Health Festival Day 1 – Outing (1)

Enforcing the law and arresting criminals is the duty of the Ministry of Justice. The head of each ministry is called a Minister, so naturally, the head of the Ministry of Justice was called the Minister of Justice.

And the current Minister of Justice, from a central aristocratic family that had been in the capital for a long time, inherited the title of Baron and was called ‘Baron Ramsterium Achilles’. Of course, a Baron was a sufficient aristocratic title, but the core of his power lay not in the title of ‘Baron’ but in the position of ‘Minister of Justice’.

Ever since Achilles became the Minister of Justice, no, ever since Ministers of Justice had been in office, there was one place they hated: the Changwei (廠衛: Information Bureau).

Arresting criminals and inflicting punishments according to the law was the duty of the Ministry of Justice. However, the Changwei, based on the Emperor’s verbal orders and exploiting loopholes in the codified law, intentionally created a prison called Changok (廠獄) beyond the reach of the law, independently arresting, detaining, and sometimes punishing criminals.

However, such an institution always pleased the monarch, so the Changwei, though repeatedly expanded and contracted, never completely disappeared. Perhaps the Emperor enjoyed the competition between the Ministry of Justice and the Changwei.

“Have you finished making the list of commoners who will enter the palace during this Health Preservation Festival?”

Achilles was in his official residence, wearing a black uniform decorated with gold thread on the sleeves and collar. This was his usual uniform, and he would wear a separate ceremonial robe for important events.

In the office of the Minister, who was said to make even flying birds fall, swords were hung on the walls, and small busts of former Ministers of Justice who had done important work were displayed. He also hoped to become a Minister worthy of being decorated with a bust someday.

On one side of the office, there was a bookshelf filled to bursting with thick books recording codified laws and precedents. A few books that should have been on the bookshelf were placed on the Minister’s desk, opened wide. Documents were scattered haphazardly next to them, but when a subordinate opened the door and entered, Achilles gathered the papers into the drawer, leaving only the few he needed.

The sunlight shining through the large window was warm, but a sharp energy permeated the office. This was because the atmosphere was deliberately made solemn and heavy, considering it was the official residence of the ‘Ministry of Justice’. A gentle breeze entered through the slightly open window, causing the curtains to flutter.

As they say, the position makes the person. Since becoming the Minister of Justice, Achilles had hardened his expression, and before he knew it, a hardened face had become his default. His body, though not as much as knights or warriors, was appropriately trained and solid.

“Minister-daegam, the number of commoners entering the palace this time is 80 in total. Our list is complete, and the Changwei side says they will complete theirs soon.”

“Those damn bastards.”

Achilles, feeling a surge of irritation, crumpled the paper in his hand into a wad. When the subordinate in front of him silently stared at his hand, he unfolded the paper again with a slightly embarrassed but nonchalant expression. Although it was creased, there was no problem reading the text.

During major events, the palace had a custom of deliberately inviting non-nobles to show off its dignity and benevolence. However, since not just anyone could be brought into the palace, they would select people who were reasonably wealthy, had a good reputation, and had no close relatives who were heavily in debt or had committed crimes, and then create a list to receive approval.

The Ministry of Justice understood the meaning of this custom and had no particular complaints, but there was one problem. The work of selecting commoners to come and see the palace was divided in half with the Changwei.

“Those Changwei bastards are getting too cocky these days. Even if we can’t eliminate them, we need to step on them a bit…”

One of the basic tasks of high-ranking officials like the Minister of Justice, or nobles, was to regularly perform magical treatments to prevent conversations from being leaked. And a significant part of that was intended to hide their weaknesses from the Changwei’s eyes. If a weakness was caught, they would inevitably become a pawn, not a master, in all dealings with the Changwei.

“Speaking of which, daegam, there’s a secret rumor going around that the Princess-nim has been in contact with the Changwei lately.”

“The Princess-nim? Why?”

The eyes of the Changwei naturally included the Princesses, but since they were far from direct power, their priority was relatively low. What the Changwei cared about was not obtaining information from the Princesses, but issues related to the Princesses’ escorts.

If something unfortunate happened to the Princesses, the primary responsibility would fall on the palace’s defense forces, but depending on the situation, the Changwei, who had failed to notice the signs, could also bear secondary responsibility and be punished.

“Those below say they can’t guess the exact reason.”

Minister Achilles stroked his proud beard and said one word.

“For now, tell them to keep observing the Changwei bastards’ movements. If an opportunity comes, we strike.”

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The Health Preservation Festival (報乾坤祭) is a ritual held around the time the autumn harvest is appropriately completed, to give thanks for the grace of heaven and earth. On this day, all the sects in the empire also hold thanksgiving ceremonies in accordance with their respective rituals, but the Emperor did not follow the methods of any sect and followed the rigid rituals of ancient times.

It was an established practice to ensure that the empire’s religious landscape would not change depending on which religion the Emperor personally favored. Therefore, the object of receiving offerings in the ceremony was not a deity of a specific sect, but vaguely glossed over as ‘all the gods in heaven and earth’. Those who participated in the ceremony believed that ‘all the gods’ included the gods they believed in.

The Health Preservation Festival, which the Emperor held outside the palace once a year, was highly symbolic. Therefore, all direct imperial family members residing in the capital had to attend unless they were ill, and the same was true for high-ranking officials and nobles.

In the early days of the nation, it was held around midnight in the deep night, but in the process of reorganizing the ritual, the time of holding it was changed to daytime. There was also the issue of convenience of holding the ceremony, but the biggest intention was to make it easier for the people to watch. Although they could not come close to the altar, during the ceremony, the citizens of the capital gathered around in droves and watched from afar. The food and money distributed after the ceremony were also reasons why the people eagerly watched.

Mirabilis attended in a black dress, and Serina also stood behind as a maid serving the Princess. In addition, Padrentia and the Crown Prince also accompanied them, but the Emperor himself was not present. He was standing in front of the altar as the officiant of the ceremony. Although countless people had gathered, the ceremonial ground (祭場) was so quiet that the sound of mosquitoes flying could be heard. Only the sounds heard while proceeding with the ritual spread out gently.

One clean cow at a time was dragged to the front of the altar. A selected butcher (屠者: baekjeong) stepped forward and stabbed the inside of the cow’s neck with a dagger like lightning. The cow could not even utter a death cry and collapsed to the floor with a heavy body. A fishy, fresh blood gushed out from the wound where the blade had passed, but there was almost no bleeding compared to the cow’s large body. It was a mysterious skill created to kill quickly while maintaining the shape as intact as possible, as one should not carelessly damage the offerings to the spirits.

The Emperor knelt respectfully in front of the fishy, fresh blood emanating from the fallen cow and read the sacrificial address in a clear voice, informing the spirits.

“I, the Emperor, give thanks to all the gods in heaven and earth, to the manifestations of the infinitely dignified providence who have appeared on earth and bestowed their grace, and respectfully offer nine whole and clean cows as sacrifices in this place.”

As the Emperor recited the sacrificial address, a ritual officer (祭官) placed a large bronze incense burner in front of the Emperor. Smoke from burning fragrant wood rose like clouds from the incense burner. The Emperor continued to read the sacrificial address.

“Whether you are a god who has revealed or concealed your dignified divine virtue (神德) to us humans, as one who represents the many living beings living in this country, I respectfully offer pure offerings in this good season, so please respond and partake. And may you eliminate war and epidemics, and bestow abundant blessings so that there will be a bountiful harvest and various livestock will prosper in the coming year.”

The Emperor deliberately spoke loudly so that the sound of his prayer could be heard even by the surrounding people. The monarch’s voice collided with the walls placed on the altar, scattering and reaching the ears of those far away.

Nine altars were built with trimmed stones, and several bundles of thick, stiff firewood were placed on top of them. Afterwards, the nine cows were killed one by one, placed on the altars, and set on fire. It was literally a burnt offering (燔祭: a sacrifice burned with fire).

Each time the firewood crackled, the vermilion flames grew fiercer, greedily licking the offerings offered to the gods. The flesh of the cows placed on the stone altar was engulfed in flames, sizzling and burning, becoming acrid black smoke that flew up into the sky, and the oil boiled with blood, flowing down from the altar and forming lumpy masses.

It was unknown whether the bodiless gods would be pleased with the fire and smell of burning meat. But that black smoke rising as if to reach the blue sky and white clouds was proof that the Emperor was offering sacrifices and giving blessings to the immeasurable gods with the utmost respect. There was nothing better than this to show the Emperor personally offering sacrifices for the entire country in front of countless people. This was the biggest reason why the court could not give up the Health Preservation Festival.

Again, the Emperor took the blood that had flowed from the necks of the nine cows, mixed it with alcohol in a cup, and drank it. It meant that the officiant of the ceremony also ate the food offered to the gods. After that, the palace distributed a few coins or food to all the attendees and the spectators gathered in the back.