It started snowing after nightfall, and the snowflakes grew bigger and bigger.

Soon, the streets and alleys of Beijing, the roofs and eaves of palaces, and the carriage quietly parked at the back door of Shuntian Prefecture Yamen were all dyed white.

Official Ni came out dejectedly. When he heard the packhorse's snorting, he sighed dejectedly and got on the carriage.

The driver whipped the horse whip and the carriage slowly drove out.

Inside the carriage, Manager Chai's face was ashen, and it was unclear whether it was because of the cold or because he was angry after listening to Ni Dahong's story.

"That's what happened." Ni Tuiguan put his hands in his sleeves, leaned against the car wall listlessly, and said with a look of being beaten up:

"You were damn wrong from the beginning. The thing was not on the candidates at all. That was the way it was. With so many eyes watching, how could the Lu family kid hide it?"

"It's not on the candidates?" Chai Zongguan showed a puzzled expression and asked: "Could it be that he has an accomplice?"

He had also seen the reactions of the candidates today, and indeed he did not dare to stir up this hornet's nest again, so he turned his target elsewhere.

"That's your own business. I won't get involved even if you kill me..." Ni Tuiguan sighed, "I'm tired. I'm going to take a sick leave and go back to my hometown to recuperate for a while..."

"Do you want to be a deserter?" Manager Chai's expression turned cold when he heard this.

"You can say that..." Ni Tuiguan glanced at him and said:

"I advise you to leave Beijing as soon as possible. With such a big mess today, the Eastern Depot must have been attracted."

"What am I afraid of..." Chai's expression tightened, and he swallowed the meaningless harsh words. After a while, he said dejectedly:

"That can't be the end of it. If I go back empty-handed, will I still have a chance to survive?"

"You are a simple-minded person." Ni Tuiguan laughed dryly and said:

"We have been searching for it for so long but still haven't found it. It is probably impossible to find it. Anyway, it has not fallen into the hands of the emperor. The account book was burned by fire or flooded. Isn't it just a matter of your words?"

"Well, this is the only way..." Manager Chai nodded slowly, and suddenly said in frustration: "But what about the King of the Pure Sea Seal?"

"As long as the news is not leaked, you can get away with it. Can a living person be suffocated to death?" Ni Dahong is a prosecutor who deals with criminals all day long and has rich criminal experience. He gave him some advice:

"The Portuguese and Japanese didn't know the seal was lost, so you forged one and used it anyway, didn't you?"

"You don't understand. There are some tricks to that seal. Even if it's forged, it can't be hidden from the red-haired devils and the Japanese devils." Manager Chai sighed again, curled up in pain and said, "Don't even think about going back to celebrate the New Year. I dare not go back in this life..."

Ni Dahong sighed helplessly and got off the carriage when he reached home.

When he entered the house, the carriage had gone far away. A figure wrapped in a white sheet flashed out from the shadow of the wall and followed the carriage's tracks on the snow, stealthily following.

~~

The snow fell all night and didn't stop until dawn.

The blue brick floor and golden glazed tiles of the Forbidden City were all covered in white, which made the red palace walls stand out. It reduced the solemnity of the palace and gave people a sense of elegance and beauty like a painting.

There was no court session today, and the sleepy Emperor Longqing had not gotten up yet. The Qianqing Palace was quiet inside and outside, with only the sound of the eunuchs sweeping the snow.

Suddenly, a sound of footsteps was heard from the direction of Qianqing Gate. The young eunuchs looked in the direction of the sound and saw a man wearing a white sable winter hat, a bright red python robe, and a red cloak with white fur edges. He entered the Qianqing Palace with an expressionless face, surrounded by a group of Dongchang stewards who were wearing round hats, black boots, and brown shirts.

The young eunuchs immediately prostrated themselves on the ground, not daring to look up.

Because the visitor was Feng Bao, the chief scribe of the Imperial Household Department and the eunuch in charge of the Eastern Depot. Although he was only the second-in-command among the eunuchs in the palace, he was usually cold and resolute, and never smiled, so the eunuchs were afraid of him, even more than they were of the eunuch Teng who held the seal of the Imperial Household Department.

Feng Bao walked up to the hall without looking around, and the eunuch guarding the gate pushed open the door silently.

He stepped over the threshold and entered the hall, while a group of East Factory managers stood solemnly outside the hall.

Two young eunuchs came forward and helped Eunuch Feng take off his cloak, warm hat, python robe, and deerskin warm boots.

Then she changed into a navy blue gown, a steel-forked hat with black gauze, and dark-soled soft-soled cloth shoes.

This is a custom that has been passed down for many years in the palace. No matter how glorious the eunuch is outside, as long as he appears before the emperor, he must dress and serve like the most ordinary eunuch.

After changing into his new clothes, Feng Bao asked quietly, "Where did the master sleep last night?"

"East." The young eunuch reported softly.

The so-called east side is the East Warm Pavilion. There are two side halls on the left and right of the Qianqing Palace, namely the East Warm Pavilion and the West Warm Pavilion, both of which are where the emperor sleeps.

At night, the emperor slept on a random side to make it more difficult for assassins to carry out their assassination.

However, the Renyin Palace Incident still occurred, which frightened Jiajing so much that he moved to Xiyuan and refused to return until his death.

After Longqing ascended the throne, he reluctantly moved back to the Forbidden City and lived in the Palace of Heavenly Purity under the persuasion of all officials. But he was still terrified by what happened to his father, until Chen Hong, the second-in-command of the Imperial Household Department and the eunuch of the Imperial Household Department, came up with a good idea for him...

Chen Hong proposed to transform the east and west warm rooms into two floors, and then divide them into twenty-seven rooms, with a bed in each room, and the emperor could sleep in any room at random at night.

In this way, even if an assassin managed to sneak into the Qianqing Palace with great difficulty, the choice he faced would not be one of two, but one of twenty-seven.

If he could guess this correctly, how bad would that mean for the emperor?

When Longqing heard this, he was very pleased and immediately ordered him to make the modifications according to the blueprint.

The project was completed in late autumn, and the emperor lived there for the winter...

Sure enough, I sleep soundly every night and no longer worry about repeating my father's mistakes.

The only trouble is that it is not easy for our own people to find him.

For example, at this moment Feng Bao had to first ask whether the emperor lived in the east or the west.

After the young eunuch told him, he had to go to the East Warm Pavilion again to find Chen Hong, who was on night duty. Only from him did he learn that His Majesty slept in the fourth room on the left on the overpass.

The so-called sky bridge is actually a staircase.

After Chen Hong finished his shift, Feng Bao quietly stared at the golden bell hanging on the caisson.

After waiting and waiting, I finally heard the bell ring.

At this moment, the sun is almost high in the sky.

He led two young eunuchs and went up silently to the second floor along the overpass. When they arrived at the door of the fourth room on the left that Chen Hong mentioned, they called out softly.

"master."

"Come in." A gentle voice came from inside.

Feng Bao then gently pushed the door open and saw the emperor leaning against a large bright yellow pillow, reading a book in his bed.

"Master, did you sleep well last night?" Feng Bao asked softly.

"It's okay, I just woke up from the cold in the middle of the night." Emperor Longqing had just reached the age of thirty, with fair skin and a neatly trimmed moustache. He had just woken up, so he was inevitably sleepy, and his hair was casually scattered behind his head.

"Old Chen's idea is good, but there is no floor heating on the second floor, so the master is bound to be cold." Feng Bao took a look at the warm cage that had been extinguished long ago, and quickly asked the young eunuch to open the bronze cover and replace it with a burning charcoal basin.

Because the emperor's whereabouts could not be exposed, charcoal could not be added in the middle of the night, so the bedroom often lost warmth when dawn approached.

ps. Fourth update, additional update for 6100 votes.

When I saw this historical material, I almost laughed to death, and then I shuddered. How could the emperor be so frightened? Please give me monthly tickets and recommendation tickets!!!