Chapter 1 Continuing the Eunuch's Bird

Continuing the eunuch's bird,
Is a technical job,
Unlike mending your finger after it's broken off, that's comparatively simple.

It's said that during the Great Xia Dynasty, there weren't any standardized procedures for castrating eunuchs, which led to some people with congenital deficiencies being taken into the palace as eunuchs. There were also some who weren't completely castrated, for example, only their testicles were removed.

After these people entered the palace and became eunuchs, perhaps due to better nutrition or some serendipitous encounters, such as practicing martial arts or cultivating the Qi Refinement path, their bodies had a chance for a near "secondary development." Some eunuchs were surprised to find that they seemed to barely have the ability to perform sexually, or even if they couldn't go through with the process, they could manage to ejaculate.

The most famous palace turmoil during the Great Xia Dynasty, which supposedly implicated the purity of the imperial bloodline, started with this as the inciting incident.

Learning from history,
After the late Great Xia Dynasty and the birth of the Eastern Four Great Nations, they all tacitly agreed to conduct extremely stringent examinations of the eunuch profession, while also establishing fairly cruel and standardized criteria.

First, the testicles must be removed, and at the same time, the penis must be decapitated, and not just the head, but the entire neck of the penis must be cut off to completely eliminate the possibility of secondary development.

At the same time, every so often, the eunuchs in the palace had to line up for a "physical examination." At this time, if they found, "Hey, you've actually grown something again," then sorry, you'd have to endure a second cut. This was called "freshening up the stubble."

Castration is a technical job, especially under the current medical conditions. If done improperly, the wound could fester and the person would die.

In his previous life, Zheng Boye often saw in TV series or literary works someone castrating themselves to enter the palace. It seemed extremely fierce, but in reality, very few people cut themselves. Usually, there were specialized castration masters, who had good skills, rich experience, and did the job beautifully. After all, they specialized in making a living off of cock meat.

When Zhao Cheng was young, he was sold and worked as an apprentice in a castration house. Not only the royal palace used eunuchs in Chu, but according to the system, the great aristocratic families in Chu were also allowed to use eunuchs, so in Chu, being a eunuch was a very important "employment channel."

The reason why Zhao Cheng cut himself was because, firstly, the conditions at the time didn't allow him to take money to find a trustworthy master, and secondly, he had experience and confidence in his own skills.

"Hehe, Master, what you're saying is…"

"I don't like to lie."

Even though he had just lied to the princess.

"Furthermore, even if I were to lie to you, I wouldn't use this method to deceive you, because it would backfire. You'd think I was treating you like an idiot, playing with you.

The reason why I dare to say this is because I can do it. Believe it or not is up to you. You're a smart man."

Zhao Cheng knelt down and kowtowed a few times.

For some reason, he suddenly wanted to believe this impossible thing, and at the same time, a bit of heat rose in his heart.

A man who dared to directly hold the princess in his arms,
He,
What else couldn't he do?

In the end, this was a world where Qi Refiners could deduce national fortunes and sever dragon veins, where Sword Saints could single-handedly slay thousands of riders before Xuehai Pass, and where barbarian warriors could charge back and forth among thousands of iron cavalry;

Because of their existence,
This world had many possibilities.

Of course, Zheng Boye wasn't really fooling him, but after A'ming's advancement this time, he did indeed have the ability to perform the Embrace (turning a human into a vampire).

But this ability currently had some problems. This was what A'ming himself said. Originally, when he reached this level of strength, he would be able to openly take in several vampire "disciples and grand-disciples," but it seemed to be different now, because his strength was being balanced on this line. Meaning, because of Zheng Fan's reasons, A'ming's power could only reach a constant value at this stage, unable to fluctuate upwards, meaning he couldn't erupt with power, or use some external force or subjective initiative to stimulate it.

And to explain it scientifically, what vampires had to do when performing the Embrace was actually to copy their own blood sequence and transplant it to the target.

This was also why the stronger the vampire, the stronger the Embrace he performed.

But copying his own blood sequence and transferring it was equivalent to imprinting his normal state, equivalent to competing with himself. He had to rely on external objects or forcibly erupt with power to obtain power exceeding his usual strength in a short period of time, in order to imprint himself and then transfer it.

The difficulty had always been here, because no matter how strong you were, when you performed the Embrace, you had to be stronger than you usually were.

But A'ming couldn't erupt with power. The demon kings were mutually consuming blood, researching new drugs, and even Zheng Boye's Pixiu was sampled countless times. The final conclusion was that the ceiling had always been there, impenetrable. It was a suffocating barrier.

Because of this barrier, the demon kings had no choice but to be bound to Zheng Fan, but also because of this barrier, A'ming couldn't perform a perfect Embrace.

Imperfect meant there would inevitably be side effects, such as intellectual collapse or soul reduction. What was likely to be created was an irrational monster, and this monster's lifespan wouldn't be too long.

This involved the issue of the integrity of life. It wasn't that doing seventy or eighty percent was still acceptable. Here, even a fraction of a difference was unacceptable. Power was power, and the Embrace that A'ming gave was less complete in terms of life integrity than even an earthworm.

But when receiving the vampire Embrace, the damaged muscles in the body could be restored, so Zheng Boye didn't think he was deceiving Zhao Cheng. At worst, he could let him choose later.

"Master, are you going to continue staying here, or leave?" Zhao Cheng asked cautiously.

"Arrange for me to leave first," Zheng Fan said.

In fact, he could also go through the Fan family's channels, but if he went through Zhao Cheng's side, it would be more convenient. He could use the excuse of purchasing for the princess to let him leave, and in the future, it would also be more convenient to come back.

"Yes, Master, this servant will arrange it for you."

In the end,
Zheng Boye left the imperial villa with a purchasing team going to Zhou County. In fact, there was no shortage of food and grass here, but everything supplied to the princess had to be the freshest, so every day there would be people going to Zhou County to purchase, once in the morning and once in the evening.

In Zhou County, Zheng Fan left the team and entered an inn. This inn was actually also a Fan family property, and here was also a contact point for the Fan family.

After knocking on the door and giving the password to the innkeeper, Zheng Fan was arranged into a superior room. The innkeeper bowed and retreated.

Zheng Fan ordered the waiter to fetch him bathwater, took a bath in the tub, dried himself, and just as he found some clothes to change into, A'ming came back with Meitou Nao (No Brains) and Bu Gaoxing (Unhappy).

"Phew… Master, I was scared to death."

A'ming was really frightened. Originally, everyone should have transferred from Xia Yong County to Zhou County together, but halfway, they were intercepted by the Qingluan Army.

Zheng Boye had no choice but to pick up the domineering CEO script to enter the imperial villa,

A'ming picked up the manual labor script with Meitou Nao and Bu Gaoxing,

It seemed that they acted quickly and should have escaped back halfway.

Si Niang had separated to find Xue San to arrange a new plan when they left Xia Yong.

"It's alright, I'm back." Zheng Fan smiled, then waved his hand and said, "Everyone's tired, rest first."

"Yes, Master."

"Yes, Lord."

Zheng Boye didn't sleep very well this night, not because he went to the imperial villa and met the princess, but because after being away from the Fan family's big bed, his sleep quality began to decline severely.

It was difficult to go from extravagance to frugality;

Dozing off, sleeping, waking up, drinking some water, drinking some water and continuing to sleep, after repeating this several times, the sky finally brightened.

Zhou County was a small county town. It could only be said that it was small but complete, but in fact, there wasn't much of a prospect. It was a place that wouldn't be looked at twice during a war.

However, because of the wedding, the horse and carriage team from Ying Du to the imperial villa would pass through here, so this small county town had been showing a rare liveliness recently.

Zheng Fan wasn't in a hurry to eat breakfast. After washing up, he first opened the window, propped his hands on the windowsill, and looked at the pedestrians on the street below.

After watching for a while,
Just as Zheng Boye was about to go back to light a cigarette and then find something to eat for breakfast, he unexpectedly saw a man carrying a sword on his back.

The man walked with a slight limp, one foot higher than the other. The sword was carried on his back, his baggage in his hand, and the other hand held a large pancake, which he was eating while walking.

Perhaps because Zheng Fan's gaze made him feel something, the man stopped.

Zheng Boye was also a martial artist, so he naturally knew that when a person's strength was higher, their perception of the outside world would be more sensitive. Staring at someone with such deliberate intention would easily attract the other person's attention.

But Zheng Boye didn't dodge and continued to stand by the window, continuing to look at the swordsman.

The swordsman raised his head, searched in this direction, and saw Zheng Boye standing by the window.

First, he frowned slightly,
Then, he looked puzzled,
But finally,
Hero Chen still grinned and smiled.

…
Meeting an old friend in a foreign land was a joyous event;

Zheng Boye told A'ming and went downstairs himself. With Hero Chen together, Zheng Boye felt that his safety could still be guaranteed.

After all, Hero Chen's character was there.

Hero Chen was waiting at the entrance of the inn. Seeing Zheng Fan come out, the smile on Hero Chen's face was even brighter.

Zheng Fan walked over and punched Hero Chen's shoulder, saying:
"Your smile is too exaggerated."

"Master Yao said that I should smile more, and smile more when I encounter happy things. He said that if a person becomes as cold as a sword, then it's not a person controlling the sword."

"That sounds like it makes some sense, but that old vegetable peddler just has a mouth that can talk. Anyway, he can come up with a principle article for you from silkworms and swimming fish in spring, summer, autumn, and winter, and make you feel like it makes a lot of sense.
Is Master Yao also here?"

Hero Chen shook his head and said, "Master Yao is now the Governor-General of the Three Borders. He's not here. I'm escorting another person to come and give gifts on behalf of Master Yao."

"Oh, so it's official business?"

"It's not really official business, because I'm just running errands for Master Yao. The gift is just a poem. This Great Chu princess who's about to get married once took Master Yao as her teacher, although it was only nominally, but the master-disciple relationship is there, so the master has to show something at this time."

"Mm."

Yao Zizhan was known as the Literary Sage of Qian and has always liked to travel and has extensive connections. All of the Four Great Nations have his old friends and confidants.

"What about the other person?" Zheng Fan asked.

If there was another person, then it wouldn't be convenient for Zheng Fan.

"That person fell ill due to water and soil problems when he first entered Chu and is still staying there for treatment. I came here alone."

"It's good that it's just one person. Let's go. We haven't seen each other in a long time. I'll treat you to a meal."

Hero Chen didn't refuse. His relationship with Zheng Fan was there.

"Actually, I originally planned to go north to Xuehai Pass to find you after delivering the gift this time. I know that the Jin Sword Saint is there with you."

Hero Chen was a sword fanatic, and the Sword Saint was a model for all swordsmen in the world.

If the Sword Saint was only one of the Four Great Swordsmen in the past, then after the battle of Xuehai Pass, the Sword Saint has surpassed the other three and has become one of his own.

"No problem, we'll go together then. Let me tell you, at Xuehai Pass, he and his wife and children live next door to me. I'm very familiar with him. It's definitely no problem to introduce you. At that time, let him take out some of his best skills to teach you."

As he spoke, Zheng Fan put his arm around Hero Chen's shoulder and walked forward together.

Today was really a good day,
Opening the window to get some fresh air and actually running into him,

Zheng Boye was in need of people right now, and this Hero Chen had perfectly and timely delivered himself.

Aside from the first time they met when Hero Chen almost killed him with a sword, Hero Chen has been his timely rain ever since.

What Zheng Boye liked the most was playing with honest people.

"My intuition tells me that you're so enthusiastic, and this is Chu territory, you…"

"That's right, I want to use you."

"Oh, okay."

"Alright, let's go to this one. It should be the most high-end restaurant in this city."

Zhou County was such a small place. This Drunken Breeze Tower was indeed the largest restaurant, but in fact, if Drunken Breeze Tower was placed in Xia Yong, it really wouldn't be anything.

The Fan family liked extravagance, but it wasn't useless. Si Niang had said that the Fan family's extravagant expenses actually revitalized the entire city of Xia Yong. I don't know how many people in Xia Yong relied on the Fan family's business to make a living.

If the Fan family was thrifty and didn't show off, and lived a very low-key life, then Xia Yong would be as deserted as Zhou County.

Zheng Fan understood what Si Niang meant. It was probably equivalent to the currency circulation of later generations. It was best not to just save money and bury it in the cellar.

This was actually very similar to Xuehai Pass. The soldiers in Xuehai Pass were treated extremely well, and their salaries were paid according to the Jingnan Army's salary. There were also additional benefits during festivals, but to put it bluntly, there wasn't even a decent town within dozens of miles to the southeast, northwest, and southwest of Xuehai Pass, so these soldiers and their families still had to spend their military pay in the Earl's Mansion's businesses in the city.

In the Drunken Breeze Tower, Zheng Fan asked for a table by the window on the second floor and sat down facing Hero Chen.

Zheng Boye ordered the dishes, a few specialties, plus a pot of wine.

Hero Chen didn't know how to handle social situations, so Zheng Boye personally poured him wine.

After the two lightly toasted,
Zheng Boye asked:
"Send the gift tomorrow?"

Hero Chen shook his head and said, "Hand it over here."

"Oh, where?"

Hero Chen blinked and said, "Hand it over here, in the Drunken Breeze Tower."

As he spoke,
Hero Chen took out another chopstick from the chopstick holder, placed it horizontally on top, and pointed to it,
Saying:
"This is the mark."

Zheng Boye's hand holding the wine glass trembled slightly,
And said:
"Why does it feel like a meeting with a spy?"

Spies were a general term for a series of intelligence agency personnel.

Hero Chen nodded a little and said, "The person coming to pick up the gift is from the Phoenix Nest."

"…" Zheng Fan.

As he spoke, Hero Chen took out a letter from his arms and placed it on the table.

Judging from the thickness of this letter, it should be more than just a poem.

Zheng Fan took a breath, suddenly feeling a little funny, and pointed to himself, saying:

"Why didn't you say so earlier?"

You're meeting with a Phoenix Nest spy from Chu, why didn't you say so earlier?

Hero Chen looked at Zheng Fan with some doubt and said:

"You didn't know?"

"How would I know?" Zheng Boye said a little inexplicably.

"I thought you knew what I was here to do, so you deliberately waited for me here, otherwise why would it be such a coincidence that I walked past your inn and you were standing by the window on the second floor looking at me?"

"This, this really is a coincidence."

"I thought everything was under your control, so I didn't plan to resist, I planned to cooperate."

"………" Zheng Boye.

Zheng Fan believed that what Hero Chen said was true. He didn't plan to draw his sword against him. He even planned to finish the process after seeing him. Even this letter had already been placed in front of Zheng Fan. Whether there was a poem or something else inside, you, Zheng Fan, could take it and read it yourself.

Because Hero Chen had sworn to Zheng Fan that he would never draw his sword against Zheng Fan.

He was a Qian person and would not help Zheng Fan kill Qian people, but he himself could be captured by Zheng Fan.

Zheng Boye was already speechless,
He stood up,
Planning to leave here first, lest he really run into someone from the Phoenix Nest later.

However,
Just as Zheng Boye stood up, the sword that Hero Chen had previously taken off and placed on the chair beside him suddenly trembled.

"What's going on? What does that mean? You want to draw your sword against me?" Zheng Fan felt absurd.

Hero Chen shook his head and said:
"When a sword meets a good friend, it rings out in response."

Meaning, the sword sensed a "friend," so it unconsciously trembled to call out.

Zheng Boye didn't use swords, so he didn't know much about this and asked directly:
"Who did it sense?"

Hero Chen replied, "Who else in this world can make most spiritual swords regard him as a friend?"

Hearing this question,
Three words immediately appeared in Zheng Boye's mind:
Sword-maker!

…

At this moment, outside the inn, the sword-maker walked over with a middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man walked in front, the sword-maker half a step behind.

"Drunken Breeze Tower, sir, is this the one?"

"Yes, this is the one."

The middle-aged man nodded,
And smiled:
"Hehe, I really can't wait to see Master Yao's new poem."