Chapter 50

The guards came towards the carriage and scanned the two guards that held the reigns of the horses, a bit surprised at the cultivation level, showing the importance of passengers. They came closer and waited, not asking nor ordering around anyone, just waiting.

Shixuan slowly came out, already used to being the person that had to do the physical work. Qianyu might have left too, but he wasn't interested in strong people such as Shixuan was, so he just sat down and looked out, watching the scene.

Shixuan didn't show any deep respect and only bowed his head slightly, but then quickly looked up again, making it look more like a nod than a bow. The guards didn't really need to be respected, based off of their big brothers standing.

Looking indifferent, Shixuan simply said "The carriage includes two Junior Eunuchs and one Intermediate Eunuch, there are no strangers or any problems, we are returning."

The short answer irritated the youngest of the four imperial guards, about to speak up, but he was stopped by the one next to him. The oldest nodded as he cupped his hands towards the carriage and said, "I welcome back the Junior and Intermediate Eunuchs!"

Shixuan went back again, excited about the strength of the Imperial Guards. In all honesty, he didn't respect the Steward for being a servant at all, as he felt that the strength was wasted on someone that would never fight. The imperial guards were different, as they were guarding, no matter if they truly fought, they were always ready and their poses were full of strength.

…

The guards looked like the carriage was driving inside. Only now did the youngest guard, who was in his early thirties, ask "Why did you stop me? To enter the Inner Palace City, we have to check the carriage personally and look into what they are doing!"

The guard that stopped him before shook his head as he said "You have just become part of the gate guards, so you do not know. We have to do that to everyone, even if it was a Viscount, Ministry Director or Colonel, but you may never do that with the eunuchs.

They serve our country the most loyal, even more than we do. Just like us, they are brought up as orphans, but they lose… well, you know. We have the possibility of building a family one day and enter retirement, but for eunuchs, retirement just means they have less responsibilities, as they can never even leave the Eunuch Palace.

They see the Eunuch Palace Complex inside the Imperial Palace City as their only home, this gate might as well be called the outer yard of their home, how could we stop the residents from entering their own home? I am not only saying they are residents because they live, but because they truly can move around all the inner city with only exception being the High Palaces, and even that they may visit later on, or at least apply to do so.

There have been several cases of eunuchs being found just wandering around and accidentally enter somewhere they shouldn't have, and they were most of the time only reprimanded. Now tell me, with knowing all that, do you really dare stop them? If you did, you might as well join the border army voluntarily, at least then you might return healthy."

…

Ji Li slowly left the carriage, which then drove off, along with the guards. They have arrived at the Mission Palace and slowly went down the road towards the Eunuch Mission Hall. The mission was finished way earlier than one would have thought, but the audit team was already prepared.

They had called the Mission Palace ahead of time and told them they would be coming back, which was more than enough time as the Mission Hall always had several eunuchs that could become the audit team, as long as a main examiner was present.

The trio entered the Hall and went up a reception. Qianyu knew that he was the organiser and manager in their team, so he was the one to talk to the receptionist "Intermediate Eunuch Ji Li and the Junior Eunuchs Ji Shixuan and Ji Qianyu have finished their mission and are here to submit a report about the mission. We heard that the audit team has been informed, where should we go?"

Qianyu's imposing made the receptionist nervous as he hurriedly took a jade and sent the confirmation for the arrival of the team. Surprisingly, he actually got the response very quick, so he looked at Ji Li as he said, "Palace Eunuch Kuan has been assigned to audit your mission".

The receptionist presented Qianyu another jade slip, which was the key and tracking tool to find the room where the audit would be held. The Mission Hall was very large, so naturally there were many different audit rooms, and Ji Li went to one of the more private.

There were also some that were used for exams and such, but that was not the case here. The trio went up the stairs on the side, going up and seeing a large floor filled with eunuchs standing around and talking to each other or preparing for their exams and audits.

Ji Li walked forward until he was in front of a large door, which he pushed open and entered first, stopping his two brothers from stepping forward. Closing the door, Ji Li took a deep breath before he turned, where he saw a large table over ten metres away, while there was a single stone chair in the middle. This looked more like an interrogation that an audit.

That was the normal procedure for heavy cases, they would never lay hands on their own but the mental pressure one would experience often went beyond what your body could take. It would break you truly if you had done something wrong, while hardening your will if you were right.

Eunuchs were called stubborn for a reason, they might be softer spoken and not very active in debates or such, but if it came down to it, then they would be as cold and solid as a mountain peak in the winter, no one would be able to break their will.

This was the first time Ji Li experienced this, but he was taught by his elder brothers prior to such a situation, so he wasn't too unfamiliar with it. He went ahead and sat down, then looked ahead to see a eunuch sit in the middle and three more to each side.

The seven eunuchs looked coldly at Ji Li without saying anything. Other than the one in the middle, all the others looked like they were in their late forties or early fifties, while the central person was around the thirties, obviously looking younger because of his high cultivation, as one look at his light green robe with the Mission Palace's ornaments, which was a blackboard with white ink written on it.

The Palace Eunuch looked at the indifferent and cold Ji Li as he told him "Tell us how you proceeded with the mission after you were sent out".

Replying just as straightforward, Ji Li only summed up "I acted according to normal procedure.

First, I accepted the mission, went out with the guards and had a talk with them on the way, during which I taught them how to be quiet and not talk during the mission. The drive was without issue.

Once arrived, I firstly checked the Branch Yard before making plans for the recruitment, which included insult and shaming tactics. One of which was to give the town chief diarrhoea medicine, so he would not take too much of our time, which he proceeded to drink later on.

After some arrangements and checkups on the workshops, I realised that the whole clan could be recruited under the circumstances they were under, which I then did. The town chief accepted the offer to be recruited in exchange for a Nature's Gift, reason being the price as it was fair.

The competition was incited to expand the influence of the town after having recruited them, during which several talented ones came and joined the town. The plans for the competition have already been discussed with the town chief, to which he was very thankful.

After finishing the competition, I didn't stay too long and came back, only spending some time in the outer cities market to eat some, as we rushed here and missed eating." Ji Li put in a lie at the end, but that was fine. The details were left out, especially him recruiting a very talented young beast kin.

The eunuch naturally had tools to confirm the truth, and he was sure Ji Li knew it, so he was confused why Ji Li lied about not having eaten any breakfast, which made him chuckle in his mind. After all, he was still an old man with experience, so he naturally knew when someone was a foodie in secret.

The old man kept a straight face as he asked, "When and why has the steward of the Branch Yard been punished?" Even he forgot the name of the steward, Ji Li had never asked in the first place, but now it seemed like even the eunuch that had all the documents wasn't really interested.

The Palace Eunuch only wanted to end the case quickly, as he understood from the tools and the reaction of Ji Li already enough. Such behaviour was that of someone that was either very experienced in lying or truly was innocent, making it obvious from a mile away. Still, the regulations had to be followed, so he waited for Ji Li's answer.