Heirs of the Seven Swords of the Qin Dynasty

Chapter 1603 A sudden change in the festival
  Guanzhong, the imperial capital Xianyang, on the banks of the Weishui River.

Under the altar that had been set up, hundreds of civil and military officials, including Prime Minister Li Si and the princes, who had also rushed back to Xianyang, stood in order according to their official ranks, with several large square cauldrons burning incense among them.

On top of the altar, at the front is a table with incense burner offerings and jade ornaments representing many auspicious signs. On both sides of the table are large chime cauldrons, with sacrificial incense burned inside the cauldron.

Generally speaking, the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter have their own festivals, among which the relatively important ones are the Spring and Autumn Festivals.

The Spring Festival, also known as the Spring Festival Ceremony, is to pray to the ancestors for good weather in the coming year, stability in the four seasons, and peace for the country and the people.

Autumn festivals are naturally meant to pray for a good harvest and a good harvest.

This year's Spring Festival Ceremony is a little different from usual - this year it is the eldest son Fusu who is responsible for reciting the prayer to heaven before Ying Zheng, while in previous years it was Feng Chang, one of the nine ministers, who recited it.

Theoretically speaking, this arrangement represents Ying Zheng's favor and closeness to the eldest son Fusu, and it also means that Fusu is one step closer to the position of crown prince.

The most important affairs of the country are military service and sacrifice!

Sacrifice matters are the same as military power and cannot be easily passed on to others.

But in fact, only he knows what Ying Zheng's plans are.

When the time came, Fusu held the sacrificial inscription in his hands neatly, stood in front of the altar, and began to read the content of the sacrificial inscription loudly:
  "Your Majesty Haotian, you have set me up to serve the people, and you have brought me here to make a living. The emperor ordered me to lead the education; cherish the time and cherish the shade, sow hundreds of grains, and also obey your plowing, ten thousand dimensions; square bracts, cubes, leaves and mud... …”

Behind Fusu was Ying Zheng, who was wearing Yu Guan Mian uniform. His eyes were fixed on his eldest son, showing no emotion.

Under the altar, Prime Minister Li Si and the Eighteenth Prince Hu Hai each stood in the front row of a row. They were also staring closely at Fusu on the stage, and they couldn't tell what they were thinking.

Amidst the different thoughts of everyone and the melody of the chimes played by the etiquette officer, Fusu slowly finished reading this memorial poem:
  "...It is necessary to carry out the burning and the arduous work to bring about a prosperous future!"

After Fusu finished reciting the sacrificial inscription, he put the scroll away again, turned around and walked to the large square cauldron aside, and threw the sacrificial inscription scroll into it to burn.

The etiquette officer who was striking the chime stopped immediately, and the waiter on the river bank immediately scooped up buckets of river water.

According to the ritual, everyone participating in the ritual must drink the spring river water together.

After Fusu dropped the sacrificial scroll, he stood under the altar with his hands folded. Ying Zheng walked step by step towards the table where the sacrifices were placed. The waiters under the altar distributed river water to the civil and military officials in an orderly manner.

The actions on both sides were synchronized. As Ying Zheng stood in front of the stage and picked up one of the jade pieces, the civil and military officials below, including Fusu, also received a glass of river water.

At the same time, the ritual officer rang the chimes again, and powerful men beat the drums under the altar.

"Emperor Tianhoutu, bless me Daqin!"

In the elegant and powerful vocal music, Ying Zheng prayed loudly for the blessing of heaven and earth, and then threw the jade in his hand into the water.

When Fusu saw Yujue entering the water, he immediately shouted solemnly: "Drink!"

Under Fusu's command, everyone except Ying Zheng took a sip of fresh river water.

The next step according to the process is that Ying Zheng continues to pray to heaven, then continues to throw jade that symbolizes various auspiciousness, and finally offers all the sacrifices.

During this process, all the officials in the audience had to continue drinking water.

But just when Ying Zheng was about to drop the third piece of jade, an accident happened—perhaps it shouldn’t be called an accident, because for many people, this scene was expected.

All the civil and military officials, waiters and guards in the audience began to fall one after another.

In the blink of an eye, almost everyone fell down. Except for Ying Zheng, only the eldest son Fusu, the eighteenth prince Hu Hai, and a few guards remained standing. Ying Zheng glanced sideways at the civil and military officials who were falling one after another behind him. Without blinking, he continued to throw out the second piece of jade.

When the few guards who survived saw that everyone had fallen to the ground and lost the ability to resist, they immediately picked up their weapons and rushed to Ying Zheng on the high platform with shouts - they survived because they were not poisoned.

Above the middle level, although Fusu did not fall, his figure was shaky. It seemed that he would fall to the ground at any time. He was unable to stop the assassins who were attacking his father. In the end, he collapsed and half-knelt on the ground, and could only cry out feebly. A word of protection - even though no one can protect you.

Hearing the shouts of killing behind him, Ying Zheng remained indifferent and calmly threw the remaining jade pieces into the water one by one before turning around and facing the many assassins.

At this time, all the guards have fallen, and there seems to be no defensive force around Ying Zheng. Facing several heavily armed assassins, the situation is precarious.

Does Ying Zheng know martial arts?

of course!
  Can you defeat these killers?

Hard to say.

However, Ying Zheng showed no fear, and with a stern look, he pulled out the famous sword Tianwen, which ranked first in the sword manual, from his waist.

The sun shone on the sword, and the reflected light hit the eyes of these assassins, causing them to blink subconsciously.

However, in the blink of an eye, a bunch of people appeared around Ying Zheng - people from the Shadow Guard.

Although the Shadow Guards have now been transferred to Fu Su's command, their responsibility is still to protect the safety of the royal family. They are Ying Zheng's personal guards, and they still have a share in Ying Zheng's security work.

The situation suddenly turned around and the situation began to turn against the assassins.

However, those who can be sent to assassinate the emperor are naturally among the dead soldiers. Even if the situation suddenly deteriorates, their purpose will not change.

The assassin who rushed at the front took advantage of the fact that the Shadow Guards had not yet completely surrounded him, accelerated his speed and rushed towards Ying Zheng. It seemed that he really had a chance to stab his target first.

At this time, someone else intervened to disrupt the situation.

"Father, I'm coming!"

The eighteenth prince Hu Hai suddenly dodged in front of Ying Zheng. With the cooperation of the secret guards, he repelled the two fastest assassins with three punches and two kicks. However, he was also stabbed by a sword in his arm and retreated to the side injured. went.

And the little time he delayed was enough for the Shadow Guard to deal with most of the assassins.

Upon seeing this, Ying Zheng shouted in a solemn voice:
  "Keep alive!"

In fact, the Shadow Guards would intentionally keep him alive without the emperor's personal orders.

The reason for the deadly attack was to ensure Ying Zheng's safety. After clearing out most of the assassins and ensuring that Ying Zheng was safe, one must be left alive to torture the mastermind behind the scenes.

However, these assassins were also professionals. Seeing that the assassination was hopeless, they immediately committed suicide. Before they died, they shouted slogans for Changping Jun Zhaoxue.

In the end, the Spring Festival ceremony came to an end in a mess.

Ying Zheng looked at the corpses on the ground and the civil and military officials who collapsed on the ground, his face was cold, and it was hard to tell what he thought about the slogans shouted by the assassins before they died.

However, any official with normal thinking ability knows that the eldest son Fusu is in big trouble this time.

(End of this chapter)