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

On the fifth day of the investigation and inventory, Wei Zhongxian and his men had already tackled the easiest parts of the Twelve Prisons.

Hai Dafu of the Imperial Horse Stables owed him a favor.

Eunuch Meng from the Imperial Kitchen gave him a packet of osmanthus sugar.

Wang Dehai of the Imperial Household Department regarded him as a lifeline, and held his hand with tears streaming down his face.

To others, these things were merely routine procedures, but Wei Zhongxian knew the truth.

Every act of kindness is like a seed. When planted, it may seem insignificant, but once it takes root and sprouts, it becomes a forest that no one can uproot.

However, the deeper he went into the investigation, the more he discovered that a certain atmosphere permeated the palace.

It's not sandalwood, not cooking fumes, not horse manure, but something deeper, seeping from the very core of the human heart.

He had vaguely smelled it when he was in the servants' quarters, but he was young then and thought he was mistaken.

Later, after entering the Personnel Department and going through tens of thousands of palace staff files, he finally confirmed the source of this smell.

It is fear.

Fear of aging, fear of illness, fear of being forgotten.

No matter how high their rank, how much power they wield, or how much silver they have accumulated, all the eunuchs in the palace cannot escape a common fatal flaw.

No descendants.

The word "after" here does not refer to the son, but rather to after death.

Without offspring, there will be no one to care for you in your old age and see you off in your final days.

If you have no offspring, no one will burn paper money and kowtow to you after you pass away.

Without offspring, all the wealth you've accumulated and the status you've cultivated throughout your life will vanish like sand after you close your eyes, leaving not even a trace.

When I was young, I didn't realize it. I was powerful and influential, surrounded by followers, and much more glamorous than people with children.

But the older I get, the more afraid I become.

I'm afraid of dying, but even more afraid of being forgotten after I die.

Wei Zhongxian spent most of his previous life in the Ming Dynasty palace, so he understood this situation better than anyone else.

The reason he was able to control the entire court in his previous life was not because of his high level of martial arts cultivation.

It wasn't because of his profound literary skills, but because he understood people's hearts.

He knew that those seemingly glamorous eunuchs were actually terrified deep down, so he prepared different things for each of them.

Some needed silver, and he gave them silver.

Some people need to save face, so he gives them face.

Some people lack nothing but someone to serve them soup and water at their bedside. So they personally go and serve them soup and water, even more attentive than their own son.

Starting over in this life, he picked up the card again.

Zhao Gao adopted Chen Ju as his godfather, following the proper path of master-disciple succession.

Chen Ju taught him the techniques, paved the way for him, and supported him.

Wei Zhongxian could certainly take this path as well. Given his current status and his performance in front of Chen Ju, it wouldn't be difficult for him to find an influential old eunuch to become his godfather.

But he didn't want to leave.

If you have a godfather, you can only be that person's adopted son. He will promote you, protect you, and give you resources, but he will also draw a line for you. Your ceiling is that godfather's ceiling.

Zhao Gao dared to pay homage to Chen Ju because Chen Ju himself was the chief steward of the Imperial Household Department, a powerful figure among the Twelve Directors.

If Wei Zhongxian were to choose someone of insufficient influence to serve him, it would be too petty of him.

He could find someone of sufficient stature to worship, like someone of Wang Zheng or Hai Dafu's caliber, but they might not even look at him.

So he changed direction.

You all want to be fathers, you all want someone to take care of you in your old age and see you off in your final days, so I'll be your son.

This idea had been swirling in his mind for over half a month until the task of compiling and investigating gave him the perfect opportunity.

Under the guise of checking the archives, he went through the old archives of the Imperial Household Department and read through the resumes of all the serving veteran eunuchs.

Especially those old eunuchs who were of high rank but on the fringes of power, childless, and suffering from old age and illness.

At first, the chief eunuch of the Inner Palace was somewhat wary of him, but after Wei Zhongxian handed him several packets of fine tea and a few comforting words, he gradually allowed him to browse through the documents, treating them as necessary for compiling and investigating.

As Wei Zhongxian flipped through the pages, he silently compiled a list in his mind.

He even used the newly created form from the Personnel Department, and under the "Remarks" column, he carefully marked each person's name in tiny print.

Who is solitary and prefers to live alone? Who needs someone to talk to? Who is healthy and can still be cultivated? Who is plagued by illness and may not have much time left?

He kept this list close to his body, locked in the innermost metal cabinet of his duty room, with the key tied to his belt, and he didn't even take it off when he slept.

The first person to be added to his list was Sun Desheng, the old chief clerk of the Imperial Household Department.

Sun Desheng was 63 years old and held the rank of fourth grade. He had spent his entire life supervising the reward and punishment records in the inner palace and was one of the most senior eunuchs in the inner court.

He never served as the chief steward; his highest position was merely that of a clerk, but he was highly experienced.

In the palace, any elderly person of a certain age would respectfully address Sun Desheng as "Eunuch Sun".

Yet, when Wei Zhongxian opened the file of this very man, he found an old, yellowed note at the end of the file, which read "severe illness" and was signed ten years ago.

He had been suffering from a chronic illness for ten years, had no children, and lived alone in a secluded small courtyard in Beiwusuo.

Aside from going to the Imperial Household Department for roll call on the first and fifteenth of each month, he hardly interacted with anyone.

The newly appointed young officials in charge of the Imperial Household Department no longer paid him any attention, and even stopped bringing him tea on time.

When Wei Zhongxian first went to see Sun Desheng, he did not bring any official business.

He brought a pot of newly brewed osmanthus wine and two side dishes, and knocked on the door of Sun Desheng's quiet little courtyard.

Sun Desheng stood at the door, leaning on his cane, his cloudy old eyes scrutinizing him for a long while.

They recognized him as the newly promoted manager of the personnel department, but couldn't understand why this young man had suddenly come to their door.

Wei Zhongxian smiled and said that he had come to learn from Eunuch Sun's knowledge of reward and punishment records.

After talking for an hour, he noticed that the smell of medicine in Sun Desheng's room was so strong it was pungent. Before leaving, he casually asked about it and learned that Sun Desheng suffered from chronic leg pain, which made him unable to get out of bed on rainy days.

The next day, he used his connections at the Imperial Hospital to get several high-quality dog-skin plasters, wrapped them in oil paper, and had Xiao Shunzi deliver them.

Two days later, he personally visited Sun Desheng and cooked a pot of medicinal cuisine for him, using nourishing medicinal herbs that Gao Lishi had specially approved from the Imperial Kitchen. He simmered it over low heat for two hours.

When he went back for the third time, Sun Desheng was waiting for him at the gate of the courtyard, leaning on his cane, with a thin layer of water in his cloudy old eyes.

He asked Wei Zhongxian in a hoarse voice what he really wanted from him.

He was an old, useless man, practically buried in the ground, powerless and without influence, so we couldn't promote him or make him rich.

Wei Zhongxian did not answer, but simply lowered his head, placed the medicine bowl in front of him, and sighed.

He waited until Sun Desheng drank the medicine sip by sip before putting down the bowl and speaking in a low, slow voice.

"Eunuch Sun, I was born into a family of servants. There was a famine in my hometown, and my parents starved to death. It was my uncle who sold me into the palace."

"I have no relatives in this palace. I want to find an elder to be filial to, but no one is interested in me."

"Looking at you is like looking at myself..."

He didn't finish his sentence, his voice slightly choked, as he lowered his head to tidy up the medicine bowl, avoiding Sun Desheng's gaze.

Sun Desheng was stunned for a while, then raised his hand covered with age spots and patted his shoulder tremblingly.

From that day on, Wei Zhongxian would go to the North Fifth Palace every few days.

Sometimes he would bring medicine, sometimes food, and sometimes nothing at all. He would just keep Sun Desheng company and listen to him talk about old stories from the palace decades ago.

Who had a grudge against whom, who was recommended to enter the palace by whom, and which chief eunuch fell from power for what reason.

Wei Zhongxian listened to these old stories with even more care than he listened to the account books. After returning home, he wrote them down one by one in his notebook, verifying them in his mind with the records in the personnel files.

As Wei Zhongxian grew closer to Sun Desheng, he naturally steered the conversation toward the government office he had been eyeing for a long time.