"Water, water..."
Zhou Yi groaned unconsciously, felt his lips were warm, and subconsciously swallowed a few mouthfuls.
The decoction goes into the throat and flows into the intestines and stomach.
A warmth spread into the organs, flowing through the limbs and bones, and the originally weak body regained some strength.
When he opened his eyes, he saw the copper lamp on the roof first, and an old man with a white face and no beard stood in front of him.
A sharp pain in his lower body made Zhou Yi's confused consciousness return, and he finally understood where he was.
Chamberlain!
It is also known as the organization that manages eunuchs among the people.
Zhou Yi was born in the countryside of Wannian County. Last year there was a severe drought and no harvest was harvested. His sister died of starvation. In order to support his brother, his parents sold him into the palace as a eunuch.
During the daytime castration, he fainted from fear and pain.
"Are you awake?"
The old man spoke in a high-pitched voice: "Tomorrow, follow a few of them to Dongzhifang and learn how to read. Don't be lazy. If you learn too slowly, you won't be able to eat!"
After that, he took the medicine box and left.
Zhou Yi had never left the village in the ten years since he was born. Being alone in a strange environment made him feel fearful.
Huddled under the quilt, quietly observing the environment in the house.
The two-foot square house is larger than the main room and the back room at home combined. The neatly built blue bricks look better than the yellow adobe house at home, not to mention the red-painted window frames and rafters.
Looking at it this way, it would be great to be a eunuch!
Zhou Yi was still young and didn't know much about men and women. He just thought that living well, eating well, being covered with quilts to keep him warm, and having his eggs cut off was not a big deal.
There were three empty beds next to them, and the quilts were spread out randomly, as if they were in a hurry to get up and go out.
After lying there for a long time, Zhou Yi gradually calmed down and fell asleep.
I saw my parents in my dream. Their dark faces kept shouting, but I couldn't hear what they were shouting. Zhou Yi was so anxious that he kept sweating and tried his best to listen and understand...
"Wake up, wake up."
A high-pitched voice rang in his ears. Zhou Yi opened his eyes and saw a wrinkled waiter.
"Let's have breakfast together. If it's late, we can only drink watery soup."
Zhou Yi recalled the old eunuch's instructions yesterday and asked: "After dinner, should you go to Dongzhifang to read?"
The waiter said: "The new guy who knows how to read is going to practice martial arts with us. Our name is Xiao Xizi, what's your name?"
"Book of Changes."
Zhou Yi replied softly that his name was given by an old scholar in the village, which meant that he could live a simpler and easier life, but it backfired.
Enduring the severe pain, I got up and followed Xiao Xizi to Dongzhifang.
There were two chamberlains accompanying him, named Xiao Zhengzi and Xiao Yuanzi. They had gloomy faces and seemed not very talkative.
Xiao Xizi was outgoing and chatted a lot on the way, which gave Zhou Yi a general understanding of the Internal Affairs Department.
The Chamber of Internal Affairs oversees all eunuchs, who are divided into twelve eunuchs according to different functions. The most powerful one is the Eunuch of Ceremonies, who is responsible for serving the emperor personally.
The second is the palace supervisor, which is the department assigned to Zhou Yi.
If the ceremonial supervisor is a civil official among eunuchs, the palace supervisor is a military attache. He practices the secrets of martial arts in the palace and is responsible for guarding the safety of the palace.
The rest of the imperial eunuchs, the Shangshan eunuchs, the general eunuchs, etc. are eunuchs who do odd jobs and belong to the lowest level in the palace.
Xiao Xizi said longingly: "Our ambition is to protect Eunuch Hai, to protect His Majesty and become famous!"
Zhou Yi hummed and praised, remembering his parents' teachings in his heart, saying less and making less mistakes when going out, listening more and learning more.
East straight room.
It's not the name of the palace, but the residence of the chamberlain is called Zhifang, which is located to the east of the palace.
According to Xiao Xizi's guidance, Zhou Yi first went to the study to report his name, received a wooden identity card, and then went to the kitchen to eat.
Since I arrived late, I only had white rice porridge left, but I also drank three large bowls of it.
In the village, only Mr. Liu's family eats rice porridge. The other families eat brown rice mixed with wild vegetables. The quantity is limited and they don't feel full. When they are hungry, they go to drink cold water.
The last time Zhou Yi had a full stomach was on New Year's Eve three years ago.
I came to the study room, found a seat near the corner, and waited quietly for the teacher to give a lecture.
Most of the seats in the study were occupied by people, all around ten years old. Some were lively and squirming around, and some were talking in low voices with people they knew well.
The gentleman opened the door and came in, and the study suddenly became quiet.
"Open "Shuowen Jiezi" and read it with our family!"
There were several old books on the desk. I don't know how many people had read them. Zhou Yi recognized the word "文" and followed the actions of the people next to him to open the first page.
"One is the beginning of counting..."
The gentleman was an old eunuch with gray hair and chicken skin. He trembled when he walked, as if he would fall to the ground at any time. However, the sound of reading was extremely loud and accurately reached the ears of all the servants.
The voices of chamberlains are not always shrill. If they enter the palace as adults, they will have the voices of normal men.
Zhou Yi read along with his teacher, trying hard to memorize the pronunciation and writing of each word. The order of the strokes was not required, as long as it was the same as in the book.
This kind of cramming method will soon make you dizzy.
The teacher ignored this and read the first three pages over and over again, leaving his homework at the end of the afternoon class.
"Recite them one by one tomorrow morning. Those who can't recite them will be forced to stand or starve!"
After saying that, he left the study and didn't care whether the waiter understood all the words.
In order to eat, Zhou Yi endured a headache and recited word by word. When he encountered something he didn't know, he asked his surroundings for advice.
Everyone is in their teens, so it is not difficult to speak. However, the other chamberlains cannot recognize the truth, and even if they read it out, they are not sure whether it is right or wrong.
"First read back and forth what you have written down!"
Zhou Yi read until it was dark, and when he returned to the house, the other three servants had not returned yet.
It wasn't until around 4 o'clock that Xiao Xizi and the other two came back.
Zhou Yi plucked up the courage to ask how to pronounce those unknown characters. After he learned it, he recited it until midnight. I don't know when he fell asleep.
The next day.
The teacher checked the homework. Zhou Yi stumbled through it and found more than a dozen mistakes.
I only had breakfast throughout the day, and stood in the study for lunch and dinner.
The feeling of starvation was uncomfortable, especially after experiencing enough food and drink. Zhou Yi made up his mind to work hard to read.
Since then.
Every day I had to go to bed, kitchen, and study. In the first half of the year, I was forced to stand and starve from time to time. In the second half of the year, I learned more characters and could easily read three pages.
During this period, many new chamberlains went to the nearby study to learn how to read.
Zhou Yi secretly counted, and at about the beginning of every month, a group of forty or fifty people would be assigned to the palace supervision.
"There are four to five hundred people in one year, and four to five thousand people in ten years. These are just the palace guards. There are twelve prison guards. How many servants have to be supported in the palace!"
"It's better to save this money, buy a few more acres of land, and harvest more food..."
In Zhou Yi's simple understanding, the emperor was a big landowner, not much different from the rich man Liu in the village, except that he plowed the land with silver plows and turned over the soil with gold hoes.
This day.
Sit by the window as usual.
I flipped through the pages of the Book of Changes and read the explanations. The teacher said that by reviewing the past, you will learn something new. The meaning of the book will be apparent after reading it a hundred times. He knew that he was not a smart person, so he did things according to the words of a smart person.
The gentleman opened the door and came in. His hands were empty, not holding any books.
"Our family has been teaching you for a year, and each one of you is considered diligent and can recognize most Chinese characters. Today I will teach you the secrets of palace martial arts!"
Said.
I picked up a charcoal pen and wrote four big characters on the wall.
"The Epiphyllum Collection!"
Zhou Yi recited in a low voice and recalled the notes in Shuowen Jiezi. He knew that Epiphyllum was a strange flower that only bloomed at night and withered very quickly.
"Morning dew and night-blooming night-blooming flowers bloom in an instant!"
The gentleman's cloudy eyes flashed and he spoke slowly.
"The speed of practicing the Epiphyllum Book of Epiphyllum is extremely fast, far exceeding the ordinary martial arts ten times. You must remember to practice well. In the future, you will be on duty in different realms according to your strength!"
"The weak patrolling the city wall is hard and tiring, but the strong personal guard can be promoted if he is appreciated by the nobles..."
(End of chapter)
