The new residence of Niohuru Heshen, the deputy commander of the Plain Blue Banner, in the fortieth year of the Qianlong Emperor's reign.
Heshen, dressed in a crimson robe, stood tall in the palace courtyard. With his delicate eyebrows, white teeth, and fair skin, he was as beautiful as a woman. His hands, bound behind his back, kept fiddling with the jade thumb ring on his thumb, and his eyes smiled like a crescent moon.
In the center of the courtyard stands a stele with the character "福" (fortune/blessing) made of snow-capped mountain jade. The feng shui master, wearing a wide robe sewn from cloth from various families, walks back and forth in the courtyard, waving a whisk and calculating where to place the stele so that it can receive the auspicious purple light of the Forbidden City and absorb the true energy of the twelve dragons.
As May approached, the air was thick with the essence of spring and summer, the air filled with the chirping of orioles and the lush growth of flowers and grasses. Heshen's crescent-shaped eyes peered through the layers of verdant branches in the garden towards the main gate of his mansion. His new residence, nestled in the embrace of the Panlong River, was an exceptionally auspicious place where the energy of the twelve true dragons converged. Looking at the main gate through his crescent-shaped eyes, he couldn't hide his smile.
In the 21st century, a bustling crowd surged past her. Yan Ning stood frozen in front of the gate of the Prince Gong's Mansion, gazing at the antique building.
The imposing vermilion gate and exquisite reliefs alone reveal the mansion's former glory. Although situated in a modern, bustling city, it still retains its unique character.
Perhaps because of her love for ancient architecture, Yan Ning felt very familiar with this place, but when she looked at the three characters "Prince Gong's Mansion" on the plaque, she felt very unfamiliar with it.
"Yan Ning, hurry up, there will be more and more people soon." Lu Jia, Yan Ning's best friend, who had squeezed through the crowd to get inside, turned around and saw Yan Ning standing in a daze at the door. She then turned back and pulled Yan Ning, who was lost in thought, forward.
Before she could think it through, Yan Ning was pushed into the Prince Gong's Mansion by the bustling crowd; looking at the crowd, she frowned slightly, "Why are there so many people?"
“Beijing has everything, especially people. You’re only here for the May Day holiday. If you came during the May Day holiday, you’d probably be surrounded by crowds everywhere you go.” Lu Jia pouted, not understanding why Yan Ning insisted on coming here.
Yan Ning looked at Lu Jia, who had been in Beijing for half a year and acted like a Beijing expert, and couldn't help but smile. "Then the thief definitely won't come to Beijing."
"Why?" Lu Jia asked, looking bewildered.
"Because we can't stretch our arms out wide." After saying that, Yan Ning pulled up Lu Jia, who was laughing heartily, and followed the tour guide to begin the tour.
No matter where they were, Yan Ning's heart would settle down whenever she held Lu Jia's hand. Lu Jia also understood Yan Ning's dependence on him, and he held the hand that Yan Ning offered tightly.
Looking at the photos of women from the Qing Dynasty, Lu Jia couldn't help but exclaim, "They say there are three thousand beauties in the imperial harem, but these women are just too exaggerated! Yan Ning, if you lived in their time, you would definitely be a great beauty."
Hearing these words, which were neither a compliment nor a dig at her, Yan Ning's forehead creased with three black lines.
Perhaps realizing she'd misspoke, Lu Jia quickly added, "If you wore makeup instead of going bare-faced every day, you'd be stunning on any high-speed train these days." Seeing that Yan Ning wasn't going to respond, Lu Jia pressed on with her aesthetic interpretation, "You may have classical beauty, but this is the 21st century! Who doesn't like heavy makeup and big eyes? From high school to university, everyone treated you like a goddess, but you're always like an ice queen. Who would dare approach you? Are you really planning to give your first love to your husband?!"
Lu Jia became increasingly engrossed in her story, failing to notice that Yan Ning, dressed in a white, ankle-length Mori Girl style dress with waist-length hair, suddenly turned around. Just then, a gust of wind blew, causing Yan Ning's hair to flutter in the air, revealing a classically beautiful face with an icy expression. Lu Jia was momentarily stunned. After a few seconds, she recovered and complained to Yan Ning, "Do you know that in this kind of eerie old house, scaring someone can be deadly?"
Annoyed by the nagging, Yan Ning frowned and had no choice but to use her trump card, "If you keep nagging, I'm going back."
Seeing that Yan Ning was really impatient, Lu Jia immediately put on a sweet smile. "No, please. We've come all this way. I won't say anything. Let's go to Prince Gong's Mansion! Madam, please!" As she spoke, she performed a servant's salute that was neither Ming nor Qing dynasty.
Yan Ning was amused by her clumsy manners. Lu Jia stared blankly at Yan Ning's smile and couldn't help but say, "Yan Ning, you look really beautiful when you smile!" Seeing Yan Ning immediately switch from an icy beauty to a sullen expression, Lu Jia covered his mouth and followed Yan Ning forward for the tour.
Looking at the remaining outlines of the Prince's mansion, Yan Ning felt as if she had been here before, or even that she was very familiar with the place, and she felt an inexplicable sense of oppression. However, being a young girl in the prime of her youth, she ignored these feelings while playfully teasing Lu Jia.
Because the tour guide had brought too many people, Yan Ning and Lu Jia decided to go their own way, wandering around aimlessly, not even knowing where they were.
The Prince Gong's Mansion is composed of several courtyards, divided into three sections: west, central, and east. The two initially aimed for the rear garden, as the front gardens were either empty or closed to the public. After all, it was only the site of the Prince Gong's Mansion ruins; what remained was merely the general outline of the mansion, long since devoid of its former opulence.
After wandering around for a while, Lu Jia started to get bored. "I really don't know what you're thinking. There are so many good places in Beijing, why did you come to Prince Gong's Mansion? The Forbidden City is much better than this!" Lu Jia pouted and complained.
"I don't know either, it's like something in the dark is drawing me here," Yan Ning said earnestly to Lu Jia.
"Could it be that you're the mistress of Prince Gong's Mansion who traveled from another time?" Lu Jia's face held an expression that said, "Do you think I'm an idiot?" Since she couldn't quite explain this feeling herself, Yan Ning didn't argue with Lu Jia any further.
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