377: The most treacherous eunuch in the world! The head of the East Factory!

Chapter 371: The Number One Treacherous Eunuch in the World! Eastern Depot Director!

"Eunuch?"

"Eastern Depot Director?"

In the deep, secluded room, the dim daylight from outside the window illuminated an old man with hair as white as frost.

He was clad in luxurious brocade, with gold threads subtly woven into the cuffs, exuding an imposing aura.

At the same time, the old man held a gilded bronze mirror, its surface reflecting a cold, watery gleam, revealing a feminine yet sharp Face.

His features were picturesque, yet hinted at a murderous intent; his lips curled in a smile, but it was as cold as a blade.

Lu Xuan slowly closed his eyes, feeling the surging True Qi flowing within him, like a river rushing, like thunder lying dormant.

This was the profound inner breath possessed only by a Martial Dao Grandmaster; with every Move, he could shatter mountains and rocks, or kill people invisibly.

"The Fourth Mortal World... It actually made me a eunuch?"

Even though Lu Xuan had experienced three lives and three deaths, and his Dao Heart was already as firm as a rock, a ripple of emotion still stirred within him at this moment.

The Face in the bronze mirror—feminine and pale, yet exuding an undeniable authority—seemed to silently mock his fate.

Not long after, Lu Xuan let out a low chuckle, his fingertips gently tracing the mirror's surface, his eyes gradually turning cold.

"Heh... It doesn't matter."

After all, it wasn't his own Physical Body, but merely a temporary shell.

What if he was the Eastern Depot Director? What if he was a eunuch? The rules of this world were always written by the strong.

Lu Xuan slowly clenched his palm, feeling the surging True Qi within him, a sinister smile playing on his lips.

Host: Red Dust Immortal Lu Xuan (Fourth Life)

Realm: Grandmaster (Perfection)

Cultivation Technique: Extreme Cold Palm 7/9

Points: 0

The most pressing matter now... is to quickly find something that can refine System points.

This was Lu Xuan's most pressing concern.

Lu Xuan narrowed his eyes slightly, fragments of this body's memories swirling in his mind.

This was a low-Martial World fraught with Jianghu disputes, where sword and saber clashed, Schools proliferated, and heroes and Devil Heads coexisted.

Although they didn't possess the power to Move mountains or fill seas, the top Martial Forest experts could injure people with a flick of a flower petal or a falling leaf, and some could even control swords with their Qi, killing a man within ten steps.

And there were quite a few existences even more formidable than the original owner of this body.

As dawn broke, golden sunlight streamed through the carved window lattices, casting dappled shadows on the bluestone floor.

Lu Xuan, dressed in a dark black brocade robe, stood by the window, his slender fingers gently tracing the dust on the windowsill.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, his sharp pupils swirling with an unfathomable light under the sunlight.

Memories unfolded slowly in his mind like a scroll.

In the original body's perception, Shen Wanbao, the Commander of the Great Yu Kingdom's Embroidered Uniform Guard, was always the most threatening sword hanging over his head.

That Lao Jiahuo (Old fellow) had long been entrenched within the Pacification Office, and it was said he had already achieved a Realm beyond the Grandmaster's shackles, a Realm difficult for ordinary people to reach.

Just thinking of that Lao Jiahuo's half-smile made the original owner feel like he had thorns in his back, unable to sleep all night.

He was afraid that one day, he would go to bed with a head but wake up without one!

Moreover, the original owner faced not only Shen Wanbao but also his four Pacification Envoys—Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise.

Azure Dragon's sword was like a Dragon, his Moves vicious and cunning; Vermilion Bird was light as a swallow, coming and going without a trace.

White Tiger possessed boundless strength, capable of tearing stone with bare hands; Black Tortoise had skin and bones like copper and iron, impervious to swords.

When these four Grandmaster Major Achievement experts joined forces, even a powerful figure like the original owner, who was at Grandmaster Perfection, had to give them a wide berth.

"Quite a tough nut to crack..." Lu Xuan's lips curved slightly, but there was no hint of a smile in his eyes.

There was no helping it; the original owner's reputation was exceptionally bad, known as the Great Yu Kingdom's number one treacherous eunuch.

In the imperial court, the daily memorials submitted by civil and military officials requesting the Emperor to grant the original owner death had long piled up into a mountain, almost submerging the entire Jinluan Hall.

On the yellowed Xuan paper, the ink was still wet, densely listing curses against the original owner.

The content of these memorials was surprisingly consistent—all of them implored the Emperor to grant death to this "Great Yu's number one treacherous eunuch."

Every memorial spoke of the deep-seated hatred the court officials harbored for the original owner.

If these memorials were unrolled, they could probably encircle the imperial city three times over.

The variety of death methods described within them would likely make even the most seasoned executioner from the Ministry of Justice feel inferior—

From the most common poisoned wine and white silk, to the highly creative "five horses tearing the body apart" and "a thousand cuts," to the unheard-of "lighting the sky lantern" and "human swine punishment," the methods were diverse and endless.

The verbal and written condemnations in the imperial court were one thing, but even more ridiculous was his reputation in the Jianghu.

During leisure time, storytellers loved to recount the "great deeds" of this Eastern Depot Director.

The secret tales circulating in these tea houses and taverns were even more chilling than the court memorials.

In the mouths of Jianghu people, the original owner's name was like a death warrant from the King of Hell, bringing bloodshed wherever he went.

The renowned scholar from Jiangnan, along with all seventy-two members of his household, lay dead in their courtyard on a certain dark and windy night, not even sparing the infant in swaddling clothes.

A loyal general guarding the frontier was framed for colluding with the enemy and betraying the country, his entire clan exterminated, and the female members of his family were abducted into dark alleys, subjected to humiliation before their bodies were abandoned in the wilderness.

Even a Martial Forest hero renowned for his benevolence and righteousness, for a single act of speaking out for justice, had his tendons severed, and was disemboweled in front of his wife and daughter.

And his wife and daughter, after suffering inhuman torture, were hung upside down on the city gate, becoming a bloody totem to deter the Jianghu.

Each and every one of these tragic cases bore the original owner's mark, making the title of "Great Yu's Number One Treacherous Eunuch" well-deserved!

Little did they know, as an Eastern Depot Director, he was merely the Emperor's blade.

That so-called Jiangnan scholar would occasionally compose poems satirizing the Emperor.

Every month, he would compose a poem at a poetry gathering, every word and phrase mocking the current Emperor's grandiosity.

Similar to "Behind vermilion gates meat and wine go to waste," or "Soldiers half-dead before the battle," he was practically pointing at the Emperor's nose and cursing him as a foolish ruler.

The one on the Dragon throne declared that his head was splitting!

Although what you said was true, you couldn't say it in public.

As a dignified Emperor, the Supreme of the nine-five, did he not need Face?

All under heaven belonged to the King's land, yet these scholars insisted on relying on their meager talents to trample the Supreme Face of the imperial family into the ground.

If they could write poems to satirize today, tomorrow they would dare to gather crowds to petition; if this continued, where would the imperial authority be?

If all scholars in the world were like these talents, wantonly mocking and discussing court affairs,

Devaluing the Emperor's governance strategies to nothing, and treating the court's discipline as nothing.

In this way, how could imperial decrees reach all corners?

How could officials diligently assist? If the common people saw the virtuous not respecting the monarch, they would inevitably develop a disrespectful attitude.

Over time, the Great Yu Kingdom's foundation would crumble.

Ultimately, how could the Emperor rule and control this vast land and all living beings, how could he demonstrate the Son of Heaven's majesty and reign over the world?

What was even more disheartening was that the Son of Heaven on the Dragon throne already possessed a tolerant disposition and had not failed to offer these so-called scholars a chance to turn back.

The Imperial Guards had quietly delivered secret letters, earnestly admonishing them to rein in their sharp tongues.

The Eastern Depot's agents had also repeatedly hinted at poetry gatherings, implying that they should no longer provoke the imperial family's taboos.

Yet, those who prided themselves on their lofty integrity took the Emperor's magnanimity for weakness and an opportunity to be exploited.

Initially, their veiled allusions gradually transformed into direct criticisms, and they even openly compiled storybooks at literary gatherings.

They likened the Emperor's governance policies to a child's game and arranged major court affairs into absurd jokes.

When the words "foolish ruler" began to spread through common folk rhymes, and when impeachment memorials started to question the Emperor's virtue,

Even an Emperor with a heart of iron would be stung by such provocation.

Such escalating insolence, let alone for an Emperor who held power over the land,

Anyone would be provoked by this.

There were also those officials who called themselves "loyal subjects," who, under the guise of offering advice, openly refuted the Emperor's new policies in court.

They denounced the reform measures as policies that would harm the nation and its people, completely disregarding the suffering of the common people and the long-term development of the Great Yu Kingdom.

They formed factions and engaged in self-serving activities, using the name of ancestral laws to obstruct reform.

Even when the Emperor personally came to appease them, they remained obstinate, their words filled with contempt for the common people.

The Martial Forest heroes known as "great heroes" were the same; relying on their martial arts and Jianghu prestige, they claimed to be "acting on behalf of heaven."

They disregarded court laws, privately intercepted military provisions bound for the frontier, calling it "relief for disaster victims," yet this led to the border guards starving and lacking proper clothing.

They even rallied heroes at Martial Forest alliances to oppose the court, inciting public dissatisfaction with the government.

They believed they upheld justice, but in reality, they had long become sources of chaos, disrupting court order and peace, forcing the Emperor to wield his butcher's knife.

And all of this ultimately became the reason for the original owner to bear ill repute.

Of course, there is no good or bad in the Mortal World; the original owner and that Emperor were not good people either.

This Eastern Depot Director indulged in power, turning the imperial court into his personal slaughterhouse.

He kept assassins, controlled the imperial prison, and used cruel tortures like flaying and stuffing with straw to intimidate dissenters.

To consolidate his power, he did not hesitate to incite factional disputes, causing all civil and military officials to mutually oppress each other, and the common people to wander destitute amidst war and harsh governance.

The Emperor on the Dragon throne also had blood on his hands.

He ruled autocratically, viewing his ministers as ants, exterminating entire clans for the slightest disobedience.

With three thousand beauties in his harem, he was still not satisfied, forcibly conscripting common girls to fill the imperial concubine quarters, causing countless families to be torn apart.

In the imperial court, he treated loyal ministers' advice as a challenge, using tyrannical methods to silence the world's murmurs.

There were already folk rumors that the old Emperor, in pursuit of immortality, listened to the words of a sorcerer and sacrificed young boys and girls, his atrocities truly outrageous.

These two, the monarch and his subject, one stirring up trouble in the shadows, the other acting wantonly in the open, like wolves in cahoots, dragging the Great Yu Kingdom into an abyss of no return.

In the main hall, Cao Jin and Cao Haosheng were still facing each other across a purple sandalwood table, their shadows stretching long on the floor.

"Cao Jin, stop making excuses!"

Cao Haosheng slammed his palm on the table, making the teacups clatter, "You personally accepted this assignment; now that you've messed it up, you should naturally go and apologize to Godfather!"

Cao Jin sneered, his right hand caressing the hilt of the Embroidered Spring Saber at his waist: "Easier said than done."

"If it weren't for those treacherous dogs from the Embroidered Uniform Guard defecting at the last minute, how could this official—"

At this point, Cao Jin suddenly fell silent, as if even mentioning failure was a taboo.

Both of them instinctively looked towards the hall entrance.

Beyond layers of courtyards, behind the black lacquered gate of the Eastern Depot, lay countless chilling torture instruments.

Last time, a deputy chiliarch who failed in his duties was invited for "tea"; when he returned, three of his fingers were missing, yet he still had to kneel and express gratitude.

"Forget it."

Cao Jin suddenly deflated, pulling out a copper coin from his In arms: "Old rules, heads you go, tails I go."

The copper coin spun rapidly in the air, tracing a silvery arc.

Both men stared intently at the coin that would decide their fate, even beads of sweat forming on their brows.

In this Eastern Depot, sometimes living was more painful than dying—especially when Godfather's well-maintained hands slowly manipulated the torture instruments.

The copper coin landed, spinning on the floor for a long time before finally emitting a crisp "ding" sound.

Thump—

A soft sound abruptly echoed on the stone steps outside the hall, like a drop of ink falling into still water.

Cao Jin hadn't even had time to pick up the copper coin when he saw a dark shadow, carried by the sunlight, creep over the threshold and slither in like a venomous snake.

"Godfather!"

Both of their burly bodies sprang up simultaneously, the scabbards of their Embroidered Spring Sabers thudding against the table.

The two chiliarchs, who had just been at loggerheads, now stood frozen in place like cats whose necks had been gripped, not daring to even breathe heavily.

Cao Haosheng even unconsciously shrank his neck—this man, who could strike terror into the hearts of prisoners in the imperial prison, was now silent as a cicada in winter, not daring to look up.

In the slanting sunlight, the figure gradually became clear.

The hem of his dark python robe remained motionless, the embroidered flying fish patterns on his gold-woven ceremonial robe shimmering faintly in the light and shadow.

The person's footsteps were so light they seemed to float, yet each step felt like it landed on one's heart.

Cao Jin's Adam's apple bobbed, cold sweat already soaking his inner garment.

He suddenly remembered the head guard who was turned into a human swine last month—just because his leg trembled when he replied.

"You two..."

A gentle voice, laced with a smile, rang out, yet the temperature in the hall plummeted, "What game are you playing?"

On the table, the copper coin that determined their fate finally stopped spinning, landing precisely in a crevice, showing neither heads nor tails.

Lu Xuan leisurely scrutinized his two adopted sons.

"Where is the person this Director wants?"

A light, airy sentence, yet it struck Cao Jin and the other as if they had been hit by lightning. A dull thud was heard.

Both instantly knelt, their heads hitting the golden bricks on the floor so hard they cracked.

Cao Haosheng's forehead was already bleeding, blood dripping down his nose onto the bluestone, blossoming into startling red flowers.

"Godfather, please see clearly!"

Cao Jin's voice trembled, "Your sons had already cornered the person, but who knew..."

He swallowed hard, "Who knew the Black Tortoise Pacification Envoy, that scoundrel Yuan Gan, suddenly burst out and shattered your son's Embroidered Spring Saber with a single palm!"

Lu Xuan's eyebrow twitched slightly, his gaze sweeping over Cao Jin's waist, where indeed only a broken half-blade remained.

"Godfather!"

Cao Haosheng suddenly erupted, his blood-stained fist smashing the ground, overturning the teacups, "There's a traitorous dog in the Eastern Depot!"

His bloodshot eyes almost bulged out of their sockets, and the veins on his neck bulged like wriggling earthworms.

Lu Xuan showed an interested smile, watching this adopted son, usually the most composed, now acting like a mad dog whose tail had been stepped on.

"Oh?" Lu Xuan slowly smoothed the wrinkles on his sleeve, "A spy?"

Cao Jin suddenly trembled violently, as if he had remembered something terrifying.

The calmer their Godfather was, the more terrifying the coming storm would be.

Last year, Lao Jiu failed in his duties and was hung in the torture chamber for three days and three nights; in the end, even his eyeballs were eaten hollow by ants.

"Your son dares to guarantee with his life!"

Cao Haosheng tore open his robe, revealing a ghastly saber wound on his chest, "We didn't even bring our personal attendants when we acted, but that scoundrel Yuan Gan was waiting at the alley entrance as if he knew beforehand!"

Lu Xuan observed Cao Haosheng, thinking to himself.

It seemed that among the thirteen adopted sons the original owner had taken in, quite a few had begun to harbor thoughts of betrayal.

Ten days ago, the old Emperor issued an imperial decree, ordering the original owner to absolutely capture and bring a beautiful woman into the palace.