Finally, after nearly half a month of trekking, Ye Li and Bian Yingxiong finally arrived in Tangjing City.
This city where the Tang emperor lived was indeed extremely magnificent.
The city walls of this city are thicker than those of Jinzhou City, and its size far exceeds that of all the big cities Ye Li has ever seen, including Imperial City and Paradise City.
The city wall, which is over 80 meters high, looks like a mountain and is extremely majestic.
"Ye Li, this is Tangjing City. How is it? Isn't it magnificent?"
Along the way, Bian Yingxiong and Ye Li became familiar with each other and they even changed the way they addressed each other.
Bian Yingxiong now calls Ye Li by his name directly, and Ye Li also calls Bian Yingxiong Uncle Bian.
"It is indeed extremely spectacular. I have never seen such a magnificent city!"
Ye Li said with great emotion.
In the city of Tangjing, except for horses used to deliver official documents or the royal family's horses that were allowed to run freely, no other horses or carriages were allowed to enter, so the two men could only get off the carriage at the city gate and then walk into the city.
A young man dressed in brocade robes nearby turned his head to glance at Ye Li after hearing his admiration, and muttered "bumpkin" in a low voice.
When Ye Li heard the sarcasm from the person next to him, he didn't get angry. He just glanced at the other person.
This young man has a very distinctive appearance, with a protruding forehead and an upturned nose, which makes him look ugly no matter how you look at him.
"snort!"
When the young man saw Ye Li looking at him, he snorted with disdain, turned his head away, and walked faster in another direction.
Ye Li reached out and gently touched his nose, muttering to himself, "Do I look so unsophisticated?"
Bian Yingxiong had just heard Young Master's ridicule of Ye Li, and could only smile helplessly and said, "Ye Li, Tangjing City is full of the mansions of the rich and powerful, and any official who comes out will have a higher position than me.
I don’t know which family that young man from earlier was from, but he looked a little arrogant, which was normal.
Not to mention you who have been living in seclusion for many years, they even look down on me, a court official from outside the province.
In the eyes of these young masters, the merchants in Tangjing City are much more noble than us "country people" from other places."
"Oh, isn't it wrong for us to think so? Aren't you a country bumpkin from the frontier, a foreigner of low status?"
While Bian Yingxiong was talking to Ye Li, a burly middle-aged man walked over from the side and looked at Bian Yingxiong with a mocking expression.
The moment Bian Yingxiong saw the other person, his eyes fixed, as if he recognized the other person's identity.
"I was wondering who it was, it turned out to be you, Yue Longxiang.
Even though I come from the frontier, I am an important official of the frontier and an official appointed by the imperial court, just like your father.
You are a bastard of the Yue family, just an ordinary person with a commoner status. What qualifications do you have to look down on me?"
After recognizing the other person, Bian Yingxiong showed a sarcastic look on his face and retorted.
When the other party heard the words "bastard's son" that Bian Yingxiong deliberately emphasized, an angry look immediately appeared on his face.
"Hero Bian, don't be too proud. You were guarding the border before, which means you were far away from the center of the vortex, so you were able to avoid a lot of disasters.
Now I heard that you will be promoted back, then you will definitely be drawn into the vortex, I want to see how you can deal with it."
After Yue Longxiang finished speaking, he turned and left without waiting for Bian Yingxiong to speak, with a look of sarcasm on his face.
Watching the other party leave, Bian Yingxiong frowned slightly, and a look of worry appeared in his eyes.
"Uncle Bian, what's wrong with you? Who is this guy?"
Ye Li asked.
Bian Yingxiong took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled, and said, "This guy is called Yue Longxiang, his father Yue Leichi is from the Ministry of War, and I am an old acquaintance.
After Yue Leichi surrendered to the eldest prince, his official position was promoted rapidly. It was said that he was expected to be promoted to the leader of the Second Division of the Zhenzhong Army by the end of this year.
The Zhenzhong Army is a force directly under the jurisdiction of His Majesty the Emperor. Those who can hold official positions in it are considered to be people trusted by His Majesty the Emperor and have the hope of becoming senior officials in the Ministry of War in the future.
This Yue Longxiang, before his father joined the eldest prince and rose to prominence, had always been humble and called me Uncle Bian. I didn't expect that when we meet now, he would be sarcastic and mocking. It's really abominable."
Ye Li didn't know much about the official positions here, nor did he quite understand the significance of these positions, but he could understand Bian Yingxiong's unhappiness.
He looked at Bian Yingxiong and smiled, saying, "Uncle Bian, I think it's disgusting to have a guy like this call you uncle.
Fortunately, he doesn't call you Uncle Bian anymore, otherwise I would have to call you something else immediately to avoid being associated with that kind of person."
Listening to Ye Li's teasing, Bian Yingxiong's unhappiness dissipated for the most part, and he said: "Well, you are right. Now think about it, if he calls me uncle again, it would be really disgusting.
Okay, Ye Li, let’s not delay any longer and quickly go to the palace in the inner city to report.
This is a place of trouble. If the eldest prince's people find out that we haven't reported to the palace for a long time since arriving in Tangjing City, they will probably find an excuse to report us, and then I will feel disgusted again."
After Bian Yingxiong finished speaking, he took the lead and walked towards the city center with Ye Li.
As Ye Li followed Bian Yingxiong towards the palace, he kept looking around. The streets here looked very wide and neat, and everywhere was built in square shapes, making it easy to tell the direction.
There are magnificent shops on both sides of the wide streets, and the pedestrians are very dense, which makes it seem very lively.
Bian Yingxiong took Ye Li through the avenue in the center of the city and soon arrived at the gate of the inner city. The entire inner city here belonged to the imperial palace.
Bian Yingxiong took out an imperial edict from his body and handed it to the guard guarding the palace gate.
After checking the imperial edict, the other party looked at the two of them again before letting them enter the palace.
Bian Yingxiong said: "Ye Li, my edict only has my name on it, so you are not qualified to enter the palace. However, I just told the guards that you are my retainer guard, so you can follow me into the inner city, but you do not have the right to enter the palace, so you can only wait outside the palace.
I will first go into the palace to apply for an audience with the Emperor. Generally speaking, His Majesty will not summon us immediately, so I will just go through the motions to report that I have arrived. As for when I will meet His Majesty, I will have to wait for further notification.
Wait for me outside the palace first. I'll be in for a while and then come out. Then we can go to the harem to meet the second prince and ask him to accept you as his guest.
I have a token he gave me, which allows me to enter and exit his residence directly."