Inside the Jia-Yin wing.
Ming Wei slowly recited the entire Seven Forms of Flowing Water. It was about 800 characters long.
Li Qing listened intently, but couldn't even remember ten words.
Turned out he wasn't some once-in-a-generation martial arts prodigy.
"Could Your Highness please read it again?" Li Qing asked, bringing over brush and paper to take notes.
"How much did you remember?" asked Ming Wei.
"Seven words…" Li Qing admitted.
"Seven? That's bottom-tier aptitude," Ming Wei shook her head, visibly losing interest. "I'll read it once more. Whether you can remember it all this time is your problem. With your level of talent? Even if you trained your whole life, you'd never make it into the second tier of martial artists."
"The highest virtue is like water. It is the soft that overcomes the hard…"
"Your Highness. Please slow down…"
"…"
"Slower…"
"…"
"Even slower…"
"…"
"Okay, I'm ready now."
No telling how much time had passed, but finally, drenched in cold sweat, Li Qing managed to copy down the entire Seven Forms of Flowing Water manual.
Writing with a brush was ridiculously hard. Every character looked like chicken scratch and took forever to finish.
Worse still, while he recognized all the characters, when strung together, none of it made any sense.
Starting martial arts without a master was impossible.
Even if an average person stumbled on a martial arts manual, it'd be worthless; unless they were a once-in-a-million genius.
"I'm sorry, Your Highness, but could you explain it to me?" Li Qing asked, thick-skinned as ever.
"How much did you understand?" asked Ming Wei. Maybe the wine had hit her. Her cheeks were flushed, and she seemed to be in a decent mood.
"Not a single line," Li Qing said helplessly.
"You really are…"
She sighed.
"With talent like yours, I honestly don't know why a little eunuch like you even wants to learn martial arts. Forget it. Tonight, I want first-class Lotus Leaf Chicken. Hot."
"You got it!"
Li Qing agreed on the spot.
With the promise of lotus leaf chicken secured, Ming Wei began slowly explaining, not just the meaning behind the Seven Forms of Flowing Water, but also some basic martial arts knowledge for Li Qing.
"In martial arts, there are generally two paths: external cultivation and internal cultivation. External cultivation means training the body; techniques like Iron Shirt or Golden Bell Cover. It uses physical force and medicinal aids to refine the flesh. You progress quickly at first, but those who reach the Xiantian stage through external cultivation alone are one in ten thousand.
"The Seven Forms of Flowing Water I'm teaching you is an internal cultivation method. You gather energy inwardly, build internal strength, then use that strength to open the twelve principal meridians and eight extraordinary vessels. Eventually, the qi cycles back to its origin and transforms into true qi."
"Since I have poor aptitude, could I take a shortcut through external cultivation instead?" Li Qing asked.
"You could," said Ming Wei, "but external cultivation requires a lot of money to sustain…"
"In that case, forget it. I'll just focus on internal cultivation."
Li Qing had no intention of chasing wealth just to force his way through martial arts. Too risky. It was better to stick to internal cultivation and take things step by step.
He wasn't talented, and internal progress would be slow. But he had lifetimes ahead of him. With inner strength accumulated across three lives, he could brute-force his way to Xiantian eventually.
And once he reached that level, he'd finally have the strength to protect himself. He could worry about making money after that.
Ming Wei then began carefully explaining the Seven Forms of Flowing Water in detail.
"The essence of the Seven Forms is turning water's softness into internal force. There are seven forms in total, using a water jar for practice. The first form looks like this… the second like this… and the seventh, like this…"
"All you need to do now is memorize the movements. Later, when you practice them step by step, you'll come to understand them naturally."
By the end of it, Ming Wei was drenched in sweat, gasping for breath.
She was still injured, and a secret restriction had been planted inside her by an Inner Palace expert. It had taken everything she had to demonstrate the Seven Forms.
Li Qing had already sketched her movements onto paper.
Writing characters? Not his thing.
But drawing beautiful women? That he was great at!
Ming Wei glanced at the sketch and looked quite pleased. The figure in the drawing was graceful, with a certain charm, clearly meant to be her.
"Thank you, Your Highness."
Li Qing carefully put away the paper and brush, then bowed deeply to Ming Wei, expressing his sincere gratitude.
Without her explanations and demonstrations, the Seven Forms of Flowing Water manual might as well have been a roll of toilet paper.
When other eunuchs in the palace first began learning martial arts, they had veteran instructors guiding them every step of the way.
But in the Cold Palace, there were no martial arts teachers. Li Qing had neither talent nor wealth, nor the connections to bribe instructors from other departments. His only option was to turn to the martial concubines left behind in the Cold Palace.
Thankfully, Ming Wei wasn't a bad person.
"All right, enough," she said. "This was just a trade. I have no interest in taking a eunuch with your level of talent as a disciple."
She shot him a dismissive look, then raised her hand. "Come on. Help me to bed."
Li Qing respectfully helped her to the bedside.
But Ming Wei didn't sleep. Instead, she lay back slowly and began to speak:
"I'm dying."
Li Qing stood still and listened as she talked.
"That old witch is ruthless. She actually turned Consort Min into a human pig. I've been terrified this whole month, afraid I'd end up the same way."
She touched her smooth cheek and said quietly, "Little eunuch, did you know? His Majesty is actually a good emperor. He's full of ambition to govern well. But under the pressure of that old witch, he can't even speak freely. The only ones he dares talk to are consorts like me.
"His Majesty treated me well. The day I tried to assassinate the old witch and failed, I should've been beaten to death on the spot. But he stepped in personally. That's the only reason I was merely thrown into the Cold Palace.
"If that old witch ever remembers me again, she'll turn me into a human pig, too."
A tear slipped from the corner of her eye.
"I'm so beautiful… The world is still so beautiful… I don't want to die yet…"
"I'm not even afraid of dying. I just don't want to die before that old witch does. I wish, more than anything, I could kill her before I go..."
"I once dreamed of being a wandering heroine, sword in hand, traveling the land and standing up for justice…"
"Master… your disciple has failed you."
....
Ming Wei said a lot. And by the end, she slowly drifted off to sleep.
Li Qing gently pulled a blanket over her, quietly shut the door, and stepped out of the side room.
Back in his own quarters, he found a small wooden box, placed his notes on the Seven Forms of Flowing Water inside, then walked to a flowerbed tucked away in a corner of the Cold Palace. He dug a shallow hole and buried the box.
It's not time to learn the Seven Forms yet. Not until the old w— until the Grand Empress Dowager passes.
Hopefully the Grand Emp— no… hopefully that old witch dies soon.
....
By evening, Li Qing brought Ming Wei a steaming hot lotus leaf chicken.
She never took a single bite.
Li Qing quietly carried it back out. Aside from a polite greeting, he didn't say a word.
After dinner, a new concubine was brought to the Cold Palace.
She had a fiery temper. From the moment she arrived, she barked orders at every eunuch in sight. No one dared talk back.
Her name was Consort Lu. She had powerful backing; she was the Grand Empress Dowager's grandniece.
No one in the Cold Palace could afford to cross her.
No one knew exactly how she had ended up in the Cold Palace. With her background, Emperor Taikang wouldn't have dared to send her here on his own.
She arrived with her personal eunuchs and maids in tow, and didn't bother choosing an empty room. She went straight to claim Consort Qi's quarters.
Consort Qi gave them up without protest.
Even though she was the consort with the best chance of leaving the Cold Palace one day, she still had to bow her head to someone like Consort Lu.
"Thank goodness Lady Lu brought her own attendants," said Eunuch Zhang Yong inside the sleeping quarters, still shaken. "If we'd been the ones serving her, we'd be skinned alive by now." It had almost been his turn to attend to her today.
"How'd she end up here anyway?" Eunuch Zhang Bai asked.
Wang Li, who was in the know, explained, "A while back, Consort Min died from that human pig punishment. Maybe the Grand Empress Dowager felt a little uneasy about it. She's gone to Mount Wugong to worship Buddha, which gave the emperor a bit of breathing room.
"This afternoon, Lady Lu tried riding the emperor's dragonblood steed, but the horse wouldn't budge. She got furious, beat the poor thing until it was injured, and even killed the eunuch in charge of the stables. That's when His Majesty lost it and ordered her into the Cold Palace."
"Little Li," Wang Li said, turning to Li Qing, who was staring blankly at his bed in the corner. "You've been distracted lately. Be careful these next few days. Don't go wandering near Lady Lu, or you might end up flogged to death."
Among the twelve eunuchs in the Cold Palace, Wang Li was the eldest. He was more or less the unofficial leader of the group.
"…Got it," Li Qing replied softly.
But sleep wouldn't come to him that night.
Insomnia again.
He was just a eunuch. Why was getting a good night's sleep so damn hard?