On the 15th, father and daughter Yang Ruoqing and Yang Huazhong went to Huguang County together and picked up Mrs. Zuo.

Just like when she brought Mrs. Zuo over to watch the big show, Mrs. Zuo stayed at the Luo family beforehand and waited peacefully for the consecration ceremony on the 18th.

On the 17th, Chef Zhou arrived at Changping Village with his assistant chef, waiters and other kitchen teams.

Yang Ruoqing led them directly to the large kitchen in the backyard of the Taoist temple and the side room to let them rest first.

Then, he drafted a list of guests who would come to visit the consecration ceremony tomorrow and gave it to Chef Zhou.

"There may be some discrepancies in the number of guests arriving tomorrow. According to the quota on this list, and leaving some extra backup, that's enough." In the private room in the backyard of the Taoist temple, Yang Ruoqing discussed with Chef Zhou and the sous chef.

Chef Zhou thought about it for a while and said, "Don't worry, we know for sure that we won't be short of vegetarian food for our guests."

…

In the blink of an eye, it’s October 18th of the lunar calendar.

The birthday of Empress Houtu is also a grand day for the consecration of Taoist temples.

Taoist priests from several well-known Taoist temples in nearby counties were invited by Taoist priest Yuan, and the county magistrate of Wanghai County also came to Changping Village with his wife and daughter.

For the small Changping Village, the excitement and impact caused by the arrival of the county magistrate is far greater than that of an emperor who is as high as the sky and as far away as the emperor.

So on this day, with Changping Village as the center and radiating to the surrounding villages, everything was boiling.

There are almost no people in the fields, but the Taoist temple is full of people, very lively and grand.

In the Sanqing Hall in the front yard of the Taoist temple, Taoist priests from all walks of life sit cross-legged under the statues of gods, waving whisks, chanting sutras, or discussing Taoism, promoting Taoist ideas, discussing the great ways of heaven and earth, and purifying the soul.

In the backyard of the Taoist temple, Chef Zhou led a team of waiters to make various vegetarian dishes lively and delicious.

As for Yang Ruoqing, she was not used to entertaining in such occasions as the front yard, and there was no need for a layman like her to entertain. She could just leave it to Taoist Yuan.

The county magistrate needed to receive him, so she called Mu Zichuan over in advance.

When the time came, Muzichuan would chat with the county prince, while she would take care of the county prince's wife and daughter.

Although her official rank is far lower than that of Luo Fengtang and Mu Zichuan, since Yang Ruoqing invited her in this post, she went to great lengths to put down her official duties and drag her family over to support her, so she naturally had to entertain her warmly.

As a result, when the county magistrate and his wife saw Master Mu and Mrs. Luo walking in side by side, they had to kneel down to them. It was the rule to bow to Shangfeng and Mrs. Gaoming.

"Today's occasion is special, so these rules are waived!" Mu Zichuan nodded slightly and said.

The county magistrate looked flattered and said, "It is a great honor for me to be invited by the general's wife and to admire Master Mu's grace."

"Your Majesty, please be humble. This way, please." Mu Zichuan was dressed in white and had a spring breeze-like smile on his face.

Yang Ruoqing also showed a kind smile to the county magistrate's wife: "Your Excellency and Madam are able to come to attend the consecration ceremony despite their busy schedules, so that the people here can see the grace of our parents and officials. The people are very excited."

The county magistrate's wife smiled politely and said: "Earlier, when my husband was working as an official in other places, he heard that there are outstanding people and talented people in Mianniu Mountain. General Luo defended his family and country, Wen Youmu visited the flowers, and Yang Zhuangyuan was famous all over the world.

I came here today and saw the beautiful mountains and rivers, it’s really a great place!”

Yang Ruoqing curled her lips and nodded slightly.

He raised his hand to make a gesture of invitation: "Sit here, madam."

Mu Zichuan was ranked third in the exam, while Da'an was the top pick. When the county magistrate's wife spoke, she would put Mu Zichuan in the front and Da'an in the back. Yang Ruoqing had no objection to this.

First of all, Mu Zichuan is older than Da'an. Secondly, before Mu Zichuan returned to his hometown of Dingyou, his official position was higher than that of Da'an.

He is also the proud disciple of the cabinet bachelor. As soon as Ding You returns to Beijing and resumes his duties, his future will be limitless.

In the end, Mu Zichuan himself was right in front of him, and Da Any was far away in the Hanlin Academy in the capital, so there was nothing wrong with putting Mu Zichuan in the front, and Yang Ruoqing didn't mind.

The front and back yards of Taoist temples and every hall are filled with people who come to watch the excitement.

In nearby towns, faithful men and women from eight villages in ten miles came to burn incense, pray, and go to the life-release pond to release animals.

Those released are mostly small fish, shrimps, loaches and the like. The emphasis is on the meaning of "release".

The young and old men of the Yang family, as well as the men from the village's transportation team, were all sent to the Taoist temple to receive guests or to maintain order.

When he saw the small fish and shrimps swimming around in the release pond, Yang Huaming pinched his hands and said to Yang Yongjin beside him: "Good guy, this release pond is almost catching up with the fish pond raised by Brother Luo."

Yang Yongjin twitched the corner of his mouth, that's right, but these people were very motivated to release animals, but they didn't know that all these small fish, shrimps and loaches were released into a pond, and they began to eat the jungle again.

"When the pool is full, we should take care of it." Yang Yongjin said, then turned around and went to patrol elsewhere.

Mrs. Sun and Wang Cuilian accompanied Mrs. Zuo throughout their visit to the Taoist temple. Mrs. Zuo took out the incense candles she had prepared in advance, and they all went to the copper stove to burn them, then made wishes and hung the wishing talisman on the wishing tree.

The wishing tree has long been covered with various wishing charms, which look like colorful butterflies in the sun, expressing wishes one by one.

I hope that with today's auspiciousness, the gods will hear me, send blessings, and everything will come true.

At noon, a fasting banquet was held in the large dining hall in the backyard, and the invited guests were led to their seats by the reception staff.

Here is Chef Zhou’s stage.

All kinds of ordinary vegetarian ingredients were transformed into exquisite delicacies under his spatula, which were presented in front of everyone, and naturally he received a lot of praise.

As the sun set in the west, the consecration ceremony came to an end, guests from all parties left one after another, and the Taoist temple, which had been noisy all day, gradually returned to calm in the afterglow of the setting sun.

This is what a place of Qing Xiu should look like.

Taoist Yuan and Xiao Mo were sorting out the magical instruments and scriptures used in today's consecration ceremony in the Sanqing Hall. In front of and behind the courtyard, Yang Ruoqing took Yang Huazhong, Blacksmith Luo, Da Mo, Xiao Jie's father, Lao Yangtou and Lao Suntou.

Here, everyone is busy sweeping the floor, cleaning the incense ashes from the copper stove, and everywhere.

There are more than a thousand people coming in and out today, and a lot of dirt will be left wherever people pass by, so it will take some effort to clean up, even if there is not enough manpower.

Sun and Wang Cuilian went home to cook and prepare to invite everyone to their house for dinner at night.

Mrs. Zuo went to the Buddhist hall with Tuoba Xian. Everyone divided the work in an orderly manner and was busy but not chaotic. Although the aftermath work was a bit tiring, everyone was very happy because the consecration ceremony went smoothly.
Chapter completed!