Chapter 74: Eastern Palace Guards
Thousands of years ago in the Tang Dynasty, the entire Chang'an City was divided into two different administrative districts, "Chang'an County" and "Wannian County", with the central axis Zhuque Street as the dividing line.
In the Shenzhou Empire, because Chang'an is now too large, just two districts are not enough. Therefore, on the basis of Chang'an and Wannian counties, four more counties, namely Yonghui, Qiyuan, Mingyou and Ningde, were established.
The six counties are still divided by Zhuque Street, three on each side.
The convoy entered from the southern suburbs of Chang'an City and headed north along the straight Zhuque Street.
On both sides of the road, the Longyan Army had already been standing guard, and the Jingzhao Yin had even arranged for numerous clerks to assist and clear the entire Suzaku Street.
The Suzaku Street alone is 200 meters wide.
Although there is no longer a rule that "common people are not allowed to walk on the central royal road of Suzaku Street, only the emperor can do so", now that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is entering the city, clearing the road is naturally necessary.
Ning Qingxuan would not have disturbed others like this on normal days, but this time it was different.
The empire has added the Huiming Protectorate, and Ning Qingxuan will take Esdeath and others to pay homage to the emperor. Although this matter cannot be announced to the public for the time being, it is ultimately an unprecedented event for Shenzhou.
When everyone approached the Danfeng Gate, the main gate of the Suzaku Palace, grand ceremonial music began immediately, resounding throughout the sky of Chang'an.
The convoy suddenly stopped.
When they learned that only Esdeath and Najeshitan could enter the palace to pay homage to the emperor, and that others were not even qualified to enter the Suzaku Palace and had to wait outside, Majun and others had no complaints at all.
Because they have been frightened.
"Don't worry, someone will arrange for you to rest temporarily in a nearby official residence, where you can relax for a while and eat something to fill your stomach.
Ning Qingxuan also got out of the car and comforted the frightened girls.
"Really? It's fine for them, but why can't I do the same?"
The Son of God pointed at himself with an angry look on his face.
Ning Qingxuan glanced over and said: "The general has made great contributions, but she is not going either. However, she doesn't need to go. But Son of God, tell me honestly, have you made any contributions in that world this time~[?"
The Son of God looked down at his chest and suddenly said, "It's too big, I can't touch it."
Seeing that Ning Qingxuan was speechless because of his words, the Son of God felt a little better.
"Forget it, forget it. I'm going home first, hum~~"
Have you considered the East Palace your home?
After waving goodbye to everyone, Ning Qingxuan, Esdeath and Najeshita, finally passed through the Danfeng Gate and entered the Suzaku Palace.
Behind Danfeng Gate is a huge square.
Twelve extremely thick white marble pillars stand in the square, with lifelike relief carvings of coiled dragons on them.
In front of us are nine huge bronze tripods.
The towering Hanyuan Hall sits on a huge pedestal, allowing anyone who looks directly at it to feel the overwhelming momentum and pressure.
It doesn't matter at ordinary times, but on formal occasions, when entering the palace to pay homage to the emperor, one must walk and not take a car.
Even the Crown Prince Ning Qingxuan must abide by this.
After crossing the huge square and slowly climbing up the pedestal along the winding Longwei Road, the group arrived in front of the Hanyuan Hall.
The captain of the Longyan Army who was on guard stepped forward, saluted Ning Qingxuan first, and called out "Your Highness, I'm sorry", and then conducted a routine security check and body search.
After everything was done, a eunuch shouted at the entrance of the hall:
"Xuan, the Crown Prince wants to see you———!"
Ning Qingxuan shook her sleeves, lowered her eyes, stepped over the high threshold, and entered the Hanyuan Hall.
As the southernmost and largest main hall of the three main halls in the front court of Suzaku Palace, Hanyuan Hall was originally only used during the grand court assembly and major ceremonies in the first month of each year, and was basically idle on weekdays.
However, this was the first time the empire conquered an alien world, and it was of great significance, so Emperor Ning Junkang simply chose to accept the audience in Hanyuan Hall.
The hall was deep and deep, with central government officials and military officers lined up on both sides of the smooth and flat floor.
Since Ning Qingxuan entered, everyone turned their eyes over.
Ning Qingxuan walked quickly to the imperial steps, bowed, and said, "Your Highness, I pay my respects to you, Father. May you be happy forever."
After all, it is a formal occasion, so the way we address each other should be slightly changed.
"The prince stood up."
Ning Junkang, who was kneeling at the top, raised his hand slightly, with a look of satisfaction on his face under the emperor's crown.
"How is the trip going, please report back as soon as possible, Prince."
Ning Qingxuan stood up and gave a detailed report on the current situation of Mingdu Protectorate as a formality.
........
The pilgrimage ceremony did not last long. After meeting Esdeath and Najeshita, Ning Junkang made rewards and arrangements on the spot.
Najeshitan hopes to return to Huiming Protectorate, which is her hometown after all.
Taking this wish into consideration, Ning Junkang readily agreed, and from then on Najeshitan became a military officer of the Ming Protectorate of the former world of Akame no Mizuki, now the Shenzhou Empire.
As for the people under her command who would carry out the night attack, Ning Qingxuan would make their own arrangements.
On the contrary, Esdeath, this woman is a bit of a headache.
Due to her extremely strong personal fighting ability, her rebellious character and her tendency to only obey the strong, Esdeath is destined to stay in Chang'an.
But it is obviously inappropriate to directly promote her to the position of an officer of the Dragon Flame Army's Central Guards. Esdeath does not have the ability to command the Shenzhou army now.
In the end, she just became ""arranged by the prince himself".
In other words, Esdeath has now become a member of the Eastern Palace Guards. Ning Junkang simply promoted the original commander of the Eastern Palace Guards and left this position vacant for Ning Qingxuan to arrange.
However, when Esdeath can truly be competent for this position depends on her own abilities.
As for the other people who participated in the night raid, Brand and Lubbock chose to return home, one wanted to go back to his hometown, and the other simply followed Najeshitan.
Although they would have to leave their imperial tools behind if they chose to leave, they didn't mind.
(Good) As for the others, they were confused.
After being a killer for a long time, you can no longer do anything except killing people. Suddenly, you can freely choose your future life, and you will inevitably feel confused.
Although Leone had thought about opening a welfare home after peace was restored, after learning about the situation and policies of Shenzhou, she helplessly discovered that it seemed that such things did not require her participation at all.
"Why don't I just follow you, Your Highness? If nothing else, I can still fight!"
As soon as these words were spoken, Leone was incorporated into the Eastern Palace sequence.
As for Hei Tong, the child's body was already full of wounds due to drug injections before, so Ning Qingxuan ordered him to receive treatment at the Imperial Medical Bureau and he didn't need to do anything until he was cured.
Akahime, who cares about her sister, also stayed behind to take care of Kurohime.
Therefore, Ning Qingxuan simply assigned Leone, the sisters Red Eye and Black Eye, and even Maine and Hill who stayed with them, to the Eastern Palace Internal Guards.