I have Immortality In The Cultivation World-Chapter 523 - 383: Human Nature is Greedy
Chapter 523: Chapter 383: Human Nature is Greedy
“Zheng Ge’er, how did Grand Eunuch Chu lose his power?”
Zhou Yi never really believed that Grand Eunuch Chu grew weary of power and voluntarily retired to guard the Imperial Mausoleum.
Eunuchs, gelded and therefore childless, are known to be extremely greedy for wealth and power and are loath to let go until death.
Xiao Zhengzi said, “Rumors are related to the Deposed Crown Prince!”
Deposing the Crown Prince is one of the great taboos of the Great Qing Dynasty.
The current Emperor is well-versed in the Taoist arts of health-preserving. Ascending the throne at the age of ten, he has now sat on the dragon throne for a full sixty years. Judging by his light and fit appearance, he could sit for another ten years.
“How could there be a Crown Prince for forty years in this world!”
This was the slogan chanted by the Deposed Crown Prince ten years ago. On the Emperor’s sixtieth birthday, he hid five hundred ax-wielding assassins.
Breaking the cup was the signal!
Before the five hundred ax-wielding assassins could surge out, they were completely wiped out by the Imperial Guard. Right then and there, the Emperor stripped the Crown Prince of his title and confined him to Si’en Hall in the southeast corner of the Palace.
Since then, the Great Qing has been without a Crown Prince.
Ministers in the court repeatedly petitioned, urging an early establishment of the heir apparent, but Emperor Hongwu rejected them with various excuses.
The second, third, and fourth princes fought for a decade, and today, new contenders joined the fray. It’s uncertain who will have the last laugh.
Zhou Yi naturally supported the second prince. Even though rumors in the palace suggested that the second prince had a cruel nature, prone to anger and killing, once he acknowledged Eunuch Xu as his godfather, there was no other choice!
Should the second prince ascend the throne in the future, Zhou Yi could also ride the coattails of success, being promoted to a ranked eunuch, rightfully becoming “Eunuch Zhou.”
As for whether the new ruler would be lecherous and indulgent, or whether he would rule with tyranny and oppression, that would be no concern of “Eunuch Zhou.”
“Eunuch Zhou” would bring his parents to the Capital, find a minor official role at court, and from then on, he would become a respected master, no longer a lowly peasant to be bullied!
Zhou Yi wondered, “The case of the Deposed Crown Prince is ten years old. How come it’s still being pursued?”
Xiao Yuanzi said, “That’s no ordinary Deposition of the Crown Prince. He was in the Eastern Palace for forty years, repeatedly supervising the state affairs, with countless supporters both within and outside the inner court.”
Xiao Zhengzi switched to Secret Voice Transmission and said, “Last night, there was chaos in Yangxin Hall, many dead. Rumors say the Deposed Crown Prince conspired with Grand Eunuch Chu, plotting a palace coup!”
Hiss!
Zhou Yi gasped in shock. Xiao Zhengzi and Xiao Yuanzi both served in the Qianqing Palace, not far from Yangxin Hall. To speak of it as a rumor, it was likely already a confirmed fact.
Evidently, the Deposed Crown Prince had failed again and, along with Grand Eunuch Chu, was now relegated to guard the Imperial Mausoleum.
Zhou Yi’s eyes gleamed, “With Grand Eunuch Chu gone, so many positions are vacant. Zheng Ge’er, Yuan Ge’er, don’t you want to try?”
Grand Eunuch Chu wasn’t an individual, but represented a faction, a force to be reckoned with.
All eunuchs in the palace belong to factions, even those tasked with lighting incense at night are spies for certain concubines or eunuchs.
Today, with Grand Eunuch Chu’s downfall, those eunuchs under his command would most likely suffer. At best, they would lose their power; at worst, they would vanish without a trace.
Power does not leave a vacuum!
Those newly vacated positions would lead to countless eunuchs slaughtering each other to take over. One after another, they would take the stage until a new stable situation formed.
Xiao Zhengzi nodded and said, “The opportunity has come, we should make our move.”
Xiao Yuanzi was even more direct, “We don’t dare to dream of holding the imperial pen or the seal, but we wish to become attendants, to serve the Emperor by his side.”
Xiao Zhengzi and Xiao Yuanzi entered the palace in the same year, their martial talents were exceptional. They had been guarding the Qianqing Palace for nine years but were still eunuchs without rank.
Attendant eunuchs, on the other hand, are bona fide fourth-rank court officials, one of the four heads of the Imperial Household Department, constantly following the Emperor, with responsibilities such as leading the way and providing protection.
In the Imperial Guard, official ranks are not subject to the approval of the Inner Cabinet or the Ministry of Personnel, but entirely at the discretion of the Emperor.
If one truly catches the Emperor’s eye, they could leap from an unrated eunuch to the Grand Supervisor of the Imperial Guard, holding the rank of first class, with immense power in their grasp, referred to by the common people as Nine Thousand Years Old.
Zhou Yi bowed with his hands together and said, “I wish both of my brothers success in all you desire. If there’s ever a need for my assistance, just ask, and I shall not refuse!”
The young attendant said, “Before long, the news of Eunuch Chu’s downfall will spread throughout the palace. Yi, please help us keep an eye on any eunuch who tries to get close to His Majesty.”
Zhou Yi slapped his chest and promised, “I will surely be all ears.”
With the young attendant and Xiao Yuanzi being favored by His Majesty, their roommate Zhou Yi could also bask in the reflected glory and even directly abandon Eunuch Xu to side with Eunuch Zheng and Eunuch Yuan.
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Zhou Yi had no concept of loyalty. He only knew that whoever fed him steamed buns was his true benefactor!
…
Several days later.
The storm initiated by Eunuch Chu’s downfall began to sweep through the Imperial Palace.
In just one month at least a thousand people died, affecting the eunuchs from the twelve divisions of the Directorate of Palace Attendants and the palace maids from the thirteen departments of the Imperial Household Department.
Zhou Yi was on duty in the Imperial Garden and witnessed his colleagues being arrested.
Some surrendered without a struggle, accepting the lethal poison or the white silk, while others resisted desperately and then died a horrible death on the spot. There were also those who cried out their innocence, claiming they only recognized someone as a patron and had not taken part in Eunuch Chu’s case.
The attendants of the Hall on Duty didn’t care, their responsibility was the emperor’s safety, and they had to eradicate any potential danger!
“What if Eunuch Xu rebelled one day, would I also be left with no way out? Or say, the second prince’s ascension to the throne fails, and I manage to survive by luck, would I be demoted to attend to the midnight fragrance…”
Zhou Yi, who had felt secure for the past two years, was once again filled with grave doubts.
At this moment.
He was no longer the ignorant youth he had once been, having seen and heard numerous secrets within the palace, he had rapidly grown into a qualified eunuch.
Therefore, Zhou Yi understood that once you entered the palace to become a eunuch, the only choice was to climb upwards, to the highest position possible, to have a chance at relative safety.
“Or perhaps, there is another path for me…”
Zhou Yi thought of two unique individuals in the palace, Eunuch Hai and Eunuch Wei, who, it was said, had reached the pinnacle of martial cultivation and were invincible fighters in the world.
Both hailed from the Hall on Duty yet held no official position, serving only as personal guards to protect the emperor’s safety.
They appeared to have no rank or title, yet even Eunuch Chu at the height of his power had to refer to them respectfully as ancestors.
“My talent may be limited, but I do not fear lifespan loss, and I can cultivate the Epiphyllum Treasure Tome without limits. If others die after twenty years of cultivation, and I practice for two hundred years, could I not rival Eunuch Hai?”
After some thought, Zhou Yi decided to choose the path of martial cultivation.
Eunuch Chu’s situation was a warning, having climbed to the highest peaks, one misstep had sent him to guard the Imperial Mausoleum.
“Relying on a patron can fail when the patron falls, relying on His Majesty is uncertain, as even His Majesty will age. Only by relying on my own fists will I have nothing to fear…”
“The fist, is the power!”
Zhou Yi stood beside the pavilion of Jiangxuexuan, clenching his fists tightly, a wild thought suddenly emerging in his heart.
If one day he becomes unrivaled under the heavens, with every action capable of slaughtering the palace court, could he manipulate the succession of the throne, no longer a servant of His Majesty, but the hidden hand controlling the emperor!
Clap clap clap!
Zhou Yi, frightened by his own thoughts, immediately slapped himself, silently reciting the Three Bonds and Five Constants, loyalty to the monarch, pledging to devote himself unto death…
This terrifying thought, however, was like a weed that could not be completely cut out or extinguished.
Human greed is boundless!
Zhou Yi once only dreamed of earning silver to send home for his parents to buy steamed buns. Later, he hoped to bring his parents to the Capital; when money was no longer an issue, he began to crave power.
He was no longer the being who ate when hungry, drank from the river when thirsty, and slept when tired—the creature that resembled a human.
