The old eunuch in a red python robe, the murderous aura around his body was suppressed by the majesty of Chai Dingquan and retracted back into his body. The emperor seemed to be accustomed to the old man's sometimes leaking murderous intent, and did not hold the old slave of the Three Dynasties accountable for his great disrespect.

The middle-aged emperor picked up a cup of honeysuckle dew just presented by the little eunuch, and Chai Dingquan's liver fire was far more vigorous than ordinary people, so he would drink a cup of honeysuckle dew from time to time regardless of spring and autumn. The elixir entered his throat, and the anger in the middle-aged emperor's heart gradually subsided, he leaned back on the soft pillow, and said, "Tao Lao is still gone after all. ”

"Your Majesty's condolences. The old man in the bright red python robe was straighter than when he had confessed his mistake before, but his head was still lowered.

"He and I also have a master-apprentice relationship. When it comes to the friendship between kings and ministers, I don't think I've treated him badly. When it comes to the friendship between master and apprentice, I respect him even more. But he still betrayed me. The middle-aged emperor's voice was a little angry.

"Your Majesty is serious. Mr. Tao has never left Daxia, and every inch of Daxia is the imperial land. He just went from His Majesty's study to His Majesty's courtyard. ”

"If the host invites a guest to his home, how can the guest leave the study and go elsewhere if the host and guest talk happily with each other? Because I was dissatisfied, I thought about leaving. When the time came, he really left. There was some grievance, sadness and powerlessness in the middle-aged emperor's words. The king of a country, the co-lord of the world, could have been in charge of the mountains and rivers, but he could not keep a teaching gentleman.

"Your Majesty, don't forget, it's not the guest but the king. The eyes of the old eunuch in the red python robe were half-squinted and half-opened, and they opened for a rare moment, and a cold light flashed from them. It seems that his master's obsession and favor with the old man surnamed Tao made his minister, jealous.

Chai Dingquan didn't want to chew words with the old man on this matter anymore, he knew that although the old man in the python robe was expressionless all the year round, he was extremely narrow-minded, and competing with him for a short time on a dead person would only make his head bigger. When a person dies, he dies, although that person has the grace of teaching himself karma, although that person is almost endowed with the literary fortune of the Great Xia country. As an emperor, almost everything in the world can be obtained at your fingertips, so even if you have a preference for some people and certain things, it is only a moment of regret and regret after losing, how can you brew long-term bitterness and reluctance in your heart like ordinary people.

"I have never figured out why he chose Yin Xun Prefecture in Great Xia Kyushu, although there have been some top three people in scientific research here, but ten years ago, those people completely broke the flow of cultural transportation in this state. The cultural movement here is like an urn with a big hole, and no matter how much you pour water into it, you can't save it. Mr. Tao actually spent ten years repairing this broken urn intact, and finally filled it with water, what does this mean? Could it be related to the Yun family?" The middle-aged emperor seemed to ask the old man beside him, and seemed to be talking to himself.

"The old slave is only scratching the surface of the art of observing qi and deriving stars. Your Majesty can wait for Lord Taishi Ling to summon and inquire after he leaves the customs. ”

"That's it, when the old man is out of the customs, I will personally go to Si Tiantai to ask him for advice. ”

Chai Dingquan inquired about some other things mentioned in the secret report, and then ordered the old man to go down and rest, but replaced him with a seventeen or eighteen-year-old little eunuch to serve him. The little eunuch passed by with the bright red python robe, and saluted respectfully and said "Master". The old man raised his head for the first time, and the vertical and horizontal folds on his forehead stretched a lot when he saw the person in front of him. He rarely squeezed out a smile, patted the young eunuch's shoulder lightly, and left without saying a word.

The young eunuch named Zhigui waited until the old man left, and then ran into Wenquzhai in small steps. Although it was winter, the charcoal fire in the study was extremely hot, and the handsome cheeks of the young man were not inferior to the woman's beads of sweat. He took advantage of the stall of the salute to wipe the sweat on his face with his sleeve, and then skillfully grinded it for His Majesty, and then waited quietly on the side, observing the ink in the inkstone, grinding the ink at the right time, and so on.

About half an hour later, the middle-aged emperor hung the small cone in his hand on the white jade pen stand on the table. After stretching his waist, he took the teacup respectfully handed by the young eunuch.

"Zhigui, how long have you been in the palace?"

"Back to Your Majesty, it has been eight years since the slave maid entered the palace at the age of eleven. The young eunuch replied respectfully, and his voice was gentle and pleasant.

"I followed your master from the moment I entered the palace?" Chai Dingquan put down the teacup.

"The slave has a good life, and he was selected by the master as soon as he entered the palace, and he has been teaching the slave and maid with him. ”

"What skills have you learned from your master?" the middle-aged emperor motioned to the young eunuch not to rush to clean up the teacup.

"Back to Your Majesty, Master teaches the slaves and maids how to serve Your Majesty, how to be loyal to the royal family, and how to ......" But the young eunuch named Zhigui was interrupted by the emperor waving his hand before he could finish speaking.

"Don't talk about this nonsense, don't learn when you're young, and learn some oily and smooth things. What I ask is, have you ever passed on your master's skills?"

The young eunuch smiled awkwardly but smiled brightly, "The master only taught the slave and maid some self-defense fists and feet, as for the others, it was not taught to the slave and maid. The master said that cultivating martial arts is too hard, and said that the most bitter life in the world is those of us who have entered the palace as eunuchs. is already living in such a miserable world, why bother to cultivate martial arts to find guilt for himself. Even if you really have achieved something in martial arts, or even become a land immortal, when you are mentioned by the world, you will first think that you are a eunuch, and then you will know that you are also a martial artist who cultivates to the sky, and then you will make up a sentence, but it is a pity that this ability turned out to be a eunuch. Rather than being spurned by the whole world like this, it is better to hide quietly in this deep palace and serve Your Majesty. Zhigui's tone was flat, and his voice was unwavering, and he didn't seem to feel sorry for himself because of his miserable life experience.

Emperor Chai Dingquan nodded and said, "Very good, it's a good thing that I didn't learn your master's skills." Your master, he is too murderous. The older you get, the more perverse your temperament becomes. I sometimes dislike it very much, but I just think that for the sake of him being a veteran of the Three Dynasties, I don't care about an old monster of his age. You just have to serve me, and after a hundred years you will serve my son as you serve me. As for those errands that fight and kill or protect me, some people will naturally do it. ”

The young eunuch just wanted to say something nonsense about what kind of slave should be done to die with all his might, and what kind of nonsense such as serving His Majesty is really a blessing for three lives, but before he could speak, he was chai Dingquan and said: "Stop." I know what you're going to say by looking at your eyes. In the future, I will not say some innocuous things in front of me, these things will be said by the courtiers when I go to the court, when I return to the harem, my concubines will say it, when my sons and daughters come to ask for peace, and now in my own study, you will still say it. I'm not tired of what you're saying, but I'm tired of listening to it. If you ever pat me on the back or say something like this in front of the king, I'll cut out your tongue. ”

"The lives of slaves and maids belong to Your Majesty, and if Your Majesty wants a tongue, the slaves and maids will be cut off and dedicated to Your Majesty. "At this moment, Jigui finally has some young people's naughtiness and rebellion.

"Bold, dare to tease with me" Emperor Chai Dingquan feigned anger, but his face was full of smiles, and the young man in front of him made him feel refreshed. "The position of the chief eunuch is still vacant, and I will order you to fill this position in the next year. ”

The young eunuch was overjoyed when he heard this, and was about to kneel down and bow his head to thank him, but he heard the middle-aged emperor say: "Wait until the day of canonization to thank you." Your master is old, you need to consult with him more, and I will take you with me more. Your master is old, and he can't serve me for long. Your master, he's really old. ”

The young eunuch Zhigui couldn't understand why the emperor wanted to say three times, and the master was old. He didn't study the emperor's intentions in detail, but the hint in his words was so obvious that if he still couldn't hear it, it would be better to find a ball of cotton to bleed. Soon, the boy's doubts about the Emperor's previous words were replaced by the joy that filled his heart.

The eunuchs in the palace are divided into three, six, nine and so on, and after reaching a certain rank, the eunuchs are qualified to buy mansions outside the palace. Unless he is on duty, he can live in the mansion outside the palace the rest of the time, just like an ordinary family. Therefore, many eunuchs would buy family members after purchasing mansions, or let their brothers pass their children into their own names. Although they can't give birth on their own, they still hope that their incense will continue so that they won't go underground after death and be scolded by the family elders who have been waiting there for a long time.

But the old man who was given a big red python robe did not open a house outside the palace and started a family, and he never even purchased a family property. The old man is also a person who has lived for nearly four years, and there are naturally not a few apprentices who have been trained and instructed, and most of the old man will take his own money to help his apprentices settle down outside the palace. And he will stay in the palace regardless of whether he is in office or on leave. Therefore, although the old man was murderous and had an eccentric temperament, his disciples were grateful and respectful to the old man.

Regardless of the inner palace and the outer court, between the courtiers, between the harem concubines, and even the inner guards and palace maids and eunuchs, they all like to form gangs according to their ancestral origins and the yamen court to which they belong. It stands to reason that if you want to start a small gang with the seniority and status of the elderly, it is easy to respond to all calls. But the old man always looked indifferent to everything except his own errands.

The old man was given a small courtyard in the palace. After the palace gate was latched, in a room in the small courtyard, an old man who had taken off his bright red python robe and changed into an ordinary cloth robe was sitting on a Taishi chair and closing his eyes. The décor and furnishings in the house are not luxurious, except for some old mahogany furniture.

There was a gentle knock on the courtyard door, and the little eunuch who opened the door welcomed a young man with a handsome face into the courtyard. The young man also changed into a blue robe and carried a food box in his hand. After thanking the colleague who opened the door with a warm smile, the young man came outside the old man's house. The young man didn't knock on the door, but waited for a few breaths, and a somewhat shrill voice came from inside the room, "Come in." ”

Zhigui, who was carrying a food box in his hand, pushed the door in, and the old man's eyes opened slightly, and he smiled at the young man, but compared with the young man's bright smile like a spring sun, the old man's smile was really a little ugly.

The young man took out two jars of wine and a few plates of side dishes from the food box.

"Cooking again?" the old man's slightly narrowed eyes flashed with a childlike look of anticipation.

"It's all Master's favorite food. The young man said as he placed a jar of wine in front of the old man, but did not take the cup.

"Ever since you served Your Majesty, you have had little time to cook. Now that you kid is a celebrity in front of His Majesty, you have to put more effort into your daily life. ”

"The apprentices can have today, all rely on the master's cultivation and support. "The young man said all that, and if he said more, it would seem polite.

"Your Majesty is going to promote you to be the chief eunuch of Bingbi?" the old man asked casually while picking up vegetables, his eyes still seemed to be closed.

The young man was not surprised at what he said, and said yes without concealment.

While eating the food, the old man said hello three times in a row, not knowing whether he was praising the young man's craftsmanship or congratulating the young man on his promotion. "It seems that it is not far from the old age of the miscellaneous family. How many years have it been? It's time for the miscellaneous family to rest. Your Majesty must think I'm getting old. The old man's eyes were a little cloudy, and his voice was a little sad.

"The apprentice will honor your old man," the young man looked at the old man sincerely.

The old man smiled and waved his hand, the folds on his forehead would always stretch when he saw the young man in front of him, "In the future, you will serve Your Majesty, how can you have leisure time, you can take the time to visit me." ”

In the regulations of Great Xia, there are five eunuchs with the highest status, and they are from the second rank. They are the Palm Seal Eunuch, the Pen Eunuch, the Sword Eunuch, the Fengxiang Eunuch and the Master Register. The five eunuchs have their own duties, but what they have in common is that they have great authority. The old man is the palm seal supervisor of the five major prisons, and he is also the speaker of the Pure Heaven Division. It's just that because the old man has served three generations of kings, Chai Dingquan canonized him as a subordinate product, and gave the old man a python robe that only the prince can wear.

Among the rest of the people, Feng Xiangjian was arranged to go to Si Tiantai to assist Taishi Ling, the sword supervisor is a master of Ouchi who rarely appears in front of people, and it is rumored that he is one of the most unfathomable people in the palace. The other two died of old age, so their places have been vacant. Now Chai Dingquan wants to promote Zhigui, a young eunuch who is only 20 years old, to be a pen supervisor, and its significance and honor can be imagined.