Scheming Emperor X Hunting Eunuch - Chapter 7.1

Anjing City had three gates on each of its four sides. The three gates on the south side, from left to right, were Anhua Gate, Mingde Gate, and Qixia Gate. The other two gates each had three openings—two small and one large—while Mingde Gate, positioned on the central axis of the entire Anjing City, was five zhang wide, about seven zhang high, with a gate foundation nearly twenty zhang deep. Above the city gate stood a towering and magnificent gatehouse, with corner towers on both left and right sides.

At the end of the Shen hour, under the dim sky, torches had already been lit along the parapets between the gatehouses. (TL: 3:00-5:00 pm)

A dilapidated carriage swayed and bumped as it passed through the deep gate foundation. Inside the carriage, Pei Yanci gazed at all this, unable to help feeling deeply moved.

Once upon a time, the Great Tao Dynasty had been even more glorious and prosperous than this, but in his father emperor’s hands, the once impregnable royal city had been occupied by foreign rebel armies. Those city walls that had witnessed the Great Tao’s golden age were subsequently torn down and destroyed, and the great fire that stretched for hundreds of li within the city burned for nearly half a month.

Once you have witnessed former greatness, you can never again tolerate its decline.

Wuli’s round head popped out from the side, his small beady eyes spinning restlessly with anxiety.

“Is this carriage really going to the Dugong’s mansion?”

(TL: 督 – dū (first tone) → to supervise / to command

公 – gōng (first tone) → lord / honorable title)

“Possibly.” Pei Yanci stopped looking and made room, closing his eyes and sitting cross-legged on the other side.

“Won’t we be thrown straight into the Elu Bureau’s prison without even getting to see anyone, and subjected to severe torture?”

“That’s also possible.”

“How reckless,” Wuli said. “We just escaped from the wolf’s den, and now we’re heading into the tiger’s mouth. Why didn’t you discuss this with me before making such a hasty decision?”

“Who just called me big brother?” A hint of a smile leaked from the corner of Pei Yanci’s mouth.

Wuli squirmed a bit, pouting sulkily. “That ‘big brother’ was called too early.”

A mistake, truly a mistake.

“You two, we’ve arrived.” A guard outside lifted the curtain. “Get out.”

Pei Yanci opened his eyes, stood up, and jumped down from the carriage.

Wuli looked miserable, trembling as he clutched at the carriage shaft. “How about letting Yanci go in alone? I’ll just wait in the carriage.”

He suddenly realized that meeting the legendary Nine-Thousand-Years was even more terrifying than going straight to prison.

“What do you think?” the guard asked emotionlessly in return.

Wuli sniffled twice, his legs so weak when he touched the ground that he could barely stand, fortunately Pei Yanci was beside him to steady him.

The eunuch at the entrance quickly reported back and led the two into the mansion’s main hall.

Guards from the Elu Bureau stood on both sides of the hall, wearing half-face masks and carrying swords, creating an atmosphere of stern solemnity. Pei Yanci’s gaze swept around the surroundings, and he saw countless eunuchs and beautiful servants flowing in from all directions, their forms indistinct and unclear, accompanied by a strong exotic fragrance.

The rich scent composed of orchid, musk, and wood incense was fragrant and overwhelming, with hints of spice and smoky notes that neutralized the powdery scent and added several degrees of mysterious and indecipherable righteousness.

It seemed familiar—he had smelled it somewhere before.

Pei Yanci couldn’t remember.

Before he could recall, a curtain rose at the front of the hall. Behind the hazy golden gauze, he could vaguely see a horizontal couch placed there, with a tall, slender figure reclining on it, one hand supporting his head, the other holding a folding fan.

“Yanci, attendant of the Crown Prince’s mansion, pays respects to Nine-Thousand-Years.” Pei Yanci knelt on the ground and performed a grand bow.

Nine-Thousand-Years—add another thousand years, and that would be Ten-Thousand-Years.

The current emperor had worked diligently in his early years, creating today’s glorious golden age, but later gradually became obsessed with the path of immortality. In recent years, he had become extremely fond of treacherous officials, elevating Tang Xizhui to the first duke of different surname since the founding, Duke Fuguo, supervisor of the Elu Bureau, wielding the power of life and death over all officials—absolutely one person below the emperor, above ten thousand others.

People flattered him by respectfully calling him Nine-Thousand-Years.

Wuli was covered in cold sweat. Though a step slower, he also observed proper etiquette and knelt down after him. The sound of his knees hitting the golden bricks made one’s teeth ache.

“Yanci?” An ethereal voice came from behind the gauze curtain, seemingly recalling something, followed by a light laugh. “I was still waiting for you to leave the mansion a couple days ago. I didn’t expect you to walk into the trap yourself.”

Pei Yanci stole a glance at the absent-minded Wuli.

This person constantly called people “old eunuch,” and he had preconceived notions that the Elu Bureau supervisor was a man in his forties or fifties. But hearing this voice now, it was young, without the deep hoarseness of a grown man, but rather the clear brightness characteristic of youth, yet carrying a ghostly, sinister coldness.

If only it didn’t have the typical eunuch’s effeminate, strange tone.

“You say you have important intelligence about the Crown Prince to tell this lord?”

“Yes.”

“You are Gu Jiuqing’s man.”

“This humble one no longer serves the Crown Prince,” Pei Yanci said. “From today forward, this humble one and his companion serve only Thousand-Years.”

Wuli’s lips trembled, but he couldn’t utter a single word of denial.

Don’t mess around—you reminded me before that our indenture contracts are still with the Crown Prince. Have you forgotten about this?

“The Crown Prince is heartless and incompetent. Not only can he not protect this humble one, but he also seeks to harm us both. If this humble one wishes to survive, aside from serving daren faithfully, there is no other choice.” Pei Yanci spoke with conviction.

Two beautiful servants lifted the golden gauze curtains from left and right, revealing a horizontal couch inlaid with mother-of-pearl, ivory, and precious sandalwood. A brilliant red robe cascaded from the couch to the floor, its hem embroidered with striking golden chi-dragon patterns.

The ornate robe had golden embroidered borders at the collar and cuffs, revealing a corner of dark red undergarment. Above the slender neck, a half-face mask of gold-inlaid red gemstones covered the face. Pei Yanci could only see the sharp jawline and lips as red and thick as congealed blood.

Tang Xizhui’s black hair was half-bound, with the other half cascading over his back, arms, and chest, gleaming like silk in the flickering candlelight around him.

In front of the long couch, a eunuch in indigo knelt respectfully on the ground, his back arched perfectly straight, with a pair of bare feet crossed and resting on top.

Beneath all this accumulated opulent wealth, those snow-white neck, toes, and the hand waving the openwork ivory fan became the few remaining pure colors.

“Tell me about your intelligence.” The hand with the fan obviously slowed down.

“The Crown Prince, under the guise of buying and selling servants, has been extensively placing advisors and supporters throughout the mansion, and keeping assassins.”

The fan fluttering up and down stopped at his chest.

“Do you have evidence?”

“Not at the moment,” Pei Yanci answered honestly.

“Slandering the heir apparent is a crime punishable by extermination of nine generations.”

“This humble one can obtain evidence for Dugong,” Pei Yanci said. “I only ask that Thousand-Years protect the lives of us two.”

“The Crown Prince wants to kill you?”

“Yes. When Thousand-Years Daren wanted to capture this humble one, the Crown Prince was one step faster. Last night, the Crown Prince’s men drugged us both unconscious and secretly transported us outside the city, throwing this humble one into the river, attempting to drown us.”

The person on the couch beckoned to a guard beside him with his fan. The guard bowed and turned to leave.

“The people sent to kill and dispose of the bodies were nominally guards of the Crown Prince’s mansion,” Pei Yanci said, regardless of how they would verify the truth. He lowered his eyebrows and continued, “Last night, from their conversation, this humble one learned that those men were originally skilled individuals from the martial world.”

Throughout history, there have been many cases of martial artists being recruited by court politicians as death warriors and assassins. Among those who succeeded in their assassinations, some left vivid accounts in the history books.

They truly had skills, definitely not ordinary guards or servants.

“From where do you deduce that the Crown Prince mansion’s stewards are actually advisors?”

“Some of the stewards in the mansion—among them, some quote classics extensively, speak extraordinarily well, have broad knowledge and unique insights. They are definitely not people from poor families who need to sell themselves to make a living.”

Pei Yanci kept his gaze lowered when he suddenly caught a whiff of strong exotic fragrance. In the next moment, those snow-white bare feet entered his view.