Scheming Emperor X Hunting Eunuch - Chapter 2.2

He bent down to pick up the clothes on the ground that bore wet shoe prints, but was pulled back by Pei Yanci, who made him retreat two steps.

“What are you doing?” Wu Shu broke free from his grasp and said, “Today you’re being good-tempered, letting them throw around your things. Tomorrow they’ll be able to lord it over you.”

“Hey, Wu Shu, what are you doing here stirring up trouble? I was kindly helping Yanci pack his luggage. How did it become ‘throwing around’ in your mouth?” the servant said.

“Brother Wu Luo, tell me, who made Brother Yanci’s things like this?” Wu Shu looked toward the person struggling to support himself against the doorframe.

Having gone out and been blown by the wind yesterday, Wu Luo looked even worse today, hunched over as if he might expire at any moment. The servant sharing his room hurried to half-support him.

“Be careful.”

His frail appearance, full of dependence, was quite pleasing to others.

“You’re still ill, go back and rest quickly. I’ll help you ask the steward for leave later and brew some cold-dispelling medicine for you when I return.”

“Brother Wu Luo, before you go back to your room, please clarify things. We can’t let Brother Yanci suffer injustice.” Wu Shu questioned again. Seeing how intimately close the two had become overnight, he felt something was odd—not like the relationship between friends or brothers, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was.

Wu Luo leaned against the other person, using his illness as an excuse, and lowered his gaze dimly. “Say less. We’re all servants in the mansion. Why fight over such things? Yanci will soon be promoted to steward. These broken trinkets hardly match his status. It’s just as well—now that they’re gone, he can buy new ones.”

After Pei Yanci suddenly left last night and then heard he had switched rooms with someone, Wu Luo didn’t know the reason, but vaguely sensed this person wanted to cut ties with him. Being tactful, he immediately turned his smiling face toward his new roommate.

But since everyone had witnessed his previous friendship with Yanci, he didn’t want others to notice their falling out, so he decided to muddle through the situation.

“Right, just buy new ones. When he becomes steward, how many people will rush to curry favor with him? How could I do such a thing? If he gives me trouble later, wouldn’t I be asking for trouble?” The servant looked innocent, his eyes glancing toward Pei Yanci.

If it were according to Yanci’s former temperament, this person would smile good-naturedly, then bashfully wave his hand and say, “We’re all brothers, what trouble? There’s no such thing.” And thus, the matter would end.

With a steward allowing him to act domineeringly and be swayed by his few words, he would naturally gain great face among the servants.

But now this matter had been stirred up by Wu Shu’s sharp tongue, and his relationship with Yanci risked breaking down.

This was a result he absolutely didn’t want to see. He only wanted to manipulate the man, not make an enemy of someone about to become steward.

So, seeing that Pei Yanci unexpectedly didn’t respond as expected, he had no choice but to lower his head and soften his tone. “Yanci, don’t you know my temperament? I might have bungled this matter, but my intentions were good.”

“You deliberately caused trouble,” Wu Shu said indignantly.

“Wu Shu, don’t make trouble out of nothing here and put Yanci in a difficult position,” Wu Luo said with a helpless expression.

Pei Yanci, who had been silent on the side, suddenly spoke, “When you helped me pack my room last night, did you see the silver money I had hidden?”

“Silver… silver money?” The servant’s face stiffened.

Because he suddenly realized he hadn’t seen any silver at all, or rather, anything valuable.

How could this be possible? Everyone had been working in the mansion for several years—how could they not have saved up some possessions for future marriages?

But who would believe he hadn’t taken anything?

Pei Yanci wouldn’t have been able to predict future events and take the valuable things away in advance.

Pei Yanci looked at him strangely. “When you were helping me pack, you didn’t see even a single copper coin?”

Not only him, but the servants watching the excitement around them also looked at him.

The servant hurriedly said, “I really didn’t take anything. When I was helping you pack, Wu Luo was right there watching.”

Wu Luo was nudged by him and barely managed to gather his spirits. “I didn’t see any silver money either. Yanci, you usually spend money carelessly—I’ve told you about this several times.”

“Spent on whom, used to buy what medicine—don’t you know?” Pei Yanci looked at him.

Wu Luo’s heart panicked, and he immediately began coughing violently, but still had to speak, fearing that if cornered, the other would spill everything about him.

“There was cough cough cough originally some. Look how I’m cough cough cough misremembering. I’m keeping it for you cough cough cough cough.” He went back to his room and brought out his own two strings of cash, along with the wound medicine from last night, hoping Yanci would remember their old friendship.

But today’s Pei Yanci was unusually cold.

He weighed the two strings of cash, and just when Wu Luo’s heart was about to collapse under pressure, he finally spoke, “There’s still more. It must have been collected by someone else.”

He looked toward the servant in front of the room.

“Excluding the small change, there should be five taels of silver.”

“You!” The servant was about to curse angrily, but with this kind of matter, who could explain it clearly? Since you touched someone’s bedding, how much property there was originally was now up to Pei Yanci to claim at will.

“You haven’t embezzled Yanci’s silver, have you?” someone watching the excitement called out.

“That’s not very honest. Hurry up and return it to him, so we can all get along in the future.”

“Yes, that’s someone’s entire fortune. Don’t covet a brother’s belongings.”

Wu Luo also advised, “Just return what you took to him.”

“You!” The servant couldn’t believe this person would backstab him. “Whether I took anything or not, don’t you know!”

Wu Luo avoided his gaze. “You personally handled moving his things. How would I know?”

“Fine, so this is how you want to play.” A flash of resentment crossed the servant’s eyes.

He returned to his room, and after a long while came out, giving Pei Yanci five taels of silver cobbled together from odds and ends, plus an extra half-string of cash. He squeezed out a smile through gritted teeth. “We’re good brothers, after all. Don’t be formal. This extra amount—consider it a congratulatory gift from your brother for your upcoming promotion. Don’t forget your brothers in the future; come drink with us often.”

Since Pei Yanci was to be promoted to steward, he could only achieve his sense of superiority through petty tricks like secretly throwing away his things, but he couldn’t possibly offend him openly. Seeing that he might really anger him, he had to smile obsequiously instead. But regarding Wu Luo—originally an ally who suddenly turned traitor—this loss of silver money and face could only be blamed on him.

“Count it carefully. If they’ve shortchanged you, it’ll be hard to sort out later,” Wu Shu whispered as a reminder.

“They didn’t take my silver,” Pei Yanci whispered back.

Didn’t take it?

Wu Shu stared blankly as Pei Yanci collected the silver and acted brotherly with that person, as if they had just gotten along wonderfully and hadn’t schemed against each other moments before.

He had many questions in his heart but knew it wasn’t convenient to ask now.

He looked past the people ahead and saw a middle-aged man approaching.

“Steward Zhao.” Wu Shu’s voice was clear and resonant. At his call, the faces of the other two people in front of the room immediately froze.

Chief Steward Zhang oversaw all affairs in the Crown Prince’s mansion. Under him were four head stewards responsible for purchasing, front courtyard, back courtyard, and estate business, with various minor stewards below them.

Steward Zhao was the head steward of the front courtyard.

While they were in a daze, Pei Yanci had already stepped forward gracefully to greet him.

From several steps away, Wu Shu couldn’t hear what he said. The two conversed briefly, and before leaving, Steward Zhao called out to Wu Luo and the other servant.

“You two clean up the courtyard properly. If I see anything amiss when I come this afternoon, neither of you will continue working in the mansion. Also, Wu Luo, you’ve been ill for a month now. Are you better or not?”

Wu Luo’s face turned even paler, and the servant beside him hurriedly smiled ingratiatingly. “Steward Zhao, I can help Wu Luo with his work. He’ll be completely recovered in two more days.”

As he spoke, he secretly gave Wu Luo a threatening look.

He wasn’t like that honest fool Yanci—if he wanted help with work, it would cost real silver.

“If your illness isn’t cured in two days, Chief Steward Zhang will have to sell you to human traffickers. It’s not that the chief steward lacks sympathy—the mansion doesn’t support idle people.”

Wu Luo was being supported by another, but his resentful gaze was directed at Pei Yanci. The latter, however, didn’t look at him, only exchanged a few words with Wu Shu before following Steward Zhao away.

Wu Shu stood proudly at the door, tossing in the air the one tael of silver that Pei Yanci had given him before leaving, like a young rooster just starting out. “You’d better clean up the courtyard quickly.”

The people at the door ground their teeth secretly and viciously kicked the soaked cotton quilt.

When Pei Yanci heard Steward Zhao mention the duration of Wu Luo’s illness, he was about to ask when he heard Steward Zhao laugh. “How rare! Before, you always did two people’s work alone. Today you’re actually not helping Wu Luo.”

Even his usually calm expression couldn’t quite hold.

Just how much of a pushover had the original been?

“Did you two have a falling out?”

“More or less,” Pei Yanci said casually. “He doesn’t need me to dote on him.”

Steward Zhao snorted. “When has he ever cherished you? He’s always used you like a beast of burden. A lowest-ranking servant acting like a master.”

Seeing that the other didn’t get annoyed as before when he criticized Wu Luo, he smiled. “After not seeing you for a few days, you’ve become much more mature.”

“It’s all thanks to Steward Zhao’s guidance,” Pei Yanci put a flattering hat on him.

“Come on.” Steward Zhao, who often heard such flattery, didn’t mind but was still pleased.

After laughing, he said, “I’ll try to have the human traffickers sell you to a good family later.”