Chapter 318

Xu Boyi said, "Ah, this general …"

That person smiled and said, "My surname is Xiong, Xiong Wei. I am a guard on duty in the Palace of Heavenly Purity and am not worthy of the title of general."

This person spoke very politely, but Xu Boyi didn't take it seriously. This was because the generals of the Great Han Dynasty were a special group within the Embroidered Uniform Guards. They were all relatives of the emperor and descendants of meritorious officials. Even a small soldier would have a very big background.

As for the commander of the generals of the Great Han Dynasty, they had to have a basic hardware requirement: they had to have the title of duke, marquis, count, or be the emperor's son-in-law or the commandant of the imperial family.

Xu Boyi wasn't familiar with this General Xiong, but he knew that this General Xiong was at least a count or a relative of the imperial family. Thus, Xu Boyi still respectfully addressed him as general and said, "General Xiong, please open the palace doors. I need to go out for a while."

When Xiong Wei heard this, he had a difficult expression and said, "Aiya, Eunuch Yu, once the palace doors are locked, you can't casually open them."

Xu Boyi patted the waist token that hung on his waist and said, "I have a waist token that allows me to enter and exit the palace!"

Xiong Wei smiled wholeheartedly and said, "Eunuch Yu, when the time comes, the palace will be locked and any waist token won't work!"

Xu Boyi said, "I am someone close to the emperor. What is there for the general to worry about?"

Xiong Wei laughed and said, "In the past, the head eunuch Cao Jixiang was also someone close to the emperor, but in the end … haha, I was just joking. Eunuch Yu, please don't take offense. The palace is locked and it is forbidden to enter and exit. This is a rule of the imperial court. I don't dare to violate it. If I do, I will lose my head. "

When Xu Boyi heard this, he became anxious. He had calculated everything, but he hadn't considered this point. In reality, even if he had calculated it, he would not have taken it seriously beforehand. In his view, the Emperor was the greatest in the world. With one order from the Emperor, even if the officials in a remote place like Guizhou dared to use the advantage of the Emperor's distance to obey on the surface, at least no one dared to disobey at the foot of the Emperor.

However, he had never left the palace at night before. This was something that happened once in a hundred years and no one usually talked about it. How would he know that there were so many rules? Xu Boyi said anxiously, "Is the waist token useless? I have an urgent matter to attend to and have to leave the palace by imperial edict. Could it be that I can't leave the palace gates? "

When Xiong Wei heard that it was an imperial edict to leave the palace, he did not dare to be negligent and pointed out, "If Gong-gong really has an extremely urgent matter, it is not that you cannot leave the palace, but …"

Xu Boyi was delighted and hurriedly said, "But what?"

Xiong Wei said, "Eunuch, you have to ask the emperor to give an order and write a document to open the palace at night. Then give it to the minister on duty in the cabinet for approval. As long as the cabinet approves, I can open the palace."

When Xu Boyi heard that he had to ask the emperor to give an order, he couldn't help but ask, "General Xiong, I did leave the palace under the emperor's orders. If I go back and ask the emperor to give an order, I'm afraid the emperor will be unhappy. Can't you make an exception?"

Xiong Wei shook his head and said solemnly, "I can't. The rules in the palace are strict. How many heads do I have? I won't dare to violate the rules! "

Xu Boyi tried to persuade Xiong Wei, but Xiong Wei refused to make an exception. Xu Boyi had no choice but to return to the Palace of Heavenly Purity.

Emperor Wanli was overjoyed when he thought that the beauty he yearned for would be in his hands tonight. He didn't have the mood to read the memorials. However, the night was long and he had nothing to do. He could only find a book of Legend Tang's stories and lie on the bed to kill time.

Wanli was reading Legend Tang's stories when a eunuch came in to report, "Your Majesty, Eunuch Yu has returned."

"So fast?" Wanli was overjoyed and hurriedly said, "Quickly! Quickly summon him in! "

In a flash, Xu Boyi entered. Wanli happily said, "Little Bai, how did you come back so fast? Miss Yingying is already waiting in the front hall?"

In Wanli's opinion, Xu Boyi had returned so quickly. Maybe it was because Xia Yingying had been waiting for her mother for a long time and had come to the palace to look for her. Coincidentally, she met Xu Boyi and naturally brought him in.

Xu Boyi smiled bitterly, "Your Majesty, when this servant left, the palace was already locked. This servant couldn't get out. The imperial bodyguards at the palace gates said that we need Your Majesty to give us an order. "

Wanli didn't know whether to laugh or cry when he heard this. He hurriedly ordered people to prepare a brush, ink, and paper. He wrote down an order, stamped it with his little seal, and handed it to Xu Boyi.

Xu Boyi was afraid that Emperor Wanli would dislike him for not doing things quickly, so he didn't dare to say that there were so many rules. He tried to be as brief as possible. He took Wanli's order and immediately said, "This servant will go now and come back as soon as possible!"

Xu Boyi hurriedly left the Palace of Heavenly Purity and rushed to the Imperial Cabinet.

The palace was a huge place. Xu Boyi rushed all the way and was anxious and tired. When he arrived at the Imperial Cabinet, he was already sweating profusely. The official on duty here knew the rules, although it was the first time he had seen the palace gates open at night.

The official hurriedly rummaged through the dusty pile of yellowed papers and found a piece of printed paper. This was an application to open the palace gates at night. It listed in detail the time of opening the palace gates, the reason for opening the gates, the person who approved the opening, how many gates to be opened, when to leave, when to return, etc …

Xu Boyi took it and looked at it. He felt a headache coming on. Fortunately, he was well-read and knowledgeable, so filling in this wasn't a problem for him. He immediately snatched the brush and scribbled on it like a dragon. In a short while, he had filled in all the places he needed to fill in.

The official on duty took it and looked at it. He praised, "Good calligraphy!"

Xu Boyi was impatient but couldn't urge him too much. He could only laugh dryly. The official on duty carefully looked it over and nodded, "Good! No problem. Gong-gong, please wait a moment. This official will send it to Grand Scholar Yu for review. "

Xu Boyi almost bit his tongue. He said in surprise, "Grand Scholar Yu needs to review it?"

The official on duty looked at him strangely and said, "Such an important matter naturally needs to be reviewed by the Grand Scholar. This official doesn't dare to make the decision."

Xu Boyi smiled apologetically, "Alright, alright, alright. I'll have to trouble Official to hurry. I'm very anxious, very anxious!"

As he spoke, Xu Boyi wiped the sweat from his forehead and licked his lips. He felt his mouth was dry. The official on duty wasn't in a hurry. He slowly walked into another hall and asked the eunuch waiting in the hall to wake Grand Scholar Yu up.

The person on duty tonight was the Minister of Rites and Grand Scholar of the Imperial Library, Yu Youding. Official Yu wasn't young anymore. The night shift was actually just in case there was an emergency that needed to be dealt with. Although it had been eight or ten years since there was an emergency that needed to be dealt with overnight, this system couldn't be abolished.

Thus, Official Yu slept on the luohan couch in the pavilion at night and had the eunuch wait in the hall. If there was an emergency, he could just wake him up. Grand Scholar Yu was woken up by the eunuch and asked in surprise, "Is there an emergency?"

The eunuch told him that an official on duty wanted to see him. Grand Scholar Yu didn't dare to be negligent and hurried to the front hall. The minor official on duty went forward to greet him and explained the matter. He then handed the Emperor's handwritten decree and the application form Xu Boyi had filled out to Grand Scholar Yu.

Grand Scholar Yu frowned and looked, "Yu Xiaobai has left the palace on official business. Let him go!"

Grand Scholar Yu stroked his beard and thought for a bit before saying, "Call him in!"

After a while, Xu Boyi hurried in. Grand Scholar Yu said, "This official has already seen the Emperor's handwritten decree. What official business does Gong-gong have to leave the palace for?"

Xu Boyi hesitated and replied, "To tell the truth, there is a madam who has been staying overnight at Princess Taifei Chen's place. She has suddenly fallen ill and the Emperor is summoning the imperial physicians to treat her. The Emperor has ordered me to go out of the palace to fetch one of her closest female relatives. If anything happens, at least her family will be by her side. "

Yu Youding's white brows rose and he said, "So it's like this! En, since it's like this, this official will approve it! "

Xu Boyi was overjoyed and quickly held up the form, saying, "Grand Scholar, please sign it."

Grand Scholar Yu chuckled and said, "No rush, no rush. This old man can't make a decision on this matter alone. It's useless if this old man approves. The other people must also agree for this order to open the palace gates to be effective!"

Xu Boyi was so anxious that he was on fire, but there was nothing he could do. He could only smile bitterly and say, "Then … which other daren do we still need to agree?"

Grand Scholar Yu counted on his fingers and slowly said, "The commander of the Brocade Guard, Dugu Fang, is in charge of the Great Han generals, the Lone Cavalry Sheren, and the prefectural army vanguards. The commander of the Five Barracks, Cui Xinyu, is in charge of the Forked Knife Guards of the Five Barracks. The commander of the Three Thousand Barracks, Huang Rui, is in charge of the Red Helmet Generals and Bright Armor Generals of the Three Thousand Barracks …"

Xu Boyi almost burst into tears when he heard this. Although his tears hadn't fallen, his voice was already choking, "Then please, old daren, quickly invite them over!"

The three daren commanders came very quickly!

Due to the size of the Imperial Palace and the fact that the three daren commanders were patrolling according to the rules, the three of them had only used two hours to arrive. It was truly very fast.

For example, Commander Huang Rui was responsible for the forty police stations between the palace walls and Tube River. Each police station was one hundred zhang apart and each had ten armored soldiers. Commander Huang had to inspect them one by one, sign on the inspection book, and then continue to inspect the next police station. But to be able to arrive in one hour, it was truly very fast.

"I agree!"

"I agree!"

"I agree!"

The three daren commanders didn't have any objections. This was the Emperor's handwritten decree, and Grand Scholar Yu had also nodded his head. Why should they object?

The three commanders, who had used more than two hours to gather, only used the time it took to drink a cup of tea to listen to Xu Boyi's statement, express their agreement, and solemnly sign their names on the application form to open the palace gates.

Xu Boyi's heavy clothes were drenched in sweat. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and snatched the form. He cupped his hands to the Grand Scholar and the three commanders, saying, "Thank you for your trouble, Grand Scholar and three daren. I will leave now. Many thanks, many thanks!"

Dugu Fang asked in a clear voice, "Where is Eunuch Yu going?"

Without turning his head, Xu Boyi hastily dashed out and said, "Leave the Palace!"

Cui Xinyu, the commander of the Fifth Army Camp, said, "Eunuch Yu, you won't be able to leave the palace like this!"

Xu Boyi had just stepped out of the door when he heard this and almost tripped. He staggered two steps to steady himself and turned around to ask in surprise, "Why can't I leave the palace?"

Grand Scholar Yu stroked his beard and leisurely replied, "This still requires His Majesty the Emperor's approval and seal for it to be effective ah!"

Xu Boyi asked in surprise, "Hasn't His Majesty already issued a written decree?"

Grand Scholar Yu sternly said, "His Majesty's written decree is not an official document. This old man has seen the Emperor's written decree, so I am willing to seal and approve it. However, this official document to open the palace gates still requires His Majesty the Emperor's official seal before it can be effective."

Xu Boyi stared at Grand Scholar Yu, dumbfounded. After staring for a while, he was sure that this Grand Scholar really wasn't joking with him.

… …

Emperor Wanli skimmed through a storybook, yawned, and slowly closed his eyes. The young eunuch at the side saw this and hurriedly fetched a thin quilt, gently draping it over his body. Wanli was awakened by the slight movement. He opened his sleepy eyes and asked, "What time is it?"

At this time, Xu Boyi slipped in from the side of the door. Wanli thought that his eyes were playing tricks on him, but when he took a closer look, it was indeed him. He couldn't help but sit up happily and ask, "Little Bai, you're back! Where's Miss Yingying? "

Xu Boyi trembled as he raised a piece of paper and stammered, "Your … Your Majesty, please stamp your seal on this official document. This servant … this servant can only leave the palace …"