Chapter 65
As they entered Donghua Gate, two gray-red palace walls suddenly appeared before them. The towering walls sliced the sunlight into narrow slits. The beasts on the eaves caught the wind, their hair-like veins shaking off dust. The wind blew past the arched doorway, carrying the smell of earth from the cracks between the bricks. The palace suddenly opened up, its vermilion columns neatly arranged in a play of light and shadow. But if they followed the columns deeper, they saw no end in sight.
"The Forbidden City is so big!" Zhou Yiheng was surprised. He took out the guide map he had just taken from an old man at the entrance and kept comparing it with the densely packed white paper. "Are we close to the Hall of Supreme Harmony now?"
"Taihe Hall, how can it be so fast? We just came in and are still far from the main place." Li Cheng opened the folding fan in his hand and raised it above his head to block the sun. "Do you see the Golden Water Bridge? Only after crossing the bridge can we reach the place where we used to hold court."
Xiao Xiao stood on tiptoe to look forward. Just as she was about to speak, she was squeezed by a tour group coming towards her and almost fell.
"Are you okay?" Yang Ye supported the man.
"It's okay," Xiao Xiao waved her hand. "Professor Li just said that we have to cross the Jinshui Bridge to reach the court. So where are we now?"
"The outer official road that we used to patrol," Yang Ye replied.
She raised her hand again to block the glaring sun in front of her, trying hard to see the layers of red walls and roofs.
"Don't look at it." Yang Ye was afraid that she would fall, so he pulled her to try to lean forward, "Walk forward a little and you'll be able to see everything."
"Boss, have you been here before?" Xiao Xiao asked.
"Why are you asking that?"
"I'm curious. You said you were a princess in the past, so you must have been to the Forbidden City."
"I am a Gege, but I am not a Gege from the Forbidden City." Yang Ye smiled and continued to walk forward. "The Gege in the past was just a title. The real princesses in the Forbidden City were also called Gege in the early days, but later they were changed to princesses. The daughters of princes and dukes are called Gege. Even some concubines without status in the prince's palace are called Gege by the maids."
"With so many princesses, can you tell them apart?"
"Look at the title in front. The title determines the status," Yang Ye said. Her tone was flat as if she was talking about ordinary family matters. "But I have actually been to the Forbidden City once."
Her gaze passed the bustling crowd ahead and fell on the unassuming little door beside her. The painted lintel had faded a bit, but the exquisiteness of its past could still be seen. Several elderly ladies were standing in front of the door, taking pictures. Through the narrow, closed door, Yang Ye seemed to see many things from the past.
"Was it particularly suffocating back then?" Xiao Xiao was halfway through her words when she realized that this might not be true. She quickly explained, "I've watched palace dramas where the people in the palace seem to be unable to do anything except vying for favor and fighting for the emperor's favor. They can't even move around freely."
"There are indeed many rules in the Forbidden City, but what you said is wrong. Being able to move around in the harem is considered freedom." Yang Ye smiled. "Back then, entering the palace required an imperial decree, and one had to abide by various rules. It's not like now, where you can go wherever you want. Besides, I didn't come in through this door before."
"Where is that? Are there other doors?"
"This is the main gate of the palace, where all civil and military officials hold court. There is a difference between the front court and the harem. We have to go through the small gate of Cangzhen Gate to enter the palace, and we have to be led in by the palace servants who announce the imperial decree. This gate will only be opened for the wedding of the emperor and empress."
"Why did you come in then?" Xiao Xiao asked.
They both walked more slowly. "At that time, a close relative of ours was pregnant, and with the grace of the nobles in the palace, she was allowed to have someone from her mother's family come in to take care of her. I came with my mother and my aunt, but I was too young at the time and didn't dare to look closely at many places. I was only focused on memorizing the rules that my mother told me in the carriage."
"Isn't it usually the case that only one person can be granted the privilege of entering the palace to take care of someone?" Li Cheng asked as he walked behind the two of them.
"Rules are dead, but people are alive. As long as the people who make the rules say something, then the rules will be what they are," said Yang Ye.
She had probably forgotten what had happened, but she remembered only that the sun that day was just as scorching as it was today, the blue brick floor, left in the sun for too long, burning her feet until they ached. Her mother held her hand, her head bowed as she walked. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of palace servants walking in the shadow of the wall, their backs bent even lower than hers.
She was tired of walking with her head down, and just as she was about to raise her head a little, her mother stopped her with a look. The palace walls on both sides were really high, pressing down so hard that it was hard to breathe, and it seemed that even the wind was heavier than outside.
The people passing by screamed, startling Yang Ye's attention. The palace wall before her remained as tall as ever, though at its base stood a crowd of people who dared to look up. The guide's loudspeaker was still humming in front of her. Before Yang Ye could separate the past from the present, she was suddenly struck by a force that staggered her and sent her plummeting toward the wall.
"Be careful!" Zhou Yiheng was quick-witted and immediately grabbed her arm to steady her. Yang Ye staggered to her feet and saw the crowd that had just passed by.
"Be careful, there are a lot of people here," Zhou Yiheng added.
"Hmm," Yang Ye came back to his senses. Xiao Xiao had already walked a few steps forward. She looked at the two palace walls on her side. The gray-red bricks were higher than her head, squeezing the sky into a narrow strip. Xiao Xiao turned around and asked them, "You said the walls on both sides are so high. How did the people who lived here in the past survive?"
"Just endure it," Li Cheng said, fanning himself.
"When I first came here, I saw that the wall in the middle was quite thick. How did the patrols in the past check? If something happened on the other side, could they react?"
"Of course they can. There used to be more than one patrol team." Yang Ye calmly passed her hand from Zhou Yiheng's hand and walked over. "Although it's behind the wall, there are actually quite a few battlements on it. The guards standing there might not be able to see clearly what's going on on both sides."
Zhou Yiheng looked down and saw his empty palms. He chuckled, took a step forward to catch up, and asked loudly, "The road is so long. If there was an emergency, what would people do in the past?"
Xiao Xiao interjected, "Could there be any secret code?"
"It's not that mysterious," Yang Ye replied naturally. Her foot kicked a stone on the side of the road. She bent down to pick it up and put it on the threshold of the next place. "Patrols used to be diligent. The Eight Banners Guards took turns on duty according to the time of day. There was a sentry post not far away, so they could see each other. In addition to the guards in the palace, there were also eunuchs and palace maids on duty. There were people watching everywhere. If there was really an accident, it would be nothing more than a fire. So there are water tanks like this in front of each palace gate, and there are special eunuchs on duty. How can ordinary movements be hidden from the eyes of so many people?"
Taking advantage of the fact that there were few people on the road, the few of them quickened their pace.
The stone pavement was a bit hot from the sun, and even the soles of their feet could feel a faint burning sensation. The glaring sunlight made Xiao Xiao and Li Chengdu unable to resist hiding in the shade under the palace wall.
"We've been walking for so long, but I still haven't seen the Imperial Garden?" Zhou Yiheng raised his hand to block his eyes. All he saw were similar palaces and the same red walls.
"What's the rush?" Li Cheng stopped and took a sip of water. "We'll be at Xianfu Palace soon. Just these palaces, Changchun Palace, and that other one, are enough for us to spend half a day just walking around."
"Half a day!" Xiao Xiao opened her mouth wide, rubbing her hands on her knees. "No wonder the old man at the door just now said that you have to walk 20,000 steps to visit the Forbidden City."
The group walked forward, chatting. As they reached the gates of Xianfu Palace, the throng of people nearly made them dizzy. Many held up their phones, snapping photos of the palace's rooftops. As a few stepped over the threshold, a few weeds sprouted from the cracks in the courtyard's brickwork.
"This is too small!" Xiao Xiao looked up at the courtyard, which was only a dozen steps away. The old trees in the yard were lush and green, but this old tree took up almost a third of the area. The several side rooms were very close together. After walking around, it looked about the same size as the courtyard they were living in.
She followed the crowd and leaned in to look inside the house. It wasn't long before she had taken in all the furnishings. Seeing the room, which only contained a bed and a few chairs, she said, "I thought the ladies' quarters would be a bit spacious, but it's just this small?"
"This is not enough," Li Cheng said standing behind her. "The palace emphasizes setting rules based on rank. Most of the people living in Xianfu Palace are concubines, so having something like this is pretty good."
Yang Ye stood in the courtyard, surrounded by a bustling crowd. She looked up and saw the dilapidated courtyard, the walls mottled and the wooden structures under the corridor worn to a worn look. Although the Forbidden City is repaired every few years, it is ultimately a cultural relic preservation project, so even if it is repaired, it is mostly maintained in its original appearance, with few new decorations added.
The vicissitudes of old objects can never be hidden.
She walked over and saw that Zhou Yiheng was alone. Yang Ye took a look and said, "Most of the scenes in TV dramas are exaggerated. In reality, it's just like this. A noble lady has a room with a bed, a concubine can occupy an entire side room, and only when she reaches the rank of imperial concubine can she have a proper courtyard or the main hall of a palace."
"Would Cixi's previous courtyard be bigger than this?" Xiao Xiao asked.
"Even if it is big, it won't be that big," Yang Ye replied.
"How big was your previous house?" Zhou Yiheng suddenly asked.
Yang Ye looked around and pointed to the small side room in front of her. "It's about this big, right?"
The carved wooden windows in the corridor were covered with half-worn white paper, making them dim and barely discernible. Zhou Yiheng looked in the direction of her finger and saw only a small room with room for a small bed and a table. A few steps would lead to bumping into the wall, and two people standing side by side could block the windows. Zhou Yiheng stared at it and asked, "Isn't it stuffy?"
"What's there to be bored about? I'm better off than those people out there who have nowhere to stay." Yang Ye smiled, but his eyes were calm.
Zhou Yiheng said nothing, simply watching her quietly from the side. As the faintest hint of a smile faded from her face, the indifference in her eyes grew even more gloomy. Zhou Yiheng suddenly recalled what she had said before: that life confined by rules was perhaps like these two rooms before him: peaceful and secure on the surface, yet the feeling of suffocation and confinement within was unspeakable.
If you talk too much, people will think you are showing off, but if you talk less, the discomfort in your heart and the stagnation day after day will only make you more sad.
The wind from the corridor brought over the noisy voices. Yang Ye's hand, which fell beside her, moved. She wanted to lift it up, but she didn't have the courage.
I just came out of the back door and was talking when two unfamiliar foreigners came towards me. They were holding a guide map and looked anxious. One of the tall men saw Zhou Yiheng and walked over and asked in broken Chinese: "Excuse me, Zhen Treasure House, how do I get here?"
Afraid that he might not be sure, he clicked twice on the guide map.
Zhou Yiheng froze, seeing the name on the guide map. It felt like he'd just come from there, but he didn't know what to say. Subconsciously frowning, he pointed back in the direction he'd just come from, piecing together the few words he could find: "Go straight, then... turn left, and you'll see a big, big stone lion."
He spoke and gestured at the same time.
The other party was confused and obviously didn't understand.
"Sorry." Zhou Yiheng was at a loss. He didn't know what to do. He looked around, trying to find Xiao Xiao or Li Cheng, but after talking for a while, they didn't know where to go.
"Excuse me, do you mean the Hall of Treasures?" Yang Ye's voice suddenly interrupted with old-fashioned American emphasis.
The two foreigners turned around when they heard the voice. Yang Ye had already come over and tapped the location of the Treasure House on their guide map. She continued in that slow and relaxed American English that carried a sense of age: "It's two blocks from here, turn right at the next archway."
The voice had no ups and downs, but it was much clearer than Zhou Yiheng's blind gestures.
"You'll see a red building then three Chinese characters are written on it Turn right there, walk straight a little, and it'll be right in front of you"
The two of them talked about something else while looking at the guide map. They followed Yang Ye's gaze to the palace complex in the distance. The tall man pointed to the symbol on the guide map and compared it with the location in front of him. Suddenly, he realized it, and his companion Ye beside him nodded in understanding. They both looked up, smiled at Yang Ye, and said twice, "Thank you."
Before leaving, the tall man thought of something and added in Chinese, "Thank you."
Yang Ye nodded and watched them fold the guide map and put it in their chest pocket, heading in the direction they had just mentioned. She then turned around and saw Zhou Yiheng still standing there in a daze. Yang Ye asked with a faint smile on his face, "What's wrong?"
Zhou Yiheng saw her, his eyes full of shock, "Boss, you can speak English?"
“I learned it before, but I haven’t spoken it for many years.”
"We could learn English before. I thought people only studied the Four Books and Five Classics at that time." Zhou Yi took two steps forward.
"Why not? Foreigners started coming to Beijing after 1860. There were foreign embassies in Beijing before. It was popular to run new-style schools at that time. They taught foreign languages, not just English, but also French and German."
"Did you also learn English at that time?" Zhou Yiheng asked.
"No," Yang Ye shook his head, "Xue Shangyang taught me."
"Is that so?" Zhou Yiheng nodded and didn't ask any more questions.
"What's up?" Xiao Xiao came over and started a conversation, still holding the bookmark she had just bought. "What happened to Xue Shangyang?"
Yang Ye chuckled, his tone a little nonchalant, "He told me to learn more and not go out blind."
"How could he say that to you?" Xiao Xiao retorted.
"Then what else can you say about me?" Yang Ye asked back with his arms crossed.
"He should say that you are beautiful, charming, well-educated, gentle, and kind-hearted." Xiao Xiao counted on her fingers to list her advantages.
Yang Ye was amused by her words and lowered his arms. Seeing that she was the only one coming out, he asked, "Where's Li Cheng?"
"I'm still choosing. Look, this is what I just bought. Does it look good?" Xiao Xiao showed off the things she had just bought.
"Yeah, it looks pretty good," Yang Ye nodded.
When we walked out of Shenwu Gate, it was already past three o'clock in the afternoon.
The sun was still slanting in the sky, the pale blue so clear that barely a cloud could be seen. Instead, the palace wall was stretched out by the sun, its shadows spreading across the open space in front. The wind blew past their ears, carrying the dry chill characteristic of winter, stinging their noses and causing them to begin to redden.
Li Cheng and Xiao Xiao were walking in front, talking and laughing, but it was unclear what they were saying.
Zhou Yiheng walked quickly to Yang Ye's side, caught up with her and then slowed down.
"Did he really say that to you before?" he asked softly.
Yang Ye tilted his head. Under the sunlight, the boy's cold and deep eyes were filled with inquiry. His gaze fell on his face, which was softer than the winter sun. Yang Ye smiled and looked forward to see the backs of Li Cheng and Xiao Xiao. "He just told me that the world outside has changed, and we need to keep up with the present."
"So what you just said..."
"I just simplified his words a little bit." Yang Ye chuckled, the wind blowing her long hair on both sides. "We can't survive in this new era by sticking to the old rules. We need to learn new things and look at the latest news outside. Don't wait until the wheel of the world has rolled over us and we still don't know what to do."
Zhou Yiheng nodded, but then shook his head.
"To put it simply, it can be summed up in eight words: times have changed, so we must assess the situation carefully."
Zhou Yiheng nodded and said nothing more.
It was already evening when the car pulled out of Beijing. Yang Ye leaned against the car window and squinted all the way. When he opened his eyes again, the setting sun was just barely falling on the highway guardrail. The golden-red light was gradually fading. In the rearview mirror, the outline of Beijing was receding, the tall buildings gradually giving way to low houses. Further ahead, the clusters of houses became increasingly scattered, leaving only the shadows of trees passing by on either side.
"Get some sleep. We probably won't arrive in Hangzhou until tomorrow afternoon." Zhou Yiheng handed her a blanket from the front after seeing that she woke up in the rearview mirror.
Yang Ye took the blanket and put it on his legs, "Thank you."
"What are you thanking me for?" Zhou Yiheng asked with a smile. The traffic jam had passed, and the traffic ahead had returned to high speed. He glanced at the rearview mirror when there were fewer cars, hesitated for a moment, and said, "It was a good trip to Beijing."
"Let's come again next time if we have the chance." Yang Ye closed his eyes again.
The outline of the city was completely left behind the wheels. The car moved steadily through the darkness. Moonlight streamed through the window, casting a few mottled shadows on her. The bright light of the streetlights on both sides of the highway carried them south.
Some places are hometown, and some places are home.
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