Ch.562 Exposed (1)
Snowflakes started falling down the sky, but it still couldn’t extinguish the people’s enthusiasm, as the long-awaited mounding ceremony was finally here!
And it was going to be held at the source of Longteng River, the holy land of Dayu, the Hengduan Sky Ladder!
The Hengduan Sky Ladder was a cliff. Its surface was very smooth, as if it had been redone. It was named as Sky Ladder because it didn’t just extend out from the ground vertically, there were giant stairs formed on it, each step leading upwards, there were nine steps in total!
Legend says that this was the place where the G.o.ds would ascend to heaven, and the nine-steps were prints that the G.o.ds had left behind!
Below the ladder was the start of Longteng River. It was said that when the G.o.ds ascended to heaven, they shed tears because they felt sad of leaving their loved ones behind, and their tears turned into a river. There were many dense clouds surrounding the cliff, and it was said that it leads straight to the palace of the G.o.ddess.
Because the Grand Ca.n.a.l was here, the mounding ceremony of the Grand Ca.n.a.l was naturally held here, and the person behind the legend of the Hengduan Sky Ladder was a G.o.ddess, so every time an event was held here, a woman was required to host it.
Gong Yimo wore her formal imperial attire. As she went up the mountain, she opened the curtains and looked up at the sky.
It was already afternoon at this time, but the cliff wasn’t too visible. Many people were already waiting at the altar at the Hengduan Sky Ladder. They threw paper-folded lotuses from the cliff and prayed for good luck before the ceremony started. It was the start of a new year, everyone came with good wishes in hopes to be blessed by this auspicious day.
Countless ministers and n.o.bles have arrived, but on this day, they all had simple attire on and stood next to the altar. They looked at the wooden altar that had been there for almost four hundred years, with solemn expressions on their face.
Speaking of which, this altar was already here even before the creation of Dayu! They had solemn expressions on their faces because the Founding Empress of Dayu, an admirable woman, jumped down from this place. For the next fifty years, the Founding Emperor never allowed anyone to come here ever again. Only after he pa.s.sed, this place was reopened!
When the Emperor arrived with his concubines, everyone bowed down to greet them. They had on dark-coloured clothes and walked towards the altar solemnly.
The Emperor was the first to step onto the altar, with a deep voice, he announced the commencement of the ceremony. Everyone present bowed lightly.. On the side of the stage were the ministers, then the forbidden army, and the normal folks were on the most outer circle.
“An auspicious day! We pray to the heavens, the construction of Dayu’s Ca.n.a.l has completed. From now on, the sky will bless our people with good luck!”
Everyone shouted, they all took out a pearl that they had prepared, lifted it up, and faced the emperor.
After the emperor, then the crown prince, the crown prince had contributed to the building of the ca.n.a.l, so today’s ode to heaven would be recited by him. After that, Gong Yimo was next on stage!
Today’s event was kept simple under Gong Che’s arrangement. Gong Yimo only needed to raise the pearl in her hand, kowtow after three steps, and head to the edge of the cliff and drop the pearl! It was fairly simple, Gong Yimo breathed a sigh of relief
There were so many people here. Even though this ceremony was simple, it was also a solemn one. Everyone looked at her with a serious gaze, because in everyone’s hearts, this sky ladder was the closest place to the G.o.ds. Any disrespect is not allowed. Before coming here, not only did they have to take a bath and get changed, they also had to become a vegetarian for the past three days, they can’t be sloppy about it.
Gong Yimo knelt down.
There were people on both sides of the wooden altar, including Jin Yun and Longcheng Tingxue. There was a pavement in the middle made with white brocade, from afar, it seemed as if it could lead to heaven.