"Imperial Grandson departing!" As the master of ceremonies intoned the rites with rising and falling cadence, the ceremony entered its final stage.
The Grand Secretariat ministers personally escorted the Imperial Grandson to the palace gates. Tan Ping, Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, had long since come forward to receive him, personally guarding his passage out through the main gate and around the Capital City's main roads once—an upgraded version of the so-called "parading the successful candidates along the imperial streets," allowing ten thousand people to behold his bearing. In essence, it was to win the Capital City's people's recognition.
Snowflakes drifted through the air, yet every household along the route had already received orders from Shuntian Prefecture and the Ministry of Rites to don new clothes. At this moment, bells and drums rang in unison from the drum tower, and music swelled loudly.
When people opened their eyes to look, dragon fans, ceremonial banners, leopard poles, and dragon flags came sweeping in, blotting out the sky and sun. Eight guards led the way with hands pressed to the hilts of their sabers, forty guards protected both sides, and the carriage proceeded slowly amid their escort, followed by a long procession.
As Su Ziji's carriage passed, men and women, old and young, on both sides of the street all knelt and prostrated themselves, crying out like mountains roaring and seas crashing, "May the Imperial Grandson live a thousand years! Ten thousand years, ten thousand years to the Imperial Grandson!"
No one knew who it was in the crowd, but someone suddenly shouted, "May the Crown Prince live a thousand years!"
That cry was like a switch being thrown. One after another, people in the crowd began shouting, "May the Crown Prince live a thousand years!" Though the wave of sound was not