Volume 1 Chapter 47: The Great Ming Palace at Dawn

  The third watch is even more resonant.

  The door creaked open and two figures, one big and one small, tiptoed out, afraid of disturbing the other person who was still fast asleep inside.

  "Go get treatment, and when you arrive at your destination, don't talk nonsense!"

  "Uncle can rest assured"

  The two of them walked a couple of steps further before Chen Yunsheng instructed again: "And don't look around randomly with your eyes either."

  "The disease is gone"

  After walking three steps, Chen Yunsheng gave two anxious orders, which inadvertently made Tang Guan secretly laugh in his heart. It was indeed a strange thing for this nine-year-old child to attend the early court session.

  "Chen Chang Li, your carriage is ready."

  On the other side of the gatehouse, someone saw two people approaching and opened the large door, saying to Chen Younsheng.

  Chen Yunsheng nodded and pulled Tang Guan onto the horse carriage.

  The direction they were heading was indeed the Imperial City, and it had been some years since the Forbidden City had moved to its current location. Both the old and new Imperial Cities were within the palace grounds, which ordinary people were not allowed to enter.

  Everyone has a kind of vague fear, the fear that Tang Guan had before when approaching unknown things is normal, but once it's right in front of you, the unknown becomes known and this fear disappears.

  "Chen Bobo, what about Liu Xun's matter?" At this time, Tang Guan thought of the first great enemy he had encountered in his life, who not only made him suffer humiliation but also almost took his life.

  Chen Yunsheng heard this and slightly shook his head, taking out a letter from his bosom: "Since the old marshal has said so, there's no need to worry about it anymore. He wrote a letter for me to give to the Empress Dowager, presumably regarding that Liu Xuande affair."

  Chen Yunsheng looked at the letter in his hand and pondered how to deliver it to Tian Hou.

  Tang Guan heard the words and remained silent, he still didn't know that his arch-nemesis was now in a miserable state, otherwise he would have burst out laughing three times, then scolded: "You deserved it"

  At the same time, he was curious about the content of Pei Yan's letter. Fortunately, it would be revealed soon, and he didn't think much about it. If someone could help with that, it would be best. Tang Guan now had a reputation for his talent, but not for his achievements, and competing with Liu Xun was like hitting a stone with an egg.

  Pei Yan is different, if Tang Guan is like hitting a stone with an egg, then Pei Yan and Liu Xun's situation is just the opposite, fulfilling the saying "the arm cannot twist the thigh".

  Thinking of this, Tang Guan's mood became a few points lighter. The carriage traveled smoothly all the way on the Chang'an Avenue, without any bumps, only feeling as if it was going uphill and downhill several times, with different momentum each time.

  The half-column incense's skillful move, the charioteer-style stop of the horse carriage, said: "Your Honor, we've arrived, can't go any further ahead"

  Chen Yunsheng knew that they had arrived near the palace upon hearing this. The coachman was also familiar with driving officials around and knew the rules of the place.

  He immediately pulled Tang Guan down from the carriage and drove the horse-drawn vehicle to one side.

  Tang Guan lowered his head and took a deep breath, then suddenly looked forward with determination.

  "Whoa!" This sight made him involuntarily take a deep breath, the scenery of the city walls last night had already shocked him greatly, and he never thought that there would be another city within the city right before his eyes!

  "The Grand Ming Palace was first built during the Taizong era, and when the political center shifted to the Gaozong era, construction began on what would become the most luxurious imperial palace in history." Tang Guang gazed out at the distant pavilions with overlapping eaves, his mind rapidly scanning through historical records of later dynasties.

  It can be compared to the shock of seeing the outer walls of Chang'an for the first time, and although historical records may exaggerate them, standing at an impossible point in time and witnessing it with one's own eyes will always leave one breathless.

  This is the discord between two eras. If before, standing under the walls of Chang'an only gave him a feeling of looking up, now standing outside the Daming Palace, he who had traveled through time and space for the first time felt small.

  Like standing in front of a huge wave, Tang Guan adjusted his breathing with the faint light, trying not to show any panic expression, while carefully observing this enormous creature.

  "A wonder in the history of architecture, Yuanmingyuan is truly a small trick compared to this!" As he got closer, Tang Guang's pupils contracted, and he had no idea where he was.

  Moreover, he felt a bit dizzy and thought that all around him were high walls and buildings, unable to distinguish east, west, south and north.

  "I still underestimated this era" Tang Guan's heart skipped a beat, the imperial city alone was already overwhelming for him now, let alone the people inside who were even more beyond his expectations.

  "No wonder people say that reading books can be deadly, and reading history books is even more so. The history written by humans will always have biases." Tang Guan muttered to himself as he followed Chen Yunshang to the front of the palace.

  The high gate towered above, Tang Guan raised his head to take a look, but due to the unclear sky, he only saw a single character "Xuan", "Xuanwu Gate? No, Xuanwu Gate is another imperial city"

  Although Tang Guan has a vast knowledge of books, he is not very clear about the current situation and architecture. Moreover, his understanding of history in later generations is also superficial, and it's already quite impressive that he can remember the time and characters, let alone place names.

  Tang Guan walked closer and only then discovered that in front of the palace, a queue had already been formed in an orderly manner. These people were dressed in various official uniforms, and upon seeing this scene, Tang Guan felt delighted.

  "This is just like punching in for work, but they are more diligent than civil servants, starting work so early"

  Chen Yunshang was neatly dressed, but he didn't wear official robes. If it weren't for the tiger tally hanging from his waist, and if he hadn't arrived in a luxurious horse-drawn carriage, no one would have dared to get close to him.

  All the officials saw a big and small one approaching, first stunned, then recognized Chen Yunsheng's appearance, and suddenly looked over.

  The person I long for is not Chen You Sheng, but the Tang Guan he's holding hands with.

  An official next to him recognized Chen Yunshang and whispered: "Chen Yuanshi! Where is your court attire?"

  Chen Yunsheng smiled awkwardly and said: "It's a long story...it's a long story..."

  The originally quiet and orderly "commuting" crowd, due to Tang Guan's appearance, became somewhat stirred up.

  Some familiar officials whispered to each other, and those who looked rough and wore armor directly pointed at Tang Guan.

  Chen Yunsheng couldn't help but tighten his grip on Tang Guan's hand a little more.

  The palace gates suddenly opened wide, and all the officials became solemnly silent. Tang Guan's breathing also slightly paused.

  "So poor, not even lighting the lamp" Tang Guan cursed in a low voice, originally thinking that he would see a magnificent scene, but unexpectedly, apart from that vague golden light, there was no splendor to be seen.

  In the palace, early in the morning except for the main hall, there were no lights or fires anywhere else, especially in the inner courtyard. This had long since become a habit. These old officials were quite good, and they entered in an orderly manner, without any deviation at all.

  Tang Guan covered his eyes in front of him, and could only rely on Chen Yunsheng to lead the way. Fortunately, there was a large army to guide them.

  Due to Tang Guan's experience as a young man, an interesting change occurred later on. As soon as night fell, the Daming Palace was brightly lit until the end of the morning court session the next day.

  Now Tang Guan was like a blind man touching an elephant, east, west, south and north were all unclear, only knowing that Chen Yunsheng took himself to the place where the imperial palace should be.

  Just as they were walking quietly, Tang Guan suddenly stumbled, and it turned out that Chen Yunsheng had stopped moving, standing behind an official. He was the only one not wearing court attire, attracting strange glances from the guards, but after seeing what was hanging at his waist, they shifted their gaze away.

  Tang Guan turned his head to look at a large palace not far away, and after being in the dark for a long time, people's eyes would naturally adapt. At this point, he could also roughly see the appearance of the palace.

  "What a wonderful hook at the top corner, sitting north and facing south. If this were seen by real estate agents, it would be worth... um... it would be worth..." Tang Guan thought to himself.

  Chen Yunsheng said in a low voice: "Concentrate and don't look!"

  Tang Guan withdrew his gaze, no longer darting around randomly. He saw an imperial guard standing below the platform. It was unclear whether it was because he had been living in the palace for a long time and was already familiar with the surroundings, or if it was because he lacked that certain something, causing physiological changes that allowed him to spot Chen Yunsheng at a glance.

  The eunuch was overjoyed at this and walked past the officials' backs.

  "Magistrate Chen, you've returned! The miscellaneous households have been waiting here for the Magistrate for many days."

  "Ugh!" Tang Guan heard this sound and couldn't help but feel a wave of nausea, suddenly raising his head, a pale face appeared before his eyes. The eunuch, this creature was both familiar and strange to Tang Guan, in his past life as a writer he had written about eunuchs countless times.

  Now I have seen a real eunuch, and I feel a chill in my heart.

  It wasn't until then that eunuchs began to be widely used again.

  The eunuchs of the Wu Zhou dynasty were actually not very powerful, but they served a significant purpose. The Empress herself was a woman and some matters had to be communicated with officials through the eunuchs.

  But there is also an undeniable point, precisely because of the abuse of this dynasty, it led to the great tragedy that almost ran through the middle and late Tang Dynasty, where eunuchs held power, which can be described as heartbreaking. After all, not every emperor was like Taizong or Wu Zetian, who had absolute power.

  Thinking of this, Tang Guan felt a surge of disgust and curiosity, and secretly took a closer look at the eunuch. If history had followed its original course, in the next dynasty's Kaiyuan era, there would have been a famous eunuch named Gao Lishi.

  He immediately lost interest and shifted his gaze away, "Eunuch, heh heh, since you want to be the emperor, then don't castrate yourself"

  Tang Guan was secretly pleased on this side, while Chen Yunsheng said in a low voice: "Wang Gonggong, thank you for your trouble" (Note: Here should be referred to as an official or "inner attendant")

  Wang Gonggong covered his mouth and smiled: "Chen Yu Shi, you've dragged this on for quite a few days, even the Heavenly Emperor is unhappy. Have you brought the person?"

  Chen Yunsheng nodded slightly, and Wang Gongzi finally shifted his gaze to Tang Guan, saying: "Ah, what a handsome young master, bring him over...bring him over..."

  Chen Yunsheng's eyes had a hint of disdain, but he didn't show it, saying: "I'll report to Zhang in a moment, please trouble yourself to inform him"

  "It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, the empress has been waiting for you all along"

  Chen Yunsheng was shocked by the words, Tang Guan listened to this demon's words, and felt a chill all over his body, ignoring him.

  "A moment later, the miscellaneous household replaced the imperial historian to transmit the decree"

  Chen Yunsheng slightly raised his hand, and Wang Gonggong turned around and left.

  Tang Guan took a deep breath, this man's or woman's voice was really unbearable.