Lord of Puro

Chapter 674: The Nine-Layered Gate of Chaoge!
Woohoo!

Two rows of huge bronze horns sounded together, and Li Banfeng's heart trembled.

Li Banfeng had seen the copper horn instrument on TV. Its sound was deep and majestic, and very ceremonial.

But Li Banfeng was really shocked that the bronze horn could make such a loud noise even when no one was blowing it.

These bronze horns are alive and can walk, move, and make sounds. When entering the first city gate of Chaoge, these bronze horns replaced the white horses and lined the road to welcome Li Qi and his party.

Li Qi asked Shaojun in a low voice: "Can this copper horn be used for fighting?"

Luo Shaojun shook his tentacles: "They can fight. Their voices can shatter internal organs."

First comes those who can run, then comes those who can fight.

The ceremonial guard prepared by Qiao Yi forced Li Banfeng to step up his guard.

But this set of ceremonial guards also confirmed Qiao Yi's strength. The fact that he could make such a big fuss in Chaoge showed that Qiao Yi had a very high status in Da Shang.

Inside the first city gate, there are factories everywhere, which is somewhat similar to the Boundless City.

But in Wubian City, most of the people in charge of the work were slaves. Chaoge was different from Wubian City in this respect. Li Banfeng did not see any slaves, but saw a large number of machines running independently.

There was no one in the factory, no one in the coal yard, and no habitable houses to be seen within the city walls.

Luo Shaojun lowered his voice and said to Li Banfeng: "Those factories are all people, they are considered common people!"

Li Banfeng suddenly realized something. He thought of Ruirong Textile Factory, where the centipede workshop could operate independently and with extremely high efficiency.

After passing through the two city gates, the number of large factories gradually decreased, while the number of small workshops gradually increased.

Some do porcelain firing, some do embroidery, and some do carving.

These small workshops are open, but there is no one inside and the only things doing the work are machines.

There is a very special sewing machine that can sew clothes and embroider at the same time with amazing speed. In a blink of an eye, more than a dozen clothes can be sewn and no two patterns are the same.

Ban Fengyi looked at the wall for a long time and liked this sewing machine from the bottom of his heart.

"Did you see it? This is different from the machine embroidery in other states. There is a lot of artistic content in these embroidery."

Ban Fengbing said with some disdain: "Why are you looking at this? Can you oil the sewing machine? Can you handle it when the machine is running?"

The rest of the shadows were also busy, some were clinging to the wall, some were sticking to the ground, and using the light from the fire on the street to observe the situation in the streets and alleys as they moved back and forth.

What are the origins of the people working in these streets and alleys? Whether they are slaves from Purozhou or slaves from Dashang itself is still unknown.

After entering the third gate, the scenery of the city changed significantly.

At first, Li Banfeng felt that the buildings were more densely packed. After walking for a while, Li Banfeng discovered that these buildings not only became denser, but also smaller.

There are teahouses, wine shops, and restaurants on both sides of the street. These places obviously do not serve ordinary people from the Inner Province. Looking at the size of the teahouse, it would be difficult for Luo Yanjun to enter the door if she did not transform.

These places only accommodate the royal family of Da Shang, that is, the three-headed people. Although the three-headed people are tall, their body shapes are very different from those of other people in the inner state. The overall size of these buildings is closer to that of Pro State.

The guard of honor turned right at the end of the road. Luo Lijun said, "That's Hanmo Garden. Although it's also a royal garden, this place is a little bit inferior..."

When she says the place is bad, she doesn’t mean that the environment of Hanmo Garden is bad, but that Luo Lijun feels that the level of Hanmo Garden is a bit low.

Since Li Banfeng came to the Great Shang Kingdom as the crown prince of Puluo Province, he should at least be received at the fifth gate. The meeting place should not be arranged at the third gate.

Luo Shaojun doesn't think so. How good can a five-layer gate be? How bad can a three-layer gate be?
If the two sides fall out, the most important thing is to be able to escape. The triple gate is shorter and is definitely easier to get through than the five-gate.

Hanmo Garden is a royal garden built along the lake. There are peach groves, apricot groves, bamboo groves and plum groves by the lake. Due to special means, the four forests are evergreen all the year round. The royal family of the Shang Dynasty often recited poems and composed couplets in these four forests, and studied calligraphy and painting. It is a place frequented by talented people.

Qiao Yi met Li Qi and his party at the gate of Hanmo Garden and invited them to Xinglin, where a banquet had already been prepared.

"Your Highness Li Qi, you have worked hard on the journey. We have been waiting for you for a long time." Zhu Jin, Qiao Yi and Xie Gong, all with smiles on their faces, saluted towards Li Banfeng with fists clasped.

Li Banfeng returned the greeting: "Thank you for waiting for so long."

Zhu Jin looked at Xie Gong and felt somewhat dissatisfied with Li Qi.

We said we had been waiting for a long time, and he just replied with "I've been waiting for a long time". There was no unnecessary courtesy.

Qiao Yi didn't care too much. The apricot flowers in the apricot forest were in full bloom. Although the fragrance was a little light, it was particularly pure and light, which made people feel happy and relaxed their tense nerves to some extent.

Both sides took their seats as host and guest. On the host's side, the first seats were naturally occupied by Qiao Yi, Zhu Jin and Xie Gong. The second seats were also taken by members of the royal family, all of whom were important figures in the peace faction.

On the guest side, Li Qi sat at the first seat, and there were chairs at the second and third seats.

The embarrassment lies in the chair.

Luo Lijun and Luo Shaojun, two big snails, cannot sit on the chairs.

Qiao Yi obviously did it on purpose. If Luo Lijun and Luo Shaojun wanted to sit down, they had to transform. If they didn't transform, they would stand next to Li Qi in the form of snails, and the scene would be very awkward.

Luo Lijun was still hesitating, but Luo Shaojun didn't think much about it and transformed into a human. He put the snail shell behind him and sat on the chair.

Regardless of whether there are three humans or one, the guests and hosts in this forest are all human-shaped, with only two snails here, which seems awkward.

Seeing this, Luo Lijun had no choice but to transform. Both parties sat down, and two cameras walked over by themselves, one for taking pictures and the other for recording videos. There was also a phonograph recorder with a disc next to it, which recorded audio simultaneously.

Qiao Yi spoke first: "Your Highness has gone through so much trouble to come here to stop the fighting. I admire your sincerity very much."

Upon hearing this, Luo Lijun was stunned for a long time.

Wasn't it to discuss the succession of the new king today? Wasn't it to discuss how to turn the Luo family around? How did it become a peace talk when it came to him?
Luo Shaojun didn't know how to respond, and they both looked at Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng nodded and said, "It's good not to fight."

Upon hearing this, Qiao Yi immediately raised his glass and said, "Years of war have brought suffering to the common people. It is a blessing for the common people to have this gathering today."

Li Banfeng raised his glass and said, "It is also a blessing for the people of Dashang."

Zhu Jin frowned slightly when he heard this. He was a little dissatisfied with Da Shang and Pro being put together.

Qiao Yi kept smiling and drank the wine in the glass.

Li Banfeng fed the wine to the wine gourd. Even if it was poisonous, the wine gourd had a way to neutralize it. He moved so quickly that everyone present thought he had drunk the wine.

Next, Qiao Yi began to enumerate the benefits of peace according to the prepared strategy, while constantly emphasizing his pro-peace stance.

Li Banfeng responded calmly, as if he also came for the peace talks and seemed to be as well prepared as Qiao Yi.

Luo Lijun kept looking at Li Banfeng, unable to figure out what his intention was.

Li Banfeng ignored Luo Lijun. He had a lot of things to do.

His shadow was moving across the ground, reporting to him from time to time on the progress of the investigation.

The judge's pen was busy in Li Banfeng's sleeve. He was recording the conversation on the scene and preparing for the next response.

Ban Feng Bing was traveling through the peach forest. He saw many lizards holding various weapons and forming a formation in the forest.

Ban Feng Ding came back from Merlin and met up with Ban Feng Bing.

"There are soldiers in Merlin too. They are bats. If they attack us from the sky, we might be at a disadvantage. Only Lao Jia can fly."

Ban Fengwu also came back: "There are three people in the bamboo forest, one is painting, one is playing chess, and it doesn't look like they are going to fight."

Ban Fengding said, "If they are not fighting, what are they doing here? Spring outing? Something big is happening here, don't they know?"

Ban Feng Bing said, "I'll tell Lao Jia about the matter first, and you guys can walk further away."

Ban Fengwu said, "It's better not to go too far. We'd better keep an eye on them in the woods. I'm afraid they will attack at any time."

Ban Fengding nodded: "That's right, the Dizhi gang is outside the garden, let them investigate if there is anything."

……

Outside Hanmo Garden, Ban Fengyin walked through several streets and saw many soldiers ambushing in the streets and alleys.

Who ambushed these people?

It is very likely that Qiao Yi set an ambush.

Is it specifically used to deal with Lao Jia?
There’s no need for such a big fuss, right?

Is it possible that these troops were prepared for someone else?

Ban Fengyin was full of questions. He took out the map hand-drawn by Luo Lijun and wrote down the locations of the ambush troops one by one.

There were quite a lot of ambushes and their positions were scattered. Ban Fengyin was worried that he couldn't remember them all, so he looked around for his companions.

In an alley, Ban Fengyin saw Ban Fengwu listening to a story in a teahouse.

The storyteller was an old gentleman, who looked to be around seventy years old. His voice was sonorous and powerful, and his words were humorous and witty. The laughter and cheers from the audience were one wave higher than the other.

Unlike other creatures in the inner state, this old man looks like a human. No one knows whether this happened after he transformed or he has always looked like this.

Ban Fengwu lay flat on the ground, listening with great interest.

Ban Fengyin lay on the ground, moved closer to Ban Fengwu, and asked in a low voice: "You look so interesting, what are we doing here?"

Ban Fengwu said: "I'm not being lazy, there is something in this teahouse."

"what?"

"I heard the guests here talking about this old gentleman who has never been here before. Today is the first time he is telling a story in this teahouse."

"Is this important?"

Ban Fengwu added: "There are many people lying in ambush on the second floor of the teahouse. They are all regular humanoids like this old gentleman. The origins of this group of people may not be simple."

Ban Fengyin thought for a moment and said, "What do you think their origins are?"

Ban Fengwu said: "I suspect they may be from Pro Province, and their status is similar to Chu Shaoqiang."

If this is true, this group of people should not be underestimated.

Ban Fengyin whispered, "You stay here and watch. I'll go look around."

Ban Fengwu said, "Don't turn around, hurry up and send a letter to Lao Jia. The third city gate is a den of dragons and tigers. If we wait until they take action, we won't be able to get out!"

Ban Fengyin left the teahouse and returned to Hanmo Garden to deliver a letter to Li Banfeng. On the way, he met Ban Fengchou.

Ban Fengchou also discovered a lot of ambushes. He handed the map he drew to Ban Fengyin and said, "Tell Lao Jia the news. I'm going to go to the four gates to take a look."

"Ah Chou, you must be careful."

Ban Fengchou was a little dissatisfied: "I changed my name to Ban Fengjun, don't call me Ah Chou anymore!"

When they reached the fourth gate, Ban Fengchou stuck to the ground and followed the pedestrians into the city gate.

Different from the bustling San Chong Men, Si Chong Men is very quiet. Most of the houses are residential. The houses are very luxurious, but the places are not very large.

Occasionally, three people would come in and out. Their clothes were made of fine materials and made of exquisite workmanship. This should be the residence of the royal family. Ban Fengchou said to himself, "This house is not very good."

These days, according to the stories told by the Luo sisters, Li Banfeng made one thing clear: in Da Shang, the royal family is a first-class noble family, and no matter how high the status of the princes is, it is not higher than that of ordinary members of the royal family.

But judging from the size of the mansion, the living conditions of the royal family members living in the Four Gates do not seem to be comparable to those of local lords like Luo Lijun.

"Not only is their accommodation not very good," Ban Fengmao suddenly appeared, startling Ban Fengchou, "their food is not very good either, barely enough to fill their stomachs. If you convert their food with the oil, grease and coal outside, it is estimated that it is not much different from the scholars in Wubian City."

Ban Fengchou analyzed it and asked, "Could it be caused by the lack of food in Chaoge?"

Ban Fengmao shook his head: "I don't think so. I guess the people living here are all marginal figures of the royal family. The core members of the royal family don't live here. If we want to find out useful information, we have to look inside the Five Layers Gate."

Ban Fengchou said, "Then why are you still standing there? Go to the fifth gate!"

Ban Fengmao said, "Don't worry. The fifth gate is not easy to pass. The guards at the first few gates are not strict. When you reach the fifth gate, you will have to go through layers of inspection. I think the situation inside is very different. It must involve some confidential information."

Ban Fengchou laughed: "If you don't have the ability to get in, just wait here at the fourth gate. You can't blame others for your own poor skills."

Ban Fengmao said angrily: "I'm telling you the truth from the bottom of my heart, why are you so annoying?"

Ban Fengchou followed the map and walked alone to the vicinity of the Five-Layer Gate, where he vaguely heard some quarreling sounds.

"Lord Jia has ordered that the Heavenly Stem Army should defend the garden, and the Earthly Branch Army should investigate outside the garden. Why are you here?"

This is Ban Fengzi.

"Return to Jia Gong? Why don't you call him Gui Gong? Where I come from is none of your business."

This is Ban Feng Yi.

Ban Fengchou ignored the two men and glanced towards the five-layer gate.

There were hundreds of guards standing in front of the door, and there were many machines among the guards. It was really not easy to get in.

Ban Fengyi was still arguing with Ban Fengzi. Ban Fengzi was getting angrier and angrier, his voice trembling: "You bastard, you are meddling in other people's business!"

Ban Fengyi snorted and said, "I don't want to argue with you. It's almost time. I have to go into the city gate!"

He wanted to argue with Ban Fengzi here because the five-layer gate was heavily guarded and it was indeed difficult to get in.

Now it happened that the two teams of guards were changing shifts, and Ban Fengyi took this opportunity, lying flat on the ground, and rushed directly through the five gates.

He succeeded, but Ban Fengchou didn't dare to move because he didn't have the skills of Ban Fengyi.

Ban Fengyi has achieved great accomplishments in travel cultivation. When he goes out to fight for his life, he can even keep up with Lao Jia's speed.

Ban Fengchou's speed was far behind, so he could only go to Ban Fengzi to discuss: "Brother Zi, let's think of a way to get through."

Ban Fengzi pondered for a moment and said, "The saints said that men should earn their living by their own efforts."

Ban Fengchou was stunned. What does this mean?
The meaning is simple, Ban Fengzi doesn't want to help him.

Before the two teams of guards had completed the handover, Ban Fengzi slipped into the five-layer gate by sticking to the ground.

Ban Fengzi had great attainments in home renovation and had an excellent talent that was often overlooked, so he took advantage of the chaos to sneak in.

Now that they both have gone in, what should Ban Fengchou do?
Break in or blend in?

Ban Fengmao came over from behind and snorted, "There's nothing you can do. How do you think you are better than me? Just stand guard at the fourth gate. Maybe you can find out something."

Ban Fengchou looked around and said, "This is just a residential area. What's the point of staying here?"

……

Ban Fengzi entered the fifth gate and found that this place was indeed different.

There are many government offices here, some of which Ban Fengzi can recognize.

"This is the Ministry of Personnel. There is also the Ministry of Rites in front of it. The Shang Dynasty has undergone many changes. The three provinces and six ministries are also used here..."

Ban Fengyi came closer and said to Ban Fengzi, "You read a lot. What is that place called Wenyuan Pavilion used for?"

Ban Fengzi glanced at Ban Fengyi and asked, "Why do you always follow me?"

Ban Fengyi was a little angry: "What are you talking about? What do you mean I should follow you? Is Chaoge owned by your family? Let's go our separate ways, and we just met, didn't we?"

Ban Fengzi didn't want to pay attention to Ban Fengyi: "You are a reckless person. I have an important responsibility. Please don't implicate me."

Ban Fengyi said impatiently: "Don't worry, I won't delay your work. Just tell me what Wenyuan Pavilion does. If you know, just say you know. If you don't know, forget it."

Ban Fengzi looked at Wenyuan Pavilion. Compared with other government offices around it, Wenyuan Pavilion was indeed eye-catching, with double eaves connected together, staggered brackets, vermilion walls, and door lintels carved with dragons and painted with phoenixes, giving it a palace-like style.

A group of soldiers walked around Wenyuan Pavilion. There were leopards, gray wolves, and jackals, all of them were very agile.

Ban Fengzi pondered for a long time and said, "Wenyuan Pavilion is a place for storing books, but what kind of books are so precious that they require so many people to guard them?"

"What book?" Ban Fengyi lowered his voice and asked, "I have to go in and take a look."

Ban Fengzi asked in surprise: "What are you looking at there? You are not the kind of person who likes to read books!"

Ban Fengyi snorted and said, "You are the only one who can read. When Lao Jia was instructing Zhang Xiuling, you were so anxious that you jumped up and down, and you almost pressed her down on the desk."

Ban Fengzi said angrily: "How can you tarnish my innocence!"

Ban Fengyi carefully observed the layout of Wenyuan Pavilion and said to Ban Fengzi, "I just saw an old friend of ours walk around Wenyuan Pavilion several times. I guess there are good things here."

Ban Fengzi was startled: "How old is your friend?"

Ban Fengyi smiled and said, "This friend is quite old. I'll go in and see what he's going to do."

……

In an alley next to Wenyuan Pavilion, He Jiaqing took out three palm-sized bags from his sleeves and shook them out.

Swoosh! There was a loud noise.

The three pockets became bigger, and each pocket could hold at least a watermelon weighing about 20 kilograms.

What's inside is not a watermelon, but something very important that He Jiaqing had hidden in his sleeve all the way.

The reason why they were taken out outside Wenyuan Pavilion was that when these three pockets became bigger and smaller, there would be some noise, and just this little noise could very likely cause He Jiaqing to never return.

He Jiaqing suffered a loss in Wenyuan Pavilion, so he must be extremely careful this time.

He carried three bags on his back, climbed over the wall and entered Wenyuan Pavilion.

There was a team of guards patrolling outside Wenyuan Pavilion, and another team of guards patrolling inside. With two teams of guards, no one could find any trace of He Jiaqing.

This is the skill of a thief who can climb over walls and houses. From the moment he climbed over the wall, He Jiaqing's body merged with the surrounding environment, leaving no trace and silently.

Wenyuan Pavilion has three main pavilions and more than twenty other small and medium-sized pavilions.

The small and medium attics are filled with folk books. Among the three main attics, the first attic is filled with handed-down classics, and the second attic is filled with royal books.

These books are of extremely high value, but this is not He Jiaqing's goal.

He Jiaqing's target was the third attic. This attic had two floors. The first floor stored many forbidden spells, and the second floor stored many forbidden formations. He Jiaqing didn't want to go to either of these two floors.

What he wanted to go to was an unnamed place between the first and second floors.

The entrance to this nameless place is behind the third row of bookshelves, and ordinary people cannot find it. When He Jiaqing came to Wenyuan Pavilion for the first time, he waited in the attic for three whole days before he found the entrance.

But it’s not necessary today, he remembered the location of the entrance, and the key issue was to open the lock of the entrance.

He had opened the lock once before, but because he was not careful enough when stealing the deed, his whereabouts were exposed.

Wenyuange knew that something was lost, so he naturally changed the lock, and he would definitely unlock it again this time.

Although He Jiaqing also has lock-picking tools, they are not as good as the Green Water Beggar's bowl, so it takes some effort to pick the lock.

His luck was pretty good today, as the lock that He Jiaqing encountered was of very special craftsmanship, called the Nine-Turn Throat Lock, which is a very difficult lock to open.

But it just so happened that He Jiaqing had learned the unlocking mechanism of the Nine-Turn Throat Lock from Xiao Qianshou, and with his specially made ring, he opened the lock in less than ten minutes.

After entering the nameless place, He Jiaqing continued to maintain the technique of climbing over walls and houses. This technique consumed a lot of energy, but He Jiaqing did not dare to relax at all, because there were two three-headed men patrolling between the bookshelves in the dark dimension.

In the nameless land, there are six bookshelves, and each of them is filled with deeds of the local gods of the new land.

Before, they were all small jobs, but now they are big jobs.

These bookshelves are full of traps, and if you accidentally touch one, you might alert the two guards.

This is the time to test your skills.

You have to act quickly and take the deed off the bookshelf as quickly as possible while the two guards are elsewhere.

Be careful not to touch the mechanism on the bookshelf. Once the two guards are alerted, they will seal the door to the unknown place from the inside, and He Jiaqing will not be able to get out.

This time he was going to take away a total of thirty deeds and thirty names. He remembered them very clearly, and he also remembered the layout pattern of the deeds in Wenyuan Pavilion very clearly.

Before coming here, he had figured out the locations of all the contracts and even specially set up a similar library in Green Water City, where he had practiced countless times.

He used his stealing skill, and in the blink of an eye he took Chu Yaoxian's contract from the bookshelf.

It is really spotless, even the dust on the bookshelf remains in its original position, motionless.

This is not the end. One copy of the deed was missing and there was an empty space on the bookshelf. He Jiaqing had neglected this before and was discovered by the guards and almost lost his life.

Now he had learned his lesson and immediately put the stolen contract into his bag. At the same time, he took out another contract of Chu Yaoxian from the bag and put it back on the bookshelf.

This deed was forged by him. Although it does not have the functions of a deed, it looks no different from a deed. The forgery has also been made to look old, so there are almost no flaws to be seen.

He Jiaqing also remembered the location of the fake deeds in his pocket very clearly. He quickly replaced the three deeds in succession and put them all in the first pocket.

He tied the bag tightly, put it on his back, carefully walked around the three patrolling men, and moved to another row of bookshelves.

On this row of bookshelves, He Jiaqing collected five more deeds, and then went around to the back row of bookshelves and collected two more.

The real deeds were very heavy. The first pocket was filled with ten deeds, which was already the limit. If I put more in, it would burst.

He Jiaqing tied the bag tightly, put the first bag aside, then put down the second bag, and exchanged two deeds on the shelf.

The three patrolling men were approaching, and He Jiaqing was about to move to another place when he suddenly saw a shadow on the ground holding a bag and moving quickly away from him.

what's the situation?
He Jiaqing was shocked?
Are there any video editors coming in to steal the business?

How did Ying Xiu get in?
Is this a skill that always accompanies each other?
How could He Jiaqing let anyone else take away the deed that he had obtained with great difficulty?

He rushed forward to get the deed back, but saw the shadow running towards the guard with the bag in his arms.

What does this mean?
Is this shadow trying to kill himself?
The meaning of the shadow is very obvious.

If you chase me again, I will call the guard and we will both die here!

(End of this chapter)