Chapter 1701: The Grand Palace
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
On the way to Gu Ning’s house, she told Chu Peihan and Yu Mixi that she needed to visit Leng Shaoting’s mother later, so she would be absent tonight. She would come back tomorrow to spend more time with them.
As for the reason why she needed to see Leng Shaoting’s mother, she lied and said that Leng Shaoting’s mother didn’t feel well.
Chu Peihan and Yu Mixi didn’t know Leng Shaoting’s family background, so they weren’t surprised when they heard about his mother. And since Leng Shaoting’s mother didn’t feel well, they wouldn’t keep Gu Ning with them.
“My house isn’t far from the hotel, and it only takes 10 minutes to get there by car. Do you want to have breakfast on your own, or go to the hotel and dine with Hao Ran and the other boys, or wait for me to pick you up?” asked Gu Ning.
“We’ll share breakfast with them in the hotel! You can directly pick us up at the hotel,” said Chu Peihan. They weren’t kids, and Chu Peihan wasn’t a weak girl at all.
Gu Ning drove Chu Peihan and Yu Mixi to Century City. After preparing rooms for them and making sure that there were no problems, Gu Ning left.
When she got back to Mountain River Garden, it was already 11 pm.
Leng Shaoting and Jing Yunyao came at 10 pm, but they didn’t go to sleep yet, instead they chatted with each other in the living room.
Although Leng Shaoting wasn’t talkative, they mainly talked about Leng Yuanhan and Yunyao’s old stories.
Jing Yunyao was nervous when Gu Ning wasn’t by her side, so she couldn’t relax until Gu Ning came back. Although Leng Shaoting was her son, she lost her memories of him, so she still felt uneasy when they were alone together. Therefore, the slightly depressed atmosphere didn’t become relaxed until Gu Ning was back.
“Mother, I need to hang out with my friends tomorrow, so I can’t stay with you. Why don’t you let Shaoting take you to visit his father’s grave?” said Gu Ning.
“Sure,” said Jing Yunyao. Since Gu Ning wasn’t free, she wouldn’t force Gu Ning to stay with her.
“Where will you go tomorrow?” asked Leng Shaoting.
“The palace, and we will probably stay there for the day,” said Gu Ning.
“Well, I can take my mother to visit my father’s grave tomorrow morning, and we can go to the palace together in the afternoon. My parents used to take me there very often,” said Leng Shaoting. He wanted to take Jing Yunyao to the palace too, because it might be helpful for her to get her memories back.
In addition, Leng Shaoting also wanted to have fun with Gu Ning. Although there would be a large group of people, he would feel happy as long as he could be with Gu Ning.
“Sure,” said Gu Ning. She didn’t think there was anything wrong with it if Leng Shaoting and Jing Yunyao joined them.
They chatted for a while longer, before going to sleep at 12 am.
Because Jing Yunyao stayed in the house with them, Gu Ning and Leng Shaoting couldn’t sleep together tonight. Jing Yunyao slept in the same room, Gu Ning slept in the master’s bedroom, while Leng Shaoting slept in the guest’s room.
Because of Jing Yunyao, Leng Shaoting didn’t dare to do anything inappropriate and sneak into Gu Ning’s room in the night. Jing Yunyao was a cultivator, so she would hear any light sound so Leng Shaoting could only chat with Gu Ning on WeChat.
That night, Jing Yunyao kept having some dreams, but she couldn’t remember anything when she woke up the next day.
The next morning, Leng Shaoting got up first and prepared breakfast for Gu Ning and Jing Yunyao.
Jing Yunyao didn’t think that it was wrong for Leng Shaoting to make breakfast for them. Some people thought that housework was a woman’s job, and a daughter-in-law was merely a nurse to serve their son, but Jing Yunyao had a different opinion.
In Jing Yunyao’s eyes, since Gu Ning and Leng Shaoting were girlfriend and boyfriend now, they should care about each other’s feelings. Whoever was able or free to do the housework should do it.
It also depended on the way they got along with each other. Even if Leng Shaoting did all the housework, Jing Yunyao wouldn’t think that it was wrong, because it showed Leng Shaoting’s love towards Gu Ning.
As long as they were in love, it was their own affair how they chose to live their life. Although Jing Yunyao was Leng Shaoting’s mother, she wouldn’t interfere in it. It would only cause conflict if the mother-in-law interfered in their relations.h.i.+p.
After having breakfast, Gu Ning wanted to wash the dishes, but Leng Shaoting stopped her. He told her to have a rest, and that he would do it.
…
When it was nearly 8 am, Gu Ning left the house. Because it was rush hour, there was a lot of traffic on the road. So it was almost 9 am when Gu Ning arrived at the Shengs.h.i.+ Hotel.
Because the ancient palace was in the city center of the capital, Gu Ning went back to the city center from the southern district after she went to the southern district from the city center.
Gu Ning called Mu Ke when she had almost arrived, so they came down to wait for her.
Once Gu Ning’s car showed up, they got inside and left together.
After 9 am, there wasn’t much traffic on the road so they arrived at the palace in 40 minutes.
The imperial palace was an ancient palace. Now it had become a tourist attraction, and many people visited it every day.
If it was a holiday, it would be super crowded making it impossible for the tourists to appreciate the views. There would be people everywhere and everyone had to walk slowly.
After parking the car, Gu Ning went to buy tickets and they went inside together. Because it was still early, there weren’t many people. Normally, tourists came after lunch.
The palace was very large, with a construction area of about 150 thousand square meters, more than 70 large and small palaces, and more than 9 thousand houses. It was one of the largest and best-preserved wooden ancient buildings in the world.
Therefore, it was impossible for them to see every corner of it in a day. In fact, it wasn’t fully open, and tourists could only see its front half.
The palace had basically been repaired, and the places that hadn’t been repaired were desolate and gloomy, especially the harem and cold palace. No one dared to walk there and n.o.body was allowed to go there either.
The harem was like a battlefield since ancient times. The compet.i.tion among concubines was endless till someone died, and countless dead people were buried there. Without repair, there was wild gra.s.s everywhere and it looked desolate.
There were four gates around the palace, and the front gate was called the South Gate. Gu Ning and her friends walked in from the South Gate.
The South Gate was tall and wide with beautiful patterns, which were quite impressive.
“Wow, where the ancient emperors lived is indeed a grand place,” said Mu Ke.