Changle Palace.
Silk ribbons fluttered everywhere in the palace, filling it with a festive atmosphere.
Today was Liu Heng's capping ceremony, and also the first day of his personal rule.
Empress Dowager Zhang Yan, Luo Xin, and Grand Elder Princess Liu Le, the people closest to Emperor Liu Heng, all surrounded him.
Coming of age was a matter of vital importance to any man, let alone an emperor, yet it was also an intensely private affair, usually attended only by the man's relatives and friends.
But because Liu Heng's capping ceremony also involved the transfer of supreme state power, Luo Xin had summoned all the senior ministers and court officials in Chang'an City.
In Changle Palace's main hall, envoys from the various Lords King-and even Crown Princes who had come in person-were present. As for the Thorough Marquises, not a single house was absent. Every powerful and noble family under heaven had gathered here to congratulate the emperor on his coming of age and offer their felicitations to their new sovereign.
"The spirits of the ancestors dwell in heaven; may your descendants enjoy their light."
"The spirits bestow great radiance; may your descendants endure for ten thousand times ten thousand years."
The ministers sang verses praising the sovereign in unison, while hundreds of musicians played together, filling the Great Hall with magnificent sound.
Accompanied by the humming of the surrounding palace attendants, Liu Heng likewise chanted, "The sovereign bestows great radiance; the children of his ministers receive his blessings. The flowing Great River may run dry, the towering mountains may crumble, but the oath between sovereign and minister shall endure for ten thousand times ten thousand years, forever unchanged."
Clang, clang, clang!
Bells, ritual cauldrons, strings, and music converged in the Great Hall like a symphony. The sounds seemed to