Chapter 6: Chang'an in My Dream

  "Ziying, why are you running so slowly? What's taking you so long?" Liu Haili, Sun Simiao's second disciple, shouted loudly while sitting on his horse.

  "I'm coming!" Chen Yi responded loudly, driving his horse to chase after Sun Simiao and his disciples who were already a distance ahead of him.

  Sun Simiao was going to Chang'an on business, seemingly urgent matters, and also asked Chen Yi to follow him. After preparing for a while, and waiting for the two disciples Wang Chong and Liu Hai who were collecting medicine in the depths of Tongtai Mountain to return, Sun Simiao set off with several people.

  Originally, Sun Simiao had Ning Qing stay and guard the Zong Sheng Palace, but Xiao Yatou kept pestering him until he finally agreed to let her go too.

  Chen Yi didn't know what Sun Simiao's disciples were doing in Chang'an, he had asked Sun Simiao before but couldn't get a clear answer. Ning Qing was also unaware of the situation and only told Chen Yi some of her guesses.

  Chang'an City is about 70 miles away from Zhongnan Mountain Zongsheng Palace. Riding a horse at a fast pace, you can basically arrive in one day.

  After riding on the road, Chen Yi's joyful feeling in his heart grew stronger and stronger. There were many reasons for the excitement, including pride in his good riding skills, surprise at the beautiful scenery along the way, and most importantly, the anticipation of arriving at Chang'an City, a place he had longed to visit since ancient times, which was about to become a reality, bringing the strongest thrill.

  After possessing this body, Chen Yi felt that his mentality had become much younger, the original calmness was greatly reduced, and the impulsiveness of a young man reappeared. The youthfulness and passion of his body and mind were once again restored, and he could also understand why he felt so excited about going to Chang'an. When a dream is about to come true, everyone will be extremely excited and thrilled, and "young" Chen Yi was no exception.

  Of course, some unexpected discoveries brought even more joy to this feeling. After galloping on horseback for a while, Chen Yi felt that his riding skills were quite good, and he could control the horse under him as smoothly as a doctor listening to a patient's breathing with a stethoscope in later generations. He even felt that he could perform several high-difficulty driving actions on horseback, which made him like this "instinct" left by his body. This was one of the reasons why he could quickly integrate into this era, and also made him more delighted!

  Another factor is the beautiful scenery seen along the way, which was another surprise for Chen Yi.

  Due to the unusual weather this year, the rain and snow after the New Year, as well as the cold snap, lasted until mid-February, when the weather finally started to warm up. The overall feeling is that it's been colder than usual, and all kinds of flowers have bloomed later than usual. Although we've already reached the Qingming Festival solar term, judging from the growth of plants and flowers, it can only be considered early spring now. This is also one of the most beautiful periods of the year.

  As far as the eye can see, the entire world is a vibrant and thriving landscape. The grass has turned green, the willow branches have sprouted, and peach blossoms, pear blossoms, and apricot blossoms are blooming in competition, adorning the earth with their colorful beauty. The flowers are clustered together, covering the ground with a kaleidoscope of colors, a breathtaking sight to behold.

  Everything that enters one's eyes is so refreshing and invigorating. On the vast Guanzhong Plain, there are no wide highways or railways, no speeding cars or trains, no tall buildings or factories, and no polluted water or thick smoke. The sky is crystal clear, with distant scenery visible on the horizon. This kind of pure and transparent beauty is something that Chen Yi had never seen before in his travels to scenic spots in later years. There's no need to worry about PM2.5 or PM10.

  Along the roadsides, there are only occasional scattered houses, crisscrossing fields, and busy villagers preparing for farming. The small streams by the roadside flow with clear water, reflecting the lush greenery. Even the air is exceptionally fresh, filled with the scent of nature that intoxicates the senses, a heady springtime aroma...

  What enters Chen Yi's eyes is a natural environment that is many times better than what he saw in later years. He gazes at it with unbridled joy...

  After running a distance, looking back at the Zhongnan Mountain, I only feel that the continuous mountain momentum is steep and beautiful, like a brocade painting screen, horizontal in the body, although it is said to be gradually distant, it also appears a bit blurry, but more mountains are piled up together, looking more magnificent. This magnificent mountain momentum and the beauty of the near place are mixed together, looking more and more beautiful.

  In the later generations, it was rare to see such a pleasant scenery. Chen Yi even had some doubts about the so-called prosperous urbanization and industrialization of life in the later generations, whether it was good or bad. Chen Yi was a person who liked tourism, but his yearning for cities was far less than his yearning for nature. Compared to the noisy city, he preferred the quiet countryside. What he saw in front of him was like the rural life he had always longed for. Although this place was not in a scenic area, it made him feel exceptionally beautiful and surprised. He often stopped his horse and greedily admired the view, regretting that he didn't have a camera to capture it, so he could only use his eyes to take it in. As a result, Liu Hai, who had some prejudice against Chen Yi, would occasionally call out to him to hurry up and catch up.

  Chen Yi ran quickly for a while and caught up with Sun Simiao and his three disciples. He apologized to Sun Simiao, who didn't say anything and continued riding at a moderate pace. Ning Qing quietly fell back a bit and walked alongside Chen Yi, asking in a low voice: "Ziying, what have you been looking at along the way?"

  "Look at the scenery! Haven't you noticed how beautiful it is?" Chen Yi said, pointing to the surrounding landscape. "It's a naturally beautiful rural scene, don't you think so?"

  "The scenery? Oh, it's quite beautiful, but... these sceneries need to be savored quietly to have flavor, today we are in a hurry, no time to savor slowly!" Ning Qing let out a faint sigh.

  "It makes sense," Chen Yi felt a deeper meaning in Ning Qing's words.

  Just after Chen Yi and Ning Qing stopped talking, Liu Hai, who was slightly ahead, turned his head again and shouted to Chen Yi: "Ziying, you can't dawdle any longer. If we don't hurry up, we won't reach Chang'an before nightfall!"

  When Liu Hai said this, Sun Simiao didn't show any expression, he just turned his head to glance at Chen Yi, with a faint look on his face.

  Sun Simiao walked all the way without saying much, occasionally asking Chen Yi a few casual questions about trivial matters, but didn't mention what they were going to do in Chang'an. Until now, Chen Yi still doesn't know what Sun Simiao and his disciples are doing in Chang'an, and even if he asks Sun Simiao, he won't get an answer. Ning Qing doesn't know either, and Wang Chong isn't very clear about it. As for Liu Hai, who seems to have a hostile attitude towards him, Chen Yi can't be bothered to ask.

  Chen Yi, who was about twenty years old and the second of Sun Simiao's three disciples, seemed to be the most quick-witted among them. After being rescued by Sun Simiao and returning to Zong Sheng Palace, Chen Yi had little contact with Sun Simiao's two male disciples, but he clearly felt that Liu Hai's attitude towards him was somewhat different. He wondered if Liu Hai liked Ning Qing, a young girl, and seeing Ning Qing interact more with him, Ning Qing often came to chat with him, which made Liu Hai jealous and a bit resentful.

  During the journey, Chen Yi did not stop to admire the scenery again, but instead followed closely behind Sun Simiao's disciples and hastened their pace towards Chang'an City. Ning Qing, who was not willing to be left out, often ran to Chen Yi's side and chatted with him about nothing in particular, causing Liu Hai, who was walking ahead, to frequently turn his head and give them a strange look, which made Liu even more convinced of his previous judgment.

  From Mount Zhongnan to Chang'an City, it was a wide official road. Sun Simiao and his disciples, along with Chen Yi, didn't run particularly fast, but the journey of about 70 li passed quickly. By dusk, they finally arrived outside Chang'an City.

  As he gazed at the distant Chang'an City, which was slowly growing larger and clearer, Chen Yi's heart began to stir with excitement. This magnificent ancient city, which he had always yearned for in his later years, was finally within reach. Chen Yi did not know what relationship he would have with this city, which could be considered the largest in the world today. Would he be able to stay in Chang'an City for a long time? Would he make a name for himself and create a legendary career here? And those beautiful women recorded in history, would he have the chance to meet them...

  As the distance from Chang'an City got closer and closer, Chen Yi's excitement grew stronger, his heartbeat accelerated, his eyes almost fixed on the city gate tower that could already be seen clearly, wanting to confirm whether the great capital of the Tang Empire was as magnificent and mysterious as he had imagined, and whether it fully embodied the majesty and grandeur of the Tang Empire.

  He was so absorbed in thought that he didn't even hear Ning Qing's repeated calls.

  "Ziying, didn't you hear me talking?" Ningqing's even louder voice finally brought Chenyi back to his senses.

  "What did you say?" Chen Yi turned his head and looked at Ning Qing with a puzzled expression.

  "You... I won't talk to you!" Ning Qing was a bit angry, glared at Chen Yi with annoyance, pouted and ran away.

  Seeing Ning Qing like that, and then looking at Sun Simiao and the other two disciples walking forward, Chen Yi was stunned for a moment before following up, thinking to himself that women are always the same, somewhat unreasonable.

  As it approached dusk, there weren't many people entering the city. The area outside the city didn't seem crowded and they could enter without queuing. All five of them dismounted their horses and walked towards the city gate tower.

  Outside the Mingde Gate, which was considered the main gate of Chang'an City in the south, Chen Yi stopped again and gazed at the high city wall and the gate tower.

  The Chang'an City under the sunset, looks very tall and grand. Chen Yi stood under the city wall, feeling particularly small. The gate tower of Mingde Gate is higher than any ancient city gate tower he has seen in his later life, even several times higher. According to Chen Yi's visual estimation, the city wall on both sides of Mingde Gate is at least tens of meters high, and the gate tower of Mingde Gate, which is higher than the city wall, is at least 30-40 meters high, with three layers of eaves. The architectural style of this gate tower building is similar to some imitation Tang buildings Chen Yi saw in Xi'an later, with typical Tang Dynasty architectural features such as inwardly curved eaves, large dougong, high-pitched roof, and overall building details that are neat but not stiff, expansive but not ostentatious. The simple color scheme of red and white makes the entire building look majestic and grand. Adding to this are the soldiers standing guard on the city wall and gate tower, making the entire Mingde Gate tower look even more majestic and awe-inspiring.

  Chen Yi stared blankly for a while, then followed Sun Simiao to the city gate tunnel under Ning Qing's repeated calls.

  Mingde Gate has five gate openings, each about 4-5 meters wide, allowing several horse-drawn carriages to pass through side by side. The largest one in the middle and the two on either end are closed, only the two gates on either side of the largest central gate opening are open, with one for people entering the city and the other for those exiting. The gate openings are nearly 20 meters deep, roughly equivalent to the thickness of the base of this section of the city wall where Mingde Gate's gate tower is located.

  After entering the Mingde Gate, it is the Zhuque Avenue, known as the "First Street of the Tang Dynasty", which is about 150 meters wide. The Zhuque Avenue, which was about 170 meters wide in front of the Daming Palace, was the widest street in Chang'an City before the appearance of the Danfengmen Avenue, and it was also the central axis of Chang'an City, connecting the Mingde Gate and the Imperial City's Zhuque Gate. All buildings in Chang'an City were built with Zhuque Avenue as the central axis. Chang'an City is divided into two parts by Zhuque Avenue: the east belongs to Wannian County and the west belongs to Chang'an County.

  Chen Yi, standing on Zhuque Avenue, felt shocked again after seeing the situation inside Chang'an City. The situation in Chang'an City was somewhat similar to the scene that had appeared in his dream. On both sides of the wide streets, rows of houses and buildings were arranged neatly, stretching far away, disappearing into the mist, and could not be seen to the end. It roughly outlined the overall shape of Chang'an City, majestic and atmospheric, even more magnificent than Chen Yi had imagined. At this time, Chen Yi was at a loss for words to describe what he saw of this great ancient city, and couldn't specifically say what kind of feeling was in his heart. What he wanted most now was to find a high place to overlook the scenery of Chang'an City as a whole.

  Standing on the wide Zhuque Avenue, with the tall Mingde Gate city tower looming in the north, Chen Yiyue felt even more insignificant and a sense of powerlessness towards the world arose within him. The long street stretching out before his feet only intensified this feeling.

  Chen Yi also thought of the situation in Xi'an City in later generations. Although the main streets of Xi'an City were also straight, like the Zhuque Avenue and other horizontal and vertical streets in front of him, some street names were the same, but the overall momentum was very different. The Zhuque Avenue in later generations was not even one-third as wide as the Zhuque Avenue in front of him. The neatness of the houses on both sides of the street was also far apart. Although the houses built in later generations were taller and more majestic, they lacked overall planning and could not be integrated together, so the momentum was far from comparable to this era, giving people a completely different feeling.

  Chen Yi walked on the Zhuque Avenue paved with bluestone bricks, his heart filled with reverence and admiration. His eyes scanned the surroundings constantly. He also saw that on both sides of the street, there were many tall elm trees and pagoda trees, as well as wide drainage ditches. On either side of these, the city was divided into blocks by horizontal and vertical streets, each block neatly arranged like a vegetable garden. However, as night began to fall, the details of the buildings in the city could not be seen clearly, which was somewhat regrettable. There were also very few pedestrians on the street, making the city less noisy and more peaceful. This peace that shrouded the ancient city gave Chen Yi too many emotions...

  The capital of the Great Tang Empire, the greatest city architecture in ancient China, Chang'an City, which had once appeared in his dreams, now stood before him in reality. At this moment, Chen Yi felt as if he had returned to his dream once again...