Chapter 37: I Broke All Five of His Fingers

"What on earth is going on?"

The Crown Prince sent someone to inquire. How could a perfectly fine latrine collapse out of the blue?

Eunuch Dong’s mouth twitched, and he replied in shock, "I went to check, Your Highness. It seems Head Eunuch Zhou was taken by a sudden urge and climbed over the wall into our Eastern Palace to use the facilities. But he was... rather too heavy, so he accidentally smashed... smashed right through it."

The Crown Prince: "..."
Lin Yue: "..."

That is truly absurd.

Lin Yue asked with concern, "He didn't die, did he?"

[She remembered that a famous historical figure had actually fallen into a latrine and drowned in waste. How could she have stumbled upon such a scene in real life?]

Eunuch Dong hurriedly replied, "No, he didn't, but he reeks to high heaven. I’ve had a few young eunuchs take him to wash off. He won't be able to return to the Hall of Diligent Governance to serve for quite some time."

The Crown Prince waved his hand in disgust and said, "Just send word and be done with it. You may withdraw."

Eunuch Dong bowed and retreated quickly. It was clear that he had never encountered such a thing before; he was absolutely speechless.

Lin Yue chuckled. Seeing this, the Crown Prince quickly explained, "That Head Eunuch Zhou is a bit on the heavy side. Please forgive his lack of decorum, Imperial Aunt."

Lin Yue waved her hand. "These are minor matters; it’s no concern. Just get me the list of supplies as soon as possible so I can make preparations."

[The rest is between me and the system. You all can take a well-deserved break.]

The Crown Prince was deeply moved and said, "Don't worry, Imperial Aunt. I will have it organized and delivered to you shortly."

Lin Yue nodded and returned to Songyue Palace.

Not long after, the Crown Prince delivered the list to Lin Yue. It requested: one hundred thousand cotton-padded garments, ten thousand catties of oil, twenty thousand catties of medicinal herbs, and one million catties of grain and fodder.

Lin Yue asked the system, [How about it? Roughly how much merit is needed to exchange for all this?]

The system replied, [That is far too much. You will need at least one million merit points, and there cannot be any mishaps.]

Lin Yue asked, [By mishaps, do you mean being unable to exchange for them suddenly?]

System: [The host cannot die unexpectedly, nor can you turn "dark" (corrupted/villainous), otherwise the merit points will be frozen.]

Lin Yue was stunned: [Damn it, they can be frozen? Is this the same as money in a bank?]

System: [Even stricter than that. A bank doesn't care if you turn "dark" or not.]

Lin Yue: "..." Well, that’s fair.

***

After giving it some careful thought, Lin Yue said, [We don't necessarily have to send everything ourselves. Mu Lixin will certainly focus his investigation on the grain, fodder, and cotton garments. With winter approaching, those two things are life-or-death necessities.]

[We can openly send the medicinal herbs and oil via the main imperial road. He will have no reason to block us.]

[Then we can instruct him to send the cotton garments and grain later. By giving him face and keeping up appearances, he will think he holds the upper hand, and thus, he will be even less likely to regard us as a threat.]

System: [I think this approach is feasible. Furthermore, it will significantly reduce the amount of merit required. You just need to keep working hard.]

Lin Yue immediately felt a surge of confidence and soon returned to the Eastern Palace.

This time, she didn't have Nanny Zhang lead the way; she went alone.

Halfway there, she saw a sinister-looking head eunuch staring with ill intent at a young palace maid who was kneeling on the ground, trembling.

He suddenly kicked the young maid in the lower body. The girl let out a cry of pain, caught completely off guard. Seeing this, Lin Yue shouted angrily, "Stop!"

"You scoundrel! Which palace are you from, to be so arrogant!"

The head eunuch was startled at first, but upon seeing that Lin Yue was alone, a glimmer of murderous intent flashed in his eyes.

"I don't know which palace you serve, Milady, but I don't believe I've seen you before?"

"I am the managing eunuch of the Eastern Palace, Dong Xuan."

Lin Yue had seen the real Dong Xuan earlier that day; the person before her was clearly a fake. She sneered, "In that case, come with me to the Eastern Palace!"

The man was not afraid in the slightest. Instead, he smiled and said, "After you, Milady."

By this point, Lin Yue was already on her guard. The moment she turned, she exchanged for and consumed a "Strength Pill."

Sure enough, a scream came from the maid behind her: "Run, Milady! He wants to kill you!"

Such arrogance was beyond tolerable.

In the instant she turned back, Lin Yue struck out with a fierce punch. With a loud "bang," the man's fist, which had been swinging toward her, cracked and broke.

He didn't even have time to wail; his shocked eyes were filled with terror. He let out a muffled groan and fled in a panic.

Lin Yue did not pursue him but instead helped the young maid up and asked, "Do you know who he was?"

The maid was terrified and whispered, "Eunuch Dong from the Eastern Palace."

Lin Yue was very surprised. "That was a fake; he is not."

"Ah?"

The maid was shocked, clearly unaware of the impostor's true identity.

Lin Yue said, "No matter. There are only so many managing eunuchs in this palace. Judging by his robes, he is a fifth-rank official. I will have the Crown Prince investigate later."

***

"Come with me."

The maid replied hurriedly, "I am responsible for feeding the goldfish in the Imperial Garden. I am not allowed to go to the Eastern Palace without a summons, or I will be whipped."

Lin Yue said, "It is fine. I am the Princess of Ding. I will take you there."

"By the way, what is your name?"

The maid said nervously, "My name is Jinyu. The managing eunuch gave it to me, saying it was easy to remember."

Lin Yue nodded and helped her along.

Jinyu’s lower body was badly injured; she turned pale after only a few steps. Lin Yue couldn't bear to see it, but she didn't dare leave her where she was.

Fortunately, Nanny Zhang and Head Steward Deng found them, and Lin Yue explained what had happened.

Nanny Zhang was horrified. "Impersonating a high-ranking eunuch of the Eastern Palace to commit violence—this is a capital offense. It must be investigated thoroughly."

"Don't worry, Princess. We will have someone bring Jinyu over immediately."

Deng Wei quickly found two young eunuchs and used a stretcher to carry Jinyu to the Eastern Palace.

When the Crown Prince heard that his Imperial Aunt had returned, he hurried out to greet her, only to see this scene. He exclaimed in surprise, "What happened?"

Lin Yue said, "On my way here through the Imperial Garden, I saw someone impersonating your Eunuch Dong, attempting to kill this young maid."

"If this maid had died, there would be no evidence, and no one would suspect you."

"The terrifying part is that when I stepped in to stop him and exposed his identity, he even tried to kill me."

"What?!" The Crown Princess rushed over, and upon hearing this, her face turned pale with shock!

What kind of scoundrel would dare do such a thing? Once she found him, she would see him torn to pieces!

The Crown Prince was also shocked. "This cannot be tolerated. Send someone to inform His Majesty. We must investigate this to the very end!"

Lin Yue nodded, calm and unhurried. "Don't worry too much, though. I broke all five fingers on his right hand. He will certainly be found."

The Crown Prince: "..."?!
The Crown Princess: "..."!!!