Chapter 67
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“Such a sneaky scoundrel, even if you beat him to death, he won’t admit his dirty deeds,” the Fifth Prince said to Xue Yao. “No need to waste words on him. If he can jump a wall that’s ten feet high, he definitely has skills in his legs. The instructors all praised Seventh Brother’s remarkable insight into footwork techniques last month. Seventh Brother would not wrongly accuse him.”
The Sixth Prince stared at the eunuch with a wary expression. “This thief has such excellent skills, but he doesn’t compete for the title of top martial scholar or seek a position in the Forbidden Army. Instead, he chose to enter the palace as a servant. There must be something fishy about this.”
Xue Yao whispered, “Your Highness, I suspect there’s something fishy about this person, which is why I want to ask him a few questions privately.”
Because he had witnessed Xue Yao’s resolute decision-making in the grain procurement in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the Sixth Prince had great trust in Xue Yao.
Since Xue Yao insisted on making this request, there must be a reason for it. The Sixth Prince whispered a few words to the Fifth Prince, then turned back and agreed to Xue Yao’s request.
Xue Yao quickly stepped forward and made a polite gesture to the eunuch.
The two of them walked to a quiet corner of the corridor. Xue Yao straightforwardly asked in a low voice, “Do you need money urgently?”
The eunuch immediately lowered his head and denied, “I’m innocent!”
Xue Yao couldn’t afford to keep the princes waiting for too long. He adopted a stern expression and said, “Listen carefully, this is the Crown Prince’s hall. You committed theft and fled, causing the Fifth Prince to fall and injure himself. Do you know how serious a crime this is? Even if you deny it, you will not be able to get away with it. Even a beating will not be enough. A suspect who has implicated the imperial family will be directly sent to the northern garrison for interrogation. Do you need me to explain what kind of place that is?”
“Please spare this wretched servant’s life, and I’ll never dare again.” The eunuch’s face turned even redder, but there was no fear in his eyes.
Xue Yao stared at him sternly. “Not only can I plead with the princes to spare your life, but I can also lend you the money to get through this tough situation. I only ask that you tell me why you need this money, why you’re lurking around the Crown Prince, and who sent you.”
The eunuch raised his eyes, his dark gaze revealing a murderous intent. He pleaded quietly, but his voice carried a defiant and threatening tone, “Young Master, where is all this coming from? Your purse was stolen by me, I can admit to that. We’re all here in the palace to make a living. How can we talk about lurking around the Crown Prince? I can’t bear such an accusation.”
Xue Yao grabbed his arm, his brows furrowed in urgency. “I want to help you. Arguing with me won’t serve any purpose. Do you think the interrogators at the northern garrison will listen to these words of yours? They have countless methods to make you confess willingly, and by that time, your good legs might already be ruined.”
The eunuch gazed at Xue Yao for a while, then slowly straightened up. Surprisingly, he stood half a head taller than Xue Yao, showing no signs of his previous timidity.
The eunuch asked Xue Yao, “Why do you want to help me?”
Xue Yao glanced at the impatient Fifth Prince waiting in the distance and replied anxiously, “I have always enjoyed making friends with heroes from the martial world. Just now, when I saw you leapt effortlessly and gracefully, scaling a high wall without breaking a sweat, I couldn’t help but admire your skill. With your talent, why not pursue a martial career and fame? It’s a pity to be a palace servant.”
The eunuch stared at Xue Yao without expression for a moment, then whispered, “Would the young master be willing to befriend a rogue martial hero who robs and pillages?”
Xue Yao paused, momentarily taken aback.
The eunuch coldly huffed, “I should have met my end in the dungeon long ago. There’s nothing to regret. As for your purse, I buried it beneath the plum tree in the western courtyard. Regarding other questions, I have nothing to disclose.”
Xue Yao: “……”
This mysterious person was indeed hard to communicate with. No wonder the entire novel had not mentioned his background.
Judging from his words, it seemed like he had a history as a bandit, lacking the qualifications to follow the path of a martial artist. Even if that were the case, why choose to become a eunuch in the palace?
Giving up on further questioning, Xue Yao calmly addressed the eunuch, “I’ll help you smooth things over later. Tell His Highness that you accidentally knocked my purse down just now. You picked it up with the intention of returning it, but the temptation of twenty taels of silver led you astray. It was not a premeditated theft.”
The eunuch’s expression shifted. After a long pause, he asked, “Why are you helping me? Do you want me to do something for you?”
“No need,” Xue Yao replied, “You’ve fallen to this point, don’t suspect that I’m after anything from you. I only admire your martial skills and am giving you a chance to reform, it won’t set a precedent. I’ll leave it here – if you urgently need silver, I can lend it to you, as long as you inform me of its legitimate use and why you became a eunuch in the palace.”
The eunuch appeared puzzled but didn’t answer Xue Yao.
“A’Yao!” the Fifth Prince under the corridor couldn’t wait any longer and shouted at Xue Yao, “Don’t waste time talking to him! Bring him over!”
Helpless, Xue Yao had to instruct the eunuch, “Go ahead as I told you.”
“Found it?” The Fifth Prince exclaimed in frustration, “Didn’t you just say he took the purse?”
The Sixth Prince urged, “Don’t listen to this thief’s honeyed words. Claiming found property as your own is completely different from theft!”
The Seventh Prince gave his own shrewd judgment of the eunuch, “Deceiver!”
“Moreover, how can a mere sweeping eunuch possess such acrobatic skills?” The Fifth Prince declared loudly, “This must be thoroughly investigated!”
The Sixth Prince agreed, “A’Yao, no need to pity a thief.”
The eunuch seemed to have foreseen his predicament and no longer showed fear on his face. He gazed at the three princes with an emotionless expression.
His eyes were lifeless, revealing no emotion.
The Fifth Prince was taken aback by the eunuch’s restrained hostility.
The Sixth Prince maintained a straightforward gaze fixed on the eunuch.
The Seventh Prince stared expressionlessly at the eunuch, then suddenly turned and buried his chubby face into Xue Yao’s left shoulder. “Your Highness is scared.”
Xue Yao calmly raised his hand and patted the chubby cub’s head. “It’s alright, I won’t let him get near Your Highness.”
In a situation where his fake Long Aotian felt genuine danger, he was always pragmatic and unconcerned about dignity.
A person’s character could be seen from a young age, and one should never forget one’s original intentions.
“What are you looking at?” The Fifth Prince walked up to the eunuch, raising his chin and locking eyes with a fierce glare. “You dare to show off some meager martial skills in front of me? Today, I’ll show you what real martial arts are!”
“Your Highness?” Xue Yao was surprised, fearing that the Fifth Prince was about to engage in combat with the mysterious eunuch.
This was asking for trouble!
If the Fifth Prince couldn’t win, their relationship would worsen. Any hope for guidance from the mysterious martial artist would be dashed!
“Someone, fetch Escort Guard Zhao from the duty room! Hurry!” The Fifth Prince didn’t want to embarrass himself and had no intention of fighting personally.
A servant brought a second-rank imperial guard.
As soon as the guard arrived, the Fifth Prince announced a sparring session.
The guard and the eunuch moved to the central courtyard, while the princes and attendants retreated under the corridor to watch the contest.
At the Fifth Prince’s command, the sparring began. The guard lunged forward, executing a flying kick that sent the eunuch tumbling into a flowerbed with a single powerful blow.
The eunuch’s hat flew off, and a few strands of disheveled hair accompanied it.
The eunuch struggled in the flowerbed, finally seeing a hint of relief on the Fifth Prince’s face. He picked up his three-peak hat, knelt down, and crawled out of the flowerbed, looking utterly weak and defeated.
“I knew it, this thief can barely throw a few kicks,” the Fifth Prince sneered, “If he could withstand three strikes from the guard, I might have believed he had some skill and wasn’t just a common thief. But now he can’t even dodge a single kick. It seems he’s only good at escaping over walls.”
Upon hearing this, the eunuch’s expression changed. He suddenly knocked his head on the ground and begged, “Please, Your Highness, give me another chance!”
The guard glanced at the eunuch, turned his head away, and let out a disdainful laugh.
The prince’s actions were utterly incomprehensible. Hurriedly, he summoned him to the Crown Prince’s hall and actually had him spar with a eunuch, causing laughter when the news spread.
The Fifth Prince turned to the guard and said, “Let’s have another round. Guard Zhao, give him a warning before you strike, in case he feels unfairly treated.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” the guard acknowledged with a clear voice.
The second round of the duel began, and the onlookers, showing disdain, made no effort to step back. They eagerly awaited the moment when the guard would send the thieving eunuch flying once more.
The eunuch’s hat had just been kicked away, and his hair, disheveled, revealed a few strands. His face, scratched by stones, was covered in dirt, displaying an extremely destitute appearance. However, there was a change in his eyes.
His gaze remained steady, locking onto the guard. As the early winter breeze rustled through his disheveled hair, his eyes, which had seen many hardships, gradually released a suppressed aura of violence.
The guard, uncomfortable under the eunuch’s intense stare, grew agitated and just wanted to finish the fight quickly. He let out a shout and swung a punch toward the eunuch–
The eunuch’s feet remained still as he leaned to the side, narrowly avoiding the guard’s punch. With a fluid, graceful movement, he instantly pivoted to the guard’s side and delivered a swift, forceful stomp onto the guard’s knee pit!
There was a muffled “thud,” and the guard found himself on one knee, desperately turning to retaliate, but he was met with an iron sand fist hurtling towards his face!
Suddenly, the fist stopped just short of his nose, not landing on his face.
Solely from the force of the punch, the guard could already imagine the consequences had it followed through with full power.
Even the onlookers who had gathered for the spectacle fell silent in an instant.
The expressions on the faces of the three young princes froze in astonishment.
The courtyard became eerily quiet, with only the sound of birds flapping their wings.
“I concede,” the guard said with a stoic expression.
•••
“Why does the Crown Prince have such a formidable eunuch by his side?” The Fifth Prince sat in the reception hall, staring at the “master eunuch” kneeling near the threshold with a frustrated expression.
“You can defeat a second-rank imperial guard, so why not enter the martial examination?” The Sixth Prince’s initial anger had dissipated, leaving only curiosity in his mind.
The eunuch remained on his knees and replied calmly, “I come from a humble background, and my father had legal troubles in our village. As a result, I was disqualified from participating in the village-level examination.”
Xue Yao felt unhappy.
This “mysterious master” was overly discerning. When Xue Yao inquired, the eunuch tried to evade, but as soon as the prince asked, he earnestly found an excuse!
Of course, that excuse was bound to be false.
If this mysterious eunuch possessed such skills, even if he couldn’t participate in the martial examination, he could have enlisted and achieved success under the command of a famous general.
No matter how one looked at it, there was no reason for him to willingly enter the palace as a eunuch.
His entry into the palace undoubtedly concealed another motive.
Shortly after, in the western courtyard of the Crown Prince’s hall, a young eunuch who had just served tea to the princes hurriedly slipped behind an artificial hill.
Observing that the chief eunuch was waiting there, the young eunuch immediately lowered his head and reported, “Respected Elder Zheng has cleared his name, without mentioning your esteemed self.”
The old eunuch nodded and waved for him to leave.
The young eunuch standing behind the old eunuch breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at the old eunuch. “Godfather, there’s no need to worry. That fool won’t betray us. Even if he did, I would take full responsibility for you!”
The old eunuch snorted coldly, “When the Crown Prince returns, we’ll report the offense as more severe. I won’t be satisfied until he receives thirty lashes!”
The young eunuch nodded. “We mustn’t go easy on him this time! He dared to target someone close to the Seventh Prince, almost implicating you. We might as well quickly transfer him to the Empress’ side to prevent further trouble.”
“No need to rush,” the old eunuch chuckled in a sharp, high-pitched tone, “Let him gather fifty taels of silver, and then we’ll see.”
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This story us so good! Thank you for translating it! 💜