Dugong

Chapter 18 Only 10%

The imperial kitchen is a small place, so it cannot hide any secrets.

Li Ping'an's words spread quickly, of course there was no part about His Majesty, and all the eunuchs knew that they had to rotate their duties.

Faced with the overwhelming public outcry, the people in the kitchen did not dare to express any opinion.

To hinder someone's progress is like killing his parents.

Since the change cannot be stopped, I might as well change my thinking. As long as I don’t get rotated, it’s fine.

So, one by one, they tried to make friends and build relationships with Li Ping'an in private.

"Eunuch An, this is a little gift from us..."

"This gold leaf has Eunuch An's name engraved on it. We took the wrong one..."

"As long as you let us stay in the kitchen, we will follow Eunuch An's lead from now on. If you say east, we dare not go west..."

"Eunuch An, this banknote is something you lost, right?"

After the eunuchs from the kitchen delivered the silver, the eunuchs who did the hard work and were looking forward to their rotation took over.

For the first time, Li Ping'an felt the deliciousness of power, which was a thousand times sweeter than white flour steamed buns and more delicious than the best ingredients in the imperial kitchen.

Just the tiny power to adjust jobs can bring in a lot of silver bills and gold.

"No wonder Xiao Zhongzi is determined to become an official!"

Li Ping'an stroked the pile of yellow and white, large and small denominations in front of him, and silently calculated that if converted into fields, it would be more than Sun Baopi's family.

"This amount of money is too much to bear. Giving it back... is absolutely impossible!"

Li Ping'an once fought with the big black dog of Sun Baopi's family for half a piece of coarse flour steamed bun. He did not let go even though his arm was bitten and bleeding.

There are two or three hundred acres of land in front of us, enough to fight for!

"But we can't take it all. We have to give the bulk to our godfather."

Li Ping'an was not dazzled by the gold and silver. He kept in mind the source of his power. If he dared to embezzle a penny, the consequences would be disastrous.

Even for the sake of Eunuch Rong's face, if godfather doesn't kill him, he will never get a good job in the future.

Maybe he can't even stay in the kitchen and has to go to the stove to make a fire.

evening.

Li Pingan waited for Xiao Fangzi to come back and asked.

"Eunuch Fang, do you know where I can exchange loose gold and silver for silver notes or gold bars?"

Xiao Fangzi nodded and said, "There is indeed such a place in the palace that does gold and silver exchange business, but the discount is quite large."

Li Pingan said, "It's okay. Let's exchange it for gold bars to honor our godfather. Loose silver is too shabby."

Xiao Fangzi asked curiously, "It sounds like a large amount. Where did it come from?"

Li Ping'an did not hide it intentionally, and described in detail how he transformed the order given by his godfather into the power to adjust the assignment and received benefits along the way.

Of course, there is no mention of harem struggles.

Xiao Yuanzi was amazed and clapped his hands in praise.

"I heard from an old man in the palace that there was once a eunuch who received an order from the ancestor to search for the three-legged golden toad. Over ten years passed without finding it, but he carried the order across the world, bringing gold, silver and treasures wherever he went, and he made a fortune.

Eunuch An's methods are quite similar!"

Li Pingan quickly modestly said: "We dare not be compared with our ancestors, we are just a little clever."

Xiao Fangzi said, "It's easy to exchange for gold bars. How much do you plan to give to Eunuch Sun?"

Li Pingan hesitated for a moment and said, "Fifty percent?"

Xiao Fangzi said, "The godfather and the godson have the same number, which doesn't sound very filial."

Li Pingan said again: "Seventy percent?"

Xiao Fangzi shook his head: "It's barely acceptable, but there won't be a next time."

Li Pingan gritted his teeth and said, "Ninety percent?"

Xiao Fangzi nodded and said, "Nine is the maximum number. I should offer you 90% of it. Eunuch Sun will definitely rely on me even more in the future."

Li Pingan's eyes widened. "We worked so hard, even resorted to intimidation and deception, how come we only get 10%?"

"One percent is quite a bit. So many people want to get it but can't find a way!"

The next day.

It was still dark outside.

Li Ping'an got up a quarter of an hour earlier than usual and rushed to the main office to pay his respects to his godfather. When he arrived, he saw three figures.

"This filial piety is useless!"

Not only did filial piety return to its original state, but he also got up an hour earlier for no reason.

Li Ping'an doesn't understand what internal competition is. He just wants to gain more favor from his godfather and surpass the other godsons so that he can live a better life.

After paying his respects, he carried his bag and went to the Imperial Household Duty Room to ask to see Eunuch Niu.

When I entered the room, I saw a skinny old eunuch with a beard on his chin, which was neatly and exquisitely groomed.

Li Ping'an stated his purpose and placed the package on the table.

Eunuch Niu took out a golden scale from his sleeve, carefully weighed the silver ingots and gold leaves, and then took out a golden abacus to calculate.

"Gold bars or silver notes?"

Li Pingan asked respectfully, "Which one do you like, sir?"

"Hahaha……"

Eunuch Niu laughed heartily, not at all like a eunuch. He took out two gold bars and said, "Nothing in this world can compare to gold bars."

Li Ping'an bowed and took it, without asking about the weight, and left.

Xiao Fangzi specifically reminded that when doing business with Eunuch Niu, remember not to ask about the weight of gold and silver.

Too vulgar, too vulgar!
Li Ping'an didn't dare to offend Eunuch Niu, the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Household Department, who was even more powerful than his godfather. Crushing him to death was no different from crushing an ant.

Return to the imperial kitchen.

Before Li Ping'an had the chance to pay his respects to his godfather, Xiao Luzi, who had delivered the silver ingots two days ago, came over, sticking his head out and sneaking around.

"Eunuch An, look, your name is engraved on this gold bar!"

Li Ping'an subconsciously reached out to take it, but retracted his hand mid-air.

"Where did you get the gold bars?"

Xiao Luzi is the chef of the ninth kitchen in the imperial kitchen. He is usually in charge of the red case. His specialty is steamed carp, and he is quite famous in the imperial kitchen.

However, no matter how much money a mere cook makes, he cannot produce a single gold bar.

Li Ping'an accepted bribes from all the eunuchs in the imperial kitchen to scrape together two gold bars. It was obvious that Xiao Luzi's money came from illegal sources.

"Eunuch An, don't worry about where it comes from. Can gold be differentiated?"

Xiao Luzi said, "As long as we can arrange for me to work in the kitchen, I'll give you one later. There will be various benefits in the future."

Li Ping'an had an idea and guessed that Xiao Luzi had defected to the man in Zhaoyang Palace and tried to sneak into the kitchen to act as a spy.

"Little Lu, our family has always been fair in everything we do. Your bribery is shameful to our family!"

After saying this with a righteous look on his face, he left angrily.

Li Ping'an just thought about taking the gold bars and giving them to his godfather as a gift, but after thinking about it carefully, he realized that the gold in Zhaoyang Palace could not be touched.

If they can't deal with your godfather, how can they deal with you, a dishonest eunuch?

It's not okay to just turn your back on her, and you can't call her a traitor or a spy. If you let Xiao Luzi report this to Zhaoyang Palace, you'll definitely end up in trouble.

"To make a living in the palace, you have to choose the right spot to fart. If you fart in the wrong place and offend an important person, you might even die!"

Li Pingan hurried to the main office and took out two large gold bars as soon as he entered.

"Godfather, your name is engraved on this gold bar!"

Eunuch Sun sipped his tea leisurely, letting his godson act up and fool around in front of him. He knew exactly what this guy had done in recent days.

Xiao Liangzi has been saying this several times, saying that Li Ping'an is arrogant and greedy because of his favor.

When he took a closer look, Eunuch Sun chuckled and saw two words written on the gold bar.

"Godfather"!
(End of this chapter)