Chapter 33

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That was all the two taels of silver he had left, and half of it was gone in an instant! Little Xia trembled as he felt his flat coin pouch, his heart bleeding at the loss.

As a young eunuch serving in Qianyuan Palace, Little Xia was actually quite wealthy. The monthly stipend at Qianyuan Palace was already a grade higher than that of the other palaces, and there were also the additional gratuities handed out by people from every quarter. To say nothing of the fact that he was a spy drawing two salaries for one job.

Espionage was a highly specialized profession with an exceptionally high level of risk. One careless move and a person could be ruined. Being killed outright would have been the easy way out; being captured and subjected to brutal torture was what truly made the profession unbearable. That was why spies were paid with money earned by risking their lives. His former employer had always been generous, offering ten times the market rate, with separate payment for intelligence.

If not for that, Little Xia would have been doing perfectly well in the martial world. He would never have taken a knife wound and entered the palace.

In short, after several years of income in the palace, Little Xia had accumulated at least several thousand taels of silver, if not ten thousand. He had hidden it all away and had already planned to buy a house in the capital and spend his old age in peace once this job was over.

He had never imagined that the emperor’s purge would come so suddenly. Little Xia did not even know how he had been exposed. He had been too busy running for his life to spare a thought for the money he had hidden.

All those years of toil, and his pouch held only two taels of silver—oh, now it held just one.

How, exactly, had he fallen into such dire straits?

Little Xia could not help reviewing everything in his mind.

At first, he had only wanted something to eat. He had been fleeing for his life and was still injured, so he desperately needed to replenish his strength. He had planned to create a little chaos during mealtime, then sneak over and steal some food from the princes’ meals.

The chaos had been successfully created, and he had secretly obtained enough food to fill his stomach halfway. He was just preparing to leave when a young eunuch came rushing toward him, carrying a food box.

The fellow looked as though he were hurrying off to be reborn, utterly fearless of the chaotic blockage before him. He was clearly an ordinary man with no inner strength and no knowledge of martial arts, yet through some almost miraculous footwork, he crossed the confusion with the speed of a gale, scaling walls and darting beneath the eaves.

Little Xia found himself irresistibly drawn to him and quietly followed.

The young eunuch carried the distinctive scent of someone who had spent a long time circling among food. Moreover, although he was clearly in a hurry, whenever he reached a fork in the road, his feet would instinctively pause for a moment, as if he were deciding which way to go. This showed that he was unfamiliar with the princes’ quarters.

Someone from the Imperial Kitchen.

Little Xia was rather surprised. Even when the emperor was about to eat, it was generally the young eunuchs of Qianyuan Palace who went to collect the meals.

It was not that the palace masters were especially considerate. Food was simply most vulnerable to tampering while being transported. A silver needle could only test for arsenic, and some poisons did not take effect immediately. Even with eunuchs and palace maids testing the food, they could not necessarily detect a problem at once.

Thus, to ensure the greatest possible safety, each palace usually sent its own trusted attendants to collect its meals. If anything went wrong, the Imperial Kitchen could be identified immediately.

Of course, there might be a thousand days of guarding against thieves, but no one could guard against them forever. If someone truly wished to poison another person, they could still devise ways to do it. At the very least, however, the cost of committing the crime was raised, and things were somewhat safer.

The situation before him was unusual. Though he was currently fleeing, Little Xia immediately grew alert. He hid in the shadows and observed the eunuch carefully, only to discover that the man was heading farther and farther off course, toward the north.

Ever since the Fourth Prince had moved away, only the Seventh Prince remained in the northern section of the princes’ quarters.

Little Xia’s eyes lit up at once, and his entire spirit revived.

He had been hiding in the Green Bamboo Court and had personally seen Eunuch Li Hechun escort two unfamiliar young eunuchs inside. He had not dared approach too closely and therefore did not know why Li Hechun had brought them there. He could only speculate and harbor suspicions.

He suspected that his identity had already been exposed and that the two men had been sent by the emperor to capture him. He also suspected that they might be spies like the substitute prince—trusted men of the unnamed grandmaster capable of transmitting messages directly into another’s mind.

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Regardless of which suspicion was correct, Little Xia had to investigate. He had been fretting over the lack of an opportunity, and now one had practically come knocking on his door. If he did not seize it now, when would he?

The moment he made up his mind, Little Xia took action. He pretended to be clumsy and spilled the soup he had filched from the Third Prince’s food box all over the young eunuch. Since the man’s clothes were now filthy, he could not appear before the prince in such a disheveled state. Little Xia offered his apologies, then smoothly proposed to deliver the food in his place, promising that if anything happened to the meal, he would take full responsibility and would never reveal the eunuch’s existence.

Little Xia had planned everything perfectly. He had not expected the young eunuch from the Imperial Kitchen to shove him aside and keep going, paying no attention at all to the dirt on his clothes. He simply charged northward, muttering, “There’s no time left.”

Little Xia watched as the man’s legs moved so quickly they seemed about to take flight. With no other choice, he stunned the fellow and forcibly took possession of the food box.

Yet the instant the box fell into his hands, Little Xia’s mind went blank for a moment. It seemed that a gigantic countdown had appeared in his field of vision. Each beat flashed with red light, while a calm, emotionless female voice announced beside his ear:

“Registration successful! Congratulations, Robber, you have become a rider for the Imperial Kitchen. Please begin accepting orders!”

“You have seized a new order. Please process it promptly.”

“Your order is about to expire. Please process it promptly.”

“There! Is! No! Time! Left!”

The urgent countdown sent Little Xia sprinting away. He did not even have time to deal with the young eunuch lying on the ground. He activated his lightness skill and raced over rooftops and along walls toward the Qifeng Court.

Closer! Closer! Closer!

Little Xia made a leap of faith. He was still in midair, but the Qifeng Court was already right before him. The words “Your delivery has arrived” rolled eagerly across his tongue.

“Your order has expired!”

The tips of his toes touched the ground. The delight on Little Xia’s face vanished in an instant, replaced by profound grief and anguish.

Immersed in his sorrow, Little Xia failed to notice that the young eunuch clearing weeds in the corner of the courtyard had reacted the moment he saw his face. Shock and wariness flashed through the man’s eyes. His hand quietly slipped to the hidden pouch at his waist and closed around the poisoned plum-blossom needles inside.

Of all the spies from the Garment Office concealed throughout the princes’ quarters, he alone carried poisoned weapons. Even the concealed weapon he handled best was coated with a toxin that sealed the throat upon contact with blood. Once used, it was certain to kill with a single strike.

Eunuch Li had conveyed His Majesty’s instructions:

“This matter may very well be connected to the Jade Consort case. If so, Little Xia will certainly seek out the Seventh Prince. It seems they wish to obtain something from His Highness. You must investigate everything carefully. During this period, if any unexpected situation arises, you are authorized to act at your discretion. Remember, until His Majesty issues a new order, your foremost duty is to ensure the Seventh Prince’s safety.”

“To what extent?” the spy had asked. “Must he remain completely unharmed?”

It was the first time he had ever received such an assignment, and for once he had hesitated.

“...He need only remain alive.” Eunuch Li had fallen silent for a moment before adding, “If Little Xia makes a move, you may allow it to continue for a while before intervening.”

In the end, His Majesty still harbored some suspicions about the Seventh Prince.

Eunuch Li had sighed. The complicated look that had flashed through his eyes at that moment was beyond the spy’s understanding, and the spy had not asked.

He was also rather puzzled. On the one hand, he had been ordered to protect the Seventh Prince’s safety; on the other, he had been told to stand by for a while if someone attacked him. The two instructions were undeniably contradictory.

Still, it was none of his concern. He merely had to obey orders.

He had known that Little Xia would come looking, but he had not expected him to arrive so quickly. Watching Little Xia head toward the Seventh Prince, he quietly restrained his concealed weapon and did not strike immediately, carrying out his orders with the utmost precision.

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As he walked, Little Xia silently condemned his own servile nature. He had actually handed over his money without even doing anything first.

On the very first day Xue Jinan entered this world from the book, he had connected to the world’s Heavenly Law through wireless internet. It was both an update and the acquisition of a network access permit—more or less the equivalent of expediting an identity card for himself. With it, he could freely employ his own powers while making some of the irregularities caused by his abilities appear reasonable.

As for what those irregularities would be rationalized as, that depended entirely on how the others filled in the gaps with their own imaginations.

Little Xia’s explanation was that he had been so thrilled at the prospect of meeting that legendary senior master that, the moment he saw the substitute prince, he had been bewitched and immediately pulled out money to offer as a gift.

Little Xia condemned himself inwardly.

Your hand is truly hopeless. The other man has not even spoken, and you are already fawning over him. After all these years in the palace, have you forgotten the man you once were, the one who roamed the martial world and repaid favors and grudges as he pleased? A true man never becomes a slave!

Oh. He was a castrated eunuch now. In that case, it was fine.

Little Xia calmed down and thought: I have come all this way, and the money has already been spent. I have to accomplish something.

He arranged an obsequious smile across his face, then eagerly carried the food box forward, intending to serve the dishes to Xue Jinan.

“Your Highness, if I had known the dishes were ordered by you, this servant would certainly have taken even greater care.”

Those words sounded damned familiar!

Shou Quan, who happened to be passing by, halted mid-step. His ears pricked up, and he narrowed his eyes dangerously at the young eunuch who had plagiarized his line.

He was an unfamiliar face.

The assassination attempt had happened only recently, and Shou Quan’s nerves were taut. He was about to warn Xue Jinan when Fu Lu quietly tugged at him from behind.

Fu Lu had stayed at Xue Jinan’s side the longest. He could already distinguish several of his master’s emotions from that impassive face. For instance, his master was in a good mood at present. He knew the unfamiliar young eunuch, and he was waiting for the other man to come to him.

After the precedents set by Wang Deming, the Fourth Prince, the Fifth Prince, and the others, Fu Lu now had a certain degree of confidence in his master’s martial ability and judgment. His expression was perfectly composed.

Shou Quan had no such confidence, but he had to admit that if anything truly happened, he and Fu Lu—two men who could not even hold a horse stance for the length of a quarter hour—would not reach the scene in time even to take a blade for their master.

All Shou Quan could do was stand behind his master in a state of anxious anticipation, waiting for events to unfold.

Ignoring Shou Quan’s hostile gaze, Little Xia drew closer step by step, his voice filled with fervor as he praised Xue Jinan.

“Everything you did in the Imperial Kitchen filled this servant with the deepest admiration. Your Highness, you have no idea how cruel that old eunuch Wang Deming usually was to those beneath him. It is only thanks to you that we servants have been able to survive properly...”

After delivering a long, plainspoken speech that seemed to come straight from the heart, Little Xia gazed at Xue Jinan with adoration and expectation.

“Your Highness, this servant wishes to serve at your side just as Eunuch Shou Quan does. Even if all you require is carrying water and sweeping the floors, this servant is willing.”

He had heard that Shou Quan had also once worked in the Imperial Kitchen and had remained in this way. Having reproduced the man’s rise to prominence with absolute precision, Little Xia felt that success was guaranteed.

He had even begun imagining how he would soon crush Fu Lu beneath his fists, kick Shou Quan aside, seize the foremost position in the Qifeng Court, become the substitute prince’s trusted aide, and finally follow the clues from the substitute prince to make contact with that unnamed master.