King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 367 Wearing Armor
Due to the rebellion of the White Lotus bandits, the entire capital has been on heightened alert, and security in and out of the city has been much tighter. The people of the capital felt deeply about this.

The common people also understand this very well. The imperial court cannot attach too much importance to such a major event as the Shangyuan Lantern Festival.

In this way, today's time has passed, and the time has come to the Shangyuan Festival on the [-]th day of the first lunar month.

Within the capital, business travelers from all over the world gathered, pushing the festive atmosphere to a climax.

But now the inner city gate is locked, and people from out of town can only wait in the outer city, waiting for the city gate to open and then enter the inner city.

What’s quite spectacular is that the wide Yongdingtian Street was packed with people before noon.

You know, Yongding Tianjie is more than a hundred meters wide, and it is nearly six or seven miles from Yongding Gate to Zhengyang Gate. You can imagine how many people there are today.

It is easy to cause stampedes when there are too many people, so as a rule, "traffic control" will be carried out. Only the Xuanwu, Zhengyang and Chongwen gates in the inner city will be opened at that time, and traffic will be restricted to a certain extent.

At this moment, there are thousands of soldiers guarding the Zhengyang Gate inside and outside, and the foreman and commander feel as if they are facing a formidable enemy.

"My lord, it's time!"

After hearing the reminder from the person behind him, the commander walked out of the gatehouse and then appeared on the urn city.

At his signal, drums sounded on the tower, and thousands of households below received the signal and signaled their subordinates to open the city gates.

At this moment, hundreds of soldiers were standing behind Juma inside the barbican city, all of them staring seriously in the direction of the city gate.

At this time, they were most afraid of a stampede, so they had to be prepared.

As the city gate opened, people began to enter the urn city, followed by soldiers yelling.

Although they were scolded, the people who entered the Wengcheng were very happy because they were the first to enter and would most likely walk outside the Daming Gate in a while.

About ten minutes later, thousands of people gathered in Wengcheng, and then the outer city gate was closed.

Immediately afterwards, the inner city gate was opened. At this time, there was no one to control it, and the people in the urn city rushed in.

A few more minutes passed, and after all the people in Weng City passed through, the inner city gate closed and the outer city gate opened, and then the next cycle began.

This kind of situation also happened at Chongwen Gate of Xuanwu Gate. People who wanted to get rich outside Daming Gate tried their best to get into the city first.

However, it was only noon, and there were still at least four hours before dark.

Different from the hustle and bustle in the inner city and the outer city, the imperial city is extremely quiet, with few living people except for the guards.

The palace maids and eunuchs who were working were also very careful when going back and forth, and needed to be inspected by soldiers at any time.

In the afternoon, the high-ranking civil and military officials of the imperial court and the royal family members entered the palace. Naturally, they would also participate in tonight's grand event.

It's just that today they are not the protagonists, so they can't even enter the palace. Instead, they wait at the government office in the imperial city.

The only ones who can enter the palace are the Crown Prince and Prince Rui. They are staying in Ningshou Palace at the moment because the emperor himself is also here.

This year's Shangyuan Festival is the first appearance of the Supreme Emperor. To perform the drama of a loving father and a filial son well, we must first talk together to find a good feeling.

However, there was really nothing to talk about between the Emperor and the Supreme Emperor, which made the atmosphere at the scene particularly awkward.

Zhu Xianming felt uncomfortable staying there, so he excused himself and left first, asking the prince and Prince Rui to accompany the old man in his place.

Zhu Xianming felt relieved now, but the prince and Prince Rui who stayed behind felt uncomfortable.

The two of them disliked each other and would quarrel and sarcastically argue with each other every time they met, but now they had to act in harmony to talk to the emperor.

But the old man didn't worry too much, and his questions were very tricky, which made the two grandsons very embarrassed.

It stands to reason that Zhu Jinghong should be here, but this guy knew he was bored and hid in advance because he had diarrhea.

At this moment, he was nestling in Chengming Courtyard, holding a towel and wiping his sword.

"You mean, a dozen people were taken away from the East Factory in Gongli?"

Upon hearing the question, Deng An quickly replied: "That's exactly the case, but based on my inference, I'm afraid most of them are unjustly accused!"

In order to ensure the absolute integrity of the imperial city and to save their own lives, the leaders of Dongchang would do anything.

Putting down his saber, Zhu Jinghong asked in a deep voice: "Since there are people who have been wronged, there may be others who have slipped through the net, don't you think?"

"This...servant doesn't dare to talk nonsense!" Looking up at Deng An, Zhu Jinghong said slowly: "Go get my armor!"

Although he didn't understand Zhu Jinghong's intention, Deng An didn't hesitate at all and immediately replied: "Yes!"

Among the three eunuchs under Zhu Jinghong, Deng An was the smartest, and he was also obedient and reliable. After being beaten, he became more disciplined and was extremely easy to use.

Soon, Deng An led several young eunuchs to fetch the armor, and then Zhu Jinghong asked them to serve and wear it.

Even Deng An was surprised when he heard this outrageous request, so he subconsciously asked: "Master Thirteen, are you not going to the lantern festival tonight?"

Zhu Jinghong was wearing armor at the moment, so Deng An thought that he was going to practice martial arts, so naturally he would not go to Damingmen.

"Of course I want to go, hurry up and wait, don't talk nonsense!"

"Yes!"

Immediately afterwards, several young eunuchs became busy.

This set of armor was a gift from Zhu Jingyuan. The inner and outer layers add up to dozens of kilograms. It would be very difficult for a normal strong man to wear it, but for Zhu Jinghong, it doesn't matter.

"How long will it take for the Qin family's matter to be decided?"

"I think it should be in the first month of the year, maybe in a few days!" Deng An answered carefully.

Spreading his arms and letting the eunuchs operate, Zhu Jinghong continued: "You must have people keep an eye on the Qin family girl's residence. Don't let people come to bully you again!"

"Don't worry, Thirteenth Master. This servant has already said hello to the thousands of households in charge, and has also sent people from our palace to keep an eye on it. There must be nothing wrong!"

"That's good!"

There was nothing to say next. After a few minutes, Zhu Jinghong appeared in his complete form. His strength was comparable to that of a tank in this era.

Hanging the saber on his belt, Zhu Jinghong picked up the iron armor and walked out of the hall.

"Master Thirteen, where are you going*" Deng An quickly followed him out.

"Go to the Qing Palace!"

"Oh ah?"

Where is Qianqing Palace?That was the emperor's palace, the most heavily guarded and sensitive place.

Zhu Jinghong wore a suit of armor and went there. This was not only inappropriate, but also treasonous.

"Thirteenth Master, you must not do this!" Deng An quickly chased after him.

Looking at Deng An who was following him and trying to persuade him, Zhu Jinghong couldn't help but smile and said, "Do you think I'm crazy?"

"Thirteenth Master, wearing armor and going to the Qing Palace is a serious crime!" Deng An reminded him very implicitly.

"Don't worry about it, I've already asked for it!" Zhu Jinghong replied.

"But this..."

Deng An definitely couldn't persuade Zhu Jinghong, so he could only follow him and quietly order someone to go to Kunning Palace to report the news, for fear that his master would cause big trouble.

To go to Qianqing Palace, even on the way in, you have to pass through three palace gates, in other words, three lines of defense.

Zhu Jinghong took the nearest route, but when he reached the first palace gate, he was naturally stopped by the guards.

"Master Thirteen, what are you doing?"

Zhu Jinghong replied calmly: "I have been ordered to go to Qianqing Palace and serve in front of the emperor!"

Although they all recognized Zhu Jinghong, the scene in front of them was so outrageous that the gatekeepers seemed very embarrassed.

"May I ask Master Thirteen, what is your purpose?"

Zhu Jinghong said calmly: "The Holy Spirit has spoken, if you don't believe it, just ask him!"

(End of this chapter)