Probe
Tian Qi sighs in relief over her luck.
To be hit by others in the head, and then tied and dumped into Tai Ye Lake and still live to recount the tale, she must have been helped by the gods.
Oh, not the gods, but the divine turtle!
She thinks the divine turtle recognized her because its first al in the Great Qi was given by her. Perhaps, that was why it lifted her up.
It is the sa as being a guest in a countryside and eting soone who enthusiastically helped you. You felt really thankful and would like to repay the deed one day.
That is most probably the relationship between her and the divine turtle.
After Tian Qi was saved, the emperor was very considerate and gave her 3 days off. He let her go back to Shi San Suo to rest.
Not only that, he even sends an imperial physician to check her health.
Tian Qi discovers that she has a strong destiny with physicians this year. This ti, before she even gets to escape, Sheng An Huai blocks the exit. Lucky the physician this ti is not the sa as the one in the last ti. If not, she would not be able to explain herself.
Is the physicians courtyard overcrowded; why are so many of them so idle as to check a little eunuchs illness.
Tian Qis silent discontent remains a silent discontent. She hides her wrist inside her sleeves, refusing to let the physician check her. She constructs her excuse secretly. If the physician is adamant and then finds any problem with her pulse, she will tell them that she was cut too clean back then, and that is why her pulse is like that of a womans.
However, contrary to her expectation, the physician did not ask to check her pulse. He presses the back of her head and asks about how it feels.
Tian Qi finds it weird.
Sheng An Huai finds it weird as well, What about the pulse?
The physician shakes his head, No need. This eunuch is injured on his head, the head is the area of Yun Shen, I will not get anything from checking his pulse. You said you feels dizzy and nauseous, it is because your head received too much blunt force. I will give you a prescription and you will need to take it twice a day, you must rest carefully for the next couple of days. You must not work or bump your head anywhere.
Tian Qi sighs in relief before nodding in agreent.
After sending the physician and Sheng An Huai away, Tian Qi rests on her bed, imrsed in her thought.
She already knows about Sun Da Lis suicide. She has the sa suspicion as Ji Heng; Sun Da Li would not commit murder over a small misunderstanding. Moreover, he would not commit suicide the mont the suspicion lays on him; not if he had enough guts to commit such a cri on the first place.
Soone must have used Sun Da Lis hand to get rid of her.
But who can that person be?
She didnt seem to have offended anyone..
If the perpetrators motive is not revenge, what can it be? Whenever a servant dies, it is usually because they are used as a scapegoat or because they know too much.
Tian Qi suddenly rembers that dangerous belt.
That explains a lot. The perpetrator does not want her to open her mouth, so they decided to silence her forever.
The hell? Who can that person be?
Tian Qi thinks until her head hurt. She feels dizzy and wants to throw up, so she gives up thinking and goes to bed.
She sleeps until noon. A lot of eunuchs get off work at that ti.
After Wang ng gets off work, he buys so supplent before visiting Tian Qi. He already knows about the incident; in fact, the entire palace knows. It is not everyday that a front-line eunuch gets thrown into the Tai Ye Lake only to be saved by a giant turtle.
Tian Qi gives the prescription to Wang ng, telling him to get that for her. But first, she tells him to cook her food.
Wang ng obediently cooks her food. He knows that Tian Qi is feeling nauseous at the mont, so he simply prepares her a vegetable porridge.
Tian Qi looks at Wang ng, a thought suddenly drifting in her head, Arent you good at dicine? Why dont you go to work at the physicians courtyard?
Wang ng stares at her in surprise.
What? Am I wrong?
No, he purses his lips, Do you think I am capable enough to do that?
Why not? Everyone are allowed to take the test to enter the courtyard. You only need to be good at dicine. Speaking of that, how good are you in dicine?
Wang ng does not know how to reply to that. He has never compared his ability to anyone elses; he does not know how good is good.
The biggest problem however, is not his ability. Wang ng says, I am a criminal and also a eunuch..
Tsk, why are you so pessimistic? Let tell you this, to live, you must be like water. You must be able to fill every nooks and crannies. Just take the test first. If you pass, put aside so money, bribe people to say good things about you in front of their masters. Bribe so more people in the physicians courtyard so you can get along with them, and everything will be pretty much set. Everything will be okay. Besides, there are so many eunuchs in the Forbidden City, its not like we cannot function without you.
Wang ng nods heavily.
Tian Qi pats him in the shoulder, Let say this from the very beginning; once you beco a physician, do not forget your good friend!
Tian Qi only spends one night in Shi San Suo. The next day, Ji Heng sends an order for her to move into the servants quarters in the Gan Qing Palace. She thinks this is a great move. She has no idea who her enemy is. She was attacked once, whos to say there wouldnt be a second ti? It is better for her to move into a perfectly safe place.
The only disadvantage is she cannot simply leave the palace now. For eunuchs who live in Shi San Suo, they can visit the capital once they get off work as long as they hand over their special dallion. As for those who live in the palace, they will need their masters order to go out. They also need to get an approval from whoever is in charge of their masters palace.
Tian Qi is willing to overlook that problem. After all, her master is the person with the most power!
Of course, living in the palace has its own advantage. She gets to et many concubines, and that ans she has more opportunities to make money.
For the next two days, the sickly and idle Tian Qi passes her ti on the banks of Tai Ye Lake.
She wants to repay the turtles grace.
She takes a lot of fish from the kitchen and even so other kinds of ats to appease that turtle. So are lean at, the others a little fatty; all in all, she is pretty idle.
In the end, the conclusion is, the turtle does not like fish. Instead, it likes the internal organ of land animals. It doesnt matter if it is chicken or duck, or pig or lamb, as long as it is their internal organ, he likes them all.
Internal organ is not a precious delicacy, so Tian Qi is free to take them from the imperial kitchen. The eunuch and the turtle gradually becos more familiar with each other. Every ti Tian Qi arrives at the bank of the lake, the turtle will swim up to greet her, looking for food.
Tian Qi decides to give that turtle a na. Since it saved her life, she actually tries hard to co up with a good na. She decides to na it Dai San Shan, based on literary texts. That na cos from the work of a Tang Dynasty poet, Li Bai. It cos from the sentence, Giant Ao, do not take San Shan away, I wish to go to Peng Lais peak.
(TN: Giant Ao is a giant legendary turtle in chinese mythology.)
Tian Qi naturally does not have the right to na the tribute turtle, so the na Dai San Shan can only be uttered in private. However, Ruyi overhears that na and conveys it to Ji Heng.
In Sheng An Huais eyes, the na Dai San Shan is not anything extraordinary. It is as good as a Wang Er Zhu or Zhang Liu Jin or any other common nas out there. However, Ji Heng finds that na pretty poetic. It is better than the Divine Turtle. The literary allusion is good and it is not a mouthful to pronounce. The na sounds so natural that one could almost not see the literary reference.
How interesting.
And so, Ji Heng calls Tian Qi over; he eyes her from head to toe and cannot see any thread of literacy inside her gold-driven eyes.
Ji Heng asks Tian Qi in uncertainty, Are you really the one who nad the turtle Dai San Shan?
Tian Qi thought the emperor is scolding her, so she quickly tries to excuse herself, Your Majesty, I was just naming it for fun! I thought it wouldnt be happy if we call it turtle.
Ji Heng narrows his eyes at her, Why do you na it that?
Tian Qi does not have the guts to tell the truth because the emperor hates literate eunuchs. The mont a eunuch is acquainted to historical texts, he is a step closer to abusing his power. She can only answer him with, The turtle saved this servant, so I wanted to give him a mighty na. This servant originally wanted to liken him to a mountain, but Bei Da Shan does not sound very good. So, this servant adds two more mountains to make it three.
(TN: Bei Da Shan () ans Lifting a Great Mountain.)
Ji Heng gives her a I just knew a little pervert like you cannot be that educated! Then, he asks her, Then why didnt you na him Bei San Shan instead of Dai San Shan?
(TN: Bei () = Lifts. Dai () = Bears. They both have the sa aning, but Dai is more poetic.)
None of the common peoples clans have the surna Bei nor do they have Tuo. Kang or Ding, so I could only na him Dai.
(TN: LOL, Tuo () and Kang () ans carry on ones back while Ding () ans peak. There are people with the surnas Kang and Ding out there, but not using those characters.)
.. Such a fine na is given so simply? Reality is cruel; Ji Heng feels a little disappointed. He purses his lips, Have you ever study, in the past?
Such a hard question; she does not dare to lie, but she must not tell the truth as well. She answers him, This official learned a character or two when the late emperor established a learning hall for the inner officials back then.
The late emperor had established a learning hall for the eunuchs. The eunuchs level of literacy went up, and with it, the level of power abuse. Although Ji Heng disagreed with the learning hall, the late emperor was his own father, so he did not dare to voice any discontent. After he inherited the throne, he conjured up so excuses to shut down the learning hall.
He naturally did not dare to express any discontent towards the late emperor.
Have you ever heard of Li Bai? he asks.
Yes. He is a famous poet. This servant is a big fan of his; I especially like his The Farrs Toils at Noon.
Ji Heng cut her off with black lines hanging over his head, That is not Li Bais. And the title is not The Farrs Toils at Noon, the title is Sympathy for the Peasants. He feels a little helpless; talking with this kind of person turns ones own brain dull.
Tian Qi looks at him with sparkling eyes, Your Majesty, you are so knowledgeable!
Never mind the buttering up; being called knowledgeable for just knowing that makes it hard for Ji Heng to accept this situation. He speaks with an icy voice, You may retreat. Do not show your face in front of zhen for the next three days.
Just like that, Tian Qi gets a three-day leave. Three days later, her head has completely healed and she shows her face in front of Ji Heng once again.
Ji Heng suddenly gives her a task.
Task: Sentence Shu Fei to death.
Reason: Harming imperial bloodline.
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