The gates of the Cold Palace creaked open as Steward Gu hurried inside, trailed by seven or eight young eunuchs.
They all looked tense, as if something serious had happened in the palace.
"My lord, has something gone wrong in the palace?" Wang Li asked cautiously.
Steward Gu's expression was stern. "Don't ask questions you shouldn't. We're spending the night here in the Cold Palace. Lock all the gates. No strangers allowed in."
He's clearly here to take shelter, Li Qing thought to himself.
That night, chaos reigned outside the Cold Palace. But inside, everything remained calm and undisturbed.
At dawn, Steward Gu and his men left in a rush. Li Qing and the others were still in the dark about what had happened the night before.
It wasn't until midday that bits and pieces of news trickled in.
Something huge had indeed happened in the palace last night.
Emperor Taikang had just returned to the palace from a mourning period at Cining Palace. He was preparing to reassign officials and take full control of the court when an assassin broke into the Hall of Mental Cultivation.
The emperor was injured, and for a time, even taken hostage.
In the aftermath, the Empress Dowager personally led the eunuchs of the Imperial Guards to his rescue. Before the inner court guards could arrive, she had already saved him.
Due to the severity of his injuries, Emperor Taikang was no longer able to manage state affairs. He formally requested that the Empress Dowager take charge of the government.
Li Qing was stunned when she heard the news.
Poor Emperor Taikang.
Anyone with a sharp eye could see something fishy about the whole assassination. But no one dared to speak up.
When Consort Qi heard what happened, she fainted on the spot. Her chances of ever leaving the Cold Palace were now basically nonexistent.
Five days after the attempt on Emperor Taikang's life, an imperial decree arrived at the Cold Palace.
"By the emperor's order: Consort Chu, Consort Lin… and others are hereby pardoned and permitted to leave the Cold Palace to serve at His Majesty's side."
With one decree, twenty-five concubines were released from the Cold Palace. They would now attend to the emperor during his recovery.
I was hoping to use that old hag's death to get back at Consort Chu for that kick… Guess that's not happening. Useless Taikang, so spineless. Can't stand up to your grandmother, and now not even to your own mother… Li Qing shook her head and sighed.
The concubines who left the Cold Palace were all once aligned with the Grand Empress Dowager. Now, they were loyal to the Empress Dowager instead.
When a eunuch seeks revenge, it's never too late. Even if it takes a lifetime.
The next afternoon, Li Qing, as usual, cheerfully went to the Pear Garden to watch the palace maids practice dance and music.
This time, a few elderly matrons joined in, twisting their waists along with the girls. Li Qing almost threw up from watching.
On the seventh day after the assassination attempt on Emperor Taikang, Steward Gu returned to the Cold Palace with a group of eunuchs.
They brought wrought iron and reinforced the walls and windows of the Dingyou wing. Even the walls were embedded with iron bars. The whole wing was turned into a cage.
Steward Gu gave specific instructions: "Consort Li will be sent to the Cold Palace this afternoon. She's to be placed in the Dingyou wing. No other consorts are allowed to speak to her. You eunuchs in the Cold Palace will take turns bringing her meals. Until we hear otherwise, just make sure she doesn't starve to death."
That afternoon, Consort Li was carried into the Cold Palace, covered in blood, and placed in the iron-reinforced Dingyou wing.
At the same time, the Martial Supervision Bureau assigned a team of martial-trained eunuchs to guard the Cold Palace gates.
In the duty room:
"What's going on with Consort Li? I don't get the play here," asked the white-haired eunuch Zhang Bai.
"I don't get it either," said Zhang Yong, shaking his head.
"Consort Li was one of the emperor's favorites, along with Consort Qi. The two of them were like his left and right hands. But Consort Li always kept a lower profile, never got caught up in the power struggle. So I don't understand why she's being treated like this either," said Li Qing.
Li Qing knew Consort Li well.
Back when he'd first arrived in this world, he had been in charge of a consort named Consort Meng. She'd been accused of trying to harm Consort Li's newborn princess and was thrown into the Cold Palace.
Consort Ming went mad. She always insisted she hadn't harmed the princess; claimed Consort Li had never even given birth to one.
That was years ago. Consort Meng eventually took her own life. The truth was buried with her.
Consort Li had shared the emperor's favor with Consort Qi, but it was Consort Qi who always took center stage. Even when the Grand Empress Dowager held absolute power, she never managed to get Consort Li exiled to the Cold Palace.
"We'll take it one step at a time," Wang Li finally said. "Steward Gu said we're to keep her alive. That's all we need to do. If she chooses to end her own life, that's not on us."
That evening, Li Qing was the first to bring Consort Li her meal.
Consort Li lay on the bed, her limbs bound in thick iron chains, fastened directly to the ceiling beams.
Her body was covered in wounds, bloody welts and gashes all over. She had clearly been through something beyond human cruelty.
And yet, even in this state, she gave off an aura that warned others to stay away.
She was a martial arts master; the strongest person Li Qing had ever encountered.
"Greetings, Your Grace."
Li Qing didn't dare get too close. He scooped up a spoonful of thick porridge and cautiously held it out near her mouth.
With her eyes still closed, Consort Li slowly drew the porridge in.
She was willing to eat. That was good enough for Li Qing. He let out a quiet breath of relief.
…
Consort Li remained imprisoned for five years. Time moved forward into the 17th year of Emperor Taikang's reign.
The emperor was still gravely injured, showing no signs of recovery. Even so, his harem remained as full as ever.
In recent years, several new princes and princesses had been born.
The Empress Dowager continued to oversee the court from behind the curtain.
The Great Qian Dynasty adopted policies of rest and recovery, ruling through noninterference. The empire was peaceful, and its strength steadily grew. Even though Emperor Taikang no longer governed directly, the people still praised him as a wise and virtuous ruler.
It was a good era.
They called it the "Prosperous Taikang Age."
Ordinary people are practical. They don't care about palace power struggles. What matters is the life in front of them.
Back in the Cold Palace.
Li Qing sat submerged in a water vat, steam rising from his head, a healthy glow warming his face.
After a long time...
The water had completely evaporated. Li Qing let out a long breath, feeling an overwhelming sense of clarity and renewal.
His body felt strong and light, long-standing hidden ailments completely gone.
The Seven Forms of Flowing Water was indeed a profound internal cultivation technique.
"Five years… and I've finally cleared my first meridian path with a hundred strands of inner energy. I completed the Minor Cycle… Barely stepped into the realm of a third-rate fighter!" Li Qing was overjoyed.
He might've just barely made it into the third tier of martial artists, but even that put him far above ordinary people.
All credit went to the Seven Forms of Flowing Water. If Daoist Priestess Shengyue had been personally invited into the palace by the Grand Empress Dowager for her teachings, it was clear her sect's techniques weren't weak.
Across the entire martial world, the Seven Forms of Flowing Water was undoubtedly a high-level cultivation technique.
With some of the lowest-tier techniques, it might take others more than ten years just to break into the third tier.
A breakthrough like this was something to celebrate; it wasn't the kind of thing you kept to yourself.
First, he formally reported his progress to the Martial Supervision Bureau. It had been eight years since he first registered as a martial arts trainee. Reaching third-tier in eight years wasn't impressive in their eyes, so they didn't pay him much attention.
Next, he strolled a couple laps around the Pear Garden. A bunch of new palace maids had arrived in the past two years. They were cute, charming girls. Too bad they were of no use to him.
At dinner, the eunuchs of the Cold Palace couldn't hide their envy.
"Five years to reach third-tier… If I'd known, I would've started training back then too," Zhang Yong muttered, full of regret. But at over thirty years old, it was too late to start cultivating anything now.
There were twelve eunuchs assigned to the Cold Palace. Wang Li was fifty, Zhang Yong thirty-five, Zhang Bai thirty-four, and Li Qing twenty-eight.
Most of the others were also around thirty or older. None of them were young anymore.
In the past decade or so, two eunuchs had been transferred out for properly taking care of concubines. Rumor had it they were both dead now.
The two new eunuchs were just in their teens.
"Heh, martial arts? With what?" the elderly Wang Li muttered, his voice raspy with age.
Training in martial arts wasn't something you could just decide to do. You needed a proper technique, a master to teach you, and a whole lot of silver.
As he got older, Wang Li's health was clearly on the decline.
Once a eunuch reached fifty, he could apply to redeem his "little eggs" and leave the palace. Of course, if you were healthy or had the right connections, you could stay and die in the palace too.
"At the rate I'm going, I'll have to apply to leave in another year or two," Wang Li said with a sigh. "That's why I envy you, Xiao Li. You've got some martial training. Even at sixty, you'll still have strength in your body. You can keep your place here in peace."
Every year, eunuchs had to undergo a physical exam to stay in the palace. If you passed, you stayed. If not, you were sent out.
The eunuchs in the Cold Palace didn't have a way to save money, so they couldn't bribe their way through. If you failed the checkup, there was no way around it. You were out.
"You could arrange for a younger relative to come serve here," Li Qing suggested. "While we're still around, we could help keep an eye on him."
But Wang Li shook his head. "No need. My nephews and their sons should be out living proper lives, getting married, having kids. Over the years, I've sent a fair bit of silver back to the family. They're doing much better than before."
Zhang Bai chimed in, "If we really had a choice, who would ever want to be a palace eunuch? If there's a next life, I'd rather dig in the dirt for food than live this one without manhood."