"Lan Se! Are you in your room?" Yunzhi pounded on the door, shouting.

"I am."

Sun Yunzhi opened the door to the small room of the intermediate eunuch. Yunzhi did not visit the young eunuch's room very often. In the early days, when the boy had just been assigned to serve Jingren Palace, Lan Se had to share a room with another Shouling Tai Jian. But now, having received the Imperial Consort's grace, she had ordered Lan Se to move into a private room.

Yunzhi's gaze swept around the room, seeing a small tea table piled high with scrolls in the center. A few steps to the left, he saw the person he sought, rubbing his eyes. From his countenance, it seemed he had just been weeping, and his eyes were dark-rimmed, like one who had not slept all night.

"You're crying? Why are you crying?"

Upon hearing the question, clear tears welled up, streaming down his face. He mumbled incoherently.

"Lan Se, do you have something on your mind? Or has someone dared to bully you? Tell me, and I shall deal with them at once!"

"N-No… Brother Yunzhi… no one bullied me. It was my own doing." Lan Se wiped his tears, his small hand tugging at Yunzhi's sleeve.

"No one bullied you? Then why are you crying?" Yunzhi tried asking again.

However, the boy buried his face, using his sleeve to wipe away a mixture of snot and tears.

"Very well, very well. I won't ask again," Yunzhi conceded. When this child chose to be stubborn, he was stubbornly silent. "But quickly wipe your face. The Imperial Consort has summoned you."

The young boy stiffened, asking slowly, "Is the Imperial Consort going to punish me? How will she punish me? Will she lash me? Boil me? Behead me? Gouge out my eyes? Or flay my skin and cut it into a thousand pieces?"

"What are you speaking of? Why would the Imperial Consort punish you?"

"Well…" Lan Se swallowed a sob, but still dared not reveal the truth of what had transpired last night, which had left him weeping in distress and unable to sleep. "Never mind. I am prepared. I trouble you, Esteemed One. If I am gone, in the small chest beneath my bed are my savings. Brother Yunzhi may take half of it. Consider it a token of gratitude for helping me find my mother. As for the other half… if Brother Yunzhi finds my mother, please give the remaining money to her. Tell my mother that her son disobeyed her commands. I have no face to meet Mother in this world. Let us meet in the next. May Mother take care of herself."

Sun Yunzhi stared at the young boy, who rambled on. He began to understand a little. "What transgression have you committed that makes you think the Imperial Consort must punish you?"

The young boy pursed his lips, sniffing. He decided to confess and recounted the events of last night to Yunzhi.

"Oh…" Yunzhi's jaw dropped. "Uh… this matter… it is partly my fault for suggesting such a thing. I apologize."

"Brother Yunzhi, you need not apologize to me. I was the bad child. But if Brother Yunzhi truly feels remorse, I have but one request: find my mother, and give her half the money in the chest. Will you promise me?"

Yunzhi pursed his lips, nodding slowly. He stroked the young boy's head with pity. "Yes, I promise."

"Thank you."

"Wipe your face and go to the Imperial Consort's palace. Perhaps the Imperial Consort will not punish you so severely as to take your life. The Imperial Consort has a sharp tongue but a kind heart, as you know."

Lan Se wiped his face and eyes, straightened his clothes, and walked with his head bowed behind Yunzhi, his mind adrift. He could only think that his mother would surely be heartbroken if she knew he had violated palace rules with such a shameful transgression.

When he arrived, he saw Lii Fei sitting before a mirror, choosing hairpins while Xi Ying brushed her hair.

“Why are you so late?” Wan Ying asked, seeing the small eunuch walk in. “And what… what’s wrong with you, Lan Se? Why are your eyes and nose so red? Has someone bullied you?”

“No, Esteemed One. I merely…” Lan Se glanced at the Imperial Consort, seeing her still smiling, showing no sign of scolding him. “I merely miss my mother, Esteemed One.”

“Is that so… Indeed. You are still young, yet you are too clever for your age, so sometimes I forget you are not even ten winters old.”

“I understand. When I first entered the palace, I too often cried, missing home,” Lii Fei said. “I was fortunate to be able to send letters to my family. But you… your mother is a captive. Who knows if she is alive or well. It is not strange for you to cry and fuss like a child, but you must take care of your health, do you understand? Look at you, crying all night, your face pale and gaunt like a ghost. Take this and eat it. You’ll grow up quickly.”

Lii Fei pushed a tray adorned with dragonflies touching the water’s surface towards him. On it were four pine nut pastries.

“But before you eat, help me dress, and you must make me look my most beautiful, for this evening His Majesty will dine with me,” Lii Fei smiled broadly, revealing her white teeth. She was in a better mood than on other days.

Li Lan Se stared at the Imperial Consort, his mouth agape. Lii Fei’s demeanor was utterly unlike what he had expected. There was no scolding or punishment whatsoever. She even spoke words of comfort about his mother and offered him snacks. What kind of gentle punishment was this?

“Your Highness is already the most beautiful, Your Highness. No matter what attire Your Highness wears, His Majesty will cherish Your Highness. It is clear that Your Highness is so favored that His Majesty has visited Your Highness two days in a row,” Xi Ying said, while styling her hair into a snail-shell bun.

“Speaking of which, His Majesty has never visited Jingren Palace two days in a row. Could it be that last night…” Wan Ying covered her face, blushing.

“The credit must go to Lan Se. I tried imitating the Chungongtu, and His Majesty was very pleased.”

“Your humble servant changed shifts at dawn and could still hear sounds from Your Highness’s bedchamber, Your Highness. His Majesty truly shows no mercy to jade and cherishes no blossoms.”

“Indeed. I am sore all over. It’s fortunate I already commanded that I be excused from attending the Empress. Otherwise, my body would be utterly exhausted.”

They giggled. Lan Se picked up a hairpin adorned with a turquoise stone and a silver pheasant hairpin, handing them to Xi Ying to adorn the Imperial Consort’s hair with a calm expression, yet a puzzled thought in his mind.

Imperial Consort Lii Fei did not punish him. This might be because His Majesty had not told her that a eunuch had secretly observed her bedchamber last night. But that did not mean His Majesty would not punish him.

Was His Majesty visiting Jingren Palace again to see his shameless face, and would he personally execute him?!

No, this wouldn't do. He must find an excuse to avoid His Majesty. He would pretend to be invisible, as if there were no eunuch named Li Lan Se in this palace. If His Majesty did not see his face, he might forget about last night, and he would not be punished with death.

This evening, he would let Brother Yunzhi and the other eunuchs serve the Imperial Consort instead.

“Sister Wan Ying, I feel unwell. Please let Brother Yunzhi serve the Imperial Consort and His Majesty in my place this evening.”

“Oh? Are you seriously ill? Should I summon a physician to examine you?”

“I’m fine, Esteemed One. I merely have a slight headache. Perhaps it’s from standing guard last night and not getting enough sleep. A little rest should cure it. Please convey my apologies to the Imperial Consort.”

“Very well. Go rest.”