Scheming Emperor X Hunting Eunuch - Chapter 1.2

The timbre of this body was not much different from his previous life. He was quite satisfied—when speaking urgently, it was crisp and sharp with hidden killing intent, and when he slowed his speech, it carried a somewhat bewitching quality. “Yet you’re still here playing out this charade of crocodile tears, looking for a scapegoat to take the blame for you. How can you face him?”

Wuli’s hand at his side clenched and loosened, his breathing growing heavy.

He knew that Fei Yuan had followed them out of the mansion today, wanting to find fault with Yanci, but he hadn’t stopped him, ultimately leading to his good friend’s tragic death.

Guilt, helplessness, regret.

Pei Yanci knew what he was thinking at this moment, but that wasn’t important. What mattered was that his current expression, in the eyes of others, looked like someone whose guilty secrets had been exposed.

His phoenix eyes were deep and bright, now slightly narrowed like a crescent moon, with pupils clear as lacquer, sharp but restrained.

This was enough.

He glanced at the child who had been restless all along. The latter hastily stepped forward to smooth things over. “It’s also possible that Brother Fei Yuan just happened to run into Brother Yanci at the tavern, nothing more. Now isn’t the time to discuss this.”

By ending the topic at the appropriate moment, no matter how Wuli explained afterward, it would all seem like excuses.

“Steward Zhang is still waiting for our response,” the child said worriedly.

This obviously touched on what the others were more concerned about, and they couldn’t help but look toward Wuli again.

“Shouldn’t we return to the mansion?”

“Yes, they’re still arresting people here. If we stay much longer, we’ll get caught up in it too.”

“I heard people from the Elu Bureau are coming!”

“You go first,” Wuli suddenly said, looking at the child. “Wu Shu, you return to the mansion first to report to Steward Zhang. I’ll come back later.”

“Will His Highness seek justice for Brother Fei Yuan?” asked the child called Wu Shu.

“What are you thinking? We’re just servants, worthless lives. Someone like Fei Yuan—when he dies, they’d throw him in a mass grave and no one would dare collect his body,” someone nearby answered.

Wu Shu’s expression immediately became disappointed and dejected.

“We’ll just tell Steward Zhang everything as it happened. The rest is for our master to worry about,” another person replied, his worried gaze constantly glancing toward Wuli.

Wuli looked utterly grief-stricken and sighed. “Fei Yuan has caused great trouble for His Highness.”

“We won’t be implicated, will we?” someone asked nervously.

“What does this have to do with us? If anything, it would be Wuli…” another person said halfway before not daring to continue, only shooting reproachful glances at Wuli.

Clearly, they were all beginning to accept Pei Yanci’s version of events to some degree.

“Aren’t you coming with us?” Several people were already preparing to head back, and seeing Wuli not moving, Wu Shu asked.

“You go first. I’ll see if I can steal Fei Yuan’s body out.”

Everyone was shocked.

One of the three who had gone to investigate the Xiangqing tavern said, “The Xiangqing tavern is now completely surrounded inside and out. Not even a fly could get in. Going there would be suicide.”

“I know,” Wuli said. “Fei Yuan is my good brother. I can’t just watch as those castrated dogs defile his corpse. Also—”

He glanced at Wu Shu, who was much shorter than him, as if explaining to him, “If an attendant from the Crown Prince’s mansion is killed in broad daylight and His Highness does nothing about it, others will surely say His Highness is weak and easily bullied. But if he seeks an explanation from the Elu Bureau, His Highness will surely suffer. Whether he seeks justice or not, His Highness will be in a difficult position. Moreover, even if His Highness doesn’t cause them trouble, if those castrated dogs learn that Fei Yuan was from the Crown Prince’s mansion, they’ll also take the opportunity to smear His Highness’s name. If we can steal Fei Yuan’s body out, perhaps we can spare His Highness this trouble.”

Pei Yanci glanced at him and praised, “Loyal and devoted, valuing friendship and righteousness.”

“We are His Highness’s people, so naturally we must wholeheartedly consider His Highness,” Wuli said firmly, then gave Pei Yanci a meaningful warning look. “Anyone with divided loyalties will come to no good end.”

Pei Yanci smiled it off.

Never mind divided loyalties—he had no heart at all.

****

After Wuli repeatedly assured them he would act within his capabilities, they couldn’t say much more and left him alone while the group returned to the mansion first.

Pei Yanci naturally went back with them, secretly observing the streets and markets along the way. The customs of the Great Yu Dynasty were not much different from the Great Tao of his previous life, which put him much at ease.

If he exposed himself and his soul borrowing was discovered, he would very likely be treated as a demon.

He touched the back of his head, considering whether he should take the opportunity to claim amnesia.

The Xiangqing tavern was near the Eastern Market. They walked through the Anxing and Xingning districts, then through several alleys before reaching the exterior of a compound with black tiles and white walls. Above five or six steps was a small gate wide enough for two people side by side.

Wu Shu knocked briskly several times. The gate opened quickly, and Pei Yanci followed them inside, when suddenly someone behind him bumped his shoulder. His body, already dizzy from blood loss, swayed and nearly fell to the ground.

“Oh my, Yanci, are you alright? I was walking quickly and accidentally bumped into you.”

The servant hurried forward to support him. Pei Yanci waved his hand, about to speak, when the other person spoke again.

“With Fei Yuan dead, the position of tea house manager is surely yours. You’ll be a manager in the future—don’t hold it against someone like me.”

He observed Pei Yanci’s expression, his nostrils contracting and expanding, and the small tumor the size of a fingernail beside his nose also moved as if about to emit a cold snort.

For an instant, a trace of barely perceptible contempt appeared on his face, quickly covered by enthusiastic flattery.

“You’ll have to look after us brothers in the future,” he said with a bow and a smile, but a chill rose in his heart.

This person, who had always been honest and simple, slowly withdrew all expression before his eyes, his deep gaze unfathomable. His heart now hung suspended in mid-air, at the mercy of the person opposite him.

In a trance, he thought he was facing the incomparably noble Crown Prince himself.

The servant’s flattering smile gradually froze on his face.

Pei Yanci rubbed his aching shoulder and spoke unhurriedly, “Who will ultimately become the tea house manager is still uncertain. It’s too early to say such things now.”

He half-jokingly said, “If you were the manager, would you like it if your subordinates were already making decisions for you before you’d made up your mind, letting others ride over your head?”

The servant’s face turned awkward.

“Or are you saying this on purpose to make me lose the position?”

“How could I possibly think that? If you prosper, we all benefit,” the servant hastily waved his hands, laughed awkwardly twice, realized he was making more mistakes the more he spoke, and quickly hurried ahead to catch up with the others.

Pei Yanci didn’t say much more.

The King of Hell is easy to deal with; it’s the little demons that are troublesome.

Testing his patience on one hand while smiling and telling him not to take it to heart on the other.

If he truly became a manager in the future, this type of person would call him brother to his face, enjoying the benefits and protection his position brought, while looking down on him in their heart.

****

They arrived at a row of reverse-facing houses, and several people said their farewells before entering their respective rooms.

As Pei Yanci hesitated in his steps, a young man in his early twenties emerged from one of the rooms.

His face was pale as gold leaf, also wearing servant’s clothing. Seeing his blood-covered appearance, he excitedly stumbled forward and grasped his hand.

“Yanci, what happened to you!”

“He was shoved by people from the Elu Bureau and hit his head,” Wu Shu said.

There wasn’t much fresh blood; most of it was congealed blood, and his entire head ached with a throbbing pain.

Tears immediately welled up in the young man’s eyes. “How did you end up encountering people from the Elu Bureau?”

“You should ask him—why did he leave the mansion for no reason? He’s sure to be scolded by the chief steward when he returns,” a nearby servant gossiped.

Wu Luo guiltily avoided that servant’s gaze and secretly gave Pei Yanci a meaningful look, signaling him not to say too much.

“Wu Luo, you’re still suffering from a cold. Go back to your room first,” the servant who had just been calling him brother came over with concern. “Yanci just has a minor injury, nothing serious.”

A cold?

Pei Yanci, having become a doctor through long illness, could tell at a glance this wasn’t an ordinary cold.

Seeing the young man’s guilty and helpless tears, he had already guessed seven or eight parts of the reason for his outing today.

Seeing that servant approach, with several other servants also coming to comfort him, telling him to return to his room first, it seemed his popularity was quite good.

Much better than his predecessor’s.

But Wu Luo pushed away that servant and nestled against Pei Yanci like a frightened sparrow, saying with heartfelt concern, “Brother Yanci, let’s go back to the room. I’ll bandage you up.”

The servant’s gaze toward Pei Yanci immediately took on a different meaning.

Pei Yanci looked down at Wu Luo, who lowered his head with reddened eyes still brimming with tears.

Wu Luo half-leaned against him as they entered the room. After shutting those jealous eyes outside the door, he looked at him with slight anxiety. “The medicine—did you bring it back?”

“No.”

Hearing this, Wu Luo’s eyes seemed about to burst from their sockets, his teeth baring between his thin lips, but some words couldn’t be spoken and were ultimately forced back down, instantly covered by a fragile smile. “It’s fine. As long as you returned safely, I’m already very happy.”

“Not exactly safe either.” The original body had been beaten to death, after all.

“Oh right, your injury!” Wu Luo then remembered the wound on the back of his head and struggled with his sick body to take out a small medicine bottle from his trunk. “This is wound medicine I secretly saved up before. It cost me a full two taels of silver. Use it.”

Pei Yanci casually looked it over but didn’t take it.

Wu Luo thought he was reluctant to use it and smiled weakly. “It’s fine. You can use it all up—I don’t mind. My body is clearly failing, and I don’t know if I can survive this spring rain. Originally, I was hoping that when you snuck out of the mansion this time, you could bring back a dose or two of medicine, but I didn’t expect…”

Seeing his words about to turn into complaints, he stopped himself in time and offered the medicine bottle again.

“I can at least hold on for a while. If I make it to summer when the weather warms up, this cold might get better on its own. What’s urgent now is your injury.”

“Sneaking out to buy medicine isn’t a long-term solution. Why don’t we invite a doctor from outside? Steward Zhang wouldn’t be so unreasonable. If you’re too embarrassed to ask, I’ll help you plead.”

Wu Luo hastily said, “No need, no need. How could I trouble them? I already feel bad enough just troubling you alone.”

He deliberately emphasized the medicine’s value—two taels of silver was enough for a rural family of three to live for nearly a year, and for a Crown Prince’s mansion servant earning three qian of silver per month, it was quite valuable. He readily offered it, wanting Pei Yanci to owe him this favor, then play up his misery. How could someone who was usually honest and soft-hearted bear it? With his usual temperament, he would surely agree immediately and wish he could go out again right away.

He reached out to grab Pei Yanci’s sleeve, wanting to press the medicine into his hands, but was avoided.

“Since you feel bad about it, I shouldn’t make things difficult for you.”

Pei Yanci turned around and searched through the original body’s valuable possessions, then headed toward the door.

“Yanci, it’s almost the second watch—where are you going?” Wu Luo anxiously chased to the doorway, then was hit by a gulp of cold wind carrying rain, collapsed on the ground coughing uncontrollably.

Pei Yanci took all his silver and copper coins and went to the kitchen in the dark, spending twenty wen to have the cook heat up more water. He scalded the silver and his clothes twice, then thoroughly washed his body before lying down on the bed fully clothed to rest.

****

Midnight.

Someone stealthily entered the room.

The knife tip flashed with a barely perceptible cold gleam.

In the darkness, Pei Yanci lay with his back to the door and opened his eyes.