Chapter 517: Meeting in Sijiucheng

I drove the car with Zhao Xiaohua, and after picking up Shi Yong, we headed for Sijiucheng.

Along the way, Shi Yong kept yawning.

I didn't dare let Shi Yong drive.

I drove for a while, then in the middle I let Zhao Xiaohua drive for a segment.

By the time I arrived in Sijiucheng, it was already afternoon.

The car I was driving was given to me by Wen Han, with a Sijiucheng license plate. So entering and leaving Sijiucheng faced no obstacles.

After we entered the Second Ring Road, we found a hotel and checked in.

Zhao Xiaohua said to me, "Brother, I haven't toured Sijiucheng yet; this afternoon I have free time, let's go sightseeing in Sijiucheng."

"Of course, in the past our tours were just hurried glances; this time we'll hire a guide to have him show us around and explain things, which will be more interesting," I said.

"That's settled then," Zhao Xiaohua said, and she began looking for a guide online.

Shi Yong, however, didn't want to go out; he preferred to stay in the hotel and sleep.

If he doesn't go, then he doesn't go,

So Zhao Xiaohua and I went out.

We found a guide, who took us to tour the Forbidden City.

After reaching the San Da Dian of the Forbidden City, that was where ancient emperors worked and rested.

This Liang, the guide, introduced us to the daily life of ancient emperors.

He told us that ancient emperors rose very early, getting up around three or four in the morning,

then went to the hall to listen to officials report on their work.

It's not like TV dramas where, if there's a memorial, they proceed; if not, they withdraw from court.

After hearing the officials' reports, they still had to discuss specific matters with close aides.

In any case, every day was work, including even when they flipped the nameplates to sleep with concubines at night—don't think they slept comfortably,

with eunuchs watching; after the time it takes to burn one incense stick, a eunuch outside would shout, "Please, Your Majesty, take care of your dragon body." They had to shout it three times loudly, and if the emperor still didn't wake,

the eunuch would then clutch the book "Holy Master's Instructions" and begin to recite it loudly.

The "Holy Master's Instructions" is the last testament of the emperor's ancestors.

As soon as the emperor inside heard the "Holy Master's Instructions," nobody dared to linger; they hurriedly sent the concubines away.

Even the idea of hugging one's wife and sleeping until dawn was impossible.

Liang the guide then went on to recite a poem,

"Iron-armored general passes the gate at night; court officials await the watch, cold in the fifth watch. In mountain temples, the sun is high but monks have not yet risen; upon calculation, fame and profit are not as good as leisure."

Listening to Liang's poem, I felt a myriad of emotions. Life truly is that money is hard to buy leisure.

Whatever fame, rank, and wealth, none beats living a comfortable life.

"Mr. Zhao, do you know how ancient emperors used the toilet?" Liang the guide asked us at that moment.

I shook my head,

Liang said, "Emperors using the toilet is different from us ordinary people; they cannot directly say they are going to relieve themselves,

nor can they say the emperor urinates; that sort of word is used only by commoners. The word the emperor must use is not ordinary.

If the emperor needs to use the toilet,

a eunuch will loudly call out, 'High mountains, flowing water.' After that cry of 'high mountains, flowing water,' everyone knows the emperor needs to urinate, and someone will prepare a urinal.

I deliberately asked, "And what about the consorts? Is it also 'high mountains, flowing water' for them when they use the toilet?"

"No, it's called 'rain on banana leaves.' That is the signal for a consort's toilet use, and immediately someone prepares a chamber pot," Liang said.

"That's quite refined, 'rain on banana leaves,' very vivid," I laughed after hearing it.

Liang the guide explained some palace secrets and anecdotes to us, and only then did we realize that the emperor's life had so many rules.

Moreover, these rules must all be observed.

Because you are the emperor, if you set the example by breaking the rules, wouldn't the whole realm fall into chaos?

Moreover, words cannot be spoken carelessly; what is said from the golden mouth and jade words must be fulfilled.

It seems the most unfree person in the world is the emperor.

But in reality, we men all dream of becoming emperors.

It's nothing more than wanting to eat well and be able to flip the nameplates to sleep.

Actually, in today's society, many newly rich landlords have already surpassed ancient emperors.

They eat the finest foods from all under heaven, and the number of women around them is no less than the concubines in the imperial palace, yet these people are still not satisfied.

Time flew by; before we knew it, three or four hours had passed. If it weren't for the appointment I had made with Wen Han for tonight,

we would have planned to go to another park to stroll.

After leaving the imperial palace, we returned to the hotel, where Shi Yong was still sleeping.

I woke Shi Yong up, so that he could go out with us in the evening.

Shi Yong seems to have been tormented quite badly by Ya Ling.

He had been asleep since getting in the car, and was still asleep when we reached the hotel.

Shi Yong finally woke up.

I drove the car with Shi Yong and Zhao Xiaohua out, and we first went to try Sijiucheng's famous snacks,

quite nice roast duck.

One roast duck let Shi Yong eat more than half of it.

After eating the roast duck, Shi Yong's complexion had mostly recovered

and his speech became noticeably stronger.

I said to Shi Yong, "Shi Yong, is there something wrong with your body? You fall asleep as soon as you get in the car."

"This won't do; if it's really not okay, find time to go to the hospital for a check-up, get some Chinese medicine to tonic."

Upon hearing me say that,

"Brother, our bodies are just fine."

"If you don't believe me, tonight I'll find a few women and perform live for you to see."

This Shi Yong, as soon as he speaks, he's improper.

I also didn't bother with him anymore.

I then took Shi Yong and Zhao Xiaohua to the boss's teahouse; Zhao Xiaohua was seeing Wen Han for the first time, we couldn't let Wen Han wait for her, so we had to wait for Wen Han first.

We arrived at the boss's teahouse gate, just having parked the car.

The boss came out, dragging his fat body,

From afar he stretched out his hand,

"Yo, Mr. Zhao has arrived, sorry for not welcoming you from afar, Mr. Zhao, hello."

I hurriedly shook hands with the boss,

"Boss, good. It's been a while since we last saw each other."

"Isn't that right, I heard Mr. Zhao returned to Zaocheng."

"I've been thinking of you all along. Well, Mr. Zhao, you've appeared before my eyes."

"The boss thinks of me, that's my blessing."

"Come, let me introduce you to the boss: this is Shi Yong, you know him; this is Zhao Xiaohua, my younger brother."

The boss shook hands with Shi Yong and Zhao Xiaohua one by one.

The boss then said to me: "Mr. Wen has already arranged the rooms; by the way, Wang Ge is also here. Wang Ge arrived earlier."

"Wang Ge is also here, I didn't hear Mr. Wen say that."

"Then I'll hurry over to greet Wang Ge."

"No need for now, Wang Ge is with Miss Shen." the boss said softly.

"Shen Honghong, released so quickly." I also said softly.

"Yes, just a week. Wang Ge misses Miss Shen, so they're meeting here."

"You just need to know about this, Mr. Zhao; please go inside." the boss laughed.

The boss is usually tight-lipped, but today for some reason he's telling me these things.

I couldn't be bothered to care about the messy affairs between Wang Ge and Shen Honghong.

At this moment I glanced at Shi Yong, afraid that after seeing Shen Honghong he'd say something unpleasant, making Wang Ge unhappy, which would be troublesome.

Although Shen Honghong is that kind of woman, you cannot say it out loud, otherwise Wang Ge would lose face.

I wanted to remind Shi Yong: definitely don't talk nonsense.

I then walked up to Shi Yong's side and whispered to him: "Shi Yong, you need to watch what you say here."

"Shen Honghong is here."

If we don't mention Shen Honghong it's fine, but as soon as we mention her, the roast duck Shi Yong had just eaten flies away instantly.

He immediately said softly: "You go in, I'll go sleep in the car. Oh dear, this woman. Bringing down people."

Shi Yong going back to the car to sleep was just right.

I also don't need to worry about anything.

It seems Shi Yong has been completely worn out by Shen Honghong; whenever her name is mentioned, he dares not say more, just wants to sleep.

I smiled, patted Shi Yong on the shoulder, and let him go back to the car to sleep.

Zhao Xiaohua and I then went upstairs.