Scheming Emperor X Hunting Eunuch - Chapter 5.1

Yue Ting waited a while longer, then reluctantly dragged away the unwilling Wu Shu by the back of his neck.

Pei Yanci lay back on the bed, pondering over what Yue Ting had said to him, finding it rather amusing.

He had never thought about living another kind of life.

In the past, he had no choice because of his status.

Now, he could live comfortably in the Crown Prince’s Mansion, but that was because of the Crown Prince’s benevolence, because of the Crown Prince’s charity, not because of his own active choice, not because of his status and abilities. This comfort could be taken away by others at any time.

He was not the servant Yanci, but Pei Yanci.

He saw clearly.

He had never had a choice, and he disdained other choices.

“Bang!”

His thoughts were suddenly pulled back to reality by the door being kicked open.

Wuli gasped heavily, his face flushed red, and despite the early spring weather, half his back was soaked with sweat.

“Did you go look for Fei Yuan’s corpse?” Pei Yanci smelled the stench of death.

“Yes.” Wuli walked straight to the table and gulped down a large bowl of water. “Damn it, those castrated dogs deserve to be childless and die horrible deaths. They didn’t even leave Fei Yuan a whole corpse.”

“Could they have dismembered Fei Yuan’s body?” Pei Yanci lazily yawned.

After lying down for a day, his bones felt soft.

“What else?” Wuli wiped the water from the corner of his mouth. “I searched the mass grave all day and couldn’t find him. Fei Yuan must have been stripped of his tendons and bones by them. I heard that old eunuch from Elu Bureau likes to sit on chairs made of human bones, his fan is made of human skin, and the dishes for serving fruits and food are a set of human skulls. Fei Yuan must have been dismembered.”

“…You should listen to such rumors less.” Pei Yanci yawned lazily. No matter how arrogant and domineering Elu Bureau was, that Nine-Thousand-Years wouldn’t be so heretical.

“Have you checked the mortuary?” he asked.

Wuli’s sorrowful voice immediately died down.

Seeing his round head full of confusion, Pei Yanci knew he hadn’t been there, and said, “The mortuary here, besides those for family clans, also has government-run ones. Yesterday Elu Bureau only arrested people and certainly wouldn’t do the cleanup work. Fei Yuan looked like someone who worked in a wealthy household, so they wouldn’t throw him directly into a mass grave. The tavern people probably sent him to the mortuary, so they could earn some money for transporting corpses.”

Although the mortuaries of Great Yu carried the word “charity,” they still needed to make money, and they especially liked corpses of wealthy people who died away from home. Later, when people came to claim the bodies, they could make a small profit from storage fees.

Wuli immediately slapped his forehead, suddenly understanding. “How didn’t I think of that? You usually look like a fool, but sometimes your brain is quite sharp. No wonder Steward Zhao wanted you to be a steward.”

“If you just talked less, you could also be a steward.” Pei Yanci shook his head.

“Who cares about being a steward? Working under those castrated dogs, no one ends up well.” Wuli’s fat body nimbly slipped into the gap between the table and bench to sit down. “Just like yesterday, Fei Yuan died, you were chased and hit your head, and those scholars were truly pitiful. Not only did they fail the spring examination, but they went to the tavern to vent their resentment and said a few drunken words, yet they were still killed or imprisoned by those castrated dogs.”

Pei Yanci’s lips twitched. A few drunken words?

Since ancient times, scholars have had backbone, but they also lack judgment. Knowing the court situation yet having no protection, speaking recklessly only invites disaster.

“The key is that young general,” Wuli sighed. “He had just won a battle and returned to the capital in triumph. He went to the tavern to drink and said a few words for those scholars, but was arrested by Elu Bureau’s people. I heard it caused quite a stir, and they pinned a crime on him, something about colluding with court officials.”

He scratched his head, unable to explain clearly for a moment.

“If that young general heard you say that, he’d definitely spit blood all over you.” Pei Yanci figured it was probably the crime of forming factions for personal gain.

Wuli sighed. “Those scholars, weak and effeminate, their mouths just know how to cause trouble for themselves.

“The day before yesterday, the examination results were just posted. A scholar found his name wasn’t on the list, so he had people copy dozens of his answers. Yesterday at Xiangqing Tavern, he widely circulated and read them aloud. Everyone who read them was impressed by his literary talent and viewpoints, saying he deserved to be the top scholar.

“So someone analyzed that his policy essay must have been suppressed by the examiners because it painfully pointed out how that old eunuch from Elu Bureau monopolizes state affairs and acts lawlessly. Getting excited, they started shouting loudly, listing no fewer than a hundred crimes of that old eunuch.

“If you ask me, these people are just book-stupid. Who in court today dares to offend Elu Bureau? These stubborn mules, now look – no matter how well they write, they get no official position and have to eat prison food for life.”

“That young general, who was he forming factions with?”

“Who do you mean?” Wuli had just been immersed in his own eloquent speech. When Pei Yanci suddenly asked, he got stuck, then suddenly realized, “You mean that young general Jiang Yi? He’s quite capable. I heard from storytellers that he fought seven battles against Great Xi and won all seven, almost reaching the royal city, forcing Great Xi to negotiate peace. Even the matter of the Second Princess escaping from the marriage alliance wasn’t pursued. What a pity that with such a good situation, those inhuman bastards from Elu Bureau didn’t take the opportunity to reclaim the seventeen occupied cities, but instead compensated Great Xi with considerable silver and warhorses. How frustrating! That old eunuch must be a spy sent by Great Xi! A traitor!”

“I mean, who was he forming factions with?” When Pei Yanci asked this question again, the answer in his heart became clear with the change in his expression.

Regarding yesterday’s disturbance at Xiangqing Tavern, he previously knew that Elu Bureau arrested scholars, but since ancient times, civil officials and military generals don’t communicate, and how could a military general at the height of his career get involved with scholars who were still commoners? It couldn’t possibly be called forming factions.

Besides them, there was another party present yesterday – the Crown Prince.

“Did they mention the Crown Prince’s name?” Pei Yanci frowned and asked.

Wuli thought for a moment, “It seems they did. How do you know?”

Indeed, the Crown Prince secretly associating with court military generals – under the current emperor’s extreme wariness of the Crown Prince’s power, this was a great crime that could touch the dragon’s reverse scale with just a hint of suspicion.

Elu Bureau must have discovered Fei Yuan’s corpse and wanted to use the opportunity to frame the Crown Prince.

But the weight of one dead man was far from enough.

What about him?

He appeared at Xiangqing Tavern, and court officials also appeared at Xiangqing Tavern. Could they be considered a secret meeting? Would Elu Bureau’s people fabricate evidence and say he carried the Crown Prince’s oral decree to secretly meet with Jiang Yi, taking the opportunity to win him over?

The Crown Prince’s character – to put it nicely, he was a benevolent and generous person; to put it harshly, he was weak.

His weakness didn’t matter since he was still imperial family, but as a mere servant, who would care about his life or death?

“When you go out tomorrow, bring more people with you.” Pei Yanci suggested.

“Why?” Wuli asked strangely.

“To help you carry the corpse and dig graves for burial – all need manpower.”

“That makes sense.” Wuli nodded in agreement, grabbed his clothes and went outside to wash up.

****

The next day, Pei Yanci had Wu Shu accompany Wuli to help, while he himself slept in bed for the entire day. A healthy body was indeed good – after applying medicine for two days and drinking nourishing stew, he had recovered quite well.

Before dinner, Wu Shu returned first and told him about the rumors outside, talking about the scholars who caused trouble one moment, then about the arrested general the next, but didn’t mention anything Pei Yanci wanted to hear for half the day.

“When you went out, did you notice anyone stealthily watching you?”

Upon hearing this, Wu Shu immediately nodded, “Those people didn’t look like good people.”

As they were talking, Steward Zhao’s voice came from outside, and before anyone could invite him, he entered on his own.

“Yanci, is your injury better?”

“It takes a hundred days to heal from bone and muscle injuries, it won’t be that fast.” Pei Yanci said.

“It’s like this,” Steward Zhao chose his words carefully, “Recently with the continuous rain, my joints have started aching again. Since your head is still injured, next time you get medicine, please get a few doses for me too.” He handed over a prescription.

Before Pei Yanci could respond, Wu Shu snatched the prescription, “Brother Yanci is still injured, and I’m the one who helps get and brew his medicine. Uncle Zhao, let me get yours tomorrow.”

Steward Zhao chuckled, “That works too. Get it for me in a couple days.”

“You should still go tomorrow. Steward Zhao’s matters can’t be delayed.” Pei Yanci said.

After Steward Zhao gave the money for medicine and asked many concerned questions, he still wouldn’t leave despite having nothing left to say.

Yue Ting came to the door and said the Crown Prince agreed to see Pei Yanci.

After bathing and grooming, Pei Yanci followed him out.

The Crown Prince’s Mansion had strict hierarchy, with hundreds if not thousands of servants and attendants, each with their duties. Opportunities to see the Crown Prince were extremely rare.

“What do you want to see His Highness about?” Yue Ting asked curiously, coming up with an unreliable idea, “Are you going to assassinate him?”

“If I wanted to assassinate him, you’d be an accomplice.” Pei Yanci went along with his words.

“Helping you would really be a loss, I’ll put it on the account later.” He said, “I’m a storehouse steward, I can’t afford losses.”

“Fine.”

The winding corridors curved back and forth, sometimes with ancient towering trees, sometimes with flowing springs. The cold of early spring hadn’t dissipated with the spring rains but had become bone-piercing dampness that penetrated everywhere.

Yue Ting brought him to a courtyard with black tiles and white walls. The garden was full of peach branches covered with thin spring snow that hadn’t yet bloomed. Under the clear, almost transparent snow were frozen red-pink peach blossoms and tender green buds, pitifully trembling on the branches.

“His Highness has a cold temperament. Don’t be frightened by him later – he’s like this with everyone.”

After giving this warning, thinking that this person’s bearing was unusual and there was no need for such words, he pushed open the wooden door covered with white gauze and bowed to the inside, “Your Highness, this subordinate has brought Yanci.”

The room’s furnishings were quite simple for someone of the Crown Prince’s status.