Chapter 107 – Why am I a eunuch?

Translator: Rin    Editor: Mars    Proofreader: Ume

In the twelfth year of Emperor Yuan’s reign, Prime Minister Old Lu was imprisoned for corruption. More than 60 members of his family, no matter old or young, were all involved. The prime minister’s house was sealed up, and all family property was confiscated and returned to the state treasury.

At that time, Queen Shuyan was the daughter of Prime Minister Lu. After hearing the news, she rushed to Qianhe Palace to plead for her father. The emperor avoided seeing her and dismissed all pleas for Old Lu.

Prime Minister Lu was over seventy years old. As he could not bear the rough treatment of forced confessions in prison, he died of illness in prison within five days. Before his death, he used blood as ink to write a denunciation of the emperor in prison.

After the death of the prime minister, the emperor issued a decree that more than 60 members of the Lu family were exiled outside the gorge pass and could never return to Beijing.

When Queen Shuyan heard this, she was so angry that she ignored everyone’s dissuasion and had a violent conflict with the emperor. Later, the emperor banned her from leaving the palace using the reason of recovering from illness.

The queen was so sad and angry that she hanged herself in the palace on the emperor’s birthday.

The queen committed suicide in the palace, which made the emperor furious. He believed that her behavior was a curse on himself and brought shame to the royal family. He ordered everyone who was on duty in the queen’s palace to be executed that day, and announced that the queen had died of illness.

The 16-year-old prince Xiao Qiheng was training in the army outside the border. It was seven days after the death when he received the news from Beijing. He was intercepted by the enemy on the way back on his horse. Unfortunately, he and his horse fell off the cliff. Fortunately, he was able to escape as his confidants came to the rescue.

The prince was rescued and brought back to the palace. His legs were seriously injured and became disabled. He could no longer walk upright and became half a cripple.

The young and vigorous Crown Prince learned from others that there was a secret behind the death of his mother, and asked the emperor in public what the truth was. The emperor was furious and ordered that he be imprisoned in the Qinghe Palace, and no one was allowed to intercede.

The prime minister had fallen, the queen had passed away, and the power of the entire court had undergone tremendous changes in a short period of time. Although the prince was not deposed, his legs were disabled and he was imprisoned, making him no different from a cripple.

As the saying goes, when a tree falls, the monkeys disperse. The party members headed by the prince in the past dispersed and defected to other princes one after another.

Time flew by, and six years passed in the blink of an eye.

Qinghe Palace was deserted and no one cared about it. It seemed that even the emperor had almost forgotten that he had such a son.

……

……

Qinghe Palace.

Following the sound of hurried footsteps, a plump middle-aged Sister ¹ Old lady who still works in the palace. stepped into the outer palace and waved to the young man on duty in the bedroom: “Guard Zhao.”

Zhao Qing walked over and asked in a low voice: “Sister Zhou, what’s the matter? Why are you walking in such a hurry?”

Sister Zhou whispered a few words, and Zhao Qing frowned: “When did it happen?”

“I just discovered it, the person has been dead for a while.” Sister Zhou said.

Zhao Qing was just about to speak when a slight noise came from the bedroom. He waved his hand to indicate to Sister Zhou to wait outside, then turned and walked back into the room.

He walked to the large carved bed that was covered by the curtain, bent down, and said softly: “Your Highness, Xiao Zhuozi who’s serving you accidentally slipped and fell into the lake and drowned.”

“Drown?”

A slightly hoarse but slightly gloomy male voice came from the curtain: “Call someone to replace him.”

“This subordinate will make arrangements now.”

After Zhao Qing finished speaking, he withdrew, closed the door, and said to Sister Zhou who was waiting on the side: “Sister Zhou, His Highness is getting ready. Instruct someone to come and take care of him.”

“Ay!” Sister Zhou responded. She didn’t leave immediately but hesitated to speak.

“Sister Zhou, please speak up if you have anything to say.” Zhao Qing said.

“Xiao Zhuozi is gone. Xiao Luzi who was serving His Highness with him still hasn’t come back from collecting the bituminous coal. Only Xiao Lizi is left. He is still young, and he used to do random chores in the yard. I’m afraid that he doesn’t know the right ways and will annoy His Highness.” Sister Zhou sighed, “The only ones left are me and Cui Ya. It’s just that His Highness the Crown Prince doesn’t like women getting close to him, so it’s hard for me to go in and serve him.”

A few months ago, Sister Zhou had applied to Jingsi and Lanfang, who were in charge of the eunuchs and maids in the palace, to send a few more useful people, but the lead eunuch and sisters on both sides refused on the grounds of lack of manpower after the palace had just selected a new batch of girls to enter the palace, and they were assigned to serve in each room.

“Ay, I’ll call him right now.”

After speaking, Sister Zhou left quickly.

Zhao Qing returned to the palace and told the prince about Sister Zhou’s reaction. In contrast, the prince was much calmer: “This is not surprising. Although Gu ² Gu is how a prince calls himself in ancient China. has the position of a prince, I don’t have the real power of a prince. Maybe one day even this title of ‘prince’ will be taken away”

Zhao Qing was shocked: “Your Highness…”

“No need to say anything.” The prince interrupted, “Send someone to come over and serve.”

“Sister Zhou has already gone over to call for someone, but…” Zhao Qing relayed what Sister Zhou said, “The little eunuch who does random chores doesn’t know how to handle this well. I’m afraid he might disturb you, why not this subordinate…”

“It doesn’t matter, you have more important things to do. The top priority is to finish the things I asked you to do.” The prince ordered, “Go ahead.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” When Zhao Qing heard this, he said no more, said goodbye, and left.

…

……

When Jiang Li regained consciousness, he felt a little dizzy and his whole body felt sticky. He stretched out his hand to rub his eyes and slowly opened them.

At this time, he was lying sideways, covered with a stiff old blanket, and his vision was a little blurry. After blinking a few times, it gradually became clear.

There was a window made of paper in front of him. Although it was closed tightly, he could still hear the sound of the wind blowing on the paper making a clapping sound.

Paper window?

Jiang Li was stunned and looked around.

It was a very simple room. In addition to four wooden beds, there were also square tables, chairs, and cabinets of the same color.

These objects were both familiar and strange to him, like the ancient houses used to film ancient dramas before. Not only the doors and windows but also the roof above his head were made of wood.

Could it be that… I have traveled to the ancient times this time?

Jiang Li was about to get out of bed and take a look outside. Suddenly there was a knock on the door, and the wooden door was opened from the outside. A woman about fifty years old walked in and saw him still lying on the bed. She said: “Xiao Lizi, why are you still lying on the bed? His Royal Highness needs someone to take care of him, so you should hurry up and pack up.”

His Royal Highness.

As soon as he heard this title, Jiang Li knew that his guess was correct, but he still didn’t know which dynasty he had traveled to and what role he was playing here.

However, as someone who has experienced three world missions, he quickly reacted and responded: “I know, I’ll get up right away.”

“Hurry up!” Sister Zhou warned, then turned to leave.

“Wait a minute.” Jiang Li stopped her, “May I ask where His Royal Highness is currently?”

“Of course he’s in his bedroom. Did the fever burn your brain?” Upon hearing that he didn’t even know the whereabouts of His Royal Highness, Sister Zhou walked over worriedly, reached out and touched his forehead, and found that it was still a little hot. However, it was much better than the previous night, so she said, “It seems that the fever has gone down. That’s good. Let’s go and serve His Majesty the Crown Prince’s meal first. Come to the kitchen later when you are free. I’ll leave some soup for you to recuperate.”

Although Jiang Li didn’t know who this woman was yet, he could tell from her tone and actions that she cared about him, so he said, “Thank you, Sister. Please wait for me for a moment. I’ll change my clothes right away and follow you.”

“Hurry up.” After saying this, Sister Zhou left the house and closed the door for him.

Jiang Li got up from the bed. Because of the fever, half of the clothes on his body were already wet. It was uncomfortable sticking to his body, so he simply took them off. Halfway through, his hands stopped suddenly, feeling something was wrong.

He took off his pants to his knees, reached out and touched his crotch, and his face suddenly turned pale after touching an important part.

He realized something was not only a little wrong, but something was very wrong.

“Lord host, are you okay?”

Just when he was extremely shocked, System’s voice suddenly sounded in his head, making him startled: “Little cutie? You weren’t locked up in the small black room this time?”

“Not at the moment.” System’s voice sounded a little thankful, “Are you okay?”

“…Not good.” Jiang Li pressed his eyebrows, feeling pain in his head, and couldn’t calm down, “Why am I…a eunuch?”

He almost said the word through gritted teeth.

Although he once played the role of a eunuch, it was just an act and not a real eunuch. Now that he was a real eunuch, as a man, it was really difficult for him to accept.

“Um…” System said apologetically, “I’m very sorry, each world is randomly selected.”

Jiang Li sneered: “Is the creator of this game a eunuch?”

“Lord host, please be careful about what you say…”

At this time, Sister Zhou’s voice came from outside again, asking him if he had finished changing his clothes.

Jiang Li responded, “Almost,” and didn’t bother worrying about being a eunuch. He went to the cabinet to get a set of eunuch’s clothes, and while changing them, he said, “Forget it, let’s first transfer the background of this world and the memory of the original host to me.”

“OK.”

Soon, the background about the world was transmitted to his mind.

It was a dynasty that history does not have. It was called the Yuan Dynasty. The emperor was named Xiao Yuanzhong. It was the 22nd anniversary of the founding of the dynasty.

After receiving the background of the dynasty, Jiang Li began to receive the memory of his body.

The original host was only fourteen years old that year. His name was Xiao Lizi, which is very suitable for a young eunuch. He was sent to the palace by his relatives when he was seven years old.

His parents died of illness when he was young, and his uncle secretly sold him to the palace as a eunuch under the pretext of adoption.

He originally had a dull personality and was not good at flattery. He used to do dirty and tiring work in the kitchen but was later transferred to Qinghe Palace. Seeing that he was young, Sister Zhou took more care of him.

There were three eunuchs in Qinghe Palace. The other two were several years older than him. They had several more years of seniority, so they ordered him here and there and scolded him from time to time.

A few days previously, the original host was pushed into the lake by Xiao Zhuozi and suffered from a cold. When he came back, he developed a fever. He asked Sister for leave to rest in the house. Unexpectedly, he fell asleep and never woke up again.

After receiving the memory of his original host, Jiang Li also finished changing his clothes. He walked out of the room quickly and went to His Royal Highness’s bedroom with Sister Zhou.

Arriving outside the bedroom hall, Sister Zhou knocked on the door and said, “Your Highness, I have brought someone to serve you.”

A voice came from the room: “Come in.”

Sister Zhou opened the door and took Jiang Li in. After passing the side hall, the two of them walked to the bed that was covered by a curtain. A hand reached out from inside and slowly lifted the curtain.

At the same time, Jiang Li heard Sstem reminding him in his mind: “Lord host, please pay attention. The male lead has appeared. Please prepare your strategy.”

Considering that the male leads in the first three worlds were all his lovers, when Jiang Li heard this, he subconsciously looked up and inadvertently met the eyes of the person behind the curtain.

It was a pair of eyes that were emotionless and extremely cold.

• 1
  Old lady who still works in the palace. ↩︎
• 2
  Gu is how a prince calls himself in ancient China. ↩︎