Ji Li was happy seeing the guards act according to his instructions and looked at Qianyu, who understood and just knocked once again, repeating the process, while this time it was Shixuan who joined the troupe. Once inside, he closed the door properly and took out a jade out of his sleeves, which he then presented to Ji Li. His big brother was happy seeing the jade and poured in some of his Essence, instantly making the jade shine. After short shine, calligraphy-like figures flew out and sticked to the carriage's walls, ground and ceiling. Which once again made Ji Li happy.
"Big Brother, the silent formation has been activated fully" Shixuan said when the jade stopped shining. Yes, this was not a normal jade, but a jade that has been modified to operate a formation once Essence was introduced, a very convenient tool.
"Finally, it's so annoying to act like I'm some god-like superior or something! I had to keep my back straight during the whole time and couldn't just lie down! Monkey, go to the other side, I want to stretch and lay down! Wake me up when we arrive!"
Qianyu did as he was told while also asking "Big Brother, won't there be any monsters or bandits along the way, disturbing our ride?"
Ji Li looked at monkey like he was an idiot "Where do you think we are? How could there be bandits in the imperial region? Outside the imperial region maybe, around the borders, surely. But here? In the imperial region where there are so many officials moving around? The moment some bandits even enter, some minor royal guard will be dispatched to eradicate them! The most we will experience are some first and second tier monsters, but why would we worry about them? We clearly have guards for a reason! I'll go sleep; do you not see how early it is? We'll probably arrive shortly before dinnertime, just wake me up then."
Stone commented "Big Brother is always right; Monkey why are you even asking?"
Ji Li knew that stone was just as inexperienced as monkey, so he just rolled his eyes as he summoned a blanket and went to sleep, leaving the other two to wait and guard his sleep.
…
Like Ji Li predicted, the journey was uneventful and when they slowed down, it was mostly to shoot off some low-level monsters! A few of them were just stomped down by the horses during the ride. There were several other carriages that passed by them on the large road, but all of them dodged to the side and made space. Most of them weren't even officials, how could they stand in the way of a carriage with the Eunuch Palace's Insignia?
After a total drive of 6hours, apparently slowed down because of Ji Li and several monsters, they saw the town in the close distance. Qianyu stood up and tapped lightly on the shoulder of Ji Li's shoulder, to which he woke up, put away the blanket, tidied his hair and robe and then stood straight. He gestured for Shixuan to pull away the formation, which he did by acting the formation jade once again. Then Ji Li looked out of the window and saw a town entrance that had a few guards.
The rank seven guards didn't even bother stopping and just slowed down slightly as they entered the town, to which no one stepped up. They also saw the insignia and had admiration in their eyes.
The guards drove till they reached the center of the town, Ji Li and his two younger brothers were looking out the windows the whole way, seeing a lot of blacksmithing workshops and stores that sold ironwork. Apparently these were just the showcases for all visitors, but Ji Li knew that the whole town was practicing blacksmithing and that they had positioned all the workshops a few hundred meters away from the town entrance. The entrance to the workshop district which stretched through the whole town was another wall one had to cross either from the center of the town or from the few respective exits, which where but only for the members of the workshops or their family.
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Once they arrived at the center, they went to a large three-story building made of various wood, stone and clay types, making it look like a small pagoda while the roof had the form of a tree crown, and the tiles were in the form of leaves. Additionally, to that, there was much greenery all around the building's front yard which they slowly entered.
This was a branch yard of the Eunuch Palace, signifying that the town was a rank 6 large town trying to become rank 7 small city, as every city had to have a branch yard of the Eunuch Palace, while every town only had to have a governmental office and every village only had to have a post office.
The guards halted at the entrance, stood up and waited in front of the carriage without saying anything. A few servants were rushing out, seconds later they were all lined up to the sides of the Eunuch Palace's Entrance with the steward of the branch standing in the middle waiting, knowing already the temperament of eunuchs as he was sent here from the Eunuch Palace. There were no eunuchs permanently dispatched as the town theoretically wasn't a city yet, but they send a few servants to express their goodwill and expectations, which was normal procedure.
One after another stone and monkey stepped out, the steward nearly came forward and greeted them with much enthusiasm before he was stopped when Qianyu raised his hand and flatly stopped him, also saying nothing. At this point even the guards behind came down and moved to the side of the rank seven guards, apparently already knowing how to behave.
Ji Li slowly came down looking very noble, he took large but calm steps and went inside the building while the servant was bowing their heads with cupped hands before them. They wanted to greet them when they saw that the steward had a forehead drenched in sweat, not moving till the troupe with the guards were inside.
As he was wiping the sweat away, he was gesturing to some servants to take the horses and the carriage away. The trusted aide of the steward came forth, curious as to why his father and superior didn't greet the guests like he was supposed to do.
"Stupid kid, didn't you see that there were several eunuchs? It would have been okay if they came out together and acted together, like the first two did. But even after they came out, they still stood out in front of the carriage waiting, just like the guards. When the last came out, didn't you see that they all followed him without talking? Can't you understand? This reverend one isn't a Junior Eunuch like we expected, but an Intermediate! We could have talked fairly respectful with a Junior Eunuch as I am a rank seven servant myself, but we are still servants of the Eunuch Palace. If we have to be respectful even to a Junior Eunuch which is lower ranked than us, what do you think we should do when talking with an intermediate eunuch? Just hurry up and tell the cooks to prepare the best food! They were on such a long journey; they are surely tired."
The young aide was surprised but also excited "But Fa- Steward, doesn't that mean we are very blessed? I heard that there were cases where eunuchs would see servants and take them in for themselves to the imperial capital! Steward, I heard that you were there only shortly when you became a rank seven servant, didn't you say that the capital has much denser Essence than here?"
"Stupid child, didn't you already see that the reverend one had two Junior Eunuchs following him? Clearly, they are his assistants! Why would he need a trusted aide when he has his own assistants? Let me tell you, the Eunuch Palace honors their brotherhood just as much as the military, and that's especially so when the people are those they grew up with! Do you really think that we have any chance to make an acquaintance? Just hurry up and do as you are told!"
The steward turned around and busied himself while he sighed… the imperial cities Essence was much denser than here, making it a paradise for cultivation! Unfortunately, he couldn't stay there, but he was thankful for getting the chance to solidify his cultivation there for some time. He also knew how indebted all servants of the Eunuch Palace were, because they were truly treated the best! No matter how low they were, as long as the behaved according to their job, they would never get punished excessively. At most the incompetent would be let go off! That was totally different from some other places.
Although slavery was abolished, some evil people still treat those lower than them inhumanely and think they are the kings in their house, while eunuchs will be noble and humble at the same time. They never look down on good workers, the situation prior clearly showing that!
They didn't follow proper courtesy of greeting an Intermediate Eunuch, but weren't faulted because they didn't know, such different treatment filled all servants of the eunuch palace with pride and joy!