The group took a silent break after the food and fell into thought. It didn’t take long till Yu Bao interrupted the silence when he took out a scroll from his robe. He gave it Ji Li, who uncovered it and read it aloud.
[Volunteer Mission for the Eunuch Ceremonial Palace]
Honourable Eunuch Ceremonial Palace,
we have noticed that you have already finished your yearly given task, a difficult one without question, ending it formidably. As part of the ministry of management, tasks of various difficulties deliver themselves to us, one such task is this one we ask help for.
Marquis Gu Wen has requested help with deciding on a worthy successor. We beseech the Eunuch Ceremonial Palace for help regarding this request.
As a compensation for the mission, five contribution points will be awarded to the eunuch completing the task, three given to the eunuch ceremonial hall.
With highest regards
Assistant-Minister Shen Lu
“Deciding on an heir for the marquis? Why… would they ask us?” Ji Li asked as he looked at his elder brothers, who of course knew of the mission, but didn’t understand either.
*cough* Lei Lin got the attention he wanted and explained “Young Li, I hope you don’t take it as an offense, but I heard a bit of what you said previously in the Trade Hall. When I saw you, I wanted to invite you to my table, but you had quickly gotten visitors, so I did not interrupt a discussion between youths.
When you activated the sound blocking talisman…” blushing a little, he paused before he continued “It was a well made one, but not able to block the sound fully from prying ears. I took it upon myself to put upon it a second formation.
I had heard what you said… about ‘harems’, naturally making me proud. The Eunuch Ceremonial Hall is truly lucky to receive someone of high moral standards, and I wanted to help a bit, so I told the Assistant-Minister Shen Lu, the one that was previously assigned this mission, as well as the one I am currently helping, about your talk.
Appreciating those thoughts in our time, he went ahead and told the minister about it, who agreed that this mission would be appropriate for you to handle. Of course, you can still reject it now that you know the content.”
Ji Li smiled from ear to ear, it was a bit much, but he was happy anyways and it was good to show some of his feelings “Thank you, Elder Brother Lin! I am naturally happy that you give me this opportunity. Helping a marquis with deciding on a successor is something I never did… well there are many things I never did, but interacting with a marquis will be a worthwhile experience. Thank you for thinking of me when you heard of the mission!”
‘Not gonna mention it, nope, not at all. Security risks aren’t a problem at all, nada, absolutely safe… I will have to ask for a formation from the elder brothers; till now I used one that Shixuan did on his own. I knew it wasn’t strong, but I thought he would get notified when some listens in.
I guess we both didn’t think of the possibility of someone surrounding us with another formation, defending us, when in truth, it’s just eavesdropping. At least eunuch Lin was there, or else… if the wrong person heard it, I could only imagine people calling it slander or something like that.’
He turned to his other elder brothers and looked at them smilingly, but his eyes had a sliver of coldness; he remembered how his family always eavesdropped on his conversations and on what he did, then they would influence him with what they knew.
It was not always bad, and in this case, it was even good. But he just didn’t like it. If he wanted something like that, what would stop him from asking for it from his elder brothers? He knew that this was offer given to him because of what he said, but it still felt shitty to have people repeat something you said private on a more public field.
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The elder brothers saw it and could only internally shake their head. Ji Li had always been a person that kept to themselves. That was why, even when they viewed his exam, they never talked deep about him to their friend. Beyond just basic courtesy, they knew that Ji Li would not like having people know too much about him; inviting the friend was already somewhat of a stretch, but they had done it with no intention besides showing off…
The evening was already coming to an end, and Ji Li’s eyes were wet as he hugged his mentor, the two elder brothers and eunuch Lin. “I will definitely bring back some presents from the coast and present it to you all!” When Yu Wei hugged him, he pushed a piece of Jade into his arms. It didn’t take Ji Li’s smarts to know what it contained.
Stopping a carriage, the trio went and sat down inside. Inside, Ji Li pulled the jade and infused some essence. In just a second, a forcefield expanded strongly, he had to will it to only span across the inner room of the carriage.
Satisfied, he threw the jade to Shixuan. Earth-Element essence enhanced every kind of defence mechanism, even if it was a sound-barrier. It was negligible to be honest, and Qianyu with his Wind-Element would not do any worse; but Shixuan had studied formations somewhat and would be able to do more with it than any of the two others.
Shixuan quickly took it into his grasps and inspected it slightly, when his thought was interrupted as Qianyu asked “Brother… what eunuch Lin said…- “
Before he could finish, Ji Li shook his head already “Let’s just take it as out mistake, he is right, and we were a bit careless because we thought no one would listen on a conversation between eunuchs in our own home ground. He meant it well.”
It was a clear cut that his intentions were right, but the way Ji Li said it made it obvious that he still didn’t like what happened. They guessed that he would just not see him that high of a person anymore, just another brotherly eunuch along his path, not something like a grand mentor.
Breaking the ice, Shixuan inspected and mumbled on about the fascination he felt towards the formation, while Qianyu came a bit closer to also look. Ji Li answered some things he knew, as even if he wasn’t proficient in them, it wouldn’t be wrong to know a thing or two.
He was really more like a different perspective with basic understanding than an explanation towards what was happening; Ji Li didn’t think of himself as widely superior to his brothers in every aspect; no, he was thankful that they were going their path together with him. The only problem, their cultivation speed, had already been fixed with their dual awakening.
…
The next day, Mission Palace. Ji Li and his brothers went to the reception and talked nicely with the eunuch there. Well, Qianyu did as he took out the scroll and formally accepted it. It was already accepted in every other sense, but bureaucracy was bureaucracy.
It would surely help someone to know that Ji Li wasn’t available and, on a mission, even if all the close acquaintances already knew of it. When they finished it, they were once again told to wait as guards would come up. Apparently six of them, all of them at the Talent Refining stage. Well, the mission was one given to the Ceremonial Eunuch Palace, so it wouldn’t be wrong to even send out much stronger guards, but this was already enough for anything inside the empire.
The guards arrived with the carriage, a large one for the longer journey. It would take approximately 6days and a bit, along they way, they would stop at a town or city after each day, visiting the minor nobles reining there.
With this, they set off. Again, through the tunnel system, leaving the capital directly through the southern gate. This would be a long journey, so Ji Li had no intention of staying put the whole way there, so he got himself some books about pottery, his art that he chose to practice.
Ji Li had his pottery, Qianyu his drawing, and of course Shixuan his formations. They all practiced them along the way… well, Ji Li couldn’t, while Qianyu would only make sketches for future references. It was a beautiful scenery throughout the empire; split into several seasons, it made the heart of any nature enjoyer melt.
It was a bit sad that there were no forests of glass, as this was how cities were normally called in the urban city Ji Li lived in. Well, it wasn’t too bad, while he missed living far up, he didn’t miss the smells that came with a city.
If someone said medieval cities were disgusting, then Ji Li could only say that if a person from the empire ended in a city, they’d die from the stink. But that wasn’t a fair comparison; the empire knew a lot about hygiene, maybe more than the modern world, but it just showed this knowledge much more subdued than one would expect.
They would just have several people that cleaned things generally, while each household somehow learns from early age how to take care of chores while keeping it clean after themselves. Basic education was present everywhere; just that instead of education about many jobs, you’d be educated about cultivation and then let free to do what you want.
Most people obviously would just take upon the work of their parents when they reach the teenage years and understand that cultivation was only for the fates; the fated would be supported through public organisations.
The empire might not be the most free-spirited in regard to many ideologies, if he was honest, Ji Li was still disturbed by the fact that harems existed; but the empire knew that to be a prosperous country, the people had to be happy.