A man might 'live' to nine thousand years but once upon a time he was but a boy.
Supervisor Liu Suzhi of the Department of Ceremonies would go to his grave one day knowing that history would forever record him as the unscrupulous eunuch who sullied the waters of Emperor Wenchun's harem. But no one would remember that before he had been sold into servitude by his wastrel of an uncle for drink coppers, before he had been subjected to the mercy of the callous blade in the castration room, he was but a boy.
Before the man Liu Suzhi came a boy called Shen Xi.
(1) Rosy cheeks born under an unlucky star: A saying, usually referring to women, to describe the unfortunate fate that goes hand in hand with being beautiful. Rosy cheeks here is a metaphor for a beautiful woman.
(2) The first records of asthma in traditional Chinese medicine are in the Huang Di Nei Jing Su Wen, Nei Jing for short, dating back approximately two millennia although the exact time of writing or author is unknown. Huang Di, or the Yellow Emperor is himself debated by historians as to whether he really existed or not. But this was where I took the explanations for breathing disorders, including asthma from.
(3) A beautiful silkworm embryo: another saying to describe that someone had the makings of beauty inherent in their features, physique, or bone structure.
(4) Bamboo horse and green plum: Metaphors to describe childhood friends, the former applying to boys and the latter to girls. When put together, there is normally a sweet, romantic implication of childhood sweethearts.
A/N: Thank you very much for reading, the gifts, comments, power stones and the golden tickets! <3 Liu Suzhi's backstory will span 2 parts because the dynamics between the late Emperor Wenchun AKA Liu Zhuo, Great General Pan, and him are pretty relevant to the plot, so please bear with me (and the very long glossary again today lol)!
Does anyone think that young Liu Suzhi is very different from older him? (': some lessons had to be learnt the hard way ><