The Forbidden Imperial City was built in the Yongle period, more than 200 years ago. It is the most majestic palace in the world and a heavily fortified city.
The outer wall of the imperial city is four feet high. There is a moat surrounding the wall. The Jingshan Mountain on the north side is said to be the earth and rocks dug out for the construction of the Forbidden City.
The palace gates on both sides are named Donghua Gate and Xihua Gate respectively.
When Cao Muyun entered the palace with Hua Bushi, he wanted to go through Donghua Gate.
Half an hour later, the carriage had arrived outside Donghua Gate and got off in front of the dismounting monument. Hua Bushi only saw a stone bridge built of white marble on the moat in front of him, which was more than ten feet wide. Opposite the bridge, there was a dark red city platform with towering towers.
The yellow glazed tile roof with carved dragons, painted phoenixes looks majestic and gorgeous
After walking across the stone bridge, we arrived at the palace gate. Although Donghua Gate is only a side door, it is also quite majestic. The two red-painted doors, which are about 10 feet thick, have 72 shining brass door nails that are larger than a fist.
Cao Muyun said: "According to the usual rules of yin and yang magic, the number of copper nails on the palace gate should be ninety-nine. The other three gates in the imperial city all have eighty-one nails, but the Donghua Gate has only seventy-two.
Door nail, Master Hua, does he know the truth?"
Hua Bushi said: "I don't know how to ask Brother Muyun for advice."
Cao Muyun said: "When Emperor Yongle moved the capital to Beijing, he used the drawing left by Liu Ji, Duke Wen Cheng, to build the palace. Liu Ji secretly drew the picture of the Heavenly Palace and built it according to it. This imperial city will be like Jiuxiao."
The Heavenly Palace is exactly the same. In order to express his respect for Heaven and show the difference between the emperor of the world and the Emperor of Heaven, he intentionally painted one row less nails on the Donghua Gate, so that the number of nails on the Donghua Gate is now ninety-eight-seventy-two."
The so-called Liu Ji is Liu Bowen, the founder of the Ming Dynasty. It is said that this person has mastery of yin and yang Xiao magic and has the ability to penetrate the heaven and earth. He is called "Liu Tianshi", which is comparable to Zhuge Wuhou in the Three Kingdoms. There are also many folk legends related to him [
Most emperors hope to use people's belief in gods to create their own semi-human and semi-god status, so that the common people can fear and surrender. The construction of the Forbidden City according to the pattern of the Heavenly Palace is probably for this purpose.
Hua Bushi has never believed in the theory of ghosts and gods, nor does he believe that there is really any Jiuxiao Tiangong. However, he found it interesting to hear this and said, "It turns out that listening to Brother Mu Yun's words like this has given me a lot of experience."
The Forbidden Imperial City is heavily guarded, and even the princes and ministers cannot come in and out at will. The guards on duty at Donghua Gate are all none other than Lan Haochen. Thinking about it, Cao Muyun went around a lot to enter the palace through Donghua Gate.
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At this time, this tall Ouchi master was waiting in front of the door. He obviously knew that their group was coming. There was also a grey-haired eunuch in his fifties beside him, holding a whisk in his hand.
Cao Muyun stepped forward and cupped his hands with the two of them and said, "Eunuch Chen, Junior Brother Lan has kept you waiting for a long time."
Lan Haochen cupped his fists and returned the salute to the old eunuch, but he knelt down and kowtowed: "Old slave Chen Ping, please pay your respects to Your Highness."
Cao Muyun was the adopted son of Emperor Chongzhen. He raised his hand and asked the old eunuch to stand up and said, "Mr. Chen, you must be more polite."
He turned around and said to Lan Haochen: "Junior brother Lan, let me introduce to you this is Mr. Hua, the young master of the 'Evil Dog Sect' who is my close friend."
Hua Bushi cupped his hands and said, "I've heard for a long time that Commander Lan is the number one master among the Jinyi Guards. It's a great honor to meet him today."
Lan Haochen returned the favor and said, "Young Master Hua really doesn't deserve Lan's praise."
He quickly turned his eyes to Li Hu, who was standing behind the eldest young master, and said, "I don't know what to call this little brother."
This is not the first time that Lan Haochen and Li Hu have met each other. They had fought each other on Tianqiao Street that day. Li Hu was stabbed by the other party, but he robbed the prince and princess's car in front of Lan Haochen. Lan Haochen almost lost his life because of this matter. Fortunately, his senior brother Cao Muyun came forward to intercede, and soon after the prince and princess returned to the capital safely, he was able to avoid the crime. However, his official title was reduced from the previous fifth rank to two levels. For the sixth grade
Even so, Lan Haochen was very lucky. Lu Rong, who was guarding Gong Jia with him, was directly dismissed from the post of commander and now has become an ordinary big man with a sword to guard. His official rank was even lowered. In the end, it became the seventh grade
All of these are thanks to this "robber". How can Lan Haochen not recognize the culprit when he sees it now?
Seeing Lan Haochen staring at Li Hu, he said with a careless expression: "My name is Li Hu. What are you staring at? Are you trying to find fault?" [
Cao Muyun saw that something was wrong between the two of them and said quickly: "Brother Li Hu is Master Hua's top apprentice. Thanks to him, we were able to solve the assassination case of the palace driver. It can be said that you two have never known each other before fighting. Junior Brother Lan wants to have a lot with him." close"
Hua Bushi also said: "Li Hu cannot take charge of Lan Tong."
Li Hu always obeyed Boss Shitou's words. He smiled twice and said nothing.
Seeing that the two of them no longer looked at each other, Cao Muyun turned to the old eunuch and asked: "How is the situation in Eunuch Chen's palace? Father has already had lunch?"
The old eunuch Chen Ping said: "When I return to Your Highness, Your Majesty has already had lunch and is now in Yonghe Palace."
"In Yonghe Palace." Cao Muyun frowned slightly and said, "Didn't your father go to the Imperial Study Room?"
Chen Ping said: "Your Majesty usually goes to the Imperial Study Room after lunch on weekdays. Today, Concubine Tian sewed a pair of brocade shoes and invited Your Majesty to try them on before going to Yonghe Palace."
Cao Muyun lowered his head in thought after hearing this. Hua Bushi saw this scene and thought that Emperor Chongzhen must have gone beyond Cao Muyun's expectations at the palace of Yonghe Palace. Therefore, he should be hesitating whether to go to the palace to meet the emperor today or come another day.
Hua Bushi already knew everything about the situation in the palace, and it was his right to participate in his opinions. At this moment, he stood aside without saying much, just waiting for Cao Muyun to make a decision.
After pondering for a moment, Cao Muyun raised his head and said, "Things will inevitably change if things take a long time. We'd better go into the palace to see the Holy One today."
The old eunuch Chen Ping said: "It is the old slave who leads the way for His Highness."
At that moment, Chen Ping was in front, Cao Mu, Yun Hua Bu Shi was walking towards the palace gate, and Li Hu was about to step up to follow. However, he suddenly heard Lan Haochen say: "Wait a minute, you are not allowed to bring weapons into the important area of the palace. Please ask Brother Li to guard it." "The sword remains"
Li Hu's face darkened and he said: "You also have a sword on your body, how can you get in?"
Lan Haochen was originally guarding the palace and waiting for the commander of the guards. Of course he would carry a sword with him. However, Li Hu has always been arrogant in his actions. This reason did not make sense to him.
Fortunately, Hua Bushi turned around and said, "Li Hu, please stay here until I come out. You don't have to go into the palace."
The Forbidden Palace is the safest place with tight guards. Hua Bushi does not need Li Hu to follow and protect him, and it is even more inappropriate to take him to see the emperor.
When Boss Shitou spoke, Li Hu had no choice but to obey and nod: "If you are the boss, then I will stay here."
Cao Mu Yunhua Bushi followed the old eunuch Chen Ping into the Donghua Gate. Li Hu stood at the door with his feet raised. Bai Liao Lai felt a little unhappy in his heart. This was because he had a selfish motive for following him this time besides protecting Boss Shitou.
It has been seven days since Zhu Huichan returned to the capital and entered the palace. When the two were together, they didn't feel it. Once they were separated, they couldn't help but worry about it. Could this be what people often call lovesickness?
In the past, Li Hu would never treat any woman like this, but this time he felt this way towards the little princess.
He thought that when he came to the palace with Hua Bushi, he could take the opportunity to go in and find Zhu Huichan to meet him, but he didn't expect that he could only stay outside the palace gate. Li Hu felt a little disappointed.
He looked around and saw Lan Haochen standing beside him, looking at him and asking: "Hey, why don't you follow them in?"
Lan Haochen said: "It is Lan's duty to guard Donghua Gate and he cannot leave casually."
"So you're the gatekeeper..." Li Hu muttered, but his heart suddenly moved: "I think your swordsmanship is very good, and it took a lot of effort. Are you interested in learning from each other?"
Lan Haochen has been practicing swordsmanship from a famous family since he was a child. He is quite confident in his swordsmanship. Although he fought against Li Hu on Tianqiao Street that day, he only fought a few moves in a critical moment. Li Hu used it to rob Xianglong Chariot. It's probably due to the terrain. Lan Haochen doesn't think the opponent's swordsmanship is better than his.
Because his car was robbed, he was demoted two levels in a row, and his friend Lu Rong even lost his position as commander. If Lan Haochen didn't hold any grudge in his heart, he couldn't have done it just for the sake of his senior brother Cao Muyun. I just suppressed it and never showed it.
At this time, when he heard Li Hu's words, Lan Haochen thought that he could take the opportunity to let this person suffer some pain to relieve his anger. Anyway, the other party proposed to learn swordsmanship first. Even if the senior brother comes back, he can't be blamed. He said: "Okay. Lan is about to learn Brother Li’s swordsmanship. There is a very empty place over there, so let’s go there and do it.”
Li Hu shook his head and said: "Okay, okay, but it's too boring for us to fight like this. At least we have to make a bet."
Lan Haochen was stunned and said: "I don't know how much silver Brother Li wants to bet."
Li Hu said with a "hehe" smile: "As Commander Lan, the bet is too small to be justified, so let's bet a round number." He stretched out a finger as he spoke.
Lan Haochen said: "One hundred taels"
Li Hu shook his head and shook his finger.
Lan Haochen said: "One thousand taels"
As the commander of the bodyguards, it was common for him to gamble and make money with others, but betting one hundred taels was already a lot of one thousand taels, and it was considered a huge bet. But Li Hu was still shaking his head.
Lan Haochen was surprised: "Could it be that Brother Li wants to bet 10,000 taels?"