadn't even fully enjoyed the power of an emperor yet! Recently, there hadn't been many troublemakers either, which was not a good thing for Xie Ming. He hoped for Longyan to be as chaotic as possible; only then would people miss the era with an emperor! Only then would people remember the goodness of their Xie Family!

At this moment, the Imperial Palace was packed with people from various departments.

The massive honor guard had already been exposed to the sun for a long time.

The people from the Cabinet, naturally, had also arrived.

Liu Zheng still had some interest in this ancient enthronement ceremony. He didn't know how much of all these formations, decorations, sacrificial items, silks, and this and that had been prepared.

"Some Royalist Faction members have infiltrated the honor guard. Should we just kill or cripple them?"

Jiang Xuan had also gotten up early and had been busy running around with Gu Jin; at this moment, he walked to Liu Zheng's side and whispered.

Liu Zheng chuckled.

Jiang Xuan had been quite emotional lately because Longyan was currently waging war everywhere, and even Qin Zhangfeng had things to do, but only he was still following Liu Zheng, even though he held a Dark Night Legion in his hands! Are you kidding me! Who doesn't want to achieve great things? But now he could only follow Liu Zheng, commanding this bunch of Duqi Duwei in the Capital, which made him feel quite stifled.

"What, is Miss Gu giving you a hard time again?"

Liu Zheng laughed heartily.

Hearing this, Jiang Xuan's face flushed red.

Liu Zheng had been a bit annoyed by Gu Jin pestering him, so he simply let Jiang Xuan handle her... He hadn't expected that Jiang Xuan might have taken a liking to this young lady, which was why he could now focus on his own duties with peace of mind... This was actually a good thing, and Liu Zheng naturally approved of it. In the blink of an eye, Jiang Xuan had also reached the age for marriage, and this Gu Jin was a great talented woman; although her personality was a bit flighty, these two would certainly be a good match.

"That's not it..."

Jiang Xuan replied with a red face.

Liu Zheng said indifferently: "If you truly have feelings for Miss Gu, stop visiting those brothels of yours so often."

Jiang Xuan shuddered, bowing his head to accept the instruction.

"As for those people who infiltrated the honor guard..."

Liu Zheng chuckled: "A bunch of rabble, why bother mentioning them? If the little emperor doesn't mind his own enthronement ceremony being sabotaged, let them toss and turn!"

Jiang Xuan started laughing along.

This Xie Ming really was unwilling to give up.

Too young...

He was truly too young.

He couldn't see the current situation at all. The Old Aristocrats, the New Aristocracy, and the Scholar-officials had all already stood on Liu Zheng's side. Longyan had changed; it was no longer the world of your Xie Family. Wouldn't it be better to just be a mascot with peace of mind? Liu Zheng's conditions for a constitutional monarch were still quite generous. As long as they behaved themselves, they would have endless money to squander. Liu Zheng was willing to support them.

However...

Power is always so alluring, even to the point of moths flying into a flame.

It has been so since ancient times.

Having received Liu Zheng's order, Jiang Xuan ran off to assist Gu Jin again.

An auspicious day, followed by an auspicious hour.

Following that, the grand procession headed toward the Yangxin Hall. This procedure was actually the most pretentious. This was the first step of the enthronement ceremony: the plea to ascend.

Emperor Xie Ming had to stay inside the Yangxin Hall at this time.

Then, the ministers of the court arrived at the Yangxin Hall one after another, kneeling and bowing, "Approaching the couch, having learned of the later affairs in detail, and having received the mandate, the late emperor passed away. The Emperor mourned deeply, ordering the ceremony to be conducted, and the officials and people both inside and outside the country looked up to him with joy."

During this process, Xie Ming had to show his humility, "What you ministers

have said shows your sincerity in worrying about the country. I am still deeply grieving, and how can I bear to hear of the matter of succession? Your request is not granted." In other words, you want me to inherit the throne, but I must be humble, feeling that my virtue and talent are insufficient, and decline once. Then, the ministers would begin a tug-of-war with the emperor. You were mandated by Heaven, how can you not?

No, no, my virtue is not yet sufficient to be emperor.

If you don't do it, who will?

There is indeed no one else... But I still cannot agree so easily!

This is the so-called "three refusals and three yieldings," and after these three times, Xie Ming would then peaceably agree to become emperor; this is "reluctantly complying with the request"!

Only in this way could it appear that Xie Ming did not crave power, that it was entirely because he could not refuse such earnest entreaties, that it was the mandate of Heaven, and that it was you who lifted me to this position of emperor.

The entire process was quite pretentious and wasted quite a bit of time.

From "request not granted," to "request not granted," and finally "reluctantly complying with the request"!

Liu Zheng was so bored he was about to fall asleep, yawning repeatedly.

Next.

It was the sacrifice to Heaven at the Round Mound!

A massive group of people followed the emperor to sacrifice to Heaven; this guy, just this complicated process alone was enough to make people feel bored.

After the sacrifice to Heaven, it was the formal burial ceremony.

That is, the moment of the actual enthronement!

At this time, the court officials and generals would place a golden chair on the east side of the altar, facing south; this is the meaning of "sitting facing north and looking south, facing south to be called Mandarin."

Xie Ming, amidst the ceremonial music and the people shouting "Long live" in unison, walked onto the altar.

This is to tell Heaven that I am going to be the emperor.

As for whether Heaven agrees or not, who knows? Anyway, on the day of the enthronement ceremony, good weather is usually chosen, and it is rare for there to be storms or heavy rain. If that were to happen, it would truly be an "ominous sign." A clear sky for ten thousand miles is Heaven's answer.

Sacrificing to Heaven here was not enough.

One still had to go to the Taimiao to sacrifice to the ancestors.

This whole ordeal took a long time. As everyone knows, the Taimiao is outside the city. Following that, after sacrificing to the ancestors, one goes back to sacrifice to Heaven and Earth; after the ancestors are worshipped, one goes to worship one's own parents...

And then...

Returning to the Imperial Palace, he performed the ritual of five kowtows and three prostrations to his parents...

Finally, he returned to the Fengtian Hall to ascend the throne...

Did you think it was just a matter of walking here and there to finish it?

Not at all... Every step involved very complex, very subtle movements and operations. After such a round of tossing and turning, everyone felt as if their bones were about to fall apart.

The final step.

Is the true enthronement!

In the Fengtian Hall, Xie Ming must be carried up by the court officials... This signifies: I am the Emperor you have supported to come up here! Not that I, subjectively, insist on being this Emperor!

Pretentious.

In short, it is just pretentious.

Finally, as he sat on the Dragon Throne, he had to perform a costume change on the spot... The civil and military officials had to bring the imperial robes and crown to change him right there, switching from regular attire to the imperial ceremonial robes.

At this moment, the civil and military officials returned to their ranks, first bowing in unison to congratulate the great Emperor.

Then, amidst solemn and respectful ritual music, the civil and military officials performed a synchronized series of push-ups, four times in total, before rising, at which point the music stopped.

"Long live, long live, long, long live our Emperor!"

"Long live, long live, long, long live our Emperor!"

At this point, Xie Ming accepted the homage of the officials.

Thrilling!

Although he had been tossed about until his whole body felt like it was falling apart, when this moment truly arrived, his heart was still filled with excitement!

He sat on the high Dragon Throne, looking down at

Starting today.

He would truly become the Emperor of Longyan.

The era name, Hongzhi.

"Long live, long live, long, long live our Emperor!"

"Long live, long live, long, long live our Emperor!"

The entire Fengtian Hall resounded with the voices of everyone.

This was an atmosphere that could absolutely make one's blood boil and pulse race.

Emperor.

Heaven-Given Imperial Power!

Xie Ming's gaze returned to the assembled officials.

Surrounding the officials were those specifically responsible for the honor guard...

It was soon.

It was almost time!

Just today, he would make his final strike!

This was the only chance!

If he missed today, he would never be able to stir up any waves in the future.

"Officials, present the treasure!"

The Grand Eunuch at this time was no longer Grand Eunuch Zhou.

Grand Eunuch Zhou had already decided to withdraw from the political stage of the inner palace; the newly appointed Grand Eunuch was a junior of Grand Eunuch Zhou, much younger, and naturally his voice was much more high-pitched and excited. When he received the appointment as Grand Eunuch, he was still very excited, but as a eunuch, he had not yet realized that even though he was now the Grand Eunuch, he would never be respected like the former Grand Eunuch Zhou. Constitutional monarchy would turn these eunuchs into the dust of history... They would no longer be able to participate in the political situation of Longyan, and could perhaps only bully the palace maids and servant girls in the inner palace.

Everything feudal would pass away.

The final procedure was the officials presenting the treasure.

The general meaning was: today, you, the old Emperor, have ascended the throne; this is a joyous occasion, so we, the civil and military officials, will present a jade seal to you together, formally acknowledging that you are our Emperor from now on, and we will follow your lead. We, the civil and military officials, also see the jade as seeing the person, expressing our respect to you.

"Present the treasure!"

Generally speaking, the person responsible for holding this jade stone to present the treasure should be the Prime Minister. But in the current Longyan, there was no Prime Minister, so this responsibility naturally fell to Liu Zheng.

The jade seal would be presented by Liu Zheng on his knees.

Afterwards, under the gaze of everyone, Liu Zheng walked over slowly.

The scene suddenly fell silent.

Xie Ming gripped the Dragon Throne with both hands, staring fixedly at Liu Zheng.

Chief Minister.

Such a young Chief Minister had become the focus of the entire scene.

At this time, the ritual music would usually start playing again.

What was even more ridiculous was that, according to the rules of Longyan, during this process, one had to dance, especially the person presenting the treasure...

The person presenting the treasure would lead the officials in a dance; the scene was painful just to think about.

However, Liu Zheng did not.

When the ritual music began to play, Liu Zheng just walked slowly toward the Dragon Throne like that.

Ah, this?

A group of people were stunned.

These civil and military officials had already prepared for a chaotic dance...

Seeing Liu Zheng so domineering, their thoughts became complicated...

Powerful!

Liu Zheng finally displayed his power during this segment.

Xie Ming's expression sank along with it.

What he had originally prepared was to have the people he arranged strike during this chaotic dance of demons! In that chaotic scene, Liu Zheng would surely die!

However...

Facing this cold-faced Liu Zheng, his legs began to tremble once again.

Kill!

Kill for me!

Where are the people!

Where are the people he prepared!

Among those responsible for the honor guard service, some had indeed been prepared. But what no one expected was... before they could even act, they were quietly and forcefully restrained by those around them... Before they could even react, the Dagger hidden all over their bodies had already been searched out and taken away in an instant!

"You..."

"You all!"

"Fight!"

These people lying in ambush were instantly enraged and were about to cause

trouble.

But very quickly, they were carried out of the crowd by these few people...

All of this, an undercurrent surging, happened in complete silence, because there were simply too many people responsible for the honor guard. This seemingly dangerous process did not even cause a single ripple in the Fengtian Hall.

No one noticed this side.

No one.

Including Xie Ming.

He watched Liu Zheng getting closer and closer, and cold sweat began to break out on him.

Where are the people!

Where are the people he prepared!

Where are those assassins!

They should have come out!

Why?

Why were there none!

He had spent who knows how much money on this group of assassin death-sworn! He had promised them who knows how many high official positions and generous salaries!

Why is this!

One step.

Two steps.

Dozens of steps.

The atmosphere at the scene became oppressive and tense along with Liu Zheng's footsteps.

In his hands, he held that jade treasure.

He did not dance.

The assassins did not appear...

Finally.

Liu Zheng finally arrived at the place he was supposed to arrive, and then, he stood straight there, holding the jade treasure up with both hands.

The scene.

Was deathly silent. Pop-ups are frequent recently, click to download to avoid pop-ups.