The Empress's First Running Dog

Chapter 75: Entering the Palace for the Fourth Time (Seeking Follow-up Reading)

Zhao Duan was stunned for a moment, then passed the beef wrapped in oil paper to his left hand, bent down to pick up the official document, dusted it off, put it back on the table, and said with a smile:

"My Lord, are you in a bad mood today?"

The old eunuch with gray hair and sunken eye sockets was furious. He sat behind the desk in the main hall and looked down at him:
"I remember telling you not to come again."

Zhao Duan said shamelessly:

"I told you last time that you are not allowed to visit me late at night. The sun has just set now."

Sun Lianying sneered:

"What's so good about my place? Isn't it more interesting than hanging out with those playboys?"

What a petty person! It's just skipping work a few times... Zhao Duan laughed dryly and did not make any excuses.

He placed the wine and meat on the stone table in the back courtyard and said:

"The food in the government office is too bad. Your Excellency has not had dinner yet. I brought your favorite osmanthus wine, Fengji beef, Dongshifang tofu, and Hanji pickles..."

It’s not rich, but it tastes good.

Sun Lianying was in a trance.

A long time ago, there was a period of time when Zhao Duan often came to see him with food and drinks.

But after he rose to prominence as a young imperial guard, he never had any success again.

"Oh, you still remember our preferences," Sun Lianying was silent for a moment, and said disdainfully:

"Your wine is not good, there is better one in the back room."

Zhao Duan's eyes lit up, and he hurried over to get two jars of the old eunuch's private collection of aged wine.

When he came out, the old eunuch was already sitting at the stone table. He opened the oil paper package, put a piece of meat in his mouth, and Zhao Duan hurriedly brought him a bowl of wine.

After he drank it, he let out a long, comfortable breath, and the afterglow in the sky also dimmed.

Lanterns were lit in the back court.

On the first night of summer, mosquitoes were flying around the quaint bamboo lanterns, and the sky was covered with a veil.

The old and the young sat opposite each other, eating and drinking, and occasionally chatting with each other. The topic always revolved around the turmoil in the court in the past two days.

Zhao Duan was curious and learned many details with great interest.

It is said that the most effective way to please a man is to ask him about his areas of expertise.

Next, just listen, the other person will talk endlessly and you will have a comfortable and cool experience.

"You came here today just to find out these things?"

When the wine was half drunk, Sun Lianying was a little tipsy and asked.

"I can't come to visit you if nothing happens?" Zhao Duan picked up the wine jar and refilled his glass:
"Your Excellency has done a lot for me in the past, and I will keep it in mind."

After a pause, he said jokingly:

"If I hadn't confirmed that there is no elder with the surname Sun in the family, I would almost think that you and I are related."

He came tonight for three reasons: one, to repair the relationship, two, to understand the situation in the court, and three, to find out why the old eunuch was so nice to the original owner.

It can't be that he is a eunuch's illegitimate child...that would be too ridiculous.

Sun Lianying leaned back in the rattan chair and sneered:
"We don't have a young man as unruly as you in our family. As for our origins, we do have some."

Zhao Duan's eyes lit up: "I am all ears."

The drunken old eunuch seemed to be reminded of the past. He was silent for a long time before he said:
“I entered the palace in the second year after the late emperor ascended the throne.

That year, there was a severe cold disaster, and people were freezing to death in the areas around the capital. My family was already poor, and we suffered from the disaster. We couldn't survive. My parents had no choice but to send me to the palace to find a job and at least keep my family alive.

But how easy is it to enter the palace? You can't just swing a knife and cut off the roots and then enter.

You have to find someone, use your connections to get close to the eunuchs, and only if they are willing to guarantee you, will you get a master to do it for you. You also have to stay at the master's house for a few days to recuperate, and you have to provide food and clothing...

It doesn’t matter if you don’t have money, you can’t even sell yourself into slavery.

What to do? He had to seek help from people with whom he had no connections at all. Finally, he found a military officer in the imperial guards and was able to get it done.

Not only that, the military officer also paid out of his own pocket and helped to arrange things, so that she was allowed to enter the palace.

But after entering the palace, he found that the eunuchs and palace maids at the lower level had a hard life. It was already difficult to catch the eye of a noble lady and avoid being bullied by other eunuchs.

The little money I earned every month had to be sent out of the palace to support my family. Those days were really hard to endure. It was only thanks to the help from that military officer that I was able to survive."

Zhao Duan asked curiously:

"Didn't you say that after entering the palace, there is a chance to be selected as a 'consecrator'? Didn't you try?"

Sun Lianying sighed:

"Why didn't you try? At that time, everyone who entered the palace wanted to become a priest. There was also a rumor that if you became a priest and practiced to a high level, you could make up for your imperfect body...

Oh, I later learned that even at the Heavenly Man level, one can only regenerate broken limbs within a short period of time after the body is destroyed..."

He suddenly laughed and said:
"At that time, there was another eunuch younger than me, who was also staring at this. You know him, it's Ma Yan."

"Ma Dugong?" Zhao Duan said, "I heard that he is the prince's man."

"Yes," Sun Lianying nodded:

"Ma Yan's background was even worse. Both his parents died, and he was nearly beaten to death by beggars on the street. Fortunately, the prince was on patrol that day and rescued him. By then, his lower body had been smashed by the beggars, so he entered the palace.

His talent is the best among our group, and he is the only one chosen by the Sea Worshiper.

After the Xuanmen coup, Ma Yan was stabbed thirty-one times to save the prince, as a way of repaying his kindness. After Your Majesty avenged the prince, Ma Yan pledged allegiance to Your Majesty. "

Is Ma Yan also worshipped in the imperial city?

Zhao Duan was surprised, this was an inside story he had never known.

He blinked his eyes and said, "Do you know anything about Hai Gong?"

Sun Lianying glanced at him and said:
"Don't be so insinuating here. Who is Hai Gongfeng? You just need to remember that he is only loyal to the emperor."

Loyal to the "Emperor".

So, after the old emperor passed away, the prince had not yet succeeded to the throne and the new emperor had not yet appeared, so the royal family did not participate in the coup?
Neither of them helped? Or did they help but were stopped by some force?

In the original owner's memory, he did not see Eunuch Hai on the day of the coup.

Zhao Duan took a deep breath and did not continue to dig deeper into the topic. He said:

“But you still got the momentum.”

Sun Lianying said "yes" and smiled:

"That's the second 'noble' our family has met. During the time of the previous emperor, there was a famous person in the palace who was only 18 years old and became the 'eunuch in charge of the seal'. This is rare in history books.

I met him when I was young, and after he gained power, he promoted me and sent me to work for the Third Princess, our Majesty, so that I could advance my career."

"An eighteen-year-old eunuch in charge?" Zhao Duan was surprised:
"I seem to have heard my father mention it, but I don't remember it very clearly."

Logically speaking, such a powerful eunuch should have a great reputation, unless he died young.

Sun Lianying sighed:

"At that time, he was in high spirits and all the civil and military officials in the court were in awe of him. However, due to his youth and frivolity, he offended many people and even interfered in the government affairs... He died unexpectedly when he left the palace and went south."

If this isn't murder, my name would be written backwards... Zhao Duan complained in his heart.

This would explain why he didn't know much.

The person died too early and no one mentioned it.

Sun Lianying said:

"His death taught me the most important lesson. From then on, I kept in mind that when doing things in the palace, I must be cautious and careful, and never be frivolous. I can make money, but I can only be greedy for money, not for power.

After that, the palace was quiet for a while. As I grew older, I was appreciated by the Third Princess for my good hair-combing skills. She allowed me to audit the classes in the palace school. You know the rest."

Once the Third Princess ascends the throne, everyone will be blessed... Zhao Duan automatically completed the follow-up. He was silent for a moment and said:

"So, the imperial guard who helped you..."

Sun Lianying nodded: "It's your grandfather."

"..." Zhao Duan didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

The reason that had troubled him for so long turned out to be just this.

Sun Lianying received timely help from the Zhao family in his early years. After the empress ascended the throne, he returned the favor by recommending and promoting Zhao Duan, bringing him into Xu Zhenguan's vision.

He sighed:
"So, you repeatedly warned me not to be arrogant or impatient, because..."

Sun Lianying sighed: "Remember the past and learn from it for the future."

Case solved!
It was precisely because of the living example of the "eighteen-year-old eunuch in charge of the seal" who had once promoted him that the old eunuch criticized Zhao Duan.

I was afraid that he would repeat the same mistake and end up dying by accident.

Sun Lianying was very drunk. She stared at him and urged him:
“I know you don’t want to listen. When you are young, you always dislike and resist the advice of the elderly.

When people teach others, a hundred words are useless; but when things teach people, they are taught once and for all.

I thought you had come to your senses after the Zhuang Xiaocheng case, but I didn't expect you to be hanging out with a playboy like Qin Qu again..."

The old eunuch's voice became lower and lower, and he was actually drunk and fell into a deep sleep.

The night was quiet and Zhao Duan looked up at the sky.

The dense clouds that had been pressing down on the capital for days dispersed, and a full moon hung high in the sky.

He stood up, took the old eunuch into the house, covered him with a blanket, packed up the leftovers, and left.

He gained a lot of information from the conversation tonight.

……

The next day, at dawn.

Zhao Du'an got up, put on his envoy's official robe in front of the bronze mirror, took out a porcelain bottle, and carefully hid it in his inner pocket.

This is the "Rose Dew" he made in his spare time these days.

That is: a rough version of perfume is obtained by mixing rose flowers with water and distilling them.

“The craftsmanship is a bit crude, but it’s still a novelty in Dayu.”

Zhao Duan muttered, "I wonder if Zhenguan likes it."

He tried it and found it quite good, with a light and fragrant scent, much better than the sachets used in the Dayu Dynasty, which were mainly used to repel insects.

The morning court session is held very early and often ends at dawn.

He estimated that the dust should have settled.

While he was thinking, Eugene Hua's voice came from outside: "Da Lang, someone is looking for you outside."

Zhao Duan rushed to the door.

In the dim morning light, the attendant beside Yuan Li leaned against the carriage and said with a smile:

"Lord Yuan ordered me to invite you into the palace to receive your reward."

Pei Kaizhi fell? !
Zhao Duan was encouraged. The war was over and it was time to reward people according to their merits.

……

palace gate.

When Zhao Duan arrived, he unexpectedly saw a familiar figure. He was startled and greeted with a smile:

"Brother!"

He was tall and thin, cold and beardless, with two slightly gray eyebrows growing diagonally on his protruding brow bone. The governor of the imperial yamen, who was feared by all the officials, had just arrived and was startled when he heard the call.

Ma Yan frowned and said, "Lord Zhao, what did you call me?"

Then he noticed that Zhao Duan actually walked out of Yuan Li's carriage, and his pupils suddenly narrowed.

Thanks to GeckoLin for the 500-coin reward!
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(End of this chapter)