Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 81 Three Eunuchs and Two Plays

"That's good to know." Wang An was very satisfied with Wei Chao's attitude and reaction. He nodded and took out a handwritten note from his sleeve pocket.

"Here, take it, go to the inner treasury and withdraw three thousand taels." Wang An handed the note to Wei Chao.

"How dare I accept it?" Wei Chao refused again and again, shaking her head like a rattle.

"This is the annual salary that the emperor bestows upon the eunuchs in charge of ceremonies." Wang An stuffed the note into Wei Chao's hand.

"It's winter already. And I only entered the Imperial Household Department in September." Wei Chao was in a dilemma whether to accept him or not.

"Here you go, just take it." Wang An emphasized.

"Then I won't refuse anymore." Wei Chao accepted the note and kowtowed in the direction of the Qianqing Palace.

"Your Majesty is a wise and virtuous ruler with great ambitions." Wang An stood up, suppressed his smile, and said seriously, "We servants can't just think about occupying positions and living a carefree life."

"I will do my job with due diligence." Wei Chao said earnestly.

"Okay. Go back and serve your master. I still have things to do." Wang An gave the order and left.

"Goodbye, ancestor." Wei Chao bowed deeply towards Wang An's back.

After Wang An left, Wei Chao did not immediately return to the Qianqing Palace, but stood there lost in thought. He held the note for withdrawing three thousand taels of silver tightly in his hand, lost in thought.

Things were about to change in the palace. This wasn't just a personnel shakeup, like the saying, "A new emperor brings new ministers." But how exactly would this change unfold? Wei Chao didn't know.

I can only follow Wang An step by step, Wei Chao thought.

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The whip was sharp as a knife, and after fifty lashes from Xing Kuan, the skin on Cui Wensheng's back was almost completely shaved off. But a good death is worse than a miserable life, and Cui Wensheng finally survived.

After being unconscious for a whole day, Cui Wensheng woke up and found himself locked up again in the confinement room specially set aside for him in the headquarters of the Imperial Household Department.

The severe pain in his back tormented him all the time, but fortunately, the people who imprisoned him finally treated him as a human being instead of a piece of wood.

"Ancestor!" Cui Wensheng heard someone calling outside the door.

He subconsciously wanted to get up, but with just a slight movement, the thin scab on the wound on his back cracked and blood oozed out.

Wang An entered the confinement room and walked to Cui Wensheng's bedside. Immediately afterwards, a eunuch came up behind him carrying a stool.

"Everyone, get out." Wang An gave the order, and the solitary confinement room was cleared. Only he and Cui Wensheng were left.

"Ancestor." Cui Wensheng endured the severe pain in his back and tried to sit up and salute.

Wang An just watched coldly until the pure white fabric on Cui Wensheng's body was stained with blood red from the inside out. Then he said, "Just lie there." "I kowtow to thank the ancestor for his grace." Cui Wensheng used words instead of greetings.

"Twenty-eight out of fifty criminals died, but you survived." There were several braziers lit in the room, but Wang An's words froze the warmth that had been gathered in the room with great difficulty.

Cui Wensheng felt like he had fallen into an icy cave. He was afraid that Wang An’s next words would be, “The emperor orders you to commit suicide.”

Fortunately, what Wang An said was a question: "Do you know why?"

"I don't know." The excruciating pain nearly extinguished his sanity, rendering him unable to think. But Cui Wensheng could still vaguely sense that Wang An wasn't here to kill him. At least not yet.

"The man who whipped you is called Xing Kuan. I think you should know him." Wang An said.

During the execution, the executioner always stood behind the victim. Only after the execution was over did he briefly step to the front of the scaffold. By then, the victim was either dead or unconscious.

"Xing Kuan?" Cui Wensheng, while trying to suppress the chaotic thoughts caused by the severe pain, racked his brain to recall the name. But he really couldn't remember who Xing Kuan was.

Cui Wensheng, the governor of the Eastern Depot, had been in charge for less than two months, and the only case he had personally overseen was the Zheng Yangxing house raid. However, Zheng Yangxing himself had been pardoned, leaving no significant figures worthy of his personal interrogation. Therefore, he had yet to have any contact with the lower-class slaves.

Even if he had met Xing Kuan, he would not have asked his name. To Cui Dongchang, Xing Kuan was just a nobody.

"I am stupid and can't remember who this person is. I hope the ancestor can teach me." Cui Wensheng gave up.

"Oh, that's not surprising. He came here to see you, with me." Wang An sneered. "Xing Kuan works for the East Depot. Actually, he's a minor official under your Cui. He has a special skill, just like you, but yours is beating with a stick, and his is whipping."

When Cui Wensheng was young, he served as an executioner in the palace for a period of time. The only punishment in the palace was the caning. There were various techniques for beating someone, including "beating," "beating them hard," and "beating them with all your heart." However, accurately executing the eunuch's orders required extensive practice.

When training eunuchs for execution, two human models made of leather are usually used, one with bricks inside and the other wrapped with paper, and then they are dressed in clothes.

The brick model is used to practice the "light outside, heavy inside" technique. The prerequisite for success is that the blow appears to be very light, with no damage to the clothes, but in fact, all the bricks inside are shattered. The paper-wrapped model is used to practice the "heavy outside, light inside" technique. The prerequisite for success is that the blow appears to be very heavy, but in fact, the paper inside is not damaged.

Cui Wensheng is very talented and was the first student to graduate among his peers.

Therefore, after being told this by Wang An, he immediately understood who Xing Kuan was.

Without waiting for Cui Wensheng to reply, Wang An continued, "Twenty-five of the twenty-eight people who died deserved to die. The remaining three were too weak to make it."

"Thank you for your help, ancestor." If it weren't for the pain in his back that made it impossible for him to turn over, Cui Wensheng would have kowtowed to Wang An.

But before he could even begin to feel moved, Wang An poured cold water on him: "Me? I didn't save you. In my opinion, you're a hopeless loser! Corruption, bribery, extortion, you're no different from a mad dog for money. And you're from that side. For over twenty years, has there ever been a day when the Eastern Palace hasn't been coveted by them? How often have I not lived in fear?"

Cui Wensheng realized that it wasn't Wang An who was protecting him, but the emperor himself. He began to feel fortunate that his decision had been the right one: even as the eunuchs accompanying Concubine Zheng expressed hostility toward the eldest prince, Cui Wensheng had chosen to remain neutral. He had tried to please Prince Fu while also avoiding offending the Crown Prince.

(End of this chapter)