"His Imperial Majesty has arrived, and Her Imperial Majesty the Empress has arrived!"
The civil and military officials all knelt to pay their respects. The Emperor and Empress walked side by side, step by step, onto the altar.
"The sacrifice to heaven begins, welcome the gods." The voice of the sacrificial official was loud and powerful as he chanted the prayer. The Emperor and Empress each took incense, lit it, and prepared to welcome the gods. However, as the incense was lit and inserted into the censer, it extinguished. The sacrificial official was so terrified that his soul almost left his body, and for a moment, he forgot to even chant the prayer.
The Emperor frowned, looking at the extinguished divine incense. A faint trace of melancholy flickered in his eyes. However, once incense entered the censer, it could not be taken out and relit. He could only pretend not to see it and continue the sacrifice to heaven, paying homage to his ancestors.
The sacrificial official gathered his thoughts and continued chanting. After the Emperor and Empress performed three kowtows, a bizarre incident occurred. The ancestral tablet of the founding emperor began to ooze red blood. The sacrificial official stumbled back in fright, falling to the ground.
"The ancestral tablet of the First Emperor is bleeding. This is a sign of great ill fortune!"
The Emperor stood up in shock, looking at the ancestral tablet of Emperor Taizu oozing fresh blood, like bloody tears, dripping one by one, an extremely shocking sight.
The Crown Prince and several princes knelt below the altar. They heard exclamations from above, talking about a sign of great ill fortune. The Crown Prince's eyelids twitched violently. He quickly looked up, but could only see the panicked backs of the Emperor and Empress. He couldn't discern what was happening above, and a sense of unease gnawed at him.
At this moment, bloodstains also began to seep from the altar walls. The entire altar turned blood-red, a shocking sight. The surrounding commoners were filled with terror.
"Blood on the altar. This is a sign of great ill fortune, great ill fortune!"
"Has some sinner angered heaven? Is heaven about to descend punishment?"
The Emperor calmed himself and immediately turned around, proclaiming loudly, "Heaven sends a sign of ill fortune, it is my fault. Soon, I will issue a decree of self-blame, pray to heaven for forgiveness, and protect the people of Yushang, so that there may be favorable weather and abundant harvests, and the nation may be prosperous and its people at peace!"
"Long live His Majesty, long live, long live His Majesty."
The Empress's face turned somewhat pale. Sacrifices to heaven were held once every three years. In all these years, this was the first time something had gone wrong. She felt extremely uneasy and couldn't help but glance at the Crown Prince kneeling below the altar. She prayed that nothing would go awry.
At this moment, the civil and military officials cried out in surprise and retreated. The princes turned their heads and then noticed that the civil and military officials were looking at the four of them in terror, or rather, at the Crown Prince!
Prince Chu, Nangong Yan, frowned and asked, "Esteemed officials, what has happened?"
"To be so boisterous during the sacrifice to heaven, is that fitting?" the Crown Prince rebuked. "If heaven is angered, can you bear the consequences?"
"Your... Your Royal Highness..."
"What is it you want of this Prince?"
"Your back... your back..."
"What is it on my back?"
Prince Qi and Prince Chu gasped. A bloody color appeared on the Crown Prince's imperial yellow robes, and soon a blood-red character "Guilty" appeared on the Crown Prince's back, as if proclaiming the Crown Prince's heinous sins!
"What is it on my back?" The Crown Prince, unable to see what was on his back, asked loudly.
"Crown Prince Imperial Brother, there is blood on your back..." Prince Qi stammered.
"Where did the blood on my back come from?" The Crown Prince reached out to touch it. Upon touching it, he felt something sticky and wet. He withdrew his hand and saw that it was already stained red. The Crown Prince immediately panicked, "What is happening? Am I injured?"
The Crown Prince hastily took off his outer robe and threw it on the ground. On the robe, a blood-red character "Guilty" was extremely eye-catching. However, on the Crown Prince's snow-white undergarment, the character "Guilty" was even more conspicuous, as if the blood was seeping out from the Crown Prince's body.
"A sinner, the Crown Prince is a sinner! Heaven has sent a warning, the Crown Prince is a sinner!" someone immediately shouted.
The Emperor and Empress on the altar heard someone below shouting that the Crown Prince was a sinner. They exchanged a glance and descended the altar. Upon seeing the blood-red character "Guilty" on the Crown Prince's back, the Empress almost fainted, but she forced herself to stay standing. She understood that if she fell, the Crown Prince would surely die today!
"What is going on?" the Emperor asked angrily.
"Father Emperor, your son has no idea what is happening. Someone has tampered with my clothes!" the Crown Prince said urgently, his words somewhat incoherent. His clothes were prepared by his attendants. Since he was to pray at the Imperial Ancestral Temple for forty-nine days, the clothes were prepared long in advance and brought to the temple. Outsiders could not have tampered with them.
The Emperor frowned, and just as he was about to speak, a woman descended unsteadily from above the altar. However, she tripped and rolled down the long ladder, landing directly in front of the Emperor and Empress.
"An assassin! Protect His Majesty!"
The woman lay weakly on the ground but tried her best to lift her head, "Your Majesty, please uphold justice for this humble woman. This humble woman has a grievance."
"Audacious assassin! How dare you trespass into the Imperial Ancestral Temple and disrupt the sacrifice! Kill her quickly!" As the Crown Prince saw the woman's face clearly, he roared sternly.
"Crown Prince, are you so eager to silence witnesses?" The woman's defiant eyes looked at the Crown Prince. Her face was that of the Crown Prince's favored concubine, Lady Xu. "Do you think that by killing me, no one will know of the sins you have committed and angered heaven?"
"Nonsense! Guards, kill this assassin on the spot!"
"Let her speak." The Emperor said with a cold face. Such a dire omen at the sacrifice was not a good thing.
Lady Xu struggled to her feet and knelt, "This humble woman's surname is Xu, her given name is Xianglian. She is a farmer from the outskirts of the imperial capital. Several months ago, she accidentally encountered the Crown Prince, who forcibly abducted her to his residence. To force this humble woman to serve him, the Crown Prince killed my husband and captured my son."
"Nonsense! Father Emperor, your son does not know her at all!"
Xu Xianglian sneered, "Crown Prince, you truly do not recognize me? But I recognize the three moles on your buttocks."
The civil and military officials whispered among themselves. The Empress, enraged, exclaimed, "You audacious woman, how dare you frame the Crown Prince!"
"Is it framing?" Xu Xianglian said coldly, "The Crown Prince imprisoned this humble woman in the Imperial Ancestral Temple and committed beastly acts daily. If this humble woman did not comply, he would threaten to kill my son. This matter, the Minister of Rites, several officials from the Court of State Ceremonial, and Prince Zhao all witnessed it!"
Those named trembled uncontrollably. They had known of the Crown Prince's debauchery in the Imperial Ancestral Temple and had not reported it, making them equally guilty!
The Emperor's face instantly turned ashen, "Prince Zhao, is this true!"
Prince Zhao stepped forward and glanced at the woman. He never expected the Crown Prince to be so foolish as to not dispose of this woman after being discovered.
"Replying to Your Majesty, this younger brother did indeed see the Crown Prince behaving improperly with a woman, but I did not clearly see who the woman was. I ordered the Crown Prince to go and explain the matter to Imperial Brother himself, and then I left." Prince Zhao immediately absolved himself. He had not ignored the matter; he had ordered the Crown Prince to confess himself, so he was not to blame.