White Fence Dream

Chapter 202 Perspective
Zhang Ze felt that the winter in the capital was very cold.

Especially for a new city patrol guard, he is always assigned to guard during the coldest period.

However, for him, being able to come to Beijing is already a great fortune.

His father was an old soldier from Guannei Road. His legs were broken when he dealt with a nobleman who frightened his horse. The nobleman took pity on his son and arranged for him to join the Sixteen Guards in the capital.

That’s the capital city, a place that many people yearn for.

The same was true for Zhang Ze. Although he was intelligent, he was unable to continue his studies due to his poor family. He had no chance to be recommended for a career in officialdom, so he followed in his father's footsteps and joined the army. The border army had distinct status, and it was impossible for a small soldier like him to earn military merit.

He doesn't want to endure the same fate as his father.

Suddenly, he had the opportunity to come to the capital. He was filled with pride. He had met the nobleman and heard his conversation and description. He didn't think he was much worse than the nobleman, and he might even be better than him. In the future, he would be able to become a powerful person who could change the fate of others with a single word.

But after entering the capital, he found out that he was just a street messenger among the Sixteen Guards. After guarding the street corner for half a year, the young man was worn out by the reality.

He had no family background and had no future among the Sixteen Guards, which were filled with the children of the powerful and wealthy.

He is smart and capable, but relying on his intelligence and ability, he is just doing chores for others and no one takes him seriously.

It was not until the Lantern Festival that he met his noble man again.

A noble lady more valuable than the owner of the horse that crushed his father's legs, the emperor's favorite concubine.

He had heard of this favorite concubine a long time ago. The guards, the people in the streets, and even the beggars were talking about her.

This woman seemed to appear suddenly, but she swept across the world in an instant like a hurricane.

The late emperor lived too long, so long that all his glorious deeds have become distant, so long that people no longer care what the late emperor does, because Your Majesty is always wise and powerful.

But the wise and powerful emperor suddenly fell in love with a woman, obeyed her every word, and held her in the palm of his hand.

Concubine Jiang said that Princess Jinshan scolded her with her eyes, so the late emperor asked Princess Jinshan to serve wine to Concubine Jiang in public.

Prince Guangping did not give way to Concubine Jiang when he met her, so the late emperor banned Prince Guangping from entering the palace for half a year.

When Concubine Jiang said she wanted to reach for the stars, the late emperor began to build a new pavilion.

Of course, Zhang Ze just listened for fun, and then joined in the laughter, swearing and complaining. Women were like playthings, and if you liked them, you would naturally pamper them. It was just that the emperor pampered them with his supreme status, so naturally he seemed very powerful.

It was the Lantern Festival that day, and he stayed up all night on the street as usual.

Suddenly, news came that the Emperor and Concubine Jiang had gone on a secret visit to enjoy themselves with the people. There were no soldiers to clear the way, no officials to follow them, no imperial guards to surround them, and no dragon carriage to guard the ceremonial procession.

Many people don’t even know the news.

For example, the soldier on duty on this street only received the notification when the emperor and Concubine Jiang were about to arrive.

The soldier's mind was blank, and the order conveyed by the eunuch echoed in his mind: protect the emperor well, but don't ruin the mood of his emperor and the queen.

So what to do?
The biggest task in a soldier's life is to clear the beggars off the streets.

Zhang Ze stood in front of the military officer and planned for him word by word, how to clear out some vendors without making a fuss and replace them with the sixteen guards on the scene, how to set up control on the streets, and how to transfer the families of the sixteen guards nearby to act as people on the street - they were indeed real people.

The matter was resolved smoothly, and the emperor and Concubine Jiang successfully came to the street to enjoy the folk music.

But he was not qualified to be present. It was impossible that the emperor was not accompanied by guards, as he was said to be on a secret visit.

The city guards were not qualified to get close and were driven to guard the outside.

He was not disappointed, as this was expected. He quietly stayed in the dark corner of the street, listening to the noise coming from the market ahead.

He was very happy, thinking that since he had helped to recruit the soldiers this time, the army would look upon him with more respect, such as promoting him to be a captain or something.

That way he could get to know more colleagues, earn more money, and then use bribes to build connections. In this way, he should be able to become a brigade commander by the end of the year.

Perhaps next year we can adjust the operation so that we no longer patrol the city. Even if we patrol the city, it will be in the imperial city, and then we can cling to more powerful people.

He stood on the dim street and daydreamed. Then a group of people came over, surrounding an ox cart. A soldier was among them. When he saw him, he waved his hand to signal him to kneel down.

"The saint is coming, the saint is coming." The soldier whispered.

So the emperor came here in a bullock cart? How unique! He knelt on one knee and lowered his head, not daring to look any further.

The ox cart did not move forward but stopped.

"You did a great job tonight," the eunuch said in a thin voice, "You allowed His Majesty to see the real people without disturbing their joy."

The military officer also knelt down and shouted, "It is my duty!"

Normally, His Majesty's car should have passed by here, but a female voice came from inside the car, "How did you do it?"

The soldier was stunned. He was also stunned while kneeling on the ground. He couldn't help but muster up the courage to raise his head. He saw that the curtain of the ox cart was lifted, and a young woman in cloth was looking at him.

He was stunned for a moment.

Although he had only been in the capital for half a year, he had already seen countless beauties, but after seeing so many of them, they were nothing more than two eyes and a mouth, nothing special.

But the beauty before him was different from any woman he had ever seen.

He didn't know what was different, maybe it was because of her bright eyes? Or maybe it was because she didn't show off, shy, evasive, or curious, or explore, or any of those complicated gestures that are common among women?
She looked directly at the person in front of her, her eyes devoid of any meaning.

Gentle, yet inexplicably majestic.

The soldier was as stunned as he was, stammering and unable to say anything. Of course he couldn't say anything, as this useless soldier had nothing but trash in his stomach.

This was an opportunity, and Zhang Ze immediately spoke up: "Here's how I arranged it."

He quickly repeated his previous arrangements for joining the army.

The woman's gaze shifted from the soldier to him.

She looked at him, listened to what he said, and nodded with a smile.

"Very good," she said, and lowered the curtain.

The oxcart passed slowly.

He fell to the ground, trembling with excitement. The late emperor's favorite concubine praised him very much. He was appreciated by a greater noble and he was about to rise to great heights.

But, nothing happened.

The soldier did not resent him for interrupting him, nor did he promote him. He treated him the same as before, not taking him seriously.

The concubine didn't even give him any special advice or grant him any official title. However, this was normal, after all, he just arranged a guard, and for such a noble, it didn't matter.

He wanted more opportunities to show himself, but as a small city patrol guard, he was not even qualified to approach the imperial city. This favorite concubine never took the emperor on a private visit again.

But his chance came again.

The favored concubine was no longer a concubine, but became the queen. She set up a bronze box, opened up channels for people to express their opinions, and recruited talents.

He was ecstatic. Whether it was extending favor, recruiting remonstrances, redressing grievances, or understanding the mysteries, he was willing to do it all. He was omnipotent and full of talents. He was willing to serve the queen.

He even had the nerve to mention the night out, indicating that he had received her praise.

But, there was no response.

He thought maybe this was just an illusion, the queen was just pretending and would not read these letters.

But suddenly two of his colleagues were promoted.

In fact, it was not really a promotion, they were just transferred to the place they really wanted to go.

The two men were extremely excited and confessed to him while drunk that it was a gift from Empress Chiang.

"I just tried it, but I didn't expect the queen to actually read it."

"After seeing the accounts I wrote, the Queen must have thought that I was good at counting and should work under Caocang."

He was like a bolt of lightning. Compared with these two people, he was smart, brave, and had all kinds of means. He could do anything and dared to do anything!

She saw both of them, so why didn't she look at him?
He kept sending her letters, and watched her power grow, with more and more people around her, but he never responded.

He thought that he was of humble origin, had no family connections, and no immense wealth, so she looked down on him and thought he could not help her.

He stopped writing letters and started to run his own business. He spent money like water and gradually got promoted.

He was taciturn and steady in his work, and most importantly, he was not as afraid of or admiring Queen Chiang as others were.

He knew that Queen Jiang had many people, but there were also many people who were not hers and wanted to get rid of her.

Sure enough, someone took a fancy to him and appointed him into the Qianniu Guard.

"Perhaps one day, you will be able to help His Highness and do your best for the safety of the Great Zhou."

He didn't care which prince he helped, and he didn't care about the safety of the Great Zhou. He just wanted to see the person who didn't use him regret it.

But unfortunately, when he finally reached her, she fell to the ground and broke into pieces.

In the end, he never had the chance to ask her if she regretted it.

What a pity he is.

It was previously said that it was the ghost of Queen Chiang that was haunting him, but he was not afraid at all. He even thought that it was a good opportunity for him to come and meet her and ask her some questions.

I didn't expect that I would really see it at this moment.

Zhang Ze knelt on the ground, feeling the buzzing in his ears and the pain from his knees colliding with the bricks.

The pain brought his confused consciousness together.

This is an illusion, this is a false appearance. These evil spirits, under the banner of the return of Queen Chiang, will certainly use her appearance to confuse people!

They used this kind of trick on him, could he be frightened by an illusion?
Zhang Ze's face was cold. He supported himself on the ground with his hands and slowly stood up.

There was a sound falling overhead.

"Zhang Ze." She said, her voice a little slow, as if she was thinking, "I remember you."

Zhang Ze sneered. This kind of trick...

"In the past three years, you have sent me eighty-four letters of grace, sixty-five letters of admonition, twenty-eight letters of redress, and forty-nine letters of enlightenment."

Zhang Ze's hand that was supporting him on the ground slipped, and he fell to his knees again when he was about to stand up. His knees hit the stone bricks again, causing pain.

Pain spread throughout his body, rushing to his head.

He clearly remembered the documents he had submitted. Every time, he would draw a line on the wall, densely packed with them. He has now moved that wall into his spacious mansion.

He kept the exact number in mind.

This is a secret only he knows.

how she
She knows! She sees!

No, this is an illusion, the sorcerer said, in the illusion, what you see and hear are what you think in your heart.

The sorcerer also said that people in the illusion should not respond.

Zhang Ze looked at the woman standing in front of him. She was wearing the ugly palace robe of a low-ranking palace maid, but her eyes were still bright and her back was straight.

Zhang Ze felt a little dizzy, as if he was back in that night. He rushed in and wanted to be the first to catch Queen Jiang.

But what greeted him was only a bloody corpse on the ground.

Now, the corpse slowly recovered and condensed into shape, then stood up and looked at him with his eyes slightly lowered.

"I was wondering why you didn't vote later." She looked at him and said, "It turns out you voted for someone else."

Vote for others.

Does he want to vote for someone else?

It's not a dream, it's a woman!

Zhang Ze felt his body trembling, his lips trembling, and then he heard his own voice asking: "Since you saw it, why didn't you use me?"

The woman in front of me smiled.

"Of course it's because you are mediocre," she said.

Alas, I was even more exhausted after the trip, and I only wrote half a chapter.

Hope it will resume soon, new episodes are in progress.