Chapter 278: [I Remember You] (Part 2)

Hu Xiaotian returned to Liu Yuzhang's side; at this moment Liu Yuzhang's pain had eased a little, and he whispered, "Little bearded one… what happened outside?"

Hu Xiaotian respectfully replied, "The eunuch Wang Decai from Xin'an Palace came over, saying he wanted to find his brother, but he wasn't paying attention and tripped, falling in a sorry state, so everyone laughed."

Liu Yuzhang asked, "Is his leg broken?" This senior eunuch doesn't even congratulate good fortune.

Hu Xiaotian shook his head.

Liu Yuzhang sighed, "After all, he's young—Zajia took a fall and nearly lost half his life."

Hu Xiaotian smiled, "Eunuch Liu, you're blessed with good fortune; you'll fully recover in no time."

Liu Yuzhang said, "Injuring tendons and bones takes a hundred days; young people are like that, let alone me, this old man on his last legs—just because Zajia is injured, I'm afraid I won't be able to handle the affairs of the Supplies Bureau."

Hu Xiaotian said, "Eunuch, rest assured; I will certainly do my utmost to handle things for you."

Liu Yuzhang nodded, "I'm certainly at ease with your work… by the way, you just said Wang Decai came to find his brother—I haven't seen Wang Desheng these past couple of days either."

Hu Xiaotian said, "Eunuch, I have no association with that person, so I certainly won't pay attention to his affairs."

Liu Yuzhang said, "Have someone bring him over; I have some things to say to him face to face."

Hu Xiaotian thought, Wang Desheng has already seen King Yama; where would I go to find him? If you want to speak to him face to face, old man, you'd probably have to wait a hundred years. Still, I agreed to meet him face to face. Just then the imperial physician arrived. Hu Xiaotian watched from the side as the physician examined Liu Yuzhang; as expected, Liu Yuzhang's left leg was fractured. The physician set it with a splint, applied some ointment, and gave a recovery time of at least a hundred days.

Liu Yuzhang's broken leg still had a major impact on the Supplies Bureau; the most direct effect was that another seal-bearing eunuch was dispatched to the palace. Hu Xiaotian went out to purchase supplies the next morning as usual. He had arranged to meet Quan De'an near Li Lane, not far from the Hall of Jadeite, to receive the news of the change of seal-bearing eunuch in the Supplies Bureau. He learned this from Quan De'an.

Hu Xiaotian was still quite concerned about this matter, after all, who would succeed as the seal-bearing eunuch of the Supplies Bureau directly affected his future situation.

Quan De'an said, "Tomorrow a new seal-bearing eunuch will take over Liu Yuzhang's position."

Hu Xiaotian said, "Eunuch Quan, Liu Yuzhang usually doesn't involve himself in Supplies Bureau affairs; everyone says he enjoys deep favor before the Emperor, so why would he be replaced so quickly?"

Quan De'an sneered, "No one can remain favored forever; Liu Yuzhang is a good old man. Although he hasn't offended anyone in the palace, his position is an eyesore to many. Whether or not he's injured, he won't stay in that post long. He's no fool, Xiaotian—you might not know this, but Liu Yuzhang voluntarily resigned."

Hu Xiaotian exclaimed in astonishment, "How could that be?"

Quan De'an said, "Do you know? Who holds the greatest power in the current imperial palace?"

"Of course it's the Emperor."

"And among the eunuchs?"

Hu Xiaotian looked at Quan De'an with a smile. In his view, Quan De'an had once escorted the little princess, saved the imperial family from peril, and now held the post of Commissioner of the Directorate of Rites; without a doubt he was the most powerful eunuch. To say the old eunuch had backed the right horse and the right person.

Quan De'an slowly shook his head and said, "After His Majesty ascended the throne, the person closest to him is not me." His words carried a faint sense of loss.

Hu Xiaotian thought, This old eunuch must have lost favor. That's why he feels unbalanced inside, and he has developed a strong interest in the person the Emperor favors most: "Who is the one the Emperor trusts most?"

Quan De'an said, "You'll find out later." He tapped his sharp finger lightly on the stone table. His deep eyes fixed on Hu Xiaotian's face as he said, "As far as I know, the Palace Service Directorate has already assigned Wei Hualin to go to the Supplies Bureau to succeed Liu Yuzhang's position; this man is greedy and narrow-minded, and you'll likely get no good treatment under him."

Hu Xiaotian sucked in a breath of cold air; these good days haven't even lasted two days, and suddenly everything is about to change.

Quan De'an said, "What have you discovered in the Supplies Bureau these past two days?"

Hu Xiaotian pursed his lips, hesitating whether he should reveal the truth of his findings.

Quan De'an's pair of white brows furrowed, as if sensing that Hu Xiaotian had something on his mind.

Hu Xiaotian said, "Yesterday, Qiqi once tricked me into going to the Reserve Elegance Palace and had a few little eunuchs tie me up."

Quan De'an heard him mention this, his white brows relaxed, and he smiled, "She still can't swallow the anger from when you bullied her in the past; don't worry, she won't make things difficult for you—she's just bored in the palace and looking for some amusement."

Hu Xiaotian said, "Eunuch Quan, I'm not worried about her teasing me; rather, I'm concerned about… uh… you should understand."

Quan De'an said, "Then just avoid her."

Hu Xiaotian bit his lip.

Quan De'an said, "I think after Wei Hualin goes to the Supplies Bureau, you probably won't have smooth sailing in the short term, and your outside purchasing duties are likely to change."

Hu Xiaotian said, "Does he dare not give you face, old man?"

Quan De'an said, "I just don't want him to know our relationship—when the sovereign changes, so do the ministers. Liu Yuzhang entrusted you with an important task; Wei Hualin, once he's there, will likely not employ you."

Hu Xiaotian's heart suddenly felt heavy; after thinking it over, he decided to still reveal the truth of recent events, and he glanced around.

Quan De'an had long sensed from his expression that he definitely had something to say, and he replied calmly, "If you have something to say, just say it; definitely don't hide it from Zajia."

Hu Xiaotian nodded and said, "Eunuch Quan, actually… actually I killed someone…"

Quan De'an's pair of white brows instantly furrowed; he never expected Hu Xiaotian to say this, and he habitually twisted his right hand into an orchid finger: "Which one?"

Hu Xiaotian then recounted the whole story of his accidental killing of Wang Desheng, but he did not reveal everything that had happened in full; he concealed some key parts. For instance, regarding the appearance of the palace maid Baobao, he only said he had been secretly practicing his skills in the wine cellar, and Wang Desheng had inexplicably jumped out from somewhere intending to harm him.

Quan De'an heard him finish; his normally stern face grew even darker and grave, and he said in a low voice, "You're saying there's a secret passage hidden beneath the wine cellar of the Supplies Bureau?"

Hu Xiaotian nodded and said, "Exactly." He noticed Quan De'an's interest in the passage clearly surpassed the matter of Wang Desheng's killing; his heart eased a little, and it seemed that in the palace, the death of one or two eunuchs truly amounted to nothing major.

Quan De'an interlaced his four withered fingers together, pondering, "Are you certain it's not an imperial water conduit?"

Hu Xiaotian said, "Certainly; it should be a manually dug secret passage."

Quan De'an asked, "Where does it lead to?"

Hu Xiaotian said, "Although I have discovered the secret passage, I only went a short distance down, fearing I would lose my way, so I did not continue to explore where the exit is." He was clearly lying; in fact he had already ascertained that a secret passage leads directly to the Jade Pond in the Rear Palace, but if he handed over all his trump cards to Quan De'an, his usefulness to the old eunuch would surely be greatly diminished. Hu Xiaotian saw this clearly: once he lost his utility, the old eunuch would definitely discard him like a worn-out shoe.

Quan De'an slowly nodded and quickly made his decision: "Hurry up and clarify the exit of the secret passage, draw a detailed topographic map, and give it to me as soon as possible."

Hu Xiaotian said, "Eunuch Quan, I think this matter might be troublesome."

"What trouble?"

Hu Xiaotian said, "If Wei Hualin takes over Eunuch Liu's position, he may not employ me, and he's very likely to confiscate the wine cellar's key. Then I might not even be able to enter the wine cellar, let alone help you find the exit of the secret passage."

Quan De'an said, "Then go back and check quickly. Figure it out tonight." He seemed not to have understood Hu Xiaotian's meaning; Hu Xiaotian's real intention was to have Quan De'an use his influence in the court to prevent Wei Hualin from going to the Supplies Bureau to take over Liu Yuzhang's position.

"Eunuch Quan, actually Wang Desheng also has an older brother, who is currently a favorite of Empress Jian; today he came to my door looking for trouble, and I think he's already suspicious of me."

Quan De'an said, "These little things you absolutely don't need to tell Zajia. You know in your heart what to do; the matter of Wei Hualin is already settled. You can investigate all the secrets inside the wine cellar before he takes office. If, after he assumes his post, he targets you everywhere, Zajia will naturally arrange for you to leave the Supplies Bureau and find you another leisurely post."

Hu Xiaotian said, "But what about the corpse?" He deliberately brought this up to see how Quan De'an would handle such matters.

Quan De'an gave him a cold glance, then took out a small dark-green bottle from his bosom and handed it to Hu Xiaotian.

Hu Xiaotian happily took it over, full of curiosity, and asked, "What is this?"

Quan De'an said, "Bone-Dissolving Water."

Hu Xiaotian felt a chill upon hearing those three words, yet he absentmindedly picked up the small bottle and examined it before his eyes: "Can such a tiny bottle really dissolve such a large corpse?"

Quan De'an said: "You only need to drop a drop on the corpse; the bone-dissolving water will immediately turn into pus and blood upon contact with the corpse, and within the time it takes to finish a cup of tea the corpse will be completely dissolved."

Hu Xiaotian sucked in a breath of cold air: "That's powerful?"

Quan De'an said: "When using it you must be careful; if it gets stuck on your body, you will meet the same fate as the corpse."

Hu Xiaotian stuck out his tongue in fright: "Such a vicious thing, you'd better keep it yourself, old sir." Saying that, he still put the bone-dissolving water away properly; destroying corpses and erasing traces, it really is necessary at critical moments.

After meeting Quan De'an, Hu Xiaotian's mood suddenly worsened; Wei Hualin taking over Liu Yuzhang's position means his good days at the Imperial Gardens Bureau are over; if Wei Hualin really confiscates his authority to purchase goods for leaving the palace, then he won't even have a chance to go out of the palace for fresh air?

Hu Xiaotian originally thought Quan De'an could control the inner palace eunuchs, but now he discovers many things he is also powerless to do; as a Commander of the Directorate of Rites, he actually cannot influence the selection of the overseer eunuch of the Imperial Gardens Bureau; it seems that in the palace eunuch corps, Quan De'an is not an all-powerful figure. Hu Xiaotian inevitably feels a bit disappointed, but he also understands that Quan De'an is old and crafty, and there is another reason for his reluctance to exert himself: that he himself has not informed him of the detailed situation of the secret passage; it seems that to get this old fox Quan De'an to do things for him, he must show something.

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