Chapter 75: The Fourth Visit to the Imperial Palace (Please Read)

Zhao Duan was stunned for a moment, then passed the oil-paper-wrapped beef to his left hand. He bent down to pick up the document booklet, dusted it off, and put it back on the table, saying with a smile:

"My Lord, are you in a bad mood today?"

The old eunuch with gray hair and sunken eye sockets was furious. He sat behind the desk in the main hall and looked down at him:

"I remember telling you not to come again."

Zhao Duan said shamelessly:

"Last time I told you not to visit late at night, and the sun has just set."

Sun Lianying sneered:

"What's so good about my place? Isn't it more fun to hang out with those playboys?"

You are so petty, it’s just skipping work a few times... Zhao Duan laughed dryly and did not make any excuses.

He placed the wine and meat on the stone table in the back courtyard and said:

"The food at the government office is terrible. Your Excellency hasn't had dinner yet, right? I brought your favorite osmanthus wine, Fengji beef, Dongshifang tofu, and some pickled vegetables from Hanji..."

It’s not rich, but it tastes good.

Sun Lianying was in a daze.

A long time ago, there was a period of time when Zhao Duan often came to see him with food and drinks.

But after he started out as a young imperial guard, he never made any progress again.

"Oh, you still remember our preferences," Sun Lianying was silent for a moment, and said disdainfully:

"Your wine is not good, there is better one in the back room."

Zhao Duan's eyes lit up, and he hurried over to get two jars of the old eunuch's private collection of aged wine.

When he came out, the old eunuch was already sitting at the stone table. He opened the oil paper package and put a piece of meat in his mouth. Zhao Duan hurriedly brought him a bowl of wine.

After he drank it, he let out a long, comfortable breath, and the afterglow in the sky also dimmed.

Lanterns were lit in the back court.

On the first night of summer, mosquitoes were flying around the quaint bamboo lanterns, and the sky was covered with a veil.

An old man and a young man sat opposite each other, eating and drinking, and occasionally chatting with each other. The topic always revolved around the turmoil in the court in the past two days.

Zhao Duan was curious and learned many details with great interest.

It is said that the most effective way to please a man is to ask him about his areas of expertise.

Next, just listen, the other person will talk endlessly, and you will have a comfortable and cool experience.

"You came here today just to find out these things?"

When the wine was half drunk, Sun Lianying was a little tipsy and asked.

"Is there nothing I can do to visit you?" Zhao Duan picked up the wine jar and refilled his glass:

"Your Excellency has shown me much kindness in the past, and I will always keep it in mind."

After a pause, he said jokingly:

"If I hadn't confirmed that there was no elder with the surname Sun in the family, I would have almost mistakenly believed that you and I were related."

He came tonight for three reasons: one, to repair the relationship; two, to understand the situation in the court; and three, to find out why the old eunuch was so nice to the original owner.

He can't be a eunuch's illegitimate child...that would be too ridiculous.

Sun Lianying leaned back in the rattan chair and sneered:

"We don't have any young people as unruly as you in our family. As for our origins, we do have some."

Zhao Duan's eyes lit up: "I am all ears."

The drunken old eunuch seemed to be reminded of the past and was silent for a long time before he said:

"My family entered the palace in the second year after the late emperor ascended the throne.

That year, there was a cold disaster in Dayu, and people were freezing to death around the capital. My family was already poor, and we suffered from the disaster again. We couldn't survive. My parents had no choice but to send me to the palace to find a job and at least keep my family alive.

But entering the palace is not easy. You can't just cut off the roots with a knife and enter.

You have to find someone, use connections to get close to the eunuchs there, and only if they are willing to guarantee you will you get a castration master to do it for you. You also have to stay at the master's house for a few days to recuperate, and he has to provide you with food and clothing...

It doesn’t matter if you don’t have money, you can’t even sell yourself into slavery.

What to do? He had to look for connections that were not even remotely related to him, and finally he found a military officer in the imperial guards, and that’s when he finally got the job done.

Not only that, the military officer also paid for it out of his own pocket and helped to arrange it, so that she could enter the palace.

But after entering the palace, he found that the eunuchs and palace maids at the lower level had a hard life. It was not easy to catch the eye of a noble lady or avoid being bullied by other eunuchs, let alone being humiliated by other eunuchs.

The little money I earned every month had to be sent out of the palace to support my family. Those days were really hard to endure. It was only thanks to that military officer’s help that I was able to get through it.”

Zhao Duan asked curiously:

"Didn't they say that after entering the palace, there is a chance to be selected as a 'consecrator'? Have you not tried it?"

Sun Lianying sighed:

"Why didn't you try? At that time, everyone who entered the palace was eager to become a tribute. There was even a rumor that if you became a tribute and cultivated to a high level, you could complete your flawed body...

Oh, I later learned that even at the Celestial Realm, one can only regenerate broken limbs within a short period of time after the body is destroyed..."

He suddenly laughed and said:

"At that time, there was another eunuch younger than me who was also staring at this. You know him, it's Ma Yan."

"Ma Dugong?" Zhao Duan said, "I heard that he is the prince's man."

"Yes," Sun Lianying nodded.

"Ma Yan's background was even more miserable. Both his parents died, and he was nearly beaten to death by beggars on the street. Fortunately, the prince was on patrol that day and rescued him. By then, his lower body had been smashed by the beggars, so he entered the palace.

His talent is the best among our group, and he is the only one chosen by the Sea Worshiper.

After the Xuanmen coup, Ma Yan was stabbed thirty-one times to save the prince, as a way of repaying his kindness. After Your Majesty avenged the prince, Ma Yan pledged his loyalty to Your Majesty.

Is Ma Yan also worshipped in the imperial city?

Zhao Duan was surprised, this was an inside story he had never known.

He blinked and asked, "Do you know anything about the sea offering?"

Sun Lianying glanced at him and said:

"Stop talking insinuations here. Who is Hai Gongfeng? Just remember that he is only loyal to the emperor."

Loyal to the "Emperor".

So, after the old emperor passed away, the prince had not yet succeeded to the throne, and the new emperor had not yet appeared, so the royal family did not participate in the coup?

Not helping either side?

Or did he make a move, but was stopped by some force?

In the original owner's memory, he did not see Eunuch Hai on the day of the coup.

Zhao Duan took a deep breath, and instead of digging deeper into the topic, he said:

“But you still got the momentum.”

Sun Lianying said "yes" and smiled:

"That's the second 'noble person' our family has met. During the time of the previous emperor, there was a famous person in the palace who was only eighteen years old and ascended to the position of 'Seal Eunuch'. This is rare in history books.

I met him when I was young, and after he gained power, he promoted me and sent me to work for the Third Princess, our Majesty. This was the first step to advancement in my career."

"An eighteen-year-old eunuch in charge of the imperial seal?" Zhao Duan was surprised.

"I seem to have heard my father mention it, but I don't have a deep impression."

Logically speaking, such a powerful eunuch should have a great reputation, unless he died young.

Sun Lianying sighed:

"At the time, he was in high spirits, held in awe by all the civil and military officials in the court. However, due to his youthful arrogance, he offended many and even interfered in government affairs...On one occasion, while leaving the palace and traveling south, he died unexpectedly."

If this isn't murder, my name would be written backwards... Zhao Duan thought to himself.

This would explain why he didn't know much.

The person died too early and no one mentioned him.

Sun Lianying said:

"His death taught me the most important lesson. From then on, I kept in mind that when doing things in the palace, I must be cautious and careful, and never be frivolous. I can make money, but I must only be greedy for money, not for power.

After that, the palace was quiet for a while. As I grew older, I was appreciated by the Third Princess for my excellent hairdressing skills. She allowed me to audit the classes at the palace school. You will know the rest of the story."

Once the Third Princess ascends the throne, everyone in the family will rise to prominence… Zhao Duan automatically completed the rest of the story. He was silent for a moment and said:

"So, the Imperial Guard who helped you..."

Sun Lianying nodded: "It's your grandfather."

“…” Zhao Duan was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

The reason that had troubled him for so long turned out to be just this.

Sun Lianying received timely help from the Zhao family in his early years. After the empress ascended the throne, he returned the favor by recommending and promoting Zhao Duan, bringing him into Xu Zhenguan's sight.

He sighed:

"So, you repeatedly warned me to be cautious and not to be arrogant, and that's because..."

Sun Lianying sighed: "Remember the past and it will serve as a guide for the future."

The case is solved!

It was precisely because of the living example of the "eighteen-year-old eunuch in charge of the seal" who had once helped him that the old eunuch reprimanded Zhao Duan.

I was afraid that he would repeat the same mistake and end up dying accidentally.

Sun Lianying was very drunk. She stared at him and urged him earnestly:

“I know you don’t want to listen. When you are young, you always dislike and resist the advice of the elderly.

When people teach others, a hundred words are useless; when things teach people, they are taught once and for all.

I originally thought that you had come to your senses after the Zhuang Xiaocheng case, but I didn't expect you to be hanging out with a playboy like Qin Qu again..."

The old eunuch's voice became lower and lower, and he was drunk and fell into a deep sleep.

The night was quiet, and Zhao Duan looked up at the sky.

The dense clouds that had been hanging over the capital for days dispersed, and a full moon hung high in the sky.

He stood up, took the old eunuch into the house, covered him with a blanket, packed up the leftovers, and turned to leave.

He gained a lot of information from the conversation tonight.

…

The next day, at dawn.

Zhao Du'an got up, put on his official robes in front of the bronze mirror, took out a porcelain bottle, and carefully hid it in his inner pocket.

This is the "Rose Dew" he made in his spare time these days.

That is: a rough version of perfume obtained by mixing rose flowers with water and distilling them.

"The craftsmanship is a bit crude, but it's still a novelty in Dayu."

Zhao Duan muttered, "I wonder if Zhenguan likes it."

He tried it and found it quite good, with a light and fragrant scent, much better than the sachets used in the Dayu Dynasty today, which were mainly used to repel insects.

The morning court session is held very early and often ends at dawn.

He estimated that the dust should have settled.

While he was thinking, Eugene's voice came from outside: "Dalang, someone is looking for you outside."

Zhao Duan rushed to the door.

In the dim morning light, the attendant beside Yuan Li leaned against the carriage and said with a smile:

"Lord Yuan ordered me to invite you into the palace to receive your reward."

Pei Kaizhi fell? !

Zhao Duan was encouraged. The war was over and it was time to reward the meritorious officials.

…

Palace gate.

When Zhao Duan arrived, he unexpectedly saw a familiar figure. He was startled and greeted with a smile:

“Senior Brother!”

He was tall and thin, cold and beardless, with two slightly gray eyebrows growing diagonally on his protruding brow bones. The governor of the imperial yamen, who was feared by all the officials, had just arrived and was startled when he heard the call.

Ma Yan frowned: "Zhao Shijun, what did you call me?"

Then he noticed that Zhao Duan actually walked out of Yuan Li's carriage, and his pupils suddenly narrowed.

(End of this chapter)