As he withdrew, Eunuch Zhao kept his head bowed. The Emperor did not see the expression on this servant he had once used so often.
He silently left the main hall. As Eunuch Zhao headed outside, two figures hurried toward him, sweeping in with the cold wind.
The eunuch leading the way wore a fawning smile, but it was plainly directed at the person being ushered in.
Ma Shunde also saw Eunuch Zhao emerging. Neither spoke, but as they passed shoulder to shoulder, Eunuch Zhao caught sight of his expression.
Perhaps it was only in his mind, but that was a smug face, and a mocking glint flashed through his eyes.
Was Ma Shunde mocking him, because even though he had returned to the Emperor's side, he was no longer trusted as he had been in the past?
"Eunuch!"
When Eunuch Zhao returned to his quarters, a young eunuch came forward to greet him, then withdrew at a signal. The room fell silent. Sitting in his chair and listening to voices drifting in from afar, he felt a loneliness as though he had been cut off from the entire world fill his heart.
For the first time, he truly felt that even though he had returned this time, the Emperor's treatment of him was ultimately no longer what it had once been.
It was like a mirror: even if a broken mirror was made whole again, cracks would always remain.
Fireworks continually bloomed in the sky outside the window. He stared blankly at them, recalling the days when he had served the Emperor, and sorrow could not help rising in his heart.
In the entire Imperial Palace, there was probably only one place where everyone within, from top to bottom, felt genuinely delighted.
"Your Majesty, look at how beautiful the