Chapter 26 The Imperial Kitchen, Chapter 19
Once the Emperor left, everyone dared to openly cast their gazes and scrutinize the young man who was serving the meal. The Emperor had spoken a few words to him earlier, but the young man had not replied; both words were spoken by the Emperor himself.
Consort Yan was originally worried that her position as the head of the six palaces would be shaken, but after this incident, she realized that what was actually in danger was something else. Therefore, she glared at Qing Chuanshan with undisguised resentment in her eyes.
Zhao Kelin felt even more conflicted. He tried to maintain his usual calm and collected demeanor, but found his face stiff. He could only bow and take his leave, leading Zhen Su away from Luoyan Palace.
Shaopin's bright eyes were like clear springs, filled with seven parts admiration and three parts relief. Seeing that Shinju and the others had left, she followed with Riko.
"Please wait, Eunuch Qing." Consort Shao bowed and said, "I am truly grateful for what you have done for me today."
The maid, Luli, also bowed, her eyes glistening with tears of relief and lingering fear.
"After great calamity comes great fortune. Your Majesty, please take care." Shinju returned the bow and said solemnly.
If someone else had said this to her, she would have taken it as a simple blessing. But when it came from Shinjuku's mouth, Consort Shao felt full of confidence and hope for the future. This was a mindset she had never had since entering the palace.
"Eunuch Qing, take care." Consort Shao smiled.
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News of Consort Shao falling into the well did not spread widely that day, but some people learned of it immediately. What would happen to Consort Liang would not affect their plans, so they did not take it too seriously. The only exception was that key and mysterious figure in the whole incident, who made them pay attention.
"Could he be a master from the Eastern Guild? He's a strong swimmer with exceptional agility on water; bringing someone out of the well shouldn't be difficult for him!"
"Going down into a well doesn't necessarily mean you'll come into contact with water. I think it's more like the assassins from Daming Temple. They can easily scale walls and roofs. But as far as I know, Daming Temple has been lacking in talent for many years. The old ones are old and the dead are dead. If there were still people with such abilities, it wouldn't have ended up closing down like this."
"There's no point in speculating here. We should send someone to investigate as soon as possible. We've just lost Guan Yu and are in dire need of capable men. If we could recruit this man to our side..."
"And we must recruit them before the Emperor. The Scorpion Army has been steadily expanding recently, and if they add another powerful general, it will be extremely troublesome. If we lose the initiative, or if we can't win them over... you know what to do."
"Yes! I understand!"
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Not two days after this incident, Shinju heard rumors that someone in Consort Liang's palace had confessed, and Consort Liang was demoted to the rank of Changzai, from the third rank to the seventh rank. The youngest prince born to Consort Liang was given to Consort Shu to raise, and her personal maid Yun'er and two servants who were responsible for keeping watch were beaten to death on the spot.
Such punishment was undeniably harsh. Many voices in the court accused the emperor of tyranny, claiming that he disregarded the bond between the young prince and his birth mother, and failed to remember the teachings and sacrifices of Grand Tutor Liang. They asserted that he was not benevolent, that his tyranny and despotism would lead the nation into injustice and immorality.
No matter how alarmist they were, Shinjuku didn't think so. He felt that rather than being merciful to the wicked and trying to reform them, it was better to be the sharp blade of the good and the yardstick for measuring good and evil.
Evil people may not appreciate kindness, but kindness is precious and deserves to be protected.
When the guillotine is used to punish evil with evil, even if it is wrong, it will not betray the good people.
He didn't find anything wrong with the Emperor's handling of the matter. Therefore, when he went to serve the meal, Shinju remained calm, neither fearful nor saying much, which inexplicably pleased the Emperor. Later, even the Empress Dowager's people came to nag him, urging him to return the young prince to Consort Liang. The Emperor found this annoying and simply dismissed everyone, allowing only Shinju to serve him closely. After the meal, he wouldn't let Shinju leave, insisting on bringing some drinks, dried fruits, and snacks for Shinju to sit beside him and enjoy.
Out of the corner of his eye, Zhenwang could see that Shinju's cheeks were slightly puffed up from chewing slowly. Although he had long lost his baby fat, he now had a round and cute profile. At this moment, Zhenwang's brushstrokes were much stronger than usual, as if he could not control his strength and wanted to penetrate the table to create the ultimate iron strokes and silver hooks.
Shinjuku had little knowledge of calligraphy. The characters he left behind when he was the sect leader were often mistaken for symbols on talismans, attracting much attention from his disciples, to the point that there was even a small organization dedicated to studying his handwriting. In reality, however, he knew nothing about talismans. Shinjuku never disliked his handwriting. In his youth, he always thought that if he couldn't continue his cultivation, he would learn to draw talismans, and who knows, he might make a name for himself.
However, after being exposed to the Emperor's vigorous and powerful calligraphy for some time now, Shinju couldn't help but find his own calligraphy somewhat unacceptable.
Perhaps because Shinju was staring so intently at the characters he was writing on the memorials, the Emperor suddenly asked, "Can you read?"
Masakatsu was taken aback, then his heart skipped a beat. He quickly looked away and said, "I only know a few words and can write my own name, but... I don't write it very well."
He then remembered that, as eunuchs, apart from the eunuchs who helped with the approval and drafting of imperial edicts, and the eunuchs responsible for announcing imperial decrees, none of them were allowed to read. The emperor hadn't asked him to step aside when reviewing the memorials, and he assumed that the emperor had never held such matters against him. So, in a moment of carelessness, he completely forgot about these rules and regulations.
He almost gave himself away, and he didn't know if the emperor believed him or not. Fortunately, the emperor didn't ask any questions. Instead, he took out a piece of white, jade-like Yan Teng paper, rubbed the pen handle against Shinju's palm, and told him to hold it. He said, "Write your name and let me see it."
Shinjuku took the pen and deliberately slowed down, writing stroke by stroke. Soon, three or four characters of unknown meaning appeared on the paper.
emperor:"……"
Shinju also fell silent. If he could use his Purple Mansion, he could directly imprint the images in his mind without saying a few words. Why would he have to make such a fool of himself?
"It's alright, isn't it?" Shinjuku asked, still unwilling to give up.
After a long while, the emperor subtly moved his head back and forth, almost imperceptibly, and said, "I will teach you."
Before Shinjuku could agree, a hand that was longer than Shinjuku's, cool to the touch, touched Shinjuku's pale hand. The knuckles were slightly bent, covering Shinjuku's entire hand, and then the hand moved the brush, dragging ink across the paper.
A dot, a horizontal stroke, a left-falling stroke, a horizontal stroke, a left-falling stroke, a right-falling stroke... When using the rolling or kneading of the brush, the emperor's fingers would apply a slight force, which would penetrate into Shinjuku's skin and be transmitted from the brush handle to the tip.
This time, the three characters "Qingzhenju" appeared on the paper, clearly legible and written in flowing strokes.
"Do you understand?" The Emperor released his hand and placed it back on his lap.
Shinjuku felt the heat rising from the back of his hand being carried away, so he loosened his wrist, picked up his pen again, and started writing.
With the Emperor's personal guidance, Shinju could clearly feel the Emperor's application of force in every stroke. This was Shinju's forte, and after only two attempts, his calligraphy had been transformed, becoming vigorous and powerful, free yet still beautiful.
Shinjuku admired it with satisfaction, nodding repeatedly.
The emperor's eyes darkened slightly as he looked at the characters that were so similar to his own, but he quickly regained his usual cold and dignified demeanor and said, "Not bad, you've learned very quickly."
"I'll teach you to write two more characters."
"Alright." Shinju had no objection and continued reading the Emperor's writing.
Then two characters gradually appeared on the paper. They were in a style of calligraphy that he had never seen before, but it did not prevent him from recognizing them. After a closer look, he found that they were the characters “鸩” and “默”.
Zhen Su glanced at the Emperor, but couldn't discern any ulterior motive. The Emperor seemed to be casually teaching him a couple of words, yet Zhen Su felt a subtle unease. "Zhenmo" sounded like a personal name. The surname Zhen was quite famous in the ancient continent of the cultivation world, but extremely rare in other continents. It should be similar in the mortal realm, a rare surname. Furthermore, he remembered that the Emperor's name recorded in historical texts was An Lingxuan, courtesy name Jizhou, and Yuhu Emperor was a posthumous title given by later generations.
If this isn't the Emperor's name, then who could it be?
A note from the author:
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I'm writing until almost midnight again, so I'll just switch to two updates a day and two rest days, like updating every other day. Please don't let it get too long, but I won't force it! TwT
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