The Forbidden Imperial City was built in the Yongle period, more than 200 years ago, is the world's most majestic palace, but also a heavily guarded city.

The outer wall of the imperial city is as high as four zhang, surrounded by a moat outside the wall, and the Jingshan Mountain on the north side is said to be a pile of earth and stones dug for the construction of the Forbidden City. There are four gates in the imperial city, the main gate faces south, called the noon gate, the north is the Shenwu gate, and the palace gates on the east and west sides are called Donghua and Xihua gate respectively.

Cao Duyun took Hua Bushi into the palace, and what he wanted to leave was Donghua Gate.

Half an hour later, the carriage has arrived outside the Donghua Gate, get off in front of the stele stone, Hua Bushi only looks at the moat of more than ten zhang wide in front of the meeting, it is a stone bridge built with white marble, the dark red city platform on the opposite side of the bridge is towering, the city tower carves the dragon and paints the phoenix, the yellow glazed tile roof, it looks majestic and gorgeous.

Walk across the stone bridge and arrive at the palace gate. Although the Donghua Gate is only a side door, it is also quite majestic, and on the two red lacquered doors with a thickness of about 72 brass door nails larger than a fist, they are shining.

Cao Duyun said: "According to the usual practice of yin and yang magic, the number of copper nails on the gate of the palace should be ninety-nine, and the other three gates of the imperial city all have eighty-one, but there are only seventy-two door nails on this Donghua gate, can Young Master Hua know the truth?"

Hua Bushi said: "Little brother doesn't know, please ask Brother Duyun for advice." ”

Cao Duyun said: "When the Yongle Emperor moved the capital to Beijing, he built the palace, and used the posthumous map of Liu Ji, the Duke of Wencheng. And that picture was secretly drawn by Liu Ji from the Heavenly Palace, and built according to it, this imperial city will be exactly the same as the Nine Heavens Heavenly Palace. In order to express the meaning of respecting the heavens, to show the difference between the emperors of the world and the emperors of heaven, he deliberately painted a row of nails on the Donghua door, and it became the number of nine hundred and eighty-seventy-two today. ”

The so-called Liu Ji is the founding military division of the Ming Dynasty Liu Bowen, it is said that this person is through yin and yang, knows the magic method, has the ability to penetrate the heavens and the earth, and is known as "Liu Tianshi", which can be compared to Zhuge Wuhou in the Three Kingdoms, and there are many folk legends related to him.

Most emperors hoped to create their own half-human and half-god status through people's belief in the gods, so that the common people would be in awe and submission, and the Forbidden Imperial City was built according to the pattern of the Heavenly Palace, but I am afraid that it was also for this purpose.

Hua Bushi has never believed in ghosts and gods, nor does he believe that there really is any Nine Heavens Heavenly Palace, but he also found it quite interesting to hear this, and said: "I see, listening to Brother Duyun's words has made the younger brother insightful. ”

The Forbidden Imperial City is heavily guarded, even the princes and ministers cannot enter and exit casually, and the guards on duty at Donghua Gate are none other than Lan Haochen, thinking that this is also the reason why Cao Duyun went around a big circle to enter the palace from Donghua Gate.

At this time, this majestic master was waiting in front of the door, obviously knowing that their group was coming, and beside him, there was a gray-haired eunuch in his fifties, holding a whisk in his hand.

Cao Duyun stepped forward and said to the two, "Gonggong Chen, Senior Brother Lan, I've kept you waiting for a long time." ”

Lan Haochen returned the salute with his fists, but the old eunuch knelt on the ground, kowtowed, and said, "Old slave Chen Ping greets His Highness!"

Cao Duyun was the righteous son of Emperor Chongzhen, and his status was noble, so he raised his hand to let the old eunuch get up, and said, "Gonggong Chen doesn't need to be polite. ”

He turned to Lan Haochen and said, "Senior Brother Lan, let me introduce you to you, this is my brother's close friend, Young Master Hua, the young master of the 'Evil Dog Gate'. ”

Hua Bushi arched his hand and said: "I have heard that Commander Lan is the number one master in the Jinyi Guard, and I am really fortunate to see him today." ”

Lan Haochen also saluted: "Young Master Hua praised, Lan really didn't dare to take it." ”

He turned his gaze quickly, looked at Li Hu who was standing behind the eldest young master, and said, "But I don't know what this little brother is called?"

This is not the first time that Lan Haochen and Li Hu have met each other, on Tianqiao Street that day, the two have also fought each other, Li Hu was stabbed by the other party, but the prince and the princess's car were robbed from Lan Haochen's front. Because of this incident, Lan Haochen almost lost his old life, thanks to his senior brother Cao Duyun coming forward to intercede, and soon after the prince and princess returned to Beijing safely, he was able to be spared the charge, but his official rank was reduced from the previous five grades to six grades.

Even so, Lan Haochen was still very lucky, the Lu Rong who guarded the palace with him was directly removed from the position of commander, and now he has become an ordinary inner guard with a sword, and the official rank has been pushed to the end, becoming a seventh rank.

All of this is thanks to this "robber", Lan Haochen saw the culprit at this time, how could he not recognize it?

Seeing Lan Haochen staring, Li Hu was full of indifference, and said with a pout: "My name is Li Hu, what are you doing with your eyes, but do you want to find a ballast?"

Cao Duyun saw that the situation between the two of them was not right, and hurriedly said: "This Brother Lihu is a senior disciple of Young Master Hua, this time thanks to him can solve the case of assassinating Gong Jia, you two can be said to be unacquainted, Senior Brother Lan should be closer to him." ”

Hua Bushi also said: "Li Hu, you can't be unreasonable to Commander Lan. ”

Li Hu has always listened to the words of the stone boss, and at the moment, he laughed twice and said nothing.

Seeing that the two were no longer looking at each other, Cao Duyun turned to the old eunuch and asked, "Gonggong Chen, how is the situation in the palace, my father has already had lunch?"

The old eunuch Chen Ping said: "If you go back to Your Highness, Your Majesty has already had lunch and is now in Yonghe Palace." ”

"In Yonghe Palace?" Cao Duyun frowned slightly, and said, "Didn't my father go to the imperial study?"

Chen Ping said: "Your Majesty will go to the imperial study after lunch on weekdays, but because today Tian Guifei sewed a pair of brocade shoes, please go to your Majesty to try them, and then go to Yonghe Palace." ”

Hearing this, Cao Duyun lowered his head and pondered. Seeing this scene, Hua Bushi expected that Emperor Chongzhen was at the place of Yonghe Miyatian Guifei, which must have been beyond Cao Duyun's expectations, so that he should be hesitating whether to enter the palace today to face the saint, or come back another day.

Hua Bushi didn't know anything about the situation in the palace, so he couldn't participate in the opinion, so he didn't say much when he stood aside at the moment, just waiting for Cao Duyun to make a decision.

After pondering for a moment, Cao Duyun raised his head and said, "Things will inevitably change after a long time, let's go into the palace today to see the saint!"

The old eunuch Chen Ping said: "Yes, the old slave leads the way for His Highness." ”

At that moment, Chen Ping was in front, Cao Duyun Hua was behind, and walked towards the palace gate, and Li Hu was about to follow up, but he suddenly heard Lan Haochen say: "Wait! The palace is not allowed to enter with weapons, and this Li brother is asked to leave the sword." ”

Li Hu's face sank, and he said, "Don't you also have a sword on your body, how can you go in?"

Lan Haochen was originally the commander of the guards guarding the palace, of course, he would carry a sword with him, but Li Hu had always acted arrogantly, but this truth was difficult for him to explain.

Fortunately, at this time, Hua Bushi turned around and said, "Li Hu, you stay here for the time being, and I don't have to enter the palace." ”

The Forbidden Palace is heavily guarded, it is the safest place, Hua Bushi does not need Li Hu to follow and protect, and it is even more inappropriate to take him to see the emperor.

Boss Shi spoke, and Li Hu had no choice but to comply, nodding and saying, "Yes, boss, then I'll stay here." ”

Cao Duyun, Hua Bushi followed the old eunuch Chen Ping into the Donghua Gate, Li Hu stood at the door with his feet crossed, bored, and a little unhappy in his heart, this is because he came with this time, in addition to protecting the stone boss, Ben also has a selfish heart.

Since returning to the capital, Zhu Huichan has been in the palace for seven days, and the two did not feel that when they were together, once they were separated, they would inevitably remember it, could it be that this is what people often call lovesickness?

In the past, Li Hu would not be like this to any woman, but this time he had this feeling for this little princess.

I thought that I would come to the palace with Hua Bushi, and I could take the opportunity to go in and find Zhu Huichan to meet him, but I didn't expect to stay outside the palace gate, and Li Hu's heart was a little lost.

He looked around, but saw Lan Haochen standing next to him looking at him, and asked, "Hey, why don't you follow them in?"

Lan Haochen said: "It is Lan's duty to guard at Donghua Gate, and he can't leave casually." ”

"It turns out that this kid of yours is guarding the door...... "Li Hu muttered in his mouth, his heart suddenly moved, and said: "I think your swordsmanship is very good, and it has taken a lot of work to think about it, how about it, are you interested in learning about it?"

Lan Haochen has been learning swords since he was a child, he has learned from a famous family, and he is quite confident in his swordsmanship, although he fought with Li Hu on Tianqiao Street that day, he only fought a few moves in a critical situation, Li Hu robbed the dragon chariot by virtue of the terrain, Lan Haochen did not think that the other party's swordsmanship could be higher than him.

Because the car was robbed and demoted by two levels, his colleague and friend Lu Rong even lost the position of commander, if Lan Haochen didn't have a little grudge in his heart, it was impossible, but for the sake of his senior brother Cao Duyun, he forcibly suppressed it and didn't show it.

Hearing Li Hu's words at this time, Lan Haochen thought in his heart that he could take the opportunity to let this person suffer some hardships in order to dissipate the anger in his heart, anyway, the other party proposed to learn swordsmanship first, even if the senior brother came back, he couldn't blame him, and said at the moment: "Okay, Lan Mou is trying to learn Brother Li's swordsmanship, there is a place over there that is very empty, let's go there and do it!"

Li Hu shook his head and said, "It's good, it's just that it's too boring for us to fight like this, at least we have to gamble on the lottery." ”

Lan Haochen was stunned and said, "I don't know how many silver taels Brother Li wants to bet?"

Li Hu said with a smile: "As the leader of Lan, it is impossible to bet too little, so let's bet on a whole number!" he said and stretched out a finger.

Lan Haochen said: "One hundred taels?"

Li Hu shook his head and shook that finger again.

Lan Haochen said: "One thousand taels?"

As the commander of the guards, it is common for him to gamble with others and make money, but gambling a hundred taels is a lot, and a thousand taels can be regarded as a huge bet, but I can see that Li Hu is still shaking his head.

Lan Haochen exclaimed: "Could it be that Brother Li wants to bet 10,000 taels?"