Cheng Jinghui (female official of the Palace Attendants Bureau) x Luo Lingzi (eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial)
Cheng Jinghui had beautiful handwriting. After the Grand Preceptor praised it for “hiding an edge within its strokes and reflecting the virtue of a gentleman,” she became famous throughout the capital. But no one knew she was just as skilled with a pair of mandarin duck daggers.
When she was fifteen, her father became embroiled in the Prince of Wei’s case of secretly minting silver ingots. The family’s assets were confiscated, and she narrowly escaped being sent to the Entertainment Bureau.
Fortunately, the empress took pity on her and appointed her a female palace official. In the twelfth month of the twenty-sixth year of Ding’an, Cheng Jinghui entered the palace.
On her first day there, she met Luo Lingzi, the famous chief eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial. He wore a crimson python robe and only had to glance at her once for Cheng Jinghui to feel as though a venomous snake had fixed its gaze on her.
Before entering the palace, Eunuch Luo had been the legitimate son of a prominent Jiangnan family. He had also been praised by the Grand Preceptor, and was renowned for both his knowledge and his looks. The Luo family was destroyed after becoming involved in the succession dispute. But Luo Lingzi was famous throughout the capital chiefly because of his martial arts and his methods.
At just twenty-one, Luo Lingzi was already a chief eunuch and one of the most renowned experts in the palace. He had the emperor’s deep trust, but was sinister and cunning, like a venomous snake, inspiring both fear and dread.
Cheng Jinghui stiffened all over. Would her future really be any easier?
Much, much later, when Cheng Jinghui thought back to her first day in the palace, she nodded to herself. Her instincts had indeed been right: Luo Lingzi really was no good.
Theme: Turn enmity into friendship
What a perseverant author, keep it up 🤩