From street beggar to high-ranking official

This is the most serious situation. Consort Wu is seven months pregnant. Her transgression could be considered a violation of the palace rules. Even if Eunuch Lu pardons her, if His Majesty or Consort Wu finds out, she will either be exiled to the army or forced into hard labor, and will almost certainly never be able to recover.

"Why are you in such a hurry, Xiao Yanzi? If you really want to find a place, we'll just arrange a secluded courtyard for you," said Lu Li. "If you agree, you'll be one of our family from now on. Are you willing?"

"I am willing to serve Eunuch Lu to the death!" Xiao Yanzi said immediately.

This was blatant courtship. Then, Lu Li asked one question at a time, and Xiao Yanzi spilled out his entire background like beans.

They were merely informants from the Bureau of Imperial Household, and Xiao Yanzi was only assigned to come in and listen and observe more; no other important matters were arranged for her.

Lu Li believed there were many more spies like this, so he casually asked Xiao Yanzi how many she knew or knew, so he could be more vigilant in the future and could easily arrange some charge of dereliction of duty to expel her from the palace.

Xiao Yanzi didn't know much, only mentioning two confirmed spots, while the other three were just suspicions without concrete evidence.

Lu Li didn't care. So what if there was no evidence? We don't need evidence to deal with you. As long as there is suspicion, we will deal with it. Better to kill the innocent than let the guilty go free!

Xiao Yanzi was surprised by Eunuch Lu's suggestion, but also felt that it made perfect sense.

This is the principle of trusting those you employ and not employing those you distrust. It is the essence of human relations. Eunuch Lu's arrangement here demonstrates his profound understanding of the intricacies of officialdom!

No wonder Eunuch Lu is an eighth-rank eunuch at such a young age. I only just realized the truth of this now. From now on, I must serve Eunuch Lu well and learn from him so that I can also become an eighth-rank eunuch!

Xiao Yanzi immediately felt that he had learned something truly valuable, and kowtowed again to take his leave.

Watching Xiao Yanzi's departing figure, Lu Li naturally took out the roster and added Xiao Yanzi and Xue Rong's names to it.

In just one night, Lu Li gained two more trusted confidants, and his control over Jingyang Palace gradually expanded. He has even begun to interfere in the dining process. Perhaps he is not far from winning the Empress's favor!

May 28th.

It is suitable for sacrifices, prayers for blessings, seeking offspring, consecration, and logging.

Taoist Master Zhang Tianyi chose this auspicious day to enter the palace to exorcise evil spirits and pray for blessings. He performed a ritual, and the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs specially dispatched people to set up the altar. Taoist Master Zhang lit the incense burner and used a willow branch to sprinkle clean water to drive away impurities.

This is a ritual to send away the plague.

The process looked quite professional, but Lu Li didn't understand the intricacies. He only saw that Master Zhang splashed water on the Xuan paper to turn it into ink, and after the ink dried, it actually formed a kind-faced door god.

Subsequently, willow branches were used to make peach wood, and mugwort was hung on the door. After the ceremony, Master Zhang did not leave immediately, but stayed in the palace to fast, so that he could come at any time if necessary.

Listening to Zhang Daoshi's instructions, Lu Li couldn't help but ask, "Daoist Master, is there really a plague god?"

"Is it true?"

Lu Li felt that Master Zhang's words made sense, but he didn't dare to ask too many questions.

It's another quiet time of year.

Perhaps it was because Master Zhang's prayers and exorcisms were truly effective, or perhaps it was because some villains hiding in the shadows gradually gave up their original intention to interfere. As the due date approached, even Emperor Yongxi inquired about Consort Wu's condition every few days.

He even visited Jingyang Palace in person. Consort Wu wanted to pay her respects, but was exempted from the formalities because she was pregnant with the emperor's child and could not move around easily.

Lu Li had visited Master Zhang several times to inquire about the plague god, but Master Zhang only muttered incantations: "Your Majesty is of the purest male form, possessing the most noble body, so the mere plague god will naturally flee south upon seeing your presence."

Seeing that Master Zhang's words implied something more, Lu Li recalled all his adopted sons and decided that from now on, the night patrols of the inner palace would mainly focus on the area south of Jingyang Palace, even though Jingyang Palace was located in the far north.

That night, Lu Li was extremely bored during his cultivation, so he used Ghost Shadow Tracking to leave Jingyang Palace. He hadn't patrolled at night for a long time, and he was even a little unfamiliar with the routes.

"Her Majesty is due to give birth in half a month, but for some reason, Imperial Physician Zhang has stopped coming and replaced us with another group of imperial physicians."

Lu Li naturally had no objection to this. The new imperial physician team was personally appointed by Emperor Yongxi. Regardless of their professional level compared to Imperial Physician Zhang, at least in terms of loyalty, even Lu Li could not find anything to criticize.

Consort Wu's meals have long been prepared separately. Each time a meal is served, it is not only handed over, but also inspected by the imperial physician. If it weren't for the charcoal stove at the bottom of the food box to keep the dishes warm, Consort Wu would probably only be able to eat cold dishes these days!

Lu Li walked along the deserted palace wall path. Just around the corner, he rubbed his eyes as if he had fainted.

He saw a group of unfamiliar yet somewhat familiar eunuchs. Although they were also dressed in the robes of the Palace Attendants, the candlelight burning inside the large red lanterns was green, and the eerie green candlelight illuminated the lower half of the eunuchs' faces, making them look unsettling.

Especially his eyes, which were almost entirely white with no pupils visible.

"Where did you come from?!" Lu Li shouted boldly, and three pairs of bright white eyes instantly fixed on Lu Li's location, but they could only see a ghostly figure that was difficult to see clearly.

"Is he really suffering from the plague?!" Lu Li stared intently and saw that the eunuch's heels were not touching the ground. His walking posture was extremely strange. Even he had never seen such a thing before. He had never seen such a horrifying scene when he stole food from the dead in the cemetery in previous years.

He didn't muster the courage to step forward and attack. Instead, he shouted and immediately retreated. There were plenty of old eunuchs in the palace, and besides, Master Zhang had said that he would stay in the palace to fast and could arrive at any time.

Three figures abandoned their lanterns and rushed towards Lu Li. Lu Li struck out with a palm, and the little eunuch who flew in front of him was sent flying backward. But the coldness was unmistakable; it was the temperature only a corpse could have.

"I understand now." Lu Li suddenly realized something. Before Lu Li could make a move, a white whisk drove away the other two corpses for Lu Li.

"Eunuch Lu, go back to the gate of Jingyang Palace and stand guard!" Master Zhang arrived quickly, his voice trembling.

"What does Master Zhang want us to do?" Lu Li asked immediately.

"With the right timing, location, and people, I only painted one door god; the remaining one, Eunuch Lu, will guard!"

Lu Li was greatly shocked and grabbed Zhang Dao's sleeve: "Daoist, do you know something?"

"I've already asked Supervisor Liu, and Eunuch Lu is indeed that wicked door god!"

Before Lu Li could ask any more questions, he knew that this was not the time for him to intervene. He immediately activated his inner energy and rushed back to the gate of Jingyang Palace. At the same time, chaos broke out inside Jingyang Palace.

"Her Majesty is bleeding! Imperial Physician! Where is the Imperial Physician?!"

Lu Li stood guard at the palace gate. Even though he appeared calm, his feet kept pacing back and forth, and he was uneasy. He suddenly realized that at this moment, the life and death of Consort Wu and the soon-to-be-born imperial heir were not only his own, but also his own.

"Godfather, Godfather, what do we do?" The night patrol eunuchs quickly gathered together, and Lu Li gave only one instruction:

They stood guard in front of the palace.