"Cough cough cough cough..." A fierce coughing sound, like a broken bellows, echoed in Qin Tianjian's office.
Under the candlelight, Fu Anning, wearing a pair of reading glasses, was flipping through the pages of the book in his hand, comparing meteorological data from various places.
In addition to monitoring strangers in the world, the Qintian Supervisor also needs to observe celestial phenomena, calculate solar terms, formulate calendars and other tasks. Normally, Yang Gongjing can help with these tasks when Yang Gongjing is around, but now the burden falls on Fu'an Ning alone.
"Sir, please drink some hot tea."
A young eunuch brought the tea obediently, not daring to put it on the table for fear that the water stains from the tea would accidentally stain the table full of official documents.
Fu Anning nodded, took the tea and took a sip.
The little eunuch took advantage of Fu Anning's tea time, picked up a silver needle, and gently flicked the wick of the oil lamp a few times to make the light brighter.
While holding the lantern, he asked: "Sir, other places have installed foreign lanterns, why don't we install one? I see that in other palaces, the lights are very bright."
Fu Anning put down the tea cup and glanced at the little eunuch. This little eunuch named Xiao Lizi was one of the few people who made him feel most comfortable.
Compared with the Ministry of Household Affairs, the Ministry of Rites is brightly lit, but the surrounding area of Qintian Prison is pitch black.
Since foreign electric lights were used in the palace, the huge Forbidden Palace is always as beautiful as daytime every night.
But only Qin Tianjian always maintained the habit of using candles.
The Ministry of Household Affairs mentioned several times that they would install foreign lanterns for the Qin Tian Prison, but Fu An Ning refused.
In the words of Emperor Datong, he was stubborn and stubborn.
Fu Anning refused to accept foreign electric lights, not because he wanted to save electricity for the emperor, nor because he looked down on foreign electric lights. He was not Yang Gongjing, and he did not have the concept of hatred towards Westerners. He looked at Xiao Lizi and asked with a smile: "
Let me ask you, what is the difference between humans and ghosts?"
Xiao Lizi thought for a while after hearing this: "People are alive, ghosts are dead."
Fu Anning nodded: "Yes, what's the difference between demons and humans?"
Xiao Lizi laughed dryly and shook his head.
"Heh heh heh heh..." Fu An Ning smiled. In fact, Fu An Ning still gave people a very comfortable feeling when he laughed, but he rarely smiled on weekdays.
"Whether it's a human or a ghost, even if it's a monster, each has its own way of living. Humans live in the day, ghosts walk at night, and monsters and ghosts hide in the mountains and forests."
After Fu Anning finished speaking, he glanced at the oil lamp nearby and saw a moth flapping its wings around the lamp.
"Foreign electric lamps are good things, but not all of them are good. Just like this moth, it is obviously afraid of fire, but it always likes to get close to the lamp. But if it really touches the fire, it will be burned to death in a moment."
Xiao Lizi lowered his head and thought about it for a while. He was confused and didn't understand it at all, but Fu Anning didn't continue to explain.
Although Xiao Lizi didn't understand what Fu Anning meant, his ability to observe words and emotions was already very good. When he saw that Fu Anning didn't seem to want to continue talking, he immediately walked out with a tea cup.
On the way out, Xiao Lizi was still wondering what Master Fu's words meant. After taking only two steps, a light suddenly hit his face.
"Oh, this is the damn one..."
Little Lizi quickly raised his hands to cover his eyes and cursed. As soon as the lights went out, two little eunuchs ran out from behind the door with a smile.
Little Lizi took a look and recognized the two little eunuchs. One was called a small stool and the other was called a small table.
This doesn't sound like a person's name, does it?
But the eunuchs in the palace, to put it harshly, are no longer human beings.
When the palace maid reaches old age, she can still be sent out of the palace to find a good family to marry. But when the eunuch reaches old age and returns home, his family will dislike him. If he does not return home, he will not even have any descendants. He has no choice but to go and guard the tomb of the late emperor.
.
People who have no family and no roots will not be able to enter the ancestral hall even after they die.
Even in this palace, in front of the masters, they are tools, tables, stools, pots, that's what their names are.
As for where these two young eunuchs are from, it is no other place than the richest treasure house, the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Most of the treasures paid tribute are kept in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which is the emperor's small treasury.
The country's annual taxes and property belong to the treasury, and the emperor cannot tamper with them easily, otherwise the ministers in the court will not be happy.
During the New Year and festivals, silver rewards should be given out, and clothes should be purchased for each concubine. All other miscellaneous expenses must come from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
These two young eunuchs are from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. They usually have a good relationship with Xiao Lizi, but today they secretly took out the emperor's treasure.
"Quick, let me show you this baby."
I saw a small table, holding something like a flowerpot in his hand, with a mechanism underneath. After twisting it, light came out from it.
"This is the hand lamp that the Westerners paid tribute to the Long Live Lord. Look at how bright it is, but it only lights up for a short time at a time and then goes out."
The little table introduced the origin of this hand lamp to Little Plum.
When Xiao Lizi took a look, it turned out to be true. When the light shone through, the whole road lit up.
"Hey, this thing is so rare." Little Li Zi held the lamp and couldn't put it down.
"No, be careful not to break it. If it breaks, we won't have enough heads to chop it off."
The little stool reminded.
At this time, Little Plum didn't know what she was thinking. She turned back and handed the tea cup to the small table: "I'll borrow this for a while and return it to you tomorrow morning."
"Hey, I'm afraid this is not good."
Xiao Zuo's expression changed slightly and he quickly stopped him.
But Xiao Lizi waved his hand: "What's wrong? Long Live Master is only fresh for a while. After the freshness is over, it will be thrown away. I'll give it back to you a long time ago. It's in broad daylight. What are you afraid of? If it's really bad."
Yes, it’s because the foreign stuff is not strong.”
"This..." The table and stools looked at each other, but Little Plum didn't care so much. He waved his hand for them to go back and ran back holding the lamp.
Quietly, he entered the gate of Qintian Prison.
As soon as he entered the door, he heard Fu Anning's voice: "Little plum, what's wrong?"
"Hey, sir, you really have eyes and ears in all directions. Even if I came in on tiptoe, you could hear me too."
Little Plum quickly flattered him, then took the hand lamp over and said, "Sir, I want to show you something precious."
"baby?"
Fu Anning was also happy. He put down the pen in his hand and stepped forward to see what kind of treasure it was.
"Look, my lord!"
Little Li Zi grinned and turned the switch on the base of the hand lamp. Suddenly a beam of light shone on the dome of the Qintian Prison.
There are eight large mirrors hanging on the dome of the Qintian Prison, which are said to be used for divination. No one knows exactly how they are used, but they can be illuminated by light.
Suddenly, the entire Qintian Prison lit up, giving people the feeling of a bright sky.
"Sir, look...you...eh??Sir??Sir??"
Little Plum looked back and saw that Fu Anning, who was standing behind him just now, had disappeared. Now Little Plum was confused. How could such a good person suddenly disappear?
In doubt, Little Lizi suddenly felt that he had stepped on something. When he lowered his head and looked, he was immediately stunned. He saw that the adult was gone, but his clothes were scattered on the ground.
Even if you want to go home, there is no need to take off your clothes so cleanly.
Xiao Lizi stayed for a while, and then a gust of cool wind blew over him. The chill made him shiver, and he suddenly began to feel scared.
"My lord, my lord!!"
After shouting twice more, no one was seen. Xiao Lizi panicked for a moment and shouted twice towards the door: "Come on... someone is coming on!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the lamp in his hand went out. Just after experiencing the strong light, it suddenly became dark again. Little Li Zi felt that his eyes suddenly went dark, so dark that he couldn't see his fingers.
Little Lizi trembled in his heart, and he took a step forward and wanted to run out. However, suddenly a hand came from behind, grabbed his braid, and pulled him back hard. Little Lizi sat on the ground with his head facing his head.
He rubbed his eyes and took a closer look, only to see that Fu Aning, who had just disappeared, appeared in front of him again, even with his clothes on.
It's just that the face that was usually kind to him was terrifyingly cold at the moment.
"Sir...sir..."
Xiao Lizi's scalp felt numb, and his heart thumped. The more he thought about it, the more panicked he became.
"Hey, little plum, you didn't understand a word of what I just said."
Fu Anning sighed, slowly squatted down, reached out and patted Xiao Lizi on the shoulder: "Forget it, in the next life, be a whole person."
After saying that, Xiao Lizi's eyes widened and he heard the footsteps of the imperial guards coming from outside. He was about to call someone, but when he opened his mouth, the world in front of him suddenly turned around.
With a sound of "Poof!", a head fell to the ground and rolled. Little Li Zi's eyes widened. Perhaps because of his death, there was nothing in his blurred vision. Mr. Fu stood there.
What was in front of his body was clearly a piece of human skin...
