The Emperor’s Irresponsible Usage of Eunuchs
When Wang Chuan’s voice was heard, Feng Yu Heng could clearly feel her husband begin to lose his ability to hold back his anger, which was about to explode. She quietly spoke up for Wang Chuan while advising a certain person: “Don’t blame Wang Chuan. For someone to come from the palace, there must have been something that happened. Quickly go and take a look. It’s possible that something happened to Father Emperor or Imperial Concubine Mother.”
Xuan Tian Ming had not yet dealt with his fire of lust before a fire of anger began to burn. Right now, he only had one thought, which was to charge outside and strangle Wang Chuan and the person that had come from the palace! Damn it, they could disrupt him for anything, but how could they disturb him when he was about to eat meat? Looking down at his wife, he very reluctantly asked: “Can this prince eat a bit before going out to take a look?”
Feng Yu Heng shook her head, “It’s someone from the palace that came to pass along a message. Are you treating them as if they had come from somewhere else? And can be neglected casually?”
Xuan Tian Ming, however, said with disapproval: “So what if it’s the palace? It’s not the first time that I’ve neglected them. Also, who told them to pick such a bad time to visit. Instead of coming sooner or later, they had to come right now? Dear wife, husband is a healthy young man. To do it like this will cause an illness.”
Feng Yu Heng was helpless. When had this person learned to worry about health? It was true that cutting things off right now would indeed have some negative side effects, and more importantly, in her previous life, she had heard of people becoming impotent after such events. But this would not be the case for her husband. Not only was he not impotent, but he was quite strong. “No worry, I am a doctor. If you are ill, I can cure you. Also…” She pointed at the bright sky outside, “What do you mean they picked a bad time? It was you that picked the time so frivolously! It just passed noon, yet you… Hah, forget it. Quickly get up and quickly go take a look at who came!”
There was nothing Xuan Tian Ming could do, as she pushed him away. He could only get up and get dressed, but while he watched his young wife quickly get dressed, the scene of a young beauty getting dressed played out before him. That little flame that burned inside his heart began to grow once more. He tried to suppress it but was unable to. In the end, he pulled her to his side, kissing and hugging her a great deal before letting her go. This also left Feng Yu Heng feeling hot and bothered.
She could not help but unleash a storm of curses at that lusty wolf. When she finally finished putting on her clothes and tidying up her hair, she nodded to Xuan Tian Ming. She then saw him pull the door open and suddenly roar: “What sort of person came? What did they come for?”
Wang Chuan trembled in fear upon hearing this, and sweat immediately appeared on her brow. Although she was a maiden that had not yet gotten married, when she saw His Highness’ anger and that face that was slightly red, it did not take much thought to clearly understand what her two masters had been doing inside. To disturb them at this sort of time, it was fortunate that the princess was present; otherwise, she would have been slapped to death by the ninth prince. She gritted her teeth and said: “Replying to Your Highness, it’s Eunuch Zhang Yuan who came personally to invite princess into the palace.”
“Zhang Yuan?” Xuan Tian Ming furrowed his brow tightly and asked in confusion: “Instead of taking care of the old man in the palace, what has he come to this prince’s place for?” As he spoke, he turned around and grabbed Feng Yu Heng, who was already walking out. The two then rushed toward the front yard.
Wang Chuan wiped away some sweat and watched the two leave, while her heart continued to flutter with fear. Letting out a long sigh, she heard a quiet sound come from a certain place above her. Immediately following this, Ban Zou’s voice could be heard: “The job of keeping watch at the door really is difficult! Could it be that you’re really missing the days when that girl was living on her own?”
Wang Chuan nodded very seriously: “That’s right. It was much freer when Young Miss was living on her own. With His Highness, there’s truly too much of an oppressive feeling.”
“But of course!” Huang Quan gingerly came out of a corner, quietly moving as if she was a criminal. “Has His Highness left? He isn’t in the courtyard, right?”
Wang Chuan rolled her eyes at her: “You really know how to avoid danger, leaving me to get cursed on my own.”
There was nothing that Huang Quan could do: “Whenever I see His Highness enter the room with our young miss, I get an urge to run away. Really, Wang Chuan, how about we pass along a message to the maidservants in this courtyard. In the future, as long as His Highness and young miss return to their room, regardless of the matter or person, unless His Majesty or Imperial Concubine Yun personally come to visit, stop them all. We must not send reports at that time. This truly is too life-threatening. I still want to live a few more years!”
Wang Chuan agreed with this wholeheartedly, and the two immediately reached an agreement. They then began an emergency meeting with the maidservants and grannies of this courtyard. The summary of this meeting was just as Huang Quan had said. In the future, regardless of what the matter is, it must not be reported. If they wanted to report something, they could either wait for the doors to be opened, or they could wait for either His Highness or the princess to come out. Either way, when the two closed the doors to their room to do “important things,” even if the skies were falling, they would need to get a few tall people to prop it up for a while.
The servants believed this to be correct.
Speaking of the front yard, to describe it in the words of the servants, it would be: “His Highness went crazy!”
That was right, Xuan Tian Ming was indeed a madman. Waving a whip around in one hand, he tightly wrapped up Zhang Yuan then pulled it tighter. If it was not for Feng Yu Heng desperately trying to console him from the side, Zhang Yuan might have been constricted by the whip. Xuan Tian Ming just glared with a gaze filled with bloodlust and gloomily asked: “What did you say? You dare to say what you just said to this prince again!”
Zhang Yuan’s scalp began to feel numb, but he could not disobey. He could only repeat himself: “The palace’s Concubine Liu fell ill, and His Majesty invited Princess Yu into the palace to take a look at Concubine Liu.” After saying this, he immediately closed his eyes, waiting for Xuan Tian Ming to take his next step! Damn it, he knew that he should not have taken up this job. Why could they not have just sent someone else to the Yu Palace? The old ruler insisted on having him come. Was this something to mess around with? If things did not go well, he would be giving his life away! Concubine Liu, that wretch, not much news had come from her for over 20 years, yet she actually dared to fall ill at a time like this. It also happened that the Emperor was getting old now and valued old relationships, thus he listened to Concubine Liu’s family to have Princess Yu enter the palace. He said countless times that he did not want to come, but what was it that the Emperor had said? The old emperor had said: “Xiao Yuan, just go! Based on Ming’er’s temper, if someone else went, they most likely would not be able to return. Only with you going is it possible that he might be merciful when thinking about your years of service in taking care of Us. In any case, he will let you live.”
At this moment, Zhang Yuan truly had the heart to begin crying. He could clearly feel the whip wrap even tighter around him after he finished speaking. He felt that he was having a hard time breathing. If things continued like this, it would be difficult to stay alive, right? It really was strange. It had to be said that His Highness the ninth prince getting angry over having his wife examine another concubine of the imperial harem was guaranteed, but he should not be this angry, right? Helpless, he could only look toward Feng Yu Heng to save his life and say: “Princess, please say something for this servant! It really was His Majesty that had me come, thus this servant could not choose to not come! What’s wrong with His Highness the ninth prince? Why is he so angry?”
Feng Yu Heng sighed and said to Zhang Yuan: “Not to hide it from Eunuch Zhang, but if it was anyone other than you that had come today, perhaps the Yu Palace would have become instantly splattered with blood.” But as for why Xuan Tian Ming was so furious, she could not tell Zhang Yuan. To speak about it so early in the day, it was too shameful. Thus she reached out and held Xuan Tian Ming’s wrist, saying to him: “Forget it, Eunuch Zhang was just acting under orders. If you are angry, it would be better for us to go into the palace together and ask Father Emperor about it.”
“Right, right, right! Your Highness the ninth prince, if you have any anger, you should go and personally vent it at His Majesty! His Majesty is irresponsible in his usage of eunuchs!” Zhang Yuan had the heart to cry. What sort of master was this, causing trouble for his servants for no reason?
Feng Yu Heng was also speechless. What sort of servant was this? The master made use of him, yet he would not do his part? But she could only carry on with consoling him like this, “Just let go of Eunuch Zhang! There’s no point in getting into it with him, right? If you have the time, it would be better for us to go into the palace. We’ll find out what the situation is just by asking.”
“Hmph!” Xuan Tian Ming snorted and flicked his whip, which freed Zhang Yuan; however, he added: “I’ll spare your little life. The next time you mess around with that old man, just watch this prince turn you into a meat paste!”
Zhang Yuan shrank his neck in, not daring to say a single word. It really was the case that getting close to the ruler was like getting close to a tiger. Getting close to the ninth prince was the exact same as getting close to a tiger’s child! He gratefully saluted to Feng Yu Heng. When the two finished tidying things up, they quickly got into the imperial carriage and hastily headed toward the Imperial Palace.
Feng Yu Heng did not know too much about the members of the imperial harem. In addition to this, the Emperor had not visited the imperial harem over the past 20-odd years. That was why she had not heard much from the concubines aside from the birth mothers of the princes and the ones that caused trouble. When it came to Concubine Liu, she did not have any impression of her, thus she asked Zhang Yuan: “What exactly is going on? Who is Concubine Liu?”
Zhang Yuan was also seated in Xuan Tian Ming’s imperial carriage. Hearing Feng Yu Heng ask, he could not help but look at Xuan Tian Ming first. Seeing that he did not express anything nor show any negative emotions, he calmed down and resolved Feng Yu Heng’s doubts.
Zhang Yuan said: “Concubine Liu lives in An Ju Palace. She entered the palace three years before His Majesty went out on his inspection tour. From the position of favored beauty to concubine, she had progressed very smoothly. But she was without child. To reach her position was already breaking the rules, which just goes to show how favored she had been at that time. This servant was not around for that time, and this was all heard from other people. Later on, His Majesty went out for an inspection tour. He had already said that after he returned from the tour, he would promote Concubine Liu to the position of imperial concubine. I heard that even the clothes had been made. It was all just waiting for His Majesty to return, but who knew that His Majesty would bring Imperial Concubine Yun back with him, completely casting Concubine Liu to the back of his mind. What promotion, that was a topic that was no longer mentioned. He did not even want to look at her, nor did he set a single foot in the imperial harem. Of course, there were members of the imperial harem that continued to receive favor after Imperial Concubine Yun had entered the palace, for example, Head Imperial Concubine Bu. But that was just bestowing favor on the surface. It was to give face to their families. It was to consider the advantages and disadvantages brought to the country; however, they could not truly receive any favor.”
Feng Yu Heng nodded then thought about Head Imperial Concubine Bu, and she could not help but smile bitterly, “Favor that had been brought about by considering the benefits of one’s family, what good is that?”
“Princess is right.” Zhang Yuan continued: “But not everyone thinks this way. There are some who would rather have glory on the surface while not caring about the actual situation. Speaking of, which girl that enters the imperial palace, aside from Imperial Concubine Yun, does not have thoughts of being able to help their families?”
Speaking of this, they heard Xuan Tian Ming coldly snort and say: “It serves that old man right, having his backyard catch fire over nothing. Who told him to have so many wives? He’s reaping what he sowed!”