Eunuch Chen

If Wu Junji had withdrawn the Human Emperor Fortune enveloping him, everyone would have believed him.

How was he any different from a pervert who broke into someone's home carrying a broadsword while cooing, "Sweetheart"?

Yu Sheng had wanted to dissuade him. The factions in Black Six Class were tangled and complicated; if another incident like the one at Jixia Academy happened, he would be left carrying the blame.

But judging by the situation before him, if anything happened, it seemed someone else would be in trouble.

Wu Junji lifted his chin and held out a hand, palm up. Li Jiu caught his meaning and handed him a little fan.

The fan was truly miniature, made of white ivory inlaid with a gold landscape.

The little Crown Prince opened his fan and tilted his head. Li Jiu promptly carried him closer to Yu Sheng.

Wu Junji covered his mouth with the fan and asked in a lowered voice,

"Does our academy have any black-and-white rules?"

He extended one little sleeve and raised his eyebrows meaningfully at Yu Sheng.

Yu Sheng's mouth twitched. He could hardly bear to look. Where had the dignified Crown Prince learned these street-thug tricks? Still, he knowingly extended a hand, covering the Crown Prince's little sleeve with his own larger one, and the two exchanged signals beneath the broad sleeve.

Wu Junji felt two fingers.

Behind the fan, the little Crown Prince's lips curved upward. There were.

It was obvious when he thought about it. Nowhere under heaven was absolutely fair. Those who had opened their heavenly eyes had to be taught separately from those who had not. Jixia Academy had fallen, but the monthly contests between the nations could not stop simply because of its fall.

With the nations' royal heirs gathering at Minglu Academy, Minglu Academy had become a second Jixia Academy.

The academy tried to ensure fairness for ordinary students, but for the royal heirs of the various nations, the rule was that the strong reigned supreme.

Because each royal heir represented the nation behind him.

Everyone heard the little Crown Prince give two cold chuckles.

"From today onward, I'm the boss of Black Six Class. Who agrees, and who objects?"

Langdun Jiayang, royal heir of the Great Fan Kingdom, was not particularly convinced.

"Your Human Emperor Fortune is only especially powerful against demons. In a one-on-one fight, you might not be a match for me."

By a one-on-one fight, he meant a duel between their summoned generals.

Wu Junji pointed at the turtle prince dressed entirely in green.

"Beat him into submission!"

Fortune instantly filled Li Jiu's body, making him feel capable of anything. Holding the little Crown Prince, he used no weapon; his body spun like a top as he drove one long leg toward Jiayang.

Jiayang shouted, "Deji! Get him!"

A green flood dragon merged into Deji's body, and he swung a fist to block the kick.

The next instant, he was embedded in the wall.

Jiayang cried out, "Deji!"

Wu Junji hugged Li Jiu's neck, finding the view from a height of 1.9 meters wonderfully expansive.

He swaggered. "Had enough?"

Jiayang was already ten. He felt it was humiliating to submit to a three-year-old in front of everyone, and his face flushed red.

"No!"

I am the Crown Prince of Great Fan. Surely you wouldn't dare hit me?

The little Crown Prince waved his small hand. "Embed him too!"

Without hesitation, Li Jiu kicked the turtle prince into the wall.

The teacher at the lectern flustered, unsure what to do. He looked toward Yu Sheng. You're the headmaster. Aren't you going to do something?

Yu Sheng looked at the sky, then the ground, and did not so much as let out a fart.

The teacher wanted to curse this spineless headmaster to death. He was a disgrace to scholars!

Seething, he forced out a sentence. "I'll fetch a physician!"

Then he gathered up his robes and scurried away.

Yu Sheng: "..."

Wu Junji admired the two figures in the wall, then asked the royal heirs of Great Meng and Goryeo,

"Had enough?"

Great Meng's royal heir was Eri Dun, and Goryeo's was Gao Nan.

Eri Dun exchanged a look with his summoned general, Bayar. Bayar silently shook his head, so Eri Dun readily said,

"I submit."

Gao Nan declared righteously, "Spineless! The royal house of Goryeo will never bow to foreigners!"

His summoned general, Yu Fusang, took a fighting stance.

"Exactly! I am Yu Fusang, summoned general to the Crown Prince of Goryeo! State your names!"

Before he could finish, Li Jiu kicked him into the wall.

The little Crown Prince rolled his eyes skyward. "You talk too much."

Gao Nan raged, "You're taking advantage of someone's vulnerability!"

Bolstered by fortune, Yu Fusang pried himself out of the wall and charged at Li Jiu with a stream of howls.

To be honest, if they relied on martial strength alone, it would have taken them at least several dozen exchanges to decide a winner.

But fortune was such a heaven-defying power that it fundamentally transformed their clashes. In strength alone, if someone capable of exerting a thousand pounds of force faced someone capable of only a hundred, even if both threw the same punch, the latter could only be hammered away.

Two exchanges later, Yu Fusang was pounded back into the same hole.

Gao Nan lost his nerve in a second.

"I'm the Crown Prince of Goryeo! You can't treat me like-ah!"

Two adults and two children were embedded in the same wall, all at identical heights and depths. It was wonderfully satisfying for anyone with obsessive-compulsive tendencies.

"Woo-hoo~" The little Crown Prince let out a gleefully impish little trill, then turned a sinister gaze on the five Demon Heirs. None of the demons were fools. The Lord of Changbai Mountain had warned them not to rashly offend Wu Junji.

The cheapest way to kill a Human Emperor was to wait for heaven's punishment.

Humans and demons had irreconcilable conflicts. By swearing a heavenly oath, Wu Junji had effectively borrowed fortune from heaven. Only by bringing prosperity to both races could he truly claim his place as Human Emperor.

Otherwise, once twenty years were up, Great Zhou's false prosperity would collapse in an instant.

Whether wary, resentful, or merely feigning weakness, they said,

"We submit."

There was still Chen Yu.

However one looked at it, Chen Yu did not belong in Black Six Class. The class was filled with royal heirs, summoned generals, and Demon Heirs. What insignificant little biscuit was Chen Yu?

This was the first time Wu Junji had seen Chen Yu in a month.

Chen Yu's expression was calm. Put another way, there was never a time when his expression was not calm.

Whether rising to power or falling from it, that face had never shown any great ripples.

Chen Yu looked up and quietly studied Li Jiu for a moment. Li Jiu was also sizing him up.

Chen Yu cupped his hands and bowed. "Your Highness."

Wu Junji hid his face behind his fan and uttered coldly,

"Throw him out."

Li Jiu immediately moved, but unexpectedly, Chen Yu dropped to his knees with a thump and presented a token.

"Your Highness, this servant is to attend you in your studies as your personal eunuch."

Wu Junji instantly felt how absurd it was. The old bastard behaved himself for a month, and now he couldn't resist going mad again?!

He had already changed his summoned general, yet the old man was still twisting and turning to find an excuse to keep Chen Yu at his side.

Was there something wrong with him?!

Chen Yu knelt perfectly upright, his head lowered in utmost deference.

"Please read my thoughts, Your Highness."

Wu Junji was suspicious. He had nearly forgotten that the Red Cord still linked their minds.

With a thought from Wu Junji, the reason the old bastard had allowed Chen Yu to accompany him in his studies flowed instantly into his mind through Chen Yu's thoughts.

Wu Junji's expression went blank for a moment.

He looked at Chen Yu, unsure how to react.

Chen Yu's expression remained calm. He had lived forty-three years in his previous life and had come to see many things lightly, letting them go. Reborn into this life, he had nothing left in his heart but His Highness.

"If Your Highness does not believe me, you may inspect me."

"In this life, I ask for nothing else. I wish only to serve at Your Highness's side. Even as a servant who warms your feet, I would be willing."

"My body is base. This is not meant as a threat. I simply know that Your Highness's heart is firm as stone. I only... wish to beg for your pity."

Chen Yu bowed deeply, prostrating himself on the ground.

Wu Junji could not calm down for a long time. It turned out that the old bastard had not gone mad. Chen Yu had.

Chen Yu had castrated himself. Chen Yu had become a eunuch.

Chen Yang was destined to grow old alone in this life. Chen Jin was the puppet Emperor Zhou had chosen to manage the inner palace. Chen Yu, the only one who could carry on the family line, had lost his father in battle for Great Zhou, then castrated himself for the Crown Prince at such a young age.

The entire Chen Family had been wiped out for the Wu father and son.

Even someone as conscienceless as Emperor Zhou felt guilty.

All Chen Yu asked for was a chance to enter Minglu Academy and serve at the Crown Prince's side.

Would a six-year-old child end his entire family's bloodline and slave like an ox or horse for the Crown Prince just to harm him?

How immense a grudge would that take?

If Emperor Zhou had slaughtered the entire Chen Family and Chen Yu had done this, Emperor Zhou would certainly have killed him and taken satisfaction in it. But at present, his enmity with the Chen Family had not reached such a point.

Thus, Emperor Zhou had wavered.

He had granted him this chance.

As for whether the Crown Prince was willing to let him serve, Emperor Zhou would not interfere.

Chen Yu had smashed his cauldrons and sunk his boats, staking everything-his reputation and his future-on nothing more than Wu Junji's soft heart.

The Crown Prince might have a thousand reasons not to kill him, but behind those thousand reasons lay only two words: soft heart.

The Crown Prince remembered grudges, but he also remembered kindness.

When the beggar Crown Prince entered Chang'an to study under Ruan Yuan, it was actually Chen Yu who taught him most of the time.

For those five years, Chen Yu had managed everything in the Crown Prince's residence, from top to bottom, inside and out.

Even if they later fell out, even if Chen Yu had ulterior motives, he and Wu Junji had truly shared hardship during those five years.

During the head-chopping interest incident, the old bastard had intended to starve him until he had only one last breath before releasing him.

But he was tenacious and strong-willed. Even after starving for ten days, he could still move. It was Chen Yu's intercession that secured his early release.

Later, when he staked everything on intercepting the imperial procession and heading north, Chen Yu had also helped maneuver on his behalf at court.

Later still, after he successfully quelled the rebellion and rewards were granted for the Azure Dragon Gate Incident, Chen Yu could rightly be credited with having helped the dragon ascend.

But it was also true that Chen Yu had conspired with the Second Prince to trap him, and true that he had burned the Peaceful People's Encyclopedia. There had been many other incidents in between, and Chen Yu was innocent in none of them.

Between them lay grudges, hatred, and kindness.

Sometimes he felt that this world was truly fucking fantastical. The two people he found most repulsive in this life-Emperor Zhou and Chen Yu-both haunted him like ghosts.

Wu Junji drew a deep breath and said mockingly,

"Well played, Eunuch Chen."