sjar Chapter 364: The Imperial Concubine is Pure and Elegant (113)
Chapter 364: The Imperial Concubine is Pure and Elegant (113)
Chapter 364: The Imperial Concubine is Pure and Elegant (One Hundred and Thirteen)
In another country far away, the king of Ji State is holding a rain-praying ceremony, praying for good weather, peace and prosperity in the new year.
"Your Majesty, your old queen is urgently summoning you." A guard in golden armor rushed into the square where the sacrificial ceremony was being held, with no obstructions along the way, and whispered in the king's ear.
Emperor Ji stroked his slightly graying beard and said with some embarrassment: "This sacrificial ceremony has not yet ended. I will go see the old concubine later."
The golden-armored guard looked around and urged again, "Your Highness Dowager has an urgent matter. She said it is of great importance and wants you to return to the palace to see her immediately. The sacrificial ceremony will be presided over by the Crown Prince."
Emperor Ji pondered for a moment, then summoned Crown Prince Ji Mingjie and instructed him, "Jie'er, I have something important to attend to and need to leave. I'll leave this place to you. The sacrificial ceremony must not go wrong."
The prince bowed and said, "Yes, father, rest assured. I will do my best to ensure the success of the ceremony."
Soon, Emperor Ji followed the golden armored guards and left.
Crown Prince Ji Mingjie's mind raced for a moment before he finally gathered himself. He calmly appeased the officials and proceeded to the next ceremony. He said aloud, "Offer sacrifices to the gods and pray to heaven, may heaven bless the Ji Kingdom! Please ask the great witch to perform a rain-praying dance for heaven and earth!"
Soon, under the worship of all officials and people, a witch whose face could not be seen and whose body was wrapped tightly came up to the high platform. Her face was smeared with special potion, her clothes were embroidered with the totem of Ji State, and she wore a colorful feather hat on her head. She chanted ancient spells and danced solemnly.
Ji Mingjie looked like he was watching the rain-praying dance seriously, but in fact he was thinking about his father's actions. There were very few people who could ask his father to leave an important sacrificial ceremony.
So, it was that old witch who wanted to talk to my father about something?
The old witch values the imperial sister and the Ji Kingdom the most.
At present, the Ji State can still maintain superficial peace, and the Qi State and Liang State are at war, so they should have no time to care about the Ji State. No country will attack the Ji State for the time being. Could it be that something has happened to the imperial sister?
Ji Mingjie decided to go and test his father's attitude after the sacrificial ceremony was over.
Liang Guo.
In the side hall of the Cining Palace, the empress dowager sat on the topmost rosewood chair, while the empress and Cui Li sat on both sides of the empress dowager, drinking tea quietly.
After the emperor took his seat, the palace maid serving tea retreated outside the door and closed it.
The door creaked shut, blocking out the light from outside, but the lights inside were bright and did not affect the view.
Queen Mother Cui looked at Ji Mingyue and gestured for her to speak. "Ji Mingyue, you, as a consort of Daliang, used evil magic to murder the Queen and bring chaos to the harem. Your crimes are grave. Now that you have been caught red-handed, you should explain clearly how many accomplices you have and what your purpose is in coming to Daliang."
Ji Mingyue knelt on the ground, while Ji Wei sat on the chair in the middle.
Although Ji Mingyue was in a mess and her dress was stained with blood, she knelt straight and wanted to maintain her pride as a legitimate princess. She was much calmer now and could even laugh when she heard this:
"Evil magic? That's the supreme magic of my witch clan. You're simply ignorant. If your Daliang State Master wasn't here, I wouldn't dare be so reckless. But it's said that the State Master lived for over a hundred years. He must have died of old age, perhaps already dead in some remote corner. As for why you came to Daliang? Your Daliang is too powerful. That's why my father and the Emperor discussed a marriage alliance, in order to promote friendly relations between the two countries."
The Queen Mother slammed the table and shouted, "How dare you! How dare a mere Ji countryman like you slander my Daliang State Master? Does friendship between our two countries mean you're trying to murder the Queen? Were you responsible for the incident between Concubine Xu and the Imperial Concubine?"