From street beggar to high-ranking official

Chapter 77 Others Targeting

The third day of the ninth lunar month is auspicious for weddings, sacrifices, prayers for blessings, seeking offspring, and consecration ceremonies.

After two months of recuperation, Consort Wu's health finally returned to normal, and she finally set off for the Qin'an Hall in the palace to pray for blessings and consecration.

Qin'an Hall is located in the center of the Imperial Garden. It enshrines Xuanwu the Supreme God and is also a place where the concubines of the harem often go to pray for blessings and hold religious ceremonies.

Consort Wu had been there before, but at that time Lu Li was not yet favored and naturally could not attend to the emperor. This was her first time visiting, so it was quite novel for her.

In fact, it wasn't just within the Imperial City. For example, there was a royal Taoist temple on the north side of the Shenwu Gate in the Forbidden City. With the emperor's special permission, people could participate in the rituals and prayers under the full escort of eunuchs and imperial guards. Because of the tight security, it wasn't strictly considered leaving the palace.

Of course, there were also temples. Whether to worship Buddha or hold a religious ceremony was entirely up to the concubine. However, due to the influence of Master Zhang, Consort Wu naturally chose Qin'an Hall.

Lu Li stood guard outside the palace. Such matters were not allowed to be attended by close servants or attendants; otherwise, it would be considered disrespectful and ineffective. Even though Lu Li himself did not believe in these things, he did not believe that there were any gods, immortals, ghosts, or Buddhas in the world.

The so-called plague god that was previously spread in the palace was nothing more than a heretic skilled in "ghostly apparitions". If there were really gods and immortals, there should be the Earth God, the Dragon King, the Thunder God and the Lightning Goddess. But no matter how sincerely they made offerings, or even if they thought of the Dragon King's goodness every night and hoped for a heavy rain to relieve the drought, no matter how many longevity peaches, fruits, incense and coins they offered, the crops still failed and the officials were still wandering.

Perhaps those so-called gods and Buddhas were just powerful masters from ancient times, who were exaggerated to be divine, and that's how this thing came to be.

Of course, these were Lu Yi's true thoughts. He did not respect immortals or gods, but he had never seen anyone respect the Demon Slayer more than him. The Demon Slayer of Gaiyuan was the greatest power in the world!

Whether Lu Li respected the person who held imperial power or the imperial power itself, no one knew.

Lu Li was waiting idly when Xiao Qianzi, who had been following him, suddenly walked over quickly and said, "Godfather, something's happened."

"What's the matter that you're in such a panic?" Lu Li scolded, but his expression also darkened after hearing Xiao Qianzi's report.

"Let's stabilize things for now, and discuss it again after we send the Empress back to the palace," Lu Li said in a low voice.

In a deserted courtyard not far from the Imperial Garden, Lu Li arrived in a flurry of activity, accompanied by his adopted sons and eunuchs.

"Godfather!" Little Qianzi had been waiting here for a long time. He only lifted the white cloth in front of him after he saw that Eunuch Lu had arrived.

Under the white sheet was a drowned body. Judging from the softness of its body, it had obviously just died and was still warm.

"When did he die?" Lu asked.

"At five quarters past 1:45 PM," Little Qianzi said, "Godfather, the people from the Imperial Household Department are coming."

Besides handling civil engineering and waterworks within the palace, the Directorate of Palace Attendants was also responsible for collecting corpses. Although it was unclear why this task wasn't handled by the Directorate of Palace Attendants, who resided in the Forbidden City, the corpses had been taken away, making it impossible to investigate anything.

Lu Li had heard about the procedures for storing corpses in the Inner Palace. Regardless of the condition of the body, it was kept for three days before being transported directly to the Imperial Palace Cemetery for burial. However, this was only the normal procedure.

The Imperial Household Department had coroners stationed in the morgue, and all the corpses would be dissected by the coroners. Of course, because dismembering corpses was such a heinous act, the Imperial Household Department's morgue was almost the lowest-ranking among the twelve departments of the Inner Palace Attendants.

The person in charge of emptying the chamber pot for nighttime use at least had the elegant name of "nighttime incense," but when a person dies, they are dead, and a corpse is a corpse. It's not ascension to immortality, nor is it Nirvana, and it won't produce relics when cremated.

"Leave the body for now, let's find..." Lu Li paused, suddenly wondering if it was inappropriate to ask Imperial Physician Zhang for this matter.

After careful consideration, Lu Li abandoned the Imperial Medical Academy approach and instead said, "Let the people from the Inner Palace Guard keep the body first, and Xiao Qianzi will go and invite a coroner."

Then Lu Li asked if anyone had seen the little eunuch drown, but no one, including Xiao Qianzi, said a word.

Perhaps they genuinely didn't see it, perhaps they were afraid to speak up, or perhaps they were bribed.

Lu Li suddenly realized that the scheme by Consort Xian had already begun. No, perhaps it wasn't Consort Xian's own intention, but he believed that there were enough people in the palace willing to curry favor with Consort Xian and cause trouble for Lu Li.

"The chief eunuch of Jingren Palace is the Director of Rites. Hopefully, it wasn't this eunuch who did it."

The Director of Ceremonies was a second-rank eunuch in the Directorate of Ceremonial, in charge of the affairs of the directorate. He also served as the chief eunuch of the Jingren Palace. His power was no less than that of Lu Li.

Lu Li spoke these words to the eunuchs in person, and upon hearing the governor's imposing name, the eunuchs trembled with fear.

Mother, we came here to make money and improve our lives, not to follow Eunuch Lu to our deaths.

Lu Li coldly observed the group of panicked eunuchs, and only after noticing that even Xiao Qianzi's face showed signs of panic did he gradually calm down and stop maintaining the Listening Waves Ear Technique.

One can discern one's mood by observing one's breathing and pulse.

Lu Li was observant and perceptive, able to read people and understand their hearts. He directed his adopted son and served the Empress, gradually developing his own unique skills.

At least, they weren't traitors or spies.

If you really are an inside agent, it's hard to fake those panicked expressions. You can fake facial expressions, but if your strength isn't high enough to reach the seventh rank, your breathing and pulse won't lie.

The eunuchs from the Imperial Household Department arrived quickly, but Lu Li directly instructed the coroner to fill out the forms for him.

Jingyang Palace was still under renovation, and the eunuchs of the Inner Palace could not refuse Eunuch Lu's request. Besides, it was a normal procedure to hand over the body to the coroner after collection, so they readily agreed.

Everything seemed normal; the death of a minor eunuch under Lu Li's command was nothing more than that of a nobody, and almost no one paid any attention to it.

But from that day on, rumors began to circulate in the palace.

First, two official positions in the Palace Attendant were filled, and neither of them were held by Lu Li. Then, the Consort Xian's palace was to be renovated, and some of the staff from Jingyang Palace were transferred there.

Even without manpower, the work can still be completed. Lu Li believed in the abilities of the Directorate of Palace Attendants. Although these people were extremely greedy for money, even charging five taels of silver for a single sheet of yellow paper, if they didn't have some skills, they would eventually be brought to their door by someone.

Even so, this preferential treatment clearly indicates an attempt to suppress Consort Wu.

People in the palace were even saying that after Consort Ning gave birth to the imperial heir, she lost all her vigor and was like a canary kept in a cage.

Such disrespectful remarks naturally deserved severe punishment. As a result, Lu Li arrested many eunuchs and palace maids who were gossiping, but did not punish or kill them. Instead, they disappeared, fell into a dry well and died, or choked to death while eating.

Consort Ning was not bloodthirsty, but Eunuch Lu still had an iron fist.

One more day.

The Forestry Bureau sent flowers and plants.

Consort Wu was annoyed by the sight of flowers and plants. Lu Li understood and immediately dragged two female officials from the Forestry Bureau away for torture.

Consort Ning and Consort Xian have completely broken ties.