Chapter 16: The Eunuch Stands Firm as Mount Tai

Just past dusk, the Wanli Emperor changed his attire, strode down from the dragon throne, and swept his fierce gaze across the great hall.

Wei Qing wanted to speak but hesitated, his face turning purple with strain, as if he were constipated.

"Guard this place well; I shall return shortly. If the Empress Dowager or the Grand Eunuch find out about this, I will send you all to watch over the Imperial Mausoleum!" the Wanli Emperor said with a cold face, then strode away.

Wei Qing exchanged a glance with several Ivory Tablet Eunuchs and hurriedly chased after him.

They followed the Wanli Emperor, step for step.

"Scoundrels, why are you following me?"

"Your Majesty, you cannot go; if the Empress Dowager finds out about this, she will surely flay us alive." Several eunuchs knelt on the ground at once, and Wei Qing crawled forward on his knees to hug the Emperor's thigh, "Your Majesty, please, for the sake of the many years I have served you, spare this servant just this once."

"Fine, fine, fine. You fear the Empress Dowager, but do you not fear me, the Emperor?" Wanli stamped his foot and said through gritted teeth, "If I cannot leave today, you shall all go to watch over the Imperial Mausoleum for me."

"Your Majesty..." the men cried out in sorrow together.

"Shut up!" Wanli glared at them, took a few large strides forward, then looked back and said, "Do not follow me. When I return, I will grant you rewards."

In an instant, the Wanli Emperor's back disappeared from everyone's sight.

The few Ivory Tablet Grand Eunuchs looked at each other, then turned to Wei Qing together and asked, "Eunuch Wei, what do we do now?"

"What else can we do? Go back!" Wei Qing stamped his foot and walked back toward the Qianqing Palace.

He ordered the others to guard the palace well, then lifted his robes and headed straight for the Directorate of Ceremonial.

The Directorate of Ceremonial was not too far from the Qianqing Palace, only about seven or eight li away; after two quarters of an hour, Wei Qing arrived before the duty room.

The young eunuch on guard saw Wei Qing and immediately greeted him with a smile, fawning, "Oh my, I was just wondering why I felt like I had forgotten something; so it was that a noble guest had arrived."

As the managing steward of the Qianqing Palace, Wei Qing might have been submissive before the Emperor, but his status was extremely high.

Except for the Ceremonial Eunuch and the key Head Eunuchs among the Twenty-Four Yamen, few dared to look down on him.

It was just a pity that Wei Qing was already in a state of panic and had no heart to think of such things. He glared at the young eunuch and asked, "Where is Eunuch Feng? Is he inside?"

"He is inside; he hasn't come out for a long time."

Wei Qing stepped inside, his heels moving as if he were stepping on wind-fire wheels as he rushed in.

Inside a duty room, candle flames flickered red and blue smoke curled; a man sat with his eyes slightly narrowed, leaning against a pear-wood chair.

The man appeared to be about fifty-five or fifty-six, of medium height, with a fair complexion, a slightly protruding belly, and gentle features that made one feel as if bathed in a spring breeze.

He wore a wool felt hat, a black python robe, a jade belt around his waist, and a pair of black soap-leather boots.

It was none other than the Head Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, Feng Bao! At 62 years old this year, because he maintained himself extremely well, he looked even younger than Zhang Juzheng.

Do not be fooled by his plump, kind-looking appearance.

There was no one in the entire palace service who did not fear him.

Since entering the palace at age 12, Feng Bao had spent a full fifty years in the palace and over twenty years in the Directorate of Ceremonial.

Such an old monster—who would dare to underestimate him even slightly?

Because he liked quiet, when he was on duty, no one outside dared to make the slightest noise.

Even walking was done on tiptoe; if there was truly something to report, they would clench their buttocks tight, terrified of passing gas.

Thump, thump, thump... Suddenly, rapid footsteps sounded outside the door. Feng Bao frowned and snapped his eyes open. Looking forward, he saw Wei Qing, drenched in sweat, rushing in frantically.

"Eunuch Feng, something terrible has happened!"

Feng Bao was displeased at having his rest interrupted, but thinking that the man was someone by the Emperor's side, he could only suppress his irritation and quipped, "What terrible thing? Could it be that your family's ancestral graves have been dug up?"

If only my family's ancestral graves had been dug up, that would be better!

Wei Qing felt bitter inside and poured out everything the Emperor had done today.

Feng Bao's eyes lit up as he listened, thinking to himself: "Wonderful, I was just worrying about having no silver to spend; this hundred thousand taels of silver comes at just the right time. A Central Edict—I never expected the Emperor to have such boldness."

"And that Zhang Yunxiu is also a bad seed; to curry favor with the Emperor, he actually goes against his own father. But that is fine too; the Emperor is grown now, and a little struggle is good. The more they struggle, the more Zhang Juzheng will rely on me." Seeing Feng Bao listen without saying a word, Wei Qing felt uncertain and continued, "Eunuch Feng, the Emperor leaving the palace in private is a major matter; what about the Empress Dowager?"

"What about her?" Feng Bao glanced sideways at Wei Qing and smiled sinisterly, "Eunuch Wei, it is not that I did not warn you; if the news of the Emperor leaving the palace truly reaches the Empress Dowager, you can just wait to be punished."

"Ah?! Then what should this servant do? I beg Eunuch Feng for guidance."

"Turn a blind eye and close one ear." Feng Bao smiled, took a small sip of the tea beside him, crossed his legs, and said, "I am just speaking casually; what you do is up to you."

"In any case, I know nothing of this matter. If you want to poke the Empress Dowager about it, suit yourself."

To hear the hidden meaning in the words.

Wei Qing sensed that Feng Bao intended to keep it hidden and felt a long sigh of relief in his heart.

Who in this palace did not know that Feng Bao was the eyes and ears of Li Taihou? As long as these eyes and ears did not pass on the news, how would Li Taihou know? "Then this servant will take his leave."

"Go." Feng Bao waved his hand, and Wei Qing stood up, stuck his buttocks out, and walked outside.

After he left, Feng Bao let out a long sigh, pinched the bridge of his nose, and his mind was filled with a thousand thoughts.

In the last two or three years, especially this past year.

As the Emperor grew older, he increasingly felt that the young Emperor had the look of a true sovereign.

Benevolent to the world, power reaching the four seas, dignified without anger; in every gesture, he already possessed the aura of an emperor.

This was how an emperor should look.

His heart felt both joy and apprehension.

Joy that the young Emperor had grown up.

He had followed the Emperor since the Emperor was four years old.

Watching the young Emperor was like watching his own nephew; the bond between them had long exceeded the feelings between a monarch and a subject.

And apprehension that the Emperor would seize power.

He, Feng Bao, was also a ruthless figure who could not go a day without holding power.

When the Emperor's authority clashed with his own power, he sometimes liked to treat him as a child and bring in Li Taihou, that great deity, to suppress him.

In the past, when the Emperor was young, he asked him about everything, big or small. Now that he was grown, some things were no longer for him, Feng Bao, to decide.

Perhaps he really should let go.

Suddenly, a cold wind blew in from outside the window, and Feng Bao shivered.

He looked down at his palms, where wrinkles were densely packed like chicken skin; though he had tried his best to maintain them, he still could not hide the passage of time.

He curled his lips, his eyes brimming with tears as he muttered to himself, "I'm old; it seems I really am old, I really am old."

Thinking this, he stood up, paced outside the duty room, and rushed out of the palace draped in the night.

On the other side, the Wanli Emperor exited the palace gate and, according to the pre-arranged location and a few eunuchs, headed straight for the Southeast corner outside the Imperial City.

There, Zhang Yunxiu had long been waiting with his men, along with Han San and Zhang Fu.

When the two parties met, Zhang Yunxiu first had the Emperor change his clothes.

In a moment, the Emperor changed into a gold-threaded, narrow-sleeved straight robe, with an ancient jade hanging from his waist and a pair of black leather boots on his feet.

He looked exactly like a refined young gentleman of the world.

"What should people call me out here?" the Wanli Emperor asked.

"You shall be called Young Master Zhu," Zhang Yunxiu replied.

"Good, then I shall be called Young Master Zhu!" the Wanli Emperor said, his face full of excitement.

The group moved cautiously, surrounding the Emperor as they headed toward the bustling markets of the capital.

(End of chapter)