Indulge in the national teacher

Lian Zong's proposal brought Gu Fang's thoughts back to his youth.

He remembered that at that time he still had the opportunity to experience the joy and excitement of the Lantern Festival.His naughty mother is still there.His mother would take the food she stole from the banquet and return to Gu Fang's small courtyard to eat with him after serving the masters of Duke Gu's mansion.

Gu Fang also remembered how bright and colorful the lanterns were in the Duke’s Mansion at that time, but unfortunately he could only hide in the distance and take a look at it from a distance, in case his father and brothers saw it.Every time at this time, Gu Fang's mother would point to his head and scold him for being worthless.

But the next day, Gu Fang could always see a burnt lantern beside the bed.

Later, after Gu Fang's mother died of illness, Gu Fang's situation in the Duke's mansion became even worse.Celebrating the Lantern Festival is no longer in his imagination.

But now, Lian Zong invited Gu Fang to go out of the palace with them to watch the lantern show in the capital, which made Gu Xin feel a sense of longing and warmth.

"Okay." He had no way to convince himself to give up this opportunity.

Gu Fang knew that he still hoped that someone would accompany him on the days of Shangyuan Festival, which represented reunion.

Lian Zong nodded in satisfaction after getting Gu Fang's answer.He originally wanted to stay in the National Teacher Tower for a while, but considering the affairs of the Qianyuan Hall, he could only leave.

When he passed by Lianheng, he reached out and lifted Lianheng like a kitten and took him away.

Gu Fang leaned against the window and watched Lian Zong go far away, and then he couldn't help but imagine the wonderful scene he would see on the Lantern Festival.

He should be able to enjoy all kinds of lanterns, right?

When Gu Fang was thinking about it on his own, he was suddenly taken aback by Emperor Kaiyuan's voice: "What are you thinking about? Laughing like a child."

"Ho!" He was startled, and when he turned around, he saw Emperor Kaiyuan looking at him with his arms folded not far away.

"Master, why are you here?" Gu Fang hid the expression on his face.

Emperor Kaiyuan scratched his head embarrassingly, then turned his head away, and muttered like a child: "Didn't I hear that Zong'er said that I would take you out, so I just want you to bring me and your uncles some palace?" Eat outside and come back."

Gu Fang opened his eyes slightly, never expecting Emperor Kaiyuan to make such a request.

But Gu Fang did not refuse.He thought about the Kaiyuan Emperor, King Jin, and King Yan who could only chew incense candles or eat sacrifices made by him, a person with average craftsmanship, and suddenly felt a little pitiful and unbearable.

It's just that he considered that Emperor Kaiyuan and the others were not ordinary people, so he made an agreement with Emperor Kaiyuan to bring them only the most famous roast duck in the capital.

Although Emperor Kaiyuan was a little reconciled, he thought it was better to have something than nothing.He looked at Gu Fang's unmoved expression again, and resentfully suppressed his desire to fight for more.

Gu Fang smiled secretly, then "coughed" and sat down at the desk.

When the Shangyuan Festival was approaching, Lian Zong suddenly issued a decree in the palace: to allow concubines above Zhaoyi to go home to visit their relatives.

This is a great honor and grace, so even if those concubines are not doing well in the palace, their faces are beaming these days.

After watching the good show for a while, Gu Fang didn't care about it.

As the Shangyuan Festival is approaching, he, as a national teacher, naturally cannot sit in the national teacher tower and ignore world affairs.

Because on the day of Shangyuan Festival, the national teacher will go to court with His Majesty the Emperor.First, the national teacher conveyed the blessings of the royal ancestors to His Majesty the Emperor and the courtiers, and then the courtiers kowtowed three times to His Majesty the Emperor.In this way, the early dynasty of the Shangyuan Festival will be counted.

Although these procedures sound simple, they are not so easy to do.

Zhang Pu came to the National Teacher Tower with a booklet three days ago to find Gu Fang, saying that His Majesty the Emperor asked him to study the key points pointed out in the booklet.

Gu Fang took the booklet and flipped through it, and found that it showed the position he should stand on the Golden Luan Hall on the day of Shangyuan Festival, salute gestures and other things that he needed to remember firmly.

Emperor Kaiyuan happened to be beside Gu Fang at that time, and when he saw the things drawn in the pamphlet, he repeatedly praised Lian Zong for his intentions, saying that he wanted to teach Gu Fang these things, but before he could carry it out, Lian Zong sent him away. Such a good thing came, so he didn't need to worry about it.

Gu Fang squeezed the pamphlet, turned sideways to avoid Emperor Kaiyuan's sight and walked to the side.

He pressed the booklet to his heart, and with Lian Zong's warm smile emerging from his mind, his heart throbbed.

It took Gu Fang half a day to memorize all the contents in the booklet, but in order to make sure nothing would go wrong on the Lantern Festival, he practiced alone several times in the Great Hall of the National Teacher Tower, and even repeated every day that I needed The route taken by the Golden Luan Temple, even the place where I put my hands when kneeling, I also strive for perfection, and I don't want to make the slightest mistake.

After working so hard for several days, the Lantern Festival finally came.

That day, Gu Fang was taken out of the National Teacher Tower by Zhang Pu early on, and then he was driven to the Jinluan Hall in a sedan chair when the sky was still dark.

The sedan chair stopped outside the Golden Luan Hall, and he had to walk the rest of the way by himself.

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes slightly, and pursed his mouth, then supported Zhang Pu's wrist and got out of the sedan chair.

What Gu Fang is wearing today is one of the formal attire exclusively for the national teacher.Over a white lining trimmed with gold thread was a pale blue tunic.Because the weather has turned cold recently, this outer robe is filled with wool. It looks thin, but it is very warm to wear.

His long hair, which he had raised for several months, was casually tied up with a dark golden satin, and it was stained with morning dew at some point.

Gu Fang stepped on the steps outside the Jinluan Hall without looking sideways.

He walked extremely steadily along the way. Even if he sensed the eyes of some courageous ministers looking at me, he ignored them and went straight to the main hall of the Golden Luan Hall.

When he walked into the Golden Luan Hall, Gu Fang looked up and saw Lian Zong standing on the steps wearing a bright yellow dragon robe, looking majestic.And in front of him on the left, Lian Heng also stood upright in the prince's court clothes, completely missing the usual laughter.

Gu Fang walked to the center of the Golden Luan Hall, saluted Lian Zong, and then Lian Zong returned the salute, and Lian Heng waited for Lian Zong to return the salute, and then followed him.

Then Lian Heng took a censer that had been prepared and walked towards Gu Fang.

Gu Fang solemnly took the incense burner from Lian Heng's hand, and then lit the only stick of incense inserted in the incense burner.

After doing all this, he took two steps back holding the censer, and then bowed three times to Lian Zong. After he stood up straight, he said with a solemn expression: "My Great Yao No. 15 Ren Guoshi hereby wishes The country is peaceful and the people are peaceful, and my emperor has a dynasty every year."

The "sacred will" in Gu Fang's mouth refers to the blessings and wishes of the ancestors.These words were written by Lian Zong in the pamphlet he gave Gu Fang.If it weren't for his meticulous teaching, Gu Fang, who has jumped from the concubine of the Duke's Mansion to the Master of the Dayao State, really doesn't know how to fulfill today's responsibilities.

No matter how similar he looks on the surface, he still lacks the connotation of a national teacher, which is why he is working harder and harder to learn from Emperor Kaiyuan today.

"Together." Lian Zong stood up from the dragon chair, strode forward to take the incense burner from Gu Fang's hand, with the same solemn expression.

Then, Zhang Pu asked the courtiers to kneel and salute with a loud voice.

Amidst the ministers' shouts of "Long live my emperor, long live, long live", the procedures for the Shangyuan Festival have been completed.At this time, the golden sunlight finally penetrated through the heavy clouds and sprinkled towards the palace.

The ministers who were bathed in the sun showed joy and eagerness on their faces.Gu Fang saw how hurried they were when they left the Golden Temple, and he knew how much they wanted to stay with their families.

Gu Fang breathed a sigh of relief after all the ministers had left the square outside the Jinluan Temple. He relaxed a little, but his back was still straight.

Lian Zong also felt a lot more relaxed.He patted his younger brother from behind, and said, "Let's go, let's go to the National Teacher Tower to offer a stick of incense to our ancestors."

Then Lian Zong ignored Lian Heng's muttering "I never went before" or something, and walked into the apse first with a smile on his face.

Gu Fang smiled knowingly, and then followed Lian Zong.When passing by Lianheng, he slowed down his pace, and then said in a cold voice: "It just so happens that the ancestor also told me that he missed you."

After finishing speaking, Gu Fang pretended not to see Lian Heng's frown, put his hands behind his back, and walked away quickly.

Indistinctly, Gu Fang heard Lian Gen's exasperated voice: "You two know how to scare me!"

Gu Anxin thought it was really interesting, no wonder Lian Zong liked to tease his younger brother so much.

Or maybe it is because of Lian Heng's detached personality that there has never been any gap between the two brothers Lian Zong and Lian Heng. At least, so far, Gu Fang has not found any conflicts between them.

This precious feeling in the royal family should be the support for Lian Zong to go all the way even though he has gone through ups and downs and is full of evil spirits.

The distance between Gu Fang and Lian Zong gradually tightened, looking at the bright yellow standing figure in front of him, he thought for a while and said, "Master and the others will be very happy."

Lian Zong paused, did not look back, but sighed softly, and whispered, "It's time to go."

Gu Fang smiled faintly, put aside all distracting thoughts and caught up with Lian Zong.

When Lian Zong and Lian Heng offered incense to the ancestors, Gu Fang took this opportunity to look at the whole palace that was getting ready for the Shangyuan Festival from the window of the ancestral hall.

Colorful lanterns of different shapes are hung all over the palace; many palace servants and maids shuttle quickly between the palaces. Gu Fang saw the things they were holding in their hands and thought that they should be the The reward received by the palace.

Lian Zong and Lian Heng each offered three sticks of incense to the ancestors, and then kowtowed three times.After doing all this, Lian Zong apologized to his ancestor with a solemn expression, saying that he would definitely come to visit him often in the future.

Lian Heng was stunned for a moment.He took another look at Gu Fang, who was calmly standing aside, and involuntarily frowned.

He always felt that his imperial brother and Gu Fang were hiding something from him.But his imperial brother never gave him a chance to ask.

Today was the same, Lian Heng just wanted to ask a question, Lian Zong said that it was time for them to leave the palace.In this way, they can spend more time in the capital without rushing the itinerary.

Gu Fang and Lian Zong set off from the inner palace in a carriage, and they were mixed in the concubine's visiting team, but no one noticed.

Along the way, Lian Heng angrily did not talk to Lian Zong, but instead talked to Gu Fang about how his uncle secretly took him out of the palace to play when he was young.

Gu Fang also listened seriously, which made Lian Heng speak even more vigorously. Seeing that he was about to speak all kinds of nonsense, Lian Zong tried to stop him.

Lian Zong patted Lian Heng on the head twice, and then said to Gu Fang with a happy expression: "Let's go to the Baiyue Building in Beijing to have lunch first, and then go for an outing in the suburbs later, and return to the city at night. Just in time for the lantern show."

"Okay." Gu Fang nodded, his heart full of longing for this trip.

But when they got out of the outer city wall of the palace, they encountered a little delay.

At first, Gu Fang only suddenly noticed that the carriage stopped and did not move forward. Later, he heard that Zhang Pu, who was driving the carriage, seemed to be talking to someone.

Wouldn't they have been stopped before leaving the palace?