The next day, Shen Ruoyu and Fang Xiaoru got up together; Shen Ruoyu stayed in the courtyard to practice, and Fang Xiaoru went to the palace to go to the early court. After the early dynasty, Fang Xiaoru returned home and took Shen Ruoliao into the palace to meet him.

Shen Ruoyu sat in Master Fang's sedan all the way, looking at Fang Xiaoru's official uniform, which was very novel. It was not the first time he had seen someone wearing an official uniform, but it was the first time that he could observe the clothing of an official of the Ming Dynasty so closely. Yao Biao was originally requested by King Yan to travel from Beiping to Beiping as the imperial doctor of the Tai Hospital, and entered the Yan Wang's Mansion, and in essence, the official title was only Zhengbapin. And Fang Xiaoru is a scholar of Hallym University who is the fifth grade. Shen Ruoyu looked at the black gauze hat on his head, and was wearing a bright red round-necked official uniform under the collar, and there was a natural awe in his heart. He carefully looked at the nine-inch square patch on Fang Xiaoru's chest, on which was embroidered a white pheasant, standing on a Taihu Lake stone, leading his neck to the sun, spreading his wings and wanting to fly; The embroidery is delicate and fine, and the picture is lifelike; The blue-green dark cloud pattern of the flash gold ground is inlaid in it, and the eight treasures and eight auspicious patterns are interspersed, and the white gold edge is lined with all sides, which is very gorgeous.

Fang Xiaoru explained: "The complement on this official uniform shows the rank of the official. This white pheasant is a symbol of the five-grade civil official. This garment was given by the Holy Lord, so that it could be so gorgeous; Otherwise, Yi Fang's salary would never be willing to make such a delicate complement. ”

The sedan chair entered the Hongwu Gate, passed through the Wenwu Yamen on both sides, and walked due north. Dongwen Xiwu, from south to north, is located on the east side of the five departments of engineering, soldiers, rites, households, and officials Yamen and Zongren Mansion, and the east inner side of the Terracotta Division, Tai Hospital, Zhan Shi Mansion and Hanlin Yuan, directly opposite the Taichang Temple located on the west side, the back, front, right, left, and middle five military governor's mansions, as well as the west inner side of the Qin Tianjian, the flag guard, the Jinyi Wei and the Tongzheng Division. The yamen of the criminal department was built in the urban area outside the imperial city together with the hall because of the needs of the trial. As the time drew near, all the officials were concentrating on their work, and occasionally someone was running from ministry to ministry and government; It's quiet all around.

The sedan chair continued north, reached the end of the main road, passed through an empty square, and stopped. Symmetrical on the east and west sides of the square are two doors of average size. Shen Ruoxiao's gaze was firmly attracted to the city gate on the north side; The city wall is extremely solid and heavy, and it sits outside the palace as solid as gold, extending in both directions from east to west, enclosing the entire palace without leakage, and the wind and rain do not move, and it is difficult for birds to enter. The majestic and magnificent city tower on the city wall towers into the sky, the red wall is golden tiles, the flag is fluttering, a huge plaque is hung under the eaves, the sky is blue, and the three golden characters "Chengtianmen" are majestic and indifferent looking down on everything below.

This is the main gate of the palace, Chengtian Gate. In front of it, a clear moat flows straight from west to east, and on the river facing the palace gate, five carved white marble bridges cross and lead to the palace gate. This is the Outer Five Dragons Bridge. The jade bridge in the center is the widest and tallest, and the four bridges on both sides gradually become smaller from the inside to the outside.

Chengtianmen is like a giant Buddha of Vajra, opening its mouth to swallow two small people in one gulp, or to suppress them forever under the huge city wall, as easily as covering two tiny grains of sand. Fang Xiaoru led Shen Ruoyu across the Outer Five Dragons Bridge, passed through the guards of Chengtianmen, and entered the imperial city.

Directly to the north sat another tall city gate. There are four rows of soldiers standing on both sides of the central royal road, two rows are close to the royal road, facing east and west, all of them are as straight as flagpoles, and they can't take their eyes off it; The other two rows are outside these two rows, with their backs to the royal road and facing the tall walls on both sides of the road. Shen Ruoyu looked at this legendary army whose martial arts level and combat effectiveness were far above the Fifth Army and the pro-army of the Frontier Domain-the veritable Imperial Palace Forest Army, and couldn't help but be secretly excited.

After passing the end door, Shen Ruoyu gasped. In front of him, the royal road was still as smooth and open as before, and the straight and solemn queue of the Imperial Guards on both sides stretched northward, until a majestic gate stood out far ahead.

"So far?" He sighed softly in disbelief.

Fang Xiaoru smiled and said, "It's okay; If you walk every day, you won't feel far away. ”

The red walls on both sides of the road stand as tall and sturdy as the soldiers. The road between the red walls seemed extremely quiet and distant. Shen Ruoyu only felt that his heart was also quiet, and his steps became more and more cautious.

Fang Xiaoru solemnly lowered his voice and pointed to him:

"Inside the red wall on the right, that is, in front of the left side of the palace, is the Taimiao, dedicated to the ancestors and the founding heroes, and inside the red wall on the left, that is, in the right front of the palace, is the altar of the community. In front are the left gate and the right gate; Further on the left is the door on the left and the door on the right. ”

After walking through the left and right doors, the two of them finally came to the noon gate. After the guards of the Noon Gate conducted a final check, the two of them entered the real inner city of the palace. Fang Xiaoru led Shen Ruoyu up to the Inner Five Dragons Bridge, pointed to a gate with corner gates on both sides due north in front of him and said:

"This is the Gate of Heaven. After the Fengtian Gate, there are three major halls; What you see now is the Fengtian Hall, the place where the Son of Heaven held great ceremonies, including the enthronement ceremony, the canonization hall, the sacrificial ceremony, and the ceremony of worshipping the generals. In addition, every year on New Year's Day, Lantern Festival and Wanshou Festival, a banquet is held in the Fengtian Hall to celebrate the whole world. The Fengtian Hall used to be a canopy hall, a place where the Son of Heaven changed his clothes and rested during the ceremony; In addition, the ceremony of viewing the pedigree of the imperial family and the emblem of the Empress Dowager is carried out here. Behind the canopy hall is the hall of the body, where the Son of Heaven holds banquets, court examinations and princess marriages, all of which are in this hall. To the north of the three major halls, it is the Qianqing Gate, and the Qianqing Gate is the sleeping palace. The Son of Heaven's bedroom Qianqing Palace is in front, then the queen's main hall is Jiaotai Palace, and then the queen's bedroom Kunning Palace. On the left and right sides are the east and west six palaces, which are the bedrooms of the concubines. On the east side of the three major halls is the Wenhua Hall, and you can see its roof. The Wenhua Hall is the place where the Son of Heaven and the Prince lectured and read in the early dynasty. On the west side is the Wuying Palace, which is the place where the Son of Heaven lives and summons civil and military officials every day. We are going to the Wuying Palace. ”

"Where is Wenyuan Pavilion?" Shen Ruoyu asked.

"There, behind the Wenhua Palace," Fang Xiaoru pointed out, "It's too far away, the Wenhua Hall is high, you can't see it here." ”

Can I go over and have a look? Shen Ruoyu thought secretly; Just in an instant, he vetoed his question, feeling that he was ridiculously naïve, so he didn't add any more jokes to Fang Xiaoru.

There are thousands of palaces, and the smoke and clouds are soaring. Shen Ruoyu stared at the direction of Wenyuan Pavilion from afar, imagining it for a long time; Then, he withdrew his gaze and looked through the majestic Fengtian Gate at the splendid and majestic Fengtian Hall directly north.

Sacrifice ceremony, worship the general and set out for the expedition......

It's a pity that there is a scholar sitting inside. If it is the king of Yan who sits on the supreme dragon chair, Bai will go on the expedition......

"In the former Yuan of the Northern Expedition, Emperor Gao was in this palace, hand-picked Xu Da and Chang Yuchun as generals, edicted the world, and swore to go on the expedition." Fang Xiaoru said abruptly.

"Mr. Fang?" Shen Ruoyu was shocked, and he didn't know how Fang Xiaoru could see through his thoughts.

Fang Xiaoru said: "Xu and Chang Er will advance all the way, pull out Shandong, Henan, Guanlong, and Zhike Dadu, so that there is today's Beiping, the fief of King Yan." ”

There seemed to be some peculiar voice in his words; Shen Ruoyu heard that something was wrong, turned his head, and carefully stared into Fang Xiaoru's eyes.

Fang Xiaoru looked at him directly, smiled lightly, and continued: "Later, Fu Youde's expedition to Yunnan and Lanyu's expedition to the desert were both on this Fengtian Hall to receive the sword of the Great General Treasure Seal and Monk Fang. Emperor Gao personally made wine for them, and all the people paid attention. ”

"Then, King Yan led his army to the desert twice, did he also set off from here?"

"Not really;" Fang Xiaoru replied: "King Yan is a prince, so Emperor Gao ordered King Yan to send troops directly from Beiping, a feudal territory. ”

Shen Ruoyu looked at the unreachable and unattainable Jinluan Hall, and was a little stunned.

Fang Xiaoru smiled and said, "Let's go; Let's go to Wuying Hall. The hour is almost up. ”

He took Shen Ruoliao, got off the Inner Wulong Bridge, turned left, walked along the Neihe River for a while, passed through the right Shunmen, went straight for a long time, and then turned right and passed through the Wuying Gate; A tall and magnificent hilltop hall rises from the ground, and the three gilded characters of the Wuying Hall shine prominently on the sky-blue plaque at the height. A group of Imperial Guards stood majestically and calmly outside the palace.

Fang Xiaoru led Shen Ruoliao to the bottom of the thick steps of the main hall, and said to the guards guarding the steps:

"Hanlin waiter Fang Xiaoru asks to see long live."

The soldiers beside the Son of Heaven were already familiar with Master Fang, and said respectfully: "Long live Lord has a will, Lord Fang is here, just enter the hall, there is no need to report." ”

Fang Xiaoru said: "This Shen Ruoyu is a person from the side of His Royal Highness King Yan, who came from Beiping, and he was summoned to the palace for questioning, and asked the adults to play on his behalf." ”

After hearing this, the soldier carefully examined Shen Ruoliao, did not speak, hurriedly walked up the steps, and said something to the guards standing on the left side of the main hall entrance; The guard turned and entered the main hall. The guards on the right side of the temple gate remained motionless, motionless, without looking around, as if nothing had happened.

After a while, a long shout came out loud from inside the main hall:

"Xuan: Hanlin waiter said that Fang Xiaoru entered the palace; Xuan: Shen Ruoyu entered the hall. ”

The officials of the imperial court and the commoners can never sit on an equal footing, let alone the scholars of the Hanlin University. Fang Xiaoru was afraid that Shen Ruoyu would not be used to it, so he looked back at him, and saw that there was no strange look on his face except for nervousness, so he whispered:

"Let's go; Just follow me, don't be afraid; See me do what you do. ”