Chapter 66 Attendant
Under the bright sunlight, a grand procession of military chariots entered Zining Street. The imperial guards who came to protect them surrounded the entire street, forming a dense human wall of soldiers, on high alert in all directions.
As the vermilion walls of the palace drew ever closer, the magnificent golden gates of the imperial palace came into view around the corner. At a command, the convoy halted in unison.
General Yan, who had been issuing the orders, dismounted. His gleaming silver armor clanged as he moved, and his waist badge, bearing the insignia of a general, suddenly swung. General Yan then swiftly knelt on one knee before the imperial carriage. The next moment, all the soldiers followed suit, their synchronized movements even causing the blue bricks and stone slabs to tremble. Their imposing presence astonished the assembled ministers waiting near the palace gates.
Consort Yan, arriving late in her palanquin, suddenly felt her eyes redden when she saw the golden imperial carriage, befitting an emperor. She covered her mouth, waved her handkerchief to signal the palanquin to land, then lifted her skirt and stepped down, pushing aside the concubines standing in front, trying to force her way to the very front.
During the Emperor's absence from the palace, the other concubines were used to avoiding Consort Yan's sharp edge. But now that the Emperor has returned, they rarely have the opportunity to show their faces in front of him. Some were unwilling to give up their seats and stood frozen in place, while others took advantage of Consort Yan's shoving to pretend to fall, pulling down the two people next to them as well.
"Ah!! Who pushed me?!"
"Ouch, it hurts so much... I'm bleeding..."
A commotion immediately broke out in the crowd, and many in the ministers' ranks broke out in a cold sweat, wondering why such a mess had occurred at this critical juncture!
Consort Yan was about to lash out; how could she not see that these vile women were deliberately trying to extort her? However, she was preoccupied with her upcoming audience with the Emperor and, at the same time, noticed Yan Lang's cold glance from the ranks of ministers. In the end, she held back and decided to wait for the Emperor to take charge for her. Therefore, she also put on a pitiful appearance.
However, everyone's attention was quickly drawn back to the imperial carriage. A hand, as white as jade, emerged from behind the curtain, and two fingers parted the curtain to reveal a slender figure who gracefully leaped down from the carriage.
Upon seeing the man's stunning face, gasps rippled through the crowd. The young man wore an exquisite crimson cloak trimmed with snow-white velvet, perfectly matching his own demeanor—both as vibrant as a blooming peony and as pure as a snow lotus from the Tianshan Mountains. Combined with his unparalleled beauty, he left the entire room momentarily stunned. Even those who noticed the python-embroidered lower garment failed to associate him with any eunuch.
Just as everyone's attention was completely captivated, another person bowed and stepped out of the imperial carriage. This time, even though only his profile was shown, his sharp features—high nose, deep-set eyes, and imposing aura—made him instantly recognizable to everyone.
The ministers immediately tensed up, shook their robes, and knelt down to kowtow.
"Greetings, Your Majesty! Long live the Emperor!"
The shouts echoed in the sky, startling crows and hawks of all sizes among the trees and on the eaves.
King Zhen placed his hand on Zhen Suping's outstretched arm, slowly descended from the imperial carriage, then lifted his eyelids, his gaze sweeping over the assembled officials, lingering for a moment on Zhao Qianheng and Yan Lang before withdrawing.
When Zhao Qianheng and Yan Lang felt the oppressive aura emanating from the emperor, their hearts sank, and their faces turned extremely pale.
He actually came back alive...
The concubines behind them, who had been frightened by the earlier commotion, had already knelt down to pay their respects, and the chaos of before was gone. Therefore, the King of Zhen only glanced at them and then ignored them.
"All of you, rise," the King of Zhen said calmly.
After everyone stood up, their gazes inevitably fell once again on Zhen Su, who was supporting the King of Zhen. Although the young man was not as strong and tall as the King of Zhen, he stood beside the King of Zhen with a unique air of elegance, his figure outstanding and captivating. Although it was clearly a gesture of support, his aura subtly rivaled that of an emperor.
Some people felt it was absurd that they would have such a disrespectful thought, so they hurriedly suppressed it and instead began to speculate about the person's identity.
Judging from his attire, he was clearly of the rank of a servant, most likely someone the Emperor had temporarily found on the frontier to replace Eunuch Qing. Keen-eyed observers had already noticed the gold earrings on the young man's ears and his extremely rare golden eyes. One or two coincidences were one thing, but what if there were three? Looking further at his features, so similar to Eunuch Qing's, several astute individuals had already vaguely guessed the truth, and were horrified.
Before Consort Yan could even rejoice at the absence of her former young attendant, she was stunned by this new "obstacle" that had appeared beside Prince Zhen. The other's appearance was so extraordinary that it evoked no jealousy or hatred. Even she, who had always relied on her beauty to get away with anything, felt a sense of retreat for the first time.
Shortly after, the King of Zhen ordered his officials to move to the Golden Palace. On the way, someone quietly approached General Yan and inquired, "Is that the newly arrived eunuch? A man from the frontier?"
General Yan didn't immediately realize who he was referring to, but he understood when he saw the direction the other person was pointing to.
"Pfft!" General Yan couldn't help but laugh out loud, because he remembered himself the day after the victory banquet, wondering if he was still drunk, but not if it was really Masaya himself. He felt a surge of joy now, because finally someone would experience the astonishment and surprise he had felt back then.
General Yan suddenly stopped, causing the ministers who were eavesdropping to stop as they waited with a mixture of curiosity and doubt for what he would say next.
General Yan called out towards the front, "Lord Qing!"
As Zhen Su was helping the Poison King climb the long stone steps, he suddenly turned around, blinked his golden eyes, and tilted his head slightly to ask, "General Yan, what is it?"
"Qing... attendant?" Everyone stared in disbelief, and a deathly silence fell over the room.
.
This great victory resulted in the complete recapture of the three border cities. After successfully repelling the enemy, three "fat pieces" were carved out of the Feng Kingdom, which had been the hegemon of the continent for over two hundred years. How could the people of the Nian Kingdom, who had long suffered from this, not be excited about this? However, due to the disappearance of the Zhen King, the court and the harem were shrouded in gloom for many days.
Now that the Poison King has made a powerful return, the entire palace is filled with joy and celebration.
Everything that had been prepared for the triumphant return of the army was now being rearranged. The Imperial Kitchen, the Imperial Ceremonial Office, the Imperial Clothing Office, and so on all responded quickly and were extremely busy.
The five palace maids gladly relinquished their power and returned to their positions, where they ostensibly took turns serving but were actually secretly under orders. With Zhi Xi's care, and out of consideration for Zhen Su's hard work over the past few days, the King of Zhen let her go. Zhen Su was finally able to return alone to the side room of the Scorpion Shadow Palace.
Having been away for a long time, although he had not spent much time here, even less than he had spent on the frontier, touching the table and chair in the side room and looking at the crab-shaped lamp swaying gently in the wind, a strange sense of belonging filled his chest.
After sitting down to rest for a moment, Shinjuku's gaze fell on the wooden bathtub in the corner.
Before he could even set off, someone unexpectedly brought him two buckets of hot water, a gesture of goodwill.
Suddenly, two of the five palace maids with similar faces—Zuo'er and You'er—appeared at the door of the side room, each carrying a large bucket of water, with sly smiles on their faces.
Shinjuku rose to greet them, asking, "What brings you two elder sisters here?"
"You've grown up so much all of a sudden, it's hard for us to call you 'sister' anymore," Zuo'er said jokingly, winking.
"You must be tired from your long journey. His Majesty instructed us to come and see if you need anything. Tang Quan told us you like to take baths, so we brought you some hot water." You'er spoke tactfully and seemed composed, but her eyes revealed a hint of teasing, clearly indicating her playful nature.
"Thank you, sisters." Since they had come specifically for him, he returned a friendly, sweet smile and took both buckets of water.
Shinjuku rinsed the empty wooden tub and then poured two buckets of water into it. The tub was immediately more than half full, and wisps of white steam rose from the surface.
As Shinjuku was about to change his clothes, his fingers hooked on the edge of the belt on his side, he suddenly realized that the two women were still inside the room, so he turned his head to look at them.
Zuo'er stared at the sachet hanging from his waist for a long time. Noticing Shinju's gaze, she blurted out, "Would you like to help Xiao Qingzi take a bath, sister?"
Upon hearing this, You'er glanced sideways at Zuo'er.
Before Shinjuku could say anything, Sako had already clasped her hands together in apology, "Sister was just joking, Keiko, don't take it seriously. We'll head back now, and if you need anything, just look for us in the side room next door."
After saying that, the two left. Before leaving, Yu'er nodded to Shinjuku with an apologetic look in her eyes.
Shinjuku didn't take it to heart. He took off his sachet and waist token and placed them on the table. Then he took off his clothes, shoes and socks one by one and entered the bathtub.
"Hoo..." He sank down. The hot water enveloped him, giving him a feeling of fullness, like when one is brimming with spiritual energy. The slightly hot water soothed his entire body. Unfortunately, after his body "slimmed down," the wooden tub felt somewhat cramped. He simply leaned against the tub wall, placed his hands on the rim, and braced his knees against the tub wall, relaxing his whole body and letting his head naturally tilt back.
His view shifted, and he came face to face with a dark object above the screen.
"A giant scorpion?" Shinjuku exclaimed in surprise.
The response from Majutsu was a waving "pincer" and a slightly curled tail hook.
Shinjuku reached out to catch it, but the giant scorpion hesitated for a moment, staring at the swirling white mist, before finally climbing up Shinjuku's smooth, slender arm and onto his shoulder.
Seeing the giant scorpion of Tongshan so cautiously, Shinjuku found it quite interesting and deliberately shrugged, trying to scare it into falling into the water.
The giant scorpion immediately tried to clamp down on Shinju's shoulder with its pincers, but then seemed afraid of hurting him, so it only clamped down loosely and didn't use any force at all, almost causing him to fall.
It was only thanks to Shinjuku's timely intervention that it was able to stay firmly in its place. Shinjuku decided to stop teasing it, got up, and moved it to a spot away from the steam, explaining, "I was afraid I'd cook you."
The giant scorpion did not resist, but simply froze, as if staring blankly into some unknown place.
Unaware of anything amiss, Shinjuku re-immersed his beautiful, well-proportioned, milky-white muscles in the water, then casually chatted with the giant scorpion.
"Have you gotten fat?" Zhen Su teased casually, and out of boredom, he used his divine sense to examine the giant scorpion. He found that it still had the same crimson dragon aura as the Zhen King, but it was different from the Zhen King. It only had one dragon aura on its body, which was of the same origin as the Zhen King, and there was no trace of the dragon aura of Emperor Yu Hu.
So it really is the Poison King's spirit pet? It can't be a part of the Poison King's spirit, can it? I've never heard of a person's part being in the form of a spirit beast. Shinsuke's thoughts wandered aimlessly. This trip back to the palace had unexpectedly made him feel unusually relaxed, so he didn't think too deeply about it. Just as he finished thinking, he splashed water on his face and suddenly started washing it.
The giant scorpion lay on high up, quietly watching someone play in the water.
Two incense sticks later, the water had completely cooled down.
Shinjuku got out of the water, took a towel and wiped himself dry, then slowly changed into clean clothes.
"That feels good." Shinjuku stroked the giant scorpion's obsidian-like carapace with a good mood, his golden eyes curving slightly. "It's time to go check on the royal kitchen."
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Author's Note: Because of the editing, it's been even later. I'll update as usual tomorrow, and it won't be delayed until the day after. (Procrastination deserves a beating!)
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