The low-key prince summons trainees from the Imperial Household Department at the start of the game.

Wei Zhongxian, the "Nine Thousand Years Old," the very name itself exudes a worldly, stock market vibe.

Zhao Gao was, after all, a cultured man who wrote beautiful calligraphy and was well-versed in law.

Wei Zhongxian was different. In his previous life, he was a street ruffian who was illiterate and had a huge gambling debt before entering the palace.

This one person managed to climb up the ranks to become the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, effectively becoming the second most powerful figure in the Ming Dynasty, by associating himself with Madam Ke.

His methods were quite different from Zhao Gao's; Zhao Gao used intrigue and power politics.

Wei Zhongxian played the game of interpersonal relationships and the binding of interests.

He understood human nature too well; he knew how to win people's hearts, how to make people devoted to him, and how to turn all the officials into his godsons and grandsons.

This survival wisdom, forged from the mire of the lowest levels of society, is sometimes more terrifying than the strategies of someone well-read in literature.

However, he also had his weaknesses. All his power was dependent on the emperor. As soon as the Tianqi Emperor died and Chongzhen came to power, he immediately fell from grace.

Their foundation is not deep enough, their vision is not broad enough, they only know how to make money and gain power, but they don't know how to leave themselves a way out.

Of the four, Gao Lishi is the least like a powerful eunuch.

He served Emperor Xuanzong of Tang for his entire life, following him from when Xuanzong was the Prince of Linzi until the Mawei Slope Mutiny, when Xuanzong was forced to abdicate. He never abandoned him.

His loyalty was renowned, but of course, this loyalty was reserved only for Li Longji and might not apply to others.

Li Bai asked him to take off his boots, and he remembered it for the rest of his life. Later, when Li Bai encountered setbacks everywhere in Chang'an, it's hard to say that Gao Lishi wasn't behind it.

But unlike Zhao Gao and Wei Zhongxian, he had no ambition to usurp power. He just wanted to protect the person he served, make that person well, and make himself well as well.

Such people are a powerful ally of the emperor in times of peace and prosperity, but become insufficient in times of chaos.

During the An Lushan Rebellion, all he could do was flee with Emperor Xuanzong and weep with him; he couldn't do anything to turn the tide.

Zheng He, also known as the Three Treasures Eunuch, was a confidant of the Yongle Emperor.

What is the biggest difference between Zheng He and the previous three? It's their vision.

Zhao Gao manipulated events in the court, Wei Zhongxian formed cliques and pursued personal gain both inside and outside the palace, Gao Lishi served the emperor diligently, while Zheng He's gaze crossed the coastline of the Ming Dynasty and was cast towards the ocean thousands of miles away.

The seven voyages to the Western Ocean were not for tourism; they were to bring the prestige of the Ming Dynasty and its fleet to establish a tributary system, open up maritime trade routes, and attract all nations to pay tribute.

His vision is international, and his organizational and leadership abilities are the strongest among the four.

Leading a fleet of more than 20,000 people to sea for two or three years requires meticulous planning of logistics, routes, diplomacy, and military affairs.

If Zhao Gao and Wei Zhongxian are considered top-notch strategists, then Zheng He is a top-notch pragmatist and strategist.

His only limitation was that his fate was too closely tied to that of the Yongle Emperor; once Zhu Di died, the voyages to the Western Ocean came to an abrupt end.

Four people, four styles, four skills.

Now they are all working as low-level eunuchs in the Imperial Household Department, wearing coarse cloth clothes and doing jobs such as sweeping floors and emptying chamber pots.

Thinking of this, Zhou Xing couldn't help but laugh out loud.

The six-year-old's voice, heard in the empty side hall, sounded rather innocent and carefree.

The system said that these four people are absolutely loyal to me.

However, loyalty does not mean they lack their own personality and style of doing things, nor does it mean they will not compete with each other.

On the contrary, the system deliberately told them about each other's past lives, which was practically stirring up trouble.

If they knew what kind of formidable people their roommates were, how could they not fight back?

Would Zhao Gao willingly fall behind Wei Zhongxian?

Could Wei Zhongxian tolerate being overshadowed by Gao Lishi?

Seeing the three people ahead of him playing power games in the palace with great success, wouldn't Zheng He want to prove his own abilities?

This kind of competition is exactly what Zhou Xing needs.

Because no matter how they argue or how they perform, the final decision rests with them.

They are the hidden pieces, and I am the one making the move.

On the surface, he had no connection with these four servant eunuchs, but in secret, he could transmit messages through the system, decide resource allocation based on their performance, and activate the most suitable person at the most appropriate time.

The best news is that he is only six years old.

What does six years old mean?

This means that no one will be on guard against him.

The Empress wouldn't, the favored concubines wouldn't, and the brothers vying for the throne certainly wouldn't.

What threat could a six-year-old prince who lost his mother and lived in a side hall where he couldn't even get enough to eat be?

This means he has plenty of time to quietly hide out of everyone's sight and watch these four old foxes wreak havoc in the palace, weaving a dark web that covers the entire court for him, bit by bit.

Zhou Xing jumped off the bed and walked to the bronze mirror.

A young face was reflected in the mirror. The eyebrows and eyes were quite nice, but the face was too thin, with a pointed chin, making it look somewhat pitiful.

He grinned at himself in the mirror.

The little boy in the mirror grinned, revealing two small tiger teeth.

Just then, footsteps came from outside the hall, unhurried, with the rhythm of an old palace eunuch walking.

Zhou Xing's smile vanished instantly. His shoulders slumped, his eyelids drooped, and he looked like a wilted flower in the sun, timid and pitiful.

"Your Highness." A eunuch pushed open the door and entered, carrying a food box. He placed it on the table. "Dinner has been brought to you. Eat it while it's hot, or no one will reheat it for you."

His tone was so casual that he even skipped the self-reference of "lackey."

Zhou Xing timidly replied, "Thank you, Father-in-law."

The eunuch glanced at him with a dismissive look that he was used to, then turned and left.

Zhou Xing opened the food box, inside was a bowl of white porridge and a dish of pickled vegetables, not a single piece of meat in sight.

A prince was not even as well-fed as a servant in a respectable household.

He didn't mind, picked up the bowl of porridge and sipped it slowly, glancing out of the half-open window towards the direction of the Imperial Household Department.

That's where the newly arrived palace eunuchs live; they should be taking attendance and assigning them to their rooms right now.

Four people, four faces salvaged from the long river of history, dressed in coarse cloth short coats, stood among a group of equally uneasy new eunuchs, listening to the head eunuch's instructions.

They know who each other is.

They knew why they were there.

They also knew that in a secluded side hall, there was a six-year-old child who was their only object of loyalty in this life.

Zhao Gao was probably already observing the temperament of the head eunuch, and was figuring out how to ingratiate himself with him without making a sound.

Wei Zhongxian was probably already building relationships with his new associates and getting close to them; he could easily lower their guard with just a few words.

Gao Lishi would quietly do his job to the best of his ability, without showing off, but leaving no room for criticism.

Zheng He would probably use his eyes, which had seen the storms of the ocean, to scan the entire layout, personnel, and rules of the Imperial Household Department, and draw a map in his mind.

Four people, four games of chess, starting simultaneously.

The porridge is finished.

Zhou Xing put the bowl back in the food box, licked the rice grains from the corner of his mouth, and climbed back into bed.

The canopy above his head swayed slightly in the night breeze. He stared at the shadows with his eyes open, a smile on his lips that seemed completely out of character for his age.

ten years.

He has at least ten years to wait for these four seeds to take root, sprout, and grow into towering trees.