Although Wang Qi and the others had gone to Western Mountain, they didn’t dare to get close to the altar for fear of being discovered.
At this moment, Wang Qi and his men were just in the depths of the forest.
Just because of that, they could better conceal themselves.
Lord Zhou climbed Western Mountain step by step.
However, it was Fang who took the lead.
The crown prince became much angrier and his fists were clenched tightly.
As for the fifth prince Zhou Suye, his eyes also flashed with anger and he gradually calmed down.
After a long time, Lord Zhou finally reached the top of the mountain and arrived at the altar.
Long and the others were already standing on the outside.
The central place wasn’t accessible to them.
Fang was standing at the center.
“Your Majesty, please go up to the altar!” Fang said loudly.
“Your Majesty, please go up to the altar!” The ministers also said loudly.
Lord Zhou went to the altar with everyone’s eyes on him.
Then, he sat cross-legged and Fang began to read the elegiac address.
The address was long and he read it for almost a quarter of an hour. After finishing reading it, Fang folded the scroll. Holding it in his hands, he went to the brazier on one side and burned it in the fire.
A strange expression crossed Long’s face.
He felt that this ceremony… was a bit like the rituals in Buddhist temples.
No matter how he doubted it, the atmosphere at this place was still very solemn.
When the scroll was burned to ashes…
Fang suddenly walked to the stone tablet and then drew a sword from the ground.
Right. The sword had been inserted there and it seemed that it had been many years. However, the blade was still very sharp! Fang drew the sword from the ground.
Then, with swooshes, he carved a few characters on the stone tablet!
After the last stroke was completed, Fang inserted the sword into the ground again.
At this time, all the ministers said loudly, “Long live Your Majesty! Long may you reign! Our nation must be blessed by heaven and prosper forever!”
Just after the ministers finished saying those words…
Fang also knelt down. “Long live Your Majesty! Long may you reign! Please move to another place.”
At this time, Lord Zhou stood up.
Fang also stood up and helped the emperor to walk towards the stone tablet.
Just when the two of them stood still in front of the stone tablet, there was suddenly a big fire in the forest in the north!
“Fire!” Someone in the crowd shouted.
Then, everyone looked over there.
They saw a scene that they would never forget in their lives.
In the north, there was a big fire in the forest and it went straight to the sky. Unexpectedly, a fire dragon was formed!
Dragon! It was really the shape of a dragon!
People also seemed to hear the dragon growling.
“Dragon! It’s really a dragon!” A minister shouted loudly down there.
Many people immediately knelt down and looked over there with shock and excitement.
Then, the dragon slowly disappeared, but a huge character of “shuo” was formed.
In the end, the big fire just went out by itself! The fire dragon also completely disappeared.
Fang looked at the character that suddenly appeared in the sky with great surprise.
Naturally, all the ministers down there had seen it.
The soldiers and other people also saw it clearly.
The sacrifice ceremony at Western Mountain was a big event, so there were a lot of people at the foot of the mountain.
The big fire rushed into the sky, forming the shape of a dragon, and before it disappeared, a character of “shuo” was shown.
At this time, there was already a heated discussion among the people.
“Was I mistaken? Why did I seem to see a dragon?”
“No, you’re not. I also saw it.”
“Oh my, what on earth is going on?”
“In addition to the dragon, I also saw the huge character of “shuo”.”
“Huh? Isn’t that the name of the fourth prince?”
“Yes, only his name contains this character.”
“Huh? Did heaven tell us that he’s the chosen one?”
“Huh? Really? Did heaven tell us this on purpose?”
“The fourth prince! Prince Shuoyang!”
The people all shouted from below.
Not to mention the common people down there, people at the top of West Mountain had been in total confusion.
“Shuo. Isn’t that the name of the fourth prince?”
“Could it be that he’s chosen by heaven as the next emperor?”
The ministers also discussed in a low voice.
Lord Zhou looked very serious.
Fang was at a loss, looking shocked, innocent, and also flustered.
“How did the forest catch fire? Father, there might be assassins. I’ll send some men to have a check,” Fang said in panic.
Lord Zhou looked at him thoughtfully. He didn’t speak, nor could he speak, so he just nodded.
Fang immediately ordered some guards to investigate.
However, when the guards arrived at the very place, they were stunned to find that the big fire, which seemed to have filled the sky earlier, didn’t actually burn a single tree.
The fire started inexplicably even with heavy smoke, but it just ended quietly.
The guards who went there even felt that was a miracle.
They went back soon and reported the extraordinary scene they’d seen to the emperor.
These guards were all Lord Zhou’s confidants, so even if he didn’t believe in Fang, he would believe in them.
Hearing the guards’ words, the emperor fell silent.
The crown prince panicked. He stood up instinctively and said loudly, “Father, there must be something fishy in this!”
He turned his gaze to Fang. His eyes were blazing with anger, as if he wanted to pierce Fang’s heart with it.
Fang didn’t say anything, nor did he show any expression of being wronged. He just kept silent.
Some ministers who disagreed with the crown prince said immediately, “Your Highness, it’s reasonable. In my eyes, this is a miracle from heaven.”
“Yes,” another person echoed.
The crown prince got furious.
His men began to argue with the person who said it was a miracle.
Soon, many other ministers joined in the argument.
Lord Zhou’s face darkened.
Fang felt completely at a loss. “Father, what should I do? I really don’t know anything!”
Lord Zhou gave Fang a significant look and then raised his hand.
With this movement of the emperor, all people fell into silence right away.
Lord Zhou’s critical eyes swept over everyone present and then he made a gesture of continuing with the ceremony.
Fang immediately carried out the following process.
Originally, the ceremony was already coming to an end. What happened earlier was just a brief interlude.
In fact, Fang was really surprised.
He knew what Shi Qingzhou and the others would do something together, but he didn’t expect that they could create such a “miracle”. At this moment, he really wanted to know how it was done!
The ceremony continued to be held, but everyone was a little absent-minded.
Some ministers, who were as cunning as foxes, even knew that something big would take place in the imperial court.
Before that, they had to figure out a way to protect themselves or they could just simply choose to take sides…