The night is as thick as ink, and the sleeping Forbidden City is tightly enveloped, making people feel suffocated.

The East Factory, located in the northeast corner of the Forbidden City, is also the only place in this black fortress that reveals a glimmer of light. But this little light was then swallowed up by the boundless night, like a shark that escaped from its own form by the large amount of ink spewed out by the squid.

In the council room, the large candle, which was originally more than a foot high, burned to only half of its size. More than a dozen ghostly figures loomed in the candlelight. The candlelight danced, revealing the pale face of one of them from the darkness. However, it was only for a moment, and the face was no longer visible, as if it had disappeared into thin air.

Guan Ning was half frightened to death by this strange atmosphere. He often comes to Dongchang, but he has never been here in the middle of the night. And every time he came, it was basically his godfather Wei Zhongxian who was alone, and at most there were one or two people around, but this time there were more than a dozen people sitting in the dark in the conference hall, which had never happened before. At this time, the dozen or so people were silent, staring at him with strange eyes, and he was covered in hair.

When he was thinking, on the tiger skin chair in front of him, a gloomy voice came: "My son, what is the matter with coming to Dongchang at night?" This voice carried a chill to the bone, penetrating through Guan Ning's bone marrow, making him tremble involuntarily.

Guan Ning hurriedly took a deep breath, calmed down, and hurriedly came to Wei Zhongxian, the overseer of Dongchang, who was sitting high, knelt down on his knees, and said in a calm voice as much as possible: "No, Guan Ning, please be nine thousand years old!" ”

In fact, he wanted to make his voice louder, but for some reason, as soon as the words came out of his throat, he was squashed vigorously.

Wei Zhongxian glanced at Guan Ning coldly and did not speak.

Guan Ning's heart was full again, and he hurriedly took out a small box from his arms and offered it with both hands, and at the same time smiled flatteringly: "Godfather, there is a gadget to honor you." ”

Wei Zhongxian opened the box, and the chamber lit up in an instant. Someone whispered, "Pearl of the Night!" ”

Guan Ning said proudly: "Godfather, in fact, although the Night Pearl is rare, it is not unusual for your old man to be well-informed." But this bead is different, so please take a closer look. ”

Wei Zhongxian's face had softened a lot at this time, and he took the Night Pearl out of the box and put it in his palm to look at it carefully.

But seeing that this bead, which is bigger than a goose egg, does not rely on the light outside, but emits a faint light on its own. The most peculiar thing is that the inside of the bead seems to be slowly circulating, and with this circulation, the color of the light gradually changes, and it is colorful and beautiful.

With the colorful night pearl, Guan Ning also saw clearly that there were old acquaintances such as Li Chaoqin and Wang Chaofu sitting in the council hall, all of whom were old qualified chief eunuchs. In addition, there are Cui Chengxiu, Tian Ergeng, Xu Xianchun and other Wei Zhongxian's close friends. Of course, there are also some unfamiliar faces, which shows that the power of the godfather is still growing.

At this moment, these people were all firmly attracted by the rare treasure, and there was a faint flash of greed in their eyes, mixed with a trace of jealousy. Especially the Wenchen led by Cui Chengxiu, although he is quite able to call the wind and rain above the court, compared to an internal supervisor like Guan Ning, he is much thinner at home, and he has never even seen a treasure like this.

Wei Zhongxian's vision was higher than that of his minions, so he just gently covered the box, handed it to the little eunuch beside him to put it away, and then squeezed out an ugly smile to Guan Ning and said, "It's rare for you to be filial, let's accept it." You didn't come here in the middle of the night just for such a bead, did you? ”

Guan Ning hurriedly explained his intentions, from Zhu Youzhen's refusal to eat the imperial meal and starting another stove, to Lin Youkun's night breaking into the Wenhua Palace and beating the eunuch, all of them were told clearly. Of course, it is indispensable to add oil and vinegar, especially the section where Lin Youkun broke into the palace, he talked about how loyal the eunuchs led by himself were, how arrogant Lin Youkun was, how the little eunuch sacrificed himself to block the gun's eye, and how Lin Youkun walked away, it was like telling a story.

At the end, he cried to Wei Zhongxian and said, "Godfather, as long as you are in the palace, you know that your son is your godfather." This Lin Youkun beating the little eunuch is equivalent to beating his son; Hitting your son is equivalent to your father's good-looking! If you don't punish this murderer, these lawless guards will not be able to rebel against heaven in the future! ”

Guan Ning gushed endlessly, spitting stars flying around, and spoke for more than ten minutes. While talking, he peeked at Wei Zhongxian, only to see that Wei Zhongxian's face gradually became gloomy, knowing that he was angry, he couldn't help but feel secretly proud in his heart, thinking that this complaint was solid, coupled with the effect of that bead, this time he had to take Lin Youkun's life.

Wei Zhongxian patiently listened to Guan Ning's words, and said with a slight smile: "My son, come close!" ”

Guan Ning thought that Wei Zhongxian was going to give some important instructions, so he hurriedly stepped forward, but he was unexpectedly slapped with a big golden mouth!

"Useless stuff!" Wei Zhongxian scolded, "Our family actually raised such a waste as you!" You monkey cub, our family sent you to the Wenhua Hall to let you report on big things, you fucking good, you talked about such a lot of trivial things, how much time did you delay our family? Do you know how important things are being discussed in our family right now? It's not enough to delay the business and chop you a hundred times, you know? ”

Guan Ning's hot face was attached to his cold buttocks, and Wei Zhongxian was beaten and scolded repeatedly, he was already frightened, but he just knelt on the ground and kept kowtowing and begging for mercy: "Godfather, spare your life!" Godfather spares his life! The child is a stupid donkey, a stupid pig! ”

The crowd on the side watched coldly, secretly gloating. Cui Chengxiu and other civil servants needless to say, they originally looked down on eunuchs other than Wei Zhongxian; Together with Li Chaoqin and Wang Chaofu, who were eunuchs, they also felt very relieved. This Guan Ning is young, but he is quite favored by Wei Zhongxian on weekdays, and the promotion speed is too fast, which makes this class of old qualified eunuchs very unhappy.

Li Chaoqin stayed up in the palace for more than 30 years before he reached the eunuch Bingbi, who was just Wei Zhongxian's echo worm. Wang Chaofu was even more sad, he was a eunuch for forty years, and when Wei Zhongxian first entered the palace, he also served as his attendant.

It is expected that in 30 years in Hedong and 30 years in Hexi, now Wei Zhongxian is already the governor of Dongchang, and he firmly holds the power of approving red in his palm, which is enough to command the world, but he only does the eunuch of the imperial horse and the pen, and he can't even enter the celebrant eunuch.

Guan Ning has only been in the palace for a few years, and he is only in his early twenties, and he has been promoted to the chief eunuch, and he can already sit on an equal footing with them in terms of rank, which makes several old comrades embarrassed!

Seeing Guan Ning's ugliness at this moment, Wang Chaofu and Li Chaoqin exchanged glances, and sneered in their hearts: I don't know the depth of things, and I don't look at what kind of occasion this is, I don't see that the factory is fair and angry, and there is nowhere to sprinkle, I deserve it! also said that you are a stupid donkey and a stupid pig, if you are such a stupid thing, the factory is your godfather, what kind of object has it become? It's stupid! Dare to sue Lin Youkun, who is Lin Youkun? There are few people in the world, and there are few people who dare not offend the factory, but this Lin Youkun is one of them. I don't even know this, and I still run to complain, isn't this to make the factory good-looking?

However, Xu Xianchun had a very close personal relationship with Guan Ning, and when he saw that Guan Ning had touched a big bad head, he had to make a round for him. After pondering for a moment, he already had an idea, and said to Wei Zhongxian: "Father, please calm your anger." Father-in-law Guan is loyal to you, and everyone here knows it. What my father-in-law just said just now cannot be regarded as unimportant. Like this, King Ning does not follow the ancestral system, which is a great sin. Lin Youkun committed murder and hurt people, and long live may not necessarily protect him. With these incriminating evidence, find another opportunity in the future, and the factory can eradicate them one by one. It's just that these things are insignificant compared to the big things at hand. Father-in-law Guan obviously didn't deliberately delay his father's deliberations, but he just didn't know the severity. He is loyal to his duty, and this should be commended. As the saying goes, it is not an exaggeration to know the unknown. Father, the matter is important, so don't worry about your father-in-law. ”

Wei Zhongxian listened with a calm face, and scolded Guan Ning viciously: "If it weren't for the sake of Xianchun, our family would definitely kill you bastard!" When you go back to do things, remember to use your brain! Don't let us go yet! ”

Guan Ning hurriedly hugged his head and rushed out. When he left the council hall, he found that his whole body was soaked with cold sweat, and he was blown by the cold wind outside, as if he had fallen into an ice cellar. And I kowtowed too hard just now, and I broke my forehead, and I also felt pain at this time. He grinned and wiped the blood and cold sweat on his head, secretly calling him unlucky, thinking to himself what was the big deal that could make his godfather so angry?

At this time, Xu Xianzhen paced over with square steps again, and said with a mocking smile: "Father-in-law Guan must have won another lottery on this trip, congratulations!" ”

Guan Ning was angry, and was about to quarrel with Xu Xianzhen, but suddenly thought that he hadn't walked out of the gate of the East Factory yet, and if he disturbed Wei Zhongxian again, he would really not be able to eat and leave.

And just now Xu Xianchun pleaded with himself and did himself a great favor. This Xu Xian is really Xu Xianchun's brother, no matter what, he has to sell Xu Xianchun a face.

Therefore, he had to hold his breath secretly, lowered his head, did not answer, and walked out in a gloomy manner, while secretly thinking in his heart: The same brothers, why is the gap between people so big? Xu Xianchun, such a younger brother is really blind to you!

It is strange to say that although Xu Xianchun and Xu Xianzhen are compatriots of the same mother, they belong to different factions. Although Xu Xianzhen is under the direct jurisdiction of Wei Zhongxian in Dongchang, he belongs to the powerful faction and is closer to Cui Chengxiu.

And his elder brother Xu Xianchun, although he is the deputy commander of the Jinyi Guard and the military attache of the third grade, belongs to the idol faction and has a hot fight with the eunuchs in the palace.

The strangest thing is that even so, the brotherhood between the two people has not been affected at all, they are often inseparable, and they are also deeply valued by Wei Zhongxian. With Guan Ning's IQ, he can't guess what is going on if he wants to break his head.

The little eunuchs of the Wenhua Hall were surprised to find that when the chief steward left just now, he was full of courage and majesty; When he came back, he was like a frosted eggplant, and he didn't even have the strength to speak.

Even with pain and anger, Guan Ning didn't close his eyes all night. Thinking of his godfather's fierce eyes, he shuddered again. Thinking about it, you can get up from where you fall, and you have to do your job well and keep an eye on King Ning! So as soon as the day dawned, he got up and went to work.

If he knew what happened later, he would rather let Wei Zhongxian smoke a few more mouths than let Zhu Youzhen play to death.