Dugong

Chapter 83 Wealthy
Ciqing Palace.

The atmosphere was solemn and silent.

Eunuch Ji knelt on the ground, trembling like a leaf, blood oozing from the wound on his forehead, leaving large patches of scarlet on the floor tiles.

After taking a sip of the Nine Yang Soup, Consort Zhang's anger flared, and she swung her hand, smashing the jade bowl onto Eunuch Ji's head.

"You lackey, you can't even handle a mere brat!"

"This old servant deserves to die."

Eunuch Ji kowtowed repeatedly, letting the jade bowl smash his scalp, not daring to use his inner energy to resist.

Empress Dowager Zhang said coldly, "Get up, stop kneeling, you don't need to put on a show for me."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Eunuch Ji breathed a slight sigh of relief, bowed and served at the side, inwardly cursing Eunuch An for being treacherous and cunning, smiling and joking to his face while turning his head to write his own memorial.

The day before yesterday at noon, the Imperial Stables were discussing business matters. Eunuch Ji offered several excellent suggestions, attempting to gain Eunuch An's trust and become his confidant.

As a result, the inspecting eunuchs from the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs arrived at the door and arrested Eunuch Ji on the spot without saying a word.

Fortunately, his godson informed the Empress Dowager in time, and she sent people to get Eunuch Ji out of the prison. Otherwise, he would have suffered a lot.

After calming herself down, Consort Zhang waved her hand to dismiss those around her, leaving only a few trusted old eunuchs and nannies.

"Even after His Majesty ascended the throne, he still paid his respects morning and evening. However, I am not blind or deaf; I can sense the difference. As a lonely ruler, I have never considered seizing power, which is understandable..."

While the fact that the Prince of Zhenbei and Consort Zhang controlled military power and the harem may have objectively existed, it was certainly not a matter of subjective intent.

Empress Dowager Zhang changed the subject: "However, I can't stand that old hag from Cining Palace the most. She killed my child. We are mortal enemies!"

The old eunuch and old nanny immediately knelt down: "This servant is willing to serve Your Highness faithfully."

Consort Zhang asked, "Is there any way to dampen the arrogance of the Cining Palace?"

Eunuch Ji's eyes darted around, and he said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, since Eunuch An killed Eunuch Leng's adopted son, we might be able to join forces with him."

Upon hearing this, several old nannies glanced at Eunuch Ji with pity. This old eunuch was a spy for the Empress Dowager, and to avoid suspicion, he was unaware of many things.

Cining Palace is an enemy, and Eunuch Leng is hatred!
Consort Zhang's face instantly darkened, and she gritted her teeth, saying, "Back then, I was favored by the late Emperor and helped that old dog get transferred to the Directorate of Ceremonial. I never expected that this scoundrel would turn his back on me and try to gain His Majesty's trust, keeping his distance from me!"

Ji Gonggong was startled, his mind racing, and he quickly tried to find a way to cover it up.

"Your Majesty, please calm down. The reason why Eunuch Leng is able to work in the Directorate of Ceremonial is because His Majesty has no one else in his inner circle. He is temporarily used to stabilize the palace. Once His Majesty has cultivated his own faction, the first thing he will do is to get rid of him!"

"Xiao Jizi is right."

A cold glint flashed in Consort Zhang's eyes. "If I can get you promoted to the Directorate of Ceremonial, I can just as easily bring you down."

After a moment's thought, Eunuch Ji said, "Your Majesty, the Imperial Horse Administration will be distributing military pay in a few days. We can send someone to obstruct it, such as intercepting, shortchanging, or misappropriating the funds."

The soldiers of the Beijing garrison haven't received their pay for over half a year, and their resentment is already deep-seated. They could easily incite trouble, and if chaos ensues, His Majesty will have to execute at least a few to quell the public anger!

Eunuch Ji didn't care how hard it was to get military pay, nor did he care if the rebellion would escalate. He only wanted to take immediate revenge and watch Eunuch An's head roll.

"This is a good idea. I want to show the Cining Palace that the military power of the Beijing Garrison is not easy to seize!"

Consort Zhang never took Li Ping'an seriously. He was nothing more than a beast of burden, a mere dog belonging to an old hag in the Cining Palace. How could he be compared to a nobleman?

……

Li Mancang.

The poor old man in Funiu Village, Hengyang County, had his name wrong since he was a child, and he had never seen a full granary since he could remember.

After enduring countless hardships to grow up, his older sister married into a family in the same village, thus replacing Li Mancang with another wife.

She later gave birth to seven children, but only two survived. During a famine, to survive, she even sold one to the palace. She thought her life would end like this, like millions of other people in the world, living in a daze until death.

Until five years ago, in the summer, a high-pitched eunuch came to the door, looked at Li Mancang's tattered clothes, and threw down a ten-tael silver ingot with disdain.

"This was sent by Xiao Anzi from the palace through our family. Please keep it safe."

After saying that, he left. Li Mancang stared intently at the silver, not hearing a word he said. He only thought that his son had died in the palace and the court was paying compensation for his life.

So be it, he's dead. Anyway, eunuchs can't be buried in the ancestral grave!

Li Mancang received ten taels of silver, but instead of buying food and drink to fill his stomach, he continued to suffer from hunger, planning to wait until winter when land prices were low to buy land.

Before winter even arrived, another eunuch delivered silver, a full one hundred taels.

Only then did Li Mancang realize that his son was not dead, but had instead risen to prominence in the palace.

“I knew Ping An was destined for greatness from a young age; he was born to be a eunuch. That’s why he gained power as soon as he was sent to the palace!”

Since then, money has been sent every now and then, in amounts that vary.

The amount ranged from over a hundred taels to as little as several dozen taels.

Li Mancang's hands trembled as he collected the silver. He bought over a hundred acres of land, built several large tile-roofed houses, and lived the life of a landlord in the village.

Some days ago.

Then another eunuch arrived at Funiu Village. He was an old eunuch with a white face and no beard, riding a tall horse, followed by twenty or thirty servants.

Majestic and imposing.

Li Mancang had never seen such a person before, so he hurriedly led his whole family, servants, and farmhands out to greet them, wondering whether he should kowtow or bow.

The etiquette was taught by the old scholar in the village. After all, now that they had money and land, they couldn't act like peasants anymore; they had to learn to behave properly.

When I was learning etiquette, I heard that wealthy families liked to take concubines.

Li Mancang believed that "learning should be done thoroughly," so he went to a brokerage firm and bought two virgin young women who were good at bearing children, and took them home as concubines.

The old eunuch rode over on horseback, and before Li Mancang could even bow, he tumbled off his horse and scrambled to his feet, immediately uttering a single sentence.

"Meet Grandpa Gan."

Li Mancang was bewildered for a moment, then realized that his son had been promoted again.

Ping An, he really is cut out to be a eunuch!
The yamen runners who followed were officials from Hengyang County. They were usually fierce and ruthless when they entered the village, arresting people if they weren't fed and watered properly. Now, they all knelt down, not daring to call each other "Grandpa," and instead shouting in a chaotic cacophony of "Ancestor," "Great-Grandpa," and the like.

Li Mancang, who had been bent over for half his life, has finally straightened up today.

"I am Li Ping'an's father. What do you want?"

The old eunuch said respectfully, "Grandpa, our godfather has opened a business in the capital. You are the owner with the largest share. Please take charge of the business."

Li Mancang immediately looked timid and whispered, "I only know how to farm, I don't know how to do business."

The old eunuch smiled and said, "Grandpa, doing business is very simple. You just need to sit there, and the business will be done!"

Li Mancang asked worriedly, "If it's so simple, how can you make money from it?"

"Of course!"

The old eunuch pulled out a stack of silver notes from his sleeve, neatly arranged, totaling ten thousand taels: "Our business was lucky; not long after opening, we started supplying fodder to the Imperial Horse Stables. This is the money we earned."

"Huh, business can be done this way?"

"Grandpa, this is the only way to make money in business!"

(End of this chapter)