Chapter 8: The Inner Court

  The Xuanmen technique is indeed mysterious, especially after Cao Cao memorized all the information on the jade piece in his mind, he discovered that this jade piece had another function - the internal information was completely cleared, and Cao Cao could store the message he wanted to convey in the jade piece and send it into the palace without fear of being discovered.

  The method of using this jade piece was also obtained by Cao Cao along with the methods of refining muscles and bones. Except for Liu Xuan and Cao Cao, the information in this jade piece would not be known to anyone else, its secrecy is much stronger than those so-called secret letters hidden in jade belts or other places.

  Liu Xuan naturally knew the purpose of this, he gave Cao Cao the jade piece, saying it was a token, in fact it was used to convey information, after all, at present the situation is chaotic, being cautious is always better.

  Liu Xuan, who had a bountiful harvest for one day, was in an extremely good mood for the next few days. At the same time, his personal eunuch Cao Bao also revealed to Cao Cao that he was from the Cao clan, and it seemed that both sides had found a suitable bridge. Afterwards, they agreed that if there were any matters, they would have Cao Bao enter and exit the imperial palace to convey messages. Unless there was something major, Liu Xuan remained low-key and hidden within the palace, waiting for an opportunity.

  After that, Liu Xuan returned to the imperial palace and resumed his previous life, hiding in the palace every day without coming out. Only Cao Gao, who was close to him, knew that this great prince had been busy cultivating himself these days.

  Since meeting Cao Cao, Liu Xuan never hid from Cao Pi again. He wanted to ascend to the throne and needed an insider in the palace for convenience.

  Now among the eunuchs, the Ten Regular Attendants are in charge. These people were close to the old emperor and even among the several princes of the next generation, they were closer to Emperor Xian of Han.

  The possibility of winning these people over is too low, let alone having lived in the palace for over a decade without ever establishing any connection with those eunuchs. He doesn't think he can suddenly establish a relationship now - Cao Cao was different, Cao Cao indeed also made contact immediately after meeting, but that was because Cao Cao's current situation was extremely embarrassing, giving him an opportunity to take advantage of it. If he were to try to win Cao Cao over again after some time has passed, it would be absolutely impossible.

  But the Ten Attendants may not necessarily believe him either. They have been busy getting close to the young emperor for years and have long abandoned him, the eldest son. Even if it's from the perspective of the Ten Attendants, they might be worried that suddenly showing favoritism to the eldest son would not be accepted by the other side - more importantly, Liu Xuan seems to have no power at all and has almost no chance of ascending to the throne, so why waste their time?

  However, there was one person who really had the idea of getting close to Liu Xuan, and that was Zhang Rang, the most powerful among the ten eunuchs. Since he inadvertently heard the emperor's comment, Zhang Rang had this idea.

  If things had developed normally, Zhang Rang probably wouldn't have bothered to curry favor with the eldest prince Liu Xuan again. But this world was disrupted by Liu Xuan's intervention, and the young prince Liu Bian became frail and sickly, and it was unknown when he would die prematurely.

  Besides, Liu Xie is only eight years old this year, and no one knows if he can make it to adulthood. At present, the situation is that Liu Xie cannot help in any way, and because of his young age, he has no prestige, and the ministers in the court do not pay attention to this little prince.

  All sorts of disadvantages made Liu Xie's road to the throne so thorny, and Zhang Rang, who had been in the palace for a long time, naturally understood that everything should leave some room for retreat. If Liu Xie did not ascend to the throne, he might be able to let Liu Xuan save his life?

  At this time, Zhang Rang had not thought of supporting Liu Xuan to ascend the throne. After all, Liu Xuan's foundation was too shallow. What he was thinking about was that if Liu Bian succeeded, General-in-Chief He Jin would definitely take himself out, and if he could beg Liu Xuan to save his life, even if he couldn't stay in the palace afterwards, it would be fine.

  That's right, his calculation is that if Liu Bian succeeds to the throne, Liu Xuan will definitely be demoted and become a king. As long as Liu Xuan speaks up and takes him away, even Empress He should give some face, shouldn't she?

  Zhang Rang and others? In the imperial palace, it's probably impossible to find anyone with more power than him. It was already known that Liu Bian was extremely close to his elder brother, and Empress He would not take things too far for the sake of her own son.

  After some thought, he learned that the emperor was sleeping soundly today due to the increasingly cold weather, and took the opportunity to slip out of the imperial bedroom. He brought one or two close eunuchs with him and quietly made his way to Liu Xuan's palace.

  At this time, Liu Xuan was practicing his skills in meditation, while Cao Gai stood at the door, paying attention to the outside movements and curiously staring at Liu Xuan. Until Liu Xuan absorbed the golden cloud energy around him into his body, sat for a moment, and then asked: "Don't you want to ask anything?" he respectfully replied: "The affairs of Your Highness, where does it concern a minister like me to inquire?"

  Cao Jie was young in years, but in the palace she had already risen to the rank of Shao Huang Men. The Shao Huang Men were mid-ranking eunuchs in the imperial palace, below them were the Zhong Huang Men and above them were the Zhong Chang Shi.

  Although he is a small Huangmen, it's not that his power is very great. This small Huangmen, on the one hand, benefited from the light of the Cao family and was promoted by Cao Teng. On the other hand, because he served as the current crown prince, no matter how powerful he was, this rank could not be low.

  If he really insists on his rights, once Liu Xuan leaves this palace, no one will listen to him anymore!

  In comparison, the eunuch was also a small yellow gate, but he had great power and prestige. In terms of rank and authority, he even surpassed He Jin by one level. Unfortunately, although his rank was high, the actual power was still in He Jin's hands, and he could only act arbitrarily in the palace. Even so, it was better than Cao Jie.

  However, because of his official position, it is also correct to call himself a minister - in this era, it is not popular to call oneself a slave, even if it is an eunuch in the palace. They are all proper officials of the Han Dynasty, under the jurisdiction of the Shao Fu, one of the nine ministers, and not those lowly slaves.

  Liu Xuan thought for a moment, then said to Cao Guan: "There's nothing good about hiding it from you. I had unintentionally obtained some cultivation methods of the mysterious arts earlier. Apart from having some magical techniques, they can also strengthen one's body and health. After some time has passed and the situation stabilizes, I will naturally pass them on to you!"

  Cao Guan listened, although he didn't know how wonderful this method was, but just by looking at Liu Xuan's methods in Cao Cao's house a few days ago, he knew it wasn't ordinary. At that time, he only felt that the prince he served had such ability, and in the future, even if not in the imperial palace, he would still be able to stand out. He never thought that the prince would actually be willing to pass on this method to him?

  For a moment, he was so excited that he didn't know what to do. Fortunately, Liu Xuan didn't care about these things. Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly stopped and ordered with a wave of his hand: "Someone is coming, follow me out to take a look!"

  Cao Guo didn't think about how Liu Xuan knew, since Liu Xuan's cultivation of the mysterious arts had some incredible methods, it wasn't strange at all. As soon as Liu Xuan left the bedroom, he saw a few people walking slowly from afar.

  His eyes were extremely good, and he could see who the person was from a distance. He was shocked in his heart, and his face changed several times. He whispered to Liu Xuan: "It's Zhang Rang, the Central Eunuch!" Although he was of a lower rank than Zhang Rang, he knew that he and Zhang Rang were not on the same side, and there was no respectful tone in his words.

  Liu Xuan naturally saw it clearly, he didn't say a word, and was wondering why this old ghost came to find himself. Was the old emperor looking for him?

  "Or perhaps the old emperor has come to his senses and wants to make his third brother the crown prince, and conveniently kick out the old man from the palace?"

  At the thought of this possibility, Liu Xuan's face turned gloomy, but fortunately it only lasted for a moment before he recovered. He took a few steps forward to greet Zhang Yan, and they exchanged courtesies - Zhang Yan was a marquis, and even when meeting the emperor, the emperor would rise to return his courtesy; how much more so Liu Xuan, who was merely an imperial son and not even the crown prince.

  After the ceremony, Liu Xuan turned around and invited Zhang Rang into the bedroom. Along the way, he didn't say anything unnecessary, but Liu Xuan found that Zhang Rang was very polite to him, without any of the overbearing arrogance of the first person in the inner court. Just this point made Liu Xuan feel much more at ease - if Zhang Rang had come here to show off his power, he really wouldn't have been able to swallow it.

  It's all right now, both sides are polite and courteous, even if there's anything to say, it's convenient to talk in detail, as soon as they sit down, Liu Xuan doesn't speak up, just waiting for Zhang Rang to speak first.

  But after talking for a long time, the old man still didn't mention what he came for, as if he had come today just to get close to him. This made Liu Xuan even more bewildered and wondered in his heart: "Could it be that the old emperor intends to pass the throne to me?"

  Thinking about it, the possibility is too low, and in the end, only one conclusion can be drawn, that this invitation is to pull strings with oneself and arrange a retreat.

  Thinking of this, everything became clear, and in his heart, he secretly sighed: "This eunuch who has been in power for decades is not a fool. Even if there is no apparent danger now, it's better to make some plans early on and arrange an escape route for himself."

  However, he didn't immediately show affection, although he had a pleasant conversation with Zhang Rang, he still kept a proper distance. After chatting for half an hour, he respectfully sent him off - but Zhang Rang still made a good impression, taking a look at Liu Xuan's palace and seeing that it was slightly dilapidated, and the serving palace maids and eunuchs were only a handful. He instructed his attendants: "On your way back, remember to order someone to repair the crown prince's palace, and send a few more young palace maids to serve him. It can't go on like this, it's not right."

  Liu Xuan may not be fond of luxuries, but he also doesn't like his living place to be too shabby. Now that Zhang Rang has taken the initiative to offer him a good deal, he naturally wouldn't push it away. He thanked him with cupped hands and when they parted ways this time, it was even more affectionate than half an hour ago.

  After Zhang Rang disappeared from view, Liu Xuan began to ponder, stroking his chin: If Zhang Rang follows the normal course of events, he has less than a year left to live, but what if I save him?

  Normally, this Zhen is not worth saving, after all, his reputation is too bad! But Liu Xuan's available people are almost non-existent, and in the inner court, there is only Cao Jiao, a young eunuch. Even if he has the heart to give Beijing a big cleanup, it would still be much easier with someone familiar with the imperial city and various internal affairs to help him.

  "We'll talk about it later. If he really has the heart to invest in me, then when he's in crisis, I won't suggest lending a hand either. If not, I don't need to waste my energy!"