Chapter 5: The Emperor's Invitation

  The distance from Sichuan to Huadu is hundreds of miles, and on the way, the horse did not stop running. When they arrived at the border of Huadu, it was already nightfall. The carriage stopped in front of the gate of Yang Ziting's mansion in Huadu, and an old man hurried out to greet them. This old man was Fusheng, the steward arranged by Yang Ziting in his mansion in Huadu. He was older than Yang Ziting and had dedicated his entire youth to the Yang family. His wife had passed away early, and he had no children or relatives left in the world. Yang Ziting had arranged for him to be a steward in this mansion, where he spent his days idly, which could be considered as enjoying his later years. Therefore, Fusheng was very grateful to the Yang family and was extremely loyal.

  "Old master, you've finally arrived."

  Fu Sheng saw the carriage come to a stop, and personally went forward to lift the curtain for Yang Ziting. He then supported Yang Ziting, who had been traveling by boat and carriage for half a day, as he got down from the carriage. Yun Qi followed behind them, and Fu Sheng merely nodded in greeting before instructing another servant to take Yun Qi to rest. Meanwhile, he had already prepared ginseng tea for Yang Ziting and was waiting to attend to his master's needs as he rested in the inner room.

  A house servant, about the same age as Yun Qi, escorted Yun Qi to his guest room and then retreated with a bow. Although they were all servants, those who could follow Master would naturally be superior, and it was rare for Yun Qi to enjoy the treatment of a young master. However, along the way, he found that this separate courtyard, although not as large as Si Nan's, was quite simple and elegant in its layout. If Si Nan's Yang Manor was like a wealthy family's mansion, then this place was more like an official residence.

  As soon as he thought about entering the palace to meet the prince tomorrow, Yun Qi felt a bit nervous. He had been to the Forbidden City in Beijing before, and its grandeur was truly breathtaking - the 999-and-a-half rooms, the high walls with red lacquer, the giant stones, the pavilions and towers, all of which exuded an imperial aura that overlooked the common people. The palace in the southern kingdom should be no exception. When it came to the emperor, the supreme ruler, people's first thought was always the harem - every dynasty had its own stories of emperors with thousands of concubines, singing and dancing through the night, losing themselves in pleasure. But Yun Qi wondered: would he be able to see those legendary beauties, the imperial consorts with their stunning looks and enchanting figures?

  With these thoughts, Yun Qi fell asleep in a daze on her bed.

  On the second day, early in the morning, before dawn, which is around 4 or 5 o'clock in modern time, Yun Qi was woken up by his servant after only sleeping for three to four hours.

  "Ah-oh!" A heavy yawn escaped, and Yun Qi rubbed his half-open eyes, looking tired. He couldn't understand why officials in this era had to attend the early morning court session so early; didn't the emperor need rest too? Since he hadn't slept until dawn, after washing up and getting everything ready, Yun Qi was now dozing off in the carriage with Yang Wenguan, while Yang Ziting, who was over fifty years old, looked full of energy.

  Before long, they arrived at the palace gate, and the sky had already brightened. The palace guards knew it was Yang Ziting's carriage, so after bowing, they let them pass. At this time, Yun Qi was still sleeping in his nest, having just dreamed that Han Xueyan had finally agreed to be with him, and before he could even get excited about the beautiful face and kiss her passionately, he was kicked awake by Yang Ziting.

  "We're almost at the imperial palace, mind your manners. I'll be attending court soon, you wait for me in the carriage. After the court session is over, I'll take you to meet His Highness the Crown Prince." Having said that, he was about to get off the carriage when suddenly he thought of something and turned his head to remind him: "Remember, just sit in the carriage and don't run around randomly. If anything goes wrong and you're caught and beheaded, I won't be able to save you either." Having said that, he ignored Yun Qi's wide open mouth and got off the carriage.

  Through the curtain of the carriage, Yun Qi saw that there were already many carriages of various sizes parked here, which should be the ministers who came to pay their respects. Some officials wearing official robes of unknown ranks were chatting in groups of three or five and walking towards the main hall.

  Are you going to leave me on the carriage like this? I don't even know when you'll be done with your morning court, if I had known it would take so long, I might as well have slept in. Thinking of this, Yun Qi remembered Yang Ziting telling him not to run around randomly, he was too lazy to move, so with no one else in the carriage, he settled into a comfortable position and lay down, continuing his search for that beauty from his dreams.

  Inside the grand hall, with a sharp and strange "audience" sound from the eunuch, Emperor Zhu Zidao of Nanguo, wearing a golden dragon robe, although over fifty years old, still walked with dignity. After Zhu Zidao sat on the dragon chair with the support of the eunuch, the eunuch shouted to the officials: "Perform the rites!"

  "Long live Your Majesty, may you be safe and healthy!" The officials knelt down and respectfully shouted.

  Zhu Zizhen swept his eyes over the civil and military officials below, saying: "Everyone, calm down."

  The officials all chimed in unison: "Thank you, Your Majesty! May Your Majesty enjoy ten thousand blessings!"

  Next came the scene often seen in TV dramas, Zhu Zidao hinted to the ministers that they could make their reports, and those ministers took turns speaking out of line, saying some trivial matters, and amazingly, they were able to speak with great fanfare. Zhu Zidao listened and felt a headache, furrowed his brow, and hastily stopped the minister's speech: "These things, you can directly submit the memorial, soon Lu Gonggong will hand it over to the Crown Prince, let him review it."

  "We obey your orders!" The officials echoed in agreement.

  Zhu Zizhen glanced at the group of officials, and when his eyes fell on Yang Ziting's body, he suddenly thought of something and asked: "Yang Taifu."

  "Yes, sir!" Yang Ziting hastily held up his ruler and bowed respectfully, stepping out of line.

  "Didn't the crown prince ask you to bring a tribute of cigarettes last time? Did you bring them?"

  "Your Majesty, the person has been brought." Yang Ziting replied thus.

  "Ah? Where is the person?" Zhu Zidao came with interest, this cigarette thing, he now really treats it as a rare treasure, at first, he could still hand one over to the thick-skinned prince who came to ask for it, until the stock was almost depleted, he felt that things were serious, from then on, he also tried his best to restrain himself, and only lit one at the most tired time of the day. The feeling of being dazed after finishing smoking made him unforgettable for a long time. Now hearing that the person who brought the cigarettes came, he naturally wanted to see what kind of person could own such a rare thing.

  Yang Ziting said: "I report to Your Majesty, this person is in the old man's carriage outside."

  Zhu Zidao heard this and turned his head to instruct the eunuch beside him: "Go bring this person here for me to see."

  "Yes! Your Majesty!" It was still that eunuch with the strange, high-pitched accent and emphasis, who bowed and walked out of the palace with small, quick steps, twisting his waist. Several generals couldn't help but feel a chill when they saw him, and hastily turned their heads away, not daring to look again, lest they vomit up last night's dinner.

  Yun Qiu was lying in the carriage, just fell asleep, had a dream that he returned to Yang Fu, and before waiting for what would happen next, he was woken up again.

  "Your grandma's hairy legs! Can't you see that I'm sleeping?!" It's no wonder Yun Qi burst out cursing, today he was woken up three times in total, and he was extremely sleepy, each time it made him suffer terribly, overworked and ill-tempered, his anger naturally flared up.

  That eunuch seemed to be used to such scenes and wasn't angry, but his tone was somewhat unpleasant. He pointed at Yun Qi's nose with his index finger and said in a soft voice: "You're the one brought by Lord Yang, right? Young man! The Emperor has summoned you!" After finishing speaking, he didn't pay attention to Yun Qi's shocked expression, took a few steps back, and made way for Yun Qi to get off the carriage.

  "Your Majesty?... Shouldn't it be the Crown Prince?... How did you become Your Majesty?... Is it really Your Majesty calling me?" Yun Qi couldn't believe it, repeatedly confirming.

  The eunuch glanced at him with disdain and said, "Our family can't cheat you, hurry up and follow." After finishing speaking, he turned around and walked back, gesturing for Yun Qi to follow.

  "I... vomit!" Yun Qigong didn't have the endurance of the officials in the palace, and looking at the eunuch's gait, he couldn't help but throw up all the breakfast he had eaten in the carriage that morning.

  (Wah kah kah... Second update is here...)