The next morning, the weather was overcast, with dark clouds piled up like ink splashes, and dim light filtering through the gaps, the air humid.
A winter rain was silently brewing, causing an inexplicable depression!
It was early January, and the southern chill was like a ghostly knife, always able to sneak in through the neck and ankles, giving you a fierce cut!
On the street, people wore thick cotton clothes, their hands tucked into their sleeves, their backs hunched, and their expressions solemn as they surged towards the Tianji Tower.
Today was the day of the imperial court's sacrificial ceremony to Heaven. The three hundred young boys and girls, scraped together from the capital, would be burned to ashes in the sacred fire and offered to the Haotian God!
Perhaps even the heavens couldn't bear to watch, so the sky was filled with gloom. Wang BeiWang wore a thin, tight-fitting outfit, his weapon wrapped in cloth and carried on his back.
He followed the crowd towards the Tianji Tower to observe the sacrificial ceremony!
This was the imperial court's intention, hoping that everyone, both officials and commoners, would come to observe the ceremony, believing it was a sign of respect and worship for the Haotian God!
"I heard that Yang Er secretly slipped out of the city yesterday to join the Northern Dynasty army!" Wang BeiWang pricked up his ears and heard two men whispering ahead!
The speaker was a tall, thin young man!
The other, a shorter man, was silent for a moment before muttering, "If my son was chosen for the sacrifice, dragged to the square and burned, I would join the Northern Dynasty army even if it meant death!"
The tall, thin young man gritted his teeth and cursed, "Using children for sacrifices goes against human ethics. The foolish emperor will be punished sooner or later."
The shorter young man sneered, "Punishment? The Southern Dynasty is doomed sooner or later. Once Linxia City falls, it will be the capital's turn. We poor people can only wait for the Northern Dynasty barbarians' butcher knife!"
The tall, thin young man gritted his teeth again and said, "I'm not willing to die for this foolish emperor and court. I also plan to go to the front lines and join the Northern Dynasty army!"
"Well... let's wait a few more days... wait until I've seen this sacrificial ceremony."
He seemed to need this ritual of burning boys and girls to steel his resolve!
Alas, the building is about to collapse!
Walking behind the two men, Wang BeiWang sighed in his heart!
He remembered that the people of the Southern Dynasty, especially those in the capital, were proud and possessed a strong sense of belonging and national responsibility.
The greatest dream of the court was to launch a northern expedition to reclaim lost territory, a northern expedition by the royal army!!!
In just over a decade, the people's hearts had withered. This generation of young people no longer had that integrity and ambition. Besides working and living, they cursed the court and the foolish emperor every day!
Once Linxia fell, the Northern Dynasty wouldn't need to replenish its troops. As soon as they recruited ethnic soldiers in the Southern Dynasty, refugees would flock to them!
The Southern Dynasty had reached a precarious point. He wondered if the foolish emperor could turn the tide.
He walked in silence and saw more and more people appearing ahead. There were vendors and hawkers wearing thick cotton clothes, and women wearing simple cotton skirts. They came from various streets like small streams, finally converging into a surging crowd at the Tianji Tower Square!
Finally, Wang BeiWang saw the towering Tianji Tower and hundreds of armored soldiers forming a barrier, keeping the people outside the square.
He saw the high platform erected, with dry firewood piled underneath. On the platform sat three hundred young children with dull expressions, devoid of sorrow or joy, motionless like sculptures.
Below the platform, two rows of civil and military officials stood tall, wearing tattered official robes and holding ivory tablets, quietly waiting.
A third of the court officials had come. The remaining officials were vehemently opposed to the sacrificial ceremony and refused to participate in it as a sign of protest.
Grand Secretary of the Inner Cabinet Zheng WenHan and Yang Zheng stood at the head of the second row of officials, one on the left and one on the right.
Yang Zheng looked around and said faintly, "His Majesty made a big show of holding the sacrificial ceremony, but why is he claiming illness and not coming? Is he not afraid of offending the Haotian God!"
He didn't look at Zheng WenHan, who was two meters away, but the latter seemed to know that he was speaking to him and responded in a faint tone.
"The national master is well-versed in astronomy and geography, and has a complete grasp of the world's affairs. He can communicate with heaven and earth, and his presence is sufficient. His Majesty is concerned about the front lines and is ill with worry, and the aftereffects have not completely subsided, so it is natural for him to recuperate in the palace."
Yang Zheng gave a "heh" sound, his sarcasm very obvious, but he didn't say anything more!
Zheng WenHan also didn't continue the conversation. He turned his head and searched through the vast crowd, both looking for the possible appearance of the foolish emperor Zhao Shun and searching for the remnants of the Shenrui Army.
For this sacrificial ceremony, Zheng WenHan and his confidant advisors had deduced and deduced again, prepared and prepared, and formulated a complete plan.
As long as the foolish emperor dared to appear, the hidden Shenrui Army remnants hidden in the crowd would launch an assassination, and the on-site city defense army would use the excuse of protecting the emperor to block the streets, hindering the entry of the Yang family's forces, and secretly creating chaos to ensure that the foolish emperor died in the assassination!
To ensure that nothing went wrong, Zheng WenHan had also secretly arranged for many military experts to disguise themselves as assassins and hide in the crowd!
If the foolish emperor didn't appear, that would naturally be the best. After the sacrificial ceremony, the Zheng family would carry out their plan to clear the emperor's side. Zheng WenHan had also considered the worst-case scenario: if the Zheng family's rebellious act of assassinating the emperor was exposed, he would kill Zhao Shun on the spot, take the opportunity to stop the sacrificial ceremony, and then make a passionate speech in front of the people, and then, with the support of the national master, directly rebel!
Unless absolutely necessary, Zheng WenHan was unwilling to take this path. After all, even if Zhao Shun was foolish, the court only disliked him, and still recognized the Zhao family. Rebels have always been traitors and villains from beginning to end.
Those loyal to the Zhao family and those with wild ambitions would take the opportunity to rise. Once the Zheng family was consumed too much, Tuoba Rentu might take the opportunity to tear up the agreement!
Outside the Tianji Tower, in the elegant room on the third floor of a hundred-meter-away wine shop, Gang Leader Duan and Elder Xu stood by the window, overlooking the crowded square!
Elder Xu smiled and said, "Gang Leader, you booked this elegant room early in the morning. It seems you have high expectations for the foolish emperor!"
Gang Leader Duan said faintly, "I'm just here to take a look."
To see if the Southern Dynasty was still salvageable, he hoped in his heart. Outside the crowd in the square, a carriage was parked on the side of the street. Guan Ya stood by the carriage, her eyes calmly fixed on the crowd.
"Empress, you are a precious gem, don't stand in such a conspicuous place. You'll easily attract assassins!" Xie Lingxi drilled out of the carriage, anxiously tugging at Guan Ya!
"There are guards all around the carriage, what's there to worry about!" Guan Ya replied faintly, "If assassins come, I won't be afraid."
Xie Lingxi muttered softly, "But I'm afraid! I'm just a Level One Extraordinary!"
Guan Ya simply ignored her!
The lazy voice of the Palace Master of the Zhisha Palace came from the carriage.
"How is it? Has our great swordsman seen any enemies!"
Guan Ya also ignored her, still searching in the crowd for possible assassins.