Chapter 094 – Old Woman Eunuchs

The Internal Affairs Bureau stuffed silver handing red packets, wallowing grass back to the Zijin Palace. Now left less than a hundred people to guard the empty two palaces and four halls, plus a great view of the Royal Garden, but also just do something to serve the flowers and plants to sweep the miscellaneous work, multiply the dragon is hopeless, half a bit of oil and water are not, the other day there is a female officer accidentally, to the Golden Guards Cavalry small commander of the scourge of the city do not dare to speak out, if not for the city is known to have a stink of foxes of their own commander of the drunkenness and carelessness, to the ears of the purple and gold Palace Palace masters, decapitated for public display, or else Maybe they will also be spoiled a few times.

The Royal View Garden imitated the Chinese royal garden and built, Dunhuang City was built on the yellow sand, this garden just water supply one of the cost of a huge amount of money, you can imagine, when the devil Luoyang brought Dunhuang City how much pressure. However, for the little eunuch, that the purple and gold Palace of the new Palace Master, this tucked Palace has never appeared in the North Mang chief of the devil also, are out of reach of the terrifying big man, or more hopefully, do not meet a lifetime is good. The little boy surnamed child, twelve or thirteen years old, looks clean and thin, the previous winter into the palace recognized an old eunuch to worship as a master, is renamed winter life, the family is poor to the extreme, father and mother’s body sick, a few younger sisters to starve to death, the poor child early to be a family, but no field no craft, even if when the beggars can beg a few mouths of rice to go home?

At that time only nine-year-old child gritted his teeth according to overheard the law, private white body, blood drenched fainted in pain in the snow outside the north door of the wish of the Earth’s Tibet, was out of the palace to pick up the old eunuchs saw, go back to talk to the Ministry of the Interior, good and bad, with a lifetime of carefully saved that point of the human condition, only to bring this bitter child into the palace to do the small eunuchs, do not want to be private white is not clean, lying in bed for three months later! Only healed, was carried to the prudent punishment room to purify once, the child almost did not survive the winter, fortunately the old eunuchs have some money, are spent on the child’s birth, which saved his life, the child knows how to be thankful, no suspense worship the old eunuchs as a master, this is the winter life of the have to come. However, the old eunuchs have no power, no party, they would have been in the Zijin Palace Royal Palace miscellaneous, winter life naturally can not go to the Zijin Palace to get the oil and water work, but the good in the palace expenses are not big, the monthly salary can still send out some outside the palace to the family, which naturally have to be transferred to eunuchs deducted some of the eunuchs, small eunuchs Dongshou is also contented, there will not be any complaints, I heard that the family is still selling a younger sister, but the next his salary will be enough to Live a family, Dongshou just some guilt, thinking of future success, stay up five or six years to do a small head, and then save up money to redeem the sister.

Tyeing Palace, some of the older eunuchs like to make fun of him together, the palace rules are strict, eunuchs are not much, in addition to conscientiously burying their heads in the work, there is no fun to speak of, crowd gambling private broken mouth and so on, once found to be caned to death, and the Tyeing Palace is sparsely populated, as with the mother of the raised, extraordinarily dead, the temperament of the small eunuchs on the occasional unsupported Dongshou as a fun game, and also did not dare to The light, generally like today, shouted to the Royal Court shadows, stripped his pants, a stomping, but also do not dare to trample to death, causing a death but to pay for life.

Five or six small eunuchs laughed and left. Dong Shou silently put on his pants, patted away the dust, leaning against the wigwam pain panting. Behind him, the fake mountain is called heap spring mountain, master said it is the east Vietnam dynasty side of the spring god lake to find the stones piled up and become, the mountain is planted with four seasons of spring valuable trees, so it is called heap spring mountain, foot stone path is various colors of cobblestones inlaid paved with the three characters of blessing, fortune and longevity, he is now only know those three characters, I guess this life is almost like this, at most plus a name in the word winter, he would like to ask the master of that his own He wanted to ask the master how to write the Tong character of his family name, the old eunuch said coldly, don’t memorize these useless things when you enter the palace. After that Dongshou dead heart, began to completely treat himself as a palace people.

Dong Shou walked a few steps, can not eat the pain, and bent down to rest for a while, thinking that also secretly for the master to go to a piece of flowers and trees cut watering, so bear the stinging pain to move, and violently stopped, see in front of the pile of spring mountain mouth stood on a handsome figure wearing a purple coat, people can be longer than the Jingwuwei ride but also spiritual, as for the robe, it is never seen can not be imagined to look good and noble, Dong Shou hurriedly kneel down to ask for peace.

Xu Fengyen looked at this little eunuch, this is the second time he met, the first time he was sitting on a tree enjoying the scenery, saw the teenager in the garden sneaking to the top of the heap of spring mountain, looking out of the palace, secretly shedding tears.

Xu Fengnian said flatly, “Don’t kneel, I’m not from the palace.”

The little eunuch froze for a moment, his face turned pale, hurriedly got up and grabbed the man’s cuffs, nervously saying, “You hurry up and leave, being caught is to be killed!”

Xu Fengnian smiled and asked back, “Why don’t you call out for someone to arrest me?”

Dongshou seemed to be confused himself, after hesitating for a while, he still shook his head, realizing that one of his hands might have soiled the man’s sleeve, he hastily retracted his hand, still looking panicked, he lowered his voice and begged, “Run away, if you’re caught it’ll be too late, you’ll really be beheaded!”

Xu Fengnian said, “Don’t worry, I am the stonemason who came to the Royal View Garden, responsible for repairing the Pile Spring Mountain. It’s this fake mountain behind me.”

Dong Shou stared at him for a while, not looking like a liar, and was relieved.

Xu Fengnian asked, “How did you get beaten?”

Dong Shou tensed up again, stuttering somewhat instinctively, “No, no, fooling around with friends.”

Xu Fenian sneered, “Friends? A small eunuch, also talking about friends?”

Dong Shou’s face reddened and turned white, at a loss for words.

Xu Fengnian shook his head slightly and asked, “Your name is Dong Shou? The raggedy name given to you by the previous eunuchs in the palace, right, but I guess your master is also a mixed bag of goods.”

Dong Shou broke into annoyance, still stuttering, “Don’t you, you, say that about my master!”

Xu Fengnian squinted, “Just said it, what can you do? Hit me? I’m a stonemason hired to work in the palace, can you afford to mess with me? Do you believe that even your master will be blown out of the palace and starve to death together? When the time comes, don’t call yourself Dong Shou, just call yourself ‘Summer Death’.”

Dong Shou all of a sudden cried out, flopped down on his knees, no longer stuttering, and vigorously kowtowed, “It’s Dong Shou who doesn’t know any better, and has bumped into the stonemason lord, you hit me, don’t involve my master …….”

The little eunuch quickly got high on blood on the cobblestone floor, which happened to be the word shou.

Xu Fenian saw Sweet Potato coming from the corner of his eye, waved his hand to signal her not to come closer, and slowly said, “Get up, I’m here to do something, I’m not going to talk to you.”

The little eunuch still did not dare to get up, continued to kowtow: “Stonemason adult has a lot, beat me out of anger only good, out of enough anger, only then I dare to get up.”

Xu Fengnian angrily said, “Get up!”

Not to mention the little eunuch, even the sweet potatoes in the distance were startled.

Dong Shou timidly stood up, not daring to wipe the blood, which flowed down between his eyebrows and then slid down his cheeks.

Xu Fengnian reached out and took his cuff to wipe it, the little eunuch stepped back, seeing him frown a little, not daring to hide anymore for fear of losing his previous effort and angering this stonemason lord again.

After wiping the blood stains, a large and a small, for a while they were relatively speechless.

Xu Fengnian tried to be as pleasant as possible and said, “You go about your business.”

The small eunuch left with trepidation, walked away, quietly turned around, and ended up seeing the stonemason lord dressed in purple again, Xu Fengyen laughed: “I’ll walk around, don’t mind me.”

Next Dongshou went to prune those plants that are worth too much than his life, when he overheard the stonemason lord picking a branch of flowers, he endured the fear in his heart and cried and said that this is a big crime of beheading, then the lord said that he is a stonemason, it doesn’t matter. So the next Dongshou work an hour, it cried no less than six times. Fortunately, the imperial garden covers a wide area, no one noticed the situation of this flower garden, Dongshou feel their guts are under the broken, upper and lower teeth trembling more than, but did not have the courage to call people to take the big man in purple, although the stonemason adults said lightly, but he felt that such a crime, was caught certainly be taken to the decapitation, these two years, every time I see the dying chicks from the tree nests fall, it is to sad! For a long time, where to bear the death of a living person.

And then Dongshou was eyes to a scene to the top of the thunderbolt, the stonemason adults walked to the distance in front of a brocade-clothed woman who could not see the face, talking and laughing.

Fornication with a female officer in the palace is even more of a capital offense!

Dong Shou closed his eyes and chanted, “I didn t see anything, nothing ……”

Xu Fengnian walked back to the little eunuch and smiled, “What was your name before you entered the palace.”

Dong Shou wanted to speak.

Xu Fenian waited quietly.

Dong Shou lowered his head and whispered, “Tong Guan, the Guan of consistent money.”

Xu Fengnian nodded and smiled, “Nice name.”

Dong Shou quickly looked up, radiant, and asked, “Really?”

Xu Fengnian said in a serious manner, “Really, there was a destroyed Southern Tang over in Liyang, there was once a big eunuch named Tong Guan, who was very influential and became an old woman minister.”

Dong Shou had a confused look on his face.

Xu Fengyen sat on the grass near the lake, behind him were beautiful purples and reds, explaining, “The unusual man who made it to the prime minister and chancellor, called the public minister, in fact, generally did not have this superfluous statement, but could not resist that Tong Guan, who has the same name and surname as you, was too powerful, with the eunuch’s body has not lost to the chancellor’s authority, only then did they have the old woman phase and the relative public minister.”

The teenager grinned a sneaky smile of pride.

Xu Fenian changed the topic and asked, “Do you know that Pile Spring Mountain is the place where the Dunhuang City Lord ascends on the 9th day of the 9th moon?”

The young eunuch said blankly, “I haven’t heard master say that.”

Xu Fengnian laughed, “When you are homesick in the future, go there and look outside the palace.”

The little eunuch reddened.

Xu Fenian asked, “If you become a grand eunuch one day, what will you do?”

Dong Shou coyly said, “Send a lot of money to my parents and sister outside the palace.”

“And?”

“Honor my master.”

“No more?”

“No, I guess.”

“Tell the truth.”

“Killed those eunuchs who laughed at my master!”

“The ones who bullied you?”

“Kill them all together and skin them to death.”

Unconsciously spilling his heart out, remembering his master’s teachings, the young eunuch was suddenly horrified and remorseful, and did not dare to say another word.

Xu Fengyen looked towards the lake and lightly said, “Don’t be afraid, this is what a man should say and do. I don’t have the time to get over it with a little eunuch like you.”

Dongshou bowed his head, “Am I a man?”

Xu Fengnian laughed, “Just know for yourself.”

The clouds were light.

Sweet Potato never disturbed them.

In the next few days Xu Fengyen, besides reading the written notes and similar historian records of Dunhuang city matters, when he had time, he went to the Royal View Garden for air, and chatted with the little eunuchs, and one by one, Dongshou was no longer formal and timid, and had a few more points of vivacity and anger, and the two of them had no edges in their casual conversations.

“The woman’s temper is good or bad, with the size of the tits directly linked. Don’t believe you think about the scene of the palace sisters around you, is it not this truth?”

“Hehe, it seems like it really is!”

“Then which palace maid sister do you think has the most heavy breasts.”

“That is of course the female officer Qi Xue sister, face can be beautiful, those on guard duty Jingu Rider every time the eyes are looking straight, hey, I’m almost the same, but also just think about it. Well, there is the Cheng Rui Hall as a police officer sister Shiyu, perhaps the breasts are also a little bigger, is not as good-looking as Qixue that.”

“So you do like the big ones?”

“No, I think, too big is actually not good, or smaller is good, grow so heavy, are going to burst the clothes, I feel tired for them. Still the face is the most important.”

“You are still young, you don’t understand.”

“Lord Stonemason you understand, tell me about it?”

“What would a little eunuch like you know about this.”

“Alas.”

“Very sad?”

“There is food and drink, worry about what, between men and women, do not think, in fact, I know that the palace has a pair of food big eunuchs and courtesan sister, are quite poor.”

“Have you poor?”

“Alas.”

“Dongshou, you just know alas.”

“Hey, no learning na, don’t know what to say, can’t do anything.”

The last meeting was very short, was a dusk, Xu Fengnian said: “things are done, out of the palace.”

The little eunuch did not want to cry but did not hold back, and soon cried a lot. Then said to let him wait for a while, ran in a hurry, and when he came back, handed Xu Fenian a money bag, begging him to give it to his family outside the palace.

Xu Fenian asked, “Not afraid that I will covet it?”

The little eunuch shook his head, “Knowing that Lord Stonemason is not such a person!”

Xu Fengyen threw back the money bag and smashed it on his face, scolding, “What the hell do you know! In case it’s swallowed or accidentally forgotten by me, will your family survive a month of starvation?”

Dongshou picked up the money bag, aggrieved and bewildered, and began to choke again.

Xu Fengyen touched his head and said softly, “Don’t trust anyone easily in the future, but when you recognize something, it’s to take the bull by the horns to do it right. Give me the money bag, promise to help you deliver it.”

Dongshou wiped his tears and delivered the money bag, smiling incomparably.

Xu Fengyen turned around and left, turned around after thinking about it and ordered, “Go and fold a flower branch over.”

Small eunuchs heaven and earth, finally still courageous to go and fold a branch over, Xu Fengyen squatted on the ground to take the branch on the ground to write two words, raised his head.

Dongshou trembled with excitement, carefully asked, “Tong Guan?”

Xu Fengyen got up, pinched off a section of the flower branch, a handful of all thrown into the lake, vigorously rubbed the little eunuch’s head.

The young man cried and laughed.

Xu Fengyen walked straight away, and when he reached the corner, he saw Pavilion Sweet Potato.

Sweet Potato asked softly, “Arrange a peaceful clear water court for the little guy, or throw him in the frying pan and fry him up a bit?”

Xu Fenian shook his head and said, “No hurry, wait for another two years, if his temperament doesn’t change for the worse, find someone to teach him to read and write, then send him to the hidden scripture pavilion, the secret scrolls are left to rummage through, and don’t be too attentive to pulling out the seedling to help it grow, the next only depends on his own creativity.”

Sweet Potato nodded.

By the lake, the little eunuch picked up some of the branches of the lake, stuffed into the sleeve, ready to throw into the piles of spring mountain those bottomless narrow hole pit.

Back to the “Tong Guan” two words side, squatting to see again and again, memorized in the brain, ready to erase, but still do not want to give up, after some thought, took out a thorny flower branch, in the palm of the hand deeply pierced the tiny two words.

He squatted there in a daze, for a long time before returning to his senses and said, “I should have known to plead with my benefactor again to teach me how to write the word winter.”

The little eunuch slapped his face hard, “Don’t be ignorant!”

He stood up and clenched his fists, his eyes resolute.

The young man loosened his fists, looked down and muttered, “Tong Guan!”