Seeing Wei Shuxuan nod obediently, Little Yuan let out a sigh of relief and removed his hand from covering Wei Shuxuan's mouth. "I'm telling you, Little Shuz, in this imperial palace, you can talk about anyone you like, but not that person. Do you understand?"
".... Why? I really don't get it."
Wei Shuxuan looked at Little Yuan with an innocent face. Seeing Wei Shuxuan's confused look, Little Yuan sighed silently. "There's nothing I can do. As your senior, I still have to tell you everything you need to know. I'm on duty this afternoon and have to go to Qianyu Palace to do some cleaning. I'll tell you then."
"Okay! I'm really grateful to you, Senior Little Yuan!" Wei Shuxuan looked extremely excited.
"Let's get back to work now. Otherwise, if the head eunuch of the imperial kitchen sees us, we'll definitely get scolded."
"Yes, Eunuch Little Yuan!"
Thinking that she could get some information, Wei Shuxuan worked especially hard. She soon finished washing the bowls.
"Have you two finished washing this batch?" Just then, an eunuch walked out of the imperial kitchen. Wei Shuxuan noticed that the hat he was wearing had stripes. She remembered that the junior eunuch's uniform she borrowed didn't have them, and neither did Little Yuan's. It seemed that this must be a person in a leadership position.
"Report to Eunuch Han, we've finished washing."
Little Yuan secretly tugged at the sleeve of Wei Shuxuan's robe, signaling her to lower her head quickly and not look directly at Eunuch Han. Wei Shuxuan was very cooperative. As soon as she felt Little Yuan's tug, she immediately leaned forward slightly, with her head bowed submissively.
"If you've finished, go and wash that pile of dishes. Hurry up. You two must finish washing them before the shift change. Do you understand?" Eunuch Han spoke in a strange, affected tone. Why didn't Little Yuan sound like this when he spoke, even though they were both eunuchs? This puzzled Wei Shuxuan.
"Yes, Eunuch Han."
As soon as the strange - sounding Eunuch Han left, Little Yuan pulled Wei Shuxuan over to sit down and start washing another pile of dishes. As he washed, he admonished Wei Shuxuan, "I'm telling you, Little Shuz, you can't afford to offend this Eunuch Han. His superior is Eunuch Jin."
"Who is Eunuch Jin?" Wei Shuxuan frowned. Could it be the head eunuch? She remembered what Xin Shang had said. This head eunuch, Eunuch Jin, had the support of the Empress Dowager.
"Tsk, you don't even know this. I really wonder how you're going to survive here. That Eunuch Jin is the head eunuch who selects new eunuchs and maids to enter the palace and manages all the eunuchs and maids. Didn't you see him when you were selected to enter the palace?"
"I don't have much of an impression."
Wei Shuxuan told him innocently. Little Yuan sighed. "Little Shuz, you can't be like this. You're so easy to be bullied. It seems I, your senior, have to educate you well. Actually, to be honest, you're very likely to offend people in the palace like this. You'd better talk less and work more."
"Yes, I'll follow the teachings of Eunuch Little Yuan!"
On the other side, Eunuch Jin was flipping through the records submitted by the people he had trained recently. The head eunuch's room was empty and eerily quiet. Inside the room, Eunuch Jin lit a sandalwood incense stick. White mist curled up. Suddenly, a hole was poked in the paper window, and a bamboo tube was inserted. Wisps of white mist wafted out from the bamboo tube, intertwining with the white smoke in the room.
Eunuch Jin felt his eyelids drooping. He shook his head. Why was he suddenly so sleepy?
Being always vigilant, he immediately realized that he had been drugged by a sleeping incense. But even though he realized this, it was too late. Since he had inhaled the sleeping incense, he would soon fall into a coma. Now he was just stubbornly maintaining his last bit of rationality.
Before his consciousness completely sank into the abyss, Eunuch Jin clearly saw a pair of black boots embroidered with a brocade cloud totem in blue silk thread in front of him. Before he could look up to see who it was, he completely lost consciousness...
"Come on, take this man away."
"Yes, my lord."
After finally finishing washing another pile of dishes, Wei Shuxuan felt that her hands were about to get wrinkled. It was really scary. She had to go back and ask Xin Zizhao for some hand cream to apply.
"Little Shuz, I'm going to Qianyu Palace. Do you want to come with me?" Little Yuan wiped his hands with a clean handkerchief and invited Wei Shuxuan.
Since there was a chance to know about the Empress and that Eunuch Jin, there was no way she was going to miss it.
"Of course I'll go. Wait for me a moment, Little Yuan."
Wei Shuxuan quickly wiped her hands with a handkerchief, tidied up her appearance, and then followed Little Yuan out of the imperial kitchen.
Along the way, Little Yuan whispered to Wei Shuxuan about the Empress Dowager. Wei Shuxuan listened with great interest.
"What? You said that Eunuch Jin is the Empress's uncle?" Wei Shuxuan looked at Little Yuan in surprise.
"Shh! I've told you to keep your voice down. Why don't you understand me!" Little Yuan was angry.
Wei Shuxuan immediately obediently shut her mouth. Little Yuan nodded. "Yes. I've also heard that Eunuch Jin entered the palace without going through the castration room. There have always been rumors in the palace that some maids have been molested. I don't know if it was him."
A real man pretending to be an eunuch and mixing among women. That was really terrifying.
"So, is the reason why Eunuch Jin listens to the Empress so carefully because she has something on him?"
"Not really. Eunuch Jin and the Empress have an extremely good relationship. However, I guess this might also be part of the reason. I'm saying, why are you, Little Shuz, so gossipy?"
"Hehe... No, I'm just curious."
Wei Shuxuan thought she was going to be seen through by Little Yuan, so she had to try to gloss over it.
"All in all, you must never provoke the Empress Dowager and this Eunuch Jin, and also Concubine Jie and Noble Lady Tong."
"Got it, Eunuch Little Yuan."
As soon as they arrived at Qianyu Palace, Little Yuan was called over to work. Wei Shuxuan had just washed a large pile of bowls. She didn't want to work again. She had already gathered enough information today. It was better to go back to Fenghe Palace and tell Xin Zizhao about it.
Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention to her, Wei Shuxuan secretly slipped out of Qianyu Palace and walked quickly in the direction of Fenghe Palace. She thought she should also call Ge Zian. She wondered how Zian's investigation was going.
When she returned to Fenghe Palace, she didn't see Xin Zizhao.