Two months wasn't a long time, but it wasn't a short time either. As everyone gradually adapted to the changes brought about by the unification of the world, it was time for the autumn harvest in the blink of an eye.
Early in the morning, the public servants who had already received their mission took all kinds of tools and went to the fields with the farmers from the five original lands of Zhao, Yan, Qi, Wei, and Han …
"It looks like this year is going to be a good harvest." Looking at the thick wheat in the fields, an old man with a wrinkled face couldn't help but say with joy.
"Yes, it's all thanks to the king. If it wasn't for the seeds the king provided and the tools he rented to us, there definitely wouldn't be such a good harvest." Another old man smiled.
"We've met a wise king." A woman walked over and sighed emotionally.
"Yes, we've met a wise king." The others agreed.
"Alright, everyone, hurry up and harvest the grain. Calculate the amount early and give it to the officials of the Ministry of Revenue to pay back the money we owe the king." A moment later, an old man spoke.
"That's right."
As they spoke, everyone walked into the field, picked up sickles, or the mechanical harvesters rented from the government, and began to harvest the heavy rice that was growing in the field.
Similar words and scenes could be found everywhere in the original lands of Zhao, Yan, Qi, Wei, and Han.
As for the newly merged Qin and Chu, they still hadn't walked out of the destruction of their countries and families. How could they be in the mood to thank Sei Itō? It was already good enough that they didn't curse him. They only silently harvested the grain they had harvested at the beginning of spring.
Just like that, nearly half a month passed in the blink of an eye. The weather started to show signs of winter.
However, on this morning, as Handan City's gates opened, a large group of Handan City's citizens walked out of the city's eastern gate. Their faces were filled with excitement as they talked with the people beside them about the amount of food they had taken down and their harvest. They walked together towards the wilderness not far northeast of Handan City.
One after another, one couldn't see the end of it …
In front of the group of people. In the wilderness to the northeast of Handan City, there was a nine-story octagonal altar made of bluestone, white mud, red stone, black ink, yellow stone, and other stone materials piled up in a special process. It was a huge altar.
The total height of the altar was about 9.9 meters, and each level was about 1.1 meters. Each level was connected by three inch-high stone steps. All the way to the high platform. On the left and right sides of the stairs were piles of firewood half the height of a person. Together with the twenty-seven steps, they formed a passageway that led from the bottom to the platform.
The widest part of the bottom floor was 18 meters, and the width decreased with each floor. When it reached the ninth floor, the entire platform became a white marble platform with a diameter of 9 meters. Nine ancient and heavy green jade cauldrons that were about 2.5 meters tall and 80 centimeters wide. They had a round belly, three feet, two ears, and patterns of other birds and beasts were painted on the cauldrons with Yang patterns. The cauldrons were placed in a circle around the top of the altar. However, there were only eight cauldrons. The last cauldron, which was obviously larger than the other eight, was placed in the center of the platform, facing the stone steps at the entrance.
From the topmost platform down, sixty-four colorful flags were erected on the eight-story platform in the form of the Eight Trigrams of the Duke of Zhou. The flags rustled in the cold wind that was already slightly piercing.
In front of the lowest level of the altar, there was an offering table. On the table, there were three types of meat that belonged to this era, and five types of grains that were divided into five small batches. Not far from the two sides of the table, there were two wooden shelves. Ancient weapons that flickered with a sharp cold light were inserted into the ground, establishing the might of the weapons.
In front of the offering table, beautiful women wearing white sacrificial robes similar to the robes of the later generations stood in two rows in front of the offering table. Together with the firewood piled up only one meter behind them, they formed a path to the offering table.
As for the position outside, there were the officials and madams from the three provinces and six ministries who came from Handan City. They were wearing official robes and formal attire, lined up in several rows according to the rank of nobility. Zhao Ya, Zhao Ni, Zhao Qian, Wu Tingfang, Guo Xiuer, and Ji Yanran, the six madams of Sei Itō, stood quietly on the side.
Thousands of people were wearing bright armor and holding sharp weapons. Solemn soldiers, visible and invisible sentries, and ninjas were strictly guarding the area within a radius of five miles, eliminating any possible enemies and protecting the entire ceremony.
In this solemn atmosphere, more and more people of Handan City rushed to the site of the ceremony, and gradually surrounded the altar and the officials near the altar.
…
At this time, in the palace hall of Handan City, Sei Itō stood up naked from the pool. The so-called spiritual women sent by Yueshen, who were chosen using the secret method of the School of Yin-Yang, wiped their bodies with clean cloth, put on their ceremonial robes, and put on their crowns before walking out of the bathing hall.
Seeing Yueshen waiting outside the hall, Sei Itō frowned slightly and said, "Why are you the only one here?"
"Yueshen will be in charge of this ceremony," Yueshen replied.
"What about Taiyi?" Sei Itō squinted his eyes and said with a dangerous tone.
Yueshen leaned forward and said apologetically, "The leader lives in the underground palace all year round and never sees outsiders. Please forgive him, my king."
"Ha, when the Nine Cauldrons arrived, he didn't come to see me. Now that the ceremony is about to start, he still doesn't want to see me. He sure is arrogant! Does he want me to personally invite him? "Sei Itō sneered.
Yueshen didn't know how to answer this kind of question, so she just remained silent.
"Very good." Seeing Yueshen like this, Sei Itō squinted his eyes and said coldly, "Today, I have business to attend to, so I will let you go. After this ceremony is over, your School of Yin-Yang must give me an explanation. Otherwise, Taiyi, the leader, will no longer exist."
At the same time, a huge, cold, murderous aura burst out from Ito Sei's body. It was enough to make people think of hell. It pressed down on Moon God.
Yueshen's face paled, and sweat appeared on her smooth forehead. She lowered her head respectfully.
"Hmph," Sei Itō coldly harrumphed after a while and took back the aura he was exerting on Yueshen.
"Let's go," Sei Itō said coldly as he walked out of the palace.
"Yes," Yueshen secretly let out a breath and replied in a more respectful tone than before. She then followed Sei Itō out of the palace and sat in a four-horse carriage that had been prepared. Under the escort of many soldiers, they headed towards the altar outside of Handan City.
"This King Zhao's strength is even higher than Lady Xiang and Lady Xiang estimated. He even gives me the feeling that he is even more terrifying than the leader when he unleashes his might. It seems that if we don't handle this properly, our School of Yin-Yang will be in big trouble." On the way to the altar, Yueshen thought to herself worriedly as she kept thinking about what had happened in the palace.
Half an hour later, the carriage arrived near the altar.
"They're here, they're here!" someone with sharp eyes shouted excitedly.
Following this, there was a flurry of sounds. The citizens of the Kingdom of Zhao, who were originally standing around the official road and being blocked by the soldiers with weapons, immediately knelt down spontaneously. Their faces were filled with reverence and respect as they bowed down towards the slowly moving carriage.
Almost at the same time as these commoners knelt down, the purple Qi dragon in the sky that had swelled to an incomparably thick size and was not inferior to the legendary True Dragon became a little more solid. The dragon opened its mouth wide, inhaling and exhaling clouds, and let out a clear dragon roar that ordinary people could not hear.
"Roar!"
"With citizens like this, His Majesty's actions today will definitely succeed," Yueshen said softly as she looked through the window.
Sei Itō's eyes were slightly closed, and he didn't say anything.
After another two minutes, the carriage slowly came to a stop. Following this, the Spiritual Maiden went up and opened the door from the outside. She lowered her head and bowed respectfully as Sei Itō and Yueshen walked out of the carriage.
"Greetings, His Majesty." Seeing Sei Itō appear, all the officials, soldiers, and citizens immediately bowed to Sei Itō in a manner befitting of their status.
"Everyone, rise," Sei Itō waved his hand and said calmly and generously.
"Thank you, His Majesty." Everyone thanked him and stood up straight.
While everyone was receiving their gifts, Sei Itō and Yueshen went to the center of the site, where the ground was wet with clean water. The end of the ground was connected to the altar in front of the altar, and the first stone step behind it.
"Yueshen, it's about time. Let's begin," Sei Itō said to Yueshen beside him.
"Yes." Yueshen bowed in response. She turned around and shouted at the witches, "Start the fire."
"Yes!"
With a crisp response, two witches in white walked out of the line and went to the pile of firewood behind the witches. They formed a seal with their hands and created a reddish-yellow fireball in their palms. Then, they gently placed it on the pile of firewood in front of them.
"Whoosh ~"
In an instant, a raging fire quickly burned on the pile of firewood.
Then, the two of them did not stop. They lit up the firewood behind the witches one by one. After lighting up all the firewood, they continued to climb up the altar. Every step they took, they knelt down and lit up the piles of firewood on the platform. They continued until they lit up the last two piles on the platform of the eighth level.
"Begin the sacrificial music," Yueshen shouted again at this time.
Then, a burst of melodious ancient music and the sound of heavy drums reverberated in the air above the site.
In the midst of this ethereal and melodious music, the remaining witches in white began to dance a primitive yet unique dance around the firewood used for the sacrificial ceremony. They also sang a clear and melodious song.
"The auspicious day is fine, and the auspicious general is happy. Caressing the jade ear of a sword, the clanging of a sword is dazzling. Jade robes are beautiful in the banquet, and the fragrant scent of a woman is beautiful in the banquet. Steamed orchids are delicious, and cinnamon wine is fermented with pepper. Beat the drums … "
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