In the blink of an eye, it was the year-end sacrificial ceremony.
Before dawn, the palace was filled with the sound of bells. Accompanied by the chimes, Ji Hong, clad in ancestral dragon robes, emerged from his sleeping quarters. Twenty eunuchs led the way on each side, with the foremost carrying the Lin Yuan dragon banner – a black and gold banner inscribed with a five-clawed golden dragon.
Ahead of the eunuchs marched a host of soldiers in heavy armor. Eight swift horses pulled an open-top carriage capable of carrying dozens of people, with soldiers standing on the carriage, hands resting on the long swords at their waists, radiating majesty and dominance.
Ji Hong did not ride today; he walked.
He proceeded from his sleeping quarters to the altar beside the dragon-carved stone tablet erected outside the main hall’s plaza. The house gates along the way had black silk cloths embroidered with dragon patterns hanging from their plaques, rustling in the wind.
This further enhanced the solemnity and gravity of the occasion.
Along the bluestone path, palace maids and eunuchs stood with their hands clasped, watching the entire procession depart slowly.
A senior eunuch, holding a sounding whip, stood on the main hall’s steps. As the officials entered the plaza from the palace gates, he vigorously swung the whip. The whip striking the air produced bursts of sound. Accompanied by the prolonged chiming of the Tai He Bell on the altar and the cracking of the whip, the eunuch announced loudly, "Revere ghosts and spirits without fear, worship heaven and earth without dread. Our nation’s emperor reveres heaven and earth and offers sacrifices, reveres the ancestors and bows with their robes. On this auspicious day, the year-end sacrifice shall commence!"
As the senior eunuch’s voice fell, the eunuchs standing on either side from him down to the steps of the hall repeated in unison, their voices like a rainbow, soaring into the sky and then rolling down.
The ministers entered the plaza with solemn faces, standing on the open ground several meters away from the sacrificial platform, awaiting His Majesty's arrival.
Ji Hong walked into the plaza. The bells on the altar ceased, and the drums began to sound.
The war drums beat continuously.
Ji Jin Mo stood at the head of the officials, observing the sacrificial altar before him.
The altar was set with seven groups of divine positions, each covered by a temporary divine canopy made of celestial blue satin. On the north side of the circular stone of the upper level, the main position was established – the divine tablet of the Heavenly Emperor Supreme. Its canopy was multi-faceted and conical. On the east and west sides of the second tier of the platform were the subordinate positions – the divine tablets of the sun, moon, stars, and clouds, rain, wind, and thunder. Their canopies were rectangular. Before the divine positions were arranged jade, silk, entire oxen, sheep, and pigs, as well as wine, fruits, and dishes – a large quantity of offerings.
On the south side of the circular stone of the upper level, a祝案 (zhu4 an4 - sacrificial table) was set, and the emperor’s bowing position was located directly south of the upper and middle tiers of the platform. Below the southern steps of the altar, on the east and west sides, were arranged sixteen types of musical instruments, including bian qing, bian zhong, and bo zhong, totaling over sixty instruments. The Zhong He Shao music ensemble was arranged neatly, presenting a solemn and grand spectacle.
Ji Hong walked step by step towards the altar from the side of the officials.
Standing before the main divine tablet of the Heavenly Emperor Supreme on the upper tier of the altar, Ji Hong received the incense lit by a eunuch, bowed in reverence, and then inserted the incense into the censer. After that, Ji Hong turned to the divine tablets of the successive emperors, personally lit incense, and knelt to kowtow.
The emperor of Lin Yuan, while sacrificing to and revering spirits, did not worship them. He only paid homage to the successive emperors in the netherworld.
The sacrificial procedures were numerous and complex.
Each segment was accompanied by different music. For presenting jade and silk, the ‘Jing Ping Chapter’ was played. For offering the sacrificial vessels, the ‘Xian Ping Chapter’ was played. Subsequently, the first libation, the second libation, and the final libation were performed, each with different accompanying music.
After the entire process concluded, a eunuch presented a bronze basin. Ji Hong dipped his hands into the clean water in the basin to cleanse them, then descended the altar and proceeded to the dragon-carved stone tablet left by the founding emperor.
As Ji Hong just stepped off the altar, the censer placed in the center of the upper tier suddenly exploded.
A deafening roar echoed through the heavens and earth, and even the ground trembled violently!