Chapter 361: Stars and the Sea
The issue of the palace maids in the palace had been resolved.
However, there were still countless eunuchs.
These people were different from the palace maids.
They could not be easily sent away.
Ordinary people could not employ eunuchs to serve them, and once they went outside, they were obviously a distinct group, making it difficult for them to survive.
However, with so many eunuchs in the palace and not enough masters, it was easy for trouble to arise.
Just look, even Grand Attendant Yan was very idle.
He was not by The New Emperor’s side but was playing with the little princess.
No one thought that Grand Attendant Yan had lost imperial favor.
It was said that on the day of the palace coup, Grand Attendant Yan’s life was saved by The New Emperor.
Furthermore, Grand Attendant Yan was the godfather of the princess and the princes.
With this status, who would dare to look down on him?
When Mianmian went to the high tower with her godfather last time, she felt it was a great place to fly a kite; the wind was strong, the area was large, and it was guaranteed that the kite would fly.
Ever since then, she had been thinking about it, and once she returned to the palace, she had people make a kite.
It was springtime, and the wind was strong.
She dragged Brother Chong and her godfather along to fly the kite.
Although there were some mistakes at the beginning and some mistakes later on, she couldn’t get the kite to fly.
But Brother Chong, watching Mianmian run back and forth in her chubby little padded jacket, realized the trick to flying a kite and easily got it into the air.
At first, the kite wobbled and swayed in the air, looking like it would fall at any moment, but slowly it flew higher. After flying a bit higher, it gradually stabilized. Without needing much running, the kite seemed to come alive, soaring through the sky on its own.
Zi Congheng looked at the kite soaring in the sky and fell silent for a moment.
It felt just like life.
Struggling to climb, stumbling, falling several times, yet eventually flying again, stable and free, soaring as if there were no strings attached, flying very steadily, protected by the clouds and supported by the wind, free for a long time.
This moment was the best time for flying.
It was also the most beautiful and graceful time.
Mianmian and her godfather both looked up at the sky.
Perhaps this kite was being looked up at by people in many corners of the palace; it was scenery in everyone’s eyes.
Yan Jiexi watched it particularly intently.
His first half of life was spent in poverty, his second half in lowliness. In the palace where human life was as worthless as grass, he struggled to climb, stumbled, fell several times, nearly died, but eventually climbed to the top, put on the red robes that everyone envied, and became the most prominent Grand Attendant Yan in the palace.
He was handsome, had a scholarly air, was tall, and had a neither fat nor thin build, fitting the aesthetics of this era perfectly.
If he were to walk around wearing a crown, he might capture the hearts of many young ladies and madams.
Eunuch Yan, due to his physical condition, naturally could not be masculine; he possessed a kind of feminine beauty.
After the late Emperor passed away, he no longer had that ingratiating temperament; instead, he carried the aura of a villain who could kill heaven and earth.
Seventh Prince’s failed palace coup was half his doing.
He had succeeded.
In the past, testing poisonous pills for the Emperor and licking the soles of shoes wasn’t because he was a born masochist, but because he wanted to live, wanted to climb high, and wanted to live high above others.
Now, the dust had settled.
Jiang the Second had ascended the throne, his elder sister was Empress, yet he felt at a loss.
Sometimes, when a person has no goal, it seems there is no motivation to live.
Calling it confusion, or perhaps just being idle, was like that kite in the sky at this moment, flying aimlessly, not knowing where to go.
Once the kite was flying steadily, Cong Geer handed the string to Mianmian.
Mianmian pulled and tugged, trying to control the kite’s flight.
At first, it didn’t align with the wind direction. She pulled for a long time without success and almost pulled the kite down again.
Once she mastered the trick, when the wind was favorable, the kite flew higher, very, very high. The wind was exceptionally strong today, blowing her hat away.
When it was super, super high, the kite’s string suddenly snapped. The large kite turned into a tiny dot, flew away, further and further, and disappeared into the sky.
Mianmian only retrieved the string.
“The wind is too strong, let’s come back tomorrow and fly a sturdier one,” Cong Geer comforted Mianmian.
Mianmian had run until her nose was red, but she was still very happy; she had had her fun.
“It’s fine. It is said that if you fly a kite and let it fly away, you will have good luck for the whole next year, representing the sending away of bad luck,” Mianmian laughed.
“Then what if I deliberately loosen it?” Cong Geer asked.
“That might make it unable to fly, or it might fly a bit higher and then fall down, landing right in front of you. That also has a meaning, which is that good luck has returned. Anyway, any meaning can be interpreted in a way that is good for yourself,” Mianmian thought of the slimming cream she once bought, whose function was to apply to the waist to slim the waist, and to apply to the chest to enhance the chest…
When out and about, the functions were made up by oneself.
Being with Mianmian, the journey was always lively.
Mianmian was a master of leaving things unfinished; she hadn’t even finished telling the story of “Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils” from last time.
As a result, while having afternoon tea together, she started telling her godfather the story of “Zheng He’s Voyages to the Western Seas.”
The Three-Jewel Eunuch, Zheng He, led a fleet from the capital, sailed to the Pacific and Indian Oceans, visited over thirty countries in total, took 28 years, and set sail seven times.
“Beyond the Chu Kingdom, there are actually over thirty countries?” Grand Attendant Yan asked with some curiosity.
He thought there were only three kingdoms in the world: the Chu Kingdom, the Jing Kingdom, and the Xi Kingdom, with perhaps some small countries in remote corners, but Mianmian said there were dozens of countries across the sea.
“Not just that, there are even more. The book says Zheng He saw over thirty countries. Zheng He’s voyages improved the country’s maritime technology and naval military strength, drove economic and trade development, significantly raised economic levels, and left a brilliant mark in human history. However, some say Zheng He only set sail to search for the elixir of immortality for the Emperor, but regardless of the reason, it is an event worthy of being recorded in history books.”
Mianmian knew that her family members were all astute, and she knew she often blurted out strange words. Perhaps her family had long discovered her strangeness, and because of her elder brother, they automatically patched the bugs for her.
On the night Mianmian told this story, Yan Jiexi went to seek an audience with The New Emperor.
“There are many eunuchs in the palace. I want to take them out to sea. Since I arrived in the capital, I have lived in the palace. This wall is not high, yet we have never gone out again. Now, if we were to go out and live, I am afraid we wouldn’t be used to it. Today, Mianmian told me a story, and I thought that perhaps I cannot become Zheng He, but that is the person I aspire to be. One’s life need not be spent in petty squabbles just because of physical defects. It turns out we too can be written into history books, rather than being known for the reputation of being treacherous and ruining the nation.”
Jiang Changtian had originally been somewhat troubled about Saner’s position.
Although he had ascended the throne, he did not need a person like this to serve him.
The hierarchy of eunuchs was quite distorted; like the imperial concubines, it all depended on imperial favor.
It didn’t seem appropriate to let Saner become an official. In previous dynasties, eunuchs had ruined the nation, so in this dynasty, the power of internal attendants had been greatly weakened, basically only allowing them to develop within the inner court.
Moreover, the internal attendants in the palace were deeply entrenched. These people were different from palace maids; palace maids had the hope of marrying, but they really had no hope, because their bodies were destined to be without descendants. If they didn’t do something, their minds could easily become twisted.
Unexpectedly, Saner’s gaze had already left the palace, the imperial court, and the capital; he wanted to go to the sea, to see the vast places beyond the sea.
Jiang Changtian thought to himself, that little swindler Mianmian must have said something again.
Before, when she told that story, he saw Xia Mei secretly practicing some kind of martial arts, looking quite serious. Once she even practiced the toad jump, which gave him a fright. To avoid embarrassing Xia Mei, he quietly walked away, pretending he hadn’t seen it…
Now she had actually swindled Saner into wanting to see the stars and the sea.
“Fine, wherever you want to go is fine. I support you. You choose your own people, just be careful. If you want to come back, come back anytime. Your sister and I will always be waiting for you at home, and the children are also waiting for you, their godfather.”
“Yes, no rush. Once Feng Geer returns and after I attend his wedding, I will set off,” Eunuch Yan smiled.
Suddenly having a goal, he felt reinvigorated.
“Last time you fell and got injured, has it healed?” Jiang Changtian asked.
“It’s basically healed, it’s nothing, just a little swelling on my leg,” Yan Jiexi said.
“Sit down, I will take a look for you. You know, I also know medicine,” Jiang Changtian said.
If it had been before, Yan Jiexi would not have sat down. But he had already spoken; he was going to leave, to leave the palace, to go see the sea, to see the stars over the sea. His heart suddenly relaxed, and it was as if their relationship had been restored, returning to how it was at Kaner Village. Back then, he told Jiang the Second that he was going to leave, to go to a faraway place.
He sat down, lifted the red robe on his knee, revealing the knee. It was a bit red and had a black birthmark.
“There is no major problem, look,” Yan Jiexi said with a smile.
Jiang Changtian stared carefully, reached out and pressed it, and then looked up and said: “Yes, it’s fine.”
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