Chapter 61: Old Acquaintances and Old Stories, the Old Emperor Has Malicious Intentions (Seeking Monthly Votes)

"Hahahaha, you have a broad mind, Eunuch, I admire that. We must interact more in the future."

Pei Shaoqing cupped his hands with a beaming smile.

Why did he embezzle, accept bribes, and hoard wealth like a madman?

Because in this world, money can move gods.

Moreover, he was never stingy with spending; he hoarded wealth just to spend it, as long as the spending was effective.

Once he spent it, he could just go back to embezzling, couldn't he?

Embezzlement was the easiest thing in the world; he could invent any excuse—his birthday, his wife's or concubine's birthday, even his cat's birthday—to collect money.

"Certainly, certainly." The middle-aged eunuch's face was almost cracking from his smile; he cupped his hands in return, then sighed and said, "Young Master, you have also presented me with a difficult problem."

"Oh?" Pei Shaoqing looked puzzled.

The middle-aged eunuch raised an orchid finger, pointed casually at a chest of silver, and said in a shrill voice, "When I left the palace, I traveled light, but I am returning to the Capital with bags and bundles. If people didn't know better, they would think I had been fleecing the locals."

"Do not worry, Eunuch, this is easy to resolve." Pei Shaoqing laughed heartily and said calmly, "I can arrange for someone to deliver them to your residence outside the palace in advance."

"Oh my, where would I have a residence outside the palace?"

"Eunuch, you are a noble person who forgets things easily. I clearly remember you have a four-courtyard mansion in the Capital, how could you forget?" Pei Shaoqing raised an eyebrow and said.

Build a good relationship with this eunuch.

Then he would have his own person inside the palace.

"Aiyo~" The middle-aged eunuch smiled until the corners of his mouth almost reached his ears, his eyes squinting into slits as he said happily, "I thank you, Young Master."

"You are too polite, Eunuch." Pei Shaoqing waved his hand dismissively, then changed the subject, "You must be exhausted from the long journey. I shall go instruct the servants to prepare a banquet; how about we eat and chat?"

"This is Young Master's place, you arrange as you see fit; I shall follow your lead." The middle-aged eunuch shed his previous sharp, biting tone and went along with the flow.

"Good, I will go make the arrangements." Pei Shaoqing nodded and walked out. When he reached the door, he seemed to suddenly remember something and asked, "I still do not know your name, Eunuch?"

"It seems you really have forgotten, Young Master." The middle-aged eunuch shook his head and said, "For a rootless person, names do not matter. You may just call me Liu."

Liu? He really knows how to gild his own lily.

You don't have any "bull" at all!

"So it is Eunuch Liu." Pei Shaoqing looked enlightened, as if he had remembered something, then cupped his hands and said, "Then please continue choosing here, Eunuch."

After stepping out, he had Liu Yuheng instruct the kitchen to prepare a banquet, then immediately ran to find Xie Qingwu.

Before he could even speak, Xie Qingwu walked up to him and asked first, "I heard from Madam Gongsun that you brought a group of eunuchs and soldiers back to the mansion. What is going on?"

"Don't mention it..." Pei Shaoqing briefly recounted the matter, then asked, "The lead eunuch is called Liu, in his thirties, thin build, seems to have a grudge against me. Do you know what that's about?"

"I actually do know about this. Before I married that good-for-nothing, I had people find out everything about the absurd things he had done," Xie Qingwu said with a curl of her lip.

Pei Shaoqing immediately said, "Tell me quickly. I know nothing about that eunuch and could only throw money at him. Luckily it worked, otherwise it would have been troublesome just now."

This was one of the benefits of striving to be bound to Xie Qingwu; without her help, if he wanted to impersonate Pei Shaoqing, he would have been exposed sooner or later.

"Eunuch Liu is the godson of Liu Hai, the Director of the Ceremonial Division, and currently serves as a Document Manager in the Imperial Horse Bureau."

Xie Qingwu first introduced Liu's identity.

The Imperial Horse Bureau was not literally just for raising horses; it also held the military power of the Imperial Guards and was extremely important.

Document Manager, as the name suggests, is responsible for the management of documents in the Imperial Horse Bureau, a rank of True Sixth Grade.

Being sent out of the palace by Liu Hai clearly showed great trust; he was considered a figure of some standing in the palace.

Pei Shaoqing asked again, "Then what about the old grudge between him and me? How could I have a grudge with a eunuch?"

The eunuch was in the Imperial Palace, and he was outside the Imperial Palace.

Theoretically, the two should have had no intersection.

"The year before last, the Emperor held a banquet in the palace. Pei Shaoqing went to the restroom after drinking, encountered the Chang Gongzhu on the way, and stopped her to harass her. It just so happened that Eunuch Liu ran into it. He stepped forward to stop and persuade him, only to be punched, kicked, and verbally abused by that infuriated scoundrel, thus forming a grudge."

Xie Qingwu paused here, snorted coldly, and added, "If not for the constraints of his status, Eunuch Liu could have slapped that scoundrel into a pulp that day."

"Is Eunuch Liu's martial arts very high?" Pei Shaoqing raised an eyebrow in surprise upon hearing this.

"The eunuchs in the palace don't have weak martial arts," Xie Qingwu explained. "They practice a technique that only castrated people can cultivate, which allows for rapid progress. Eunuch Liu has been in the palace for over a decade; at the very least, he is in the Condensing Qi Realm."

"Truly, one cannot judge a book by its cover," Pei Shaoqing muttered to himself. A middle-aged sissy was actually an expert.

However, in a world where power is the foundation, such an expert could only be beaten and humiliated by a good-for-nothing.

He was very fortunate that the other party was a greedy person.

And he happened to be a person who could part with money.

Otherwise, if the vengeful Eunuch Liu really wanted to retaliate, this time would certainly have been enough to make him suffer.

"Wife, do you think the Emperor knows I have a grudge against him?" Pei Shaoqing suddenly thought of this question.

"Of course he knows," Xie Qingwu said, pursing her warm red lips. "It was only after he was beaten and humiliated by Pei Shaoqing for protecting the Chang Gongzhu that he was taken as a godson by Liu Hai and entered the Imperial Horse Bureau as a Document Manager."

"So, in a way, I can be considered the noble person who promoted him." Pei Shaoqing gave a self-deprecating laugh, but he couldn't laugh inside—the old Emperor had malicious intentions!

However, since Eunuch Liu dared to take his money,

it meant things hadn't reached a critical point.

Eunuchs in the palace are accustomed to seeking advantages and avoiding harm, and reading the wind; they can be called the most tactful people in the world.

He exhaled, "I will go meet him again."

Two quarters of an hour later, in the main hall of the Pei Mansion, a table of sumptuous delicacies had been set. Pei Shaoqing and Eunuch Liu sat facing each other, with several maidservants standing around to serve them.

"Please, Eunuch Liu. You've had a long and dusty journey, you must be tired. I toast you with this cup." Pei Shaoqing raised his cup.

Eunuch Liu cupped his hands toward the direction of the Capital and said with a smile, "Serving the Emperor, it is not tiring."

"I was truly a scoundrel back then," Pei Shaoqing drank it all in one gulp, set down the cup, and said, "In a way, Eunuch Liu is my savior. If you hadn't happened to pass by and risked your life to stop me, and I had really done something to the Princess while drunk, I fear I would not have escaped death!"

"Young Master was indeed bold back then." Eunuch Liu sighed with genuine admiration, then smiled and said, "But it was also because of that incident that I caught the eye of my godfather, and was promoted from a lowly Eunuch to a Document Manager in the Imperial Horse Bureau."

"In that case, you and I can be considered to have achieved something for each other." Pei Shaoqing raised his cup again.

Eunuch Liu also laughed and clinked his cup against his, "Young Master is not wrong in saying that."

With money as the bond, and Pei Shaoqing able to lower himself to apologize and give the other party plenty of face, Eunuch Liu was very pleased, and the two got along quite happily.

After three rounds of wine and five courses of food, Pei Shaoqing finally asked about the real business, "May I ask Eunuch Liu, what is the purpose of the Emperor sending you to Tongzhou this time? If there is any way I can be of help, I am willing to offer my meager strength."

"The Young Master is a straightforward person, and since you think highly of a broken man like me, then I won't beat around the bush with you," Eunuch Liu said, his mouth full of the smell of alcohol.

Pei Shaoqing hurriedly leaned in, appearing to listen with rapt attention.

Eunuch Liu let out a drunken hiccup, subconsciously lowered his voice, and said, "On the surface, the Emperor sent me to verify the truth of the Young Master killing the Saint Son of Opening Yang, but in reality, he wants me to find evidence of your deception of the Emperor."

Although the Emperor said that day that he did not believe Pei Shaoqing would deceive him, in his heart, he thought exactly that.

And Liu Hai understood the Emperor, so he specifically instructed Liu that his coming to Tongzhou was to investigate the evidence of Pei Shaoqing's crimes.

"Ah!" Pei Shaoqing put on a look of terror.

"Young Master, please calm down," Eunuch Liu raised his hand and softly comforted him, "Originally, I also didn't believe the Young Master could kill the Saint Son of Opening Yang, but one should look at a scholar with new eyes after three days apart; I believe it a little now. As long as the Young Master has not deceived the Emperor, not only will there be no fault, but there will be great merit!"

(End of this chapter)