SEHE Chapter 9

Impulse Zhang Huairu hastily knelt down proactively, “Your Highness, this old slave deserves death for harboring selfish intentions. There are many spies in the mansion, how could this old slave feel at ease letting those with ill intentions approach Your Highness? This old slave did everything for Your Highness’s sake.”

“You’re truly an old fool,” Crown Prince Gu Jiuqing scolded. “Yanci is a person of this prince’s household, even his indenture contract is in this prince’s hands. What ill intentions could he possibly have? You’re judging a gentleman’s heart with a petty person’s mind! You were wrong in this matter, why don’t you quickly apologize to Yanci!”

Zhang Huairu cast a sinister glance at Pei Yanci, then immediately changed his expression and said with an apologetic smile. “This matter is my fault, please forgive me, Yanci.”

Pei Yanci replied neither warmly nor coldly. “Chief Steward Zhang was also thinking of His Highness, with a loyal heart to protect his master. What fault is there in that? This humble one also wishes to earn His Highness’s regard. In the future, Chief Steward Zhang must provide more guidance to everyone, and must not engage in jealous behavior toward the virtuous and capable again.”

Between him and Gu Jiuqing, they just needed a way out, someone to take the blame for last night’s incident.

This way, they could at least maintain surface harmony and continue performing the charade of deep master-servant affection, without tearing each other’s faces.

“His Highness has always loved talent, you have much room to display your abilities,” Chief Steward Zhang said. “As long as you’re loyal in protecting your master, whether I speak well or ill of you, it won’t shake your position.”

“Enough, everyone had a misunderstanding. Yanci, don’t take it to heart.” In Gu Jiuqing’s view, last night’s life-and-death situation was merely a “misunderstanding.”

Taking a sip of tea, he set down the cup and asked, “After you escaped death last night, where did you go?”

“I rented a carriage and returned to Anjing.”

“And after entering Anjing?”

“I went to the Dugong’s mansion.”

Great Yu had only one Dugong, that being the Dugong of the Elu Bureau.

“What did you go there for?” Gu Jiuqing’s tone became much sharper. “Were you planning to defect to him?”

“If I were defecting to him, how would this humble one still return to Your Highness’s side?” Pei Yanci said sincerely. “This humble one belongs to Your Highness, and will serve Your Highness loyally whether in life or death.”

Gu Jiuqing’s eyes showed a hint of mockery.

“This humble one returned to the city at dusk and immediately rushed to the Dugong’s mansion without stopping. Firstly, I was worried that Chief Steward Zhang would send people to guard the city gates. If this humble one appeared without preparation, it would be like walking into a trap, and the chance at survival I had obtained with difficulty from others would be lost again.” Pei Yanci looked at Zhang Huairu behind Gu Jiuqing with a somewhat mocking gaze.

Bringing up this matter repeatedly, Zhang Huairu’s displeasure was now nearly overflowing, but he could only endure it.

Though when Xin Hai and the others came to report last night, he was indeed worried that Pei Yanci wasn’t completely dead. But they were all servants without travel passes, impossible to go elsewhere, only able to return to Anjing and back to the Crown Prince’s Mansion. To ensure nothing went wrong, they had already sent people to secretly guard the city gates. As soon as anyone reported being from the Crown Prince’s Mansion, they would be taken to a secluded place and secretly killed.

This evening they had finally waited for someone, but they directly mentioned Tang Xizhui’s name, making the gate guards dare not be negligent and quickly report to Tang Xizhui, which allowed Pei Yanci to escape disaster.

Pei Yanci had calculated this precisely, which is why he first changed clothes. Otherwise, before even reaching the city gate, before being questioned by the gate guards, they would have been intercepted earlier.

“As for the second reason,” Pei Yanci said, “this humble one feigned surrender and rescued Young General Jiang Yi.”

“Oh?” Gu Jiuqing was surprised, not expecting this person to have such ability.

Undeniably, he had looked down on Pei Yanci.

No matter how eloquently he had spoken before, status determines perspective and knowledge. A mere servant, in his eyes, that plan might have been the only useful strategy Pei Yanci could think of in his lifetime.

But in just one day, not even a full day, Jiang Yi was released.

Originally, he had thought as Pei Yanci suggested, but later seeing that Pei Yanci was very independent-minded and had his own opinions, not someone easily manipulated, he feared the plan might change and this person might not follow his wishes. It would be cleaner to make this person disappear early, which led to last night’s scene.

But he had returned, and even went to the Dugong’s mansion.

He began to reassess how capable this person before him really was.

Pei Yanci said: “Chief Steward Zhang did what he did last night because he felt this humble one lacked ability. Even if I offered strategies for Your Highness, he worried it might harm Your Highness. That’s why this humble one went to the Dugong’s mansion, to prove myself. Not only was I not captured and imprisoned in the Elu Bureau, but I also resolved Your Highness’s worries.”

With Jiang Yi’s release, Gu Jiuqing no longer needed to worry about the Elu Bureau using this person to frame him.

Gu Jiuqing rarely laughed.

“This prince did not misjudge you. From now on, you shall remain by this prince’s side.”

“Thank you, Your Highness,” Pei Yanci said. “Your Highness, must this humble one still only serve as a menial worker?”

Gu Jiuqing didn’t think much about it. “Zhang Huairu, are there any vacant steward positions recently?”

Zhang Huairu bowed slightly. “There weren’t originally, but I had planned to let him take the tea house steward position. Later, when he injured his head and needed to recuperate, I had Wucan temporarily fill that position.”

“Only temporarily?” Gu Jiuqing said. “This prince sees that Yanci’s injury has mostly healed. Since it was originally decided for him, then return the position to him.”

After Pei Yanci expressed his thanks, he respectfully left the study.

….

Zhang Huairu remembered Pei Yanci’s smug expression just now and felt depressed. Eliminating Pei Yanci was an order from the Crown Prince, but now it was blamed on him. Naturally, he couldn’t say much about it, but thinking of how this person had acted so arrogantly just after gaining power, who knows how disgusting he’ll be in the future.

Now that Pei Yanci had the Crown Prince’s favor, he couldn’t speak ill of him, but the guards who had failed in their duties were still at his mercy.

When Xin Hai and the others learned that Pei Yanci had returned to the mansion and been promoted to steward, they knew they would be held accountable by Chief Steward Zhang. They couldn’t help but resent those two for being so hard to kill.

Hearing that an inner attendant from Chief Steward Zhang wanted to see him, Xin Hai thought this scolding was unavoidable after all. He followed the inner attendant, winding through groves and around pavilions. Just past the artificial hill, his ears twitched. He heard a muffled grunt, and Wu Shu knocked out the leading inner attendant with a stone.

Xin Hai stepped back half a pace, his fingers at his side coming together.

Ten years ago when he first entered the martial world, he became famous with his divine Dragon-Seizing Flower-Plucking Hand, becoming a renowned Thief Sage of his generation. Later, when stealing imperial treasures, he was betrayed and captured after heavy siege. The Zheng family used some means to save his life, and he was sent by the Zheng family to serve beside the Crown Prince, occasionally helping him with unsavory tasks.

He was skilled in lightness kung fu, and even better with hidden weapons.

“Why are you still standing there?” Wu Shu said impatiently. “Come help me carry this person to the back.”

Called out in the middle of the night to do manual labor, he definitely needed to extort two boxes of walnut pastries from someone.

No, three boxes – he needed to give one box to Steward Yue.

“What are you planning to do?” Seeing that Wu Shu had no intention of attacking him, Xin Hai remained extremely vigilant.

“Eunuchs are all no good,” Wu Shu said. “Today Brother Wuli and Brother Yanci returned to the mansion safely, but that Zhang fellow, seeing his scheme exposed, bears a grudge and will definitely vent his anger. Brother Yanci predicted he wouldn’t dare touch the two of them, so he would definitely move against you all. That’s why he had me watch your movements. Just now, Ji Laosan was already killed by that castrated dog’s men and carried outside the mansion. Seeing they wanted to use the same trick on you, I had to knock him out first.”

“Impossible.” Xin Hai frowned, instinctively refuting.

In his view, the failed assassination of Wuli and Pei Yanci wasn’t such a big deal. Didn’t Yanci get promoted after all? This showed that killing them earlier was indeed unnecessary. In his understanding, at most they’d get a severe scolding from Zhang Huairu, at worst have their monthly allowance docked for a month or two, nothing more.

How could it escalate to killing them?

“If you don’t believe me, go see if Ji Laosan is still in the mansion.”

Xin Hai didn’t go directly to Ji Laosan’s room, but went to Cui Nan and Gu Xing’s quarters. Seeing the two were fine, he became somewhat skeptical of Wu Shu’s words. Just then, they heard an eunuch knocking at the door outside, saying Chief Steward Zhang was looking for them.

The three briefly conferred, climbed out the back window, and went to Ji Laosan’s room – nobody was there.

They searched the mansion separately but couldn’t find him anywhere.

When they met up again, they were somewhat panicked.

Would Zhang Huairu really kill them?

“Let’s go outside the mansion. That kid Wu Shu said they moved Ji Laosan’s body outside the mansion,” Xin Hai said, a hint of killing intent toward Zhang Huairu already floating in his eyes.

…..

Seeing the three secretly leaving the mansion, Wu Shu returned to the artificial hill, moved the eunuch back to the path, and slapped him hard several times on both sides of his face.

The eunuch awoke in fright, seeing a tall, thin figure beside him, his vision blurred for a moment, nearly scared out of his wits.

“Are you alright?” Wu Shu helped him up with concern.

The eunuch rubbed the back of his head, looking confused. “Where’s Xin Hai?”

“I don’t know. I saw him knock you out, then run in that direction.” Wu Shu pointed toward the wall separating the mansion’s interior from the outside.

“Why did he run away?” The eunuch immediately thought of two words. “Guilty conscience?”

He pushed away Wu Shu’s hand and muttered to himself. “No, I must report this to the Chief Steward immediately.”

With that, ignoring the pain in the back of his head, he quickly rushed toward Zhang Huairu’s courtyard.

At Zhang Huairu’s place.

Ji Laosan was trembling as he prostrated on the ground, but where others couldn’t see, his eyes were defiant and disdainful.

In his view, all these court officials were just wine-sacks and rice-bags with empty power, only knowing how to throw their weight around all day.

Look, he was called here in the middle of the night just to be cursed at.

If it weren’t for the good money and the difficult times outside, he wouldn’t continue suffering this humiliation.

“You’re saying Xin Hai, Cui Nan, and Gu Xing all escaped outside the mansion?”

“Absolutely true, Chief Steward. Just now Gu Xing’s room still had lights on, but when we knocked, no one answered. We couldn’t find any of the three in the entire mansion – they must have escaped.”

Like that eunuch, when Zhang Huairu learned of this, the same thought immediately came to his mind – guilty conscience.

Otherwise, why would they run away?

His cold gaze turned to Ji Laosan, the only one of the four remaining. “Are you hiding something from me?”

“No, Chief Steward, we wouldn’t dare hide anything from you,” Ji Laosan also looked confused.

“Last night, did you deliberately let Yanci and Wuli escape?” Chief Steward Zhang suddenly asked.

“Chief Steward, why would you think that? We have no relationship with them – why would we cause trouble for ourselves?” Ji Laosan said.

The eunuch who had been hit on the head earlier interjected. “Don’t you usually like to mingle with the kitchen servants, getting them to prepare drinking snacks for you? Isn’t Wuli from the kitchen? Isn’t that a relationship?”

“I… that’s different. We really did push them into the river last night and saw them sink with our own eyes. It’s just that Brother Xin said we needed to finish them off to be safe, but we hadn’t had the chance yet.”

“Talking about finishing them off, but actually letting them both survive – isn’t that favoritism? Have you been this careless with other tasks I’ve assigned you?” Zhang Huairu’s voice rose, becoming shrill.

Tonight he had already suffered much anger from Pei Yanci, and thinking about past incidents – weren’t all those he ordered eliminated major threats to His Highness? If this went wrong, what would he do?

What would His Highness do?

Pei Yanci’s phrase “the chance at survival obtained from others” echoed in his mind, impossible to shake off.

Who was that “someone else”?

The more he thought about it, the more certain he became. Otherwise, why would Xin Hai and the others run away at this crucial moment?

They must have known they hadn’t eliminated those people cleanly, leaving loose ends. Now that the matter was exposed, they fled in guilty panic.

These useless martial world fraudsters!

Zhang Huairu’s gaze was sinister and terrifying.

“Someone come! Seize Ji Laosan! Beat him to death with rods!”