After Being Reborn as the Chief Eunuch Chapter 29

Chapter 29

“Wang Ye!” Ji Qingzhou hurriedly stood up, his ears flushing red with embarrassment.

Li Zhan’s gaze swept over the youth’s reddened ears, and he responded with a faint, inscrutable tone.

“You don’t usually talk this much,” Li Zhan remarked.

“I… thought you were Young Master Qin,” Ji Qingzhou replied, lowering his head slightly, unwilling to meet Li Zhan’s eyes.

Ji Qingzhou wasn’t someone who liked to share his feelings openly with others. Even with Tu Dayou, he usually didn’t say such sentimental things. Today, however, the shock was too great; his emotional defenses weakened, and having spent the past couple of days with Qin Zheng, he felt that Qin Zheng might understand his feelings—so he couldn’t help but say a little more.

Who would have thought it wasn’t Qin Zheng who came, but Li Zhan instead?

At this moment, Ji Qingzhou wished he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into and never come out.

Li Zhan stared at the youth for a long moment before finally averting his gaze. He looked out at the young emperor riding horses with Qin Zheng in the riding grounds and asked calmly, “What do you intend to do?”

“I…” Ji Qingzhou frowned and hesitated before answering, “I don’t know.”

“You do know,” Li Zhan said, his tone neither harsh nor particularly serious, almost casual—but Ji Qingzhou heard a firm certainty in those few words, as if Li Zhan had seen right through him.

Ji Qingzhou had no choice but to admit, “I do know… but I can’t do it.”

“I told you from the start, this is difficult,” Li Zhan said.

Hearing that, Ji Qingzhou remembered that Li Zhan had indeed told him so before, but at the time, the youth had been full of resentment and just wanted to find the person responsible for Xiao Shan no matter what. It wasn’t until today, after meeting He Man, that Ji Qingzhou finally understood what Li Zhan meant by “difficult.”….

The difficulty wasn’t in finding that person—but in what to do once he was found.

Taking him to the Office of Judicial Review, asking him to die for Xiao Shan—that was Ji Qingzhou’s original plan.

But now, Ji Qingzhou vaguely felt that even if He Man died for Xiao Shan, Xiao Shan might not survive alone. In that case, Ji Qingzhou felt he hadn’t saved Xiao Shan at all; instead, he had caused one more person’s death… He didn’t understand why things had turned out this way.

Perhaps, as Qin Zheng had said, it was because he didn’t understand love and affection, so he had thought everything too simply…

“Come race horses with me,” Li Zhan suddenly said.

“Huh?” Ji Qingzhou was taken aback, thinking to himself that a stroll was one thing, but actually racing horses was a bit much.

Li Zhan didn’t wait for a refusal and continued, “If you win, I’ll reward you.”

“There’s no way I could beat Wang Ye,” Ji Qingzhou said.

Li Zhan made a gesture to Dong Dong, who immediately led over two horses. Li Zhan mounted one swiftly, then looked at Ji Qingzhou while holding the reins, saying, “It is difficult, but not impossible. Are you just going to give up without trying?”

Ji Qingzhou met Li Zhan’s gaze, took a deep breath, and accepted the reins from Dong Dong.

His hands felt weak; even mounting the horse was a struggle.

“Giddy up!” Li Zhan whipped his horse without waiting for Ji Qingzhou to prepare and dashed off, leaving a cloud of dust behind.

Ji Qingzhou dared not hesitate and urged his horse forward to catch up.

But Li Zhan’s horse was too fast. Before Ji Qingzhou could steady himself, Li Zhan had already run nearly half a lap. Ji Qingzhou wobbled as he held the reins tightly, struggling not to fall off, but his speed was nowhere near Li Zhan’s.

“Wow, Imperial Uncle’s horse is so fast! I want to ride with Imperial Uncle,” the young emperor shouted excitedly.

Qin Zheng sat behind him, controlling the reins, and said helplessly, “Be careful, Your Majesty. Don’t fall off.”

“Eh?” The young emperor glanced at Ji Qingzhou, then said, “Ji Gonggong rides even slower than you!”

Qin Zheng was speechless. He tugged the reins and said to the young emperor, “Your Majesty, hold on tight!”

In just that short time, Li Zhan had nearly finished a full lap. But just before the finish line, he suddenly pulled on the reins, turned his horse around, and sat on his horse calmly watching Ji Qingzhou from a distance.

Ji Qingzhou kept urging his horse forward but was clumsy; his speed was painfully slow.

As Ji Qingzhou finally approached the finish line slowly, Qin Zheng came up behind him with the young emperor in one arm and reins in the other.

The young emperor shouted excitedly, and in a flash, they overtook Ji Qingzhou and the stationary Li Zhan. At the same time, Ji Qingzhou’s horse got startled by Qin Zheng’s horse, instinctively dodged, and Ji Qingzhou, who was already unsteady, nearly fell off.

Ji Qingzhou’s build was slight, and falling headfirst from a tall horse was bound to cause serious injury.

But at the moment he was about to fall, Li Zhan dismounted swiftly and caught the youth in his arms. Using the momentum of landing, Li Zhan rolled on the ground with Ji Qingzhou in his arms, barely preventing any injury.

The youth was terrified and gasped for breath several times, his face nearly drained of color.

Li Zhan stared at the youth beneath him, listening to his uneasy breathing. His gaze suddenly froze, and a fleeting expression of confusion crossed his face. But before he could react, the youth raised his arm, climbed out from under Li Zhan, grabbed the reins, mounted his horse again, and, wobbling, crossed the finish line right in front of Li Zhan.

Li Zhan: …

“Wow, you won!” The young emperor bounced up, grabbed the dismounted Ji Qingzhou’s hand, and said, “Imperial Uncle lost!”

Behind them, Li Zhan silently brushed the dirt off his clothes, but his eyes couldn’t help but scrutinize the youth, as if deep in thought.

“Does that count as me winning?” Ji Qingzhou asked Li Zhan.

“Of course it counts,” Li Zhan said. “Why wouldn’t it?”

Ji Qingzhou clearly hadn’t expected that answer. For a moment, he felt both relieved and ashamed.

But since the Regent was willing to let him win, it would be a shame not to take it…

Ji Qingzhou led the two horses back and returned them. Only then did he realize Qin Zheng had quietly gone off to a corner of the riding ground, talking with someone. Looking more closely, Ji Qingzhou recognized the person standing before Qin Zheng—it was He Man.

He was too far away to see clearly, but He Man seemed somewhat lost and awkward.

Then suddenly, He Man knelt before Qin Zheng. Qin Zheng reached out to pull him up, but He Man didn’t rise; instead, he kept bowing his head repeatedly…

“Qin Zheng already told him,” Li Zhan said as he walked over to Ji Qingzhou.

“He’s begging Young Master Qin to let him see Xiao Shan one last time, right?” Ji Qingzhou asked.

Li Zhan neither confirmed nor denied, only said, “Since you’ve found him, you should at least give him a chance to make a choice.”

“If… they could meet again… maybe that would be a good thing,” Ji Qingzhou said softly. “At least Xiao Shan wouldn’t have to go alone, and He Man wouldn’t be left in the dark, waiting day after day.”

Li Zhan glanced at the youth, then said, “You don’t really think that way in your heart.”

The youth said nothing, so Li Zhan continued, “You’ve read the laws—you don’t want to accept this outcome.”

“I just think it’s unfair,” Ji Qingzhou replied. “I know the palace rules are what they are, but it still feels unfair.”

Li Zhan asked, “You want to plead for fairness on their behalf?”

“No, I can’t,” Ji Qingzhou said. “In this palace, the servants’ lives are like ants. Ants don’t have the right to ask for fairness. I know I’m ridiculous—ridiculous from the start.”

Li Zhan’s gaze settled on the youth’s profile again, and he said quietly, “Not quite that ridiculous.”

The youth blinked in surprise and turned to look at him, his eyes showing some doubt.

“Don’t get involved in this anymore,” Li Zhan said firmly.

“But I…” Ji Qingzhou began, but Li Zhan raised a hand and gently pressed a fingertip to his lips, saying in a low voice, “That’s enough.”

The man’s fingertip carried a faint chill as it touched Ji Qingzhou’s lips briefly and then withdrew. Before Ji Qingzhou could react, Li Zhan was already striding toward Qin Zheng, whispering something in his ear.

Soon after, several guards came to take He Man away. Before leaving, He Man looked back at Ji Qingzhou from a distance and bowed deeply to him.

Ji Qingzhou watched He Man’s retreating figure and felt utterly exhausted.

In that moment, he truly realized how powerless he was within this palace.

When Ji Qingzhou returned to the small courtyard, it was already quite late.

Tu Dayou looked at him with a knowing expression.

“Judging by your face, is it all over?” Tu Dayou asked.

“We found the person, but the Wang Ye told me not to get involved anymore,” Ji Qingzhou said.

“That’s probably for the best,” Tu Dayou said. “Now that the person has been handed over to the Office of Judicial Review, they will handle it according to the law. What good would more meddling do?”

“Mm,” Ji Qingzhou nodded, knowing his own limitations—there was really no way to keep pushing this matter.

“Do your best, then leave the rest to fate,” Tu Dayou said. “You’ve done all you could. Xiao Shan won’t blame you.”

Thinking of Xiao Shan, Ji Qingzhou felt a fresh wave of sadness. He didn’t know what would happen after Xiao Shan and He Man met—whether He Man would die in Xiao Shan’s place, or if both would accept the blame and face death together. Either way, it wasn’t the outcome Ji Qingzhou wanted to see.

“The Regent’s reward has arrived. Go inside and take a look,” Tu Dayou said.

Ji Qingzhou was momentarily surprised. Only then did he remember he had “won” the horse race against the Regent. Although the Regent had promised a reward, Ji Qingzhou felt his win was so forced he didn’t have the face to ask for any prize—and yet, the Regent still remembered.

He went inside and saw a brand-new set of red inner-attendant robes neatly laid out on the couch, complete with matching hat, boots, and belt. There was even a new waist plaque engraved with the words “Yinghui Pavilion.”

“The chief eunuch of Yinghui Pavilion, sixth rank,” Tu Dayou explained. “Starting tomorrow, you can begin your duties there. Congratulations, Qingzhou—you accomplished in less than two months what many spend their entire lives striving for.”

So many eunuchs spent their whole lives in the palace and never achieved official rank. Ji Qingzhou had only been here a little over a month, and now he was on equal footing with Tu Dayou. But the rank itself held little appeal for him; the red robes were at least nicer than the usual blue ones.

“This is the Regent’s reward?” Ji Qingzhou asked.

“No, wasn’t it already settled back at Yan Court? Young Master Qin personally delivered the Regent’s decree,” Tu Dayou replied.

Ji Qingzhou was startled and saw Tu Dayou point to a food box on the table.

Ji Qingzhou opened the box to find a plate of fried meatballs inside.

Ji Qingzhou: …

The Regent’s reward for him was… a plate of fried meatballs???

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