From street beggar to high-ranking official

The palace was quiet at night. It was only the 23rd of February. It was fine during the day, but the palace was cold at night. Even the water in the water tanks in the corners of the palace walls and walkways could freeze into a thin layer of ice.

Even Lu Li himself wore an extra layer of cotton clothing under his long robe.

The eunuchs patrolled in teams of three. When they bumped into each other, they would use a password to verify each other's identities. If they found anyone who should not be out at night, the eunuchs in charge of the palace had the right to arrest them on the spot. If anyone resisted, they could even be beaten to death on the spot.

Of course, this only applies to low-ranking eunuchs without official rank or status. If the official himself comes, then it is a private visit to observe the lower ranks!

"With our skills, I wonder if we can rank first." Lu Lijing stood quietly in the corner watching a group of eunuchs walk by, until the bright red lights completely disappeared behind the palace walls before he thought to himself.

Traveling on official business was tiring, so Lu Li rarely had time to cultivate the "Five Senses and Five Methods." However, he could cultivate the "Netherworld Inner Landscape Technique" whenever he could, and he could still circulate it two or three times in the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

However, it seems that due to the limitations of the cultivation method, even with Lu Li's talent, he still found it difficult to cultivate the "Netherworld Inner Landscape Technique" outside. Although the speed of circulating his internal energy did not slow down, the speed at which his true energy condensed in his dantian was significantly slower than when he was cultivating inside the palace.

"Some cultivation techniques seem to have environmental requirements. Is this technique only suitable for cultivation in the deep palace?" Lu Li thought to himself. This answer was easily verified. In half a year, he had advanced from the ninth rank to the eighth rank. Now, a year had passed since he went out on business, and he was still stuck at the eighth rank.

Some of the most basic common sense is not specially revised into a book. Lu Li was unaware that martial arts cultivation slows down the more one cultivates and may even encounter bottlenecks. Unless one can connect all twelve regular meridians and eight extraordinary meridians in the body, there will be no bottlenecks. He knew that martial artists had to cross a threshold to enter and advance to the next rank. For example, for a beginner to enter the ninth rank, it is to sense the Qi entering the body and complete a full cycle. He also vaguely sensed the threshold to enter the seventh rank.

However, Lu Li vaguely sensed his own special characteristics. Apart from his extraordinary hearing, his cultivation of true qi seemed to be somewhat different from that of his colleagues.

As for the difference, Lu Li couldn't figure it out. He would ask his godfather another day to see what the situation was.

child time.

Lu Li appeared in the imperial kitchen with his adopted sons.

Important places like the Imperial Kitchen couldn't be casually patrolled by the eunuchs under his command. As an eighth-rank steward, he naturally had to set an example by personally inspecting the area, so that he could catch rats stealing oil or insects eating grain on the spot.

Since it was Lu Li's first time here, his godson naturally led the way. After each task, he would ask Lu Li if his actions were appropriate.

The first place we went to was the storeroom where the ingredients were stored. The imperial kitchen had a storeroom full of delicacies from land and sea. In addition to the three delicacies that Lu Li had eaten before, there was prepared goose breast, jarred bone marrow paste, bags of pearl rice and purple rice, as well as jade bamboo shoots, bamboo fungus and monkey head mushrooms.

"Reporting to my godfather, the tribute items—heron silk, snow frog, and black bones—have all been damaged and have broken bags," said Xiao Wuzi, the godson.

"Little Wu, according to usual practice, what should we do with these damaged ingredients?" Lu Li asked.

"On that day, the Imperial Kitchen was responsible for registering and cataloging the food, and then it was thrown into the incinerator for destruction." Xiao Wu was very clear about this matter.

"Destroy them?" Lu Li hesitated slightly.

Xiao Chuanzi understood his godfather's implication and immediately said, "Of course, contaminated ingredients must be destroyed, but I've heard that the Imperial Kitchen is still plagued by rats..."

"That's right, a lot of the tribute food in the imperial kitchen has been stolen by the rats." As he spoke, Xiao Wuzi casually tossed a dead rat out of his sleeve, but it looked more like a fairy rat with its wings removed than a rat.

Lu Li didn't care where Xiao Wuzi had picked up the dead immortal rat, and the reason for his hesitation was not what Xiao Chuanzi had guessed.

He was thinking about something else... How much silver is this food worth?

They were destroyed for nothing. If only they had been sent out of the palace back then...

However, times have changed. If a eunuch were to say to Lu Li now that it would be better to send these ingredients out to help the people than to destroy them, Lu Li would definitely raise his eyebrows and scold him.

We're not even full ourselves, why should we feed those poor bastards?!

He glanced at Xiao Wuzi. According to the information provided by Xiao Chuanzi, Xiao Wuzi had contacted a eunuch in the Imperial Kitchen. He was a low-ranking eunuch, but there must be someone else behind that eunuch.

The eunuchs of the Imperial Kitchen wanted to secretly plant spies in the Imperial Household Department, so they secretly allowed the eunuchs of the Imperial Household Department to deal with the rat infestation in the Imperial Kitchen.

This is the link for the exchange of benefits!

The other adopted sons also collected the damaged ingredients, and one of them even turned on a stove: "Great, the imperial kitchen staff didn't turn off the fire!"

Lu Li frowned, having gradually caught up with the actions and thoughts of his adopted sons: "It's not easy to light a fire in the stove, and burning this firewood all night would be a waste. We might as well use it up along with these ingredients!"

"As my godfather commands!"

Three-quarters of an hour later, a pot of nourishing soup was ready, just as the firewood had burned out and the fire was turned off.

Lu Li picked up his chopsticks and put a bite of goose breast into his mouth. The fat was rich and flavorful without being greasy, and the meat was tender and sweet. It was truly a delicacy, sweet and mellow. The snow frog was as smooth as solidified fat, melting in his mouth. Paired with a sip of black bone soup, it warmed him from head to toe like snowflakes being splashed with hot water...

Of course, Lu Li was the first to taste the tonic soup. As for the rest of the soup, according to Xiao Wuzi, the remaining amount of money, more than ten taels of silver, was successfully consumed and destroyed in no time.

After careful consideration, Lu Li realized that even if these tribute foods were ridiculously expensive, at least they actually went into his stomach. Unlike the Imperial Household Department, where a bundle of yellow paper cost five taels of silver, and even if it was burned to ashes, he wouldn't enjoy any benefit from it.

......

After leaving the imperial kitchen, Huang Liang continued his night patrol with his godson. The quiet night was perfect for using the Listening Ear Technique, allowing him to hear all sorts of subtle sounds. This made Lu Li wonder what the range of sound would be if he were to cultivate the Listening Ear Technique to the fourth level.

At the second level, one can hear within a radius of thirty feet. Although this range is still only a corner of the palace, considering Lu Li's age, if he didn't serve in the palace, he would be a disciple of a sect in the martial arts world.

But if we let Lu Lixuan choose, he will never leave the palace. Our family is already in the largest violent institution in the world, why should we look for something else?

As the night patrol approached dawn, Officer Lu suddenly heard a clear splashing sound.

None of the adopted sons heard it, but Lu Li clearly discerned the direction and approximate distance.

There are two ways to navigate the palace: either listen less, observe less, and speak less, knowing nothing about things that don't concern you; or listen more, observe more, and ask more, taking precautions to avoid bringing trouble upon yourself.

However, Lu Li's standards were always flexible. After silently noting down the location of the splash, he left as if he knew nothing.

There must be a reason for dumping a body in the middle of the night; it's either to repay a debt of gratitude or to seek revenge.