Good Man Operation Guide

The Emperor has had this fragrance bag for many years, but he never thought there was something hidden inside.

This couldn’t be blamed on him. After all, fragrance bags were either beautiful to look at, to calm the spirits, or to drive away evil spirits. This was the common sense of the people of this dynasty. What’s more, when Consort Liu gave him the fragrance bag, it was the sweetest and most delightful time for him, and the request was just to wear them on his body from time to time. So as soon as Consort Liu fell out of favor, the fragrance bag also fell out of favor.

He just never thought that a thorn hovering in his heart for many years had been uprooted by this little fragrance bag.

The Emperor picked up the three yellowed papers hidden in them and carefully looked at what was written on them.

Indeed, as expected, three hidden-poems.

The wording was superbly crafted and worked together.

Which was why he was convinced that all six poems were left behind by Consort Liu. Unlike the concubines in the harem who could at best read and recite, Concubine Liu had been taught by her father since she was a child, along with her brother. Liu Qingxian was bent on practicing martial arts, but Consort Liu was gentle and stayed in the house to do the homework left by her father when her brother couldn’t help but go out to play.

What she loved most of all was reciting poetry.

When the Emperor was in love with Consort Liu, they used to go out to enjoy the moon and recite poems together. The Emperor had no talent for poetry, but this didn’t prevent him from appreciating his Consort who could write poems. But Consort Liu was shy, even though he had also questioned it once, as if in jest, why she had written poems about trees, flowers, and clouds, she had never written about himself, her husband. At that time, that stunning woman’s white cheeks blushed at his words while her eyes hung low and couldn’t speak.

Seeing the beauty in such a manner, he simply put it out of his mind with a laugh and took her directly to bed to make a baby.

At that time, he was only playing around, then when Consort Liu died, he told the Imperial Secretary to burn all the paper. At that time, the half-sincere complaint became resentment.

If you loved poetry so much, why didn’t you ever compose one for me?

It was impossible to say that he didn’t have a guilty conscience for burning all the papers in the palace before her death.

The Emperor never mentioned this to anyone else but had decided in his own mind that Consort Liu didn’t love him and just merely feared his power, which was why she entered the palace.

Of course, he selectively ignored the fact that his original purpose for having Consort Liu in the palace was to make Lord Liu, the father, upset.

But, he got his wish. Consort Liu died, yet he stayed affected by what happened for more than a decade.

He didn’t want to think about Consort Liu, but it was just that things in this world always go against our expectations, and the more you don’t want to think about some things, the more they will come to mind late at night.

Consort Liu’s gestures.

Consort Liu who had the audacity to invite him to fly a kite with her.

When Consort Liu gave birth to his eldest daughter, he ignored the Imperial Secretary’s obstruction to visit her by the bed. The air was still filled with the smell of blood as the stunning pale woman laid on her back in bed while her forehead was obviously beaded with cold sweat, but she still smiled at him.

“Has Your Majesty seen the little princess?”

“Momo said, she looked like Your Majesty.”

It was the Emperor’s first child. He had seen many younger siblings before he took the throne, but every time, he only saw children who had wide-opened, jade-like cute, big-grape-like eyes. When he came over, he saw the baby held by momo in swaddling clothes, but it had red skin and was frowning with closed-eyed, looking not at all similar to him or Consort Liu.

A heavy ‘my daughter is too ugly’ flashed in the Emperor’s heart, but for fear that Consort Liu would be stimulated, he could only appease her on the surface.

“I have seen that she is indeed very similar to me.”

“May His Majesty choose her name?”

“Choose.”

The Emperor had doted on Consort Liu and had thought that this child of hers was a Prince, never expecting it to be a Princess. So without the slightest hesitation, he just said the name he had prepared for a Prince.

“Huyang, in the future, she will be my Princess Huyang.”

“I will protect her with a lifetime of glory and prosperity.”

The smile on Consort Liu’s face became more and more beautiful, but her eyes – which were always filled with shyness and gentleness – showed fatigue. Before saying another word, she slowly closed her eyes and fell asleep.

The Emperor sat by the bed, holding her hand. For some reason, he knew clearly in his heart that she was just exhausted from having a child, but there was great unease in his heart.

As if, when she slept like this, she would never wake up again.

No way.

Consort Liu was just tired from giving birth and would naturally wake up when she finishes resting.

When she wakes up, she would surely join him again to recite poetry and fly a kite.

She would stand there laughing, holding up a kite, her pretty dress blown by the wind like a fairy, and she would call to him cheerfully.

“Your Majesty…”

“Your Majesty, Your Majesty…”

The eunuch serving gently and cautiously bowed until he was rather like a shrimp, then cautiously and respectfully awakened the son of heaven who was sleeping peacefully on the bed.

“Your Majesty, it’s time to get up.”

“Your Majesty…”

The already old son of heaven on the bed slowly opened his eyes at the sound of his voice, not knowing for a moment whether he was in a dream or reality.

He stretched out a weary hand to rub his glabella and slowly rose, suddenly asking hoarsely as the waiting eunuch silently came up to help him off the bed, “How is Consort Liu?”

He didn’t know where the rules of the palace came from, but when a palace concubine gave birth to a child, he wouldn’t be allowed to visit. Consort Liu always followed the rules, so except for the day when she just gave birth to Huyang, he hadn’t been allowed to see her for the rest of the period. This was why, he could only order the people around Consort Liu to take good care of her, asking every day for fear of any mistakes.

The old eunuch who served the Emperor for almost half his life answered inexplicably, “Your Majesty, hasn’t Consort Liu already passed away?”

“B*st*rd!!!”

The Emperor flew into a rage, waved away the eunuch who was trying to help him, and suddenly stood up. His bloodshot eyes were full of anger.

“You pickled thing!! Dare to curse my beloved consort!!”

How did Consort Liu die?

She obviously just gave birth to Huyang and should be recuperating in the palace right now!

The old eunuch had been serving him for half a lifetime, so as soon as he was pushed out of the way, he was busy kneeling on the ground and kowtowing to beg for mercy, “Your Majesty, spare my life, Your Majesty, spare my life, Consort Liu has indeed left us early ah!!!”

“Your Majesty please forgive!!”

His voice has always been gentle. At the moment, he was anxious, some of his craftiness came out, and the harsh tone entered the Emperor’s ear, which made him suddenly wake up from his dream.

The Emperor’s hair was scattered, he staggered back two steps and fell to the bedside.

Yes, Consort Liu had died…

In the blink of an eye, it had been so many years.

What happened in the first place?

Wasn’t Consort Liu resentful of him, both at heart and at death?

But if she was really resentful, why would she want to send him the fragrance bag with a hidden-poem, and why would she write down those poems?

The old eunuch knelt on the ground, quietly raised his head, and looked at the Emperor that had white hair on his head.

After a while, the Emperor’s hoarse voice said, “You go to the Cold Palace and bring back the old people who served beside Consort Liu.”

“Yes.”

The old eunuch hurriedly saluted, got up slowly, and left the palace carefully walking backward with his waist bent like a shrimp.

The emperor named him to go, then naturally he couldn’t command a little eunuch to go, so he went all the way out of the palace and went to the Cold Palace.

He happened to meet the Eldest Prince on the way. He hurriedly knelt on the ground and saluted. The Eldest Prince appeared to be in a bad mood, but he still warmed him up and asked a few more questions about the Emperor’s recent health and saying some things along the line of: although winter has passed, the Emperor Father is now old, so you must take good care of him.

The old eunuch knew that the Eldest Prince wanted to ask him where he was going and what he wanted to do, but it was always taboo to inquire or spread information about His Majesty’s whereabouts. So, he withheld it.

He was able to escape after saying, “Your Highness, you are so respectful and concerned about His Majesty, I will tell him how much you care for him”, followed by quickly running away.

Before he got away though, His Royal Highness stopped him and gave him a nice jade banzi ring.

(TNote: Banzi ring = a thick ring that is worn on the thumb that’s actually used to protect the thumb while shooting arrows, but has become an accessory worn by the nobility/wealthy for style/status in some dynasties.)

The meaning behind it was that he had worked hard to serve the Emperor and should do well in serving more in the future.

The old eunuch made even another grateful expression.

***

But he was a rather experienced person, so how could he not see that the Eldest Prince was hiding his contempt and disdain for eunuchs even though his eyes were gentle?

Anyway, he has long been accustomed to it. In this palace, eunuchs were often rejected by people and if they weren’t able to climb to a high position, what awaited a eunuch was either death for various reasons before they live to a ripe old age or expulsion from the palace when they grow old. Moreover, they can’t do anything at all but serve people because they no longer had a certain thing beneath them. Most of them would have hidden diseases when they were old. Eunuchs were also often despised by their families. Obviously, they would have no children or grandchildren, and other family members would naturally be reluctant to support them, so eunuchs would often end up with their bodies covered with filth, dying without dignity.

However, compared with those eunuchs who were intent on climbing up, this old eunuch always aimed to leave the palace.

He had already adopted a few abandoned babies and raised them as his own sons and had used his finances to buy an estate outside, so he would be comfortably supported by his sons when he leaves the palace. With the money at his disposal, he didn’t have to worry day and night about being dragged out and beheaded if he accidentally said the wrong thing.

He just didn’t expect that precisely because he served carefully, the Emperor didn’t want to let him leave the palace and continued to have him serve beside him.

This was a great honor for other eunuchs who were bent on climbing up, but it was a torment for him who was full of thoughts about going out and enjoying his old age, supported by his sons.

But there was nothing he could do. The Emperor was the most powerful man under the heavens, so he could only serve him respectfully, hoping in his heart of hearts that when he gets older, the emperor would no longer use him, and so he could leave the palace.

Eunuchs were allowed to rest, but those little eunuchs have no power, such that even if they could rest, they could only stay in the palace. This old eunuch served beside the Emperor, so naturally, he had a bit of prestige.

Whenever it was a day of rest, he would go out to visit his adopted sons.

They have all grown up and respected their adoptive father, who gave them food, keeping them well-fed. The oldest child had already married, whose wife had also given birth to a little grandson.

The old eunuch had adopted several sons just for his retirement, but this soft and tender young grandson was loved to the bone.

He just couldn’t wait to leave the palace early to raise his grandchildren properly.

But before he could leave the palace, his grandson died.

He was only 5 years old and still walked rather unsteadily.

One day, he went shopping with his parents, and he encountered a fast horse riding by. Its hooves stepped right on his tiny body, killing him instantly.

When the old eunuch found out, he almost couldn’t breathe and fainted.