From street beggar to high-ranking official

Chapter 86 A Faded Fact

Is the root of the problem in the establishment of a supervisory office?

It was highly unlikely, but no one present raised any objections, and even the bearded man tacitly accepted Lu Li's statement.

But it was precisely because of this that Lu Li realized the other party's methods.

He will be more useful than us, and he will not kick his colleagues when they are down. Little Beard only needs to watch us make mistakes, and he will naturally be able to gradually gain Consort Ning's favor.

Lu Li wanted to make a change, so he started to work on it, but with little success. Consort Ning loved calligraphy and painting, but Lu Li's skills were really limited. He had been practicing the official script style because he had to deal with official documents, but the official script style was not worthy of the attention of nobles. On the contrary, Little Mustache was far ahead of Lu Li, and his calligraphy was almost like splashing ink.

Lu Li coldly watched as the little mustache shone brightly. He was the one grinding the ink, but the little mustache was the one using it, as if he had become the little mustache's attendant, while the little mustache had become Consort Ning's favorite.

Inside a side hall of the Wendiao Palace, Lu Li was sitting cross-legged, practicing the "Sunflower Manual." Strands of true energy circulated through his meridians and gathered in his dantian until a full cycle of circulation was completed.

"For families like ours that have already reached the threshold, continuing to cultivate true qi will only accumulate more true qi; quantitative change cannot lead to qualitative change." Lu Li sensed his dantian, where true qi was deposited in one place, and with each circulation, an extra wisp of true qi was added.

However, the total amount of true energy that ordinary martial artists can accumulate is also limited, like blowing air into a fish bubble or a sugar figurine; too much of a good thing can be bad.

Injuring oneself is just like the moon waning after it's full, or water overflowing when it's full. The same applies to cultivation. Some greedy people even break through their meridians, ultimately losing the possibility of further advancement. Even accumulating true qi becomes a luxury. Damaged meridians prevent the dantian from accumulating true qi, so even if they are strong, they will be unable to hold on after two or three moves in a life-or-death battle, and will eventually be brutally killed like an ordinary person.

Lu Li didn't know the limit of his accumulated true energy, only that if he used the full power of "Ghostly Shadow Tracing" he could last for an hour.

Such talent is also top-notch.

As Lu Li was examining himself, his maid Jinlian walked straight in.

"Eunuch Lu has quite the refined taste, having time to cultivate here." Jinlian said calmly, but her heart was full of envy. She had also thought about cultivating, but her talent was simply not enough. Rather than wasting time studying cultivation techniques and cultivating true qi, she would rather pay more attention to Consort Ning and cater to her preferences. No matter how strong you are, losing favor is just a matter of the mood of the noble person.

In this deep palace, martial arts are utterly useless!

"What are you doing here?" Lu Li looked at the vase-like maid with disdain. Jinlian is only good-looking, but no matter how good-looking you are, do you think you can compete with the nobleman?

Jinlian snorted coldly. She had fought with Lu Li for so long, and although she was always at a disadvantage, she was never ostracized because of her status as a maid. Now she finally seized the opportunity and directly pledged allegiance to Eunuch Hu. She came today to see Lu Li make a fool of himself.

Hearing Jinlian's boasting, Lu Li's gray eyes turned bloodshot, and even his breathing became heavier.

He allowed someone to one day step on his head. There are always people more capable than him, and there's always a higher level to reach. It's a fact that he's gradually losing favor, and things will only change according to Consort Ning's personal will. He accepted his downfall because of Little Mustache.

But what right do you, a nobody with no rank or status, who only relies on being a woman, have to act so arrogantly in front of our family?

How dare you act so arrogantly in front of us?

A murderous intent surged in Lu Li's heart once again. In an instant, his fear of Ning Fei's identity as her maid and his concerns about the punishment Ning Fei would give him in the future gradually disappeared. In the end, only Jin Lian remained in his heart.

"So you're just here to show off?" Lu Li slowly straightened up. Normally, he had to bow and scrape before noblemen, but he didn't pretend in front of this kind of servant.

"What do you want to do?!" Jinlian snapped.

Lu Li approached slowly, but after only a few steps, he heard Jinlian's heavy breathing and heartbeat.

She was afraid.

This was not Jinlian's own initiative.

This time, it wasn't the mental cultivation method of "You Ting Nei Jing Jue" that worked; the mental cultivation method of a fourth-grade technique couldn't conceal Lu Li's murderous intent. At this moment, it was the Confucian classics, the Four Books and Five Classics, which he read from time to time, that stopped Lu Li's murderous intent.

Do not transfer your anger to others, and do not repeat the same mistake.

These are the words of Confucius: do not vent your anger on innocent people, and never make the same mistake a second time.

Jinlian was merely a target laid out in the open. If he were to fall for her trick, Lu Li felt he would likely end up in a very bad situation. With this in mind, he activated his cultivation technique and listened to his surroundings.

The sounds of breathing and heartbeats filled the air. While he was focused on his cultivation, he hadn't realized that so many people had been lying in ambush around him.

At this moment, Lu Li felt a wave of fear, but this fear quickly turned into anger.

"What do we not want to do!" Lu Li tried his best to control his impotent rage, lowering his voice to control his emotions, "Who do you think you are? Are you loyal to Consort Ning or someone else? You were promoted by Consort Ning herself."

"Go ahead and falsely accuse me before Consort Ning. Let me tell you, I am still the head steward of Jingyang Palace!"

Lu Li directly rebuked Jin Lian.

Jinlian slunk away, and even the people waiting around began to act, going about their business as if nothing had happened, as if they had just passed by.

Lu Li coldly observed these fickle eunuchs and palace servants. Only the people he brought from the Palace Attendant's Office did not participate. However, even so, although Lu Li avoided this assassination attempt against him, it was still only a temporary solution.

The wind direction inside the Wendiao Palace has changed.

The next day.

Rumors circulated within the palace that Eunuch Lu was crippled, and his heart was broken too; he would only put on a show of power in public.

Rumors of this were growing stronger and stronger, almost unstoppable. Lu Li couldn't take action, but his adopted sons and eunuchs stood up for their godfathers. Several eunuchs from the Palace Guard were beaten out of the Wen Diao Palace for fighting without cause.

It was time for Consort Ning's daily calligraphy practice again. As usual, Lu Li stepped forward to grind ink and paper for Consort Ning, but the attendant with the small mustache quickly stepped forward and said, "Eunuch Lu, let me do this kind of rough work."

Lu Li, holding Mo, coldly watched as the little mustache tried to grab it. He placed one hand on the little mustache's wrist and said, "Then the little mustache will have to put in a lot of effort."

As he spoke, Lu Li channeled his true energy from his palm directly into the meridians of Little Mustache's wrist. Little Mustache's expression changed, but Lu Li pressed his hand on an acupoint, preventing the true energy from flowing to his palm.

"Snapped!"

The man with the small mustache reached out and brushed aside Lu Li's hand, coldly saying, "Thank you for your admonition, Lord Lu, but you'd better take better care of your position."

Consort Ning was engrossed in studying the masterpieces of famous calligraphers and was unaware of the secret conflict between the two, but she had already tacitly accepted the fact that the little mustache was grinding ink.

Lu Li's loss of heart, morality, favor, and power is not a trend, but a fact.