Chapter 75

Ji Shixuan, Ji Qianyu and Ji Li exited in their respective order. They had arrived at the main entrance of the Eunuch Ceremonial Hall, which was quite and emptier than usual. Their elder brothers had closed the Hall once again. It has become a habit for them to do so, this time they even announced it a day prior. It wasn't an issue, since important ceremonies had to be announced way ahead, while wandering eunuchs would only debate philosophically.

To not waste any precious time, the ceremony would start the instant they entered. A courier boy had already been sent out hours prior, telling them they would enter around 1pm, giving more than enough time to prepare for such a small occasion.

Ji Li entered first and walked slowly, his gaze steady on the emerald tree at the end of the hall. Music started to play in calm tones, mainly flutes made of the emerald tree's bark, filling the whole hall with much wood and nature energy. Shixuan and Qianyu entered after him, following his example and ignoring the few eunuchs to their sides.

They performed the rites they had learned prior. Ji Li personally didn't really see a difference; he went up to the three, greeted it and waited as he was blessed with a small spray of water. He felt his wood energy strengthen slightly, but it wasn't by much. The oath he gave was as always vowing to be sincere in serving the empire, etc. etc.

'I don't see why those mc's in the novels always refuse to take such oaths… it's not really binding, and if I one day become the powerhouse that reins the empire, I am basically serving myself sincerely. Okay I get it; they are adventurous and allat… but really? Some of them are either too paranoid or… well don't have the luck of being born in one. Yeah right, I also would have left if I was going to serve a minor kingdom; well, I serve and will someday control the largest empire of the whole world.'

Finishing everything, Ji Li went to the side as Shixuan and Qianyu did the same rites. He knew that some of the eunuchs that were watching were emotional. That wasn't the case for his brothers, they were properly educated by him, after all. As for those eunuchs watching? From their robes, they ranged from Intermediate Eunuch to Head Eunuch, probably sent by their respective factions the moment they heard of three eunuchs making a special ceremony.

As the last of his brothers came to the side, Ji Li wondered why they were waiting, when the door opened and his mentor, the one he hadn't seen for quite some time, someone he… if he was honest, truly missed. Since their real age difference wasn't big and he was always being treated like an equal… it was like losing a close friend.

Naturally his brothers were his brothers, and this was a whole different story, but he was the first and probably one of the rare few close friends he would have. Hua Jing went down the hallway, looking as elegant as can be. Doing the vow and some other rites that were important, he was officially declared Senior Eunuch; Ji Li knew that his teacher wasn't far away from one, but to thing he would get it the moment he was eligible for it, just like his mentor's mentor!

'Yeah right… I had not heard from Eunuch Lei Lin at all. Honestly, we never got to be close since I was young and he was… well, too old and too busy. He should be here somewhere, right?'

As he looked, he spotted a middle-aged looking eunuch. Ji Li had not pain attention prior to this because… the eunuch had the robes of a palace eunuch! Additionally, he had the symbol of the Noble's Hall that was part of the Ministry of Management, it was a fair bit away from the Eunuch Palace Complex, and there wasn't really any reason for them to meet.

The middle-aged man seemed to spot someone glancing at him. When he saw that it was Ji Li, he instantly smiled, but didn't say anything else. The rites were still going on for a bit, until finally Hua Jing stepped aside. There was one ceremony that would happen later, the city-lord ceremony. But it had nothing to do with the eunuchs, so they would do it after everyone left.

Ji Li, Shixuan, Qianyu, Hua Jing, Lei Lin, Yu Bao and Yu Wei soon entered a backroom as the other eunuchs congratulated. They would take some private time while the other eunuchs would talk among each other till they left too.

It wasn't uncommon to behave like that; eunuchs had no real reason to engage politically with each other and behaved more like neighbours that always greet you, sometimes invite you to them, but there were no close feelings to each other. That wasn't bad at all, as it meant that on a basis, every eunuch saw each other as an acquaintance they could contact at any given time.

…

In the private room, Ji Li and his brothers instantly rushed towards their mentor and hugged him. He hugged them back and naturally laughed at their sudden jump. They knew each other and Ji Li especially felt close to him, like a child he adopted… he knew that Ji Li was more mature and never saw it that way, but that didn't matter to him; he was just happy taking care of him.

Shixuan and Qianyu saw Hua Jing as an uncle that was always there to guide them. The elder brothers and palace eunuch waited at the side, giving them a minute. Everyone took some time to make some light greetings and congratulations.

Ji Li finally spoke what he and his brothers wondered about all the time "Mentor… where have you been? I… We missed you! We thought that something happened to you."

Hua Jing shook his head as he patted each of them on their shoulder "Oh my, I should have told you something… but everything was too sudden. I was at the military camp with Tian Xuan. It wouldn't have been too late to depart, but suddenly, the situation at the southern border heated and I decided to stay and give some support.

As you know, we are in a constant war with the Warmonger Tribes south of us, the culture of Orcs, Goblins and Trolls make it difficult to settle down fully and stop fighting, their land is arable and the core tribes use it too, while the less popular tribes have to fight for the few left-overs, the weakest tribes fight us in the north and the Bandit Junta in the south.

Standing between two strong countries, they can only keep at constant war with one, which, is of course, us, as the Bandit Junta consists of countless bandit groups governed by the council of warlords. Even if they are a country just as military-focused as the Warmonger Tribes, they are still weaker than us.

We are not just stronger but also larger and more prosperous, since our fighting force is split into the four armies and the central marine, it is more than ideal to attack us. Yet in the past, the twenty Grand Marshals under the Southern Commander have managed the border quite well.

Recently the Bandit Junta has decided to put serious pressure on the southern part of the Tribes, forcing them to retreat south and advance north. It is not at a point where it's too serious, but it still causes a shift in the battlefield. The Ministry of War and the Military took action and strengthened their borders once more, so there is no need for worry."

Ji Li listened attentively and asked some more questions; he was curious about the wars in this world. He had naturally heard of the things his mentor mentioned.

The only thing that truly made him think was the reason for the Bandit Juta to suddenly force back the Warmonger Tribes. It was true that their country was very bleak and consisted of mainly sand, with a few oases, but their population was equally small so there was no reason to fight for food. Not only that, he heard that just a few decades ago, they had started building up more harbours; shouldn't that indicate that they had more than enough food?

Well, it didn't matter too much. He was still of much lower rank, there was no reason for him to think too much of all those things, the higher ups would know what to do. He was having a very good day, and it was barely past two when they did the ceremony for Rong Xi.

Finished with that too, he spent the rest of the afternoon with his mentors. They eventually even went and ate dinner together in the Trade Pavilion; it was a private room, so Ji Li ate to his hearts content, not embarrassed in the least, they all knew he was like that.

As evening came, they still sat and relaxed in the luxurious private room. Ji Li was sad; he would already leave the next day. It felt rushed, and it was, but he had barely lost the energy of being treated like a child for the past years of his new life.

He was never this impatient to do something; but living suffocatingly for 16 years, he needed to let go of all this energy, till he could finally get back his peace. The whole thing with Ferrarius Town had expended his mental energy a bit… but not nearly enough.