Chapter 304: Old Eunuch and Young Court Official

After the Immortal Palace in Dunhuang City was harshly split into two, the palace maids and eunuchs assigned to Yeting Palace were treated as if they had been banished to the cold palace, receiving no favor. Most of these individuals were minor figures, lacking influence and privilege. Initially, some ambitious people, hoping to gain status through speculation, voluntarily transferred from Zijin Palace to Yeting Palace. However, when they realized that the elusive new master showed no signs of moving in, their hopes immediately faded. They quickly bribed the Imperial Household Department with money and red envelopes, switching back to Zijin Palace like opportunistic weeds. Now, fewer than a hundred people remained, guarding the empty two palaces and four halls, along with the scenic Yujing Garden. They merely tended to flowers and plants and performed other mundane chores, with no hope of advancement or profit. Just a few days prior, a female official was unfortunately molested by a junior commander of the Jinwu Guard cavalry but dared not speak out. Had that commander, notorious throughout the city for his body odor, not drunkenly blurted it out, and the news reached the master of Zijin Palace, resulting in his public execution, she might have been abused several more times.

The Yujing Garden was built to emulate the imperial gardens of the Central Plains. Given that Dunhuang City was constructed on yellow sands, the cost of water supply alone for this garden was immense, which indicates the enormous pressure the demon Luo Yang placed on Dunhuang City back then. However, for the young eunuchs, both the new master of Zijin Palace and the never-before-seen chief demon of Northern Mang in Yeting Palace were terrifyingly distant and powerful figures. They would much rather never meet them in their entire lives. The young eunuch, named Tong, was about twelve or thirteen years old, with a delicate and slender appearance. When he entered the palace the winter before last, he acknowledged an old eunuch as his master and was renamed Dong Shou. His family was extremely poor; his parents were often ill, and his younger sisters were on the verge of starvation. Children from poor families mature early, but without land or skills, how much food could he even beg for his family?

The nine-year-old boy, gritting his teeth, secretly castrated himself using a method he had overheard, collapsing unconscious and bleeding profusely in the snow outside the North Gate of Ksitigarbha's Original Vows Temple. An old eunuch, who was out procuring food supplies for the palace, saw him. He returned to the Imperial Household Department and pleaded on the boy's behalf, exhausting all the favors he had carefully accumulated over his lifetime to bring this unfortunate child into the palace as a young eunuch. Unexpectedly, the self-castration was incomplete, and after three months of recovery in bed, he was taken to the Punishment Department to be fully castrated again. The child barely survived that winter. Fortunately, the old eunuch had some savings, which he spent on the boy's upkeep, thus saving his life. The child, grateful, unhesitatingly became the old eunuch's apprentice, which is how Dong Shou got his start. However, the old eunuch had no power, influence, or affiliations, and he himself merely performed odd jobs in the Zijin Palace's Yujing Garden. Naturally, Dong Shou couldn't get any profitable work in the Zijin Palace. Fortunately, living expenses in the palace were not high, and he could still send some of his monthly salary out to his family, though it was inevitably skimmed by other eunuchs during transfer. Young eunuch Dong Shou was content and harbored no complaints. He heard that his family had still sold one of his sisters, but his subsequent salary would be enough to support his entire family. Dong Shou felt only a little guilt, hoping that once he became successful, perhaps after five or six years as a minor supervisor, he could save enough money to buy his sister back.

The older young eunuchs in Yeting Palace liked to gang up and tease him. Palace rules were strict, and there weren't many eunuchs to begin with. Aside from diligently doing their work, there was little enjoyment to be had. Group gambling or unauthorized gossip would result in fatal caning if discovered. Furthermore, Yeting Palace was sparsely populated, resembling a neglected stepchild, exceptionally desolate. Mischievous young eunuchs would occasionally amuse themselves by playing pranks on the friendless Dong Shou. They wouldn't do it openly; typically, they would call him to a shaded spot in the Yujing Garden, like today, pull down his pants, and kick him repeatedly. They dared not kick him to death, as causing a fatality would cost them their own lives.

Five or six young eunuchs laughed and walked away. Dong Shou silently pulled up his pants, brushed off the dust, and leaned against the rockery, panting in pain. The rockery behind him was called "Spring Mound." His master said it was built from stones sourced from Spring God Lake in the Eastern Yue Dynasty, and precious evergreen trees were planted on it, hence the name. The stone path beneath his feet was inlaid with various pebbles forming the characters for "Fortune," "Prosperity," and "Longevity." He currently only recognized those three characters, and he estimated that would be pretty much it for his life, perhaps adding the character "Dong" from his name. He had wanted to ask his master how to write the character "Tong" from his family name, but the old eunuch had coldly told him not to remember useless things once inside the palace. After that, Dong Shou gave up hope and began to fully consider himself a palace resident.

Dong Shou walked a few steps, unable to bear the pain, and bent over to rest for a while. Thinking that he still needed to secretly prune and water a patch of flowers for his master, he endured the stinging pain and moved forward. He suddenly stopped, seeing a handsome figure in purple standing at the mouth of Spring Mound. The person looked even more spirited than the Jinwu Guards, and as for the robe, it was unimaginably beautiful and elegant, unlike anything he had ever seen. Dong Shou immediately knelt down to salute.

Xu Fengnian looked at the young eunuch. This was their second encounter. The first time, he had been sitting in a tree, enjoying the view, and saw the boy stealthily go to the top of Spring Mound, look outside the palace, and secretly shed tears.

Xu Fengnian said calmly, "Don't kneel. I am not from the palace."

The young eunuch froze, his face pale. He quickly stood up, grabbed the person's sleeve, and nervously said, "You must leave quickly! You'll be beheaded if you're caught!"

Xu Fengnian smiled and retorted, "Why aren't you calling someone to catch me?"

Dong Shou seemed to be confused himself. After a moment of hesitation, he shook his head. Realizing his hand might have dirtied the man's sleeve, he quickly withdrew it, still looking panicked, and pleaded in a low voice, "Please, run! It'll be too late if you're discovered, you'll really be beheaded!"

Xu Fengnian said, "Don't worry, I am a stonemason here at Yujing Garden, responsible for repairing Spring Mound. That rockery behind me."

Dong Shou stared at him for a while. He didn't seem to be lying, and Dong Shou felt relieved.

Xu Fengnian asked, "Why were you beaten?"

Dong Shou became nervous again, instinctively stammering, "No, no, just playing with friends."

Xu Fengnian sneered, "Friends? A mere eunuch, talking about friends?"

Dong Shou's face flushed, then turned pale, at a loss for what to say.

Xu Fengnian shook his head slightly and asked, "Are you called Dong Shou? A rubbish name given to you by an older eunuch in the palace, I suppose. I also suspect your master is just a useless good-for-nothing."

Dong Shou, for the first time, became angry, but still stammered, "You, you're not allowed to talk about my master like that!"

Xu Fengnian squinted at him and said, "I just did, what can you do about it? Hit me? I'm a stonemason invited into the palace to work. Can you afford to offend me? Believe it or not, I'll have you and your master thrown out of the palace to starve to death together. By then, don't call yourself Dong Shou; just call yourself 'Summer Death'."

Dong Shou suddenly burst into tears, knelt down with a thud, no longer stammering, and desperately kowtowed, "It's Dong Shou's fault for being disrespectful and offending Master Stonemason. Please hit me, but don't implicate my master..."

The young eunuch quickly drew blood on the pebble floor from his kowtowing, coincidentally on the character for "Longevity."

Out of the corner of his eye, Xu Fengnian saw Hong Shu approaching. He waved his hand, signaling her not to come closer, and slowly said, "Get up. I'm here to work, and I won't hold this against you."

The young eunuch still dared not get up, continuing to kowtow, "Master Stonemason is magnanimous. It would be best if you beat me to vent your anger. Only after you've vented enough will this humble one dare to rise."

Xu Fengnian angrily said, "Get up!"

Not just the young eunuch, but even Hong Shu, who was at a distance, was startled.

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

Xu Fengnian reached out with his sleeve to wipe it. The young eunuch recoiled, but seeing Xu Fengnian frown slightly, he dared not dodge again, fearing that his efforts would be in vain and he would anger Master Stonemason again.

After the blood was wiped away, the tall man and the small boy stood in silence for a moment.

Xu Fengnian said as gently as possible, "Go about your business."

The young eunuch left trembling. After walking some distance, he secretly looked back and again saw the Master Stonemason in purple. Xu Fengnian smiled, "I'm just walking around and looking. Don't mind me."

Next, Dong Shou went to prune the flowers and plants, each more valuable than his own life. When he inadvertently saw Master Stonemason pick a flower branch, he suppressed his fear and tearfully said it was a capital offense. The master then said he was a stonemason and it was no big deal. So, for the next hour, Dong Shou cried no less than six times while working. Fortunately, Yujing Garden was vast, and no one paid attention to the flowerbed. Dong Shou felt his courage had completely collapsed, and his teeth chattered uncontrollably. Yet, he lacked the courage to call someone to take this great purple-clad figure away. Although Master Stonemason spoke lightly, Dong Shou believed such an offense, if caught, would certainly lead to public beheading. For the past two years, every time he saw a dying chick fall from a nest, he would be sad for a long time. How could he bear to cause the death of a living person?

Then, Dong Shou was thunderstruck by a scene before his eyes: the Master Stonemason walked up to a brocade-clad woman in the distance, whose face he couldn't see clearly, and they chatted and laughed. Colluding with a female official in the palace was an even greater capital offense!

Dong Shou closed his eyes and muttered to himself, "I didn't see anything, nothing at all..."

Xu Fengnian walked back to the young eunuch and smiled, "What was your name before you entered the palace?"

Dong Shou hesitated, wanting to speak but holding back.

Xu Fengnian waited patiently.

Dong Shou lowered his head and whispered, "Tong Guan, the 'Guan' from 'yiguanqian'."

Xu Fengnian nodded and smiled, "That's a very good name."

Dong Shou quickly looked up, his eyes bright, and asked, "Really?"

Xu Fengnian said solemnly, "Really. In Liyang, there was a defunct Southern Tang dynasty, and there was once a powerful grand eunuch named Tong Guan. He was very influential and became an 'Aozai'—a eunuch with power equal to a prime minister."

Dong Shou looked confused.

Xu Fengnian sat on the lakeside grass, with vibrant flowers behind him, and explained, "An ordinary man who becomes a Grand Chancellor is called a 'Gongxiang.' Actually, this term isn't usually necessary, but the Tong Guan with your name was so incredibly powerful that, as a eunuch, he wielded authority no less than a chancellor. That's why the term 'Aozai' was coined, and 'Gongxiang' became its counterpart."

The boy secretly grinned, feeling very proud.

Xu Fengnian changed the topic and asked, "Do you know that Spring Mound is where the Lord of Dunhuang City ascends on the Double Ninth Festival?"

The young eunuch replied blankly, "My master never mentioned it."

Xu Fengnian smiled, "If you miss home in the future, go there and look outside the palace."

The young eunuch blushed.

Xu Fengnian asked, "If one day you become a Grand Eunuch, what will you do?"

Dong Shou shyly said, "Send a lot of money to my parents and sisters outside the palace."

"And what else?"

"Honor my master."

"Nothing else?"

"Probably not."

"Tell me the truth."

"Kill those eunuchs who made fun of my master!"

"Those who bullied you?"

"Kill them all, skin them and pull out their tendons, that would be best."

Having unwittingly revealed his true feelings, and remembering his master's teachings, the young eunuch was suddenly shocked and filled with remorse, not daring to utter another word.

Xu Fengnian looked at the lake and said casually, "Don't be afraid. This is what a man should say and do. I don't have time to hold a grudge against a young eunuch like you."

Dong Shou lowered his head and said, "Am I a man?"

Xu Fengnian smiled, "You'll know it yourself."

Hong Shu never disturbed them.

For the next few days, besides reading notes and historical records related to Dunhuang City, Xu Fengnian would go to Yujing Garden for fresh air whenever he had time and chat with the young eunuch. Gradually, Dong Shou became less reserved and timid, showing more liveliness and spirit, and their casual conversations had no limits.

"A woman's temper directly correlates with the size of her breasts. If you don't believe me, think about the palace maids around you, isn't that true?"

"Huh, it really seems so!"

"So which palace maid do you think has the biggest chest?"

"That would be Lady Qi Xue, of course. Her face is so pretty, the Jinwu Guards on duty always stare at her. Heh, I'm pretty much the same, but it's just a thought. Oh, and Lady Shi Yu from Chengrui Hall, her chest might be even bigger, but she's not as pretty as Qi Xue."

"So you prefer bigger ones?"

"No, I don't. I think too big isn't actually good; smaller is better. They're so heavy, they look like they'll tear their clothes. I even feel tired for them. The face is the most important."

"You're still young, you wouldn't understand."

"Master Stonemason, you understand, can you tell me?"

"What's a young eunuch like you doing knowing about this?"

"Sigh."

"Very worried?"

"With food and drink, what's there to worry about? I don't think about things between men and women. Actually, I know there are grand eunuchs and palace maids who 'pair up' in the palace, and they're quite pitiful."

"More pitiful than you?"

"Sigh."

"Dong Shou, all you know is 'sigh'."

"Heh heh, I'm uneducated, don't know what to say. It can't be helped."

Their last meeting was brief, one twilight evening. Xu Fengnian said, "My business is done; I must leave the palace."

The young eunuch didn't want to cry but couldn't help it, soon weeping profusely. He then asked Xu Fengnian to wait, ran off in a hurry, and returned to hand Xu Fengnian a money pouch, begging him to deliver it to his family outside the palace.

Xu Fengnian asked, "Aren't you afraid I'll take it?"

The young eunuch shook his head and said, "I know Master Stonemason isn't that kind of person!"

Xu Fengnian threw the money pouch back, hitting his face, and scolded, "What do you know! What if it's embezzled or I accidentally forget about it? Could your family survive a month of starvation?"

Dong Shou picked up the money pouch, feeling wronged and bewildered, and began to sob again.

Xu Fengnian patted his head and gently said, "Don't easily trust anyone in the future. But if you decide to do something, you must stick with it and do it well. Give me the money pouch, I promise to deliver it for you."

Dong Shou wiped away his tears, handed over the money pouch, and smiled with immense happiness.

Xu Fengnian turned to leave, then thought better of it, turned back, and instructed, "Go break off a flower branch and bring it here."

The young eunuch was in an internal struggle, but ultimately gathered his courage to break off a branch and bring it over. Xu Fengnian squatted down and used the branch to write two characters on the ground, then looked up.

Dong Shou, trembling with excitement, cautiously asked, "Tong Guan?"

After standing up, Xu Fengnian broke the flower branch into pieces, throwing the entire handful into the lake. He then vigorously ruffled the young eunuch's hair.

The boy cried and laughed.

Xu Fengnian walked straight away. At the corner, he saw the graceful Hong Shu.

Hong Shu softly asked, "Should we arrange a stable, less lucrative position for the young one, or throw him into the frying pan to be tested?"

Xu Fengnian shook his head and said, "No hurry. Let's wait two more years. If his character hasn't worsened, then find someone to teach him to read and write. After that, send him to the Sutra Repository; he can read any secret manual he wishes. But don't be too eager; don't try to pull up seedlings to help them grow. From then on, it will be up to his own destiny."

Hong Shu nodded.

By the lake, the young eunuch picked up some lakeside branches, tucked them into his sleeve, preparing to throw them into the bottomless, narrow holes of Spring Mound. He returned to the two characters "Tong Guan," squatted, and looked at them repeatedly, memorizing them. When he was about to erase them, he still couldn't bear to. After a moment's thought, he took a thorny flower branch and deeply etched the two small characters into the palm of his hand.

He squatted there, lost in thought, and only after a long time did he come back to himself and say, "If only I had known, I would have begged my benefactor to teach me how to write the character 'Dong'."

The young eunuch slapped himself hard on the face, "Don't be discontent!"

He stood up, clenched his fists, his gaze resolute.

The boy unclenched his fists, looked down, and murmured, "Tong Guan!"