“If Your Majesty wishes to make excuses for your incompetence, you would do better to abdicate in favor of someone worthy!”
The words frightened the eunuchs locking the doors outside Zhaoyang Hall so badly that they shuddered. One young eunuch timidly asked Eunuch Zhou, “Eunuch Zhou, should we… still keep this door locked?”
Eunuch Zhou frowned. “Of course. Do you intend to disobey an imperial order?”
The young eunuch hurried to explain, but a drawn-out, shrill voice came from the nearby corridor.
“Instead of attending His Majesty, you’re all gathered here chatting? Careful he doesn’t flay you!”
They turned to see Liu Xi, the chief eunuch of Zhaoyang Hall. The young eunuch quickly replied, “Steward Liu, His Majesty ordered us to leave.”
Liu Xi frowned at the locked doors. “Who else is inside?”
“His Highness the Regent.”
“The regent?!” Liu Xi’s expression changed immediately. “How long has he been in there?”
The young eunuch trembled. “…Nearly two hours.”
Liu Xi flew into a rage. “How dare you! How can you leave the regent alone with His Majesty? If anything happens to the emperor, can you bear the responsibility? Open the doors at once!”
“You mustn’t, Steward Liu!” Eunuch Zhou hurried to block the entrance. “His Majesty said no one is to open the doors without his command. Anyone who disobeys will be severely punished!”
Liu Xi looked him up and down and sneered. “I wondered who it was. Zhou An, of course. What, you think being brought back to Zhaoyang Hall has sent a mere temple gatekeeper soaring into the heavens? I still command the servants here. Get out of my way!”
Eunuch Zhou gritted his teeth. He had long known that Liu Xi, relying on his seniority in the palace, resented him for winning the emperor’s favor and serving at his side. But for now, he could only suppress his anger.
“I wouldn’t dare. But this is His Majesty’s direct command. I dare not disobey.”
“Oh? Using His Majesty to pressure me?” Liu Xi scoffed. “I served the late emperor. Now he was a true descendant of the imperial line.”
Eunuch Zhou stared straight at him. “Are you saying His Majesty is not a true descendant of the imperial line?”
Liu Xi’s expression changed. His contempt for the young emperor might be an unspoken truth, but saying it aloud would give others a serious charge to use against him. This Zhou fellow was deliberately trying to incriminate him!
Furious, he lashed out with a kick, striking Zhou An squarely in the chest.
Zhou An fell to the ground at once, clutching his chest and groaning in pain. Liu Xi did not even look at him. He spat, “You wretch. How dare you challenge me!”
“Unlock the doors!”
“Y-yes!”
The two young eunuchs hurriedly took out the key. The instant the lock opened, Liu Xi prepared to rush inside—only for someone within to kick the doors open. A door panel slammed into him and sent him flying.
“Ow!”
The young eunuchs had no attention to spare for him. They dropped to their knees before the man emerging from the hall.
“We pay our respects to His Highness the Regent!”
Xie Yun’s cold gaze swept over them and Zhou An, who lay clutching his chest. Finally, it settled sharply on Liu Xi. The man shuddered and hastily scrambled onto his knees, explaining in a trembling voice.
“Your Highness, His Majesty ordered the doors locked. I was the one who told them to open them!”
“Is that so?” Xie Yun regarded him icily. “As a servant of Zhaoyang Hall, you disregard His Majesty’s orders and betray your master to help me instead. Should I reward you generously?”
He spoke of rewards, but his voice was steeped in murderous intent. Liu Xi felt the blood in his entire body run cold. He immediately began kowtowing, weeping and begging.
“Spare me, Your Highness! Spare me! Please spare my life!”
The two young eunuchs outside the doors watched the man who had just been arrogant enough to disregard even the emperor’s command now kneeling like a dog before the regent, desperately knocking his head against the ground. A chill ran through them.
By the steps, Liu Xi had already battered his forehead bloody. Xie Yun remained unmoved until Song Liang’s voice came from inside Zhaoyang Hall.
“Take your grievances to the person responsible. If you want to settle accounts, Regent, come to me. Why vent your anger on the servants?”
Xie Yun gave a cold snort, turned, and strode away.
Only then did Liu Xi feel he had escaped death. His body went limp, and he collapsed to the ground. Then he quickly recovered enough to kowtow toward Song Liang inside the hall.
“Thank you, Your Majesty!”
Sitting at the table with his head propped on one hand, Song Liang gave a mocking smile.
“For what? For saving a disloyal servant like you?”
Liu Xi froze. “I… this servant…”
Song Liang had no patience to listen. He asked casually, “Did I not say no one was to unlock the doors without my instructions? Hm?”
“…”
The two young eunuchs hurriedly kowtowed and explained, “Spare us, Your Majesty! Eunuch Liu insisted we open them! Eunuch Zhou tried to stop him and was kicked to the ground. We were forced! Please show mercy!”
Liu Xi glared viciously at them.
Meanwhile, someone had helped Zhou An up. Pale-faced and clutching his chest, he knelt before Song Liang.
“Your Majesty, I failed to carry out your instructions. Please punish me.”
“Stand,” Song Liang said evenly.
“Thank you, Your Majesty.” Zhou An slowly rose.
“He kicked you?”
“…Yes.”
“Kick him back.”
“…”
Zhou An froze. Liu Xi cried out in alarm, “Your Majesty!”
Song Liang raised an eyebrow. “What? Is that not allowed?”
“…”
Liu Xi clenched his back teeth. He had bullied Zhou An often enough. If Zhou An truly got to kick him, it might cost him half his life—and all his standing in Zhaoyang Hall.
“Your Majesty, I have served since the late emperor’s reign. Even the Grand Empress Dowager shows me some consideration. Would you really punish this old servant over a lowly slave who guarded the ancestral temple?”
“…”
The hall fell silent.
Everyone knew who truly ruled the palace: the Grand Empress Dowager. Even His Majesty would be confined to the ancestral temple if he angered her. Having only just been released, he naturally could not rashly provoke her over a servant.
Zhou An felt as though a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head, extinguishing his anger. He must have lost his senses. A kick was only a kick. It was hardly the first time he had suffered one. How had a few days at Zhaoyang Hall made him believe the young emperor could truly stand up for himself? If Liu Xi reported this to the Grand Empress Dowager, Zhou An could lose his head!
It was all because the young emperor had cut such an intimidating figure at court a few days earlier. Zhou An had actually believed he dared move against the Grand Empress Dowager’s people.
Filled with regret, he was about to step forward and confess his fault to salvage the situation when the young emperor’s languid voice sounded—
“Zhou An, what are you waiting for? Do you expect me to do it for you?”
“…”
Zhou An’s eyes widened as he stared at him in disbelief.
Liu Xi was equally shocked. He could not believe that even after he had invoked the Grand Empress Dowager, the young emperor still dared punish him!
“Your Majesty—”
“Zhou An,” Song Liang commanded in a low voice.
“Yes!”
Zhou An felt a rush of blood to his head. He strode up to Liu Xi and kicked him with all his strength.
“AAH—”
A terrible scream rang out. Liu Xi fell to the floor clutching his chest, curled like a shrimp, and wailed in agony. The sound was chilling.
The two young eunuchs shook like leaves, terrified they would be next. The other maids and eunuchs in the hall kept their heads lowered, scarcely daring to breathe for fear of drawing the emperor’s anger.
Zhou An stood staring blankly at the howling Liu Xi, his thoughts unreadable.
Footsteps sounded in the hall as Song Liang slowly rose and approached Liu Xi, surveying him from above.
Liu Xi was in excruciating pain. Zhou An’s kick felt as though it had taken half his life. No longer daring to invoke the Grand Empress Dowager, his face white as paper, he pleaded weakly.
“Your Majesty… spare me… I know my crime… I won’t dare again…”
“You know your crime? What crime would that be?”
Song Liang studied him with amusement, then planted a foot on the hand covering his chest and slowly ground down.
“The late emperor was a true descendant of the imperial line. What does that make me?”
Genuine terror spread across Liu Xi’s face, and his lips trembled. He had never imagined the young emperor had heard that remark too.
“I am the Son of Heaven. The emperor of Great Yao. Do you understand?”
“…”
Liu Xi stared wide-eyed at the young sovereign’s face, smiling yet filled with murderous intent. His chest seized. He abruptly spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted.
“Tsk.”
Somewhat displeased, Song Liang wiped the blood from his boot onto the man’s clothes.
“Daring to dirty my boots. A crime deserving ten thousand deaths.”
Zhou An spoke cautiously. “Your Majesty, he is advanced in years. If this continues, he may die.”
Looking bored, Song Liang withdrew his foot and turned toward the warm chamber. His languid voice drifted back.
“Throw him over at Shoukang Palace.”
Zhou An’s heart jolted. Watching the young emperor walk away, he felt a storm surge through his thoughts.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
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