Chapter Eighteen: Schemes and Intrigue

“You certainly know how to climb...”
Chief Steward Huang chuckled and scolded, “If I truly took you as my adopted son, I fear eight out of ten eunuchs in this palace would have to call you godfather.”
Xu Boqing sighed inwardly at how people here failed to catch on to jokes, and replied awkwardly, “That would be gaining an extra generation for no reason.”
“The task I want you to do is not something an ordinary person can accomplish, nor is it suitable to be tied to me. Let’s not bring it up again...”
“Yes.”
Chief Steward Huang saw his understanding and smiled, “So you’ve decided to follow me?”
“I have decided.”
“Don’t you wonder what I want you to do?”
“I am curious, but I know not to ask what shouldn’t be asked.”
Xu Boqing shook his head as he spoke, explaining, “Without your rescue, my life would have ended here. I have no way to repay your kindness... Whatever you ask me to do, I will do.”
Chief Steward Huang nodded slightly and asked, “If I told you to commit crimes punishable by death, to annihilate entire clans, would you do it?”
Anything for the future could be negotiated.
Xu Boqing nodded without hesitation, “I would!”
“Haha, very good, very good. Matters of losing your head won’t fall to you...”
Chief Steward Huang’s wrinkled face smiled, reassuring, “All you need to do is follow me honestly, don’t ask what shouldn’t be asked, don’t do what shouldn’t be done.”
With that, he flicked his finger lightly.
Xu Boqing watched as a burst of force shot from his fingertip, and immediately felt his limbs loosen—the hemp ropes binding him had instantly shattered.
Force breaking through the body!
Martial arts, innate realm!
In the memories of the original owner, his second uncle had practiced martial arts since childhood, yet barely managed to step into the acquired realm; as for the innate realm, it was said there were fewer than ten such masters in all of the martial world of Great Liang.
Unexpectedly, this old eunuch before him was one of those rare experts!
“You’ve got good fortune, boy, and a valuable asset.”
Danfeng appeared with a set of azure eunuch robes from who knows where, tossed them before him, and said meaningfully, “Put this on. From now on, you’re a eunuch. Do you understand?”
“Understood! I... I understand!”
Xu Boqing could not fail to grasp the implication, hurriedly threw aside the rough cloth covering him, and donned the eunuch’s robes.
Soon, in the silkworm chamber of the cleansing room, Xu Boqing’s figure had vanished, replaced by an azure-clad false eunuch.
“Not bad.”

Chief Steward Huang nodded slightly at the sight, saying, “My name is Huang Xingxian, Chief Steward of the Inner Servants in the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility. From now on, you are under my authority. Address me as Chief Steward Huang.”
Xu Boqing recalled the bow made earlier by the young eunuch, imitated it, and saluted, “Greetings, Chief Steward Huang.”
Chief Steward Huang saw that he was sharp-minded, switching his manner of address without needing instruction, and nodded with satisfaction.
He then glanced at Danfeng, his expression calm, “I’ll take this man. You can handle the rest yourself?”
“Rest assured, Chief Steward Huang.”
Danfeng smiled sinisterly, “I’m not some naive youngster. I’ll clean up this little mess, and by tomorrow, not a fourth person will know of it.”
“Very well.”
Chief Steward Huang nodded; he knew this old associate was not one for indecision, so he said no more and led Xu Boqing out of the cleansing room...
Xu Boqing was curious about the palace’s structure, but valued his life more, so he kept his head bowed and followed obediently behind Chief Steward Huang.
“Can you read?”
Not only can I read, I can recite literature as well.
Xu Boqing muttered inwardly, “I can.”
Although his future was uncertain, not knowing whether fortune or calamity awaited, at least now his life and reputation were preserved—surely a good thing.
“There are many rules in the palace. Once we return to the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility, I’ll arrange for you to learn them.”
Chief Steward Huang paused, then said, “As always, do not look where you shouldn’t, do not ask what you shouldn’t, do not do what you shouldn’t. Be steady; when opportunity comes, I’ll remind you.”
“I understand.”
By the time they reached the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility, dusk had fallen.
Chief Steward Huang arranged a room for him to rest in, sent an old eunuch with a few sets of clean clothing, gave some instructions, and departed.
Xu Boqing lay on the bed without even removing his clothes, hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling. Thinking over the events of the day, he felt as if it were all a dream.
He had come to the capital to seek his second uncle, only to learn that his uncle’s entire family had been imprisoned by the mad emperor. Then he himself had been taken to the dungeon of the Inspection Department for extortion.
Then, in a moment of desperation, he tried to outwit but ended up offending the Eastern Bureau’s dead eunuch, leading to his delivery to the cleansing room...
He thought his happiness in this life was gone, but by a twist of fate, Chief Steward Huang took notice of him, and he emerged from the cleansing room unscathed, arriving at the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility.
His day’s experience felt more interesting than the tales told by storytellers...
He calmed himself, let the tension slip away, and found his mind exhausted. He meant to rest, but sleep eluded him, and his thoughts kept turning...
What could be Chief Steward Huang’s purpose in rescuing him?
Who was the master of the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility?
Affairs of the palace rarely spread to the common folk, and were generally taboo—after all, speaking rashly about the royal family was a serious crime.
Xu Boqing frowned in contemplation. He knew the mad emperor resided in the Palace of Heavenly Purity; the empress in the Palace of Earthly Tranquility...

The Palace of Compassion and Tranquility sounded familiar, but he couldn’t recall where he’d heard it before.
Yet... analyzing carefully—
His current identity was that of a ‘false eunuch,’ with the emphasis on ‘false.’ In such an important place as the imperial palace, if this were discovered, it would be a crime of deceiving the sovereign...
Losing his head would be the least of his worries...
The old eunuch in the cleansing room had once commented on his appearance.
Nowadays, eunuchs held great power, and Chief Steward Huang was the head eunuch of the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility. He had saved him and now had him pretend to be a eunuch at his side.
Hiss... Could it be...
Xu Boqing suddenly thought of something, his face changed and he drew a sharp breath. Was Chief Steward Huang a scheming ‘zero’?
That would be terrifying...
No, no...
He recalled in detail the interactions with Chief Steward Huang from the cleansing room to the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility.
Though a eunuch, Chief Steward Huang had a dignified presence, lacking the sinister aura of the Eastern Bureau’s Lord Li, and was quite amiable.
His second uncle had said that to reach the innate realm in martial arts, one needed exceptional temperament, insight, and perseverance.
Such a person...
How could he be a scheming ‘zero’?
Ruling out that possibility, what then was Chief Steward Huang’s purpose in rescuing him?
If one followed the plotlines of novels from his previous life, perhaps Chief Steward Huang had found a skill only a real man could practice, and wanted him as an experiment...
But that couldn’t be; if any real man could do it...
Why would it fall to him, Xu Gen-shuo?
Chief Steward Huang was the chief eunuch of the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility—perhaps it was related to the master of that palace?
Compassion and Tranquility, both gentle words; surely the master was a woman. Among women living in the palace, could it be a concubine of the harem?
Or perhaps...
An unmarried princess?
Xu Boqing’s eyes lit up as he pondered, thinking that tomorrow, when he learned the rules, he must find out who the master of this palace was...