Chapter 193 Young Eunuch

Yang Ning hadn’t entered the imperial palace but had seen a lot from media in his previous life.

But only until he followed Eunuch Fan to enter the imperial city he found that he could only feel the momentum of some things by seeing it by himself and being personally placed in it. Without any doubts, the city was really the most brilliant pearl of the Chu Empire.

Looked around, the halls were densely built, golden and glorious. The glazed yellow tiles were shone in people’s eyes under the daylight. It was difficult to see the full picture of the halls. Red walls and yellow tiles, painted buildings and carved beams, halls and towers, which scattered high and low, stacked one after another, are beyond count.

The roads within the imperial city were incomparably smooth, and the roads were extremely wide. To Yang Ning’s eye, the widest among which even reached more than ten meters, and the smallest was still a few meters wide. The roads within the imperial city were also square, and the majestic and spectacular palace complex lied in the central south of the capital.

The imperial city of Chu was divided into three major groups, namely the Main Palace, the East Palace and the West Palace, according to the architectural clusters.

The Main Palace was further divided into three major groups: the Outer Court, the Inner Court and the Back Hall, which formed a straight line and were in the center of the palace.

Lied in the middle of the Outer Court was the magnificent Fengtian Hall, where the emperor summoned all the officials for meetings. And there was a large hall on both left and right sides, which were respectively Taihe Hall and Houde Hall enclosed by other small palaces. Taihe Hall and Houde Hall were clustered in the left and right side of Chengtian Hall like guards. The three halls were all spectacular, beautiful and amazing.

Through the Outer Palace was the Inner Court, where Qinghe Hall was placed in the middle, while Wude Hall and Wende Hall were built at left and right side. Qinghe Hall was usually where the emperor set a feast, and Wende Hall was where the emperor dealt with political affairs after ended the court and where the emperor usually summoned important ministers to discuss official business, which was known as the emperor’s Royal Palace of Books.

The harem was dominated by Fengyi Hall, the residence of the empress, with other harem halls scattering around the Fengyi Hall as if stars holding the moon, which also showed the honor of the empress in the main palace.

The East and West palaces were located on the left and right, and the imperial city was consisted of hundreds of palaces of all sizes, each with rooms ranging from hundreds to dozens, depending on its size, and many of them carried special small gardens.

But in the vicinity of the East Palace was a huge royal garden, where exotic flowers and plants, rare birds and animals were all included. Among them, there are still countless pavilions, rockeries and champs.

The matching and setting of any brick, tile, flower, grass, stone and wood followed absolute norms, which was the cohesion of the wisdom and efforts of all craftsmen of carpenters, plasterers, stonemasons, lacquers, men of ashes, sculptors, stacking men, and painters, showing the human’s talent and contained the accumulated deeply profound culture of the Central Plains.

All the palaces were structured mainly by wood, with yellow glazed tile roofs and green and white stone bases. They were decorated with gilded and brilliant color paintings and matched with ingenious sculptures, which looked solemn and majestic.

Yang Ning followed Eunuch Fan into the palace, looking at the glorious palace along the way. At some roads there would be awe-inspiring and unsmiling royal warriors, like sculptures, seeming to become one part of the landscapes.

Yang Ning knew that these guards were the warriors of the Royal Guard Camp, whose duty was to guard the palace.

At first, Yang Ning was filled with curiosity. After walking for a long time through the palace, there seemed to be no end, for which Yang Ning’s interest greatly reduced. He was thinking that he had to walk for such a long time after entering the palace even he had ridden the carriage to the outside of the imperial city. Wouldn’t it be troublesome every time the emperor summoned him?

The most damnable thing was, in order to hurry up to the palace, Yang Ning set out at mealtime and missed the meal. Although some extent of starving was not a big deal to Yang Ning, the seemingly endless walking still made Yang Ning’s excited mood gradually fade.

“Marquis, this is your first time to enter the palace. But the previous two generations of Marquis of Honor walked on this road countless times.” Recognized that Yang Ning seemed a bit anxious, Eunuch Fan said with a smile, “I also led General Qi walking on this road countless times. From now on, Marquis, you will also walk on this road countless times.”

Yang Ning smiled, still walked for a while. Passing across a moon gate, he saw a vermilion house at the left. Eunuch Fan led Yang Ning to the door and said, “Marquis, you rest here first. I will report to His Majesty. If His majesty is free, he will summon you.”

Yang Ning thought to himself, “Could the new emperor not be free? If he is not, what is the point of summoning me to the palace?”

But he still smiled and said, “Thank you, Eunuch.”

After Eunuch Fan left, Yang Ning looked around and found a young eunuch standing outside the door, bowing his body. When Yang Ning reached the door, the young eunuch respectfully said, “Marquis, please wait!”

Yang Ning pretended to give a steady “hm” and entered the house to find the house was also luxurious. Looking around, he found that this seemed to be a study, where placed two large bookshelves, filled with all kinds of books. The bookshelves were made of mahogany, which was very expensive. There was also a golden desk covered with yellow silk. On the desk placed with brushes, ink, paper and ink stone as well as neatly placed some volumes.

In front of the desk, a chair of golden nanmu was placed on both left and right sides. The house was in a quiet atmosphere. Walked around, Yang Ning would like to read several books to kill time, but Gu Qinghan had explained in advance that the palace was not like other places, where he should be cautious about even a cough. He hesitated and finally gave up on moving anything, sat down on a chair of golden nanmu.

Soon, the young eunuch came in and served tea. Yang Ning took the tea and asked, “How long will it take for His Majesty to summon me?”

The eunuch bending over and respectfully said, “In reply to the marquis, I don’t know.”

Yang Ning frowned and said, “Then is His Majesty busy now?”

“I don’t know.”

Yang Ning could do nothing but shook his hand. The young eunuch then retreated.

After finishing a cup of tea, Yang Ning was a little annoyed that still no one had come. He got up and walked to the desk, suddenly noticed two delicate small plates on the table, in which a few delicate snacks were placed. He had seen a lot of snacks in the Mansion of Marquis, but he had never seen the delicate snacks in these small plates.

Yang Ning was a little hungry for not having lunch. Now that he saw the exquisite snacks, coupled with the smell of snacks wafted over. How he wished to reach out and grab a handful, but after thinking about it, he held it back.

Time passed. He waited for more than an hour unexpectedly.

Yang Ning was a person of great patience, but today the emperor sent the chief eunuch of the Secretary of Rites to summon him to the palace specially. It was reasonable that he waited a moment after entering the palace.But there was no possibility that it could delay for more than an hour.

He was a little impatient. If it were somewhere else, he would have turned around and left.

Sitting on the chair with his eyes closed, another half hour passed. Yang Ning could no longer resist and call out, “Someone!”

Footsteps sounded from behind, and without turning around, Yang Ning asked, “What exactly is His Majesty doing? Can you help me go check it out?”

Behind him seemed to be standing a person, but there was no sound. Yang Ning turned his head, only to see the young eunuch lowering his head. He frowned and said, “Didn’t you hear me? Okay, all right. I guess you’re of very low status in the palace, and you can’t meet His Majesty. So how about this, is there anything to eat, go get some food over, I’m hungry!”

“You’re not supposed to eat while waiting for His Majesty,” The young eunuch said with a low voice.

Yang Ning was immediately annoyed and couldn’t help but say, “Do you not care if someone died of hunger?”

“Three days of starvation may not necessarily kill a person,” The young eunuch said softly, “Marquis, please endure it.”

Yang Ning stood up haughtily and looked at the young eunuch, “What did you say? Do you still want to starve me for three days?”

“I can’t say.” The young eunuch still bowed his head, “There is no decree from His Majesty. Marquis, you can only wait here until His Majesty summons. If His Majesty won’t see you, we can’t go to ask, nor can we let you leave. If His Majesty doesn’t think of you for three days, you would have to wait for three days.”

Yang Ning was burning with anger, “That means that if His Majesty doesn’t think of me for a year, I’ll rot here?”

“That won’t happen,” The young eunuch said, “Marquis, you won’t persist a year. Maybe three or five days of starvation would kill you. If you really died, someone would carry you out of the palace instead of rotting here.”

Yang Ning was furious at first, but instantly calmed down.

It instantly occurred to him that how could a young eunuch have the guts to talk to himself like this? He was at least a marquis, though not comparable to the emperor, of much higher status than the young eunuch.

He suddenly noticed that this young eunuch seemed to be different from the previous one, who was slightly weaker. Plus, the previous young eunuch didn’t know anything while this one present dared to say anything. He frowned and coldly said, “Raise your head!”

The young eunuch said, “I dare not!”

“Raise your head when I tell you to. Cut the crap,” Yang Ning said in a cold voice, “Do you believe that I will bring Eunuch Fan here and kick you out of the palace? I have a good relationship with Eunuch Fan. You are one of Eunuch Fan’s men, right?”

The young eunuch seemed to be thinking for a moment and suddenly asked, “Do you really want me to raise my head?”

“Nonsense.”

“But you may not dare to look at me.” The young eunuch sighed and finally raised his head. Yang Ning took a look and actually found him very familiar. This young eunuch had clear eyebrows and gleaming eyes. After thinking for a while, his body shook violently and he lost his voice, “It’s… it is you?”

This young eunuch in front of him was actually Xiao Guang.

Since Yang Ning parted with Xiao Guang in the shabby temple, he hadn’t met him after, not even had received any news. He only occasionally came to Yang Ning’s mind when lacking money, since Xiao Guang owed him five hundred taels of gold.

But he didn’t even know the whereabouts of Xiao Guang. The five hundred taels of gold were of no avail and could only be dreamed about.

But he never thought that today he would see Xiao Guang in the palace, and Xiao Guang was actually a young eunuch in the palace.

But as soon as he spoke, he knew he misspoke.

He was the Marquis of Honor now. If he knew Xiao Guang, didn’t it mean that he was the little beggar who had shared hardship with Xiao Guang?

Xiao Guang was a eunuch in the palace. Once his true identity was revealed by Xiao Guang, Yang Ning might be beheaded.

Xiao Guang showed bright and piercing eyes, smiled and asked, “Marquis, do you know me?”

Yang Ning quickly thought about it, coughed and shook his head, “No, I don’t.”

“Then I wonder who the ‘you’ you said is?” Xiao Guang asked with a smirk.

Yang Ning tried to calm down himself, turned around and sat down in his chair. He didn’t look at Xiao Guang, pretending to be calm and said, “I have seen a person who looked a bit like you before, and I was mistaken.”

Xiao Guang, however, did not relent. He turned to Yang Ning, smiled and said, “Marquis, look carefully in case you make a mistake. I may be the person you know.”

Yang Ning deepened his face and said, “I said I don’t know you. Hey, you go out first. I have to wait for His Majesty to summon me.”

Xiao Guang sighed, “Marquis, you’re waiting for His Majesty to summon you, but if His Majesty knows you are a fake, I wonder if he will still summon you?” With a smile, he said, “I’m afraid that he will also summon you to ask how you faked to be the Heir of Marquis of Honor and inherited the Marquis of Honor. After that, you’ll be…” Raising his hand, he did a cutting-head action, “Beheaded!”