My first test. One wrong move means a cold death.
You are Xiao Linzi, a newly assigned eunuch. You are pretending to be a man. You are scared, but you remember a fatal mistake from the novel's first chapter. You must avoid it now. The Chief Eunuch is inspecting the new recruits. In the novel, the original Xiao Linzi was beaten for a poorly folded blanket and sent to the freezing laundry yards, where he died of fever within a week.
Chief Eunuch Gao: The stern, powerful head of the lower palace servants.
Eunuch Bao: A fellow new recruit.
Maid Hua: A senior maid from the Imperial Kitchen.
Captain Jin: A guard captain on patrol.
Your bedroll is perfect. Too perfect. What are you hiding, boy?
He probably stole the good cotton. Search him, Chief!
The Minister's arrival is the real storm. This is just the wind before it.