From breakfast time to noon, the hundred armored guards in the backyard of the Eastern Palace had been busy for nearly four hours. Under the scorching sun, they were sweating profusely and their bodies were exhausted.
At first, the guards who were full of energy had all become like frosted eggplants at this moment. They were listless and dispirited.
As the supervisor, the guard, Thousand Households Li Heiniu, saw his brothers working so hard. As the leader, he could only watch from the sidelines. Not long after the construction started, after wandering around the construction site chosen by Zhao Defang, the king of Qin, he rolled up his sleeves and joined the ranks of his brothers. Moreover, he was skilled and worked even harder.
The guards, who were originally like deflated balloons, were deeply influenced by their leader's unsparing efforts. They dragged their tired bodies and worked hard without regard for their own safety.
However, it was midsummer now. Not only was the weather hot, but the sun hanging high in the sky at noon was also scorching. After nearly four hours, the hundred or so guards who worked hard, including Li Heiniu, were all exhausted. If they continued to work, many of them would probably suffer from heatstroke.
Li Heiniu stopped his work and looked around. He saw that his brothers did not have much strength to work. Therefore, he could not bear to do so. Since the King of Qin, Zhao Defang, appointed him as the supervisor, when the King of Qin was not around, it was naturally up to him, the supervisor, to make the decisions on the construction site.
Li Heiniu, who sympathized with his subordinates, quickly asked his hundred or so brothers to stop. After resting on the spot for a while, due to the hot sun above their heads, they were all covered in sweat and their throats were about to smoke. This made Li Heiniu's face heat up and worry.
Inadvertently, Li Heiniu suddenly caught a glimpse of a large rockery with strange rocks about half a foot away from them on the left side. Although this rockery was not too high, it was about a foot above sea level. However, as the sun in the south shone its scorching light, a shadow appeared behind the rockery.
Therefore, Li Heiniu, who had a quick wit, ordered the hundred guards around him to rush to the shadow behind the large rockery in front of them. In just a moment, they stood in the shadow of the rockery and immediately felt a wave of summer mats.
The guards who were resting on the spot felt that it was time for lunch, so they all leaned against the rockery, squatted on the ground, or sat on the big rocks. They enjoyed the cool behind the rockery. It could be said that they were in different forms.
Of course, because the weather was too hot, many guards who could not stand the heat took off their heavy armor without Li Heiniu's permission to dissipate the heat and sweat on their bodies. All of a sudden, the deeply inspired guards took off their armor.
As far as the eye could see, the imperial guards of the Eastern Palace were all wearing white clothes and white pants, enjoying the shade behind the rockery. Those who knew would naturally know that they were imperial guards of the Eastern Palace, but those who didn't know would think that they were scattered soldiers who had abandoned their helmets and armor.
It had only been a moment since they had rested and enjoyed the cool air, but there were already many guards walking around the rockery. Usually, they were responsible for standing guard and patrolling, so they didn't have much free time to stroll around the artificial mountains, pools, and pavilions in the backyard of the Eastern Palace. Today, they finally got a rare opportunity to enjoy the scenery in the backyard of the Eastern Palace. How could they just stay where they were and enjoy the cool?
As a result, nearly twenty guards could no longer sit still. They gathered in twos and threes and walked leisurely on the gravel path between the rockery.
There were four or five guards among them. When they walked to an extremely narrow place in the fake mountain, they suddenly discovered a cave half the height of a person under the fake mountain. The few of them surrounded it. When they bent down and entered the cave, they stopped after taking a few steps.
At first, they thought that the cave was only ten feet deep. It was just nice for them to enter the cave to cool down. It was much cooler than hiding in the shade of the rockery. However, they had just taken three to five steps in when the bright sunlight shone from the cave entrance and they looked into the cave.
At a glance, the cave was pitch-black, and it felt as if he could not see the end. Thus, they quickly stopped in their tracks. A feeling of fear slowly enveloped everyone who entered the cave.
Not only that, when they stopped three to five steps away from the cave entrance, there was a powerful push from the cave. Their legs were as if they were filled with lead, and it was very difficult for them to move forward. Therefore, they gave up on going deeper into the cave.
Under the obstruction of the powerful pushing force from the pitch-dark inside of the mountain cave and the fear that arose in their hearts, they hurriedly retreated out of the mountain cave after staying in the mountain cave for only 10 minutes.
According to tradition, whenever they discovered any unusual situation in the Eastern Palace, they had to report it to their immediate superior, Li Heiniu. The Imperial Army of the Great Song had always been disciplined. Moreover, they were elite soldiers carefully selected from the 100,000 Imperial Army. Naturally, they strictly followed the military discipline of the Imperial Army of the Great Song.
After the four or five of them walked out of the cave, Mei and Ou hesitated for a moment. They went straight to the back of the rockery and reported to the guard, Li Heiniu, about the unfathomable cave under the rockery.
In the beginning, Li Heiniu did not take it seriously after listening to their anxious reports. He thought that these guys who usually made jokes were teasing him. He could not believe their words so easily. According to past experience, if he believed them, he would most likely be deceived.
After waiting for a while, they saw that their superiors did not believe the major situation they had discovered. Immediately, they anxiously saw them stomping their feet one by one with anxious expressions on their faces. For Imperial Army guards like them, there was nothing more unsettling than not being able to gain the trust of their superiors.
When Li Heiniu took a closer look and saw that they all had lingering fears and were nervous, his previous deep doubt turned into half-doubt at this moment. Of course, after verification, he was convinced.
As the saying goes: observe his words and observe his face. In his opinion, if they were really joking with him after a moment, they should have stopped fighting long ago. But now, they were all panicking. Presumably, the situation they had reported just now was most likely true.
After convincing himself in his heart, Li Heiniu asked them to lead the way. He also thought that if it was as they said, he would bring a few more people to rush over in case of an unexpected need. Thus, he waved his hand and rushed over with a dozen guards who had recovered most of their strength.
When they arrived at the entrance of the rockery cave without stopping, Li Heiniu saw that the 15 or 16 guards who followed him were all standing behind him. No one dared to stand out and be the first to rush. At this moment, Li Heiniu, who was still skeptical about the cave, stomped his foot in annoyance. Then, he bent down and rushed into the cave first.
The 15 or 16 guards standing behind Li Heiniu saw their superior rush into the cave first. They were still a little frightened and uneasy just now, but they all strengthened their courage. After hesitating for a moment, they all followed closely behind Li Heiniu and walked in.
In just a moment, they had taken three to five steps into the pitch-black cave. He really didn't know if he didn't come. He was shocked when he came. Just as the five or six guards who came to report had said, after taking three to five steps into the cave, all of their legs felt as if they were filled with lead. No matter how hard they tried, they could not move even half a step forward.
To these Imperial Army guards, most of them were young people who were not even twenty years old and had very little life experience. They had been recruited into the ranks of the Imperial Army since they were young and rarely had much contact with the outside world. To them, who were still inexperienced, this kind of strange thing could definitely be considered the strangest thing they had ever encountered in their lives.
It wasn't just these stinking Imperial Army guards. Even the Imperial Army guard Thousand-Household Li Heiniu, who had been trained, had experienced more than his subordinates. However, what he had encountered in the fake mountain cave today was the first time in his life.
Li Heiniu, who was pushing forward with all his might but could not move forward, and the guards beside him were pushing forward with all their might. Suddenly, they heard a guard rushing over from the entrance of the cave. He was out of breath and shouted,"Boss, boss, fourth, fourth prince, oh, no, it should be the king of Qin!”
Just as the guard's voice fell, Zhao Defang, who had rushed over quickly, quickly asked the guard who was blocking his way at the entrance of the cave to move aside. He quickly bent down and strode in.
It turned out that it was time for lunch at noon. Zhao Defang specially sent people to the imperial kitchen to bring good wine and dishes to reward the guards who were busy in the backyard of the Eastern Palace on such a hot day.
However, in the main hall of the front courtyard, Zhao Defang hurriedly sent the Eastern Palace's chamberlain, Chief Zhang, to the backyard to sell the guards who had been working hard for the entire morning for lunch. However, after the time it took to brew a cup of tea, Chief Zhang returned anxiously and reported that he had not reached the construction site in the backyard. He was about ten feet away. He looked up and saw that the huge construction site opposite was empty.
Therefore, Chief Zhang did not have time to go and investigate. He quickly turned back and reported the strange situation he had just seen to Zhao Defang, who was sitting at the main door of the hall.
Zhao Defang, who was originally in a good mood, initially thought that he was joking with her after listening to Steward Little Zhang's report. Under his repeated questioning, the innocent-looking Steward Little Zhang almost swore to the heavens that everything he said was true.
After seeing this scene, Zhao Defang thought for a moment, and her heart thumped. She secretly complained, There was a cave in the rockery in the backyard of the Eastern Palace. He had traveled back and forth from that cave to the Song Dynasty and the current era.
If it was as Chamberlain Xiao Zhang had said, then Li Heiniu, this idiot, couldn't have found the cave that could freely travel between ancient and modern times, and brought the hundred guards who were working in the backyard of the Eastern Palace to the modern world that he belonged to.
When Zhao Defang thought of this, he did not dare to delay for a moment. He quickly threw Chief Zhang aside and rushed to the backyard of the Eastern Palace alone.
In order to find out, Zhao Defang did not go to the construction site. Instead, she went straight to the rockery. When he reached the rockery, he heard whispers coming from the back of the rockery, so he rushed over.
When he walked to the shady side of the rockery, he realized that the Imperial Army guards who had been wearing armor had all thrown their armor aside. They were all wearing white clothes and white pants, enjoying the cool. He let out a long sigh of relief.
The Imperial Army guards, who were whispering and chatting just now, all fell silent and froze on the spot when they saw the King of Qin, whom they served, appear in front of them without warning. After time stopped for a moment, they regained their senses and quickly stood up. They bowed to Zhao Defang and cupped their hands to greet her.
Zhao Defang, who rushed over, waved her hand, indicating that they did not have to be so formal. However, when he saw them all throwing away their helmets and armor, he could not help but feel a little amused. However, when he remembered that it was noon, which was the time when the sun was at its strongest, it was indeed difficult for them to work in heavy armor in the heat.
When he thought of this, he felt a deep respect for the guards standing in front of him who were covered in dirt.
However, when he used his sharp eyes to scan the guards standing in front of him, he did not find Li Heiniu's shadow. He, who had just been relieved, began to feel a little nervous again.
Fortunately, a guard standing in front of him saw that His Highness the King of Qin was searching for someone on their bodies. He carefully asked if he was looking for their Thousand Households Li Heiniu.
Zhao Defang was overjoyed when she heard the guard say that Thousand Householder Li was rushing to the fake mountains to search for a cave. She asked the guard to rush over with him.
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