The moment 288 started the live stream, billions of users from interstellar space flooded into the live broadcast room. Fortunately, 288 was the core of the stream—if it had been any Earth-based app, it would have crashed instantly.
The sudden influx of billions didn’t cause the slightest lag for 288. Witnessing this, Qiu Yunzheng gained a more tangible sense of 288’s formidable capabilities.
[Hey, pretty little female streamer, hello! Where are you right now?]
[Hello there, I’m from the Sky Clan. What are your requirements for a partner, little female?]
“…”
With so many people joining all at once, the comments scrolled by too quickly for Qiu Yunzheng to read more than a few glimpses.
“…”
288: This was reckless. What are these weird things? So creepy. I hope this doesn’t scare my host.
“Host…”
“Hello everyone, I’m Qiu Yunzheng, from Earth. Let’s take a look at the Forbidden City today. It was built in the 18th year of the Yongle era (1420 AD on Earth), which is also the year when Emperor Chengzu of Ming: Zhu Di, issued an edict to move the capital from Nanjing to the present Forbidden City. Let me show you the scenery of the Forbidden City.”
Before 288 could speak to reassure her, Qiu Yunzheng started talking on her own. In her mind, she could say whatever she wanted—if it sounded unpleasant or she didn’t want to reply, she could just ignore it.
So, the visitors at the Forbidden City saw a clear-eyed, lovely girl holding a phone and filming everywhere.
Occasionally, they could see the bright, clear almond-shaped eyes of this pretty girl flash with deep amusement, making everyone curious: what could be so funny about looking at the Forbidden City?
“This is the Meridian Gate of the Forbidden City. If you plan to visit, please make a reservation ten days in advance. I just took a small shortcut—don’t follow my example. Let’s take a look.”
[Well, seeing it means I’ve been there. I took a shortcut too.]
[The pretty little female overestimates us.]
[I’m all ready. Where do I make a reservation? Is it with you, miss? Is 5,000 Points enough?]
Qiu Yunzheng then remembered that her live stream audience seemed to be a bunch of aliens—they couldn’t come even if they wanted to.
“Ahem, sorry, sorry. After entering the Meridian Gate, you’ll reach the Gate of Supreme Harmony. On my left here, you can exit directly through the West Glorious Gate; on the right, you can go straight out through the East Glorious Gate. And over here is the Hall of Literary Brilliance. The Hall of Literary Brilliance, since the mid-Ming Dynasty, has been used for holding the ‘Jingyan’ ceremonies. The so-called ‘Jingyan’ refers to the imperial lectures specially set up since the Han and Tang dynasties for emperors to discuss classics and history. It started to be called ‘Jingyan’ from the Song Dynasty. Let’s experience it.”
The main hall of the Hall of Literary Brilliance has an “I”-shaped layout, divided into two smaller halls front and back. The Hall of Literary Brilliance even preserves a jade seal from the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty, made of green jade with intertwined dragon knobs, engraved with the four characters “Hall of Literary Brilliance Treasure.”
[Is this what humans often call cultural heritage? I don’t fully understand, but it feels inexplicably awe-inspiring and beautiful.]
[Yeah.]
Qiu Yunzheng was ecstatic inside. Hehehe, feeling awed? That’s right! With our millennia of Chinese cultural heritage, why would we fear nitpicking from you aliens?
It’d be fake if you weren’t awed. Come on, come on, let’s continue, just make sure to give more Points in the end.
“That’s right, this is our human cultural heritage. Next, let’s move on. We’re now at the Forbidden City’s largest gate, the Gate of Supreme Harmony. The Gate of Supreme Harmony has been renamed three times. It was built in the 18th year of the Ming Yongle era (1420 AD) and was initially called the Gate of Heavenly Purity. Later, in the 41st year of the Jiajing era (1562 AD), it was renamed the Gate of Imperial Supremacy, and then in the 2nd year of the Qing Shunzhi era (1645 AD), it was changed to its current name, the Gate of Supreme Harmony.”
Qiu Yunzheng paused. Even though she thought she didn’t need to say it out loud, organizing such a long string of words was exhausting.
“The square in front of the Gate of Supreme Harmony covers nearly 26,000 square meters. After passing through, you reach the Hall of Supreme Harmony. It was called the Hall of Heavenly Purity in the Ming Yongle era, the Hall of Imperial Supremacy in the Jiajing era, and only changed to the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Qing Shunzhi era. It’s commonly known as the Throne Hall. Its main purpose was to hold grand ceremonies, such as the emperor’s enthronement, the installation of an empress, and other major festivals.”
[The emperors back then lived so well, with so many beautiful buildings. Seems like our current royalty is quite frugal in comparison.]
[Uh, protect your ID, friend. And our emperor isn’t frugal at all, o(╥﹏╥)o. He’s already ordered a new palace built in the style of the Forbidden City. The emperor thinks the current Western-style palace is a bit ugly and unworthy of his status.]
[o(╥﹏╥)o +1. Now all our construction teams have to attend classes here with the streamer. We graduated years ago, and this is the first time we’ve had to study like this. Exhausted.]
[Uh, take care, hahaha.]
Qiu Yunzheng struggled to hold back her laughter. This emperor was too adorable! Their palace, accumulated with centuries of history, was no joke—and it housed so many emperors without ever being replaced.
On one hand, there were legitimate reasons for this; on the other, the Forbidden City was truly beautiful.
“Ahem, come on, come on. We’re now heading to the Hall of Central Harmony, the Hall of Preserving Harmony, and the emperor’s residence, the Palace of Heavenly Purity. The Hall of Central Harmony was used by the emperor to review sacrificial texts and inspect farming tools. The Hall of Preserving Harmony was where the final stage of the imperial examinations, the palace examination, was held. As for the Palace of Heavenly Purity, needless to say, the Hall of Mental Cultivation inside served as the emperor’s residence, and it was very spacious.”
And so, Qiu Yunzheng led a group of what seemed like country bumpkin ‘aliens’ on a tour, taking four to five hours to walk through the entire Forbidden City thoroughly.
She didn’t even have time to properly appreciate it herself. Luckily, she had Enhancement Fluid to strengthen her body beforehand; otherwise, Qiu Yunzheng would have collapsed long ago.
After exiting through the Gate of Divine Prowess behind the Imperial Garden, Qiu Yunzheng prepared to say goodbye to the aliens in the live stream. A glance at the viewer count—wow, it had already reached hundreds of billions.
“Alright, we’ve reached our final stop, the Gate of Divine Prowess, which is the back gate of the Forbidden City. This gate faces north. In ancient times, some people liked to call it the Gate of Dark Warrior, since directionally, left is Azure Dragon, right is White Tiger, front is Vermilion Bird, and back is Dark Warrior, with the Dark Warrior in the north. Let’s take a group photo.”
Qiu Yunzheng had 288 find a perfect spot for the live stream, giving viewers a chance to screenshot. She didn’t miss out either, taking photos continuously.
“That’s all for now. The Forbidden City tour is coming to an end. See you next time, friends.”
[Goodbye, thank you, beautiful little female. There must be a next time!Bye~Bye~, next time I’ll ask what type you like. Love you!]
[Though it’s incredible, being able to see Earth from a thousand years ago, and even the place where the emperor lived from much earlier times, is truly awe-inspiring. Thank you, beautiful miss, for this visual feast.]
[Yes, thank you for allowing us humans, who lost our homeland millennia ago, to see our native land again.]
[Indeed, very grateful. If only the emperor would drop the idea of having us replicate a Forbidden City. I have no clue how to build this!]
[So perfect, thank you.]
[So-and-so, tipped 1,000 Points]
[So-and-so, tipped 10,000 Points!]
[…]