Dugong

Chapter 62: Noisy and Bustling
Eunuch Fan was slightly startled, a gloom flashed in his eyes, but his face was still full of smiles. He turned around and scolded the eunuchs under his command.

"You guys are so clueless! Why don't you just put the things in front of Eunuch An?"

The young eunuchs came forward one after another, calling him "Eunuch An" and following him respectfully.

Li Ping'an responded with a smile. He was used to flattery after experiencing many ups and downs. He ran in and out several times before moving all the things into the main hall.

The ice jar was placed three feet in front of the bed, emitting a misty white vapor that instantly relieved the scorching summer heat. Li Ping'an closed the north window to prevent the cold air from blowing directly into the queen and causing her discomfort.

Eunuch Fan stood at the door with eager eyes, but he didn't dare to go in without the Queen's permission. He also wanted to get close to Eunuch Chu, but seeing that he was dozing with his eyes closed, he didn't dare to disturb him.

I secretly complained that my godfather was snobbish and didn’t know how to keep things simple!
Li Pingan put all the items in place, consulted the Queen, and went out and said, "Eunuch Ye is a filial tribute, and the Queen said she would take note of it."

"Okay, okay, I'll take note of it. I'll take my leave."

Eunuch Fan led his men to take their leave and walked out of the cold palace gate. He skillfully stuffed a few banknotes into Li Ping'an's pocket and said, "Eunuch An, take this and have some wine. Please say a few good words to me in the future."

Li Ping'an glanced at the face value. As expected of working under the admiral, he was generous and agreed immediately.

He returned to the cold palace and bowed to present the banknotes.

Eunuch Chu probably won't accept it, but as a grandson, he must understand the rules.

Sure enough, Eunuch Chu waved his hand and said, "Our family is not short of money. You can keep it for yourself, but you must remember who gave how much."

Li Ping'an happily put the banknotes away. It was a total of 200 acres of land, half of Sun Baopi's family.

"Grandpa, why did Eunuch Ye suddenly change his attitude?"

Eunuch Chu said, "Yesterday morning at court, His Majesty rebuked Minister Zeng for exaggerating his reports based on hearsay and demoted him to the position of Supervisory Censor. He also promoted Minister Wang to the Ministry of Revenue and appointed him to the Cabinet."

The cabinet ministers are appointed by His Majesty and are advisors who help review memorials. Their actual official title of "Grand Secretary" is a nominal one and they do not have as much real power as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

Because of this, Emperor Wude could demote or promote cabinet ministers at will without going through examinations and verifications by the six ministries.

The extent of the power of cabinet ministers is closely related to the Majesty's preferences, and in some respects they are similar to the eunuchs in the palace.

Seeing that Li Ping'an still looked puzzled, Eunuch Chu scolded him, "Have you forgotten our painting of the night banquet so quickly?"

Li Pingan thought carefully and suddenly realized, "There's a character above Minister Wang's head. He's an old subordinate of the Crown Prince!"

Eunuch Chu explained, "Lord Wang was the third place winner of the imperial examination in the 12th year of the Wude era. He was once a tutor in the Eastern Palace and was appointed as the Crown Prince's teacher."

Li Pingan was surprised and said, "Your Majesty is allowing Lord Wang to join the cabinet to pave the way for the Crown Prince?"

"Maybe so."

Eunuch Chu lowered his eyes, his face showing no emotion.

evening.

Li Ping'an lay in bed and slept. After three years, he used silk bedding again. The Imperial Wardrobe Supervisor naturally would not forget the Queen's personal attendant.

Touching the silk quilt as smooth as water, my heart is filled with desire for power and career.

"Of course, there's nothing wrong with coarse linen, but silk and satin are more suitable for our family!"

……

Minister Wang’s promotion was just the beginning.

Not long after, Emperor Wude demoted dozens of officials for various bizarre reasons, such as having their left foot first in the Qinzheng Hall, having conflicting birth dates, and even sneezing in front of the emperor.

Among them, the newly crowned number one scholar Qiao Rubai was the most unlucky. When he was waiting to be summoned outside the palace, a crow flew over his head and dropped a pile of bird droppings, which stained his court robes.

Emperor Wude believed this was a "celestial warning" and ordered him to be expelled from the Hanlin Academy.

Where there are demotions, there are promotions. The former subordinates of the crown prince were promoted one after another to fill the vacancies in the court.

His Majesty's move almost made it clear to all officials and nobles that he wanted to push the crown prince to succeed to the throne. Zhao Rui was over 30 years old, which was the prime of his life.

The cold palace suddenly became noisy and lively! Li Ping'an had no time to study or practice calligraphy. He was busy dealing with the father-in-law who came to visit for various reasons every day.

The Ministry of Interior sent antiques and calligraphy and paintings, the Ministry of Palace Affairs came to sweep the courtyard, the Ministry of Imperial Households brought curtains and ceremonial objects, the Ministry of Internal Affairs repaired and built the palace, and even the eunuchs from the Imperial Horse Administration came to ask if the Empress wanted to go for a ride on horseback.

The only eunuchs missing were those from the Imperial Household Department and the Imperial Shrine Department.

Admiral Leng and Admiral Zhao had already completely fallen out with Eunuch Chu, and were probably thinking about a response strategy.

Li Ping'an followed the orders of Eunuch Chu, going in if he was asked to work, taking money if he was given, and accepting gifts if he was given. He would not discuss anything else.

"The Queen is chanting scriptures and worshiping Buddha..."

"The ancestor is not feeling well..."

These two sentences have to be said more than ten times every day. Fortunately, everyone who comes is respectful and knows the rules, and no one is so blind as to ask to see me.

The gifts and silver received were recorded in a book, with the name, official position and amount written in detail.

It's not to blackmail or coerce, but to promote and reuse you in the future!

Eunuchs with official positions were allowed to come in and say a few words, while other eunuchs without official positions could only take the opportunity to go around and pass by the cold palace while on duty to wait and see.

I was lucky enough to meet Li Ping'an at the door, so I went up to him and chatted with him. Since I was not qualified to flatter the Queen or Eunuch Chu, I would just praise Eunuch An.

"Greetings, Eunuch An!"

"This is just a small gift from me. Please accept it, Eunuch An."

"Eunuch An, I work at the Imperial Household Department. Please play with this katydid gourd..."

No matter which young eunuch came to talk to him, Li Ping'an would greet him with a smile, say that he had a bright future if he had a good job, and pat the shoulders of the eunuchs who had a bad job and say a few words of comfort.

It doesn't matter if you are not well off. Li Ping'an not only doesn't mind, but also tells you to come to our house and get some money if you are short of money.

If it were before you were sent to the cold palace, anyone who dared not to give money or gave too little would be treated badly on the spot, and would be made to do bad things to you later.

Reading makes people wise. Li Ping'an's hostility dissipated. Under the guidance of Eunuch Chu, he understood the benefits of being kind to ordinary people.

If you show kindness to someone in a superior position, you will be rewarded with a spring of gratitude!
However, Li Ping'an was only proud for a few days before the revenge of Zhaoyang Palace came.

This evening.

Xiao Wuzi did not come to the cold palace to deliver food, and the new eunuch did not bring vegetarian meals or imperial meals, so naturally there was no white flour buns that Li Ping'an loved to eat.

A dozen or so rough flour pancakes, not even a bowl of water.

Eunuch Chu ate the coarse flour pancakes leisurely and asked, "Xiao Anzi, how does it taste?"

"good."

Li Pingan ate one in two or three bites, chewing it carefully and savoring it. It had a unique sweetness that was completely different from the white flour steamed bun. "Zhaoyang Palace has been planning for half a month, and can only resort to such boring means. It seems that they have run out of tricks!"

"Not bad, there is progress."

Eunuch Chu nodded slightly and asked, "Little Mengzi is suspected of embezzling tribute and has been demoted to an internal official to oversee the repair of the imperial mausoleum. Do you think we should strike back at Zhaoyang Palace?"

Li Ping'an didn't ask Xiao Wuzi about his situation, and picked up another rough flour pancake.

"Repairing the imperial mausoleum is a good job. It brings power and money, and it's far away from the palace struggles. Let Eunuch Meng stay for a while."

"Xiao Anzi, you are very good!"

Eunuch Chu clapped his hands in praise, then suddenly lowered his voice and asked, "Do you think the Crown Prince can ascend the throne and become emperor?"

"Hard to say."

(End of this chapter)