Old Cui Tou took five taels of silver to Li Jinzhong. Early the next morning, Li Jinzhong left Jinghai and arrived in the capital a few days later.
He had no relatives or friends in the capital, his eyesight was dark, and he didn't know where to find a job. He rented a cheap house in the outer suburbs and settled down. Thinking that he could not just sit back and have nothing for nothing, he started his old business of writing letters for others.
He bought a low-legged table, a bench, and the Four Treasures of the Study, and set up a stall in the market in front of Ciren Temple in Da Baoguo. The business was not bad, and making ends meet was not a problem. Two days a day, three days a day, and a few months passed by.
He didn't find a way either.
On this day, he was sitting on a small bench waiting for work. A tall fat man passed by him. He looked familiar. When the fat man walked away, he remembered and said to himself: "Isn't this Liang Tiezui?" He hurriedly looked at it.
He caught up with Liang Tiezui and said, "Mr. Liang, stay here."
Liang Tiezui turned around, recognized Li Jinzhong, and said with a smile: "Isn't this Li Xiucai? Why did you come to the capital?"
Li Jinzhong said: "Hey, it's hard to explain. Is Mr. Liang free? I would like to invite Mr. Liang to sit in the teahouse."
Liang Tiezui smiled and said, "Okay."
The two of them came to a teahouse and sat down. Li Jinzhong said: "Back then, my husband touched my bones and died, and said that one day I could be inferior to one person and superior to tens of thousands of people. Do you really think so, or is it just a joke?"
Liang Tiezui said: "It's not that I, Old Liang, think so, it's that you are destined to be like this."
Li Jinzhong said: "To be honest, sir, I have lost my reputation and have no way to advance in life. How can I be inferior to one person and superior to tens of thousands of people?"
Liang Tiezui said: "Why did you lose your honor?"
Li Jinzhong explained the reason and said: "I am not willing to be unknown all my life. I want to be a eunuch in the palace. I want to get in, but it is too difficult. I am already in my thirties, and they won't accept me at all. I think
Sir, please touch my bones again to see if my fate has changed. If not, I will have to find a way to enter the palace and become a eunuch."
Liang Tiezui said: "There is no need to touch it anymore, your fate cannot be changed."
Li Jinzhong said: "Well, I believe you, sir, and I must take this eunuch for granted."
Liang Tiezui said: "You may not be able to do it on your own, so let's do this. Liang is willing to help you."
Li Jinzhong said: "Sir, do you have any idea?"
Liang Tiezui smiled and said, "Of course."
Li Jinzhong said: "Thank you very much, sir."
Liang Tiezui said: "Where will you stay?"
Li Jinzhong said: "The house we rent at the west end of Sihe Village in the south of the city is rented by a landlord named Wu Laoer."
Liang Tiezui said: "Go back and listen."
The two of them left the teahouse. Liang Tiezui came to the door of the Jinyiwei Office and said to a guard: "Liang Tiezui, I would like to see the commander. Please call me."
The guard went in to report, but he didn't have much time. He came back and said, "I have kept Mr. Liang waiting for a long time. Your Majesty, the commander, please invite Mr. Liang in."
The guard took Liang Tiezui to Luo Sigong's office and reported: "Reply to the commander, Mr. Liang has brought it."
Luo Sigong said: "Go out."
Liang Tiezui stepped forward and cupped his hands with Luo Sigong and said, "Liang Tiezui, please pay homage to the commander."
Luo Sigong smiled and said: "Mr. Liang, please sit down." Then he ordered the guards to serve tea.
After Liang Tiezui sat down, Luo Sigong said: "I have been looking for you for several years, but you have avoided seeing me. Why did you come to visit me today? What is the reason?"
Liang Tiezui said: "I would like to ask you to do me a small favor?"
Luo Sigong asked: "What's the matter?"
Liang Tiezui said: "I have a friend who wants to become a eunuch in the palace."
Luo Sigong asked: "Who is he?"
Liang Tiezui said: "His name is Li Jinzhong, a native of Suning. He was admitted as a scholar when he was a teenager, but then he failed in many exams. Recently, he had a dispute with someone and injured the other person by mistake. He was expelled from the Xuezheng Yamen.
I want to be a eunuch in the palace, so I want to find a way to get there."
Luo Sigong said: "I can do this to you, but you also have to do me a favor and touch someone's bones."
Liang Tiezui said: "Okay."
Luo Sigong wanted Liang Tiezui to touch the bones of the eldest prince Zhu Changluo and kill him to see if Zhu Changluo had the emperor's destiny. If so, he would continue to assist Zhu Changluo. If not, he would join the Zheng party and assist the third prince Zhu Changxun.
The bone touching must be done secretly, and Zhu Changluo cannot know about it.
That night, Luo Sigong invited the eldest prince Zhu Changluo to come over for a banquet. He kept urging him to drink. When Zhu Changluo got drunk, he winked at the housekeeper Zhao Ji. Zhao Ji brought another pot of wine, which was laced with drugs.
After Zhu Changluo drank, he lay on the table and fell unconscious.
Luo Sigong asked people to carry Zhu Changluo to the guest room, lay him down on the kang, asked the servants to retreat, and asked Zhao Ji to invite Liang Tiezui. It was not long, and Liang Tiezui came. Luo Sigong ordered Zhao Ji to retreat, and Zhao Ji went out to take care of Liang Tiezui.
Close the door.
Luo Sigong said to Liang Tiezui: "Sir, please feel the bones for this person."
Liang Tiezui was an old man who knew the rules. He didn't know who was lying on the kang. But he didn't ask. He sat on the edge of the kang and touched it with his hands. After touching it, he said: "This person is extremely valuable. One day he will definitely be there."
He is the Nine-Five Master."
Liang Tiezui gave Luo Sigong reassurance. Luo Sigong felt confident and asked Liang Tiezui to stay in the guest room and handle Li Jinzhong's affairs in a few days.
The next day, Luo Sigong asked people from the Intelligence Department to go to Suning to investigate Li Jinzhong's background. The spies spent several days to find out everything about Li Jinzhong.
That night, Liang Tiezui took Li Jinzhong to Luo Mansion.
In the study, Luo Sigong saw Li Jinzhong and wanted to chat with him alone, so he asked Liang Tiezui to go to the guest room to rest.
Li Jinzhong stood respectfully in front of the desk. After Liang Tiezui left, Luo Sigong asked: "Why do you want to be a eunuch?"
Li Jinzhong said: "I want to get ahead, but I don't want to spend my life in obscurity."
Luo Sigong said: "I have a way to send you to the palace, but you must serve me from now on."
Li Jinzhong said: "I am willing to do my best for you."
The great eunuch Wei Chao had a house in Dongchang Hutong, where lived a beautiful woman named Shi Caiyun, who was the wife of Wei Chao.
Ordinary eunuchs would not dare to marry. Wei Chao was the popular man in front of Yan Shoufeng, the Duke of Dongchangchang, so he had the qualifications.
Shi Caiyun was originally a famous prostitute in the capital. She was a prostitute rather than a prostitute. Many dignitaries looked at her with greed, but couldn't eat and were anxious. No one expected that she would marry a eunuch from the Wei Dynasty.
In order to marry Shi Caiyun, the Wei Dynasty used all their strength, coercion and inducement, and it took a lot of effort from the boss to get Shi Caiyun.
He was an eunuch, and without that thing, no woman, no matter how beautiful, could enjoy it. The reason why he went to great lengths to marry Shi Caiyun was to satisfy his own vanity.
On this day, Wei Chao returned home. As soon as he got off the sedan chair, before entering the door, Li Jinzhong shouted "Master Wei, stay here", rushed over from the diagonal stab, knelt in front of Wei Chao, and begged: "Master Wei, please do a good job, please stop."
Let’s take the smaller one.”
Wei Chaodao: "It's you. You're really good. You haven't given up yet, and you actually came here. We tell you clearly that it's useless no matter what you say. We won't take you in, so leave quickly."
Li Jinzhong said: "If Mr. Wei doesn't accept it, I will kneel and die in front of the door."
Wei Chaodao: "Hey, you are still relying on our family, so you can kneel down. Our family wants to see how long you can kneel down." After that, he entered the house.
When Wei Chao went out the next morning, he saw Li Jinzhong still kneeling in front of the door. He glanced at him, said nothing, and got into the sedan chair to enter the palace.
Only because he was powerful did he dare to marry a wife and buy a house outside the palace. The eunuchs in the palace were not allowed to leave the palace at will, so they lived in the palace.
Some eunuchs live in the prison yard, which is the collective dormitory of the eunuchs. Some eunuchs live in the place where they are on duty. For example, the eunuchs who are on duty in the 12th prison live in the inner house of the 12th prison. If there are many people
If you can't live there, you go to live in the prison courtyard. Most of the eunuchs in each palace live in the palace where they live, so that they can provide services to their masters conveniently.
The Wei Dynasty did not return home often, sometimes coming back every ten days and half a month, and sometimes not coming back for several months.
One day a month later, Wei Chao came back again. When the sedan landed, he walked out, went to knock on the door, and the door opened. It was Li Jinzhong who opened the door.
Li Jinzhong was dressed as a servant and said with a smile: "Master, you are back."
Wei Chao stepped across the high threshold, walked in, and said, "Hey, why did you come to our house? Who let you in?"
Li Jinzhong closed the door and said: "Reporting to the master, the eldest grandma felt sorry for the little one, so she rewarded the little one with a bowl of rice and asked the little one to help in the concierge."
Wei Chao felt awkward and unhappy. Li Jinzhong was tall and burly, with a dignified appearance. He was worried about leaving such a person at home. He was afraid that Mrs. Shi Hongxing would cheat on him and make him a cuckold and make him a living bastard. He couldn't drive Li Jinzhong out.
, afraid of making Mrs. Shi unhappy.
When Wei Chao entered the house but did not see Mrs. Shi, he asked a maid: "Where is Madam?" The maid said that Mrs. Shi was admiring flowers in the back garden. When Wei Chao came to the back garden, Mrs. Shi was sitting in the pavilion. When she saw him coming, she stood up to greet him and said: "
Master, when you come back, I will go to the kitchen to cook for you."
Mrs. Shi was a good cook, and every time Wei Chao came back, she would cook it herself.
Wei Chaodao: "Madam, why did you recruit that man named Li to your family?"
Mrs. Shi said: "I saw him kneeling in front of the door pitifully. Master, you know me. I hate to see such a pitiful man. I felt sad when I saw him. He said he wanted to ask the master to recruit him into the palace as a eunuch.
"I saw that he was already in his thirties. If he hadn't been desperate, he wouldn't be like this. So I felt sympathy and thought about waiting for the master to come back and say something to him.
"It's not difficult for me to send a eunuch into the palace. It's just a little effort. If you can help him for the sake of being your wife, it's all a good deed and good fortune."
Wei Chao thought to himself: "If we kick him out, my wife will definitely be unhappy. Rather than leaving him in the house and making me worried, it is better to send him to the palace." So he said: "My wife is really kind-hearted, okay, I
Just help him and think of it as a good deed."
Mrs. Shi smiled and said: "Master is really a kind man. I would like to thank you on behalf of Li Jinzhong."
The Wei Dynasty did not know that Li Jinzhong came to Wei Mansion's Kneeling Gate under the instruction of Luo Sigong. He also did not know that this Mrs. Shi was an undercover agent placed by Luo Sigong.