Outside the door, Fan Xian set down the cup of cold tea he was holding.

With a soft clang, the teacup landed precisely on top of another cup already on the low table, the two cups stacked neatly together with barely a drop of tea spilling. The cup resting on the one below was a simple, casual gesture.

He went down the stairs and spoke a few quiet words to Hong Zhu. The two of them then left the small building and walked along the chilly stone paths of the palace towards the distance.

After seeing Fan Xian off, Hong Zhu circled around the Hall of Supreme Harmony, passed through the stone archway, and went to the imperial study to report back. Along the way, he joked with the palace maids and bantered with the young eunuchs, radiating joy. The eunuchs and maids were somewhat surprised, thinking that since serving at His Majesty's side, the young eunuch Hong Zhu's status and temperament had become more composed and stern. What had happened today to make him so happy?

Seeing that the imperial study was not far away, Hong Zhu came to his senses, realizing that he had been overdoing it. He quickly stopped, grabbed two handfuls of snow from the rocks beside the path, and rubbed them hard on his face, forcibly cooling his flushed skin. Only then did he feel relieved. He cleared his throat twice and imitated the demeanor of the old eunuch Hong, the palace's ancestor, putting on a deadpan expression before pushing open the door to the imperial study.

The Emperor was currently arguing with Grand Academician Shu about something, his voice quite loud. This Grand Academician Shu was truly bold, not giving an inch even in the Emperor's presence. One could vaguely hear something about river management, misappropriation of funds, and matters of the Ministry of Revenue.

Hong Zhu pricked up his ears and waited aside, not daring to breathe loudly. He knew very well what it was that allowed Grand Academician Shu to be so bold and argue with His Majesty.

Winter was the best time to dredge the rivers. The Department of Affairs had already drafted a plan two months ago, waiting for the Ministry of Revenue to raise the funds to organize local counties and prefectures to conscript laborers and repair the waterways. But unexpectedly, the Ministry of Revenue was unable to come up with so much money in the end. The shortfall was too large, seriously delaying the river repair schedule. As a result, Minister Fan became the target of criticism. If His Majesty hadn't protected him, that Minister would have had to request to resign.

Qing Yu Nian was in its prosperous age, yet the national treasury could not produce enough money! The Department of Affairs questioned the Ministry of Revenue, but the Ministry of Revenue gave evasive answers, only saying that the palace had requisitioned the funds. But palace expenses had always come from the inner treasury… Could the inner treasury have declined to such an extent? The affairs of the inner treasury were linked to the Eldest Princess and the face of the imperial family. Moreover, the Overwatch Council was currently investigating the Cui family, with its spearhead pointed directly at the inner treasury. At this juncture, the ministers in the court dared not openly question the Emperor.

Thus, Grand Academician Shu made his trip to the palace. It seemed that the communication between the monarch and his minister was not very peaceful.

The Emperor coughed and vaguely mentioned Fan Xian, Jiangnan, and a few other indistinct words. Grand Academician Shu's expression finally eased somewhat, seemingly believing that Fan Xian's trip to Jiangnan could solve Qing Yu Nian's financial problems.

The old academician lowered his voice, but his face remained worried: "I'm afraid there isn't enough time. What if there's another major flood next year? Jiangnan is complicated. Even if Director Fan is exceptionally talented, it will probably take a year to sort things out. Even if Heaven favors us next year, what about the year after?"

The Emperor smiled and comforted Shu Wu, saying, "Fan Xian will leave in a few days. It should be in time."

Shu Wu responded and then smiled as he retreated from the imperial study. In fact, both the monarch and his minister were seasoned and prudent people. How could they simply stop worrying just because a young man like Fan Xian was going to Jiangnan?

Moreover, what Academician Shu was arguing for was not just these things on the surface. As the head of the civil officials in the court, he needed a statement from His Majesty: what was to be done about the inner treasury, and more importantly, after those two rumors came out one after another, how exactly was the court, or rather, the palace, going to deal with Fan Xian?

The royal family played at mystique, keeping many things secret, but the official system in the court could not stand this. People were panicking and wanted a clear answer. Since the Emperor had made clear the date of Fan Xian's departure from Kyoto, it was both to announce that the governance of the inner treasury would definitely begin, and would begin very strongly, and to tell the officials in the court through Shu Wu that Fan Xian's identity was temporarily put to rest. Whether he was a remnant of the Ye family seeking to rebel, or the Emperor's illegitimate son, he had left Kyoto anyway, so stop guessing and let things fade!

...

...

"Hong Zhu," the Emperor suddenly woke up from his thoughts and asked, "What was his reaction earlier?"

Hong Zhu was startled and quickly replied in a low voice, "Director Fan had tears in his eyes and looked relieved… He laughed loudly three times in the building, but I don't know why." At such a young age, he could serve closely by the Emperor's side, so he was naturally more clever than the average person. Of course, he knew that "he" in His Majesty's mouth was the little Director Fan who had just left the palace.

The Emperor's expression darkened slightly, then smiled: "That's good too. Only after letting go can he do things for the court without any worries."

Hong Zhu smiled obsequiously, not daring to respond. But he was frightened by the Emperor's next words.

"Starting next month, you will go and serve by the Empress's side." The Emperor casually said as he stroked a piece of calming jade in his palm.

Like a thunderbolt striking the little eunuch's heart! With a thud, Hong Zhu knelt down straight, prostrating on the ground, crying, "Your Majesty, this servant… this servant doesn't know what he did wrong. Please beat this servant to death, but don't send this servant away."

The Emperor frowned and looked at him, saying in disgust, "What kind of ambition is this! I'm letting you be the head eunuch in that palace, promoting you, but you're so scared… You're truly not fit for great things!"

Hong Zhu's heart was in turmoil, knowing that he had made a mistake, but his face was still covered in tears and snot as he wailed, "This servant doesn't want to be the head eunuch. This servant just wants to be by Your Majesty's side."

"Oh?" The Emperor looked at the little eunuch in front of him with a smile that was not a smile, and said, "What are the benefits of being by my side?"

The word "benefits" could be taken as a joke or as a knife that could lead to execution. Hong Zhu looked up from the ground blankly, his tear-stained face stained with some dust. He muttered, "... Serving by the Emperor's side… This servant… feels honored."

"Honored?"

Hong Zhu kowtowed like pounding garlic, sobbing, "This servant deserves to die… This servant shouldn't be greedy…" He knew very well in his heart that the masters in the palace didn't care if the eunuchs took bribes, it all depended on the mood of these masters.

"How much money have you taken?" The Emperor looked at the little eunuch's face covered in dust and clear tears, his appearance being quite comical, and he actually laughed out loud.

Hearing the laughter, Hong Zhu's heart calmed down slightly and he replied hesitantly, "This servant has been in the imperial study for two months and has taken a total of four hundred taels of silver."

The Emperor suddenly darkened his face, a chill rising, and said coldly, "Is that so? Who bought you the eight hundred acres of land in Jiao Prefecture? Who got your brother the official position? How dare you, in less than a hundred days by my side, you've made such moves!"

Hong Zhu's face was pale, all thoughts lost, and he cried bitterly, "This servant is guilty, this servant is guilty." He didn't even dare to beg the Emperor to spare his life.

"Who is it?" The Emperor turned away, kicked off his boots, and sat on the couch, continuing to review the memorials.

Hong Zhu's face was green and white, knowing that he couldn't hide it after all. He gritted his teeth and said, "It's… Director Fan."

The Emperor's expression did not change, and he hummed softly to express his question.

Hong Zhu suddenly used both his hands and feet to crawl to the Emperor's feet, looking up with tears in his eyes and sobbing, "Your Majesty, you can kill this servant, but Heaven can attest, Heaven can attest, this servant is loyal to Your Majesty, and has absolutely no secret dealings with Director Fan… Director Fan is a good person, this servant begged him to do it, please spare him."

Only then did the Emperor show a hint of surprise: "Oh? You're actually pleading for him?" He immediately laughed and said, "This child seems to be more popular than I thought."

The Emperor looked at the little eunuch's big, dirty face and scolded with a smile, "Get out of here. Fan Xian has already reported this to me. If I didn't like that you're a bit clever, he would have killed you long ago. And you're actually pleading for him."

"Ah?" Hong Zhu's face was filled with shock, embarrassment, and awkwardness, and he didn't come back to his senses for a long time.

"Aren't you getting out yet?"

"Yes, Your Majesty." Hong Zhu said with a mournful face, but his heart was extremely happy. He didn't even get up, and just crawled out of the imperial study. As for whether he would be sent to the Empress's palace to be the head eunuch or have other paths, he didn't care at this time.

...

...

After leaving the imperial study and running to a side room, Hong Zhu finally calmed his rapid breathing and felt how cold the sweat on his back was. After taking a towel and wiping the tears, sweat, and dust on his face in a mess, he impatiently drove all his subordinates out. Only when he was alone in the room did he begin to feel extremely afraid.

"Little Director Fan is right, there is nothing in this world that can be hidden from His Majesty." The little eunuch thought with lingering fear: "His Majesty allows you to be greedy, and then you can be greedy, so it's better to just do things openly."

At this moment, his admiration for Fan Xian was deeply rooted in his bones. And beyond admiration, he felt much more gratitude and thanks towards Fan Xian. The other party could guess that His Majesty didn't care about the little eunuchs around him being greedy for money. This was only because little Director Fan was exceptionally intelligent. And the key was that little Director Fan used this matter to hide the most deadly thing, so it was crucial to get closer to little Director Fan in the future, and His Majesty would not be suspicious.

Thinking of that matter, the little eunuch Hong Zhu's eyes narrowed, unspeakable gratitude. It was just that he was about to be transferred away from the imperial study, and he didn't know if he could help little Director Fan in the future.

----------------------------------------

In the carriage leaving the palace, Fan Xian was half-closing his eyes to rest. Gao Da and two Tiger Guards were sent by him under the car, and in the car was Su Wenmao. He closed his eyes and thought that although he could not judge whether there were any palace spies in the Qi Nian team, he had bumped into Wang Qi Nian, and Wang Qi Nian had picked up these frustrated officials from the Overwatch Council to be around him. For him, the most trustworthy were this group of people. If he wanted to do things, he had to trust them.

"Is there a tail on the Yingzhou matter?" he asked with a frown.

Su Wenmao was not driving at this time, listening carefully to the movement outside the car, then whispered: "Don't worry, sir, the governor of Yingzhou died of illness after being imprisoned, and he didn't go through the hospital's channels, used your medicine, and the coroner couldn't find out."

Fan Xian nodded: "If you can confirm safety, don't move the governor's family, and this matter ends here, you should know what to do."

Su Wenmao nodded, knowing that Director was telling himself to keep it secret. Director trusted him to do this kind of shady thing, which showed that he had finally succeeded in becoming Director's confidant.

But as a confidant, he naturally had to consider Fan Xian. He still deeply disapproved of this matter in his heart. Secretly killing a governor, a fourth-rank official, was rare in the many years since the establishment of the Overwatch Council. It would be fine if nothing happened in the future, but once something happened, the entire Overwatch Council would be unlucky—not to mention that the governor had no faction and was purely a protégé of the Emperor.

Seeming to guess what Su Wenmao was thinking, Fan Xian sneered: "That governor disregarded human life, occupied the property of the villagers, and even colluded with bandits to massacre villages and exterminate clans. This official only took one life from him, which is already cheap."

Su Wenmao said concernedly: "Sir, that's true, but after all, we haven't been holding evidence, and the captured bandits are very tight-lipped, and they refuse to identify the governor."

"Nonsense," Fan Xian said, "If I could get evidence, why would I use this method?"

Su Wenmao shook his head disapprovingly: "It's still too risky after all. If it's the worst, sir, you can write a memorial to the Department of Affairs, or even skip the Department of Affairs and report directly to His Majesty. Although there is no evidence, His Majesty will take the governor if he looks at the director's face."

Fan Xian smiled and shook his head without saying anything more.

The matter of that governor must not be known to His Majesty. He closed his eyes, leisurely resting his mind, but his mind was spinning rapidly - the reason why he had to deal with the governor far away from Kyoto was because he wanted to sell the little eunuch Hong Zhu a favor, a huge favor, a favor that Hong Zhu would have to repay in the future.

The little eunuch Hong Zhu, who is now working in the imperial study, is from Ying Prefecture, originally named Chen. When the governor, who was killed by Fan Xian, was still a magistrate, he forcibly took away the family business of the Chen family because of a certain mountain product. By chance, two scholars came out of the Chen family, so naturally they refused to give up, and they went over mountains and ridges, across prefectures and states to file a lawsuit, and even claimed that they would take the lawsuit to Kyoto.

Under panic, the magistrate took a ruthless hand and colluded with the bandits in the middle of the night, forcibly destroying the Chen clan!

I don’t know how many people died that night.

And Hong Zhu and his brothers were still children at the time. They forgot to go home after playing in the mountains, so they were lucky to escape this tragedy. The brothers were also clever, and they turned over the mountains overnight and begged all the way to Shandong Road. They didn’t dare to go to the yamen to sue, but struggled to live in the world with great difficulty. One day, the brothers couldn't bear it anymore. Chen Xiao, who is now Hong Zhu, practiced magic skills, and his crotch was stained with blood and he entered the palace.

...

...

After entering the palace, Chen was shrinking and behaving, being bullied by older eunuchs, and his **** being pinched by damned old palace maids. Under humiliation, he became more afraid, and he didn't even dare to say his surname.

By chance, one day, Chen Xiaodi passed by the side road of Han Guang Hall while carrying water, and met Hong Lao Eunuch sleeping and resting in the yard. The old eunuch was only wearing old clothes from many years ago, and he was not wearing palace clothes. Chen Xiaodi did not recognize his identity. Seeing the old eunuch leaning against a broken bamboo chair and several flies flying around his face, he felt that the old eunuch was so pitiful?

Both being exiles of the world, Chen Xiao was still warm-hearted. Thinking that he had nothing to do anyway, he returned to his room and took a broken rush fan and began to fan Hong Eunuch to drive away the flies.

When Hong Lao Eunuch woke up, he did not pass on Chen Xiaodi's supreme magic power, accept him as a younger brother, walk around the palace horizontally, and eat and drink spicy food everywhere, as in the common scenes in the storybook. However, for the kindness of a fan, Hong Lao Eunuch knew that the little eunuch had no surname, so he only gave him one word.

Hong.

And because the old eunuch was lying on a bamboo chair at the time, he casually told him to call him Zhu. This is the origin of the name of the popular eunuch Hong Zhu.

...

...

After that day, Hong Lao Eunuch never cared about Hong Zhu's life or death, and never said another word. Even after Hong Zhu went to the imperial study and tried to find a way to curry favor with Hong Lao Eunuch, the old eunuch ignored him.

But the little eunuch had a name after all, named Hong Zhu. In the palace, the surname Hong represented something unusual, and Hong Eunuch did not object. Gradually, there began to be rumors that Hong Zhu was the newly adopted grandson of Hong Lao Eunuch, so no one dared to bully him anymore. On the contrary, they had to curry favor with him and ask him to do easy and decent work.

Hong Zhu was clever and had experienced childhood tragedies, so his temperament was extremely stable. There were so many opportunities in front of him, and the old Dai lost power, and palace personnel rotated several times, which made the little eunuch so blessed that he went directly to the imperial study and began to work by His Majesty's side.

This is the so-called opportunity.

Seeing more, knowing that the palace is just like this, and the governor is not a high official, the flame of revenge in Hong Zhu's heart began to burn. However, he was still young and did not know the way, and he did not know how to start. Could he directly state his grievances to His Majesty? He didn't have the guts.

At this moment, God sent a person to him.

-------------------------------------

The carriage bumped, and Fan Xian woke up leisurely, yawned, and looked a little tired.

Hong Zhu's matter was coaxed out by him, and the subsequent methods were not known to Hong Zhu at all. He just silently completed this matter and told the other party today.

Fan Xian knew that with Hong Zhu's development trend in the palace and watching the Emperor's trust in him, in no more than three years, this little eunuch would definitely have considerable influence. At that time, he could just say a word, and there would be many people in the six departments of the court to help him sell his life and help him take revenge, so he had to do it three years ago and do it cleanly and neatly, without coercion, without showing favor, and without leaving future troubles.

This is the superior method of giving favors.

The governor who died was the governor of Ying Prefecture, and Hong Zhu's registered record was from Jiao Prefecture. The two places were very far apart, and the case of extermination of the family in the past was too long ago, and no one remembered it anymore. Fan Xian was not worried that anyone would guess the relationship between Hong Zhu and this matter. He was very careful about this point and told no one.

Even if His Majesty finds out that the governor of Yingzhou died abnormally in the future, and finds out that it was the Overwatch Council who did it, Fan Xian can find a basket of reasons - as long as it has nothing to do with the people around him, and has nothing to do with the important parts of the palace, the life of a mere governor is not as precious as his own son in the eyes of the Emperor.

He lifted a corner of the carriage window, squinted his eyes and looked at the corner tower of the imperial city that was extremely far and blurred behind him, and blessed the little eunuch classmate to be able to prosper in it.