After finishing the morning tea, it was already past nine in the morning. After paying the bill, Cao Long left because he had something to do.

The main reason was that Cao Long noticed that Ye Qiu didn’t really need him to host, and now that Ye Qiu was driving himself, there was no need for him to accompany Ye Qiu and Cao Ling around.

Upon getting into the car, Ye Qiu had already said that he was going to take them to visit the Forbidden City today.

Cao Ling had been to the Forbidden City before, but Ye Qiu and the three women, Liu Lingxiu included, hadn’t.

Upon arriving there and finding a parking spot, they discovered that most of the tourist buses were parked outside, and it looked like many of them had come in tour groups.

Since there were so many people getting off from the buses, Ye Qiu directly held onto Liu Lingxiu and Xiaomai, and Lin Xiang and Cao Ling could only follow behind, looking somewhat incredulously at Ye Qiu.

"Stay close; with so many people, it’s hard to find you if you get separated," Ye Qiu said to Lin Xiang and Cao Ling.

Cao Ling and Lin Xiang didn’t know what to say.

This jerk was holding his girlfriend with one hand and Xiaomai the nanny with the other, while they had to follow behind.

Arriving at the ticket booth, Ye Qiu found there was a long queue.

However, outside tourist attractions, there were often ticket scalpers who would sell tickets for a bit more money after standing in line themselves.

Indeed, seeing so many people lining up to buy or exchange tickets, Ye Qiu thought this crappy weather made waiting in such long queues unreasonable.

While he was pondering, a man who looked quite ordinary, but somewhat sneaky, approached Ye Qiu and said, "Sir, do you want a ticket?"

"You’re a scalper, aren’t you?"

"Shh, don’t say it out loud; security will catch us here."

The government has been cracking down on scalpers, including these ticket vendors.

So the guy was afraid of getting noticed by other security personnel and getting caught and fined.

"Sir, these are combo tickets for eighty apiece; I can sell them to you for a hundred each; we just make a small profit for our hard work."

Paying twenty extra wasn’t too expensive.

"Okay, but what if they’re fake?"

"How could they be fake tickets? We lined up early to buy them, and they’re valid today," the man hurriedly explained.

A hundred a ticket, with five people, came to five hundred yuan.

When Ye Qiu looked at Liu Lingxiu, she quickly took five one-hundred-yuan bills from her bag and handed them to the scalper.

Cao Ling originally intended to pay, but Liu Lingxiu had already done so.

After receiving the five combo tickets, the scalper went on to find other customers.

Actually, spending money to buy time isn’t about fairness; others can line up to save twenty yuan.

Of course, many organized tour groups had already purchased tickets in advance and could line up directly to go in.

Ye Qiu held onto Liu Lingxiu and Xiaomai, with Lin Xiang and Cao Ling following them as they queued to enter the Forbidden City.

After having their tickets checked and entering, aside from seeing a crowd, Lin Xiang was struck by a sense of indescribable amazement at the magnificent atmosphere of the Forbidden City.

However, Ye Qiu didn’t find it so impressive. While the Huaxia architecture might be one of the best here, compared to Heaven, or even the Heavenly Court Imperial Medical Bureau, it was lacking.

It’s as if there’s a heaven above and earth below.

Xiaomai and Liu Lingxiu took out their phones, especially Lin Xiang, who brought her over ten-thousand-yuan DSLR, an East Ocean brand purchased in Malaysia.

She had specifically brought it along when coming to Jinling to study.

This time, she brought it to visit the Capital City with Ye Qiu.

As the three women took photos, Ye Qiu and Cao Ling watched.

Neither of them took photos, yet there seemed to be a mutual understanding in their glances.

But when Cao Ling blushed, she turned her face away.

After taking quite a few photos, the sunlight became increasingly intense, and they moved to a shaded area. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Of course, some places prohibit photography, as indicated by signs, but most areas allowed it.

Most of the displayed items are cultural relics or antiques, many cleared from the Forbidden City. So upon entering, aside from seeing buildings, there were artifacts related to emperors, palace maids, concubines, and even eunuchs.

Lin Xiang kept taking photos, while Liu Lingxiu and Xiaomai stopped after a while.

Ye Qiu and Cao Ling were just watching.

When they reached a place displaying artifacts, everything inside was used by past emperors, with so many items that a whole morning wouldn’t suffice to see them all.

The part of the Forbidden City Museum that’s open isn’t very large, but to see everything in detail might take a whole day.

"Ye Qiu, isn’t that the emperor’s dragon throne from before?"

Ye Qiu looked over and saw a dragon throne surrounded by red ropes to prevent tourists from approaching.

However, Ye Qiu could tell at first glance that it was a replica; the real dragon throne would be stored somewhere else or perhaps missing.

"It’s a replica," Ye Qiu stated directly.

A replica?

Lin Xiang and the others hadn’t expected it to be a replica.

Of course, one couldn’t say it was entirely fake; actually, many of the artifacts in the Forbidden City are replicas, and the buildings undergo professional maintenance every year. Otherwise, how could they last for hundreds of years?

Ye Qiu didn’t find much worth seeing here.

As he held Liu Lingxiu and Xiaomai and prepared to take them elsewhere, Lin Xiang and Cao Ling followed along. It was unclear if it was due to the excessive number of tourists or something else.

Both Lin Xiang and Cao Ling had a man deliberately bump into them.

With so many people, it’s common to get jostled, but if someone was intentionally taking advantage, especially drawn to Lin Xiang and Cao Ling’s beauty, that was unreasonable.

Lin Xiang and Cao Ling weren’t aware of it, but Ye Qiu caught it clearly and went over to kick the guy directly.

The man, unable to stand firm, fell instantly, and before the surrounding people grasped what happened, Ye Qiu said, "Try that again and I’ll break your hand."

The man was shocked by Ye Qiu’s rudeness and violence, denying that he intentionally bumped into Lin Xiang and Cao Ling.

"He hit me, someone hit me," the man lying on the ground shouted.

At this point, the security personnel maintaining order came over, quickly asking what happened upon seeing a fight.

"Still mouthing off!" Ye Qiu kicked the guy hard again.

This time, the kick really hurt, and the man curled up in pain.

It was midsummer, and many female tourists preferred to wear skirts, partly for beauty and partly for comfort, inevitably leading some to try to take advantage in crowded areas.

This sort of thing, Ye Qiu witnessed, and presumably other tourists did as well, though none stepped forward.

Seeing Ye Qiu continue to kick the guy, a few security guards hurried to intervene.