The emperor granted a sedan chair, which was a great honor to senior officials. Since Emperor Taizu, there were only about 10 to 20 officials who had received such treatment. The current emperor only had Ge Yong, and the former Prime Minister Jiang Ge Lao did not receive such treatment. Of course, according to what Jiang Ge Lao himself said to outsiders, even if he was given the sedan chair, he would definitely refuse it. How could he, the Prime Minister, say he was old
However, Jiang Ge Lao did not have such treatment but wanted to boast of his honor to show his youth and strength, but Ge Yong was not interested in showing his integrity as a minister when the emperor respected his teacher. Although the emperor's carriage was indeed specially made, the old man was still tired after traveling for several days and coming to see the emperor as soon as he arrived in the capital, not to mention that he had to climb Wansui Mountain soon!
Therefore, Ge Yong got on the sedan chair without any hesitation. Seeing the bamboo sunshade oil umbrella put up, he breathed a sigh of relief as he was familiar with the pace of the sedan chair bearers in the palace. He simply closed his eyes and planned to take a nap.
Zhang Shou saw four people steadily lifting the sedan chair and moving forward with a steady pace and very little shaking. He turned his head and glanced at Zhu Ying and said, "It's quite far from here to Wansui Mountain. Yingying, do you want to go back to the mansion and wait for me?"
Since he had been to the palace once, he had discovered that the layout of this palace was almost the same as the Forbidden City in later generations. It was obviously the work of Emperor Taizu, whose map ability was fully upgraded. In this case, the so-called Wansui Mountain was obvious. Wasn't it Jingshan Mountain behind the Forbidden City
According to the map he was familiar with, it was not far from Dong'anmen of the Outer Imperial City to the foot of Jingshan Mountain in the north, but climbing the mountain still took some effort. In such a hot day, why should Zhu Ying go through the trouble to accompany him
Zhu Ying glanced at Zhang Shou in a reproachful manner, but did not speak. Instead, she looked at Chu Kuan with a half-smile. Under her gaze, Chu Kuan immediately smiled and said, "It does take a long time to go from Dong'an Gate to Wansui Mountain. If you want to go, why not ride a horse?" Without waiting for Zhu Ying to answer, he nodded slightly to Zhang Shou and said, "Dr. Zhang, you have worked hard on this trip to Cangzhou. The emperor has specially granted you the right to ride a horse in the outer imperial city."
Zhang Shou felt tired after riding in a carriage all the way, but he could only accept it if he had to walk to Wansui Mountain. It would be best if he could save energy. Therefore, he thanked the emperor for his consideration in front of Chu Kuan, and when Chu Kuan waved his hand, two soldiers who looked like imperial guards led two horses up behind him. He jumped on the horse, but then he found that someone had grabbed the reins.
When Chu Kuan saw that it was Ah Liu who took the initiative to lead Zhang Shou's horse, obviously to accompany him into the palace, his eyes condensed slightly, and then he pretended not to see it. He ordered a young eunuch who followed him to lead Zhu Ying's mount, and then he mounted his own horse with a nimble posture.
As for Lu Sanlang, who was escorted all the way to Dong'an Gate, the emperor refused to see him, so he would not take the initiative to join in the fun like Zhu Ying did - he did not have the face to do so - so, after sending his master, teacher and mistress into the palace, he quickly took his two future juniors and Xiaohuasheng to watch the Tao, packed up the people and luggage and sent them directly to Zhang Garden.
Zhang Shou had been to the palace before, but this was his first time to Wansui Mountain. Moreover, the route he took this time was different from his previous visit to the Forbidden City, where he went out the back door and entered Jingshan Park. He was with Zhu Ying, so he was not afraid of being accused of violating a taboo, so he simply looked around openly. His tourist-like behavior also attracted Zhu Ying, a part-time tour guide, to explain along the way.