He always thought that this round hole would lead to the top of the seventh floor. He didn't expect that the sixth floor was the end, and the seventh floor was actually an open-air platform!
Su Yu always thought that the sixth floor was the most important floor of the Anguo Tower because the National Tutor often stayed on the sixth floor. It was said that he was doing very important things. He never thought that the mysterious sixth floor was actually the National Tutor's bedroom! There weren't any astrological or divination tools, only all kinds of luxurious sleeping equipment … The corner of Su Yu's mouth twitched. He didn't have much hope for the seventh floor anymore.
However, after going up, he was still a little surprised. The seventh floor of the Anguo Tower was actually open-air! From the outside, it looked like the top of the tower, but it was just eight slanted walls.
In the center, there was a magnificent altar. On the altar, there was an incense burner, an offering table, and a cauldron. In the east corner, there was a stargazing platform made of black gold. It stretched high into the starry sky, looking sacred and solemn. There wasn't anything superfluous. The entire seventh floor looked unexpectedly proper.
Su Yu blinked and watched the National Tutor slowly walk up to the altar. Prince Li put down the teacup in his hand. Prince Ling and Prince Su straightened their lapels. Even the Emperor had a serious expression. He couldn't help but put away his curiosity and followed the Emperor up.
On the altar, there was a huge sacrificial table. The state preceptor had unknowingly moved the sacrificial offerings that Su Yu had made onto the table. The uninterested princes, who had thought that the sacrificial offerings would be endless dried fish, suddenly widened their eyes.
Bright and glossy spicy shredded fish, white and tender fish balls, cool marinated smoked fish, steaming hot shark fin soup, and cooked whole mackerel …
"This, this is this year's offering?" Prince Li pointed at the table full of delicacies and swallowed his saliva. "Let's eat."
"Let's eat!" Prince Ling followed suit and raised his hand to take the smoked fish.
The National Tutor slapped the back of Prince Ling's hand and looked at him coldly.
Prince Ling embarrassedly took back his hand and coughed dryly. "What are you doing? Sacrifice to the heavens, sacrifice to the heavens is more important!"
Su Yu pursed his lips and held back his laughter. He watched the princes being mercilessly suppressed by the National Tutor and obediently listened to the lecture with their heads lowered. He couldn't help but glance at the Emperor beside him. The Emperor looked at the sky impatiently. He seemed to have sensed something and turned to look at him. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Su Yu shook his head.................
............................................. . With me here, even if it's the ancestors, they won't hurt you. What are you afraid of?
After dealing with the brothers and nephews who tried to steal the offering, the National Tutor stood in the center of the altar and clasped his hands in front of his chest. "Today is the tenth day of the tenth month. The fifth generation National Tutor of Da 'an, together with his clansmen, kowtowed to the ancestors to bless the prosperity of Da' an and protect the bloodline of my clansmen." His clear voice was no longer as ethereal as when he was fooling the officials. Instead, it was clear and steady, full of sincere respect.
Then, the National Tutor opened his arms and slowly knelt down. His eyes were slightly closed. The moonlight passed through the clouds and went straight down. The moonlight reflected the light of the crystals on the altar and enveloped the National Tutor in light.
The Emperor pulled the stunned Su Yu and knelt down as well.
The National Tutor began to recite in a strange tone. The tedious words seemed to go on forever.
His Royal Highness King Zhao secretly looked at the offerings on the table and whispered: "Seventeenth uncle, the ancestors only accept dried fish, right?"
Prince Ling poked his thirteenth brother, who was next to him, "What do you think?"
Prince Su frowned. Just as he was about to say something, a white light suddenly appeared on the altar.
The Emperor quickly covered Su Yu's eyes. The white light was too bright and might hurt his eyes. Even through the Emperor's hand, Su Yu could still feel the light.
When the Emperor let go of him, Su Yu couldn't wait to stretch his neck to look. The mackerel and Ying fish on the table had disappeared. Along with them, there were many fish balls and smoked fish. The shark fin soup was probably spilled during the teleportation process, so the ancestors didn't take away a single bowl.
"There's only so much left!" His Royal Highness King Zhao wailed. In the past, the ancestors would just casually take a few dried fish. How come there were less than half of the offerings on the table this year?
"May the ancestors bless us!" The National Tutor whispered. After the last sentence, he slowly stood up. His cold eyes faintly swept over everyone. He looked at the sky, "Let's eat."
Everyone cheered and quickly moved the incense burner on the table to gather the remaining offerings. Then, they were dismayed to find that all the cooked fish balls were taken away by the ancestors. Only raw fish balls, sashimi, and a few smoked fish were left.
The several princes looked at each other and swept the few pieces of smoked fish on the table at the same time.
"How do we eat this?" Prince Li poked at the raw fish balls.
"Wait a moment." Su Yu handed the Royal Highness, who had crawled into his arms, to Prince Li. Then, he brought a pot and dipping sauce.
Prince Su expressionlessly pulled out the incense from the bronze cauldron and added charcoal to the fire.
When the people in the capital saw the bright light at the top of the Anguo Tower, they all went out to worship. Then, they saw the smoke at the top of the tower.
"It's really hard for the Royal Family to worship Heaven at the top of the tower all night." The people sighed.
The Royal Family at the top of the tower indeed had a hard time. While cooking fish balls, they had to guard against brothers, nephews, and uncles.
The National Tutor took out the sacrificial wine from under the table. He frowned slightly. He was so focused on the fish balls that he forgot to prepare the sacrificial wine. He sighed and opened the mud seal. Since the ancestors didn't drink this year's osmanthus wine, they would drink it themselves. He expected that the ancestors would eat the delicious fish balls and wouldn't blame him.
After drinking the delicious shark fin soup, eating the fresh and tender fish ball hotpot, and drinking the osmanthus wine, the hard work of worshipping Heaven lasted until dawn. When the princes ate the last fish ball, they all looked at Su Yu and said in unison, "May the Heavens bless Da An."
After worshipping Heaven, Prince Li left the capital with his family. He was worried that the sea monsters in the East Sea would affect the South Sea, so he had to go back quickly to guard it. He wouldn't return to the capital again until the New Year. Before leaving, Prince Li asked for one of Su Yu's apprentices. He said that he wanted to open a Xian Mantang branch in the South Sea.
Recently, Xian Mantang had opened two branches in the capital. It hadn't opened a branch outside the capital yet. When Prince Li mentioned this, Su Yu was very happy. She also gave Prince Li a lot of pepper seeds.
The days were peaceful. The East Sea sent a lot of strange fish one after another. There were thin fish, luo fish, and even He Luo fish. Only some extremely dangerous fish that needed to be killed immediately were not sent.
The weather was getting colder day by day. The Empress Dowager was afraid that the kitten's fur was too little to withstand the cold, so she made a lot of small clothes for the eldest prince.
"Damao, you're wearing new clothes again?" As soon as Prince Ling entered the Imperial Study, he was attracted by the little furball wearing a red vest on the table. He picked up the eldest prince.
"Mi!" The eldest prince stretched out a paw and pressed Prince Ling's mouth, which was trying to kiss him.
"Why aren't you two leaving?" The Emperor put down the red brush in his hand and frowned at the two imperial uncles who were still hanging around.
"The winter in the Northern Desert is too cold. I want to spend the winter in the capital." Prince Ling sat down on the thick carpet with the kitten in his arms. He had an expression that said, "I don't want to leave. What can you do to me?"
Prince Su said with a solemn expression, "It's going to be the New Year soon. If we go back now, we'll have to come back soon." What he meant was that he didn't plan to leave either.
His Majesty the Emperor coldly snorted and handed a memorial to the Su Wang. "Look at this."
This memorial to the throne was a list of gifts copied by the Ministry of Rites.
As the New Year approached, the princes and princesses from all over the country began to send gifts to the capital. In fact, it was a kind of tribute in disguise. Princess Mu sent a lot of jewelry. Prince Ling's fief sent a lot of animal skins. Prince Su's fief sent horses. Prince Li sent pearls from the South Sea. Prince Jing offered a …
"Mermaid?" Prince Su widened his eyes slightly.
Mermaids lived in the deep sea. They were a very mysterious race. They were most famous for the mermaid silk they weaved. It was said that mermaids in the deep sea would transform into fish tails when they entered the water and transform into legs when they left the water. More importantly, the women of the merfolk race were all peerless beauties!
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