FID – Chapter 1048

Chapter 1048 – The Xiliang Imperial Palace

Liu Yusheng’s guess was correct.

Along the way, the convoy passed through two major prefectural cities. The renowned physicians they summoned were all helpless against the old eunuch’s symptoms.

He was not poisoned, had no external wounds, and no other signs of illness, but blood kept flowing from his lower body.

Even as the weather was warming in mid-April, the metallic stench of blood emanating from him was so strong it could not be masked.

To prevent the blood from staining his clothing, the old eunuch was ultimately forced to shamefully wrap himself in a diaper. Any time he noticed someone laughing, he assumed they were mocking him.

On one occasion, halfway through the journey, he even killed one of his own personal young eunuchs to serve as a warning, deterring anyone in the convoy from secretly ridiculing him.

Watching the young eunuch’s body being wrapped up and casually carried off to be dumped in the wilderness, Liu Yusheng shivered.

A eunuch, made self-conscious by his physical disability, had twisted psychologically to the point that even laughter was forbidden.

Over the slightest hint of suspicion, he could snuff out a life. How malevolent, cruel, utterly perverse!

And this was a person in the immediate circle of the Xiliang emperor, even a eunuch the emperor trusted deeply; otherwise, the emperor would not have entrusted him with the task of selecting the saintesses.

Birds of a feather flock together; if the people around him were all this twisted, what about the Xiliang emperor?

Since the young eunuch had been beaten to death, the entire convoy had grown tense and oppressive. Even the sacred maidens of the Saintess Tribe were affected, acting and speaking with instinctive caution.

Everyone tried to avoid accidentally crossing the old eunuch, lest they invite a miserable fate upon themselves.

Through this, Liu Yusheng gained a clearer understanding of the eunuch’s lowly yet dangerous position.

Late at night, when Feng Qingbai snuck into her room again, she voiced her concern.

“Once we get to the Xiliang Imperial Palace, things might not be as optimistic as we think. If a trusted eunuch can be this cruel, how much better could the emperor be?” Nestled in the man’s arms, Liu Yusheng’s brow was tightly furrowed.

The imperial palace was a place where everyone performed, a world rife with intrigue and schemes. The people there could not be judged by ordinary standards.

Yet she firmly believed in the principle that like attracts like.

A person’s words, actions, and behavior inevitably influence those around them, shaping their values.

For example, Xiao Feng had no such eunuchs around him, largely thanks to Feng Qingbai’s strict oversight.

Judging from the few, she developed a profound wariness of the Xiliang emperor.

A large hand lightly patted her back, and Feng Qingbai’s lips curved into a faint smile. “Feeling nervous now? I remember when we first made this plan, you were the one who volunteered.”

“That was because you were there. That’s why I guessed I wouldn’t be afraid.”

“I’ve always been here,” the man said, his smile growing warmer, his gaze softer. “So no matter what kind of person the Xiliang emperor is, you don’t need to be afraid. I’m here, Shengsheng.”

Strangely, her anxiety melted away at his words.

With him here, there was nothing she needed to fear.

Even if danger truly came, she believed he would come to save her.

Besides, she wasn’t completely powerless. She had some ability to protect herself. The plan hadn’t even begun yet, and here she was, scaring herself. When did she become so cautious?

She relaxed and sank into his arms. Before drifting off to sleep, she whispered against his chest, “Feng Qingbai, it’s so good to have you here.”

Feng Qingbai let out a quiet, soft laugh. That simple sentence was the greatest reward of his day.

The convoy reached Xiliang’s capital a month and a half later.

Along the way, the old eunuch’s moods were unpredictable, keeping the entire convoy on edge, every person constantly tense.

And in order to return to the palace as quickly as possible to treat his strange ailment, the old eunuch gave the convoy almost no time to rest along the way, racing through the night and under the stars toward the capital.

The several beautiful, radiant saintesses showed clear signs of exhaustion. They were utterly worn out. The lead elder had discussed slowing the pace with the old eunuch multiple times, but to no avail.

As a maid attending the saintesses, Liu Yusheng deeply felt the suffering they endured.

Having grown up in the Saintess Village, these girls, selected for palace service at sixteen or seventeen, likely had rarely even left the clan grounds. Now, on this long journey with almost no stops at inns for rest, how could they not be exhausted?

Their looks had even begun to suffer.

After presenting the official token for inspection to the city guards, the convoy entered the capital with all the guards showing proper respect.

Immediately, the sound of commotion rose around the carriages; listening closely, it was the cheering of the city’s people.

“The saintesses have entered the capital this year!”

“Yes! The convoy is back, the saintesses must have come with them. Long live our emperor, may his life be boundless!”

“Long live our emperor, may His Majesty’s life be boundless!”

Hearing the cries of ‘May His Majesty’s life be boundless,’ Liu Yusheng twitched at the corner of her mouth. Taking advantage of the saintesses’ inattention, she quietly lifted a corner of the carriage curtain to peek outside, only to see the city’s people kneeling on the ground, shouting.

Have they all been brainwashed by the Xiliang emperor?

The Saintesses had devoted their entire lives just to enter the capital, merely to extend a few more days of the emperor’s life—and yet these people thought it was worth it?

What did the emperor’s longevity have to do with them? Even if he really lived longer, was he going to become some immortal old monster?

In the end, everyone dies. Using the blood of these girls to prolong one’s life, struggling to cling to existence was truly pathetic.

A perverted old eunuch, an emperor whose obsession with immortality she had yet to see, and a brainwashed population in the capital… Liu Yusheng pressed her throbbing temple. What kind of country was Xiliang, really?

A country like this, yet so ambitious, meddling in other royal families, stirring up chaos, daring to try to unify the world!

It was utterly ridiculous!

Glancing once more at the citizens kneeling and shouting along the road like devoted believers, Liu Yusheng lowered the carriage curtain.

She felt pity for these people.

The carriage wheels slowly rolled through the capital’s streets, heading straight for the palace.

When they stopped at the palace gates and everyone disembarked, Liu Yusheng saw the grandeur of the Xiliang palace.

Its vermilion walls soared into the clouds, magnificent and imposing. Like the Nanling palace, it exuded a weighty, commanding presence.

The palace gates were guarded by soldiers clad in silver armor, each holding a cold iron spear, radiating an icy, deadly aura.

The old eunuch rode at the forefront, leading the maidens along with the accompanying little attendants and guards through the palace gates. Walking at the rear, Liu Yusheng still caught the palace guard addressing the eunuch as “Wei-gonggong.”

It was funny. In nearly two months of traveling and hearing the old eunuch bark orders constantly, she had only now learned that this perverted old man’s surname was Wei.

Once inside the palace, the old eunuch immediately led the saintesses to meet the emperor.

At this time, the accompanying maids and little attendants were not allowed to follow.

While the saintesses went to see the emperor, an administrative eunuch came to arrange accommodations for the rest of the Saintess Tribe’s entourage, guiding them to a hall specially reserved for receiving guests.

Liu Yusheng, along with Feng Qingbai, Xue Honglian, and Qian Yi, were forced to separate.