The Eunuch's Declaration of Loyalty

Chapter 41

Yang Sushu wrapped the lid of the medicine pot with a small piece of cotton cloth, looked inside, estimated its contents, and then took a small pinch of medicine from the medicine tray beside her and put it in. (For more text, please search on Baidu or search for Lewen.com (◎◎x◎s◎.o◎r◎g◎) Remember to remove the ◎ from the Baidu search URL.)

Seeing her actions, Xiao Huaiyu, who was squatting nearby, also grabbed a handful of the same medicine as her, intending to put it into the medicine pot. However, he was stopped halfway by Yang Sushu, who said seriously, "This medicine has already been added, so it is not advisable to add more."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Huaiyu seemed confused and let out a soft "ah," staring blankly at the medicine, unsure of what to do. Yang Sushu then held out her hand to him and said, "Give it to me."

Xiao Huaiyu stood there for a while, then slowly placed the medicinal herbs he had picked into Yang Sushu's hand, and shrank back to his original spot, remaining silent.

Yang Sushu put the medicinal herbs back into the medicine tray, turned around, and saw Xiao Huaiyu like this. She guessed that he was sad because he had been rejected, so she smiled and called out to him, "Your Highness Prince Chun?"

Xiao Huaiyu didn't react, staring blankly at something. Yang Sushu had gotten used to him like this these days. Seeing this, she thought for a moment, and without caring whether he would listen or not, she took his hand from his knee and placed the fan in his hand, saying, "Your Highness, my hand is a little sore. Why don't you brew some medicine for Consort Lian?"

After being told twice, Xiao Huaiyu finally reacted, his gaze shifting to the fan in his hand and then to the medicine furnace in front of him.

“Like this, fan it gently.” Yang Sushu held the back half of the fan handle and guided Xiao Huaiyu to fan it a few times. After Yang Sushu let go, Xiao Huaiyu meticulously fanned himself in front of her at the same speed, looking happy that he could do something.

Yang Sushu shook her head with amusement, glanced at the door, and saw Qin Shu walking over with several people. She immediately stood up and asked in surprise, "Qin Shu... no, I should say Deputy Chief Steward Qin, what brings you here? Does the Empress Dowager have any instructions?"

"Your Highness Prince Chun, and Imperial Physician Yang are also here." Although Qin Shu still had that indifferent expression, his attitude was much better than when he was dealing with those people earlier. After greeting the two, he explained, "The Empress Dowager sent me to visit Consort Lian and Your Highness Prince Chun, and also to teach those useless servants in the mansion a lesson."

Yang Sushu recalled her conversation with her friend a couple of days ago about Prince Chun and Consort Lian, and then she understood what was going on. Given Qing Tang's personality, the fact that Qin Shu had gone to such lengths to make this trip was probably partly due to her previous expression of concern. Qing Tang had always been like this—attentive, protective, and always extending her affection to everything connected to her family and friends.

"The Dowager Consort is in the inner room. Although she can no longer get out of bed, she has been well-nourished these past few days, and her complexion is quite good today." Although Yang Sushu is a woman, she is still a man in name only, so it's not appropriate for her to lead the way for Qin Shu. The few servants still attending to him are all in the inner room, and there's no one guarding the door to announce his arrival. However, there aren't many formalities in this situation, so Qin Shu led the others in himself.

Consort Lian's illness had indeed worsened, and she looked much more haggard than when she was in the palace; her hair was already gray despite her age of thirty or forty. She sat leaning against the bed, coughing, and two servants handed her handkerchiefs and water before she could finally stop.

Qin Shu waited quietly until she finished coughing, then stepped forward to pay his respects respectfully and conveyed the Empress Dowager's message in an official tone. Essentially, she was told to rest and recover well, and the Empress Dowager bestowed upon her a large quantity of fine tonics and medicinal herbs before quickly withdrawing.

Yang Sushu and Xiao Huaiyu were still standing around the medicine stove at the door. Yang Sushu was whispering to Xiao Huaiyu, "You don't need to fan so hard, be gentle."

Xiao Huaiyu looked completely dazed, his lifeless eyes only occasionally flickering when Yang Sushu spoke. It took two or more repetitions before he seemed to react with a soft "ah," and then slowly put down his fan.

He stopped there, and Yang Sushu had to say again, "It's not about stopping, it's about fanning more gently and slowly." Then, as before, she held the back handle of the fan and fanned Xiao Huai a few times.

Xiao Huai then slowly began fanning himself again. He was like an old, worn-out tool, extremely unreliable, always seeming to forget something. Yang Sushu looked at him, her eyes filled with an inscrutable mix of pity and something else.

"Your Highness Prince Chun, Imperial Physician Yang, this servant must return to report to the Empress Dowager, so I will take my leave now." Qin Shu walked out, his voice unaware of the changing atmosphere, and after speaking to the two people, one squatting and one sitting, he prepared to leave.

Yang Sushu snapped out of her daze and called out to him from behind, "Vice Chief Steward Qin." She glanced at Xiao Huaiyu, who seemed completely oblivious to the outside world, and said somewhat awkwardly, "Could you please not tell Her Majesty the Empress Dowager that I am here?"

Upon hearing this, Qin Shu replied without hesitation, "This servant will not conceal or deceive Her Majesty the Empress Dowager in any way."

Yang Sushu gave a wry smile, a hint of unease in her eyes. While she was happy that her friend had such a loyal lover, the situation was indeed troublesome. If Qingtang knew that she often came here to help brew medicine, she would definitely misunderstand and think that she had feelings for Prince Chun. But she really didn't have those feelings; she simply came to help because she felt a doctor's heart was like a parent's and couldn't bear to see him like that.

She waved her hand: "I should have realized that I was making things difficult for you. In that case, just pretend I didn't say anything. Deputy Chief Steward Qin, please take care on your journey."

Qin Shu nodded slightly to her and left. The outer courtyard had been cleared of those who had been flogged, or rather, their corpses, and the blood-stained bluestone slabs had been washed clean. However, the stench lingered, causing several palace servants to turn pale and frown. Qin Shu, on the other hand, felt no discomfort. Hearing that Eunuch Liu, looking quite unwell, had led the dying servants back to the Imperial Household Department, he showed no reaction, only coldly saying, "Return to the palace."

The four departments of the Imperial Household Department were in charge of the overall management of all matters, large and small, concerning the clothing, food, daily life, and servants of the imperial family. Since the Empress Dowager could no longer tolerate their increasingly extended reach and growing greed, he would go and give them a warning on her behalf. He couldn't do anything about it now, but sooner or later, he would take control of the Imperial Household Department on behalf of the Empress Dowager.

His ambition wasn't just to manage the Cining Palace properly; he wanted to transform the palace into a place where the Empress Dowager could live freely. Perhaps this would take a long time, or perhaps he would never be able to achieve it. But that didn't matter; for the Empress Dowager, he would try no matter how difficult it was.

On his way back to the palace, Qin Shu stopped at a shop for a long time. When he finally came out, he had a carefully wrapped flower hairpin in his arms. He had spent a long time choosing one in the shop, but none of them seemed quite right. Finally, after much deliberation, he chose a hairpin that was very similar to the one he had bought last time. The Empress Dowager had said she liked that one very much, so this one was so similar; she would surely like it too.

Qin Shu kept pressing his chest as he walked, wondering if the Empress Dowager would be happy to receive this. His eyes were filled with anticipation as he looked at the palace getting closer and closer.

Unfortunately, he still couldn't personally deliver the gift to her this time, because she took Zhuiyi to the Qin Zheng Hall to discuss various matters related to the imperial examinations in March.

Qin Shu could only suppress his disappointment and handed the hairpin to Tao Ye, who had left it in Cining Palace, asking her to pass it on. Then he plunged back into his heavy official duties. To be able to help the Empress Dowager more, he needed to learn more.

The busy work lasted until nightfall. Lights were lit everywhere, and although the stewards below didn't say anything, they all looked exhausted. Qin Shu told them to leave, and then stayed there to look at a few more volumes of documents. It wasn't until late at night that Qin Shu prepared to go back to rest. Fortunately, it wasn't far from his room, and he could walk there in a short while.

However, halfway there, Qin Shu saw two paths leading to his room and another leading to the Empress Dowager's bedroom and study. He couldn't help but take the latter path.

It was time for the Empress Dowager to rest. Qin Shu thought to himself that he didn't intend to disturb her rest, so he stood outside the hall for a while before preparing to return the way he came.

"Is that Qin Shu?"

Just as he turned to leave, he heard Zhuiyi's voice. Qin Shu responded and stepped out of the shadows.

"The Empress Dowager is waiting for you, come in." Zhuiyi couldn't understand when her master had become so prescient. Tonight, she was reading a book and wouldn't go to sleep. When asked, she said that Qin Shu would definitely come later.

She and Taoye had been waiting for so long, and it was getting late. She was even thinking of sending someone to fetch Qin Shu, lest their master guess wrong and lose face. But before they could even send someone, Qin Shu actually showed up.

Watching Qin Shu walk into the hall, Zhuiyi still didn't quite understand how her mistress could guess. Taoye, standing to the side, shook her head at her sister, "Sister, don't think about it. You don't understand. It's intuition."

Zhuiyi: "..." Why is she always the only one who doesn't understand? She's clearly the oldest.

"Your Majesty, it's so late, why haven't you rested yet?" Qin Shu saw the Empress Dowager reading a book as soon as he entered the inner hall. She was propping her head up with one hand, revealing a section of her snow-white wrist and the jade bracelet she was wearing. He couldn't help but think that it would be good to give her a bracelet next time. If it were the Empress Dowager, she would look good no matter what she wore.

Liu Qingtang put down her book and said in a pretentious manner, "I still have some official business to finish, and I'll be resting soon. How about you go to Prince Chun's residence today?"

Qin Shu told everything in detail, without hiding anything. However, he subconsciously glossed over the deaths of the servants, not wanting the Empress Dowager to think he was ruthless and heartless, like the others, and that he had dealt with so many people without any remorse.

Liu Qingtang found herself drifting off into thought as he spoke. This situation was actually quite familiar; in their previous life, this was often how they reported on things. He always stood far away, head down, back hunched, his tone indifferent—unlike now. Liu Qingtang kept watching Qin Shu, then quickly leaned over and kissed him, before waving somewhat shyly to urge him to go back to rest.

"Hmm, well done. It's late, you should go back and rest." It seems that the longer she spends with Qin Shu, the more her skin softens, as if she's been infected by him. At first, she wouldn't have felt embarrassed to kiss him like this, but now, just kissing him and having him stare at her makes her blush and her heart race.

Qin Shu hadn't actually finished speaking, but the Empress Dowager's sudden kiss left him momentarily blank, and he instantly forgot what he was about to say. He stammered, "Oh... okay." Although he responded, he seemed not to have fully grasped the situation, simply standing there staring at Liu Qingtang.

Feeling awkward, Liu Qingtang touched the two very similar hairpins on her head and said, "I also... like this one today." Although she had intended to say something like "Don't buy similar hairpins next time" before Qin Shu arrived, she always ended up saying other things, and she didn't know why.

Qin Shu was instantly overjoyed, as if the fatigue of a busy day had vanished. However, he was so happy that he couldn't say anything nice, only managing a simple "hmm".

"Okay, go to sleep."

After that day, it seemed to become an unspoken agreement between them: they would meet every night before going to rest. Just a simple chat and a kiss were enough to make them both feel completely content. At this time, she wasn't the Empress Dowager, and he wasn't some deputy chief eunuch; they were like countless couples in love, appearing somewhat naive and silly when they were together.

But you don't realize it at the time. It's only when you think about it later that you realize how incredibly stupid you were. Yet, while you say you were incredibly stupid, a sweet feeling wells up inside you.

At the end of February, the apricot blossoms in the apricot grove of the Imperial Garden were in bloom, and several early peach trees, carefully tended by the craftsmen, had also blossomed. When Tao Yezhuiyi plucked some flowers and placed them in a vase on the table, Liu Qingtang looked at them, put down her pen, took a small silver scissor, and cut off a branch of peach blossoms, placing it aside to give to Qin Shu when he came.

However, when Qin Shu came that evening, he was also carrying a peach blossom in his hand.

"I saw the peach blossoms were in full bloom on the way, and I thought that Your Highness might like them, so... I picked a branch." Qin Shu said, glancing at the vase of flowers on Liu Qingtang's desk, then at the lone branch in his hand, his voice gradually lowering.

Without a second thought, Liu Qingtang took out the bunch of peach and apricot blossoms from the white jade vase and set them aside, then placed the peach blossom branch that Qin Shu had brought into the vase. She then nodded affirmatively and said, "This one looks even better."

After Qin Shu left, Liu Qingtang fiddled with the delicate peach blossom for a while, and suddenly remembered that she had forgotten to give him that peach blossom.

Author's Note: Lika was a landmine thrown by a sheep.

Ada threw a landmine

The Ming Dynasty threw a landmine

Deep, well, no, deep threw a landmine

Chen Li threw a landmine

Chen Li threw a landmine

A green-clad person threw a grenade.

Liang Baoyan threw a landmine

[Thanks, landmine! After rambling on and on this morning, I feel so cute... no, I feel much better. It's okay, I'm fully charged again!]