After the Giant Immortal Palace in Dunhuang was forcibly split into two, the palace maids and eunuchs sent to the Yeting Palace seemed to have been banished to the Cold Palace. They were not welcomed. Most of these people were small characters who were neither powerful nor favored. At first, there were some people who hoped to rely on speculation to gain status, so they took the initiative to transfer from the Zijin Palace to the Yeting Palace. Later, when they saw that the mysterious new master did not show any signs of moving in, their hearts immediately turned cold. They hurriedly stuffed money and red envelopes to the Imperial Household Department, and the opportunists returned to the Zijin Palace. Now, less than a hundred people were left to guard the empty two palaces and four halls. In addition to the beautiful scenery of the Yujing Garden, they could only do some chores like tending the flowers and sweeping. There was no hope for them to gain anything. A few days ago, there was a female official who was careless and caused trouble for a small commander of the Jinwu Guards cavalry. She did not dare to say anything. If it were not for the fact that the commander, who was known by the whole city for his body odor, made a slip of the tongue after drinking and spreading it to the ears of the Palace Master of the Zijin Palace, he might have been defiled several times.
The Yujing Garden was built to imitate the imperial gardens of the Central Plains. The city of Dunhuang was built on yellow sand. Just the water supply for this garden cost a huge amount of money. One could imagine how much pressure the demon Luo Yang had brought to Dunhuang. However, for the young eunuch, whether it was the new Palace Master of the Zijin Palace or the chief demon of the Beimang Palace, who had never shown his face in the Yeting Palace, they were both terrifying and unreachable figures. He hoped that he would never see them again in his life. The child's surname was Tong. He was twelve or thirteen years old and looked delicate and thin. When he entered the palace last winter, he took an old eunuch as his master and changed his name to Dong Shou. His family was extremely poor. His parents were sick and his sisters were about to starve to death. Poor children took charge of the household early, but they had no land and no skills. Even if they became beggars, how much food could they get back home?
At that time, the child, who was only nine years old, gritted his teeth and followed the method he had heard by accident. He was bleeding and fainted in the snow outside the Northern Gate of Ksitigarbha's Original Wish. He was seen by the old eunuch who went out of the palace to buy ingredients. He went back to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to plead for him. After much persuasion, the old eunuch used all the favors that he had carefully accumulated in his life to bring this poor child into the palace to be a young eunuch. Unexpectedly, the eunuch was not clean and only recovered after lying in bed for three months. He was then taken to the torture room to be cleansed again. The child almost did not make it through that winter. Fortunately, the old eunuch had some spare money and spent it on the child's upbringing. However, the old eunuch had no power, no influence, and no cliques. Dong Shou was originally doing odd jobs in the Purple Gold Palace's Imperial View Garden, so he naturally could not go to the Purple Gold Palace to earn money. Fortunately, the expenses in the palace were not high, and he could still send some of his salary out of the palace to his family. During this period of time, some of his salary would naturally be deducted by the eunuchs who had changed hands. The young eunuch Dong Shou was also content and did not have any complaints. He heard that his family had sold a younger sister, but his salary would be enough to support the entire family. Dong Shou only felt a little guilty. He thought that when he was successful in the future, he would endure five or six years to become a small leader and then save money to redeem his sister.
The older young eunuchs in the Yeting Palace liked to tease him. The rules in the palace were strict and there were not many eunuchs. Other than working hard and conscientiously, they had no fun. They gathered in groups to gamble and gossip. Once they were discovered, they would be beaten to death. Moreover, the Yeting Palace was sparsely populated. It was like being raised by a stepmother. It was especially lifeless. The young eunuchs, who were naughty and mischievous, would play with the helpless Dong Shou from time to time. They did not dare to do it openly. Usually, like today, they would call him to the shadows of the Yujing Garden, take off his pants, and step on him.
Five or six young eunuchs laughed and left. Dong Shou silently put on his pants and patted the dust away. He leaned against the rockery and gasped in pain. The rockery behind him was called Dui Chun Mountain. His master said that it was made of stones found from the Spring Deity Lake in the Dongyue Dynasty. There were precious trees planted on the mountain that were evergreen all year round, so it was called Dui Chun Mountain. The stone path under his feet was inlaid with various colored cobblestones to form the three characters of Fu, Lu, and Shou. He only knew these three characters now. He estimated that he would be like this for the rest of his life. At most, he would add the character Dong in his name. He originally wanted to ask his master how to write the character Tong in his surname. The old eunuch coldly said that since he had entered the palace, he should not remember these useless things. After that, Dong Shou gave up and began to completely regard himself as a member of the palace.
Dong Shou walked a few steps and could not bear the pain. He bent down to rest for a while. Thinking that he still had to secretly cut and water some flowers and trees for his master, he endured the pain and moved forward. He suddenly stopped and saw a handsome person in purple standing at the entrance of Dui Chun Mountain. The person looked more spirited than the Jinwu Guards. As for the robe, it was unimaginably beautiful and noble. Dong Shou hurriedly knelt down to pay his respects.
Hsu Fengnian looked at this young eunuch. This was the second time he had met this young eunuch. The first time, he was sitting on a tree and enjoying the scenery. He saw the youth sneaking around the garden and going to the top of Dui Chun Mountain. He looked out of the palace and secretly cried.
Hsu Fengnian flatly said, "Don't kneel. I am not a member of the palace."
The young eunuch was stunned for a moment. His face turned pale. He hurriedly got up and grabbed the man's sleeve. He nervously said, "Hurry up and leave. If you are caught, you will be beheaded!"
Hsu Fengnian smiled and asked, "Why don't you ask someone to catch me?"
Dong Shou seemed to be confused. After hesitating for a moment, he still shook his head. He realized that one of his hands might have dirtied the man's sleeve. He hurriedly retracted his hand. His expression was still flustered. He lowered his voice and begged, "Hurry up and run. If you are caught, it will be too late.
Hsu Fengnian said, "Don't worry. I am a stonemason from Yujing Garden. I am responsible for repairing Dui Chun Mountain. It is this rockery behind you. "
Dong Shou stared at him for a while. It did not seem like he was lying. He felt relieved.
Hsu Fengnian asked, "Why were you beaten?"
Dong Shou became nervous again. He instinctively stuttered, "No, no, I was just playing with a friend."
Hsu Fengnian sarcastically said, "Friend? A small eunuch also has a friend? "
Dong Shou's face turned red and then white. He did not know what to do.
Hsu Fengnian shook his head slightly and asked, "You are called Dong Shou? The senior eunuchs in the palace gave you a shabby name. But I guess your master is also a good-for-nothing. "
Dong Shou was angry for the first time. He still stuttered, "You are not allowed to, you are not allowed to talk about my master like that!"
Hsu Fengnian squinted and said, "I already said it. What can you do? Hit me? I am a stonemason invited to work in the palace. Can you afford to offend me? Do you believe that your master will be kicked out of the palace and starved to death together? When the time comes, don't be called Dong Shou. Just call him 'Xia Si'. "
Dong Shou suddenly cried and knelt down. He no longer stuttered. He kowtowed and said, "Dong Shou is not sensible. I offended the stonemason. You can hit me, but don't implicate my master …"
The small eunuch quickly kowtowed on the cobblestone floor. It happened to be the word 'Shou'.
Hsu Fengnian saw Sweet Potato coming over from the corner of his eye. He waved his hand to signal her not to come closer. He said slowly, "Get up. I am here to work. I won't lower myself to your level."
The small eunuch still did not dare to get up. He continued to kowtow, "Stonemason is magnanimous. It is good that you beat me to vent your anger. I will only dare to get up when I have vented enough."
Hsu Fengnian said angrily, "Get up!"
Not to mention the small eunuch, even Sweet Potato, who was in the distance, was shocked.
Dong Shou stood up timidly. He did not dare to wipe the blood off. It flowed down between his eyebrows and down his cheeks.
Hsu Fengnian reached out to wipe it with his sleeve. The small eunuch stepped back. Seeing him frown, he did not dare to hide anymore. He was afraid that all his previous efforts would be wasted and that he would anger the stonemason again.
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