Chapter 184 184 Deshengmen Inner and Outer City

Upon reaching the vicinity of Di'anmen, the First Prince waved his hand, ordering the entire entourage to stop. He then said to the other seven princes, "Let's dismount, have breakfast near Di'anmen, and then leave the city."

Yin'e climbed down from the back of the little red horse, Hongzao. After the guards came and led Hongzao aside to watch over it, he quickly took two steps to the left and helped the Ninth Prince, who was walking a little awkwardly after getting off Hongli's back: "Ninth Brother, what's wrong?"

The Ninth Prince hissed and gasped for breath, limping as he was helped by Yin'e to join the other princes. He muttered, "It's my first time riding a horse on the main street. I was a little nervous, and I was tense the whole way. I twisted my muscle when I dismounted a bit too much."

Before today, the Ninth Prince had only ridden a horse in the martial arts training ground, and had never actually ridden a horse on the road.

Although guards cleared the way from Shenwu Gate to Di'an Gate, with guards on horseback following on both sides to provide support and prevent any accidents, practice and actual combat are two completely different things. The Ninth Prince was not a skilled rider to begin with, and under tension, he was bound to make mistakes.

Yin'e thought for a moment, then whispered to the Ninth Prince, "How about we have a guard take you horseback riding after breakfast?"

"That won't do." The Ninth Prince shook his head and refused without even thinking. "You all ride your own horses, and I'm the only one who needs someone to guide me. That would be so embarrassing!"

The Ninth Prince was arrogant and proud, but he couldn't stand being inferior to others.

Yin'e looked at the Ninth Prince disapprovingly and said in a low voice, "What's the big deal about losing face? It's not worth doing anything for the sake of face. Substance is what matters most. Ninth Prince, we can't do something so stupid as to ruin ourselves for the sake of face."

If Emperor Kangxi had heard Yin'e's words here, he would have known that Yin'e was not only bold, but also truly shameless. He was not afraid of losing face and did not care about face at all; he only valued substance and pursued tangible benefits.

The Ninth Prince's handsome face scrunched up. He felt he couldn't lose face, but he also couldn't do the stupid thing Yin'e had mentioned. He was extremely conflicted. After a long while, he finally said, "...Let's see. I just twisted my muscle. Maybe I'll be fine after breakfast."

Under the orders of the eldest prince, the guards sent by Kangxi to protect the eight princes had completed the clearing work, booked three adjacent eateries near Di'anmen, and loudly called on the eatery staff to bring up their breakfast.

Sending all eight princes out at once—even if Emperor Kangxi was confused, he wouldn't have been so careless as to not send anyone to protect them, or so lenient as to let the princes travel alone.

Of the eight princes, only the eldest, third, and fourth princes were equipped with personal guards; the fifth prince's personal guards were selected this year, but they are still undergoing training and have not yet officially taken up their posts; while the personal guards of the seventh and eighth princes are still in the selection stage and will not be assigned to their side until next year.

As for Yin'e and the Ninth Prince, they are not old enough and will have to wait another two years until they reach the age to be assigned personal guards. Except in special circumstances, princes can only be assigned personal guards after they turn ten years old if they receive a token to ask for Emperor Kangxi's favor to leave the palace alone.

As Yin'e sat down at a carefully wiped wooden table in the restaurant, just as he was about to ask what breakfast was available, several waiters with white towels draped over their shoulders bowed and brought over trays of various breakfast dishes.

After the waiters finished delivering the food and left, the Fifth Prince looked at the table full of delicious breakfast dishes and, amidst the rich and mixed aromas, couldn't wait to ask, "Brother, which one is the best?"

The Fifth Prince had a large appetite; otherwise, he wouldn't have developed such a plump and round face and such a strong and tall physique.

But no matter how big his appetite was, he couldn't possibly try all the different kinds of breakfast at once. He could only pick a few at most. So the Fifth Prince asked the most knowledgeable First Prince without any embarrassment, wanting to pick out the best few from the table full of breakfast.

The Fifth Prince didn't know when he would be able to leave the palace again. Since he had the chance this time, he naturally wanted to try the best food outside the palace and see how skilled and authentic it was.

Touching his empty belly, the Fifth Prince sighed with regret, feeling for the first time that he didn't eat enough and wished he could eat more.

"The best thing to eat..." The eldest prince smiled and pretended to think for a moment before answering, "Then you should try douzhi (fermented mung bean juice). I guarantee you'll remember it well."

Yin'e had just served the Ninth Prince a basket of shrimp dumplings, taken a fried dough stick and a bowl of tofu pudding for himself, when he heard the First Prince introducing douzhi (fermented mung bean juice) to the Fifth Prince. He couldn't help but look up at the First Prince.

Originally, Yin'e was a little curious as to why the eldest prince would like to drink douzhi (fermented mung bean juice), and even recommended it to the fifth prince, who loved food and had become quite chubby. However, he caught a glimpse of a malicious smile in the eldest prince's eyes.

With his mouth agape, Yin'e stared blankly at the First Prince. He instantly understood why the First Prince had specifically recommended douzhi (fermented mung bean juice) to the Fifth Prince: it wasn't that the First Prince liked douzhi; quite the opposite, it was precisely because the First Prince didn't like it that he deliberately used douzhi to trick the Fifth Prince.

It's like when you step into a pit and make a fool of yourself, you can't help but drag others down with you. That's the mentality the eldest prince has now.

With a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth, Yin'e couldn't help but cast an accusing look at the eldest prince: I never expected you to be like this, eldest brother!

The eldest prince didn't notice Yin'e's gaze. After the fifth prince took a sip of soy milk, his face turned all sorts of colors, and his chubby, round face turned a little pale before he could barely swallow the soy milk, the eldest prince, who had successfully mischievously done his job, laughed heartily and vigorously rubbed the head of the fifth prince, who had a resentful look on his face: "Fifth brother, you're too honest."

The Fifth Prince pouted and looked at the First Prince with a simple and honest expression, saying in a very aggrieved tone, "I thought the one my eldest brother recommended was the best."

The Fifth Prince never considered the possibility that the First Prince was up to no good. He wholeheartedly believed the First Prince's introduction, but unexpectedly fell into a trap and personally experienced the intoxicating taste of douzhi (fermented mung bean juice).

It's not that douzhi (fermented mung bean juice) is really that bad, or that its taste is so terrible that it's completely unacceptable. Rather, the Fifth Prince had high expectations before tasting it, but what he found was both bitter and astringent.

After her expectations were dashed, the huge disappointment caused Douzhi'er's rating with the Fifth Prince to plummet, and he labeled her as someone he never wanted to try again.

Seeing the Fifth Prince looking so aggrieved, the First Prince felt guilty for a second, thinking that he couldn't make the boy cry, so he cleared his throat and changed the subject, saying seriously, "After we finish breakfast, we'll go to Shichahai and exit the inner city through Deshengmen."

There are nine city gates in the inner city. After they left the palace through Shenwu Gate, there were two city gates to the left and right of the north side, namely Desheng Gate and Anding Gate.

To the west, on their left, were the inner city gates Xizhimen and Fuchengmen; to the east, on their right, were the inner city gates Dongzhimen and Chaoyangmen.

Behind them, separated from the entire Forbidden City to the south, are Xuanwu Gate, Zhengyang Gate, and Chongwen Gate. Among them, Zhengyang Gate, located due south, is the most special, as it was only used when the emperor left the city, and only those who passed through Zhengyang Gate were qualified to leave the city through it.

The area around Zhengyangmen, where the inner and outer city walls meet, is Qianmen Street, the busiest and most prosperous street in Beijing. Zhengyangmen is popularly known as Daqianmen and is the most important gateway among the nine gates of the inner city.

There's a reason why Tong Guogang's coffin entered Beijing through Deshengmen in the north. The Black Tortoise of the north is associated with war, and armies usually leave the city through the north gate when going to war. Deshengmen itself is related to war, and the name was chosen to bring good fortune and smooth sailing in battle.

When Tong Guogang set out with the Qing army to conquer the Dzungars, he left the city through the Desheng Gate in the north. Now that he has died on the battlefield, his coffin is returning to Beijing through the Desheng Gate as well.

When the capital was originally built, only the layout of the inner city was planned. The final city was square and a very regular rectangle.

Later, when the capital became the national capital, most of the people who flocked to the capital from all directions to make a living could not enter the city. They wanted to seek refuge and live near the capital, so they spontaneously built houses and settled down outside the southern city wall.

As more and more people settled in the south, in order to protect them, the originally square capital city continued to expand southward, eventually extending more than ten miles outward, creating a new urban area, which led to the distinction between the inner city and the outer city.

The outer city itself was the result of the continuous southward expansion of the inner city. Therefore, the inner city and outer city of the capital did not completely enclose the inner city. Instead, they were two rectangles closely adjacent to each other, with the inner city being wider and almost square, while the outer city was longer and appeared more elongated.

The outer city is a new urban area extending southward from the inner city. Connecting the inner and outer cities are the three southern gates: Xuanwu Gate, Zhengyang Gate, and Chongwen Gate. Desheng Gate, where Yin'e and his group were headed, is to the north and is one of the two gates furthest from the outer city among the nine gates of the inner city.

On the way from Di'anmen to Deshengmen, one of the inner gates, although there were fewer and fewer pedestrians on the street, and the number of shops and vendors doing business on both sides of the street had decreased from four or five per street to only a few scattered over several streets, Yin'e did not think much of it.

He assumed that the area near Deshengmen, like the royal family's residential area closest to the palace, was a simple residential area without many commercial venues, which was why it seemed less lively and there were hardly any shops open for business.

But when Yin'e left the inner city through Desheng Gate, he was stunned and dumbfounded.

Although Yin'e's mount, Hongzao, was still a small horse, and Yin'e himself was still short and stocky, through the guards riding tall horses surrounding him, Yin'e could still see that outside Deshengmen was a barren woodland plain, and he couldn't see the bustling street scene of the outer city at all.

Outside Deshengmen, there is a natural landscape. Apart from an official road that stretches into the distance and a few farewell pavilions standing near the city gate, there are not many man-made buildings.

Standing at the foot of Deshengmen and looking northwest, you can see a clear blue lake with a mirror-like surface. It is a beautiful and pristine natural landscape with clear waters and lush mountains.

After standing there dumbfounded for a moment, Yin'e finally managed to ask with great difficulty, "Isn't the area outside the inner city the outer city?"

How come we ended up in the middle of nowhere right after leaving the inner city? It's such a big outer city, and he's been longing to stroll around Qianmen Street.

"Pfft..." Upon hearing Yin'e's question, the Third Prince, who had been trying to ease tensions with Yin'e recently, couldn't help but burst out laughing and teasingly asked, "Tenth Brother, were you really born in the capital?"