Episode 25 recap: The emperor has unexpectedly expelled all the eunuchs.
Yu De Fu demanded Sun Yi Ren to hand over the account books of his many years of dealings with foreigners. Sun Yi Ren said that if Yu De Fu would let him go, he would give him the account books. Yu De Fu asked what would happen if he didn't let Sun Yi Ren go. Sun Yi Ren said that if he couldn't leave, the Yangxin Palace would hand the account books over to the emperor the next day. But Yu De Fu had already found the account books in Sun Yi Ren's house, and he had come to kill Sun Yi Ren to cover his tracks. After dealing with Sun Yi Ren, he gave two gold ingots to the guard Chen Chuan to make him disappear as well.
The next day, Li Qi presented evidence in the Yangxin Palace that Sun Yi Ren was the arsonist in the Beifu Palace fire case, and many stolen treasures were also found in Sun Yi Ren's room. Puyi was shocked that the chief eunuch overseer of his two palaces was the culprit behind the arson and theft cases. Puyi instructed Shaoying to announce his previous decision - if there were any more eunuch disturbances, all eunuchs would be expelled from the palace.
Yu De Fu and other eunuchs pleaded with Puyi to revoke the order, but Puyi said his decision was final. Yu De Fu got the three empresses and the prince regent to come and persuade Puyi, arguing that the eunuch system was an ancestral institution. The empresses also warned Puyi that disbanding all eunuchs would bring shame to the imperial family. After much persuasion, Puyi decided to only retain the necessary eunuchs and dismiss the rest, putting Yu De Fu in charge of the matter.
Hearing they would be expelled from the palace, the eunuchs were very worried, as they knew nothing else besides serving their masters. Although the stipends in the palace were low, at least they could survive. Now expelled, they didn't know how they would live. The emperor gave the dismissed eunuchs some money as they left the palace. Lu Qiu Tong rushed to the palace gate with Liu Er and Yu Mei to take photos and write articles about the event.
Li Qi told Rong Er, who was also leaving the palace, that it was quite chaotic outside recently for the newly expelled eunuchs, and offered to go with her. Rong Er said she had gotten permission from Rong Hui the Empress to leave and go visit her aunt Shou Xi.
Yu Mei wanted to see the article written by Liu Er, but Liu Er wouldn't let her. They fought over it, and in the scuffle, Yu Mei fell on top of Liu Er and dislocated his arm. Yu Mei helped put Liu Er's arm back in place. Liu Er then asked Yu Mei if he still liked Lu Qiu Tong, and Yu Mei said he only admired Lu Qiu Tong, which made Liu Er very happy.
Rong Er discussed with Li Qi how Wu Tian, Chen Chuan, and Sun Yi Ren were all just pawns, and the treasures found in Sun Yi Ren's room were likely arranged by the real mastermind behind everything. They suspected this person had immense power and had already bought off some of the guards. Rong Er felt many in the palace were likely involved, and she could only do her best to guard the palace gates.
Yu De Fu continued collaborating with a foreigner named Haidi, promising to sell the treasures from the Beifu Palace for 500,000 taels, and asking Haidi to rescue his nephew Li Taifeng from prison. Haidi wondered how Yu De Fu would get the treasures out of the palace now that so many eunuchs had been expelled. But Yu De Fu said he had his ways.
Rong Er and Qing Er saw palace maids arguing with the remaining eunuchs, as the eunuchs now had to handle all the manual labor with fewer of them. The eunuchs complained about having to collect and transport the palace slops on top of their other duties. When Rong Er was delivering a meal to Puyi, she suggested that the palace maids handle the slops going forward, since there were fewer eunuchs. Yu De Fu objected, saying the slops had always been an eunuch's responsibility. In the end, Puyi decided the maids would handle collecting the slops, while the eunuchs would still be responsible for transporting them, warning Yu De Fu that the previous theft had been through the slops transport.
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