In the 29th year of Taiping, the chief eunuch who had followed the Taiping Emperor for his entire life, Chen Desheng, was old and critically ill. According to the rules of the palace, if any palace maid or eunuch was found to be ill, they would be expelled from the palace.
Chen Desheng had taken the initiative to report his illness to the Son of Heaven and requested to leave the palace. Dugu Jie remembered that he had followed him around all his life, so he allowed him to leave the palace and arranged for him to stay in that private residence on Chang'an Street.
Chen Desheng didn't have an adopted son, and his family members were either dead or old. Dugu Jie chose three or four meticulous maidservants and eunuchs to take care of him and let him spend the last two months of his life in that house.
On a hot afternoon, Chen Desheng's condition worsened.
