From street beggar to high-ranking official

Chapter 75 Mid-Autumn Festival Feast

The matter inside Wendiao Palace could no longer be kept secret, but the news seemed to have no effect on the inner palace.

Perhaps this is just a facade of calm, after all, the words of beasts may not mean anything, but Lu Li does not think so.

He had begun reading history books, initially just out of curiosity to see the ugly side of the former Great Zhou Dynasty, especially the absurdities of the Empress Dowager ruling from behind the curtain and the favored ministers sleeping on the emperor's bed at night.

Especially the illegitimate child Fei, born to the Empress. It is said that Fei gave birth to strange things not long after its birth. The birds and beasts in the palace were frightened away, and instead, it attracted endless snakes and rats. The water in the palace dried up and the grass died.

Fei Li was as strong as an ox, but he was born blind in one eye. Because he was born in the wrong direction, his face was pale. In later generations, he was also known by the derogatory name Fei Wu.

After Fei Wu was born, he became increasingly inhuman, often spouting wild words, saying that disasters were raging in the Great Zhou and that there was a great plague.

Later historical records confirmed that Fei Wu's words were indeed accurate, but there were additional annotations that made Lu Li take note.

In autumn, there are flying birds, which bring disaster; people's gossip is a cause for fear.

Lu Li didn't know the details of the so-called heir to the throne of the Great Zhou Dynasty, but if anyone in the palace tried to use the parrot's words to spread rumors, he would not let them get away with it.

Lu Li cleaned up the talking parrot that very day and sent it to the Imperial Kitchen as a special meal to make parrot soup.

Forestry Bureau, Bird Division.

Lu Li sneaked in, relying on his own skills to hide in the shadow of a palace maid. Compared with the eunuchs who were crippled later in life, the palace maids with intact bodies did not cultivate the "Netherworld Inner Landscape Technique" very quickly, and those with real strength were even rarer. Lu Li followed along and saw that the vast majority of them had the strength of the ninth or eighth rank.

He didn't follow recklessly, after all, he dared not underestimate the talents in the palace. After entering the gate of the Forest Garden Bureau, he shrank into a dark corner where no one was. "Sister Qiu, the parrot is dead." The palace maid who followed him entered a room and began to cry with her head down, tears soon streaming down her face.

"I know that Eunuch Lu is no benevolent person. I'm already surprised you came back alive," said the old palace maid, who was called Sister Qiu.

Lu Li listened carefully from the shadows. "Is that Qiu? And her voice sounds so old. She's probably that old female official of the seventh rank."

Before Lu Li arrived, he asked Eunuch Ji to inquire about the Lin Yuan Bureau. Some things can only be understood by talking to outsiders, and some things will be tinged with different emotions and facts when spoken by different people.

"Her Highness Consort Xian originally intended to use the parrot's words to reprimand Consort Ning, but she didn't expect that Eunuch Lu would react so quickly and immediately blame me." The little palace maid became more and more aggrieved as she spoke, and even added fuel to the fire by fabricating facts, "Even the parrot was tortured to death by Eunuch Lu, who plucked all its feathers off one by one, and then made it into a soup."

Lu Li cursed inwardly, "We clearly removed the tongue before plucking the feathers, and the parrot didn't say anything. How dare you, a mere palace maid, plead for the parrot and portray me as so cruel and heartless! You deserve to die!"

"Don't worry about him, we just need to do our jobs well," the old palace maid continued. "At the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, Consort Xian..."

"The Empress will make her appearance; are Pei Gui's birds ready for training?"

"I've already instructed them. At that time, there will be lovebirds circling around Consort Xian and His Majesty by the Taiye Pond," the little palace maid said.

"Yes, you've worked hard these days. Feed those birds again, and I'll put in a good word with the Bureau of Clothing and Apparel."

Lu Li listened to the entire conversation, then followed the little palace maid and watched her feed the small bird with its blue and red markings.

Is this what a lovebird looks like? It doesn't seem that special.

Lu Li didn't know that the bird was called Jianjian, but that didn't stop him from having designs on it.

Regardless of why Consort Xian is targeting Consort Wu, we must intervene in matters concerning our loyal servant.

While the young palace maid wasn't looking, Lu Li secretly took some hay and grain, and only after smelling it carefully did he discover what it was.

Using the method of distinguishing the subtle nose from the Five Senses and Five Methods, even though it was only at the first level, he was certain that it must be some kind of specially formulated medicine.

"I'll have Imperial Physician Zhang take a look later."

Lu Li wouldn't delay on such matters. After leaving the Lin Yuan Bureau, he went to the Imperial Physician's Duty Room in the Wenhua Hall.

It happened to be the time when Imperial Physician Zhang was on duty. When Lu Li arrived, he didn't say much and simply placed the fodder and grain in front of Imperial Physician Zhang.

Listening to the smell described by Lu, Imperial Physician Zhang pondered for a moment and then named several medicines.

Lu, who knew nothing of traditional Chinese medicine, asked directly, "Physician Zhang, what exactly is this medicine for?"

"Eunuch Lu should have guessed that this medicine is mostly used to make sachets," said Physician Zhang.

Lu Li thought to himself, "I didn't think of that. I just thought this thing was simply used to attract birds and beasts."

Seeing that Lu Li remained silent in thought, Imperial Physician Zhang continued, "These kinds of medicinal herbs and spices are actually quite common. A few days ago, a foreign country presented lion cats as tribute, and they also had similar spices and medicines to attract the cats to sniff them."

Is it used as a spice?

Lu Li gradually formed an idea in his mind and roughly guessed what the palace maids of the Lin Yuan Bureau were thinking.

The competition for favor was widespread within the palace. There were twelve eunuch offices and six bureaus and twenty-four departments for female officials, except for some positions that had no hope of being filled, such as the Palace Attendant Office's Incense Cleansing Department, the Imperial Clothing Bureau's Laundry Department, or the Palace Attendant Office's Mortuary.

Those departments with potential and ability, who could compete for favor within the rules, were climbing the ranks. For example, the Flower Garden Division under the Forestry Department had all kinds of exotic flowers and rare plants, and the Bird Division had all kinds of auspicious birds and beasts.

If one day I can win the praise of a powerful person, I will be close to a promotion.

The palace maids in the Flower Garden Division had a simple idea: as long as they could use the auspicious bird to bring the Virtuous Consort and His Majesty together, good days would come.

"In the past, we would have preferred to avoid trouble and quietly make money. But now that Consort Xian and Consort Wu have joined forces, it's impossible for us to stay out of it."

That night, a Mid-Autumn Festival banquet was held by Taiye Pond. Consort Wu, dressed up in finery, attended the event while holding the prince. This year, the Imperial Household Department played a new trick, not gathering lanterns to form the moon, but instead creating a scene of the moon reflected in the water.

Fish swim around the moon's reflection on the water's surface, but the ripples they create just as they are about to touch the moon's reflection mysteriously disappear.

The martial arts masters from the Imperial Household Department used their internal energy to suppress the water ripples, leaving the moon in the water intact.

A pair of lovebirds flew in from the horizon and landed on the desk and by the pond. They pecked at each other in pairs, like intimate lovers. However, as was the original plan, the lovebirds landed next to Emperor Yongxi, but not next to Consort Xian.

On the contrary, Consort Wu, who was dressed up, was accompanied by a pair of lovebirds, and the twenty-fourth prince, who was still in swaddling clothes, even laughed out loud.

On the evening of the full moon in the eighth month of the twenty-fourth year of Yongxi, the Emperor held a banquet. He saw two birds flying side by side, gathering beside Consort Ning's seat. At that time, the Emperor's twenty-fourth son was still young and smiling. The Emperor smiled and listened to the birds' harmonious chirping.

Records of daily life by eunuchs and female officials.