From street beggar to high-ranking official

Contrary to Lu Li's expectations, the palace was vast. The area he had previously stayed in was merely an outer corner. Holding the waist token of the Palace Attendant, he passed through the Forbidden City after being verified by the Imperial Guards and finally entered the inner palace.

Once inside, one is not allowed to move around freely. The head eunuch of the Twelve Offices will wait here until everyone has arrived, and then each will lead their people back to their respective offices.

The Directorate of Palace Attendants was located around the inner palaces of the Forbidden City. What was somewhat special was that all the eunuchs under the Directorate of Palace Attendants were allowed to live in the Forbidden City. The eunuchs lived with the Directorate, sweeping and cleaning the courtyards from sunrise to sunset, managing the palace buildings, cleaning, guarding the palace gates, and taking root in the palace.

Lu Li mingled among a group of people he knew, most of whom were his former classmates. Without Xiao Jizi to contend with, this group of eunuchs implicitly regarded Lu Li as their leader.

Eunuchs are like sycophantic mosquitoes, always drawn to the most popular places.

After passing through layers of palace walls and courtyards, dazzled by the red walls, green tiles, and golden leaves and silver flowers, the group packed up their bedding and arrived at the office of the head eunuch of the main hall. After reporting in through the gatekeeper, they entered, and Lu Li bowed to the head eunuch sitting upright on the pear blossom chair.

"Little Lu greets the steward!"

Lu Li spoke first, and the other eunuchs hurriedly followed, all kowtowing.

The steward waved away his attendants, leaving only Lu the clerk in the room.

"Young Master Lu, there's no need for such formalities." The head eunuch, Eunuch Zhao, said with a kind smile, "I'm an old acquaintance of Eunuch Chen, and I treat you like a nephew."

Lu Li was quick-witted, and the implication was that he should call him uncle.

However, after being instructed by Eunuch Chen, Clerk Lu knew that this was a private term of address, and that he should address him in the proper way when on duty.

When you're at work, you should use your job title!

Eunuch Zhao focused only on Li Lu, waving away the other eunuchs. Only when there were no more servants in the main office did Li Lu stand up and take the initiative to brew a pot of tea for Eunuch Zhao.

"Uncle, let me offer you a toast."

"Hmm, little Lu is very thoughtful." Eunuch Zhao took a sip and said softly, "Little Lu is new here, so please observe and learn as much as you can. From now on, you will be in charge of palace patrols. My godfather will explain the specifics to you in detail."

"Thank you for your kindness, Uncle. If there's anything I need you to do in the future, please just tell me." Lu bowed again in thanks. Seeing that Eunuch Zhao had nothing else to say, he took the initiative to bow and leave the office. When no one was around, he slipped five taels of silver to the doorman.

Being a gatekeeper at the palace is no simple matter. They are in charge of entry and exit, reporting and submitting documents. They are mostly trusted confidants of the person in charge. Although gatekeepers are on duty, they have no rank or position. If someone wants to get rid of you, it's just a matter of saying a word.

Moreover, the gatekeeper is also called the gatekeeper, which shows how important he is.

"You're too kind, Eunuch Lu." The head eunuch chuckled. "There's nothing to do today, Eunuch Lu. You may go to the Hidden Martial Pavilion. Remember to come early tomorrow when you're on duty, at 3 AM."

After saying that, he blatantly took out a red envelope and, in front of Lu Li, stuffed the five taels of silver he had given him into it and returned it.

"This is a red envelope from our little Xizi to congratulate Eunuch Lu on his meteoric rise to power."

"Grandpa Xi is truly a remarkable person."

Lu Li smiled and thanked him, then took back the red envelope and headed towards the Hidden Martial Pavilion.

Leaving the Zhidianjian Yamen and heading north, he saw a figure in blue robes ahead and hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed at the corner of the path.

"This servant greets Consort De."

It was a four-bearer carved palanquin, with delicate bamboo and orchid carvings on its body. Palace maids cleared the way, and the palanquin carried a fragrance of flowers as it passed. Lu Li did not dare to look up until the palanquin had gone far away before he stood up and took a look from a distance.

When Eunuch Chen was teaching, he taught how to identify the concubines in the palace. The eight-bearer sandalwood phoenix palanquin belonged to the Empress Dowager, who was the birth mother of Emperor Yongxi of the Great Qian Dynasty; the six-bearer dragon and phoenix palanquin belonged to the Empress; and the number of four consorts and nine concubines was four times two.

"The carriage passed by, carrying the fragrance of orchids, and the accompanying palace maids all had the appearance of women from Jiangnan. It was undoubtedly Consort De." Lu Li continued walking along the path, but he had doubts in his heart.

He has exceptional hearing and could hear faint crying as the carriage passed by.

Who could possibly make Consort De lose her composure? It must be someone who has lost the Emperor's favor.

Lu Li pondered to himself, and after walking for another quarter of an hour, he arrived at the territory where the Hidden Martial Pavilion was located.

The Zangwu Pavilion is not located inside the Forbidden City, but rather in the center of a square in the northeast corner of the Imperial City. It is quite close to the Twelve Offices.

The plaza where the Hidden Martial Pavilion is located is different from other places. The ground is covered with white bricks. Lu Li, dressed in gray, stands out quite a bit as he walks on the plaza's walkway. He doesn't know much about antiques, but he can tell that they are of very high quality. If it were night, the ground would probably be covered in white.

After Lu Li showed his waist tag, an old eunuch registered his name. Lu Li handed over some silver, but the old eunuch didn't even look at it and just let Lu Li go in.

This was the first time Lu Li had met a eunuch who didn't covet silver. He couldn't tell whether the eunuch disdained to take the small amount or was genuinely detached from worldly desires. He just smiled awkwardly, bowed, and entered the pavilion.

The Hidden Martial Arts Pavilion collects martial arts techniques from all over the world, but they are not the originals; they are all copies. It is said that the original rare copies are all stored in the library, and there are even many strange tales, mysteries, and secrets of the previous dynasty.

There are rumors in the martial arts world that the Great Qian Martial Arts Pavilion contains the strongest martial arts techniques in the world, while the library holds the greatest secrets of the world.

Lu Li, of course, didn't care about these things. Rumors in the martial arts world are always distorted. For example, everyone says that it wouldn't be an exaggeration to kill all the eunuchs in the capital. In reality, the vast majority of them came from poor backgrounds. Let alone being corrupt, they might not even be the ones to do bad things.

However, Lu Li's purpose in coming here was to select a cultivation method. The "Neijing Jue" seemed to be solely about cultivating true qi. Throughout the entire book, it made no mention of strategies for using true qi against enemies. Instead, it discussed some profound and mysterious philosophies of life, reminiscent of the words of an old man.

Upon entering the attic, one finds dusty manuals placed on bookshelves; just looking at the list would take quite a while.

The Hidden Martial Arts Pavilion contains not only martial arts manuals, but also insights into martial arts techniques, legends from the martial arts world, and other books related to martial arts.

The collection includes over ten thousand books on leisure, miscellaneous books, martial arts techniques, and unofficial histories.

Without anyone to guide him, Lu Li could only walk and observe. Many of the martial arts manuals had impressive titles, such as "Dragon Elephant Suppressing Prison Technique," "Sunflower Manual," "Tai Su Concentrating Spirit Chapter," and "Great Music of Heaven and Earth Yin and Yang Intercourse"...

When Lu Li saw this, he was stunned for a moment. After thinking about it carefully, he wondered if a eunuch without testicles could learn this.

Upon closer inspection, there are also works such as "The True Word to Eliminate the Killing Intent," "The Soul-Capturing Demonic Sound," "The Lion's Roar," "Tai Chi Fist," "The Ghostly Shadow Steps," "The River-Crossing Turbulent Steps," "The Five-Element Eight Trigram Staff," "The Moonlit Sword Manual," and "The Azure Lotus Sword Song."

At first, he found it novel, but the more he read, the more confused he became, leaving Lu Li unable to make a decision.

He didn't know that martial arts manuals and secret records of sects and factions in the martial arts world were always kept extremely confidential, and there were even cases where they were passed down to only one person. Unlike Lu Li, who didn't know which one to choose.

After carefully selecting his items, Lu Li went up to the third floor. He looked left and right, and finally confirmed his selection range.

Swords and knives are strictly forbidden in the palace. It is not impossible to practice the skills of swords, spears, halberds, and other weapons, but eunuchs are not allowed to carry weapons with them. It is also not easy to practice the skills of poison. As for poisons alone, you cannot start practicing them without the right connections.

The palace is the safest place in the world, but even if one learns powerful and profound martial arts techniques, there is nowhere to use them. Moreover, there are some techniques that Lu Li doesn't even know what they are about just by looking at their names.

For example, "Answering the Questions of the Beggar Under the Mulberry Tree," "Riding the Wind in the Void," "The Essential Scripture of the Supreme Purity," and "The Secret Scripture of the Essential Scripture of the Returning to the Mysterious Mystery" are completely incomprehensible.

Out of curiosity, I took it out to take a look. One of the books contained content that was not like a cultivation technique at all. Instead, it was like a fable, a dialogue between a white-robed immortal and a beggar. The beggar was able to drink the blood of the people and become an emperor. The whole text did not contain a single word about meridians or true qi.

Therefore, Lu Li decided to skip over fist and foot techniques, lightness skills, internal energy, poison techniques, weapons, and incomprehensible martial arts techniques.

"My hearing is exceptional; perhaps I could specialize in this?" Lu Li had another idea in mind, so he specifically chose this path and soon made progress.

He looked at the two manuals in his hands and was puzzled.

One book is titled "Listening to the Truth," which sounds prestigious just from the name. The other book is called "The Five Senses and Five Methods," and its cover is even covered with a thin layer of dust.

Both options suited Lu Li's wishes.

Caught between two choices, Lu Li touched his own face: "I've had a fierce look since I was little, and I never get a kind word from relatives. It's one thing when I'm begging, but this is the palace. If a nobleman sees my face, I might be beaten to death for displeasing him. Wouldn't that be a terrible injustice?"

Eunuchs have always been lowly, and their status is sometimes determined by a single word from a noble person. For example, Consort Xian's love of beauty is well known in the palace. Normally, it's fine to kowtow and avoid her, but if Consort Xian were to see him one day, Lu Li couldn't even imagine what would happen to him.