Chapter 230: Prince and Eunuch

"Prince, there's no need to waste words with this eunuch; let me take him down directly!" Situ Qing waved his knife at Zhou Ke, saying, he seemed to have forgotten that Zhang Gonggong was a Sevenfold Heaven expert.

But Zhou Ke hadn't forgotten; he reached out to block Situ Qing, "Don't be reckless... retreat quickly!"

"Prince!"

"Retreat quickly!" Zhou Ke shouted.

Situ Qing had no choice but to sheath his knife and retreat behind Zhou Ke; he knew Zhou Ke never repeated himself thrice, so he suppressed his anger and replied, "Yes."

"Heh, Prince, you have great courage." Zhang Gonggong laughed, saying, he didn't even put Situ Qing in his eyes; if Situ Qing had dared to charge forward just now, it would undoubtedly result in another corpse on the ground, "May we sit down and talk?"

Zhang Gonggong extended his hand, making a gesture of invitation, as if the Prince's residence were his own, he invited Zhou Ke to come inside for tea, "Don't harbor too many thoughts; I have already isolated the Prince's residence from the outside world with my internal energy, unless someone deliberately comes, no matter how chaotic it is inside, outsiders won't notice. Not even the Imperial Ancestor has this ability to sense beforehand!"

"No wonder I couldn't find you no matter how I searched; it turns out you know this crooked art." Zhou Ke said coldly to Zhang Gonggong.

"Crooked art? Heh, whatever works is esoteric technique!" Zhang Gonggong took the lead, striding into the residence, "While the good tea is still warm, I can still have a cup."

Zhou Ke gave Situ Qing a glance, then followed Zhang Gonggong into his own residence.

Situ Qing grabbed his knife and walked outward, wanting to see whether everything was as Zhang Gonggong had said!

"Good tea, good tea." Zhang Gonggong drank a cup of tea, continuously praising.

"Heh, the tea's drunk; it's time to say what you want from me, Prince?" Zhou Ke is a smart man; otherwise he wouldn't have navigated the dragon-and-tiger imperial court with ease, his power even reaching the point where he could contend with Emperor Wen of Zhou.

Zhang Gonggong took another two sips of tea, "tsk tsk tsk..."

Finally, the tea was finished; Zhang Gonggong gently placed the cup on the table, then asked Zhou Ke, "Prince, how long have we served together?"

"How long have we served together?"

Zhang Gonggong clasped his fists, gestured toward the Imperial Palace, and laughed, "Heh, that is, how long we have served the Emperor."

Zhou Ke pondered a moment and replied, "Thirty years, perhaps?"

He wasn't certain about that answer, because too much time had passed, his memory blurred, and he no longer knew how long he had been a Prince.

"Precisely speaking, it's thirty years and nine months... serving a ruler is like serving a tiger; we have been accompanying a fierce tiger for almost thirty-one years." Zhang Gonggong lamented.

"How do you remember it so clearly?"

"How could I not remember? From the moment I became a eunuch, I have remembered everything clearly; each day I cross off a day on the calendar, constantly telling myself, 'You are merely a eunuch, do not forget your identity.' Only thus can I not forget my hatred, and it grows ever stronger!" Zhang Gonggong pointed at his crotch, speaking angrily, "In the blink of an eye, I have grown old, but my hatred remains forever young!"

"Who do you hate? The Emperor?"

"No, entering the palace was my own choice; at forty years old, I was the latest eunuch to enter the Great Zhou Dynasty's palace."

"Why?"

"To eat the imperial grain, fearing I would starve to death in the countryside."

"It seems your cultivation also began at forty."

"Exactly."

"In thirty years you became a Sevenfold Heaven expert—how enviable!"

"Heh, so in the end, who am I hating?" Zhang Gonggong gave a cold smile, as if laughing at himself, and also at the person he ought to hate.

"Whether thirty years or thirty-one, how many thirties can a person live?" Zhou Ke turned his head, looked at Zhang Gonggong's face, and said to him, "In the blink of an eye, we are both old; what are you still insisting on? Now everyone needs you."

"Hahaha, I am a man cut off from offspring and lineage—how could anyone need me?" Zhang Gonggong suddenly laughed loudly, "Prince, your schemes are no smaller than mine, are they?"

"What schemes could I have?"

"You are pretending, you are waiting; we have spent thirty years together in the imperial court—how could I not know what you're thinking?"

Zhou Ke and Zhang Gonggong are enemies, lifelong mortal foes, yet they are also friends, for only they understand each other, even better than they know themselves! This is what has been slowly honed over long years in the imperial court.

"In the blink of an eye, you and I, Prince, have grown old." Zhou Ke pinched the white hair at his temples, saying, he didn't need to look; just by feeling he knew where the white hair was, because he often searched for white hairs in the mirror, a habit formed over time, "Thirty years have flown like a shuttle. No matter how much we think, it cannot compare to a single word of approval from the common folk."

"The common folk's approval, heh, I have lived and died for the Great Zhou Dynasty, yet you can feign sympathy for the people! When there is rebellion, I lead troops to suppress it, and it's called massacring the innocent; when there is natural disaster, you lead troops to aid, and it's called being a great benevolent official!"

"Black face, white face, it's all part of the act." Zhou Ke covered the tea cup, got to the point, and asked Zhang Gonggong, "We speak plainly; Prince, what business do you have with me?"

"I want the Heirloom Jade Seal."

"What!? What are you saying!?" Zhou Ke's shock was exaggerated to the point of seeming feigned.

"The Great Zhou Dynasty's Heirloom Jade Seal is on your person. I hope you hand it over." Zhang Gonggong said this clearly.

"That is not the Prince's property; the Prince has no authority to transfer it to another." Zhou Ke did not deny that the Heirloom Jade Seal was on his person.

"Actually, many years ago, the Emperor, fearing an accident, entrusted the Heirloom Jade Seal to you for safekeeping. He told no one."

"But he only told you." Zhou Ke pointed at Zhang Gonggong, showing no fear, and said.

"Yes. So, hand it over."

"As expected..."

"As expected what?"

Zhou Ke nodded, thoughtfully saying, "As expected, you are a greedy person, seeing profit and forgetting righteousness, a two-faced villain, wasting the Emperor's kindness toward you!"

"Hahaha! Then you haven't wasted it either?"

"Enough, the Prince will not hand over the Heirloom Jade Seal to you. Moreover, the Prince tells you, you cannot leave the Prince's residence alive." Zhou Ke clapped his hands; the sound carried far, and soon one after another silhouettes rushed from afar!

"Incredibly fast, many silhouettes!"

"It seems you had planned this all along! Heh... I underestimated you."