Chapter 215: Inside and Outside the Dungeon (2)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
At the same time, on the third basement floor…
Compared to the dim second basement, the third basement was very spacious. It could be considered a hall. There were bookshelves all around, a tea table and desk in the middle, a mahogany partition behind it, and a bed for sleeping. Other than the lack of windows, it was no different from an ordinary bedroom. Door-sealing stones had fallen in the first basement, and poisonous gas had been sprayed in the second basement, but there was no change in the third basement.
After all, the person imprisoned here was not a vicious bandit but an old servant who had been loyal to the Dongfang clan for sixty years.
Although Eunuch Cao was not loyal to the empress, he was indeed the most loyal person to the Dongfang clan’s imperial family.
Anyone in the world could kill Eunuch Cao, except for the empress. Ever since the founding of Great Wei, he had been conscientious and selfless. Everyone knew that Eunuch Cao was the most trustworthy and loyal servant of the imperial family. His influence was enough to interfere with the Imperial Court, but he had never crossed the line once. He was just an obscure servant beside the emperor. Whoever inherited the throne according to the ancestral family rules, he would be meticulously at their beck and call. If the empress had killed him after taking the throne, it would be equivalent to admitting publicly that she had obtained the position improperly.
Therefore, Eunuch Cao’s position as the keeper of the seal was still there, and it was declared to the public that he was already old and retired in the capital.
An oil lamp was lit on the desk in the spacious room. The old eunuch was sitting cross-legged in front of the desk, wearing the red robe of the keeper of the seal of the Directorate of Ceremonial.
Growing up in the Imperial City, he had paid attention to etiquette all his life. Even though he was in prison, his red robe was still neat and wrinkle-free. Even his white hair was combed meticulously.
Eunuch Cao had practiced the Beauty-Retaining Picture. Originally, it was impossible to tell his age. But after his internal energy had dissipated and he had not seen the light of day for ten years, wrinkles still appeared at the corners of his eyes, making him look like a thin old man in his sixties.
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
The sound of stones shattering came from under the wooden floor. Soon, a pickaxe pierced through, and the floor was smashed open by a punch.
Boom!
Eunuch Cao’s robe fluttered in the air, but he didn’t react at all. He merely slowly turned a page of his book.
“Foster Father?” Cao Aning crawled out of the tunnel and almost cried tears of joy when he saw the old eunuch sitting behind the desk. He ran to him, knelt on the floor, and said anxiously, “Foster Father, let’s go quickly. 1 dug underground and got people to restrain the experts of the Imperial Court in the west of the city. Even Ye Jingtang, who has god-like predictions, was pulled away by my open scheme. Now, we can leave unimpeded…”
Cao Aning’s eyes were full of excitement. After all, it was easy to deceive the Prince of Wu, but it was too difficult to lie to the omniscient King Ye of Hell.
If not for his initial plan to throw a watermelon at the Imperial Court to save a sesame seed® and make the Imperial Court focus on dealing with the Prince of Wu, with Ye Jingtang’s intense pursuit, it would have been impossible to break into the prison.
Eunuch Cao closed the book and looked up at the excited young man kneeling in front of him. “A’Ning… It’s been ten years since we last met. You’ve grown up. Who asked you to save me, the Prince of Liang or the Prince of Yan?”
When Cao Aning saw Eunuch Cao’s old, almost unrecognizable, face, he was stunned for a moment. Then he took a medicine box from his subordinate who came out from behind, moved to him on his knees, and placed it on the desk. “It’s someone from the Green Bandits who calls himself Yan Bugui. He helped me find a way. The Green Bandits obtained this secret medicine from the Medical Sage of Northern Liang. It can help you open up some of your meridians…”
Eunuch Cao sighed. “After ten years of separation, you have learned to lie to me. When I leave the capital, where are you going to take me?”
Cao Aning opened the medicine box, revealing the pill inside. “Foster Father, you taught me since I was a child to protect the imperial family of Great Wei. The eldest princess usurped the throne, which is against the ancestral etiquette and rules. In the future, the throne will inevitably fall into the hands of an outsider. I’ve been operating in secret for the past ten years. Among the vassal princes, the Prince of Yan has the greatest power and is highly respected. This throne should be inherited by the Prince of Yan…”
“That’s why the Prince of Yan asked you to come.”
Eunuch Cao didn’t look at the medicine box and said earnestly, “1 am a steward, and I am in charge of the daily trivial matters of the Dongfang family. 1 listen to whoever is the head of the family. If outsiders have designs on the family property, I have to take care of it. However, the steward has no right to interfere when the children are fighting for the family assets.
“The eldest princess is a woman. She forged the late emperor’s will and joined forces with her maternal relatives to seize power, obtaining the country improperly. In the future, when she gives birth to an heir to inherit the throne, it will be even more against the ancestral rules, so Foster Father, as a servant, you should persuade her and stop her.”
“The eldest son of the emperor was deposed by the court officials, and the court officials appointed a new monarch. This is a national matter. It’s up to the court officials to decide who should be brought to the capital to succeed the throne. I am a palace servant and have no right to interfere, let alone think about siding with someone and interfering in the selection of the new monarch. Do you understand what I mean?”
Cao Aning blinked. “But now that the eldest princess has ascended the throne, the lineage of the emperor will definitely change hands in the future. As retainers, we have to take necessary measures when necessary. If we support the Prince of Yan to ascend the throne, the lineage of the emperor will still be in the hands of the Dongfang family. If the empress cuts off the military power of the vassal princes in the future and completely monopolizes the power, we retainers will be powerless to turn the situation around. How can we face the Great Ancestor and the late emperor in the netherworld…”
Eunuch Cao shook his head. “Do you really think that the Prince of Yan asked you to bring me to Yan Province? I’m just a martial artist. No matter how talented I am, I can’t compare to Feng Guancheng. No matter how deep my foundation is, I can’t compare to the leaders of Buddhism and Daoism. The Prince of Yan has thousands of soldiers under him. Does he lack a guard like me?”
“Foster Faster, everyone knows that you are loyal to the imperial family. You just need to stand on the side of the Prince of Yan and say, ‘The late emperor felt that his eldest son was incompetent and once had the intention of letting the Prince of Yan succeed the throne’. Then, the Prince of Yan will have a basis to succeed to the throne…”
“The late emperor never said that. He only said, ‘It’s a pity that Yuhu isn’t a man’.”
Eunuch Cao looked at Cao Aning and sighed softly. “Besides, do you think who becomes the emperor depends on the late emperor’s will? The eldest princess could take out a will out of thin air. Does the Prince of Yan lack this old eunuch’s words?”
Cao Aning blinked. “The Green Bandits have planned so much. Their goal is indeed to let me save you…”
“In all the dynasties, there has never been a keeper of the seal who defected to a foreign land. We are born in the Imperial City and die in the Imperial City. All the vassal princes know this.”
Eunuch Cao looked at Cao Aning. “The eldest princess is not the new monarch chosen by the court officials or even the imperial family. They know that as long as I leave this cell, I will return to the palace and continue to persuade the eldest princess to return power or die in the palace.
“Their purpose is only to use me as a testing stone to find out the strength of the eldest princess’s guard. You were deceived by them.”
Kneeling on the floor, Cao Aning thought for a moment. “No matter what they mean, I’ve already done this. It’s fine as long as we don’t follow their wishes. After we go out, we’ll hide in the market. We will wait for the day of the coup in the capital and the new monarch of the Dongfang family appears. Then, we will come back to help the new monarch…”
Eunuch Cao shook his head. “I am the keeper of the seal of the Directorate of Ceremonial. The eldest princess hasn’t abolished my official position. How can I ‘run away’ in fear of punishment? If 1 can’t persuade the eldest princess and can’t restore the inheritance of the imperial lineage, I can die in front of the palace gate like our predecessors.
“I already lost ten years ago. So if 1 enter the palace now, I will die in vain…”
“However, it doesn’t matter if I die. Although the eldest princess obtained the position improperly, her talent is unparalleled since ancient times. She will certainly become a hero of a generation and usher in an unprecedented golden age for Great Wei.”
Eunuch Cao picked up the pill on the table and threw it into his mouth. “I am a servant of the family. I can’t go against the late emperor’s will and be loyal to the eldest princess, but I can’t stop the eldest princess. This useless old loser should have died ten years ago.
“The eldest princess is a descendant of the Dongfang clan after all. In the future, even if Great Wei changes its surname, it will still have half of the Dongfang family’s blood flowing in it. In the netherworld, 1 will still have half of my face to meet the Great Ancestor and the late emperor.”
Hearing this, Cao Aning said anxiously, “I’ve already done my best to reach this point. 1 will never have another chance. Those who achieve great things should know how to endure. In the future, if the eldest princess angers the heavens and the people, the court officials will elect a new monarch. Foster Father, if you can appear in your prime, you can always make the eldest princess abdicate…”
Eunuch Cao shook his head. “You don’t understand how powerful the eldest princess is. The only possibility for the eldest princess to abdicate is if her martial arts practice leads to a dead end and she dies young. If the eldest princess doesn’t die, with her talent, skills, and military power, no one in the world can challenge her throne. As for martial artists, Feng Guancheng is nothing in front of a hundred thousand iron cavalry, so what am I?”
Cao Aning opened his mouth but had nothing to say.
Eunuch Cao raised his hand slightly. “Let’s go. I am a servant. I’m useless and don’t want to leave my hometown, so I can only be buried here.”
