Dugong

Chapter 1 Li Pingan

Li Ping'an woke up from a coma and found himself lying on an unfamiliar bed.

Before I could think about it, I felt a sharp pain in my lower body, and I instantly woke up from my confusion and remembered where I was.

Chamberlain!
The area in the palace where new eunuchs were castrated and trained.

Memories flooded back like a tide, and Li Ping'an remembered the old eunuch in the cleansing room, holding a sharp, cold knife and emitting a sharp, piercing laugh.

"Hehehe...be patient, our swords are very fast!"

What followed was a heart-wrenching pain, and Li Pingan fainted from the pain and fear.

Think of this.

Li Ping'an couldn't help but shrink into the quilt. He was afraid of the unfamiliar environment and felt uneasy and anxious about his future life.

After all, he is just a country boy who has never seen the outside world in the past twelve years.

"I don't know what's going on at home..."

Wannian County suffered a drought this summer, and the fields were barren. The landlord, Sun Paopi, not only refused to reduce the rent, but instead demanded an additional 20% of the rent.

His elder sister and younger brother starved to death one after another. In order to save Li Ping'an's life, his parents sold him to the palace as a eunuch with tears in their eyes.

Yesterday, when he saw the imperial palace for the first time and looked up at the towering vermilion palace walls, he almost thought he had come to a divine palace. It was beyond Li Ping'an's most exaggerated imagination in his life.

"Not only is the palace magnificent, but also the bedding and the house..."

Li Ping'an had a soft mattress under him and a thick quilt covering him. It was airtight and not rough, and was more comfortable than any other quilt he had ever covered himself with.

Looking around, I saw that the house was about two or three meters square, with four beds arranged horizontally and the bedding neatly folded.

The blue brick walls, poplar beams, and red-painted tables, chairs, and cabinets are not only far better than the leaky thatched house at home, but also better than Sun Baopi's adobe house.

"Being a eunuch doesn't seem so bad, covering myself with a quilt and living in a big house. If I could eat brown rice, it would be even better..."

Li Ping'an is still young and doesn't understand matters between men and women.

In his simple understanding, as long as people have enough food to eat, warm clothes and a house to live in, it is a great blessing, and egg removal is nothing.

How many common people have toiled for decades and still don’t have even half a brick and tile house, which makes them feel worse than entering the palace and becoming eunuchs.

While thinking.

The door creaked open and three young men walked in one after another.

The leading young man was tall and handsome. He noticed Li Ping'an lying on the bed and walked over with a smile.

The other two boys looked similar and were about the same height, and when they walked together they looked like brothers.

The leading youth came to Li Ping'an's bed and asked, "New here? What's your name?"

"Li Ping'an."

Li Ping'an answered obediently that his original name was Li Ergou, and later his father used two coarse flour steamed buns to ask an old scholar in the village to give him a formal name.

The meaning is simple and clear, I hope he can live a peaceful life.

Unfortunately, things went against his wishes. Li Ping'an had never had a peaceful life since he was a child. Going hungry was the norm and his life was on the line many times.

He lived to the age of twelve and became a disabled eunuch.

"We are slaves and servants in the palace. We are not qualified to address you by your name. From now on, you will be called Xiao Anzi."

The young man said, "I am Xiao Zhongzi, and they are Xiao Fangzi and Xiao Yuanzi."

Li Ping'an nodded and took note of it. He remembered his parents' advice before entering the palace: "Speak three inches lower when meeting people," and addressed them respectfully.

"I've met Brother Zhong, Brother Fang, and Brother Yuan."

Xiao Fangzi's face was cold and he ignored her, sitting in his chair and concentrating on his reading. Xiao Yuanzi nodded slightly, as if to say yes, and his face looked quite friendly.

"Xiao Anzi, you said the wrong thing."

Xiao Zhongzi sighed and gave a reminder.

"Those of us who have had our eggs castrated are neither male nor female, so how can we call each other brothers? The way you call them will offend people. From now on, if you meet someone wearing gray, you can call them by their name. If you meet someone wearing official robes, you should respectfully call them eunuch."

Li Pingan was so moved that he quickly changed his words: "Greetings to Eunuch Zhong, Eunuch Fang, and Eunuch Yuan."

Hearing the name that suited their taste, Xiao Fangzi and Xiao Yuanzi smiled slightly.

Li Ping'an was ignorant about how to deal with people, but he also realized that most eunuchs were narrow-minded.

"You're a clever fellow."

Xiao Zhongzi praised and took out a steamed bun from his arms: "You haven't eaten yet, take this to fill your stomach." "Thank you, Eunuch Zhong."

When Li Ping'an saw the white flour steamed bun, he couldn't help drooling. He hurriedly took it, chewed it in small bites, and savored it for a long time before swallowing it.

My father once said that chewing your food more will help you feel fuller.

After finishing the white flour steamed bun in a few bites, Li Ping'an licked his lips and carefully savored the sweet taste.

When was the last time you ate white flour steamed buns?
It seemed to be the autumn six or seven years ago when Li Ping'an caught a cold. His father used two baskets of firewood to exchange for a handful of white flour from the landlord and steamed buns for him.

White flour is a medicine for treating diseases in the village!
While Li Ping'an was tasting the steamed bun, Xiao Zhongzi sat down to read.

Xiao Fangzi glanced at him and said sarcastically, "Our eunuch Zhong still has such a kind heart."

Xiao Zhongzi pointed at the words on the book and said, "As the sage said, those who are righteous will have many supporters, while those who are unrighteous will have few. If we do a good deed today, we will reap good rewards tomorrow."

Xiao Fangzi said coldly: "That's outside, this is the palace."

Xiao Zhongzi retorted, "We all think the same. When you two first came, we took care of you for a few days, and then the three of us were able to team up and avoid being bullied."

When Xiao Fangzi heard the word "take care of", he wanted to say something, but Xiao Yuanzi quickly tried to smooth things over.

"You both have a point!"

Li Ping'an didn't understand a single word of the twists and turns in the conversation between the three people. He just thought Xiao Zhongzi was a good person.

Whoever lets him eat white flour buns is a good person!

Xiao Zhongzi and the other two read for a while and then went back to their beds to sleep. Being on duty, reading, and practicing martial arts during the day consumed their physical and mental energy, and soon the room was filled with snoring sounds.

Li Ping'an didn't think it was noisy. His family only had one thatched hut, and the seven members of his family were crowded on the cold and hard earthen kang. His parents' snoring was deafening.

After eating the white flour buns and having food in his stomach, Li Ping'an felt that the pain in his lower body was much relieved.

Lying on the bed, his thoughts were flying, and he fell asleep in a daze. In a daze, he saw his parents with dark faces, and they asked Li Ping'an about his habits in the palace.

Li Ping'an smiled through his tears and said that he lived in a big house in the palace, covered himself with a quilt, and ate white flour buns. After he finished his duty and saved money, he would send it back home to help his eldest brother get married.

Li Ping'an didn't quite understand what it meant to get married.

I only heard my parents say that my eldest brother is old and must get married, otherwise the family line will be cut off...

"Wake up, wake up!"

Xiao Zhongzi's voice rang in his ears: "Hurry up and get up and go to the kitchen. If you're late, you won't even have porridge to drink."

Hearing the word "white porridge", Li Ping'an immediately became energetic. He didn't even care about the pain in his lower body and quickly got dressed and got up.

She followed Xiao Zhongzi and the other two obediently and went straight to the kitchen.

Xiao Zhongzi took the lead, Xiao Fangzi and Xiao Yuanzi lagged behind by half a step, and Li Pingan lagged behind by another half a step.

While chatting on the way, Xiao Zhongzi talked about a lot of things, which gave Li Ping'an a good understanding of the Internal Affairs Department.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs purchased people from outside, castrated them into eunuchs, and spent half a year teaching them internal skills and rules.

After the eunuchs had completed their studies, they were assigned to serve in the twelve divisions under the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Li Ping'an had heard of "internal power". From the storytellers who traveled from village to village, it was said that people who had mastered internal power could fly over eaves and walls and fight ten people at once.

When I was little, I dreamed of learning internal skills, beating Sun Baopi to death, and not having to pay rent for farming.

"Xiao Anzi must practice diligently."

Xiao Zhongzi advised: "If you practice well, you will be assigned to the Imperial Household Department and be able to see His Majesty. If you don't practice well, you will be assigned to the Palace Department and have to empty night incense and clean toilets every day!"

Li Pingan asked, "Can Daoyexiang eat white flour steamed buns?"

Xiao Fangzi smiled when he heard this, while Xiao Yuanzi laughed out loud, patted Li Ping'an on the shoulder and said, "Xiao Anzi, since you like to eat so much, why don't you go to the Shangshenjian to make fire and eat white flour buns until you are full."

Li Ping'an's eyes lit up: "Okay, okay, I'm going to the Shangshenjian!"

"Xiao Anzi, you said the wrong thing again."

Xiao Zhongzi reminded him, "We have no right to criticize me. If you claim to use the words 'we', 'our family', and 'we', any eunuch who hears my name will definitely make things difficult for you!"

"Thank you, Eunuch Zhong, for your advice."

Li Ping'an bowed and kowtowed repeatedly. Unknowingly, this boy from the countryside naturally learned to flatter and curry favor.

The palace is a big dye vat. No matter whether it is white paper or silk, everything that falls into it will be dyed.

Let’s write a martial arts novel to fulfill our dream^_^
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(End of this chapter)