Chapter 03 – Castration

The last and only time Yong Ping saw Yue Ya’er, her face was still round and had not matured. His mother-in-law, Madam Zhen, was also white, chubby, and round.

At that time, he was worried that Yue Ya’er would grow up as chubby as Madam Zhen. He did not want a chubby wife. His father promised him, “When your mother-in-law was young, she was very handsome, and people from all over the country came to ask for her hand in marriage. If it wasn’t for your father-in-law’s good looks, how could he marry your mother-in-law and learn the Zhen family’s spear technique from her? Believe me, when Yue Ya’er grows up, she will definitely be a beauty.”

Yue Ya’er ate the honeycomb candy he bought, and her red lips were stained with powdered sugar. She promised him, “Big Brother Lian Yi, don’t worry, Yue Ya’er will do her best to look good!”

He knocked on her head, “Alright. Let’s make it clear, I don’t want an ugly wife.”

“Hmph!” Yue Ya’er licked the sugar on her fingers, “Yue Ya’er is not ugly!”

“Yes, Yue Ya’er is not ugly.” He laughed, “Yue Ya’er is the most handsome one.”

Yue Ya’er smiled, and her eyes curved like two crescent moons.

He thought they would meet again in the future, but he did not expect that that would be the only time they met.

What did such a noble person like the crown prince have to do with a small family like them? None at all. But when a noble person flapped his wings and brushed against a small person like them, it became a hurricane, shattering their lives in an instant.

If the emperor lived too long, it might not be a good thing for the country or the family.

When the crown prince passed away, he was already forty-seven years old, and the crown grandson was already twenty-five.

The crown prince was born of Empress Yuan of Emperor Jing Shun. He was the legitimate and eldest, had a noble character, a calm temperament, and treated people with leniency. He was an ideal heir for his own father. Unfortunately, he could not outlive his own father.

When the crown prince passed away, the court immediately split up. Some wanted to make the crown grandson who had already grown up be the crown prince, while others wanted to make another prince the crown prince. Leading to an unresolvable conflict.

However, Emperor Jing Shun remained calm and collected. He sought advice from Buddha and asked the Dao, and also opened the furnace to refine pills. He allowed the court elders to beat their brains out, but he did not choose the crown prince.

The court was in turmoil. Everyone wanted to have the merit of supporting the emperor. They all wanted to climb to the highest and most noble position or push their patron into that position.

The fight for the throne was always accompanied by bloodshed and death.

So, when the crown prince’s family went boating on the lake, the boat sank. This drastic measure directly cut off the crown prince’s faction’s lifeline.

However, the princes’ faction was not united either. There were too many princes. Emperor Jing Shun had appointed five empresses, but none of them had outlived him. Yet, each empress had given birth to sons, each of whom was a legitimate heir and was noble.

After the complete annihilation of the legitimate crown grandson’s family, the legitimate princes began to fight in the shadows. The emperor was still cultivating calmly, agonizing over the lack of better poetry. The memorials asking for the establishment were piled up on the imperial table, but they were never approved.

The undercurrent had accumulated for a long time, and it was bound to erupt.

In the forty-fifth year of Jing Shun’s reign, the emperor was ill for several months. For a time, he could not get up and looked like he was about to die. Prince Lu finally could not hold it in and jumped up. However, he was soon defeated.

When the old emperor appeared in the imperial court again, he looked extremely well. Many people even wondered if he had really been ill or not, but no one dared to say it out loud.

Prince Lu’s rebellion was quickly suppressed, but the implications were widespread and long-lasting. Seven princes were implicated. Some committed suicide to atone for their sins, some were given white silk and poisoned wine, and some were demoted to commoners. As for the people below them, there was no need to mention how many of them were beheaded, their families broken up, and even their entire families were killed.

The word “widespread” covered Huo Jue’s entire life.

Two years ago, when Huo Jue woke up, he felt that he had lost feeling between his legs. It was actually excessive pain that made him numb.

Yue Ya’er’s father and brother were by his side.

“Lian Yi, tUncle can only do this much for you,” his father-in-law said with tears in his eyes, “You have to live.”

His brother-in-law, Yue Ya’er’s elder brother, personally took care of him, fed him, and scrubbed him to prevent him from dying of infection. Not everyone who was castrated could survive. Those who were castrated were all sinners. In the dirty prison, many died of infection.

From his brother-in-law’s nagging, he knew that his parents and brothers were all dead. He was able to survive because his in-laws valued friendship and righteousness. Yue Ya’er’s father took out almost all of his family’s savings to save his life.

In order to save him, they even sold the dowry they had saved for Yue Ya’er.

“Your father saved me back then, so I have to protect you no matter what.” The father-in-law said, “But Lian Yi, Yue Ya ‘er is my daughter …”

He understood. With a hoarse voice, he said, “Uncle, don’t say anymore. Give it to me.”

He handed over the annulment letter and pressed his fingerprint on it without hesitation.

From then on, he no longer had any relationship with Hui Niang of the Wen Family, known as Yue Ya’er by her nickname.

At this time, people finally understood that the Emperor … did not want to appoint a Crown Prince at all.

He was an old man with wrinkled skin and white hair, and he felt nothing but hatred and jealousy when he saw his sons in their prime and his grandsons in their youth. Only the newborn princes in the palace who had not yet grown up could win his favor.

He didn’t want a crown prince or any heir at all. He only wanted to live forever. He asked the heavens for another five hundred years and stubbornly believed that he could do it. Anyone who coveted his throne deserved to die.

After this great purge, the princes and imperial grandsons all became well-behaved. The courtiers also quieted down. Whoever dared to mention ‘establishing an heir’ would be praised as a ‘true loyalist’. It was just that the fate of the loyalists was usually not very good, so no one wanted to be one.

It was not worth it.

As for him, after he survived, he was sent to the Changsha Prefecture. Prince Xiang was a vassal in the Changsha Prefecture. He was a servant in Prince Xiang’s Manor and was given a new name by his master, called Yong Ping.

Just like Xiao An and Kang Shun, a name that made it clear they were slaves.

Huo Jue and Huo Lianyi no longer existed in this world.

“Brother, shall we go?” Xiao An’s shout pulled him out of his memories.

Huo Jue took the reins, mounted his horse, and looked ahead. That was the place they were going to return to. It was also the direction where ‘Miss Wen’ had been heading, the direction to the Changsha Prefecture.

What was she doing here? Was she going to the Changsha Prefecture?

Was she going to the Changsha Prefecture… to look for him?

Huo Jue tightened his grip on the reins. He looked up and said in a deep voice, “Let’s go!”

Xiao An had been castrated since he was young. He had never experienced a change in voice that was a necessary path of growing up. His voice was much sharper than an ordinary boy’s. Relatively speaking, those who had changed their voices and only castrated themselves after they became adults had a much more normal voice.

However, Huo Jue felt that his voice had become thinner and thinner in the past two years. There was no longer facial hair growing under his chin. Unlike before, when he would grow a beard if he did not shave for two days.

Huo Jue was afraid that when he grew old in the future, he would look like an old woman. He had seen those old eunuchs in the Prince Xiang Manor before. Their bodies were bent, their skin was wrinkled, and they had no beard under their chin. They no longer had teeth, and their mouths were dry. They did look like an old woman.

Respectable and wealthy old eunuchs could retire in comfort. Those without dignity, money, or relatives were sent to the corners of the Prince’s Mansion and forbidden to appear in front of the nobles.

This was to prevent their indescribable smell from tainting the nobles’ noses.

This fear lingered in Huo Jue’s heart. Therefore, when he walked, he would straighten his shoulders and back, deliberately lowering his voice when he spoke to make his voice sound no different from other real men’s.

He also changed and washed more frequently than others. He insisted on using incense on his undergarments.

Not long after he arrived at Prince Xiang Manor, he thought of a way to gain the favor of the nobles and was promoted. With dignity, he had the conditions to do so.

However, Huo Jue understood that he was no longer a man.

He could avoid the death penalty, but he could not escape punishment. The price of saving his life was the mutilation of his body. Without the most crucial part, how could he still be considered a man?

Therefore, when Yue Ya’er’s father handed over the letter of annulment, he did not hesitate to press his fingerprint.

He was no longer someone’s son who could carry on the family line. It was impossible for him to become someone’s husband who could continue the family line. He had already become another kind of creature in the world.

This kind of deformed and incomplete creature was called a eunuch by the world.

Or a castrated dog.

Thinking about it, Yueya should have grown into a young woman by now. She should have a graceful figure, but her face would still be youthful. She should be … like Miss Wen.

Huo Jue could not be sure because, in his memory, Yue Ya and Madam Zhen were both rounded, but Miss Wen’s face was beautiful and elegant, making it difficult to overlap them.

He walked in the direction of Miss Wen. In his heart, he wanted to see that girl again, but he was also afraid of seeing her again.

Because in his heart, in this short period of time, he had already regarded her as Yue Ya’er.

He longed for her to be Yue Ya’er, but he was also afraid that she was really Yue Ya’er.

Yue Ya’er was once his fiancée. Once.

It was proof that he was once a man. Once.

But now, it was nothing.

Fortunately, on the way to Changsha Prefecture, they met some passersby, but they did not see Miss Wen again.

Xiao An could not help but mutter.

Kang Shun asked, “What are you muttering about?”

Xiao An could not hold it in and said, “Miss Wen is also walking in the direction of Changsha Prefecture, right? I was wondering why I couldn’t see her. Does her horse run so fast? We should also leave earlier.”

Or did she go in another direction at the intersection?

Xiao An was also annoyed with himself. He was usually smart when talking to anyone, but why did he act stupid when talking to Miss Wen? He let her go without asking where she was going.

The sun was slightly slanted, and the temperature of the sun was not as hot as in the afternoon. When they reached a fork in the road and saw the milestone, they knew that they were only dozens of miles away from Changsha Prefecture. Here was their territory. They were very familiar with the official road. The official road was familiar, and they knew where there was water, grass, and people’s houses.

“There’s a small river over there,” Kang Shun said. “Let the horses rest.”

The group of people went down the official road and headed towards the water. Before they reached the riverbank, they saw a chestnut horse with its reins down, drinking water leisurely by the riverbank. A young girl holding a long stick and sat on a large rock by the riverbank. She was staring blankly at the water’s surface.

Wasn’t she Miss Wen whom they had been talking about?

Xiao An was overjoyed and rushed out as soon as he pulled the reins, “Miss Wen! So you’re here.”

The girl turned her head and stood up.

Huo Jue gripped the reins tightly and looked at the young face from afar.