Great Shun's Wude Palace had originally been a military camp. Like the Academy of Sciences, it lay outside the western gate of the city. The Academy of Sciences was close to the city walls, while Wude Palace was a little farther away.
Within the walls of Great Shun's Capital City, the layout inherited from when Zhu Di built the Forbidden City had not been greatly altered. Coupled with the taboos surrounding the imperial city, most buildings were classical in style.
Beyond the city walls, however, there were far fewer such restrictions. New architectural techniques were widely employed, and many brand-new buildings had sprung up.
For example, in Chen Wu's eyes, the Academy of Sciences' main building was a somewhat haphazard blend of Chinese and Western styles, with decorations that carried a distinct air of the New Lisboa in Macau.
The buildings around the Academy of Sciences came in all shapes and forms, but all were built from cement and brick, generally rising four or five stories high.
The house Duke Chen had provided stood amid this cluster of buildings. It resembled the place where Wang Zhenyi lived—a five-story structure. Its design was simple, with no ornamentation apart from the eaves and the parapet walls at the top.
This entire street-facing building had some twenty rooms across its floors, along with shops on the ground level facing the street. All of it was property of Duke Chen's Residence, rented out to bring in a bit of income.
Though the house was said to be closer to Wude Palace, it was actually even closer to the Academy of Sciences. Since the Academy stood right beside the city walls and the area was more prosperous, this property brought in higher rental income.
Chen Wu's room was on the top floor of the building,