It’s been said that the Emperor hasn’t laughed like this in a long time. The servants in the Yangxin Hall live in constant fear, afraid of displeasing the Emperor.
At this moment, Fu Chen breathed a sigh of relief. His life was spared, and the Emperor didn’t mention punishing them anymore.
To deal with such a tyrant, one must be even more shameless and brazen.
Fu Chen, who had narrowly escaped death, glanced back at Shao Huachi, who had lost his mother’s protection, as he left with the others. He wanted to help Concubine Li up, but was stopped by a guard who wasn’t particularly polite to the prince. It was clear that they understood that it would be difficult for Concubine Li and her son to turn their fortunes around.
The Emperor never changed his mind about Concubine Li’s punishment.
In fact, after such an incident, the truth may no longer be important.
Perhaps sensing the gaze, suddenly, Shao Huachi’s ghost-like face turned towards Fu Chen, and then he mouthed something.
Calling Shao Huachi a ghost is not without reason. His deformed half-face combined with the wrinkled rotten skin caused by wearing a mask for a long time, calling him a ghost is an understatement.
But Fu Chen, who had seen worse in his previous life, remained calm. What really surprised him was that Shao Huachi vomited blood while mouthing something to him.
Upon closer inspection, it was: “Tonight at Hour of Hai, outside Qingfeng Palace.”
Hour of Hai is around nine o’clock in the evening, and Qingfeng Palace is next to the cold palace, an abandoned palace.
Fu Chen’s eyes darkened, and he obediently lowered his gaze. He understood what Shao Huachi meant.
But, he didn’t plan to pay attention.
People whose lives are not guaranteed cannot tie themselves to a rotten piece of wood.
When he left the palace gate, he saw Li Xiangying. Li, the eunuch, is a sinister master. Eunuchs are like teapots without mouths. Rootless people are mostly not magnanimous.
Seeing Fu Chen and the others come out alive, he couldn’t hide the surprise on his face. He obviously didn’t expect them to have such luck at this point.
But he quickly concealed his expression. Fu Chen noticed that Li Xiangying no longer had that pungent smell on him, which must have been washed away in preparation for the Emperor’s arrival.
Li Xiangying playfully stared at the crotch area of Chen Zuoren and the others. The mocking meaning was self-evident, but no one dared to talk back. The eunuch in charge is like a god to the little eunuchs below, and it’s just a matter of a word to punish them.
Fu Chen quickly pulled Chen Zuoren, who was about to rush forward. Despite being short and thin, Chen Zuoren had a lot of energy. Fu Chen almost didn’t pull him back.
“Today is another good day. You guys, follow me to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.” Li Xiangying looked at the rising sun in the palace.
Before he walked far, he turned around and looked at Chen Zuoren, who looked like a puppy, and laughed, “It seems that Mu Rida didn’t teach you well, so I have to do it.”
Mu Rida is the eunuch in charge of Fu Chen and the others, and also their “master”. If he is favored, he can even be called “godfather”. He is usually quite kind to them.
After being frightened by the Emperor and Li Xiangying’s words, the group was very quiet.
Because of the smell on their bodies, they didn’t want to stay outside and hurried back.
The place where they slept had already been changed to a mat, indicating that summer was coming. There are two sets of replacement clothes for each season for washing. Today’s set can’t be used. Those that can be changed are changed, and those that can’t be changed can only be scrubbed with a little water and put on wet.
Fu Chen carried a basin of water to help them tidy up. Everyone was efficient, as they saw each other often.
After everyone had changed, the tension of surviving the disaster finally eased. It seemed that everyone only came out of that trance at this moment, realizing that they still had their lives.
Suddenly, a tall eunuch came to Fu Chen.
With a thud, he knelt down.
“What is this!” Fu Chen was about to go out with the basin of clean water, and almost spilled the dirty water.
“Chen Zi, I, Wang Fugui, have read books after all. I know the principles of righteousness, shame, and gratitude. Today, you saved my life. Let me pay you a tribute!” Wang Fugui is the oldest here, twenty-three years old, and has been a eunuch for five years. He used to be a merchant, read books in his early years, passed three exams, but unfortunately spent a lot of money and didn’t become a scholar. He was not born to study. In his own words, he is a warrior. Later, he committed a crime, and in order to avoid heavy responsibility, he cleansed himself and came in. Among this group of little eunuchs, he always considered himself the boss.
And following Wang Fugui were the group of little eunuchs who followed him as the leader, “Get up! I did it for myself, what does it have to do with you!”
Looking at the sincere gratitude in their eyes, without any pretense, this is a rare light and hope in the palace, giving his icy heart a bit of warmth.
Fu Chen’s nose was a bit sour, he covered his face, and hid those fragile emotions, and said sternly, “All of you, get up, it’s smelly!”
Everyone laughed and got up, and for a moment, the atmosphere in the room was even brighter than the outside sun.
“Hahaha, this is the first time I’ve heard Chenzi swear!” Wang Fugui laughed and punched Fu Chen.
Fu Chen also laughed and cried, and punched back to show his friendship.
“The words that came out were quite nice. If not for ‘Master’, Chenzi looks like a scholar.”
“That’s right, Chenzi, how do you know so much?” A little eunuch asked Fu Chen, who was surprised that he suddenly reported so many medicinal materials that many of them had never heard of.
“Bluff.” Isn’t it bullshit? Throughout the ages, which emperor’s people didn’t bluff a few times.
“Bluff, what does this mean?”
Fu Chen was stunned, right, there was no internet slang in this era.
“Chen Zi, do you know what I like most about you?” Wang Fugui suddenly looked at Fu Chen seriously.
“What?” Fu Chen also replied in his dialect.
“You are a good person, honest, and not pretentious.”
This is the first time someone has praised him with this word. The most common comments he has heard in the past were “plague god”, “a genius”, and “wife and child murderer”.
At least, he never thought he was a good person.
After they had packed up their things, they walked out chatting and laughing, and they ran into the eunuch in charge, Mu Rida, who was standing at the threshold.
Mu Rida was about thirty years old, with an ordinary appearance, yellowish skin, and a stern face all day long. As Chen Zuoren once said, he looked like everyone owed him a hundred or eighty taels of silver.
Instantly the team stopped laughing and said respectfully, “Master.”
They were waiting for instructions and stood there obediently.
“Fu Chen, come and serve after finishing your tasks.”
The service here means exactly what the name implies, including serving tea and water, helping with bathing, tying hair and cutting nails, etc. The job is not considered finished until Master Mu is sent to bed.
Basically every eunuch in charge needs such a special servant. Usually, only the young eunuch who is recognized as the “son” has this right. Even if Fu Chen and others want to do this kind of work, they can’t do it. This is a blatant act of stealing people’s jobs, and they will be tripped up by the young eunuch who is recognized as the “son”.
Mu Rida’s godson is called Ye Xin, who is a hot-tempered and sweet-mouthed man.
Fu Chen couldn’t understand why he was suddenly called out, but he didn’t dare to ask because Murida was never easy to talk to.
“Yes, Master.”
Then Mu Rida left.
There was no mention of what happened to them in Weiyang Palace at night. It was unclear whether there was no news or there was no need to punish them. Fu Chen thought of Li Xiangying’s last words and always felt that this matter would not be easily revealed.
Several people came to the tea house beside the corridor outside the prison courtyard. This was where they had their morning meals. There was already a large pot of porridge and side dishes on an eight-immortal table, as well as some buns and snacks. The food in the palace was not bad. They ate from a big pot, and it would be even better if there were eunuchs and palace maids of higher rank.
“That old bastard, who does he think he is? He has been climbing for decades and is still just a master. When I gain power in the future, I will definitely kill him…” Chen Zuoren took a big bite of the bun, as if he was biting Li Xiangying. His mouth was stuffed full and he looked mischievous.
“Renzi, be careful with your words.” Fu Chen spoke and looked outside again.
The meaning is self-evident. If too many people talk too much and someone overhears you, you will be punished. If the punishment is serious, you may lose your life.
There is a popular saying in this dynasty, “Is two thousand and eight enough? ” It does not refer to the number of palace maids as everyone thinks, but the total number of eunuchs is around this number. It is said that there were more than nine thousand in the previous dynasty, and Emperor Jin Taizong of this dynasty released most of them.
With so many eunuchs, the absence of one or two, or even dozens, would not cause the slightest ripple.
Chen Zuoren opened his eyes wide, still a little unconvinced, but he didn’t say anything.
“Chenzi, you better serve carefully tonight.” Wang Fugui reminded after everyone finished eating.
“Okay, I’ll pay attention.” He understood what Wang Fugui meant and was wary of Ye Xin trying to trip him up.
He just has no intention of vying for favor, but people don’t think so.
Fu Chen only ate until he was 60% full. It was not because he did not want to eat enough, but it was an unwritten rule that one had to go to the toilet after eating too much. If something happened to happen, it would be a problem.
And the most undesirable thing in the palace is trouble.
When he went out, he met Aunt Mei, Mei Jue, and her maid Xiao Yang, who were waiting outside the prison gate. Fu Chen still remembered that when he first met Aunt Mei, he was amazed by her appearance. Her temperament was gentle but strong, and she was not inferior to Concubine Li. What was even more rare was that she was a rare aunt who was not strict and did not scold or punish her. She treated her maids with great care.
Over the years, he has also seen that this Mei Jue is hoping to leave the palace to find relatives, deliberately making herself ordinary on weekdays, otherwise with her appearance, she might have been taken away by the lustful emperor long ago, where she would still be in the small place until now.
“Aunt Mei, why are you here?” Fu Chen greeted her.
“It’s Xiao Yang, who cried all night, and I was worn out.” Mu Rida pointed to the little palace lady who was shrinking beside her, “Today I just want to go to the and pass by here, so I came to ask, I heard that you guys almost lost your heads in front of the Emperor last night?”
Sure enough, Fu Chen looked at Xiao Yang’s eyes like walnuts, thinking that she was worried all night. Xiao Yang is Wang Fugui’s wife who was settled before entering the palace. Later, he committed a crime. In the choice between death and cleansing, Wang Fugui resolutely chose to live. Xiao Yang is also a sentimental person, and she actually followed him. In Wang Fugui’s words, they are a match made in heaven.
“Xiao Yang, it’s okay, we’re all fine, Fugui just went to work, the Emperor is generous and magnanimous, he won’t punish us.” Xiao Yang is also eighteen years old, much older than Fu Chen, but in Fu Chen’s view, she is like a little sister.
Xiao Yang blushed and thanked him. Even after being in the palace for so long, this little girl is still very reserved.
After waving goodbye to them, Fu Chen walked towards his destination in the early morning. His job is to sweep the area around the Yeting Lake, including three palaces and the lakeside walkway.
The scenery of Yeting Lake was beautiful, with fluttering lotus leaves. In the middle of the lake, there was a pavilion, in which stood a bronze statue of Emperor Taizong of Jin. Every day, he had to polish this statue over and over again.
As he was polishing the statue’s fierce and angry eyes, he heard a splash in the lake behind him.
It sounded like something had fallen into the water.
Dewy on BLPSG Chapter 86: The Emperor’s old illness: “I want QingCi to give this little wolf a big slap after healing him -__-” Oct 23, 13:18
