Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 21 The Struggle of the Eunuch
Ever since she was driven out and beaten that day, Li Zhulan never saw Zhu Changluo again. In fact, until now, Li Zhulan still didn't know how she fell out of favor.

This was the way things had always been for her and Zhu Changluo. Zhu Changluo was a bit of a masochist and always liked her aggressive side. On the other hand, he was annoyed by the submissive attitude of Consort Wang, the mother of the eldest prince Zhu Youxiao.

In Zhu Changluo's own words, he prefers to be trampled on rather than being trampled on.

But after his illness, Zhu Changluo seemed like a completely different person. Not only did his personality change drastically, he even stopped drinking. When he was the crown prince, Zhu Changluo would get drunk every night, then either have sex or just lie down to sleep. Now? He works as hard as if the Ming Dynasty were going to end tomorrow.

Li Zhulan didn't know or care whether the Ming Dynasty was doomed or not. If things continued like this, she would surely be doomed. Especially lately, that little girl from Concubine Zheng's palace had been coming to the Qianqing Palace every evening, staying for over an hour, and not leaving until almost dark.

This made Li Zhulan feel more and more insecure. She was afraid that one day Wang Zhangyin would come with the emperor's oral order, asking her, Li Xianshi, to move out of the west wing of the Qianqing Palace immediately to make room for Mi Cairen.

Move out, where to move to? Yanqi Palace? I heard that Yanqi Palace was formerly called Changshou Palace. If I move there and live a lonely life, it would be considered good if I don’t shorten my life, and I can live a long life.
Li Zhulan wanted to save herself, but she didn't know where to start. It was only a few steps from the west wing to the south study, but she didn't dare go.

She wanted to see the emperor now, because if she didn't see him, he would be forgotten sooner or later, but she was also afraid to see him. Zhu Changluo had begun to favor his eldest son again, and if he ever thought of the child's mother out of love for her, he would think of her.
A voice interrupted Li Zhulan's thoughts: "Master, the ancestor is here."

"Little Li, please come in!" Li Zhulan's eunuch also had the surname Li and was not young at all.
Li Zhulan's heart began to race, and she suddenly felt extremely nervous. Her body temperature rose, and the sweat glands on her forehead began to secrete sweat to cool her brain. Li Zhulan wanted to reach out and wipe it off, but she was afraid of smudging her makeup, so she gave up. She tried to control her breathing, hoping to appear calmer and more beautiful.

The last time she was so nervous was when she helped the prince to bed for the first time.

As Wang An entered the west wing, the eunuchs and palace maids knelt and pressed their heads to the floor as he walked. If the chief minister of the cabinet was the external minister, then the eunuch holding the seal of the Imperial Household Department was the internal minister. Furthermore, the internal minister's power in the inner court was far greater than that of the external minister.

For example, the Donglin Party dared to bite Fang Congzhe, but few eunuchs dared to attack the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department. As long as the eunuch in charge of the seal did not have second thoughts, any attack on him would be ineffective.

Loyalty is the only criterion for evaluating the eunuchs who hold the seal.

"Master Li." Wang An bowed as expected. He did not take advantage of his favor to become arrogant, and always placed himself in the position of a servant in front of the concubines.

"Master Wang, the emperor is finally going to see me?" Li Zhulan's voice was full of excitement and anticipation.

Seeing the mixture of anxiety and expectation on Li Zhulan's face, Wang An suddenly felt a little pity for this woman. "Master Li, the emperor didn't ask me to come here to see you."

"Ah?" Li Zhulan's effortlessly maintained smile suddenly collapsed, replaced by panic and trembling. "Your Majesty, Your Majesty wants to drive me away?"

"I won't go, I won't go to Yanqi Palace, I won't go to Yanqi Palace! Master Wang, please, let me see the emperor!" Li Zhulan suddenly knelt down.

"Oh! Please don't do this, I'm going to shorten my life." Wang An also knelt. He was not the emperor, nor the empress, and had no right to accept the kneeling worship of the concubines.

Seeing the old ancestor kneeling on the ground, the palace maids and eunuchs who had just stood up had no choice but to kneel as well. After all, they couldn't just stand there while their master and the eunuch in charge of the seal knelt, right? Even if they were tired of living, they couldn't seek death.

Then everyone in the west wing knelt down, leaving no one standing.

The atmosphere suddenly became very awkward, and finally Wang An spoke up to break the deadlock: "Master Li, the emperor does not intend to let you move to another palace, let alone move to Yanqi Palace."

Wang An thought, what does this have to do with anything?

"Then why are you here?" Li Zhulan breathed a sigh of relief.

"Let's stand up and talk. You've scared us to death." Wang An followed Li Zhulan and stood up. He looked around and continued, "The emperor asked me to come here to find a young eunuch named Wei Jinzhong."

"There's no one named Wei Jinzhong here," Li Zhulan asked puzzledly.

Before Li Zhulan finished speaking, a burly eunuch slid out from the crowd and knelt down.

This was his third time kneeling in a short period of time. This time, he exerted too much force, causing his knees to ache, but he paid no mind. He had waited too long for this opportunity. Li Jinzhong, originally named Wei Jinzhong, was a native of Suning County, Hejian Prefecture, Northern Zhili (present-day Suning County, Cangzhou, Hebei). Because his stepfather's surname was Li, he changed his name to Li Jinzhong.

If I were to use one word to describe Li Jinzhong, it would be: an ambitious scumbag.

Like most people in the Ming Dynasty at that time, Li Jinzhong came from a poor family and was illiterate. But unlike most people in the Ming Dynasty who also lived a hard life, he had no bottom line.

He was penniless yet dared to gamble millions in the casino. When creditors came to his house, he sold his daughter to pay off his gambling debts. When creditors came again, he resolutely chose to castrate himself, hoping to enter the palace and make a name for himself.

Why did he castrate himself? Because castration was a service that required a fee, and Li Jinzhong could not afford it.

But after Li Jinzhong castrated himself, he went to the registration office and discovered a cruel reality: he was too old and the palace would not accept him.

With nowhere to go, Li Jinzhong just wandered around. Until the 16th year of the Wanli reign, Li Jinzhong, who was at the end of his rope, finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel.

Li Jinzhong found work as a servant in the household of Sun Xian, a high-ranking eunuch in charge of imperial ceremonies. Perhaps tempered by years of poverty, Li Jinzhong worked diligently in Sun Xian's household. Eventually, he caught the eunuch's attention and was recommended to the palace, becoming a lowly eunuch.

Time flies, and more than a decade has passed quietly. Li Jinzhong still has no achievements, no reputation, and his only nickname is "Wei the Fool".

For years, Li Jinzhong's colleagues had portrayed him as older, honest, and somewhat clueless. But these were all facades; he was hiding his true self, waiting for an opportunity. In other words, this was a classic case of "playing the pig to eat the tiger."

The first person to give Li Jinzhong a chance was Wei Chao. Wei, the eunuch, admired Li Jinzhong's honesty and hard work, so he gave him a job in charge of food. Logically speaking, this job was a far cry from the high-ranking eunuchs in heaven.

But Li Jinzhong was in charge of the food supply for Concubine Wang, the mother of the emperor's eldest grandson, Zhu Youxiao. This was his first time being so close to the future emperor.

This good time lasted for a good decade. He waited patiently, always wearing the mask of an honest man. As long as the crown prince ascended the throne, Concubine Wang would be made a noble concubine, or even empress, thanks to her son's status. His chance to rise to prominence would come. But fate played a trick on Li Jinzhong. In the 47th year of the Wanli reign, Concubine Wang was tortured to death by Concubine Li.

At this time, Li Jinzhong's ambition and lack of heart came into play. Already in his fifties, he did not hesitate to become a disciple of Li Xianshi, and flattered her to the utmost, winning her appreciation and becoming her trusted eunuch.

It seemed that fate had favored this sixty-year-old "good actor." Consort Li was deeply favored by the new emperor, and she was raising the eldest prince. As long as Li Jinzhong worked hard, curried favor with Consort Li, or made the eldest prince remember his honest face, it would only be a matter of time before he could stand shoulder to shoulder with those high-ranking eunuchs.

Because there has always been only one criterion for the promotion of eunuchs: the emperor's favor.

But fate once again played a cruel trick on Li Jinzhong. Consort Li inexplicably fell from favor, and the emperor took the eldest son away to be raised personally by the emperor. It seemed that this was the end of Li Jinzhong's life. He was already old, and perhaps there was no chance of a comeback.

But today, Wang An, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, the top eunuch, came to see him with the emperor's order. Li Jinzhong understood that God had given him another chance.

He wanted to laugh wildly, to vent all the resentment that had accumulated over thirty years of ups and downs!

But he had to endure it because he was an honest man.

"Your Highness, I am Wei Jinzhong!" Wei Jinzhong knocked his head heavily to the ground and answered in an extremely humble tone.

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(End of this chapter)