Dugong

Chapter 16 Death of an Old Friend
Meals are served in the evening.

Li Ping'an had forgotten how many times he had seen Emperor Wude. He had completely lost all his mystery and had become a skinny old man.

Another twenty acres of land were burned during the meal. Perhaps because he had burned so many acres of land, he was numb to it and no longer felt the same pain and regret as before.

Returned to the residence in the middle of the night.

Li Ping'an was about to push the door open when he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Eunuch An, it's been a while since I last saw you, but you look even more elegant now."

Following the sound, I saw the eunuch's face clearly in the moonlight. It was Xiao Dengzi, my classmate from Neiwu Hall.

Li Pingan bowed and asked, "What does Eunuch Deng want to see me about?"

Little Dengzi bent over, raised his buttocks, and said humbly and flatteringly: "I am not worthy of being a eunuch. But Eunuch An has become a disciple of Master Sun and has a bright future."

As he spoke, he pulled out a banknote from his sleeve and said, "I just heard about this today, so I came to give you a gift. In the future, when Eunuch An becomes successful, please don't forget our friendship as classmates!"

Li Ping'an showed disdain. There was no such thing as classmate friendship in the palace. Everyone was just flattering the powerful and looking down on the weak.

He glanced at the banknote, which was only worth ten taels, which was not a small amount for little Dengzi, but it was not very appealing to Eunuch An.

Now that Li Ping'an has several hundred taels of silver in his pocket, the temptation of ten taels of silver is easily resisted.

"Where does Xiao Dengzi work?"

Little Dengzi still held up the banknotes: "I am not talented enough to practice martial arts, so I will be assigned to the Imperial Stables to feed the horses."

Among the twelve supervisors of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Imperial Horse Supervisor is the lowest, even lower than the Palace Supervisors who stand guard, sweep the floor, and do odd jobs. They serve the imperial horses all day long.

Not to mention His Majesty's holy face, even living people can hardly be seen.

Li Pingan asked again, "Xiao Zhuozi is a close friend of yours. He's very talented. Did he help you when he became successful?"

Xiao Dengzi smiled bitterly and said, "Eunuch An, you don't know that Xiao Zhuozi is already dead."

"died?"

Li Ping'an's face was full of disbelief. The little table in his mind was still the martial arts genius who had endured for half a year and suddenly burst out, catching the eyes of his ancestors.

"When did he die? How did he die? Who was the murderer?"

"On the second night after meeting the ancestor, Xiao Zhuo was attacked and killed while using the restroom."

Xiao Dengzi said, "We don't know who the murderer is, but according to the eunuchs from the Palace Supervisor's investigation, there were at least two attackers."

Li Ping'an frowned slightly, subconsciously suspecting that the murderer was one of the eunuchs who entered the palace in the same batch, most likely one of the eunuchs who ranked in the top few in the palm strength test.

Xiao Zhuo had only been here for half a year, and he spent all day learning martial arts and rules, so he had basically no chance of offending the senior eunuchs.

Only on that day did he show his talent and stand out in front of the ancestor, perhaps becoming the target of public criticism and being eliminated by others.

Killing a small eunuch is no big deal in the palace.

A dead genius is not a genius. No matter how talented you are, if you die before you grow up, you are no different from a useless person.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs will not bother to investigate. Instead of doing that, they would rather buy more people.

Li Pingan asked, "Do you know which of our classmates were assigned to the Imperial Household Department?"

Little Dengzi replied: "Little Ningzi, Little Ruizi, Little Lanzi..."

Xiao Dengzi went to congratulate these people one by one, but they refused to listen to his flattery and refused to accept his money. They really looked down on a low-level eunuch who raised horses.

Li Ping'an wrote down the name and warned himself to be cautious in future dealings with it, as there might be a murderer among them.

He took the banknote and said with a smile, "Don't worry, little Dengzi. If there's an opportunity in the future, we'll transfer you to the imperial kitchen to work."

As for when the opportunity will come, it depends on when Xiao Dengzi shows his value.

Little Dengzi bowed repeatedly: "Thank you, Eunuch An."

Li Pingan instructed: "Little Dengzi, listen and watch more often. Remember to tell us about any news about His Majesty or the Imperial Kitchen."

Little Dengzi promised repeatedly: "Don't worry, Eunuch An, we won't miss a single word."

Li Pingan asked, "Little Dengzi, come in and sit down?"

Xiao Dengzi had achieved his goal and did not dare to disturb him any further. He left on the pretext of feeding the imperial horses with night grass.

Li Pingan watched Xiao Dengzi disappear into the night. The smile on his face vanished instantly, replaced by a sullen, cold gaze. "Xiao Zhuozi is dead just like that! This palace is truly a cannibalistic place..."

……

The twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month.

In the evening, meals were served not in the Qinzheng Hall but in the Zhaoyang Palace.

The residence of the Yuan concubine.

Li Ping'an noticed that his godfather's face looked gloomier than usual. He was obviously in a bad mood, but the specific reason was unclear.

I dare not ask, and I cannot ask.

The palace has a strict hierarchy. If you don’t have a high enough status, knowing some things will bring disaster.

The first time Li Ping'an entered the harem, he carried the soul-returning soup and wandered around until he arrived at Zhaoyang Palace, which was next to Kunning Palace where the queen lived.

East side hall.

Emperor Wu De sat at the head of the table, and Concubine Yuan sat beside him, and the two were chatting.

Eunuch Sun's gloomy face had turned into a smile. After paying his respects to His Majesty and the Empress, he directed the eunuchs to serve the dishes one by one.

After serving the dishes, Li Ping'an bowed and retreated outside the hall, waiting for the meal to be served.

From time to time, the laughter of His Majesty or Concubine Yuan could be heard in the palace. Although there was a big age gap between the couple, they seemed to have a good relationship.

Dinner took two quarters of an hour longer than usual. After the meal was served, it was not poured into the serving stove, but was put into a food box and sent to the general's residence.

Your Majesty rewarded Princess Yuan's mother with a meal to express gratitude to her son for fighting for the country, and her daughter's pulse showed signs of pregnancy.

Return to the imperial kitchen.

Eunuch Sun sent someone to call over his seven adopted sons. He glanced at them coldly, and his gaze finally fell on Xiao Chengzi, who worked at the Tribute Department.

"Xiao Chengzi, how does our family treat you?"

Xiao Chengzi quickly replied, "Godfather cares deeply for me and is as kind as if I had been reborn."

Eunuch Sun said coldly, "If that's the case, why did you betray our family?"

Xiao Chengzi's legs softened, and he fell to his knees: "I am loyal to my godfather and have no second thoughts. I..."

Before he could finish his words, Eunuch Sun reached out and grabbed Xiao Chengzi's neck, and with a little force, he pinched him so hard that he couldn't breathe.

"A few days ago, the blood-red bird's nest and snow frog tribute from Northern Xinjiang were delivered to Zhaoyang Palace. How dare you say you didn't know?"

Xiao Chengzi struggled to explain himself, but his neck was broken with a snap.

Eunuch Sun waved his hand and threw the body out the door, his eyes sweeping over the remaining sons: "Do you know who is the boss of our family?"

Several people looked at each other, not daring to answer.

Li Pingan saw his godfather looking at him and replied in a deep voice, "It's the ancestor."

Eunuch Sun continued to ask: "What about the ancestors above?"

Li Pingan shook his head slightly: "I don't know."

"First, His Majesty, then the Empress, and then the Eastern Palace..."

Eunuch Sun said, "The Queen has always disliked the Zhaoyang Palace and ordered us to keep an eye on the Imperial Kitchen. Xiao Chengzi knew about it but didn't report it. It's obvious that he has second thoughts!"

Li Ping'an suddenly realized that it was no wonder that his godfather acted so decisively and ruthlessly.

This is a dispute over the harem, what does a mere godfather mean? Just kill him and take another one. There isn't much else in the palace, and there are countless eunuchs who want to be godfathers.

"At noon today, the Imperial Hospital announced that the woman in Zhaoyang Palace is pregnant with a prince."

Eunuch Sun said sinisterly, "We don't care how others stick to us, but if you dare to have other intentions, don't blame us for being cruel!"

Li Pingan and the others kowtowed and swore: "I am loyal to you. If I disobey you, I will be punished by heaven."

Eunuch Sun's anger subsided a little, and after threatening and forcing him, he began to make promises.

"Although the eldest prince has been demoted to a commoner, the queen still has the second prince, who is her legitimate son. If you work hard for the queen, you will surely rise to great heights in the future..."

(End of this chapter)