Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

  When it came to tourism, the impression people got were crowded places; however, as long as one was diligent, they could enjoy the pleasure of having the whole place to themselves, even in the peak season. The way to do so was to queue up at the gate early in the morning and rush in with the first wave. As soon as the doors opened, one rushed in, ignoring the unnecessary attractions near the door. When most tourists were still dawdling, one could have gone far ahead for a long time. One could bypass the endless mountain ranges and go straight to the depths of the scenic spots that were worthy of careful savoring. Once there, one could observe them all alone.

  Of course, for traveling, different people had different likings. Some people liked to go with tour groups, feeling that it was more convenient, safe, and less troublesome to do so. Other people liked traveling on their own, feeling more at ease, and they could freely choose their own itinerary––when they wanted to walk they could walk, when they wanted to stop they could stop. That way, they could fully enjoy the joy of traveling, and tour guides wouldn’t pull them into unnecessary jewelry stores to buy things.

  Zhang Zian liked traveling freely; he hated being nagged by tour guides who would constantly try to convince him to buy things––but not because he was petty.

  He took into account the elfins’ situation, and when he was planning the tour of the Forbidden City, he decided to first witness the Flag Raising Ceremony. From there, they would buy tickets and queue up at the Forbidden City so they could be there when the doors opened. That way they could rush in without the crowd.

  He told the plan to the elfins. He would queue up, the elfins would just jump into the Forbidden City over the yard walls, and they would all meet inside. As for the elfins that could not jump high nor fly, such as the Snowy Lionet and Pi, Famous would have to carry them over. Although the yard walls of the Forbidden City were very high, there were a lot of places that it could borrow strength from, like the 90-degree corners. With Famous’ jumping ability, it could jump between two walls that were next to each other and then flip over the ward walls.

  When he was explaining the plan to the elfins, he swore that if pets were allowed to enter the Forbidden City, he would not hesitate to buy tickets for them. It was not his fault that the manager of the Forbidden City was not enlightened! Otherwise, he definitely would not have cheated and not bought tickets for them.

  He made himself seem like a victim, causing the elfins to be speechless. Anyway, they were used to it.

  When the group of young primary school children finished eating, the two female teachers organized them into lines to throw their food wrappers into the nearby trash can. The two male teachers brought the school-issued letter of introduction to buy tickets for the Forbidden City.

  The Forbidden City tickets were normally 60 yuan. The university, secondary school, and primary school students could use their student pass and a letter of introduction to buy student tickets. The student ticket price was 20 yuan, but there was also a rule that children that were under 1.2 meters tall could get free tickets.

  The pupils in the same class had different developmental and nutritional statuses, and their heights and weights were different. That lead to the need to buy tickets for some pupils, while some could still enjoy the ticket-free policy. In order to save money, the teachers had to ask 40 students to line up according to their size. They then followed the teacher to buy tickets for those that were taller than 1.2 meters, and those below 1.2 meters just needed to sit and wait.

  Looking at such a funny scene, Zhang Zian could not help but think of the prohibition of large dogs with a height of more than 35 centimeters……

  Richard scratched his head, warning him not to randomly think things. He had to be careful to enter the list of shootings next month.

  Zhang Zian had the elfins go and flip over the wall. Of course, that was not referring to the online wall. He went to buy tickets for himself and met the male teacher he had greeted just now, but the other party was so busy and a mess. His forehead was full of sweat, and he had no time to talk. He could only smile bitterly while he nodded to give his regards.

  The Forbidden City had fully implemented online ticketing in 2017. Tickets could be purchased through online booking or on-site by the scanning of QR codes. Zhang Zian had paid for the tickets by scanning codes at one go. The male teacher was still inviting staff to check the school’s letter of introduction at the comprehensive service window, and then he asked them to place orders on their behalf.

  After he bought his ticket, Zhang Zian went to wait for the door to open. There were already a few people waiting. He turned his body to the side and pushed forward smoothly. The other tourists rolled their eyes at him, annoyed that he tried to squeeze in so tightly when it was still so empty. It was not as if he was squeezing onto the public bus……

  He finally squeezed to the front with much difficulty. It was almost time, and the workers there signaled that they could enter. He instantly rushed in.

  After he entered, he was not in a rush to admire the scenery in the Forbidden City. Instead, he looked for the elfins to see if they had managed to jump in successfully.

  “Ga ga! This way! This way!” Richard flapped its wings and called.

  Zhang Zian walked briskly over, and also glared at it at the same time, wanting it to be quieter. Thankfully, the rest of the tourists were still a good ways behind them, taking photos. It was a good thing no one heard it, otherwise, they might have thought there was a ghost.

  The elfins had all entered, and Famous had very successfully completed its mission.

  They looked around, looking at the innumerable courtyards and palaces. They were all so amazed that they thought were dreaming.

  “Guai guai, the emperors of China really knew how to enjoy life!” Richard flew to the highest point it could fly to, but it was still unable to see the end of the Forbidden City. All it could see was palaces after palaces.

  “Zian, how big is the Forbidden City actually?” Old Time Tea asked.

  “I’m not clear about the specific area, but it is said that the total number of rooms in the Forbidden City is 9,999 and a half. The truth is, there are not that many. There are only 8,000 plus rooms,” Zhang Zian responded.

  “8,000 plus rooms?” Even Fina was shocked. “How did the China emperors manage to live in them? Even if he changed rooms everyday, it would still take over 20 years to finish living in all of them!”


  “It was mainly for them to display their wealth. If not for that, how could they show the difference between the emperor and the common people?”


  “Over 8,000 rooms…… Can we finish walking through this place in a day?” Famous asked, worried.

  “First of all, the Forbidden City only opens a third of the area, which is more concentrated near the central axis. The remaining two-thirds are not open to the outside world. In addition, even if the area was open, there is no need to walk all over, because everything looks about the same. We can just select some key areas to look at,” Zhang Zian said as he walked. He didn’t want to let the visitors behind them catch up.

  Generally speaking, most of the tourists who came to visit the Forbidden City in the early morning wanted to spend the whole day wandering around all the different areas they could visit. They did not want the trip to go to waste, so they wanted to make the fare of 60 yuan worthwhile. Therefore, after the tourists came in, only a few of them, like Zhang Zian, went straight through the Gate of Supreme Harmony and continued north. Most of them diverted left and right before the Gate of Supreme Harmony. In those directions were the Wenhua Palace on the east and Wuying Palace on the west, which exhibited ceramics and paintings respectively.

  Zhang Zian was pleased with his decision when he looked back and saw the large army of tourists crawling slowly like snails. The bluestone they were walking on had no one on it, and the elfins could walk freely without any tourists around them.

  Crossing the magnificent square supported by the railings of white marble and stepping onto the steps that had withstood thousands of years of wind and rain, they came to the front of Hall of Supreme Harmony.

  “Zian, my eyes aren’t good. What are the animals on the eaves?” Old Time Tea questioned.

  On the brilliant, glazed tiles, there was a series of special-shaped animals arranged neatly, shining in the sunshine.

  The eyesight of cats in the daytime was not very good, and they were not good at seeing far away. Old Time Tea could only see a few blurred outlines, and the specific images of the foreign animals could not be seen clearly.

  “Oh, those are immortals and the imperial roof decorations. The one in front is the immortal riding a chicken, and those behind it, based on their order, is a dragon, a phoenix, a lion, a heavenly stead, a hippocampus, a gorilla, an orangutan, a bull, and a Hang Shi. There are ten kinds of exotic animals, all of which are auspicious creatures in ancient legends.” Zhang Zian did not have the ability to say so many uncommon nouns in one breath, so he checked them with his mobile phone and then introduced them to the elfins.

  “It sounds like there aren’t many real animals included in there. The ancient Chinese have a great imagination.” Fina twitched its lips. “Why can’t we use cats, crocodiles, jackals, and eagles as sacred beasts, just like the Holy Black Land?”


  Zhang Zian could only laugh at that. Why didn’t it just say directly that there were no cats in the ten sacred beasts? Why must it insist on bringing up the crocodiles, the jackals, and the other animals……?

  Because of safety concerns, his words could only be thought of in his heart but could not be said out loud.

  After Old Time Tea heard his introduction, he quietly stared at the imperial roof decorations on the eaves. After a while, he asked in confusion, “Zian, are my eyes acting up? I counted multiple times, but no matter how many times I count there are 11 exotic beasts on top……”