PQE Chapter 16

The shouting and violence gradually stopped. In this environment that was bad, the embrace of the two seemed to reveal a warm atmosphere.

When Fu Chen took the person out of the wood room, he said gently: “Turn around, don’t look.”

Shao Huachi tilted his head and pestered Fu Chen. Fu Chen repeated it with extra patience.

Making sure that Shao Huachi would not see this violent side, Fu Chen’s gentle expression was removed and he walked into the wood room.

The palace basically did not burn firewood because of fear of fire. Except for the dining room and some small kitchens in the main hall, there are hardly any chimneys. Therefore, Chonghua Palace, which has a small kitchen, was once prosperous. However, the small kitchen is now temporarily unused, and the firewood room is naturally abandoned. It has not been repaired for many years and has become dilapidated.

When Fu Chen came to the firewood room, his sharp eyes were like a cheetah, emitting a cold light in the dark night. 

He took a deep breath, raised one leg, and kicked the dilapidated wooden door fiercely.

Snap!

The wooden door made a mournful sound. Fu Chen kicked quickly and fiercely, and kicked it several times. The door fell down under the heavy load. It looked like Shao Huachi kicked it himself.

He couldn’t pretend that nothing happened like last time and stuffed Shao Huachi back into such a place for a day and a night.

The loud noise made Shao Huachi, who was originally dazed, squat down with his head in his hands. He was a little afraid of Fu Chen. Such a gentle person actually had such a fierce side.

Fu Chen ignored Shao Huachi’s fear and took him directly into the main hall. Shao Huachi was even more timid than last time. He sat there with his back hunched. He didn’t even dare to sit firmly on the chair. He only dared to touch his butt slightly, as if he could fall down at any time.

Fu Chen touched the messy top of his head, held him in his arms and combed his hair. Only then did Shao Huachi gradually get rid of the shadow of Fu Chen and became close to him again. Fu Chen filled a basin with clean water. Shao Huachi’s hair seemed to be all tangled after just one day of not seeing him. He dipped some water and used a handkerchief to clean the dust and debris on it. He lit another candle and observed his face carefully. Before Fu Chen could get close, Shao Huachi seemed to feel particularly embarrassed. He actually turned his head and pushed randomly, and kept leaning back to avoid Fu Chen’s sight. “Woo woo woo… Ao”

Fu Chen chuckled and looked at the half-ghost face. “Do you think you are a wolf? What are you ao-ing for?”

Shao Huachi was still hiding and didn’t dare to look at Fu Chen.

“It seems that he is not completely stupid yet. Don’t cover it. It’s not like I haven’t seen it before. What’s there to be embarrassed about?” Fu Chen forcibly pulled open Shao Huachi’s hand that was covering it and checked the wound.

When facing a fool, he felt that life in this palace was not so uncomfortable. At least he could be a normal person and could refer to himself as “I”.

Before coming here this time, he asked Wang Fugui to pick up some medicine for the wound and bring it with him wrapped in oil paper. Fortunately, it was useful. The tumor on Shao Huachi’s face broke, and the pus and blood inside had drained away. The wound was bumpy, some of which were scabby and some of which were more ulcerated.

“Does it hurt every night?” He asked softly while cleaning. Shao Huachi didn’t understand, but he was very quiet, probably because he remembered that this was the person who had helped him before.

Fu Chen sprinkled some medicine powder and applied ointment. He was very gentle throughout the process for fear of hurting Shao Huachi.

Before Fu Chen was ready to leave, he once again removed all traces of his presence and broke off some pastries to feed him. In early summer, many foods tend to go bad easily, so he specifically asked Lao Bahu for some that would not spoil easily.

Shao Huachi ate greedily, and it seemed that he was very hungry. The amount of pastries he brought this time was several times more than before. When Fu Chen came, his chest was bulging, but fortunately no one would notice how inappropriately a young eunuch was dressed.

He put the rest in an inconspicuous drawer and took Shao Huachi to identify the place several times.

“I can’t come here every day. If you meet them in the future, you can hide if you can. If you are hungry, eat the pastries I put here.” He made another eating gesture and saw Shao Huachi nod stupidly. Fu Chen couldn’t help but pinch the other half of the jade-like face. Even Fu Chen, who didn’t care about his appearance, thought it was very beautiful, and he inherited the beautiful face of Concubine Li. 

He doesn’t know if Shao Huachi listened to him. He took him to the bed, covered him with a thin quilt, and told him a bedtime story like he did to his son in his previous life. Fu Chen’s eyes stayed on Shao Huachi’s innocent face. He had also watched another person fall asleep like this at the bedside, his eyes became more and more distant, as if he was in another world…

He had been telling bedtime stories for six years. He had to go to bed early every day, and he could search for all kinds of fairy tales all over the world until midnight. He only knew Western cuisine, but he could come back from work and concentrate on studying Chinese meals. He was a model worker, and he could be late and leave early every day to pick up his son from school.

Fu Chen will always remember the feeling of the sky falling when he received the news that his son had a car accident. It was the second winter after his wife passed away. Snow piled up on the roadside. The days when the snow melted were particularly cold, and it was a damp cold that pierced into the bone marrow. The cold and pale light of the morgue shone on his son’s bloody body. He didn’t remember how he walked over and sewed the broken limbs together stitch by stitch, nor did he remember how to pack up his son’s belongings. His memory always stayed on the wooden box with his son’s ashes, the blue-gray sky, and the cold and hard tombstone.

When he was young, his relatives always said that he was doomed to be unlucky, and he had fought, refused to accept, and rebelled.

Until the last few years of his previous life, he always wondered why he was not the one to die.

“No… don’t cry.” The intermittent voice was like babbling, and the temperature that did not belong to him touched his face.

Fu Chen suddenly woke up, touched his face, and there was nothing. He looked at Shao Huachi who was speaking. This was probably the first time that the Seventh Prince spoke after he became stupid.

His heart was warm, and he smiled slightly, “I didn’t cry. Crying requires tears.”

Shao Huachi touched Fu Chen’s face randomly, and there was really no moisture at all. Looking at Fu Chen’s eyes again, there was no longer that mournful emotion, and he looked at Fu Chen strangely.

Fu Chen coaxed Shao Huachi like he was his son. In his eyes, this prince whose IQ had regressed to that of a toddler was no different from a child. He gently placed one hand on the other’s quilt and said, “Go to sleep. Do you still want to listen to the song we sang last time?”

It was completely dark outside. The warm yellow candlelight shone quietly on Fu Chen’s face. Fu Chen hummed a song. His speech was gentle and slow, and a warm atmosphere flowed in this empty palace.

When he left, he thought Shao Huachi had fallen asleep, but he suddenly woke up and grabbed the corner of Fu Chen’s clothes.

Fu Chen was stunned. Looking at Shao Huachi, who was not sleepy at all, he understood what he meant, “Don’t you want me to leave?”

Shao Huachi moved over, and the half of his face that was not disfigured rubbed against Fu Chen’s clothes. He was very reluctant, like a little puppy.

He seemed to remember what happened after Fu Chen left last time, and he didn’t dare to sleep today.

Perhaps sensing Shao Huachi’s mood, Fu Chen touched his hair, “Then I…”

Suddenly, there was a sound of unlocking outside the courtyard gate. Oh no!

Shao Huachi also heard it, and he shouted “Ah, ah, hide!”, as if telling Fu Chen to hide quickly.

Fu Chen quickly slipped under the bed, the only place in the room where people could hide, and watched two pairs of feet appear in front and behind in his sight.

Then there was the sound of Shao Huachi struggling, and the eunuchs’ curses. Fu Chen could tell from the sound that it was the horse-faced eunuch and the thin eunuch from before. They seemed to have stuffed something into Shao Huachi’s mouth, and Fu Chen could only hear a humming sound, and then he could only see them dragging people away.

From their few words, it can be analyzed that they seemed to be going to the queen’s Changning Palace.

It can be seen from the fact that the queen allocated Chonghua Palace to Shao Huachi that no matter how the queen tossed around in private, it was impossible for her to treat the seventh prince harshly in public.

Fu Chen looked at the empty palace and walked out slowly.

Maybe it’s just like what Shao Huachi once said by Ye Ting Lake, “I thought you would pretend you didn’t see it.”

Fu Chen looked at the palace gate and said to himself, “I can only pretend I didn’t see it.”

In the end, Fu Chen didn’t confirm the shoe he found by the lake to Shao Huachi, perhaps just because he hoped it was just a coincidence.

Fu Chen came to the corridor on the west side of Chuxiu Palace. It would be lively here in a few days when the contesting girls came, but now it was still empty. It was close to the Longyu West Twelve Houses where the palace maids lived. The West Twelve Houses was where the palace maids who were not assigned lived together, and Longyu was the name of this area when the capital was first built. The Jin Dynasty used the east and west to divide the boundaries. Taking the imperial palace as an example, the Yangxin Hall and Changning Palace were the central axis. The west was divided into twelve areas, including the six prisons of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Jingshifang, the aunt’s residence, the dining room, and the prison fence courtyard. The east was also divided into twelve areas, including the courtyards of the harem, the imperial garden, the prince’s residence, and the prince’s eastern palace.

When Fu Chen arrived, Aunt Mei was already waiting there. Mei Jue saw Fu Chen and approached with light steps. Among the palace maids, these aunts were the most standard in manners. They were light, soft, and clever. Their every move was extremely pleasing to the eye. They smiled without showing their teeth, and their voices were always soft and gentle.

Mei Jue looked around and said softly, “I thought you wouldn’t come. We’ve been a bit busy these days.”

“I’m sorry, aunt. I went to the dining room on the way and was delayed.” Fu Chen naturally knew that about the election that Aunt Mei was talking about, these palace maids would be assigned to the young masters of each palace, including their Jianlan Courtyard, which would also have to send some people to serve the new masters. Aunt Mei was stepping up the training of the young palace maids.

Mei Jue also knew that Lao Ba Hu in the dining room liked to chat with Fu Chen in private, so she was not surprised to hear that, “Glad that you are here. I heard that Master Li is getting more and more upset, and he even used his connections to leave his own yard and is looking for people to vent his anger on. You’d better be careful, he doesn’t like anyone now, like a mad dog. Do you still remember Ye Xin? You took his place to serve Murui Da, and Ye Xin was beaten with a sieve several times today. His face was so swollen that you can’t even recognize his shape. I was afraid that the night would be long and dreams would arise, so I asked someone to take some away overnight. Do you think it’s enough?”

Slapping is to hit the face with bare hands, while slapping with a sieve is to hit the face with a special glove. After the beating, it can’t be seen on the surface, but blood will come out from the inside. It is a more cruel way of punishing people.

Mei Jue opened a paper package, which contained a few freshly picked Aconitum that Fu Chen had asked her to do outside the prison yard. She only opened it for a moment, then closed it immediately and stuffed it into Fu Chen’s hand.

Fu Chen nodded. The two of them had agreed to meet privately, so they shouldn’t stay too long.

Fu Chen stuffed the paper bag into his chest and was about to leave when he was stopped by Aunt Mei. It turned out that after the Longyu West Twelve Houses finished their work today, everyone helped Xiao Yang make candy. Although being a vegetable householder was just a title, there were too few things for servants to celebrate. It was rare for something to happen, so the young palace maids went to the dining room early in the morning to ask for some leftovers, maltose, and sesame seeds, and made candy for their acquaintances so that everyone could celebrate.

When Fu Chen entered the Longyu West Twelve Houses, a young palace maid walked by and talked and laughed. When she saw Fu Chen, she greeted him. Everyone had seen him before and knew his face. Aunt Mei walked in, and soon there was a burst of laughter. Xiao Yang blushed as she took out a dozen bags of sesame candies wrapped in paper and handed them to Fu Chen. “Fu Chen, please share them with everyone in the prison. Thank you… Thank you for taking care of Fugui on weekdays.”

The little girl blushed as she handed Fu Chen an embroidered purse with elegant orchids embroidered on it. The needlework was very exquisite and took a lot of thought. “This is for you. Thank you for always helping Fugui.”

In fact, in ancient times, women gave purses to the opposite sex not only to express their love. The first type was used to hold things, such as mirrors, tobacco leaves, etc. The second type was given as gifts to relatives, friends and children on festivals, also known as sachets. The third type was used to seal a relationship and was a token of love.

Xiao Yang gave it to him, of course, just to express gratitude. Wang Fugui’s job was to supervise the castration of new eunuchs. He was born a businessman and was an old man in the palace, so he could change his job, but he never changed it. He had no choice but to enter the palace. In his words, he wanted to give some comfort to those new eunuchs after the castration, at least to make them feel comfortable in their hearts, take more care of them on weekdays, and sometimes when there were too many jobs and he couldn’t supervise them, he would let Fu Chen take over.

When Fu Chen came to the prison yard with a bunch of candies, it was particularly lively. People were wiping windows, cleaning and organizing things everywhere. The palace also had a general cleaning once every quarter, at a fixed time and place, usually half an hour after the job was over. It took about several days of cleaning and waited until the eunuch in charge had finished the inspection before it was considered finished. Generally, during large-scale celebrations, each palace and hall needed extra cleaning, and the general election was also a festive occasion.

Fu Chenlai put the candy on the mat and joined in the cleaning. After finishing today’s cleaning quota, everyone was exhausted. They lay down and ate the candy in their mouths, kept making jokes about Wang Fugui, and talked and laughed. This was also the happiest time of their day.

At this time, Ye Xin, with half of his face swollen, grinned and poked his head inside. The atmosphere in the room suddenly froze.

“Oh, you eat very happily.” Ye Xin smiled.

“Ye Xin, it’s none of your business. You should serve your Master Li more when you have time.” Only Yang Sanma, a eunuch who was about to be promoted to the fourth rank, could confront Ye Xin. He grabbed Fu Chen’s hand and openly broke up with Ye Xin.

After hearing what Yang Sanma said, Ye Xin’s face was distorted. After a while, he smiled. He ignored Yang Sanma and pointed to Wang Fugui, “You can only eat now, enjoy it more.”

“What do you mean!” Wang Fugui jumped up and glared at him.

Ye Xin smiled mysteriously, but his swollen face looked a bit hateful. “Fu Chen, come out for a moment.”

Wang Fugui and others tried to stop him, but Ye Xin laughed, “It was Master Li’s order. It’s useless for you to tell me. Fu Chen, do you want me to call you a second time?”

Fu Chen appeased the other indignant eunuchs and said with a smile, “You can eat the candy first. Don’t eat it all when I come back. I haven’t tasted much of Fugui’s happiness yet!”

The two came out. Fu Chen looked at Ye Xin, and the other party also looked at him. After a while, he laughed, “I don’t know whether you are lucky or unlucky. How did you offend Master Li?”

Master Li was naturally referring to Li Xiangying.

“Just be frank, Ye Xin, there’s no need to beat around the bush.”

​​Ye Xin sighed, “Do you really think I want to hurt you? I see that you’re having troubles everywhere, but I don’t really want you to die.”

Fu Chen looked at him and didn’t say anything. This cautious and untrusting attitude was exactly what Ye Xin feared the most.

He also suppressed the regret on his face and said in a cold voice: “Master Li recommended you to Master Liu to serve the emperor.”

In the Jin Dynasty, there was a high-paying, high-reward, and high-risk eunuch position called the eunuch serving the emperor. Most of these eunuchs had no rank, and the eunuchs serving the emperor were assigned by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Li Xiangying was originally on duty in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. His immediate superior was Liu Zong, the chief eunuch who checked Fu Chen. After a group of eunuchs including Chen Zuoren had an attack a few days ago, the prison yard was short of staff, and it was not so fast to fill the vacancy. The eunuch serving the emperor was vacant today after taking turns.

Naturally, someone had to be found to replace the vacant position. Under normal circumstances, the eunuchs who served the emperor were those who had offended certain people, and it was a position that could not be argued. It was common for young eunuchs to take on several errands, and there would always be times when there was no staff to be assigned.

Li Xiangying, who had just been released from his own courtyard today, heard about this and recommended Fu Chen to Liu Zong. Liu Zong had no impression of a little eunuch, so he nodded and agreed. That’s how Ye Xin came to invite someone.

To serve food, to put it simply, is to test the food for poison before the emperor eats it.