Young Master, Don't Show Off - Chapter 21

[Chapter 21 The Imperial Palace Summoned]

After listening to Zhu Jin’s words, Emperor Xia nodded slightly and said, “Not afraid of power and kind-hearted, this boy is indeed different from other powerful children in the royal capital.”

Zhu Jin also sighed, “No wonder the Zhao family is willing to fulfill the marriage contract of the year. Some of the children from other families in the royal capital are really too unreasonable…”

Emperor Xia just smiled and said, “Do you really think that the Zhao family will marry him just because he is kind-hearted? He is telling me that the Zhao family will not participate in the power struggle in the royal capital. Some people are already powerful enough. If they marry the Zhao family’s phoenix, hehe, I am afraid that even I will be afraid…”

…

Lin Mansion, in the room, Lin Xiu and Zhao Lingyin are practicing.

The way Zhao Lingyin helps him practice is to let him endure the torture of extreme cold. Lin Xiu is only wearing a shirt, and the cold air is wrapped around his body. A layer of frost has formed on his eyebrows and hair.

There was a force in his body that was fighting against the cold outside, and in this long-lasting confrontation, the force in Lin Xiu’s body was gradually growing at an extremely slow speed.

Today, not long after the two of them practiced, there was a knock on the door outside.

When they were practicing in the room, no one would disturb them unless something urgent happened.

Lin Xiu quickly put on his clothes and opened the door, and found that the couple of Ping An were standing at the door, and there were three figures standing in the yard in front of the door.

All three of them were white-faced and beardless. The robes they wore looked like official uniforms, but they were different from official uniforms. A man standing in front said in a shrill voice: “Lin Xiu, the son of the Earl of Ping’an, is summoned by His Majesty. Follow me into the palace immediately without any mistakes.”

Lin Xiu was startled and asked: “His Majesty summoned me, what did His Majesty summon me for!”

The eunuch who delivered the order said lightly: “We don’t know about this. You’d better go with us quickly. Be careful not to miss the time, or His Majesty will punish you.”

Lin Xiu followed the three eunuchs in a daze. The Earl of Ping’an and his wife looked worried. Zhao Lingyin seemed to understand something and comforted them: “Uncle and aunt, don’t worry, Lin Xiu will not have any major problems when he enters the palace.”

When Lin Xiu stepped into the palace, he vaguely guessed the intention of the Emperor of Daxia to summon him into the palace.

As the son of the third-class Earl, how could a small clerk in the Qingli Division catch the emperor’s eye? To the emperor, the only thing he had a little value in was his ability to make ice.

He heard from the dean of the Yishu Academy that there were only two people in the entire Daxia capital who possessed the Yishu of ice.

One is Lingyin, and the other is Lin Xiu.

The reason why the heaven-level special arts are heaven-level is not only because of their powerful abilities, but also because the probability of their awakening is too low. People who awaken heaven-level special arts and have the

talent for cultivation are even rarer. As for why Lingyin, who is more powerful, was not invited, but he who had just awakened, there is nothing strange about it. If the daughter of a first-class marquis and a genius of the Tianzi Academy of the Special Arts Academy were invited to the palace to do such a thing, I am afraid that the news that the emperor of Daxia does not respect talents will soon spread.

Lin Xiu is different. He is just an unknown junior in the royal capital. This strong man can be arrested just by saying so.

Lin Xiu guessed correctly. As soon as he entered the palace, a supervisor told him that the ice storage in the palace was empty and he needed to use his ability to make ice for the palace.

Lin Xiu could not refuse this matter, and he could not refuse it.

Firstly, this was the emperor’s personal call, and he could not refuse it.

Secondly, to some extent, this was Lin Xiu’s obligation.

After all, he is a student of the Yishu Academy, and students of the Yishu Academy have another identity, that is, special talents recruited by the court. As long as the court needs them, they need to serve the court at any time.

These people accept the cultivation of the court, enjoy the resources of the Yishu Academy, and the high salary of ten taels of silver per month, so they should bear this obligation.

Since it is a conscription, there is naturally no remuneration.

Thinking that he has been working for the palace for free for several hundred taels of silver every minute these days, the loss is real money. Thinking of this, Lin Xiu couldn’t help but sigh.

The supervisor frowned and asked, “Why, you don’t want to work for the palace?”

Lin Xiu shook his head and said, “Eunuch misunderstood, it’s just that my ability has just awakened, and my Yuanli is low. I will run out of Yuanli after a while. I’m afraid I can’t make much ice…”

The eunuch glanced at him and said, “Of course, you don’t have to worry about this. Come with me. When you enter the harem, be smart. Don’t look at what you shouldn’t look at, don’t ask what you shouldn’t ask. If you break the rules of the palace, don’t blame me for not reminding you in advance.”

The court of Daxia has 24 departments, each with its own responsibilities. The imperial palace also has 20 departments, which are in charge of all matters in the palace.

In the imperial city, the front palace is the government offices of various ministries and the three courts of the royal capital, and the central palace is where the emperor and ministers discuss matters. Therefore, the positions of these 24 departments are all in the harem, managed by the palace ladies and eunuchs.

That’s why the eunuch supervisor just now reminded Lin Xiu not to look around or ask questions along the way. After all, the people living in the harem are either the emperor’s concubines or unmarried princesses. It would be rude for him to look at these people even if he looked at them for a second.

Lin Xiu followed several eunuchs, walked through several extremely long palace corridors, and finally entered the legendary harem.

The harem, the central palace, and the front palace are simply two different worlds.

The palace road is lined with various flowers and plants. It is early morning now, and the sun has not risen yet. There are many young and beautiful palace maids tending to the flowers and plants on the roadside. Several colorful cannons passed by Lin Xiu. When she stood on the roadside to salute the three eunuchs, Lin Xiu glanced at them without leaving any trace. The people sitting on the colorful cannons were all beautiful women with natural fragrance and national beauty. To be precise, they were young women of various types, some of whom were born beautiful, some of whom were born pure, and each of them was unique.

Lin Xiu had never seen the emperor and did not understand his character, but there was no doubt that this person had a very good vision and his aesthetics was not much inferior to Lin Xiu.

Compared with those young girls, these were real women.

The eunuch next to him whispered to Lin Xiu, “I told you, don’t look around, be careful to bring disaster to yourself.”

Hearing this, Lin Xiu immediately lowered his head, looked at his nose and mouth, and no longer glanced around with his peripheral vision.

After all, this was an era of supreme feudal imperial power, and the harem was a place of right and wrong. He was a son of a third-class earl, so he had to be careful in everything.

Soon, Lin Xiu was taken to a palace by three eunuchs.

On the gate of the palace was a plaque with the words “Shangbingsi”. Shangbingsi was one of the twenty-four departments in the harem. Its main responsibility was to store ice in the ice storage in winter and provide it to the palaces to cool down in the hot summer.

After entering Shangbingsi, Li Zongguan explained his purpose. The eunuch in charge of Shangbingsi looked worried and said, “What can we do? I don’t know why the water from our well has been abnormally turbid these days. How can we use it to make ice for the ladies…”

Li Zongguan frowned and walked to the well to get a bucket of water. As expected, he saw that the well water was very turbid and could not be drunk at all.

He thought for a moment and said, “I’ll report to His Majesty, you wait here.”

Li Zongguan left Shangbingsi, and soon came back in and said to Lin Xiu, “Come with me.”

Because there was a problem with the well water in Shangbingsi, the emperor temporarily ordered Lin Xiu to go to the palaces of various concubines to make ice according to the rank of the concubines.

This can avoid scrambles among the palaces and maintain order in the harem.

After taking the ice-making tools from Shangbingsi, Lin Xiu followed them and was soon taken to a palace. In front of

the tall palace gate, there was a plaque with the words “Yongning Palace”.

This palace is much more imposing. Before entering, Li Zongguan reminded again: “This is the residence of the Queen Mother. After entering, you can’t make noise or wait and see. After making ice, leave quickly.”

Lin Xiu walked into the palace and saw several palace maids and eunuchs busy in the courtyard. He was taken to the well in the corner of the palace. Eunuchs had already drawn water and were waiting here.

The palace used the mold of Shangbingsi to make ice. The mold was square and could make one square of ice at a time.

The harem is not the Moon-Picking Tower. Lin Xiu cannot directly place his hands on the water to make ice, but can only place them on the outside of the mold.

This will slow down the ice-making process and consume more energy. Lin Xiu has no other options. Even if he washes his hands clean, the eunuchs around him will not allow it.

I don’t know how many concubines the emperor has. If this continues, Lin Xiu’s energy will be drained by these concubines today.

I have to board the plane. Update soon.

(End of this chapter)