Chapter 34: The Return of an Old Friend

“Things remain, but people have changed; it is nothing more than this.”

Standing before the library, which was filled with scorch marks and crumbling walls, Su Chen held a food box, his expression somewhat vacant.

It had been three years.

This was his first time returning to the library.

Regrettably.

Zhang Gui was dead.

Xu Xiaohan had also been implicated and exiled to the border; his fate, whether life or death, was unknown.

Even the library had been burned to the ground by Emperor Jianwu. Millions of precious texts had been reduced to ashes. Had it not been for the extreme importance of the Martial Pavilion Library, Emperor Jianwu likely would have set fire to that as well...

“Master Xu?”

Just then, a voice of pleasant surprise drifted from within the library. The heads of seven or eight young eunuchs in black robes poked out, and they came running toward Su Chen.

In the imperial palace, low-level servants had always been considered cheap lives.

They could not summon imperial physicians.

Nor could they leave the palace for medical treatment.

They were usually sent to the pharmacy to fetch some medicine; if they could live, they lived, and if they couldn't, they died.

Over the years, Su Chen had saved countless palace maids and eunuchs. His reputation had grown among the low-level servants, and he was respectfully addressed as "Master Xu."

Having read through the library's vast collection, his medical knowledge was incomparably superior to that of Chen Ge, the man who originally fetched the medicine.

“What is going on here?”

Su Chen glanced at the courtyard and noticed that it wasn't just black-robed eunuchs who had arrived. A group of bricklayers, carpenters, shovels, tree saplings, and other supplies had also arrived, looking as if they were preparing to rebuild the library.

“Master Xu, you might not know since you've been in the pharmacy.”

“The Deputy Chief Xu, who was exiled to the border to serve in the frontier army, has returned. I heard he refused all of the little Emperor's rewards, asking only for the reconstruction of the library and the withdrawal of the worldwide wanted order for that person in the red robe...”

Xu Xiaohan was coming back?

Su Chen’s eyes grew complicated.

Back then, he had heard that Emperor Jianwu wanted to exterminate everyone related to Zhang Gui and himself. Xu Xiaohan was naturally among them. Had it not been for his merit in protecting the princes during the chaos, and the desperate protection of Empress Dugu, he would have been granted death long ago.

But in the end, he still met the fate of being exiled to the border to serve in the frontier army.

Imperial power had waned.

The frontier generals had long since ceased to respect the throne. The military supervisors sent there had been killed by countless numbers under the pretext of banditry. It was difficult for Xu Xiaohan to have survived until now.

“The people I am familiar with are truly becoming fewer and fewer.”

Just as Su Chen was lamenting,

*Hum!*

The ground trembled slightly.

In the distance, a figure in a half-red, half-green robe came galloping toward them, whipping a horse. Behind him followed an elite contingent of Imperial Guards, their expressions quite respectful.

He appeared to be in his thirties, wearing the half-red, half-green robe. His eyes were deep, and his every movement exuded a steady composure. It was indeed Xu Xiaohan, but he was no longer the youth who used to kowtow like a pounding grain before Su Chen.

“Greetings, Your Excellency!”

Inside the library, both craftsmen and eunuchs were kowtowing.

Only Su Chen did not wish to kneel; he hid far away.

“Is there any wine?”

Xu Xiaohan looked toward the Imperial Guards behind him.

“Director, you risk suspicion!”

“The first thing upon entering the palace should be to pay respects to His Majesty, not to come to this library to worship that person in the purple robe, and that person in the red robe...”

The Imperial Guards' faces were grim as they offered cold warnings.

“Hahaha!”

“So what if I am imprisoned!”

“In any case, I am simply Zhang Gui's godson, the Xu Xiaohan who stands by Master Su! I wonder how Master Su has been living these past three years. I hope he is well...”

To this, Xu Xiaohan laughed loudly. He reached out a hand, and using *gangqi* to grasp objects from a distance, he snatched Su Chen's food box. He walked all the way to a broken hibiscus tree in the dilapidated courtyard.

Placing plates of exquisite food on the stone table, Xu Xiaohan closed his eyes and performed three prostrations toward the table. He then poured a full bottle of white rice wine before the hibiscus tree, said nothing, and rode away.

“What is he doing?”

The young eunuchs whispered amongst themselves.

“The three prostrations were for the one in the red robe, and the pouring of wine was to commemorate the traitor Zhang Gui!”

“Heh!”

“A eunuch is just a eunuch!”

One of the Imperial Guards sneered, writing in a small notebook, clearly intending to secretly report Xu Xiaohan.

At this, Su Chen sighed.

He flicked his finger.

*Boom!*

The scaffolding being constructed, along with hundreds of pounds of blue stone and tiles, collapsed directly down, instantly crushing the reporting Imperial Guard into a mass of bloody pulp.

“Holy crap!”

“That is too unlucky!”

The young eunuchs were terrified.

“Isn't it?”

After saying this, Su Chen left, carrying the empty food box. It just so happened that he didn't have to be busy with the pharmacy today, so he could take back the silver and herbs that had been snatched away.

Three days later.

The little Emperor personally renamed Xu Xiaohan to "Xu Han"! He was appointed as the new Director of the East Depot (Western Depot), tasked with hunting down and executing all remnants of the old East Depot across the realm! He was granted a second-rank *Nugang Pill* to cultivate in the Tianwu Tower to attempt a breakthrough to the second rank.

This caused more than just a stir in the palace.

The entire imperial court was in an uproar. Countless civil and military officials, as well as nobles, pounded on the doors of the Imperial Study, all wailing—this was the second "Nine Thousand Year Old" who had thrown the Great Liang into chaos!

In less than a month of his return, Xu Xiaohan already possessed an aura of overwhelming power, not at all inferior to the rapidly rising Zhang Gui of old, and even seemed to possess the intent to surpass him.

In the pharmacy.

Su Chen brought out a ceramic jar from under the bed and placed blood-stained silver coins into it. He counted them and smiled with satisfaction.

“Three hundred taels.”

“Old Chen has taken good care of me all these years. With these three hundred taels, according to the prices outside, it should be enough for Old Chen to enjoy his twilight years after leaving the palace...”

He wondered if it was because he was simulating Xu Ge and had been affected by the simulated temperament, but Su Chen felt that these three years in the pharmacy were much more interesting than the nine years in the library.

At least, he felt more like a human being.

Then, he began pounding medicine again.

Outside.

Two young eunuchs with fevers, waiting for their medicine, were conversing.

“The palace has been getting more and more chaotic lately. I heard that last night, two guards on duty died suddenly in their guardroom for unknown reasons. Nothing was stolen, except for a few silver coins.”

“The medicine is here.”

“Take it on time!”

Just then, Su Chen walked toward them from the pharmacy, carrying the packaged medicine.

“Master Xu, could we perhaps... run a tab for this silver...”

The two young eunuchs were somewhat embarrassed, stammering as they only produced a few copper coins.

“No problem.”

“Next time you come, tell me more interesting stories about what's happening in the palace. Consider this money a debt for now; it doesn't matter. It isn't easy for low-level eunuchs to save money while being exploited.”

“Thank you, Master Xu!”

Su Chen saw the two young eunuchs off.

“Cough, cough...”

From the inner room came a violent coughing fit.

This was the eleventh month of the tenth year of Jianwu. As the weather grew colder, Old Chen fell ill.

By the bedside.

Su Chen fed the brewed medicinal soup to Old Chen, but it had no effect at all.

In the end, Old Chen would not live to see the next year's departure from the palace.

“Why is this happening...”

“Old Chen's lifespan was clearly normal; he should have had at least ten more years. Why did a single chill overnight bring his life to its end?”

Su Chen sat by the bed, his expression filled with a sense of panic and unease.

It was as if he had truly become Xu Ge, about to see off the old man who had cared for him for ten years.

“Xu Ge, the one I worry about most is you. In this palace, for low-level eunuchs like us without cultivation, don't try to be like so many others. Guard the pharmacy well, and do not interfere in any struggles...”

“Be honest, endure until you leave the palace, and save some silver. For us eunuchs, we must adopt an heir to leave something behind for the future...”

Chen Ge was aged and decrepit, exuding an aura of decay. Like an elder in a family at the moment of death, he gripped Su Chen's hand, giving his final instructions to his descendant.

Chen Ge's hand fell limply.

The tenth year of Jianwu, winter.

It was snowing outside!

The heavy snow covered the sky and sun, and the cold invaded the mortal realm.

Old Chen was dead.