Fu Tu Ta

FU TU TA / FORBIDDEN LOVE - CHAPTER 7 : THINKING WITHOUT STOPPING

The person from the Fifth Institute went to an empty building and the master was already buried. The courtiers all sent him back to the Shang Palace Bureau for other assignments. On the terrace which was lively yesterday, today there are only a few bird cages hanging under the eaves, swaying leisurely in the breeze. Yi Lou stood in front of the window. That problem has passed for a while, and now things are slowly calming down.

Somehow, it was a very cold day. He caressed her arm, took out a green brocade jacket and put it on. He looked at the scenery in the courtyard and felt the vicissitudes of a different life. 

The people from the hall supervisor went straight in to clean the room, tidy up the storage boxes and move the cages. They went to the courtyard and collected some items, stored them and returned them back to the Chaotian lady's household. The rest is in the bag. 

The eunuchs were the happiest people right now. The girls who entered the palace were selected from all backgrounds, the jewelery as well as the clothes that accompanied them were all splendid. Before leaving, Yin Lou left valuables with the servants, such as sandalwood fans, wallets, mirrors, and bags of clothes. Useless items in the palace were thrown away at will. Someone came in to clean and take everything. 

The eunuchs were everywhere, they couldn't help themselves and they didn't care whether those Chaotian girls were dead or not. This was also a rare opportunity for the Qingshui Bureau to secretly entrust someone to take the treasure outside the palace, to exchange it for money, or to send it to their family.

Tong Yun received news from Cao Chunang and came from the Shang Palace Bureau. He hugged Yin Lou as he walked in and said, "Miss, I just asked someone to go outside the palace to buy a candle bar. I never thought you were still alive!" 

He folded his arms and faced the sky in worship, "Amitabha, this is truly a Bodhisattva's blessing! What great fortune. This is good fortune cultivated in this world! Let me see..." He looked up and down, and saw a scar on his lower jaw again. 

He choked, “I put your neck in the cloth under a wooden block and injured your jaw. I don't know what happened next. Do you have any tricks for hanging yourself?"

Yin Lou rolled her eyes angrily. This girl is so stupid. She was crying in front of him, and what she said at the end really didn't match her attitude.

His throat was so swollen he couldn't speak, and he was completely exhausted. He pointed at the stone bed and planned to lie down for a bit.

Tong Yun nodded, stood up and knelt on the blanket on the bank of the kang, muttered, "Yes, you have a good rest. This is more severe than a serious illness. You have almost entered the gates of hell. Those incense candles were not bought in vain, let's pray later to thank the Bodhisattva for saving you from suffering."

As he spoke, Cao Chunang slipped in with a few packets of medicine outside, and stood at the door to say hello, "This is what our Overseer asked us to send to you. This can Lao zuzong use to restore voice and calm the mind. Remember." , one pair a day, three bowls. Pour it into the bowl, and you will be cured in a few days."

Eunuch Cao is Xiao Duo's adopted son. He was highly respected everywhere. Even though he was young, no one dared to neglect him. Tong Yun hurriedly picked it up, nodded and said, "Mr. Overseer is really a good person. Please convey my thanks to him on behalf of my Miss."

Cao Chunang smiled, "You're welcome, the Overseer has already ordered it. If Lao zuzong lacks something, just ask the Ministry of Internal Affairs then no one will dare to make things difficult."

Tong Yun was stunned when he heard him call Yin Lou with Lao zuzong. He didn't ask and escorted the person down the stairs, turned around and looked at the person on the bed, "Isn't it strange that the little eunuch calls you Lao zuzong?!"

Yin Lou stared at the roof in a daze. His heart deserves credit for his death. It's so nice to be treated like it's been for generations at a time!

He couldn't make a sound, Tong Yun just talked to himself, put back all the things he left behind, put them in the mirror box and said, "Thank goodness you came back from the dead. All the previous gifts are gone but I'm not sad. You can come back to life, that's better than anything. You don't know, for us who work as maids in the Fifth Institute, more than half of the maids go to the laundry bureau to do manual labor after their miss returns to heaven. In that ghost place, when there is no salary or success, not as good as going to Tailings to drop wooden fish… By the way, when did you become friends with Superintendent Xiao? Having such a huge backer. You never said anything before and telling me worrying about it was pointless. "

Yin Lou shook his head, indicating that he did not know each other before. Moreover, there were still people behind the scenes, and he himself was wondering, and didn't know what was going on.

"Strange, he saved you without knowing you?" Tong Yun packed up the cupboard and looked up to see the remains of his roommate Zheng Xuanshi, and his heart was gloomy, "When someone dies, it seems that everything has lost its color. Miss wait a moment, I will go out and ask someone to close the cage so you don't look sad."

Yin Lou leaned on the brocade goldfish placed on the big pillow. His heart was empty, and his thoughts stopped, like pasta in his head, and he had no plans. She pulled the blanket on the bed to cover her face, and turned on her side before crying out. He didn't know what he was crying about. She only felt hopeless, tears wetting the pillow under her face.

The things were cleaned up, and Li Mei Ren's voice sounded faintly in the courtyard. Yin Lou took the quilt and looked out through the narrow gap. He saw a slender figure through the window screen, and he quickly sipped his head and sat down.

Li Mei Ren entered the door and said, "What's so polite for? Lie down." He lowered his legs and sat down on the edge to look at her, and said warmly, "I came to see you after receiving a message from Kasim. Yan... How are you feeling now?"

Yin Lou wanted to groan, but his throat was blocked, and he was so uncomfortable that he choked. Yan Sun Lang brought Li Mei Ren out of the Fifth Institute, and he did not see how tragic the situation was at the beginning of the year when everyone was ordered to die. He wanted to explain to her, but unfortunately there was nothing he could do, he could only sob uncontrollably.

"All right. All right..." She rolled up her hood to wipe away her tears. "It's over, everything will be fine. Don't think about those unpleasant things. The most important thing is that now we are all alive."

Yin Lou knew that Li Mei Ren had begged Yan Sun Lang. Whether she was saved in the end or not, Li Mei Ren still thought of her at the most difficult time. He accepted her kindness. Unable to speak, he asked Tong Yun to take pen and ink, and scribbled doodle after doodle, "Thank you for your kindness. Thank you for not forgetting me."

But I don't know how he is willing to help you today. You have also been in the big circle of getting the title of Concubine Duan. Does Eunuch Yan have such a big face? I'm afraid it's not like that."

Tong Yun listened in a daze, and whispered in surprise, "Has my miss been promoted to the position of a concubine? Can you get that title without being buried?"

"That's why it's weird." Li Mei Ren said sullenly, "How could there be such a precedent. It's really unlucky to be posthumously awarded alive."

"Bad or not, that's second. If you can save your life, who cares what they do! As for Supervisor Xiao, if it wasn't for giving face to Eunuch Yan then..." 

Tong Yun pondered for a while, then turned his eyes and looked at his Miss in amazement, "Is it because he likes you and wants you?"

The two people who were there were shocked by it, it was normal for the eunuch to want a Chaotian girl but people like Xiao Duo didn't want to take risks for women. 

Li Mei Ren didn't know the reason, and couldn't think of any other reason, she actually followed Tong Yun's train of thought, “If that's the case, if you can follow him. Even if you guys can't become husband and wife, he is a strong person, and you don't have to worry about the rest of your life. What kind of future do people like us have? If he can treat you well then you'll be fine. Just do it."

Yin Lou didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and waved his hand.

Everyone knows Tong Yun's ridiculousness. As soon as he rejected it, he thought that Yin Lou would definitely not want to.

Tong Yun muttered “Don't look at the bottom [1]. , and how he became Overseer Dong Chang. This fellow is extremely ruthless and he is also very skilled at doing things. Otherwise, in six years, can you go from an ordinary person to an Overseer Eunuch? Don't look at the bad things Dong Chang does, people like this have suffered, or not necessarily they know how to hurt people."

[1]  The eunuchs in the palace were castrated before they became eunuchs

"Stop guessing," Yin Lou wrote on the paper, "Is there a eunuch looking for a low-level concubine? If he likes me, how can he let me take the title of concubine?"

This is also true, Li Mei and Tong Yun stopped talking, and thought about it again, "Didn't he want you to guard the tomb? If you guard the tomb, you will leave the palace, and it will be easy to do after you leave the palace. Xiao Duo has a house outside , and it's easier to get you out of Tailings."

The more he traced, the more he guessed. But Yin Lou was silent again, as if he was in a hurry. He dipped it in ink and wrote, "He just said it himself, it's a matter of loyalty. The nobleman will come to see me later."

Li Mei Ren snorted, "What kind of noble man? It's time for the situation to change. Are there still noble men willing to save people?"

Tong Yun bowed and asked, "Could it be that Miss has some old acquaintances?"

Yin Lou shook his head, his eyes darkened when he entered the palace, and he only knew the people who lived with the Fifth Institute. He couldn't guess it now, but he would find out when he met. Then it's time to worry about other things. After receiving great favors from others, he still didn't know how to repay them!

Li Mei Ren spoke about the current situation again, and everyone felt confused, so they left after sitting for a while. He now lived in the east of the imperial city with Yan Sun Lang, and the first-rank Overseer Love had a private residence outside the palace. Moreover, their hands and eyes were open to the sky, so it was fine to bring someone in and out every day. Although the emperor has just mourned and the entry control has become stricter, but as long as there is an Overseer badge on his waist, it is a guarantee of unhindered access.

Yin Lou was curious about his current life and wondered if Eunuch Yan was treating him well. When questioning her, Li Mei Ren hesitated, and after a long time said, "The palace is busy, and the house is not finished yet." At that time, he thought it was very strange that the eunuch could also consummate marriage? He thought that the two of them could only sit and eat face to face, "eating each other"!

Yin Lou is not very old, he is only sixteen this year, and he didn't know much about men and women before. Then, he entered the palace and received special instructions, to deal with the emperor's sudden fortune, so that aspect was rather basic. Wasn't the eunuch's body part castrated and cut off his 'round house' (the scrotum)? If that part is missing, it means they are not perfect men anymore. So what Li Mei Ren called a roundhouse was probably a bed for sleeping in the truest sense of the word!

In the past, Yin Lou was someone who would never give up if he couldn't find out the outcome, but now he could do nothing but give up. His whole body ached, his throat hurt, and it was difficult to swallow the medicine brought by the people below. He managed to drink half the bowl and fell asleep. 

In the dream, he vaguely returned to the time when he entered the palace for the election at the beginning of the year. It was the term warm and cold sun, and everyone was wearing jackets. The Shang Palace Bureau wanted to "explore breasts, kiss armpits, feel textures, and observe chastity", and everyone had to take off their clothes. Everyone gathered in a room to get undressed and untied, teeth chattering with the cold, but happy. At that time, he wanted to do something, who knew that going through such a harsh trial, would eventually accompany the emperor to death.

Half dreaming and half awake, his mind was still active, and he remembered many past events. After an unknown amount of time, the cymbals, bells, and drums on the south side roared loudly, and the sound was like a rainbow in his ears, causing him to break out in cold sweat. When he opened his eyes, it was already dark. 

During times of mourning, the palace's white gauze lanterns were always hung, and the lights were dim under the eaves. When he remembered that everyone in the Fifth Institute had died, he was the only one left, and he suddenly got goosebumps.

The drugs were somewhat useful, he tried them, and despite being hoarse, he was finally able to speak. He called Tong Yun twice, and when he heard hurried footsteps in the corridor, Tong Yun came in to take a look, “Miss is awake? past dinner time. I'll put some soup on the stove and bring it to you."

Yin Lou struggled to sit up, "What time is it?"

Tong Yun said, "It's almost one o'clock. There is a round of crying ritual ahead. Did that wake you up?"

He froze, "So many people died in the palace in one day. I'm a little scared. Don't go anywhere, stay with me in the room."

Just as Tong Yun was about to respond, the curtain on the door lifted and a tall man walked in. Yin Lou looked closely, and the man with the beautiful eyebrows under the light was Xiao Duo.