Without money, what is the point of being a traitor?

Chapter 691 Deep Self-Reflection
Pei Yuan memorized the name Wang Hongru, carefully put away the letter, and then, with his arm around Jiao Yan'er, asked, "Where is your father?"

Jiao Yan'er replied, "He has nothing to do lately. Apart from coming here from time to time, he goes out to see his old friends."

It's highly likely that Jiao Fang leaked something to him.

Jiao Huangzhong knew that there was hope for his reinstatement, so he naturally began to gather his cronies.

However, Pei Yuan could still have some hope for the people recommended by Jiao Fang.

The people around him in the scorched yellow area were mostly scoundrels.

Thinking about this, Pei Yuan was also a little troubled. It was a pity that his ancestor had moved out too early and had not left any connections in his hometown.

Pei Yuan's ancestor, Pei Youcai, was from Shanxi. Back in the Jingtai era, he earned the official position of Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard) probationary commander by donating horse fodder to the Datong border army.

Pei Youcai later curried favor with Lu Zhong, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. He not only got a small promotion to become a centurion, but also pulled in his former merchant brothers to get involved in the business of transporting goods by canal boat.

Later, Pei Youcai's political opportunism failed, and the Lu Zhong Golden Knife Case came to light. Pei Youcai and the wealthy merchants who later provided money to Lu Zhong were afraid of being implicated, so they went bankrupt and swiftly killed Lu Zhong.

After that, the Pei family's business began to decline.

Pei Youcai was deeply regretful about his opportunistic behavior based on his cleverness, and only hoped that his children and grandchildren would be mediocre. To avoid further entanglements, he also severed ties with his former relatives and friends.

This deprived Pei Yuan of the two major supporters: his fellow townsman and his clansman.

Pei Yuan could only be thankful that Jiao Fang was already old and Jiao Huangzhong was incompetent, so there was no need to worry about Jiao Fang's faction gaining power again. Otherwise, Pei Yuan would have had to go through a lot more trouble to cultivate a well-structured civil service team.

Pei Yuan teased Jiao Yan'er for a while, and in a moment of passion, he simply closed the door and indulged in unbridled pleasure.

Jiao Yan'er has shed her girlish naiveté, and after managing the household for a while, she has even developed the air of a young mistress.

However, both of them were young, and once they fell in love, they no longer cared about their previous image.

When Pei Yuan finally opened the window to let in some fresh air, the cool moon was already high in the sky.

Pei Yuan asked a maid to bring hot water to wash the two of them clean. Thinking that he would have to go to the palace tomorrow, he had a simple dinner with Jiao Yan'er and went to bed early.

The next morning, Pei Yuan was awakened by Jiao Yan'er.

After reluctantly getting dressed, he instructed Lu Yong, who was waiting in the front courtyard, to report to the palace that Pei Yuan had returned to the Empress Dowager.

Just as Pei Yuan had guessed, the Empress Dowager indeed had nothing to do.

Upon hearing that Pei Yuan had returned to the capital, he immediately sent a eunuch to summon Pei Yuan to the palace for a meeting.

The eunuch who came this time was quite a coincidence; it was Jiang Gui, the same one who had gone to Shandong to deliver a message last time.

After conveying the imperial decree, Jiang Gui immediately bowed to greet him.

Pei Yuan smiled at Jiang Gui with satisfaction, "I heard about what happened last time. You did a good job."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Gui immediately beamed with joy, "This is all the old servant should do, and I don't deserve the praise of the commander."

Pei Yuan sized up Jiang Gui a few times and saw that he looked to be in his fifties, which was indeed quite old.

So he asked, puzzled, "You're so old, why are you still always running errands? You were the one who went to Shandong last time, and you're the one who came to deliver the imperial decree to me this time. Could it be that the Empress Dowager is mistreating you?"

Jiang Gui quickly explained in a gentle voice, "It's not that the Empress Dowager is being harsh. It's just that the Empress Dowager is widowed and has to be careful, so the people she keeps around are all experienced old servants like me. When she needs to send a message, she can't refuse."

Pei Yuan said "Oh," pondered the details Xiao Jing had given him, and then asked, "I remember you entered the palace when you were very young, and your family was left without support. Is that right?"

Jiang Gui's expression remained natural. "In reply to the commander, that is indeed the case. When I was young, my family was poor, and we were also caught in a year of famine. My parents simply couldn't afford to raise so many children, so they had to send the youngest one to the palace. After I became the head eunuch, I saved up a few dozen taels of silver and wanted to send it back home, but the person I entrusted to him came back and said that he could no longer be found."

"Thinking back, the years have been treacherous, and God has not given us a way out."

Jiang Gui spoke calmly.

So much time has passed, and those unbearable past events can now be spoken of calmly.

Pei Yuan remained silent for a moment, then asked, "Are there many people like you around here?"

Jiang Gui said, "Most of them are like that. If they weren't unlucky, who would be such a lowly person?"

Pei Yuan said with pity, "You just mentioned the old-timers, and I, as a commander, should indeed think about you old-timers."

"Now I, the commander of a thousand households, manage over a thousand temples of all sizes in the capital. I will find a large temple for you to live in peace in the future."

High-ranking eunuchs like Lu Yin, Gu Dayong, and Qiu Ju all had their own family temples. However, less successful eunuchs like Jiang Gui, Li Zhang, and Man Long had a harder time in their old age.

Many of them relied on the little money they had saved to find a place to live and depend on each other.

Pei Yuan spoke casually and bluntly, “While you are alive, you can live out your days in the temple. When you die, the temple will enshrine your memorial tablets and have monks chant sutras for you every morning and evening.”

He then laughed and said, "May Buddha bless you with something great in your next life."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Gui was terrified and immediately knelt down to express his gratitude, saying, "This old servant thanks Commander Qian for his thoughtfulness. This old servant thanks Commander Qian for his thoughtfulness."

Yes, that's how simple the eunuchs' thoughts were.

Therefore, the small stone lions in front of Zhihua Temple face upwards, revealing their small bodies.

Moreover, they never shied away from these thoughts. For example, Liu Lang, the eunuch in charge of Nanjing, practiced alchemy and Taoism every day, hoping to grow back in this lifetime.

These eunuchs usually liked to eat special parts of cows and donkeys, and they ate both.

They called the female penis "wankou" and the male penis "wanshou".

When it comes to eating lamb, their favorite part is the lamb's kidney, which they call the external kidney egg.

Among these unusual delicacies, the most rare, precious, and hard-to-obtain is the egg of a white stallion, also known as a dragon egg.

Many eunuchs tirelessly pursued that vague hope.

Pei Yuan only realized a risk when Jiang Gui referred to himself as an old servant and mentioned that the people around the Empress Dowager were all experienced and mature.

Li Zhang, who has a nephew and something to look forward to, is relatively easy to deal with.

Many old eunuchs had no children or relatives. Such people usually seemed steady and reliable, but when it came to a critical moment, they would not hesitate to rebel.

After all, while the young eunuchs might still be hoping to survive, the older ones had nothing to lose.

Since that's the case, Pei Yuan has to give them something to look forward to himself.

Seeing Jiang Gui so excited and flustered, even trying to kowtow to him again after standing up, Pei Yuan laughed and quickly pulled him back.

Pei Yuan then made a direct promise: "You can choose any of the temples in the capital, except for those that the court values."

"When you get old and die, let those monks worship you like Buddhas and Bodhisattvas."

Jiang Gui said, "No, no, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

He almost laughed so hard that snot bubbles came out of his nose.

Seeing how good this inexpensive and efficient method was, Pei Yuan thought to himself, "How could those early monks be so clever?"
They even managed to figure out the metaverse of "selling the afterlife".

With such a talent for making money out of thin air, it's no wonder he can make a fortune.

Seeing that Pei Yuan was still in plain clothes, Jiang Gui belatedly asked, "Is the time convenient for you now, Commander? If you have other urgent matters, this old servant can wait a little longer." Pei Yuan was eating breakfast, but he knew he couldn't keep the Empress Dowager waiting.

The Empress Dowager was already angry, and she might get even angrier the longer she waited.

Pei Yuan then said, "The Empress Dowager's side is more important. I'll go with you after I change into my official robes."

Pei Yuan then went to the inner quarters, changed into his flying fish robe, rinsed his mouth with tea, tidied his appearance, and then entered the palace.

With the Empress Dowager's decree and Jiang Gui accompanying him, Pei Yuan easily entered the imperial city.

When they arrived at Qianqing Gate, Jiang Guicai said, "This is the inner palace gate. We should inform the Empress Dowager first."

Pei Yuan waved his hand, signaling Jiang Gui to leave.

The guards at the inner palace gates were mainly composed of Jing soldiers. Pei Yuan looked around but couldn't spot Manlong and Ma Xi, whom he had encountered last time.

Pei Qianhu, who always liked to be strict with himself, couldn't help but deeply examine himself.

There are still many weaknesses in my work of guarding the inner palace.

Jiang Gui has been gone for a long time and has not returned.

Pei Yuan estimated the distance from Qianqing Gate to Renshou Palace and thought to himself that it would take enough time to make two round trips.

Given how impatiently Empress Zhang had urged him to enter the palace, this shouldn't be happening.

Could it be that he's deliberately keeping me out of the loop?

Thinking of this, Pei Yuan felt somewhat relieved.

Before Pei Yuan arrived, Empress Dowager Zhang grew increasingly angry as she waited.

But now that Pei Yuan was already waiting at Qianqing Gate, Empress Dowager Zhang became increasingly pleased with the wait.

If we can appease Empress Dowager Zhang's anger a little, then today's matter won't be too difficult to handle.

If Empress Dowager Zhang were to become enraged and decide to punish him without considering the facts, Pei Yuan had no hope that Zhu Houzhao would come to his rescue.

Whom did Zhu Houzhao ever protect? He couldn't even protect himself.

The eunuchs dared to engage in large-scale brawls within the palace, eventually burning down the Qianqing Palace. The ensuing fire ignited gunpowder that Zhu Houzhao had hidden under the eaves, causing a series of explosions.

Zhu Houzhao hurried to the Leopard House in a disheveled state. Before leaving, he looked back at the Qianqing Palace, which was ablaze with light, and exclaimed, "What a magnificent display of fireworks!"

Of course, this happened in the ninth year of Zhengde's reign, but it also proves that even in the ninth year of Zhengde's reign, this big shot still couldn't protect him.

Pei Yuan waited at Qianqing Gate for a long time, but the Empress Dowager did not summon him.

Around noon, the leader of the Jingjun (a type of military organization) who was changing shifts arrived, and he was vaguely familiar.

Upon seeing Pei Yuan, the eunuch hurriedly approached and whispered, "This servant, Ma Xi, greets Commander Qianhu."

Pei Yuan did not answer, but glanced at the Jing soldiers around him.

Ma Xi smiled knowingly and said, "Don't worry, Commander, these are all my adopted sons and grandsons."

Upon hearing this, Pei Yuan knew that Ma Xi wasn't doing too well either.

The eunuchs in the palace were extremely exploitative, with each level essentially oppressing the one below. These social relationships were structured around adopted sons, grandsons, and even great-grandsons of unknown generations.

The Jingjun were at the very bottom of the hierarchy, yet Ma Xi had a member with the character "er" in his name, which shows that Ma Xi's status wasn't very high either.

Seeing Ma Xi's certainty, Pei Yuan then asked, "What's going on with the Empress Dowager?"

"The Empress Dowager?" Ma Xi was slightly taken aback, then asked, "Did the Empress Dowager summon the commander?"

Pei Yuan thought to himself, "Isn't this obvious?"

If it were Zhu Houzhao... oh, Zhaozi also asked me to go in.

However, when he was summoned, he was only taken to the outermost Qianqing Palace.

Ma Xi hurriedly added, "It seems the Empress Dowager has remained in Renshou Palace without leaving. Has anyone gone to inform her?"

Pei Yuan knew what was going on and waved his hand, saying, "It's alright, I'll just wait a little longer."

Ma Xi was also quick-witted and roughly guessed that Pei Yuan had been deliberately left waiting at the door by the Empress Dowager. He didn't dare to say much and only asked, "The commander shouldn't have had lunch yet, right? I'll have someone get him some snacks later."

Pei Yuan quickly stopped him, "Don't be reckless. What's the point of eating at a time like this?"

Ma Xi smiled awkwardly and had no choice but to obediently withdraw as ordered.

It wasn't until after noon that Jiang Gui reappeared in front of the Qianqing Gate.

He had a slight sheen of sweat on his forehead, and upon seeing Pei Yuan, he quickly said, "Commander, the Empress Dowager has summoned you."

Pei Yuan glanced at the guards who were watching them and quickly said loudly, "Your subject Pei Yuan obeys the order."

When Pei Yuan got closer, Jiang Gui whispered, "The Empress Dowager said she wants to put the commanders to the test, but this old servant can't leave her side."

Pei Yuan nodded, needing no further explanation from Jiang Gui.

Now that they were in the inner palace, neither of them dared to act too familiar with each other, especially since Jiang Gui had also brought some other eunuchs with him.

Pei Yuan followed Jiang Gui respectfully until they arrived at Renshou Palace.

Before the same imperial steps where he had knelt last time, Pei Yuan knelt without any psychological burden.

Jiang Gui entered Renshou Palace. After a while, Pei Yuan heard a noise on the imperial steps and quickly peeked out.

Then a beautiful woman dressed in her finest attire emerged, surrounded by palace maids and eunuchs.

Pei Yuan couldn't see Empress Dowager Zhang's expression clearly, nor did he dare to look closely.

He quickly lowered his head and said loudly, "Your subject Pei Yuan has been ordered to return to the capital."

Then, Pei Yuan heard the beautiful woman angrily rebuke him, "Pei Yuan, how dare you! How dare you, a mere commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, disrespect the Marquis of Shouning? How dare you disrespect me, the Empress?"

Upon hearing this, Pei Yuan thought to himself that he couldn't let her make this charge a fact.

Li Mengyang was nearly beaten to death by Empress Dowager Zhang simply for using the name "Zhang Shi".

This is a woman who has been completely spoiled by her boyfriend.

If I agree without thinking, the more reasonable my excuses are later, the more she will cling to the argument that I have looked down on her.

Pei Yuan quickly replied, "Your Majesty, I have always respected Marquis Shouning and Your Majesty as well."

“When I was young, my father asked me about my ambitions. At that time, I was ignorant and asked my father, ‘Now that I am extremely wealthy and powerful, what can I possibly achieve?’”

"Oh?" Hearing Pei Yuan say this, Empress Dowager Zhang felt a little better. She had some guesses in her mind, but her curiosity was piqued, and she wanted to know how Pei Yuan planned to flatter her.

(End of this chapter)