Liang Jiugong was furious.
Did they think he, the great Chief Eunuch Liang, was raised to be scared?
Would he be threatened by a mere palace maid from the tea house?
Alright, fine.
He was.
He would be.
So, when he went to the Imperial Kitchen to request easy-to-digest pastries and warm water with a precise two-to-one ratio of honey and citron, he became even more enraged.
The poor chefs in the Imperial Kitchen were terrified.
That damned girl had even thought through all the details for him, pinpointing his weakness with perfect accuracy.
To prevent Fang He and Wei Zhu from gaining any advantage in front of the Emperor, Liang Jiugong endured the humiliation and temporarily swallowed his anger.
When the time came, he personally woke the Emperor.
After last night’s exhaustion, Kangxi was still feeling the effects of the alcohol.
“Go relay my decree: Court is canceled today. Tomorrow, the Grand Secretariat should prepare the decree for the eastern tour and finalize the itinerary.”
Although Kangxi planned to travel south, outwardly, he wanted to announce an inspection of the Yellow River to conceal his true destination.
Liang Jiugong respectfully acknowledged the order and had Li Dequan deliver the decree.
He then personally attended to the Emperor, helping him drink warm water and eat some pastries, all without mentioning Fang He.
Once Kangxi had fully sobered up, refreshed himself with a set of boxing exercises, and spent half the morning reviewing memorials with a composed expression, Liang Jiugong finally managed to suppress his anger.
See?
It was he, Liang Jiugong, who had served His Majesty so well—letting him sleep in till broad daylight and even eliminating any hangover symptoms!
It was all thanks to his attentiveness and service skills!
What did it have to do with that wretched girl, Fang He?
Meanwhile, Fang He wished for nothing more than to have absolutely no connection with this situation.
Before she went to sleep in the side room, neither she nor Ran Xia had seen Bai Min again.
Upon hearing that all the palace maids who had accompanied the Emperor at night were sent to the Office of Careful Punishment, they could easily guess Bai Min’s fate.
Even Cuiwei, who had handled the handover, dared not mention a single word.
Filled with anxiety, Fang He and Ran Xia returned to their room in silence.
They tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep, fearing they might be implicated.
Trouble?
Fang He had even more to worry about than Ran Xia.
Even if she was useful to the Emperor, if he remembered what had happened last night, who knew if her usefulness would outweigh his anger at being offended?
She twisted her fingers, wishing she could cut them off.
Why couldn’t she hold back?!
Lying awake, listening to Ran Xia’s restless movements, she silently clasped her hands together and prayed to the Buddha, the Bodhisattvas, Jesus, and the Virgin Mary—all of them—to make sure the Emperor never found out that she was the one who had served him to sleep last night.
As long as she could escape this disaster, she swore she would never lose her temper again.
Even if she had to marry a night soil collector… she would accept it.
As long as she could leave the palace, with her skills, she could find a way to live a good life.
She wasn’t picky.
By the time she woke up, it was already late afternoon.
Even after sleeping most of the day, she still looked more exhausted than if she had pulled an all-nighter.
Carrying the lingering anxiety, she had even been praying to the gods in her dreams.
When she arrived at the tea house, Bai Min was nowhere to be seen.
Ran Xia didn’t dare step forward, so Fang He had to force herself to stand her ground.
Her nerves were stretched taut, but ironically, that made her appear more alert.
Unexpectedly, this time, Liang Jiugong didn’t even spare her a glance.
Li Dequan also acted as if he didn’t recognize her, keeping a straight face and refusing to let her into the hall.
He took the tea himself and went in to serve the Emperor.
The Imperial Tea Room was left in cold silence for three days.
At last, Fang He’s anxious heart was able to relax.
When she went to collect her monthly stipend, she ran into Wei Zhu in Qiao Cheng’s small storeroom, where he was paying his respects.
She even cheerfully praised Liang Jiugong in front of the two men.
“Chief Eunuch Liang truly deserves his position as the head eunuch of the Imperial Court. He is kind-hearted, generous, and skilled— cough cough—His Majesty is right to trust him.”
Qiao Cheng: You were about to say ‘he deserves it,’ weren’t you?
Wei Zhu: “…Sister, I still have some fever medicine. I’ll bring you a packet later. You must be seriously ill.”
Liang Jiugong?
Kind-hearted?
Generous?
Even in his dreams, he wouldn’t dare to imagine such praise.
Fang He simply smiled without saying a word.
Some things only needed to be known by heaven, earth, herself, and the so-called “benevolent” Liang Jiugong.
As long as she could leave the palace safely, she would be willing to write off all grievances with Liang Jiugong.
“After all, we should remember people’s kindness. When the time comes for us to pay our respects at Chief Eunuch Liang’s grave, I’ll be sure to burn plenty of paper money for him!”
Qiao Cheng and Wei Zhu: …
That said, Chief Eunuch Liang probably doesn’t need your concern.
Indeed, Liang Jiugong didn’t need it.
These past few days at court had been far from easy for him—worse than even Fang He’s own anxiety.
Although the Emperor hadn’t mentioned a word about the incident, nor had he asked about the palace maids taken away, he kept glancing at the dragon bed with a deep, thoughtful gaze.
That was already unnerving enough.
But even worse, the Emperor occasionally looked at Liang Jiugong’s hands as if considering whether to chop them off.
Liang Jiugong truly couldn’t tell if the Emperor remembered what had happened that night.
Having served the Emperor for so long, he had always suspected that His Majesty might forget things when he was drunk.
In the past, when Prince Yu and Prince Gong had made mistakes, the Emperor often didn’t recall the details after drinking.
But anyone who tried to use his drunkenness to deceive him had never met a good end.
Liang Jiugong had always taken note of this and never dared to ask further.
Now, however, it was too late to come clean.
The longer the Emperor kept silent, the less opportunity Liang Jiugong had to speak up.
The unease gnawed at him, and he was beginning to regret being manipulated by Fang He’s sugar-coated threats.
To be fair, he truly understood his master.
With Kangxi’s discipline and need for control, if alcohol ever caused him memory lapses, he would have trained his tolerance rigorously, pinpointing the exact threshold beyond which he blacked out.
In the entire Qing dynasty, only Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang—who had raised Kangxi—knew the truth: no matter how drunk he appeared, whether he remembered depended solely on what served his best interest.
So, although he had been slightly dazed that night, Kangxi actually remembered nearly everything—he just couldn’t believe it and didn’t want to talk about it for now.
No matter that Changning had tampered with his wine, no matter that the hot steam in the bath had intensified his intoxication, no matter that the harmony incense had clouded his senses…
None of it should have made him so weak that a mere scrawny palace maid could take him down!
At fourteen, he had led a group of boys to capture Aobai, the greatest warrior of the Qing, not just because of luck or timing, but because of his own strength.
In recent years, in the wrestling grounds, he had found few worthy opponents.
Even if his guards went easy on him, with his strength—enough to pull a fourteen-stone bow—there was no way anyone could overpower him!
Not even in a drunken stupor!
He clearly remembered the sharp pain in his chest when that fragile shoulder rammed into him.
For a moment, his feet had actually left the ground.
This made no damn sense!!!
He couldn’t even bring himself to ask the hidden guards outside the palace.
He was almost relieved that the ones inside had been sent away that night.
He would rather believe that Liang Jiugong had nearly violated the imperial lineage than face the truth.
Until, seven days later, the secret guards laid out the full investigation before him…
***
Both he and Yue Le understood that as Emperor, Kangxi would never allow the An Prince’s household to continue growing in power unchecked.
However, the testimonies of Ru Yue and Bai Min both mentioned Fang He, which left Kangxi somewhat unsettled.
Had Fang He not cleverly manipulated the discord between the two women to secure her own survival, Bai Min—being intelligent and backed by the years of influence Nala Momo had built in the imperial court—might have actually succeeded in her schemes.
Yet, Kangxi did not think Fang He was ruthless.
Both Ru Yue and Bai Min had admitted to scheming against Fang He—first, when she hit her head trying to push Bai Min out of favor, and later, when Bai Min attempted to use Fang He as a stepping stone to rise in rank.
If Fang He had not struck first, she would have eventually fallen victim to their machinations.
This little field mouse was even more clever than Kangxi had imagined.
Not only was she good at concealing her abilities, but when she did strike, it was with precision and ruthlessness.
Kangxi couldn’t stop himself from recalling, over and over, the moment when he was taken down.
He chuckled softly to himself, lowered his gaze in contemplation, and then ordered Liang Jiugong:
“Personally handle them. Cut out their tongues, but don’t let them die easily—keep them alive on the imperial estate.”
Once Yue Le was gone, these people might still be useful.
Liang Jiugong remained expressionless as he accepted the order.
To have dared to lay hands on the Emperor—death would be too easy for this bunch of scoundrels.
They should be used to their fullest potential.
He took Li Dequan along to the Office of Careful Punishment.
Even though he had prepared himself for cruelty, Liang Jiugong was still speechless for a long time when he saw them.
Even Wen Xin, the one most favored among the palace maids, was barely distinguishable from a lump of flesh—save for the fact that she was still breathing.
Most of her bones had been shattered; it was already a miracle she was still alive.
He hurriedly ordered Li Dequan to summon the imperial physicians.
By the time the necessary medicine had been administered, wounds bandaged, and arrangements made to send them out of the palace, it was already nightfall.
As he walked past the Moonlit Gate, Liang Jiugong suddenly stopped and, supporting himself against the wall, gave himself a loud slap across the face.
Li Dequan flinched in shock.
“Godfather, what are you—”
Had those bastards scared him senseless?
Liang Jiugong, seemingly numb to the pain, shook his head and muttered, “Nothing. I just hate how stupid I am. I wanted to slap myself awake.”
He had been a complete fool, stubbornly clinging to the wrong ideas and making mistake after mistake.
With his closeness to the Emperor, as long as he remained loyal and didn’t step out of line, no one could surpass him.
When he grew old, the Emperor would surely allow him to retire with dignity.
He might even be honored with a shrine in his name while he was still alive, receiving incense offerings.
No matter how capable Gu Wenxing was, given his background and his history of serving the previous dynasty, the Emperor would never let him interfere in matters within the palace.
Why had he been so shortsighted, grasping for silver, competing with the other palace servants, and stirring up trouble?
If he angered the Emperor enough to be cast aside, what good would power or money be?
At that point, even getting a straw mat for his burial would be something to be grateful for.
What was the point of all his scheming?
With that realization, Liang Jiugong slapped himself again.
Then, with his face red and raw, he knelt in front of Kangxi and slammed his head against the ground.
“Your Majesty, this servant realizes his mistake—this servant was gravely, unforgivably wrong!”
Kangxi raised an eyebrow.
Why does this sound oddly familiar?
“Get to the point,” he said flatly.
Still kneeling, Liang Jiugong choked back tears.
“This servant should not have let jealousy cloud his judgment when Your Majesty praised Eunuch Gu. I should not have competed with him and neglected my proper duties.”
“Even worse, I should not have—knowing full well that Fang He was useful to Your Majesty—tried to claim her achievements for myself and deceive Your Majesty.”
He confessed everything, leaving nothing out—including his initial plan to make Fang He take the fall.