After two more years, He Yuan was fully confident in his acquired medicine skills and was ready to confront the 'special ones' again.
He informed the Wei family that he was setting out on a personal trip for enlightenment in order to widen his horizons as he dwelled amongst the common people whilst offering his services.
There was no way he'd tell them he was heading back to the imperial capital. If they knew, general Wei might smack his medicine skills out of him and the ladies would mouth his head off.
The only person aware of his true destination was master Shi. He Yuan didn't hide that fact from him because he needed to make use of the man's connections.
There were a total of five princes, the first died as a child, the second prince was executed for 'betraying' his nation. The third prince was a sickling, the fourth prince, Xian Taiwen, was now the emperor and the fifth died in the chaos for the throne.
Once Xian Taiwen ascended the throne, he'd sent the only other surviving royal, the sickly third prince, off to become the vassal of an underdeveloped state taking with him his princess consort. Doing this, he gained the reputation of being compassionate and family oriented.
He Yuan's plan was to cause chaos in the imperial palace. Doing this would force the third prince come in and try to put the situation under control. He had never met the third prince and wasn't sure if he would really show up but master Shi had assured him.
The reason he chose this method because he couldn't possibly succeed in bringing down Xian Taiwen if there was no one to rule the nation.
The third prince was not really interested in ruling the nation but he was quite capable and would definitely rise up to it if the emperor was 'muddleheaded' thereby putting the nation in a precarious situation.
Also, not many knew that the third prince was already healed. He'd encountered master Shi years ago and the old genius doctor was intrigued by his sickness and took it as a challenge to cure him. It was successful.
He Yuan soon arrived at the imperial capital. Walking down the streets, he saw posters of Bai Hong everywhere. Xian Taiwen and Wei Yun'er couldn't possibly set up posters of the Wei family as they had tried their best to suppress the news of their escape.
Xian Taiwen even went as far as disguising a few death row prisoners and executing them in the place of the Wei family in order to save face. This managed to safeguard the secret but from then on, he could never openly search for the Wei family.
Bai Hong, on the other hand, was a different case. Although he wasn't pegged a national traitor, he was charged with stealing a precious artifact, that had high sentimental value, from Wei Yun'er.
Even then, they couldn't make what they claimed he stole to be too valuable as they didn't want to also lose face in case people were to say that they couldn't properly safeguard something they deemed so important right in the imperial palace.
He Yuan laughed at their predicament in his mind. It was really hard to be the son of heaven and phoenix empress. They should keep working hard, he was giving them his mental support! freewebn(o)vel
As he strolled close to the imperial palace, but not too close, he soon encountered a youngster who was screaming his lungs out as a bunch of ruffians pulled him along. He was about to look away but he soon heard the boy's words.
"PLEASE! LET ME GO, I DON'T WANT TO BECOME A EUNUCH! PLEASE!" The boy struggled even as he screamed. "MOTHER! SAVE ME, PLEASE!"
He Yuan froze. Eunuch? He quickly rushed over to hide behind a wall and when the little group got close enough, he jumped out and sprinkled paralysis dust on them.
They all flopped to the ground. He Yuan pushed the ruffians out of sight, slipped the antidote into the youngster's lips and then took him away. When they arrived at a secluded spot, He Yuan found out the youngster's story.
His name was Fu Hei and he was from a minor noble family. His mother died of heartache when his father, who promised to love just her forever, suddenly brought in a woman and a teenage son who he claimed was his.
That left Fu Hei all alone in this cruel world yet his stepmother schemed against him to the extent that he lost his father's and grandmother's approval. Soon enough, he was cast to an isolated courtyard since he was a 'disgrace'.
Last night he cried and studied before sleeping, as usual, but he suddenly woke up thirty minutes ago to find himself in a carriage with some ruffians. He pestered them until he found out that they were headed to the imperial palace.
His stepmother was in cahoots with some small time eunuchs and they planned to make him one too. He didn't want to become a eunuch, he wanted to study for the imperial exams!
He Yuan shook his head with a sigh. The ancient times was truly full of dog blood drama but at least this dog blood drama could be used to his advantage.
He decided to strike a deal with Fu Hei. He would take Fu Hei's place and become a eunuch in his stead and Fu Hei would leave the imperial capital for five years. Not to worry, he was going to give him enough money to study outside.
And after five years, he could freely return to the capital and take part in the imperial exam. This was enough time for He Yuan to finish his task.
Fu Hei froze. This was real? His eyes then trailed to the space in between He Yuan's legs. Why would anyone want to willingly become a eunuch? He couldn't hide the look in his eyes that called He Yuan crazy.
He Yuan scratched his nose and laughed dryly when he noticed the boy's looks. "We all have different dreams ah."
His dream was to become a eunuch? Fu Hei shook his head in bafflement but then snapped out of it and held He Yuan's hands. "Then I won't stop you from chasing your dreams. Quick give me the money so I can leave!"
He Yuan nodded and handed Fu Hei two bags of silver ingots and a few bottles of pills, making sure to switch their bags. That should be enough. He also gave Fu Hei a human skin mask to wear as he went out of the imperial capital. He couldn't have anyone seeing Fu Hei leave the imperial capital.
Once Fu Hei left, He Yuan quickly molded a human skin mask that resembled Fu Hei and then wore Fu Hei's clothes. After adequate preparation, he waltzed back to the ruffians, sprinkled them with memory wiping dust and then arranged them in a convincing position with him in their grasp.
Now, his finalized plan was to get into the imperial palace as a eunuch. He didn't need to be close enough to either Xian Taiwen or Wei Yun'er. Observing them from afar and pushing their relationship into the abyss by spreading some rumours here and there shouldn't be too difficult.
After all, Fu Hei was coming back in five years to partake in the imperial exam and since he was borrowing his face, He Yuan couldn't do anything to blacken the youngster's reputation.
The ruffians soon came to and after the initial confusion as to why they were all leaning against the wall with a fainted 'Fu Hei' in their hands, they quickly rushed to the meeting place.
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