Chapter 15: Xiayuan Festival
October 15th came in a blink of an eye. This is the last major festival of Taoism this year, namely the Lower Yuan Festival.
People often say: "Heavenly Official blesses."
These four words are from Taoism. There are eight characters behind them, namely: Earthly Official forgives sins, Water Official relieves disasters. The three deputy chiefs of Taoism also imitate the Three Officials. The Heavenly Master corresponds to the Heavenly Official, the Earthly Master corresponds to the Earthly Official, and the National Master corresponds to the Water Official. In other words, the National Master should be called the Water Master, but it is homophonic and homophonic with the Water Master of the Black Clothes Man, which is easy to cause ambiguity, so it is changed to the National Master.
The Lower Yuan Festival is the birthday of the Water Official. On this day, Taoism should pray for blessings, eliminate disasters, relieve suffering, apologize, seek immortality, prolong life, and save the dead.
Disciples and believers of Taoism should erect sky poles outside their homes and hang yellow flags on the poles. At night, three sky lanterns are hung on the top of the poles to make dumplings and fast the Three Officials.
As for why everyone in the world worships the Three Officials, the influence of Taoism is only one aspect. The key is that the Three Officials themselves are also very distinguished. They are the three ancient holy kings. The Heavenly Official is Tang Yao, the Earth Official is Yu Shun, and the Water Official is Dayu. Therefore, even in the heyday of Confucianism, the Three Yuan Festival will not be banned.
Now that Taoism has replaced Confucianism as the common master of the world, the momentum of the Three Yuan Festival is naturally more important, almost overshadowing the Mid-Autumn Festival and the Spring Festival.
The most intuitive manifestation is that originally only three sky lanterns were hung, but now it has almost developed into a lantern festival. Merchants compete with each other to see whose sky lanterns are bigger, more exquisite, and more thoughtful. In addition to gathering in Taoist temples to pray for blessings and eliminate disasters, and returning home to fast and worship the Three Officials, the people will go out to enjoy the lanterns after nightfall. This is also the origin of watching lanterns during the Lantern Festival, because the Shangyuan Festival is the Lantern Festival.
The Imperial Capital City is not like other places. It is the world's first majestic city with the largest population and the most prosperous. It is in its heyday, and the scene of the Xiayuan Festival is extraordinary. On this day, the Imperial Capital was almost a city that never sleeps, with lanterns all over the city.
The predecessor of the Great Xuan Court was the Northern Dao Gate. From the emperor to the nobles, although they were not in the Dao Gate system, they were all believers of the Dao Gate, so lanterns were hung inside and outside the palace and the imperial city, and His Majesty the Emperor enjoyed the fun with the people.
Under such circumstances, the Imperial Capital Dao Palace naturally could not lag behind. Not only did they have to prepare lanterns, but they also had to receive a large number of believers to participate in the celebration. The Jade Emperor Palace was decorated with lanterns everywhere. Not only were countless sky lanterns flying in the sky, competing with the bright moon and stars, but there was also a lantern every three steps on the ground, turning the entire Jade Emperor Palace into a fairy palace on the ground. Even a huge lantern tower in the shape of the Supreme Dao Ancestor was temporarily built outside the main gate.
Although the emperor did not go to the Jade Emperor Palace, but went to the Taishang Xuanyuan Palace, which was exclusive to the royal family, but on this day, the flow of people in the Jade Emperor Palace was still very exaggerated, and the Taoist Palace was inevitably short of manpower, so everyone had to temporarily stop their work and focus on the celebration of the Lower Yuan Festival. Qi Xuansu was no exception. As the person in charge, he not only had to follow Shi Bingyun to participate in various ceremonies and celebrations, but also had to dispatch personnel and maintain order.
It must be said that Qi Xuansu had been busy for almost half a day in the first half month after arriving in the Imperial Capital. Although his realm and cultivation had not improved significantly, his abilities in other aspects had been greatly exercised.
After nightfall, the flow of people not only did not decrease, but reached a peak.
After the end of the fasting and offering sacrifices, the deputy palace masters also held a grand ceremony to pray for the people to eliminate disasters and transcend the dead. Qi Xuansu hurriedly left the auditorium and took Ke Qingqing to inspect several places that were prone to trampling and fire accidents. The focus was on the huge Taishang Daozu Lantern Tower. If there were any mistakes under the attention of the public, it would be a big "fun". It would not only lose the face of the Imperial Capital Dao Mansion, but also the face of the Dao Sect. Therefore, it was necessary to strictly prevent the demons of the secret society from destroying it.
Logically speaking, if Master Gao wanted to take revenge regardless of the consequences, this would undoubtedly be the best opportunity. As long as he caused some trouble, Qi Xuansu would be ruined, but at least his future would be greatly affected.
However, Master Gao did not dare to do so. If he really caused trouble and caused the people to be trampled and suffer heavy casualties, Qi Xuansu would certainly be guilty, but the court and the Taoist sect would also have to investigate thoroughly. Facing the court and the Taoist sect working together, no matter how cleverly he arranged, he would be caught and punished, his family would be confiscated and his clan would be exterminated.
Master Gao was a man wearing shoes, he had a family and a business, and he did not dare to gamble with his life.
After an hour, Qi Xuansu finally had a moment of leisure and sat down in a secluded place. He was not tired physically, but he had been tense and nervous all the time, and he was a little tired mentally.
Ke Qingqing brought Qi Xuansu a dish of vegetarian food for offering. Qi Xuansu was not hungry. If he really didn't eat or drink, it would be fine. However, he had always maintained the habit of eating. He didn't refuse Ke Qingqing's kindness and ate it hastily.
From here, the night sky was illuminated red, indicating that the entire imperial capital had fallen into the carnival of the festival.
For such a major festival, the court was also on guard, sending a large number of people to maintain order and prevent accidents such as trampling. Not only were the three shifts of yamen runners from the Wucheng Bingma Division and Shuntian Prefecture all dispatched, but also the Dubu Division and Qingluan Guards went to the streets to maintain order.
Song San and Wu Si were also among them. As trial centurions, they had to patrol the streets. In addition to paying attention to the flow of people to prevent crowds and trampling accidents, they also had to focus on the lanterns everywhere.
Lanterns are different from other things. Once something goes wrong, it will inevitably cause a chain reaction. Although the buildings in the Imperial Capital are mainly made of masonry in recent years, there are still a large number of wooden structures. Once a fire breaks out, other lanterns will not be spared. , just like using an open flame in a gunpowder magazine, the fire will spread to a street in the blink of an eye. In addition, the capital is prosperous and likes to compare. The various lanterns are getting bigger and bigger, with more and more tricks, and the possibility of accidents increases exponentially. . Once something goes wrong, you don't even have the chance to cover the lid. You go directly to Heaven to listen to the Emperor's Majesty.
They couldn't help but be careless.
After Song San and Wu Si met once, they each took a few of their men and separated, one heading east and the other heading south. However, despite all precautions, a stampede still occurred. It is said that someone was throwing lucky money down on the second floor facing the street, causing a commotion.
Wu Si hurriedly led the people towards that direction. At the same time, he couldn't help but cursed in his heart: "On a day like this, with such a large flow of people, you dare to play tricks of throwing money. If you are not careful, dozens of people will die. It's really This murderer should be put in jail and locked up with the toilet. "
When Wu Si arrived, he breathed a sigh of relief. The situation was still under control. He immediately asked his men to maintain order, leaving him alone to stand in place and take charge of the command. At this moment, another crowd of people came over. Wu Si shouted at the crowd, but it was to no avail. He himself was instantly submerged in the crowd.
At this time, the innate person is too weak to use anything. Unless he goes on a killing spree and cuts a bloody path, he can only go with the flow.
In the midst of the chaos, Wu Si felt someone push him from behind. He staggered and almost fell to the ground. Just as he was about to turn around and scold him, his vision went dark, his chest tightened, and then the world started spinning.
The crowded crowd did not notice this scene, and still pushed each other, with countless feet stepping on Wu Si's body,
Wu Si's subordinates noticed this scene and were a little panicked, but not to the point of despair. After all, their boss was a genuine innate person with a strong body. At most, he would be seriously injured by being stepped on, but he should not be trampled to death alive.
Time slowly came to midnight, October 15th passed like this, and we entered October 16th.
The people gradually returned to their homes, the flow of people gradually decreased, and the lanterns all over the city began to go out one by one, which made Qi Xuansu breath a little relieved.
The errands at the bottom are not easy to do. The tasks are heavy and the responsibilities are great. If you do it well, you should do it. If you do it wrong, it will be a huge sin. But having said that, being able to handle these things well is indeed a training of ability. No wonder it is said: A strong general must be sent to the army, and a prime minister must start from the state department.
At this time, a spiritual official brought Song San to see Qi Xuansu.
At this time, Song San was in a state of embarrassment, his hair was singed, and he was soaked all over. There were also scorch marks from the fire and footprints left by being stepped on.
Qi Xuansu couldn't help but smile and said: "Old Song, it seems that your job is not easy to do either."
Before Qi Xuansu could finish his words, Song San fell to his knees with a thud: "Master, Master, you have to make the decision for us."
The smile on Qi Xuansu's face froze, and he signaled the official to step back, reaching out to help Song San up: "What's going on, tell me slowly."
Song San said in a trembling voice: "Old Wu is dead, let them kill him. Seeing that the situation was not good, I jumped into the river and dived all the way to Penglai Pond. They did not dare to act recklessly in the inner city, so I was lucky enough to escape. For one life, I was almost burned to death by them, and I almost couldn’t see the mage.”
Qi Xuansu's face became solemn and asked: "Who did it?"
Song Sandao: "I don't know, I didn't even see him clearly, but it was probably Mr. Gao who ordered it. Destroying people's wealth is like killing their parents. He hates us because of what happened in the green lower place."
Qi Xuansu asked again: "Where is Lao Wu's body?"
Song Sandao: "The body should be kept in the Army and Horse Department in Beicheng for the time being. It will not be taken away by the Imperial Guard's Mansion until tomorrow morning."
Qi Xuansu ordered: "Deacon Ke, go and call Lao Wang and Zhou Lingguan."
"Yes." Ke Qingqing responded and left quickly.
Not long after, Wang Chongnian and Zhou Lingguan hurried over.
Qi Xuansu did not beat around the bush, and directly took off the token from his waist and handed it to Wang Chongnian, and said: "Deacon Wang, take my token, along with Zhou Lingguan and a hundred Lingguan, go to the Bingma Si Yamen in Beicheng now. , be sure to bring the body of Wu Si of Qingluan Guards to the Jade Palace. If anyone dares to stop it, you can use force directly. I will bear all the responsibilities afterwards. "
"Yes." Wang Chongnian took the token handed over by Qi Xuansu with both hands.
This token is proof of Qi Xuansu's responsibility. His subordinates don't have to worry about taking the blame. Even if something goes wrong, it is a public crime to act under orders. If public crimes are not punished, they naturally dare to go ahead and do it.
Qi Xuansu sighed: "Thank you."
Wang Chongnian and Zhou Lingguan did not dare to neglect, so they took the order and left.
Qi Xuansu said again: "Deacon Ke, take Lao Song to Huashengtang and treat his injuries. By the way, invite Chief Xu from the Supervisory Department and tell him that I have something to ask for."
"Yes." Ke Qingqing responded.