Chapter 907: The loyal and good Duan Ziyi of the Great Han! [3]

The Sima Gate is the first gate to enter the Southern Palace.

It is also the most important gate.

Those who enter the Sima Gate must dismount and get off their carriages, regardless of their official rank.

And the Sima Gate is also the most important gate guarded by the Imperial Palace guards.

But in theory, the Sima Gate is not considered the first main gate of the palace; it can only be considered a gate checkpoint.

After entering the Sima Gate, one still cannot enter the Imperial Palace directly; one must pass through the Duan Gate.

And the Duan Gate is the first main gate to enter the Imperial Palace.

The meaning of the Duan Gate is the main gate, and it is also the Southern Gate.

Only after the Sima Gate is opened will the Duan Gate be opened accordingly.

Behind the Duan Gate is the Quefei Gate.

After entering the Quefei Gate, one is at the Quefei Hall.

After Emperor Guangwu established the capital in Luoyang in the first year of Jianwu, he first lived in the Quefei Hall of the Southern Palace.

Later, as the Southern Palace was continuously expanded, the Quefei Hall was left idle and unused.

But the Quefei Hall was the first palace Emperor Guangwu lived in after designating Luoyang as the capital, and it has extraordinary significance, so it was never demolished or expanded, but was preserved.

Quefei Hall, also known as Queyu Hall.

It also has the meaning of Emperor Guangwu warning his descendants.

After passing the Quefei Hall, one arrives at the last palace gate to enter the palace, the Zhangtai Gate.

Enter from the Zhangtai Gate to the Chongde Hall.

On both sides outside the hall, extending to the hall door, stood rows of brightly armored Imperial Palace guards holding ceremonial weapons.

Behind the Imperial Guards, there were also huge stone-carved exotic beasts.

From here on, the officials attending the morning court had to line up according to the size of their respective official ranks.

Thousands of officials walked with small steps in order, holding their tablets with both hands toward the white marble steps in front of the hall.

After arriving at the steps in front of the Chongde Hall, only officials of one thousand *dan* or above were qualified to enter the hall.

As for officials below one thousand *dan*, they all had to stay below the steps outside the hall, and unless there was a summons from inside the hall, they were not allowed to enter.

Many officials who served in Luoyang but did not reach one thousand *dan* had never seen what the Emperor looked like in their entire lives.

Only officials of one thousand *dan* or above were qualified to enter the hall.

Before entering the hall, officials would take off their shoes and hand over the swords at their waists to the eunuchs to keep.

Only when the Emperor bestowed honor upon meritorious officials could they enter the hall with swords and shoes.

That is, wearing shoes and carrying a sword into the hall.

Among hundreds of officials, only General-in-Chief He Jin, who walked at the very front, and the Three Excellencies had this qualification.

As for Duan Yu, who stood in the second row, he also had to remove his sword and take off his shoes before he could enter the hall.

The Little Yellow Gate Zuo Feng stood at the door in front of the hall.

When Duan Yu removed the sword at his waist, Zuo Feng, who had sharp eyes, immediately took a step forward and came to Duan Yu.

"General of the Guards, yesterday evening, the Emperor summoned Attendant Jian, Eunuch Zhang, and Eunuch Zhao to discuss matters."

"Attendant Jian said to severely punish the General of the Guards."

"Eunuch Zhang and Eunuch Zhao spoke many times to help the General of the Guards."

Zuo Feng said in a rapid, low voice while taking the sword from Duan Yu's hand.

The voice was very small, and only Duan Yu could hear it clearly.

Jian Shuo?

Duan Yu's brows furrowed slightly.

Then he nodded slightly to Zuo Feng to indicate he understood.

Some money, once spent, will never be spent in vain.

"The Emperor was not truly angry; the General of the Guards does not need to take it too much to heart."

After saying the last sentence, Zuo Feng returned directly to the position where he had been standing.

Duan Yu then stepped into the hall.

After hundreds of court officials had arrived at their respective positions, Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong, standing on the Nine Dragon Wall, shouted in unison for the morning court to begin.

The officials knelt and bowed, and Liu Hong slowly walked out from behind the screen of the dragon throne.

"If there is anything to report, report it; if not, retire from court."

Zhang Rang's shrill voice rang out.

Today's grand court was not the routine grand court of the first and fifteenth of the month.

It was a grand court summoned temporarily because of Duan Yu's temporary return to discuss how to wipe out the Huang Jin rebels.

So the topic naturally had to revolve around Duan Yu and the Huang Jin rebels.

Coupled with what happened last night, everyone was prepared to watch the show.

Sure enough, just after Zhang Rang's voice fell, a person stood out from behind Duan Yu.

It was none other than the Commandant of the Capital, Fu Wan.

"Your Majesty, this subordinate has a memorial to report," Fu Wan said loudly, holding his tablet.

Liu Hong on the dragon throne waved his hand: "Speak, what is it?"

The Chongde Hall was extremely spacious, and it would not be a problem to accommodate thousands of people.

So even though there were hundreds of court officials, it still appeared very empty, and the echo of the speech in the hall was also very clear.

Fu Wan, standing behind Duan Yu, looked at Duan Yu's back and gritted his teeth.

What happened last night had already spread throughout Luoyang.

Although he failed to stop Wei Ban from being killed before his eyes.

But if he didn't say something today, I fear his subordinates would really be alienated in the future.

Even though Fu Wan was also afraid of Duan Yu's retaliation later, he had to bite the bullet and go up.

"Your Majesty, this subordinate impeaches the General of the Guards, Governor of Liangzhou, Duan Yu, for four crimes: killing a court official, riding a horse at night, forcibly breaking into a residence, and seriously injuring the family members of Wei Ban's residence," Fu Wan said loudly.

On the dragon throne, Liu Hong's gaze fell on Duan Yu.

"General of the Guards, is what the Commandant of the Capital impeached you for true?" Liu Hong said: "What do you have to say?"

Duan Yu took a deep breath, then turned sideways out of his position and raised the tablet in his hand.

"Your Majesty, what the Commandant of the Capital said..."

In the hall, all the officials standing behind Duan Yu were almost looking at Duan Yu, waiting for Duan Yu to quibble for himself.

However, Duan Yu's next answer exceeded everyone's expectations.

"Your Majesty, what the Commandant of the Capital said is true in every word. This subordinate is willing to be punished and has no complaints."

Hmm?

Liu Hong, sitting on the dragon throne, was stunned.

Not just Liu Hong.

He Jin, Yuan Kui, Yang Ci, and others standing in the front row were all stunned.

This...

This is not right.

Shouldn't Duan Yu first accuse Wei Ban of those things, and then strive for some leniency for himself, or gain some sympathy from the Emperor?

How...

How did he just admit it?

"Your Majesty, even if this subordinate has a thousand reasons, killing someone is ultimately a crime, so this subordinate is willing to be punished."

"No matter how Your Majesty punishes me, this subordinate will accept it all and have no complaints."

Liu Hong, sitting on the dragon throne, was stunned for a long time before he reacted.

Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong also looked at Duan Yu in surprise. ===== CHAPTER 909 =====