Ji Li looked at the last Official that didn’t refute. He read the report and knew that this official actually didn’t have connections in the capital and he also wasn’t as power-hungry as the others; he only became an official because he was smart, and it was usually a safer way than becoming a merchant… which would probably be what he was going to do in case he got the same punishment.
So, instead of that, Ji Li gave him another option “You shall have the same punishment, with the inclusion of the possibility to work as my assistant for as long as I deem necessary. What is your decision?”
The official was mildly surprised but kneeled down nonetheless “I shall take upon this chance, esteemed eunuch. I thank you for giving me this opportunity.”
Qianyu understood his brothers’ intentions; naturally, as they read the records together and his brother commented already on some of them. So, he went down, pulled him up as he said, “A servant of the Eunuch Palace is never to kneel to anyone but their parents.” With this, he took him to the side, so he could stand together with the guards, who had thankful expressions.
The saying “You shall never kneel to anyone but your parents, master and emperor” is naturally not unknown in the empire, although they changed heaven with the emperor. Of course, that was nonsense, and no one would follow this saying if they had any liking of their life.
Well… except the eunuchs, who took it a step further. They would kneel to no one but their parents… which they didn’t have, as that would mean they weren’t eunuchs. The servants enjoyed the same privilege, although that didn’t mean they would never kneel to anyone else. It was just not allowed to force them to kneel, not even the emperor could order the servant of the Eunuch Palace to kneel, that was beyond his authority.
Hearing this, the two Intermediate Eunuch blushed. They clearly didn’t have to kneel but still did, it was shameful to do so to another eunuch, and even worse if they did it to another person. Their readiness to kneel meant that they had done it before, not thinking twice.
Ji Li could only shake his head as he said “You are young, so I shall not be too hard on you. Retake the exam for Intermediate Eunuchs and take on five missions, as well as refresh your memory regarding mannerism in the Eunuch Ceremonial Palace.”
The eunuchs stood up and bowed, before thanking Ji Li “We thank the Eunuch Ceremonial Palace for its generosity.”, then they left for the inner building of the branch, where they lived.
Five missions were no light manner, each one could easily range from a week to several years, and they had to do that while still taking lessons and doing the Intermediate Eunuch exam again… which although seemed easy to Ji Li, it would definitely not be easy for the Intermediate Eunuchs. Now that they already ate at Nature’s Gift, they would naturally also have to fight stronger beasts to reclaim their authority. This was easily a setback for several years for an average eunuch, not to mention them, who had left the capital for an easier life…
It was common for an eunuch to take missions and serve an official, noble or join the military temporarily… but they had left the capital and joined the viscounty for years already. This wasn’t loyalty; they were just lazy and wanted to take it easy.
No matter how good of an eunuch Ji Li was, or how many example-eunuchs there were out there; there would also be those that did worse, those that stopped their path… and those that were corrupt, forgetting their honour and title to have ‘fun’, the biggest disgrace for eunuchs.
Now came the last person… the young viscount. Ji Li looked at him and couldn’t see anything other than a spoiled brat that was only picked because he was the favourite and only successor still staying behind, instead of leaving for the front with his father.
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Ji Li looked at him and said slowly “As the biggest contributor to this mess, you shall take the largest responsibility.
The title of a Viscount shall be taken away from you, never to be gained again. You shall gain the title ‘Knight’ and lose any chance to gain a higher one. Changing your Noble Title with one of different origin shall not change that.
The territory of the viscounty will temporarily be under the Eunuch Palace and only given back on a later date, the date as well as requirements will be under the Inspection Palace belonging to the Eunuch Palace. The previous viscount will be held accountable for making hasty and wrong decisions, losing the right to any Noble Title. He may gain other titles that are at least one rank below Viscount. Further punishments will be given by the Inspection Palace.”
This was by far the worst punishment, as it firstly stopped any chance for the young viscount to gain any authority inside of the empire at all, while dampening the ambitions of the past viscount a lot. Since he left so quickly for the military, he was probably planning to gain the same rank as a viscount in the military, Ji Li’s punishment will stop him from even thinking of this.
All this and he still temporarily claimed the viscounty, while also warning them that this wasn’t the end of their punishment. The Inspection Palace belonging to the Eunuch Palace was… in Ji Li’s terms, they were the Inquisitors of the empire, and everyone knew that they were the blade hidden behind the nice face of an eunuch. They were the reason why no one ever dared to lay finger on eunuchs, as that would mean a much worse punishment than anything Ji Li said.
The viscount was instantly carried to the underground prison chamber in the Branch. The guards were also dismissed, the only remaining ones in the main hall being Ji Li, his two brothers, three guards of him and the official.
Having basically ‘fixed’ the situation, Ji Li told Shixuan to send them all out, while Qianyu contacted the Eunuch Palace with his communication tool. They seemed somewhat surprised to already hear from him, but as he told them he would need to talk with a higher up, they understood the severity and let him talk with a Head Eunuch of the Mission Palace.
Shixuan slowly explained everything, and in the end, Ji Li was given the tool to talk “I greet the esteemed senior brother, how may I help?”
The head eunuch answered, just as respectful “I greet the representant of the Eunuch Ceremonial Palace. This indeed is a peculiar situation, and you have taken the correct steps. I would like to ask whether you could stay and take care of the situation? A disciplinary eunuch has already been notified, but he would need over a day to arrive.”
“That should be no problem. As a representative, it is naturally my responsibility to take care of everything. Unfortunately, I am currently busy with an important mission. Might it be alright if I let one of my junior brothers stay here? He is Ji Qianyu, I shall give him the communication tool, so you may discuss the next operations with him.”
Ji Li didn’t want to stay here, and it would be a good option for Qianyu to learn more regulatory stuff… he was doing that anyways. As for Shixuan… there was no need for him to stay, it would do better for him to just study the sound-enclosing formation.
The head eunuch was thankful that Ji Li didn’t outright refuse him but just told him to discuss it with another person. It would really be bad for them if they had no one to stay, but Ji Li’s position as a representative of the Eunuch Ceremonial Palace gave him enough authority to ignore the command of the Mission Palace.
The position of the Eunuch Ceremonial Palace was too special, even a Royal Eunuch would rather not involve himself, even if he had the authority. After all, not only was the palace one of the main ones in the Eunuch Palace Complex… it was also under direct control of the Grand Eunuch, even if he didn’t involve himself at all, on paper, it was his territory.
Ji Li gave the tool Qianyu as he told him to manage the things here; he was naturally sad that he couldn’t go with his brother, but that didn’t matter… as authority meant that his brother trusted him to fulfil it properly.
When Shixuan came back and heard of what they would do, he only nodded. Ji Li then told him to prepare for their departure the next morning, they would leave earlier since there was no need to talk with the branch leader… and Ji Li didn’t want to risk a situation where the disciplinary eunuch arrived while he was still there.
The official would also be notified, as he was waiting outside. Shixuan wanted to ask for the next steps before he fully send them out. Having finished everything, Ji Li finally was somewhat alone as he looked at the fox “Now, tell me, smart little fox, are you happy?”