Chapter 5

The April night carried a lingering chill. Yan Xi carefully unfolded a satin blanket and draped it over Wan Yi’s knees, her voice soft yet cautious.

“Your Majesty… it’s midnight.”

In Yan Xi’s memory, her queen had never stayed up this late. Even when the late emperor passed away, the empress dowager had eaten and slept as usual. She had spoken less for a time, surely mourning in her own way, but she had never let grief consume her.

Yet tonight, for the first time, Wan Yi neither ate nor slept—and all because of a mere eunuch from the Siyuan Bureau.

How could Wan Yi possibly sleep?

She knew that palace servants feared death and avoided working in Ning’an Palace whenever possible. That was no secret. But she had never encountered a servant as bold as Yao Xi—one who would rather die than obey.

Did the little eunuch want to die? She wouldn’t allow it.

Did he refuse to serve in her palace? Then she would make him.

It had always been the master who chose the servant—since when did a servant have the right to choose their master?

“Didn’t find him?” Wan Yi was truly afraid that the eunuch was dead. Otherwise, who would she vent her anger on?

Yan Xi replied, repeating the chief eunuch’s original words: “He is not in the Siyuan Bureau. The people there said that Yao Xi claimed to have come to Ning’an Palace for night duty and left early.” The Queen Mother despised eunuchs. Even the chief eunuch of Ning’an Palace wasn’t allowed to enter the Queen Mother’s room to deliver messages; she was the one who passed them on. As for why the Queen Mother hated eunuchs so much? That’s another story.

Many possibilities flashed through Wan Yi’s mind. Had the little eunuch escaped? Did he jump into the well and die? Had he encountered someone on his way and been punished?

On the last point, Wan Yi felt that it was very likely. With the eunuch’s reckless and ignorant nature, he might have offended a concubine with a bad temper, and something bad had happened. “Ask all the palaces. The gates were locked, and he couldn’t have escaped. How could a living person disappear out of thin air?”

“I obey your order,” Yan Xi said, feeling sorry for her master. She earnestly advised, “Why don’t you take a rest first? There’s no need to hurt yourself over a little servant.”

Wan Yi shook her head stubbornly.

She was feeling a bit complicated now—angry at being offended, unwilling to be rejected, and maybe a little worried? Her life had been too smooth. As a child, she was spoiled by her father, who loved her like his own life. As she grew up, she was spoiled by the late emperor, who had deeply adored her. Suddenly, a servant like Yao Xi appeared… Wan Yi had a strange desire to conquer him. She wanted to tame the little eunuch who had despised her so much.

The premise was that the little eunuch was still alive! Wan Yi couldn’t help but think of his face.

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Ding ding ding!

What Yao Xi heard was not the night watchman’s drum but the death knell of her life.

She felt along the palace wall in the dark, heading toward the area with dense lights. Yao Xi knew that unless the Queen Mother was a bodhisattva, she might still have a chance of survival. But it was clear that the Queen Mother was not. She had spoken against her superiors during the day and escaped from duty at night, disobeying the Queen Mother’s orders. With the Queen Mother’s temper, even if she had nine lives, they would not be enough to save her!

The lights were getting closer. Where there were lights, there were people. Yao Xi hoped to find someone to guide her to Ning’an Palace. Perhaps the queen had already gone to bed, and the steward at the gate hadn’t had time to report her absence? As long as she could stop the news from spreading, her life would be spared.

The palace was very quiet late at night. Yao Xi heard footsteps and voices. Just as she thought she had returned to the main palace road and was finally heading to Ning’an Palace, she heard her own name.

“That grandson, Yao Xi, is courting death and causing trouble for everyone in our Siyuan Bureau.”

“Tomorrow, it’s my turn to deliver something to the Shangshenjian. I haven’t been able to sleep for two days because of Yao Xi’s nonsense.”

“There’s no one living in that palace over there, so there’s no need to look for him, right?”

“Let’s wait and see. Take him to Ning’an Palace quickly so we can get some sleep. I’m worried that the Queen Mother can’t catch him and will vent her anger on the people in our Siyuan Bureau. If I get fined my monthly salary, I won’t be able to pay back the money I borrowed from my godfather last month.”

…

The two of them talked as they walked toward Yao Xi. Fortunately, no one lived in this palace, and the lanterns they carried didn’t shine far, so they didn’t see her.

Yao Xi realized it was too late to remedy the situation. The Queen Mother was sending people to arrest her. If she fell into the hands of the Queen Mother, death wouldn’t be the only consequence. The palace had many ways to torture people. Yao Xi had heard old eunuchs talk about some of these punishments, and compared to that, the pain of castration seemed mild.

Yao Xi shivered at the thought. She tiptoed into the darkness, seeking a quiet place to hang herself before being caught.

She needed to find a taller tree.

After passing through a shrubbery and climbing a slope in the dark, Yao Xi saw a pavilion with a lantern in the distance. The pavilion was built halfway up a mountain, and next to it stood a lush tree. If she stood on the pavilion’s railing, she could tie her belt to the tree. The tree seemed made for hanging.

When Yao Xi arrived at the pavilion, she was surprised to find a young woman there. Fine wine and delicacies were spread out on the table, and she was sitting there drinking alone. From her demeanor, it was clear she was someone important in the palace, but for some reason, no one was serving her.

Yao Xi was about to leave when she decided to ask for a drink. Maybe it would numb the pain of leaving. Normally, she wouldn’t have had the courage to do so, but once she had considered dying, she didn’t care about anything.

The woman in the pavilion seemed drunk. Her hands shook violently as she poured wine, spilling more onto the table than into her cup. Yao Xi walked into the pavilion and bowed to her: “I will serve you.”

Long Yi, startled, looked to the side with a drunken expression. A handsome eunuch took the wine pot and poured her a glass of wine steadily, then picked up the empty cup and poured himself a drink.

“Did I reward you with wine? Just drink it,” Long Yi said, holding her cheek with one hand and smiling incoherently.

“Master, please give me a cup of wine before I leave, considering that I am going to die soon.” Without waiting for Long Yi’s response, Yao Xi sat down on a stone bench and drank the wine in one gulp. The wine was sweet and mellow, leaving a lingering aftertaste. Yao Xi had never tasted anything so good, so she poured another cup and drank it.

“Hey! Leave some for me,” Long Yi said jokingly. He thought the eunuch was bold and funny. “You say you’re going to die soon? Did you commit a crime or are you sick?”

Yao Xi recounted how she had offended the Queen Mother.

Long Yi clapped his hands on the table and laughed: “Well done.”

Yao Xi was frightened by his words. She had gotten into trouble by speaking out. Now she couldn’t escape death and could only accept her fate. However, she couldn’t bear to see this young master get into trouble by talking carelessly after drinking. “Don’t be like me, talking without thinking. It would be terrible if someone overheard us. It’s not the Queen Mother’s fault. She’s been very kind to spare my life. It’s my fault for getting lost tonight.”

“Lost?” Long Yi thought this eunuch must be very foolish to get lost in the palace. No matter how big the palace was, he could have just stopped anyone and asked where he wanted to go. She was in the Moon Viewing Pavilion, and Ning’an Palace was in the opposite direction. It seemed this little eunuch was not very smart, and offending the Queen Mother was likely due to ignorance and fearlessness.

Yao Xi took a few bites of food and nodded, “I remember I took the original route, but it became more and more deserted, with no light at all, as though I was trapped in a ghostly wall that I couldn’t escape from. It was also because I rarely went to the palace to do errands, so I didn’t know which roads had been changed or which empress had moved to another palace.”

Long Yi’s heart tightened. Which road was changed? Indeed, a road had been altered. She had wanted to live in the palace for a while, accustomed to the spacious surroundings. So, she opened up two uninhabited palaces, and the road separating the two was naturally gone. Being a quiet person, and with that area being mostly uninhabited, there was little light there.

It seemed that it was her own fault the young eunuch missed his post. Long Yi talked for a while, and after enjoying the night breeze, she had sobered up a little. Seeing the young eunuch drinking with a sad face, Long Yi couldn’t help but ask, “What are your plans?”

“After eating and drinking, I’ll find a tree to hang myself. If I’m caught by the Queen Mother, I’ll suffer physical pain, and I’m afraid of the pain.” Yao Xi picked up the wine jug and found it empty. He poured it into the cup, but only one drop came out. That drop of wine was so crystal clear, it seemed like a tear falling from the jug to bid farewell.

Long Yi felt she was truly too drunk. She saw the eunuch speaking of death under the light. He looked so beautiful. His fair, translucent skin was covered with a faint glow, and his dark eyes were as calm as water. For a moment, Long Yi thought the person before her might be a fairy who had accidentally fallen into the mortal world. She had seen thousands of eunuchs, but the one before her was truly different from her usual impression.

“Perhaps the Queen Mother won’t bother with you?” Long Yi said this, though she didn’t believe it. Calling Wan Yi the Demon Queen might be an exaggeration, but it was certainly not untrue.

Yao Xi thought the young master before him must have just entered the palace. Before that, he had lived in seclusion and clearly had never heard of the Queen Mother. “A dying person’s words are kind,” Yao Xi sincerely advised. “You’d better avoid that person in the palace in the future. There aren’t many masters here as easy to talk to as you.”

Seeing the wine finished and the food cold, Yao Xi worried that the Queen Mother’s people might find this place. She stood up and said, “Thank you for the wine, my lord. I have to be on my way. I cannot delay any longer.” She had originally planned to end her life in this pavilion, but since there were people here, it wouldn’t be good to scare them, so she planned to go find another tree.

Long Yi truly admired how the eunuch could talk about death so calmly. At first, she thought he was just stepping out, but Long Yi knew the eunuch would never come back. “I’m drunk, and it’s dark and windy at night. I can’t go back alone. Please walk with me for a while!”

Yao Xi hesitated. Normally, she would send the man back after receiving the favor, but she feared running into the Empress Dowager’s men along the way. “I’m afraid the Empress Dowager’s people will capture me… If I don’t die now, it will be too late.”

This was the first time Long Yi had seen someone so eager to commit suicide. She steadied herself on the stone table and stood up shakily. “My palace is not far from the Moon Viewing Pavilion. If you run into the Queen Mother’s men on the way, just leave me behind and get out of the way, okay?”

Yao Xi, also fearing something might happen to this drunken young master, thought of it as accumulating merit for the next life. Perhaps she could be reborn into a good family in her next life. She raised her arms, bent her body, and said, “I will take the master back to the palace.”

Long Yi placed her hand on Yao Xi’s and smiled in thanks. “Thank you, eunuch.”