A group of people scrambled to help, patting his back and pinching his philtrum, and finally, after a rough-looking man with a full beard gave him garlic-flavored artificial respiration, Eunuch Chen slowly regained consciousness.
"Eunuch Chen is awake!"
"Eunuch Chen is awake!"
The crowd cheered with joy.
Seeing Eunuch Chen finally awake, Su Qingfei secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, Eunuch Chen was the imperial eunuch messenger sent by the emperor himself. He represented not just himself but the majesty of the royal family. Although he was arrogant and rude, he still embodied the emperor's dignity.
If he were truly angered to death by Zhuang Zhou, it would be difficult to explain to the royal family!
"Eunuch Chen, are you alright?"
Su Qingfei stepped forward to ask.
"Hmph! Does the Northern Guardian Prince's Manor wish for something to happen to me?"
Eunuch Chen coldly snorted with a feminine tone, raising a delicate orchid finger, seemingly expressing his dissatisfaction.
"Eunuch Chen, you misunderstand!"
Seeing Eunuch Chen's attitude, Su Qingfei's expression turned cold.
I was giving you a way out!
And you don't even appreciate it!
This is the Northern Guardian Prince's Manor, commanding nearly twenty percent of the Grand Yong Dynasty's elite troops, having repeatedly repelled strong enemies for the dynasty, shedding blood on the frontier for decades. Eunuch Chen refusing the olive branch is quite disrespectful to the Northern Guardian Prince's Manor!
"Zhuang Zhou, quickly accept the edict, or I will report to His Majesty and charge your Northern Guardian Prince's Manor with the grave crime of defying the imperial decree!"
Eunuch Chen, once again raising his orchid finger, spoke sharply to Zhuang Zhou.
"May I ask, Eunuch Chen, where is the imperial edict?"
Zhuang Zhou looked at Eunuch Chen and asked calmly.
"The edict? Huh? Where is the edict? Who saw my edict?"
Eunuch Chen suddenly panicked, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
He looked around but couldn't find any trace of the edict!
Zhuang Zhou innocently said, "If Eunuch Chen is dissatisfied with my Northern Guardian Prince's Manor, just say so. Asking me to accept an edict without having it is deliberately making things difficult for me, isn't it?"
Zhuang Zhou countered.
Eunuch Chen realized there was no sign of the edict.
He was furious, pointing angrily at Zhuang Zhou and his mother.
"It's you! You must have hidden the edict!"
"Eunuch Chen, you can eat indiscriminately, but you can't speak indiscriminately! Hiding an edict is a grave crime of rebellion! Eunuch Chen, without evidence, you accuse my Northern Guardian Prince's Manor of such a crime, which we cannot bear!"
Su Qingfei spoke, her tone becoming much stronger. Since Eunuch Chen was so disrespectful, she no longer wished to endure.
Everyone immediately fell silent.
If an edict caused a rift between the Northern Guardian Prince's Manor and the emperor, no one present could bear the blame.
However, Eunuch Chen, being from the palace, had grown up with luxury and flattery. In his eyes, only the emperor mattered, and everyone else was just a lackey under imperial power.
What is the Northern Guardian Prince's Manor?
He represented the emperor, how dare they question him like this?
Eunuch Chen, angry and fuming, suddenly raised his voice by several octaves.
"Someone! Seal the gates of this courtyard, search everyone inside! If the edict isn't found, no one is leaving this courtyard!"
Eunuch Chen's words left everyone shocked.
A search?
Search the body of the Northern Guardian Prince's heir?
Search the body of the Northern Guardian Princess?
The Northern Guardian Prince was one of the Eight Dukes of the Grand Yong Dynasty, holding significant military power and a high position!
To search bodies over a missing edict was an absolute disgrace! An absolute disgrace!
Eunuch Chen's subordinates were hesitant, not daring to act.
At this moment, Eunuch Chen screamed again.
"What? Are you all deaf? I told you to search! Search!"
As Eunuch Chen's voice fell.
The group of young eunuchs reluctantly stepped forward, intending to search Su Qingfei.
However, Su Qingfei coldly snorted and angrily rebuked.
"Eunuch Chen, are you challenging the dignity of my Northern Guardian Prince's Manor? My husband, the Northern Guardian Prince, has fought for the royal family on the frontier for decades, guarding the Southern Pass, defending the Northern Frontier, quelling bandits, and eliminating rebels, loyal his entire life! And now, while he battles on the front lines, must his family suffer such humiliation?"
Su Qingfei's eyes were cold as she looked at Eunuch Chen.
Eunuch Chen was momentarily stunned, feeling a bit guilty.
He hesitated, and the previous surge of arrogance gradually dissipated.
However, at this moment, Zhuang Zhou stepped forward and added fuel to the fire.
"Eunuch Chen, this is the Northern Guardian Prince's Manor, not a place for you to run wild! You must have lost the edict yourself! And now you want to blame us? You even lose your little stick, losing a scroll of the edict is quite normal, isn't it?"
Zhuang Zhou's words instantly ignited Eunuch Chen's anger! Damn it, losing my little stick! Stung to the core, Eunuch Chen lost his reason and shouted, "Search them! If anything happens, I'll take responsibility!"
Su Qingfei, with a face full of anger, was about to step forward to stop them.
At this moment, Zhuang Zhou stopped her, shaking his head slightly.
"If Eunuch Chen wants to search, let him search!"
In a moment of inexplicable trust, Su Qingfei listened to her eight-year-old son and stopped resisting.
A group of young eunuchs stepped forward to search.
After a while.
They found nothing!
But at this moment, Su Qingfei's expression had turned extremely grim!
An absolute disgrace!
This was simply an absolute disgrace!
Zhuang Zhou looked at Su Qingfei's somber face.
He couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
In his memory, his mother was a weak person, retreating again and again in the face of royal bullying, yet all her concessions only led to the Sovereign of Grand Yong's plan to eradicate their family. After he went to the barbarians for a political marriage, the next year, the Sovereign of Grand Yong used a baseless charge to wipe out the Northern Guardian Prince's Manor, leaving no survivors among the five hundred people.
Zhuang Zhou hoped that today's small humiliation could provoke Su Qingfei to develop the courage to resist, to understand that endless retreat never earns respect.
"How is it possible? How is it possible that it's not here?"
Eunuch Chen, seeing that the search yielded no edict, finally panicked!
He was ordered to deliver the edict but lost it.
This was a grave crime, unforgivable!
Zhuang Zhou sneered inwardly; the edict had already been sacrificed to the Heavenly Dao. Even if you dug three feet into the ground, you wouldn't find it.
The setup was complete. Now, it was time for him to take the stage and perform.
"Eunuch Chen, without evidence, you accuse my Northern Guardian Prince's Manor of hiding the edict and subject us to the humiliation of a body search. What do you mean by this?"
Zhuang Zhou launched a fierce counterattack.
Eunuch Chen's face turned pale as paper.
"Indeed! If today's matter isn't explained, you won't be able to explain it to the prince either!"
Su Qingfei said softly.
"You! You all!" The immense pressure bore down.
With a sudden spurt, Eunuch Chen activated his skill and spat out three liters of blood.
He fainted again, and a group of people rushed to support him.
"Someone! Someone! Eunuch Chen has fainted again, quickly give him artificial respiration! Give him a flavorful kiss!"
Seeing this, Zhuang Zhou couldn't help but act mischievously.
At this moment, a burly man stepped out from the crowd, without a word, pried open Eunuch Chen's mouth and kissed him.
Eunuch Chen suddenly awoke, his eyes wide, watching helplessly as a bearded face drew closer.
"What are you doing..."
"Mmm!"
A stinky foot odor suddenly filled his mouth.
Eunuch Chen was directly knocked out by the stench.
Before fainting, he cursed inwardly:"Damn it, this time it's pickled cabbage flavor..."
Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan