The severed head flew through the air and landed on the ground, rolling several times before coming to a stop. Xie Xuan’s expression remained unchanged as he sheathed his blade and returned to Su Fengyi’s side.
Xie Xuan had acted too swiftly. It was only after the head had rolled several times on the ground that Commander Zhu and the others reacted, their faces filled with shock and horror:
The Grand Princess actually dared to kill someone from the Eastern Depot!
Nearly a thousand Eastern Depot Foreign Agents were present, watching as Eunuch Gao’s headless body collapsed heavily to the ground, blood spraying everywhere. Yet, the scene was eerily silent—not a single person dared to utter a word.
Some who stood close to the boundary line even retreated three steps in silence, fearing that Commander Xie might mistake them for trespassing and end their lives as well.
Su Fengyi was pleased with Xie Xuan’s decisive action.
If Eunuch Gao had been allowed to publicly humiliate her and expose her words as empty threats, the situation today would have spiraled out of control.
Killing a chicken to scare the monkeys—that was how authority was established.
What she wanted was for the world to know that there was nothing the Grand Princess dared not oversee, no one she dared not kill!
Words like “domineering” or “tyrannical” sounded at most like the whims of a spoiled young girl—too weak, insufficient, far from enough.
Cruelty and bloodshed were far more fitting, more to her liking.
Only with a reputation fierce enough could she secure a seat at the table of power.
Only then would she not be treated like a naive girl, dismissed with a pat on the head and told to go play elsewhere.
Only then would she not be looked down upon, as she was today, when even a lowly eunuch dared to flaunt his power at her doorstep.
Moreover, Eunuch Gao’s death was far from undeserved. Even if she hadn’t killed him today, she would have found another opportunity to do so.
In the book, when the Emperor and the Grand Princess fled to the south and the Prince Protagonist raised an army to march south, Eunuch Gao, seeing his former master’s decline, secretly aligned himself with the protagonist, becoming his spy.
When the protagonist finally besieged the temporary southern capital, it was Eunuch Gao who opened the city gates, coordinating from within to ensure the protagonist’s victory.
Such a treacherous pest—why keep him around for the New Year instead of cutting him down before he could grow?
The Grand Princess had turned hostile in an instant, and Eunuch Gao was now headless. The Eastern Depot Foreign Agents, who had been summoned in haste, were left at a loss, all turning their eyes to their leader, Commander Zhu.
Su Fengyi also looked over, a faint, mocking smile on her lips:
“Does Commander Zhu also wish to die? Step forward, and I shall grant your wish.”
Xie Xuan’s blade was drawn once more. If Commander Zhu dared to step forward, he would not hesitate to spill his blood on the spot, regardless of any past camaraderie.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Commander Zhu wasted no time. Without a second thought, he dropped to his knees before Su Fengyi.
Commander Zhu was a man of unyielding integrity, but his true strength lay in knowing when to yield, reading the situation, and bending without breaking—all to avoid certain death.
Not only did he kneel, but he also began to weep and wail, tears and snot streaming down his face as he pleaded with heartfelt anguish:
“I beg Your Highness for mercy! Grant this humble official a way out! If I return like this, I will have failed my duty and will not survive!”
He then turned to Xie Xuan and cried:
“Commander Xie, I beg you, for the sake of our past camaraderie, save me!”
If not for the order forbidding him from crossing the boundary line, Commander Zhu would have rushed over to cling to Xie Xuan’s leg, kneeling and weeping.
This act of clinging to legs, kneeling, weeping, and performing dramatic pleas was a skill mastered by all under the Nine Thousand Years’ command.
Commander Zhu’s flawless execution today was the result of diligent practice and relentless effort.
The Nine Thousand Years, born into poverty, had risen to power and took great pleasure in watching those once lofty nobles kneel before him, singing praises of submission and kowtowing to acknowledge him as their master.
The fawning ugliness and pleading tears of these noble figures—the more humble they were, the more the Nine-Thousand-Year-Old favored them.
Commander Zhu knelt and begged, a sight Xie Xuan truly couldn’t bear to watch, even feeling a sense of sorrow akin to mourning a fellow creature’s demise.
During his tenure in the Imperial Guard, Xie Xuan had once collaborated with Commander Zhu on assignments.
In those days, the Imperial Guard served as the Emperor’s close confidants, executing his decrees and acting on his behalf—truly a majestic sight.
But after the Late Emperor’s passing, the young Emperor ascended the throne, favoring eunuchs and allowing the Eastern Depot to grow increasingly powerful, while the Imperial Guard gradually declined in influence.
Back then, Commander Zhu had been a dashing and proud, unyielding man of integrity. Yet now, with the changing times, he had joined the Eastern Depot, becoming a mere dog of the Factory Overseer, reduced to such a pitiful state.
Commander Zhu’s swift kneeling and compliant demeanor also eased Su Fengyi’s mind.
The chief villain had been executed, and the accomplices need not be pursued—there were so many people, after all, impossible to kill them all.
She merely wanted to establish her authority and build a reputation for being unyielding, not out of a fondness for killing. If she could spare one life, she would.
After all, logically speaking, her act of rescuing the prisoner was a fact, and Commander Zhu had brought several times more men than her side. If a real fight broke out, the Eldest Princess’s Residence would have little chance of victory.
Since Commander Zhu had yielded, having already wielded the stick, Su Fengyi prepared to offer him some sugar, lest he become desperate and cause trouble instead.
Moreover, Commander Zhu, like most of those attached to the Nine-Thousand-Year-Old, was nothing more than a fence-sitter, hardly worth worrying about.
The defining trait of fence-sitters is their lack of principles—they side with whoever wins and kick those who lose when they’re down.
Fence-sitters are numerous and impossible to eradicate entirely, nor is there a need to exterminate them all. They could, in fact, be put to use.
Su Fengyi gave Xie Xuan a look, and he immediately sheathed his blade, stepping forward to help the trembling Commander Zhu to his feet.
Su Fengyi spoke gently:
“Commander Zhu, what is this talk of a way out? In my view, a great opportunity for promotion and wealth lies right before you. It all depends on whether Commander Zhu can seize it.”
Upon hearing this, Commander Zhu quietly released the grip on the knife he had been secretly holding.
Though he had wept pitifully and knelt decisively, he had actually prepared for both outcomes.
If kneeling and weeping proved futile, and the Grand Princess truly intended to kill him without leaving him a way out, he would not sit idly by and await death. Instead, he would fight to the bitter end, risking everything against her.
Fortunately, judging by the Grand Princess’s words, there seemed to be room for negotiation.
Commander Zhu bowed humbly, his face wreathed in smiles, and clasped his hands in agreement:
“Yes, yes, this humble officer is blind and deaf, foolish as a pig, truly ignorant. I beg Your Highness for guidance.”
Excellent, truly compliant.
Su Fengyi smiled:
“Under the Emperor’s very feet, in broad daylight, Eunuch Gao dared to commit murder on the streets and attempt to assassinate me. Commander Zhu, tell me, should such a person be killed?”
Who attempted to assassinate whom?
Commander Zhu could hardly believe his ears, momentarily at a loss for how to respond. In his heart, he thought:
“The Grand Princess has already killed him, yet she asks me if he should be killed. How could I dare say he shouldn’t?
Moreover, whether Eunuch Gao should be killed is not for a minor figure like me to judge. That depends on what the Nine-Thousand-Year-Old thinks and how the Emperor views it.
The Grand Princess speaks so casually, twisting the truth, but it remains to be seen whether she can make the Emperor believe it.
For now, I’ll go along with her and see if she has the ability to pin this black deed on Eunuch Gao.”
Thus, Commander Zhu continued to smile as brightly as a blooming flower, offering a vague response:
“If Your Highness killed him, there must be a reason. If he didn’t deserve to die, why would Your Highness have killed him?”
Commander Zhu was right in his thinking. Su Fengyi was employing one of the ultimate skills of a laborer: passing the buck.
As the saying goes, if you don’t want to take the blame, you must know how to pass the buck. Use it well, and promotions and raises will follow.
Passing the buck is an art. If done poorly, it can easily turn into a public squabble. But if done skillfully, it can foster harmony and collective success. The key lies in who you pass the buck to.
The dead don’t speak, making them the perfect scapegoat.