Whether it was the fact that they had forced him to go out or the eager Ge Pang Xiao and Cao Niangzi, at this moment, in Chang Geng's eyes, everything felt so unreasonable. He was holding onto Gu Yun’s cold hand, trying to warm it up as much as he could, while still paying attention to the two countryside children enthusiastically looking around so they wouldn't get lost. Even though there were already a few incredible Black Iron Camp guards with them, he was still immensely busy with worrying.

Some people might have been born to constantly be concerned.

At that moment, a long sound resembling both an eagle and a crane was heard in the air, and the crowd loudly cheered.

"Red Kite!"

"Look, the first Red Kite of the year took off!"

The capital was the primary territory right under the Emperor, and normally air travel was banned. All nine gates were loaded with countless Baihong arrows. Even for Black Eagles, if they dared to approach the capital by air, they would still be shot down immediately.

New Year's Eve was the only exception.

On the wide road leading directly to the outskirts of the capital stood the symbol of the entire Central Plains - 'Qi Yuan Tower'.

It was said that when the Westerners crossed the sea on their large ships arriving in Central Plains, there were only two things they knew of: one was the Imperial Palace, and the other was Qi Yuan Tower*.

*the 鸢 [yuān] - meaning Kite in Qi Yuan tower (起鸢楼) is the same as the Yuan in Giant Kite and Red Kite. Qi ( meaning 'raise up') Yuan tower is a building/platform for the kites to take off to the sky.

The Qi Yuan Tower was not a building. It was built by the former emperor in the twenty-first year of the Yuan He regency from cutting down military expenses. It welcomed visitors from all over the world and was divided into two regions: North and South. The Northern Area had numerous platforms with high-ceiling domes, named 'Yunmeng Grand View'. The Southern Area had a tall tower, some people mockingly called it 'Zhai Xing* platform:, but of course, no one would dare use that name directly, and it was normally referred to as the 'Ting Yuan** Platform'.

*Zhai Xing(摘星) translates to 'star-plucking' or 'star-picking'. The tower was very high hence its name.

**again, the yuan here is the same as the yuan in Kite as mentioned above. Ting 停- meaning to stop, Ting Yuan platform means the place where the Kites can land.

The tower and the Imperial Palace facing each other from opposite directions, took the meaning of north and south, heaven and earth.