Zhu Conglong

He's in charge of the Imperial Palace's cleanliness. He's the most influent eunuch of the palace and really close to the emperor. His real identity is that of the former Great General Zhu Conglong.

## Description

### **Appearance**

The Old Eunuch in front's complexion was as white as snow, and then the man was dressed in spotless white robes, so much so that even his socks were white, along with his hair, eyebrows and beard… There was no other color on his body!

### **Personnality**

Old Zhu had another rather strange habit: An extreme obsession with cleanliness.

Obsession with cleanliness isn't a problem in its own, and many people are cleanliness oriented. The habit of keeping their environment neat and clean isn't an issue when it comes to normal people, but the Eunuch, Old Zhu's obsession was way over the top. He would bathe twice each day, regardless of the season; even excess work load couldn't deter him from taking two baths a day. After each wash, he'd change his clothes right down to his undergarments.

Even if someone touched a tree on the road, Old Zhu would refrain from coming in direct contact with the man from the fear of catching an illness; even His Majesty couldn't help feeling a bit strange about Old Zhu's obsession with cleanliness. It is said that even when His Majesty offers Old Zhu a seat to sit on, the Eunuch first takes out his towel to wipe the chair, and only then does he sit on it; but only half way. He refrains from sitting on the chair properly to avoid heating his buttocks… these strange actions of Old Zhu were known to leave the Emperor stunned and wondering about the man's sanity…

As for his personal belonging, no one was allowed to touch them. Regardless of the value of an item, if someone touched his belongings, then the Eunuch would discard the object; obviously the person would have to pay back in some respect... regardless of which body part of the said person came in contact with his personal belonging, the said body part would be chopped off, even if the contact wasn't deliberate…

## Plotline

**Zhu Zhuzhu** is far more than a palace eunuch… he used to be a military general… he was a part of Empire's army, and was considered just below Dugu Zongheng and Jun Zhantian…

This is a secret which only a few people know apart from His Majesty, Tang Wan Li, Old Dugu and Old Jun… Many years ago, when the Emperor was only the crown price, he took his army into battle. The Jun army was flanking the right side of the enemy; the Dugu army was flanking the left, and the Prince was supposed to go head-on. At that time, the Tian Xiang Empire was still taking shape, and was only a very small Empire. The prince was ambushed, and we all arrived a little too late to rescue him. As a result, the prince was captured by the enemies along with two of his generals, Tang Wanli, and Zhu Conglong. The enemy wanted to rot the prince's body with vermin to stifle our military's motivation… But Zhu Conglong stood out as a hero and valiantly disguised himself as the prince, and was then detained by the enemy for conducting their tortures…

Obviously, we charged at the enemy at night to rescue our prince, and killed their attackers. Somehow, we were able to carry Zhu Conglong away from the danger at the last second. But by the time we rescued him, his body had already stopped resembling that of a human being. His upper and lower body had been eaten away by vermin, poisonous snakes, rats… his injuries had brought him on the doorstep of death... he had sustained at least a thousand wounds on his body; even his crotch had been torn to pieces… This general…

The war continued and we emerged victorious, but Zhu Conglong was left with no desire to live. He was so shaken that he couldn't even talk about his trauma… he simply lost all courage to live, and even refused all medical treatment; he wouldn't drink or eat, and it seemed that he would die soon. Tang Wanli was looking after him at the time, and Old Tang kept telling him, 'you saved my life; if you die, then I won't live in this world either.' Tang Wanli stopped eating in protest, but Zhu Conglong remained indifferent to his hunger strike for the initial three days, and his condition continued to worsen. Then, Tang Wanli took out a blade and started cutting himself in front of Zhu Conglong's eyes; he kept saying, 'I will kill myself in front of you before I watch you die'....

Soon, Tang Wanli had cut-off almost thirty pieces of flesh from his own body….. then, suddenly Zhu Conglong broke into tears, and started eating his food. But Tang Wanli fell down…. The condition of his injuries was far worse than the General's…..

At the end of the war, the prince ascended to the throne as the new Emperor. Tang Wanli was given the status of nobility, and Zhu Conglong volunteered to become a palace eunuch. He changed his name to Zhu Zhuzhu and dedicated his life for safeguarding the Emperor in secrecy. The general Zhu, who died in the battle protecting the prince, is still alive in the man named Zhu Zhuzhu!

## References

1. ↑ Chapter 152
2. ↑ Chapter 151
3. ↑ Chapter 154