Chapter 34 - 2#

He entered the room and smelled a faint lingering fragrance.

Only then did he remember that he had slept so well because he had lit the soothing incense Rong Jiu gave him yesterday.

He looked at the small stove by the bed.

The soothing incense had long burned out, leaving only faint ash.

Jingzhe bent down, picked up the small stove, casually smeared the ash on the edge of the window, and then put the stove away.

He knew how to make use of waste.

“Jingzhe, come quickly.”

In the distance, Shi’en’s shouting voice came: “Gusheng has a huge bite on his face.”

“Eh, me too.”

“…The mosquitoes have been too vicious these days…”

“My feet are full of them.”

“…Me…”

Jingzhe walked towards them, a strange thought suddenly flashing through his mind…

He seemed not to attract insects this year?

Thinking about it, there wasn’t a single bump on his body.

…

“Cough, cough, cough…”

Inside the carriage, Shen Zikun hugged his wife, Madame Wu, who was coughing softly. Outside the carriage, there were sounds of shouting and fighting.

Madame Wu had not been in good health recently. Thanks to the medicine prescribed by the abbot of Tanmen Temple, she felt much more comfortable, only this cough remained.

Madame Wu thought about going to offer incense and thanking the abbot along the way.

It happened that Shen Zikun was on leave, so the couple went out together.

Shen Zikun and Madame Wu treated each other with respect, though their feelings were not intense. However, he did not take any concubines, and only had Madame Wu by his side. Now, both their son and daughter were born to Madame Wu.

“…Fortunately, we didn’t bring Xian’er and Xiang’er out today.”

Madame Wu said softly.

Shen Zikun looked grim. He lifted the curtain and looked out. The moment he saw a guard’s throat being cut, he frowned tightly and immediately lowered the curtain to prevent his wife from seeing it.

He hugged Madame Wu with one hand and patted her shoulder gently to comfort her.

This was not an ordinary bandit attack.

Shen Zikun knew it very well.

He was not the kind of person who would swagger when going out. Every time he went out, he only brought two guards with him. This time, because Madame Wu was weak and he was afraid that the journey would disturb her, he brought about ten people.

Who would have thought that this decision allowed their convoy to survive until now instead of being wiped out at the first encounter.

However, the Shen family’s guards were obviously outnumbered. Although each of them was skilled, they couldn’t compare to the number of besiegers.

Those people looked like reckless bandits, but in reality, they were ruthless and aimed for vital points. Even if the guards were skilled, two fists were no match for four hands.

Just when the guards were dead or injured, leaving only a few, Shen Zikun hugged Madame Wu tightly, and then slowly let go.

Madame Wu’s heart trembled, and she grabbed Shen Zikun’s hand abruptly.

After so many years of marriage, even small movements could make the other person understand immediately.

“Husband, what are you going to do?”

Shen Zikun said calmly, “The person they want to kill is me.”

Madame Wu: “But if you just walk out like this, they won’t leave anyone alive after killing you.”

Husband and wife are one.

She had been married to Shen Zikun for so many years, how could she be willing to watch him send himself to death?

Just as they were in a stalemate, the sound of hoofbeats came from the distance.

Clatter, clatter, clatter—

From far to near, extremely fast.

The leader had a pair of bright cat-like eyes, raised a long spear, and aimed at the “bandits” ahead.

“No need to keep anyone alive, kill them all!”

“Yes!”

Amidst the bloody slaughter, the man rode his horse through the battlefield. Anyone who tried to intercept him would be killed by him effortlessly.

Don’t be fooled by his casual appearance; it was as if he had eyes in the back of his head.

He stopped by the carriage, his voice tinged with helplessness: “Uncle Shen, I told you not to go out without bringing a few people with you. If I hadn’t received the news and rushed over, you would have really died here today.”

Shen Zikun lifted the curtain and stepped out, looking at the person on the horse.

“Jibo, you came.”

This was Mao Zishi’s courtesy name.

Mao Zishi dismounted and reached out to help Shen Zikun down, admiring him in his heart.

After encountering such a big incident, Shen Zikun didn’t show any worry on his face. He didn’t know if he was not afraid at all or had already anticipated it.

Shen Zikun seemed to know what he was thinking and said flatly, “I didn’t know I would be attacked today.”

Mao Zishi’s eyes swept over the carriage and whispered, “True.”

Shen Zikun looked cold, but actually cared deeply about his family. He might risk himself, but impossible when his wife was by his side.

He stood with his hands behind his back, watching the reckless bandits who were slaughtering the Shen family’s guards die one by one under the blade, and suddenly said, “Uncle Shen, why did you participate in the struggle for the throne back then?”

It sounded like a casual question.

At this critical moment, even with Mao Zishi’s somewhat jumpy temper, this question seemed a bit out of line.

“I didn’t participate in the struggle for the throne.” Shen Zikun said calmly, looking indifferent, as if he couldn’t see the one-sided slaughter in front of him.

Mao Zishi laughed: “You didn’t participate? Uncle Shen, who made me go there? You really forgot completely.”

Shen Zikun: “Is it wrong for an uncle to want to take care of his nephew?”

Mao Zishi sighed: “Yes, yes, that’s right.”

Shen Zikun’s hand ruffled Mao Zishi’s head, “Don’t always think about these useless things. When you send the news back later, send someone to check on father.”

Mao Zishi’s face became gloomy: “Are they going to make a move on Teacher?”

Mao Zishi was the youngest disciple of Old Dean Shen.

Shen Zikun’s gaze fell on the corpses, with a hint of unconcealable ruthlessness in his eyes: “Recently, His Majesty has given the Empress Dowager quite a loss of face.”

Mao Zishi cursed in a low voice: “Why doesn’t His Majesty just kill her with one slash?”

“Silence!”

Even though there were only their own people around, Shen Zikun rarely relaxed. He looked at Mao Zishi sternly, making him lower his head, and then shook his head.

“Probably, it has something to do with Empress Dowager Caisheng.”

Hearing this name, Mao Zishi subconsciously raised his head again and looked at Shen Zikun with a strange expression.

…Empress Dowager Caisheng, in Mao Zishi’s opinion, was truly a disaster.

In her relationship with the late emperor, Empress Dowager Caisheng was indeed a pitiful person who was let down. But regarding His Majesty, although Mao Zishi didn’t know much, he vaguely guessed that the emperor’s transformation into what he was today was inseparable from Empress Dowager Caisheng.

It was precisely because of this that the relationship between Emperor Jingyuan and the Shen family was once very twisted.

Shen Zikun felt guilty towards Emperor Jingyuan.

Emperor Jingyuan never gave the Shen family a good face, but when the Shen family sent him people privately, he didn’t send them back. If something happened to the Shen family, they often got through it smoothly.

It was so awkward that Mao Zishi wanted to scream “troublesome” just looking at it.

He was the person who disliked trouble the most.

But he happened to be Old Dean Shen’s disciple. Although few people knew about this, he had naturally been involved in this matter for many years. Now it was not so easy to get out.

With the death of the last person, Mao Zishi ordered them to stab all the corpses on the ground again to ensure they were dead, and then burn them on the spot.

“By the way, Uncle Shen,” Mao Zishi seemed to remember something, tugged at his cuffs, and looked at Shen Zikun with a strange expression, “His Majesty… probably, maybe, possibly… has someone he cares about.”

His tone was hesitant and very cautious.

Mao Zishi was between Emperor Jingyuan and Shen Zikun, grasping that balance very well.

He was working for the emperor after all.

With Emperor Jingyuan’s tacit approval, there were some things he didn’t mind the Shen family knowing. But some things should be natural secrets.

So, Mao Zishi didn’t say much.

But this was enough to make Shen Zikun’s eyes light up. The flash that burst out at that moment almost blinded Mao Zishi.

“Is what you said true?”

“Whether it’s true or not, what I say doesn’t count.”

Mao Zishi muttered. Who could know what the emperor was really thinking? Let alone guessing, sometimes looking at that face, Mao Zishi wanted to shudder.

Don’t know who exactly had the guts to catch the emperor’s eye?

Apart from that face being overly outstanding, what other advantages did Emperor Jingyuan have!

Mao Zishi, who had suffered from the emperor’s exploitation, thought indignantly.

…

Inside the Zhidian Si, several people gathered together, having taken off their clothes to face each other. Not for anything else, but to apply medicine to the bumps on their bodies.

Jingzhe didn’t have anything else here, but he had quite a lot of messy medicines.

This was all thanks to Rong Jiu sending things whenever he had nothing to do.

Now in Jingzhe’s big box, there was a small corner full of these strange jade bottles.

Jingzhe rummaged through the box and finally found a bottle that could treat the symptoms. He took out the jade bottle and threw it to the nearest Gusheng, letting them pass it around after applying it.

Gusheng sighed: “How come you two don’t have these on your bodies?”

In late spring and early summer, mosquitoes were very rampant.

Once bitten, there would be a big red bump. If scratched, it would be over, swelling even more terribly.

These mosquitoes were very poisonous.

If there were too many, palace staff would have to specially deal with these mosquitoes, which could be called a major scourge.

Jingzhe touched his arm, “Maybe I don’t attract mosquitoes.” He said hesitantly, actually unable to recall if he had been bitten when he was in the North Wing.

Huiping: “I used to get bitten often, but now I don’t.”

He glanced at Jingzhe and said with a smile.

“Maybe staying with Jingzhe for a long time makes them afraid.”

Shi’en was so jealous that he wished he could move over and swap rooms with Huiping to sleep.

Gusheng scratched while applying the medicine: “This medicine is quite magical. It feels cool after applying it. Jingzhe, who did you ask to buy it?”

Jingzhe rubbed his nose: “It was given by a friend.”

Gusheng didn’t doubt him: “Is that so? That’s great. Shi’en, why aren’t you such a friend?”

Shi’en kicked Gusheng: “Get lost. Why aren’t you such a friend, huh? Is it because you are not rich enough, or because you don’t stand high enough?”

Gusheng said painfully: “Neither rich enough nor standing high enough.”

They were all third-class young eunuchs, and their monthly allowance was more than before. However, it was not so easy to climb up further.

Inside the Zhidian Si, occasionally one could see those in their thirties or forties still doing sweeping work.

Very few could become managing eunuchs.

There were only so many positions. If one didn’t find a way to adapt, one could only continue like this.

“I heard that His Majesty has been at Shangyu Garden these days.” Shi’en finished applying the medicine and put his clothes back on. “If I had known earlier, I would have gone there.”

When Shangyu Garden intended to recruit people before, they had talked about it.

Gusheng: “Forget it. If you often go in and out in front of His Majesty, having several lives wouldn’t be enough to be killed.” His voice was soft, not daring to speak too loudly, as if this was some taboo.

This was indeed a taboo.

The miserable states of Concubine Xu and Consort Zhang were right in front of their eyes. Even as masters, they couldn’t avoid it, let alone the servants below who worked with their heads tied to their belts.

If he had to wander in front of Emperor Jingyuan every day, Gusheng felt that he might scare himself to death first.

Shi’en: “If you want to serve His Majesty, you have to see if you have that luck.” He grumbled. Not everyone could be so “lucky” to appear in front of the emperor.

As for Consort Zhang…

He looked around and lowered his voice.