Chapter 50 Suspicion
Empress Zhang lived in the main hall of Kunning Palace, while Zhu Yuhuan lived in the back hall. Zhu Yuhuan took the newly assigned personnel back and assigned tasks to them, and then left the young eunuch behind.
Zhu Yuhuan looked at him seriously for a long time before he asked, "What's your name?"
The young eunuch knelt respectfully and said, "Princess, please give me a name."
Zhu Yuhuan was slightly stunned. She looked at the young eunuch in front of her for a long time and said, "Stand up first. Kneeling is not a common practice. I feel uncomfortable seeing you kneeling in front of me all the time. If others see us, they might even complain to the emperor." She met his bewildered gaze and said, "Besides, I can't see your face clearly when you're kneeling. In this case, I can only kneel opposite you."
The young eunuch was slightly stunned, obviously not realizing this, and then hurriedly stood up and said, "This servant understands."
Zhu Yuhuan watched him stumble as he stood up, and saw that his green robe was empty. She must have thought that these past few months of isolation had not been easy. She held her chin with one hand, thought for a long time, and said, "Is your previous name... no longer usable?"
After all, it would be a disaster if this matter were to be exposed. Naturally, he could not be allowed to "continue to live". His original name could be directly removed. Apart from Empress Zhang, Hu Shanwei and Zhu Yuhuan, who else would remember such a eunuch in the flower room?
The young eunuch didn't expect Zhu Yuhuan to ask this, or rather, he didn't expect her to realize it so quickly. He was stunned for a moment before he said, "The Queen has already ordered that it was the Princess who saved my life. From now on, I will do whatever the Princess asks me to do."
Hearing him say this, Zhu Yuhuan couldn't help but raise his hand and rub his forehead.
To be honest, she really didn't do anything. It was Empress Zhang who had the final say on life and death. Now that she saw how grateful he was to her, Zhu Yuhuan felt a little guilty.
After a long while, Zhu Yuhuan finally said, "Then...what do you want to be called?"
The two looked at each other for a long time. To avoid embarrassment, Zhu Yuhuan continued, "This name is originally given to express the wishes of the elders. I am not your elder, and it is not polite to name you. Why don't you choose a name with better meaning and work hard towards your goals from now on. How about it?"
The other party thought for a long time, kowtowed again and said: "This servant is willing to change his name to Huai En. From now on, I will remember the princess's life-saving grace in my heart and follow the princess by her side."
Zhu Yuhuan had received so many gifts from him today, so seeing him like this, he stood up and offered him a hand to help him up, saying, "Alright, get up. From now on, just greet him normally like everyone else. Don't let anyone see any clues. Do you understand?"
Empress Zhang handed the person over to Zhu Yuhuan. In addition to sending a signal to Liu Yongcheng, she also wanted to appease Zhu Yuhuan. After all, she was still a child. Seeing her elders do this, she must have been extremely envious and obeyed Empress Zhang's words.
"I understand."
Zhu Yuhuan looked at him for a long time before asking, "Huai'en, why did you help Master Liu deliver the message?"
Mentioning Liu Yongcheng, Huai En's eyes reddened slightly, and he said, "I was originally forced into the palace as a slave because of my family's troubles. As an eunuch like me, I have no one to protect me and always do the hardest and most tiring work in the palace. Once, I and several other eunuchs did not do our job well and were almost punished. It happened that the eunuch saw it and spoke for me, so I was able to survive. Besides..."
Although his words were vague, Zhu Yuhuan understood them clearly and felt a little pity for him.
He had been forced into the palace as a slave because of hardship. Not only did he live in fear every day, but when he made mistakes, others would blame him. After all, with his status, it was difficult to get protection in a place like the palace where connections were everywhere, making him the perfect scapegoat. If he hadn't met a kind man like Liu Yongcheng, whose words carried weight, Huai En would probably have died long ago.
Zhu Yuhuan touched his chin and asked curiously, "What's more?"
"Besides, General Liu ordered me to go back to the princess early to tell the Crown Prince and Crown Princess for the sake of the country. Only in this way can the Ming Dynasty be forever stable and the world peaceful." Huai En said respectfully: "Although I am of low status and my words do not carry much weight, I also know which is more important, the interests of the country and my own life. I should serve you at your service."
Zhu Yuhuan raised his eyebrows slightly, becoming interested, and asked, "You sound so logical... Have you ever been educated?"
Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty, ordered that eunuchs were not allowed to read and write. Although the atmosphere changed slightly after Zhu Di ascended the throne, and there were eunuchs who were both literary and martial, such as Zheng He and Liu Yongcheng, most of the eunuchs were illiterate and were mostly responsible for rough work in the palace. Only a small number of eunuchs with higher status and trusted by the emperor could read and write.
In comparison, the female officials were more talented and knowledgeable, but because Zhu Di trusted the eunuchs, the power in their hands gradually shrank and was transferred to the eunuchs. After Hu Shanwei left the palace, it seemed that no female official could be as "outstanding" as Hu Shanwei.
"I was educated at home before. Although I am not as learned as the princess, I can still recognize a few words and know some of the words of sages." Huai En said calmly, "Although I stopped studying after entering the palace, I met a kind female official who taught Huai En for a period of time."
Zhu Yuhuan blinked and asked, "I remember... you are from Tang Huafang?"
When talking about the greenhouse, another person immediately appeared in Zhu Yuhuan's mind.
Huai En didn't know what Zhu Yuhuan was thinking, so he answered truthfully, "Yes, there was a kind-hearted female official named Wu by Hu Shanggong's side in the past. She once cultivated Ou Bi peonies to present to the crown prince. It was at that time that I followed female official Wu to learn."
"Wu Miaosu?"
Huai'en didn't expect Zhu Yuhuan to know her, and hurriedly said, "It's Wu Miaosu, the female official. At that time, the female official Wu had never raised flowers and plants, and didn't know how to cultivate the Oubi peony. I also taught her some key points. The female official Wu once said that we were good teachers to each other."
Zhu Yuhuan couldn't help but sigh inwardly that the world was truly small, but suddenly something felt wrong. She asked, "Did Lady Wu ask you how to cultivate peonies?"
She remembered that Hu Shanwei had told her before that Wu Miaosu was good at tending to flowers and plants, but this characteristic did not seem to match the Wu Miaosu described by Huai En.
Huai En didn't understand why, but he still said, "Yes, Lady Wu said she wasn't good at flowers and plants and wanted to learn more..."
Zhu Yuhuan originally gave the method of digging an underground fire tunnel to Hu Shanwei, asking her to pass it on to Zhu Zhanji in a tactful way in exchange for his trust. However, the specific implementation was decided by Hu Shanwei. However, Hu Shanwei has now left the palace, and Zhu Yuhuan did not know whether this method was proposed by Wu Miaosu and adopted by Hu Shanwei, or proposed by Hu Shanwei and Wu Miaosu applied for the job.
The former might be easy to deal with, but if it was the latter, Zhu Yuhuan would have to be more cautious.
Zhu Yuhuan came back to his senses and noticed Huai En's doubts, then he said: "Miss Wu often walks by grandma's side now, and she is also very much loved by grandma."
Aside from the time she inexplicably became Sun Mengqiu's punching bag, Wu Miaosu had been living a relatively good life among the palace maids. Zhu Yuhuan could understand if she was trying to make her life better. However, after interacting with Wu Miaosu, she felt that she didn't seem to be the type of person with a particularly strong sense of ambition, at least compared to Hu Shanwei.
After all, if she was ambitious, she could have taken part in the local female official examination and entered the palace like Hu Shanwei, instead of entering the palace as a palace maid first and then taking the female official examination. This way of entering the palace seemed more like she was in a hurry to enter the palace and then make plans.
Huai'en didn't know what Zhu Yuhuan was thinking. He just showed a look of joy after hearing the news about Wu Miaosu, but he quickly suppressed his anger and replied, "I will avoid suspicion in the future and not cause trouble for the princess."
Zhu Yuhuan nodded slightly, then said: "Huai En, I have one last thing to ask you."
Huai En was a little bewildered, but still said respectfully: "Princess, please ask, I will answer truthfully."
Zhu Yuhuan then asked, "How did you and General Liu pass the message between the towering walls of the Forbidden City?"
Huai En froze and stammered, "This..."
Seeing that he was hesitant to speak, Zhu Yuhuan couldn't help but curl his lips and tempted him, "Since you can use this method, I think others may also use the same method. If there are people who endanger the country among them, the consequences will be unimaginable..."
Huai En was slightly stunned, and then he read a sense of crisis in Zhu Yuhuan's tone. He hesitated for a moment, and then said, "The palace gate is not allowed to be entered and exited at will, but there are special government offices that can enter and exit the palace, such as the Wine, Vinegar and Noodle Bureau, the Siyuan Bureau, etc. They often go out to buy things. The six female officials and the palace people have dealings with these government offices, and they can ask people to buy some things that are not available in the palace from outside the palace, such as rouge, powder and other items. However, these government offices rely on their access to the palace gates and charge very high fees. Not everyone can afford such connections. You have to pay a lot of money to get in."
When Zhu Yuhuan first learned about such a thing, he always felt it was a little unbelievable. But then he thought about it, during the reign of Emperor Jianwen, many eunuchs secretly defected to Zhu Di and leaked the affairs of Emperor Jianwen Zhu Yunwen. This was enough to show that the palace of the Forbidden City was not airtight, at least not as leak-proof as it appeared on the surface.
She thought for a moment and said, "If there's a chance later, I'd like to borrow a set of the inner court official's clothes. You can take me to see them."
Not to mention the palace maids, she also wanted to use this method to buy some things back. Of course, it would be best if she, Zhu Yuhuan, could also go out and have a look.
If you only look at the palace, how can you truly see the Ming Dynasty? Only by looking at all living beings can you see the Ming Dynasty.
Huai En was a little hesitant, but still said: "This... is, I understand..."
Zhu Yuhuan then picked up the tuning fork and several other parts that Huai En had placed on the tray, and said excitedly: "I'll finish this first, and we'll talk about the rest later! Huai En, come and give me a hand!"
Huai En had never seen such an object before, but he still stepped forward and helped Zhu Yuhuan finish her music box.
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