Don't Raise A Black Lotus Flower; Use The Emperor As A Substitute [Transmigration novel] - Chapter 5

“It has always been this way?” Lin Ruoxuan was stunned for a long moment before he understood what the eunuch meant.

According to Zhang Youde, Ji Ruxue was frequently locked in the cellar to repent. A Fourth Prince, dignity aside, not only suffered beatings and verbal abuse from eunuchs but was also imprisoned in a cellar.

Lin Ruoxuan glared at Zhang Youde, his anger boiling over. “You people are absolutely reckless!”

Zhang Youde involuntarily shrank his neck. “Chief Eunuch, what is the matter?”

“Hmph.” Lin Ruoxuan pulled the corners of his mouth in a dry grimace. He could not be bothered to engage with this old eunuch. He was preoccupied with one thought: What must Ji Ruxue be thinking right now?

From Ji Ruxue’s perspective, he had first been hung up and beaten, then subjected to attempted molestation. After rejecting that, Lin Ruoxuan had hypocritically set his bones and treated his wounds, only to throw him into a cellar. This was the textbook definition of psychological manipulation: one lash, one sweet, then another lash.

Lin Ruoxuan swallowed silently, feeling a chill creep down his spine. The words “death by a thousand cuts” echoed in his ears.

No, this is not the time to panic.

As a surgeon who had seen life and death countless times, he took a deep breath and quickly regained his composure. “How long has he been locked up?”

Zhang Youde trembled. “Since you left yesterday, I had someone drag His Highness over. He was still unconscious at the time.”

Lin Ruoxuan’s vision darkened, and he shouted, “Take me there, immediately!”

If this nonsense continues, every eunuch in this Cold Palace will be sent to the execution grounds for death by a thousand cuts. That is how it was written in the original book.

“What are you standing there for? Take me there! Do you not want your head anymore?!”

“Yes, yes! Chief Eunuch, have mercy! I will take you there right now!” Terrified and stumbling over his words, Zhang Youde dragged his short, stout body forward to lead the way to the cellar.

Every palace courtyard in the Forbidden City had a cellar for storing ice to provide relief during the summer. These cellars were usually located several feet underground, making them quiet, dark, and cold.

Ji Ruxue sat on the floor, his back against the icy wall. He was dressed only in a thin undergarment, staring blankly into the void of darkness ahead.

Although his whip wounds had been treated with medicine, they still burned with a stinging heat. His fractured left calf throbbed with a sharp, piercing pain. Having gone without food for so long, his stomach felt like it was being sliced by knives, and the cold of the cellar seemed to seep directly into his bones.

Yet, none of this mattered to him. He was resilient; he had been since he was a child.

In his years in the Cold Palace, he had grown accustomed to the eunuchs’ ridicule, the moldy leftovers, the thin, dirty blankets, the frostbite on his skin in winter, and the stifling heat of summer. He knew he was a jinx who had caused his mother’s death, and he could only suffer in silence.

Despite sharing the same father, he was nothing like those noble Imperial brothers. He once thought he could endure this life forever, but then the Emperor sent that eunuch dog to discipline him properly.

What had he ever done wrong? He had only been eavesdropping outside the Study window to listen to a lecture. The Crown Prince had grabbed his hair, pinned him to the ground, and ordered his servants to bring a chamber pot filled with excrement to force his face into it. Naturally, he resisted, spilling the waste onto the Prince. This drew the attention of the teacher, but the Prince, in a fit of rage and embarrassment, slandered him, claiming he was disrespectful to his brother and possessed a sinister heart.

When the Emperor arrived, he had tried to defend himself, but the man in the bright yellow robe—the supreme ruler of the Dayuan Dynasty and his own father—had refused to listen to a single word. The man’s condescending gaze, as if looking at a disgusting insect or a pile of rotting trash, did not linger for even a moment.

Under the smug gaze of the Crown Prince, he received twenty strokes of the cane, the pain nearly causing him to lose consciousness. As he lay on the cold, hard tiles, warm blood pooling beneath him, he heard that man’s cold voice: “Lin Ruoxuan, discipline this wicked child properly for me.”

A soft, hoarse voice replied: “Yes, Your Majesty. This servant will certainly do his utmost.”

Lin Ruoxuan. What a familiar name.

In the gossip among the eunuchs, this person was mentioned countless times. Legend had it that Lin Ruoxuan was a mad dog kept by the Emperor—a Chief Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial and the Director of the Eastern Depot. He was described as beautiful yet feminine, cruel, heartless, and arrogant enough to ignore even the Chief Grand Secretary.

What the eunuchs delighted in most was that despite being a eunuch, Lin Ruoxuan loved to toy with teenage boys, frequently visiting the city’s famous brothels. Whenever he spent the night at one, a boy’s body, tortured to death, would be smuggled out through the back door the next morning.

And that man—his own father—had ordered this perverted eunuch dog to discipline him?

Why? Why, as a Prince of the Dayuan Dynasty, was he living worse than a dog, forced to endure such humiliation?

At first, the eunuch had shown some restraint, using only fine whips and burning incense sticks to torture him slowly. After months passed with no reaction from his father, the eunuch grew bolder. Recently, he had even begun to touch him, and yesterday, he had produced that aphrodisiac, attempting to…

It was disgusting. Ji Ruxue closed his eyes, his nails digging into his palms as he fought the urge to retch. The eunuch’s long, slender fingers, moving slowly over his skin like a viper—cold, fine, and slippery. That sickening sensation seemed to linger on his skin.

Yesterday, he had been only a moment away from taking the eunuch’s life. They had been alone, incense burning in the corner, with a sharp pair of silver scissors and a large bottle of high-proof alcohol on the bed. When he saw them, he had formulated a plan to kill the eunuch and set the room on fire with the alcohol and incense to make it look like an accident. He had had a high chance of success.

But because he was famished and injured, he had passed out when the eunuch grabbed his broken leg. When he woke up, he was in the cellar. His leg had been set, and his wounds cleaned. Although he knew nothing of medicine, he could see the treatment was professional and thorough.

So, after Lin Ruoxuan had set his bones and treated his wounds, he had thrown him into the cellar. Was this calculated display of kindness followed by cruelty intended to make him beg like a tamed dog, begging to be sexually abused?

Ji Ruxue smiled to himself, lightly rubbing the splint on his calf. The eunuch deserved to die. Not just him, but his father and those noble brothers. They all deserved to die. He would crush them like insects, slowly and surely. He would peel the flesh from their bodies, piece by piece, and watch their eyes as they felt anger, fear, plea, and despair. That would be a delightful sight.

For that day to come, he must be patient. He must bide his time.

As soon as Lin Ruoxuan entered the cellar, a thick wave of cold air hit him.

“Chief Eunuch, this way.” Zhang Youde held the oil lamp with trembling hands. Lin Ruoxuan did not wait; he marched ahead, scanning the surroundings anxiously. The cellar was deep and dark, filled with blocks of ice half the height of a man. The ice reflected the light of the oil lamp, casting strange, iridescent glows.

Lin Ruoxuan searched everywhere, shouting, “Your Highness! Your Highness!”

Suddenly, he froze.

In the dim light, Ji Ruxue sat quietly in a dark corner, dressed in nothing but a thin undergarment. He lowered his long eyelashes, his pale face devoid of expression.

Not far from him lay a pool of spilled, rotting leftovers. A group of fat rats with glowing eyes were fighting over the scraps. The mess was at least ten feet away from Ji Ruxue; it was clear it hadn’t been spilled by him, but deliberately knocked over by the person who brought the food.

Lin Ruoxuan’s voice grew hoarse. “What is the meaning of this?”

Zhang Youde looked miserable. “Chief Eunuch, this is the rule you established. It has always been this way; we are not to let him be well-fed.”

Lin Ruoxuan listened numbly, the words “death by a thousand cuts” flashing in his mind again. He had promised the system he would educate Ji Ruxue and save the protagonist from being turned into a human stick, but he was barely keeping his own head above water.

After a long silence, Lin Ruoxuan spoke in a flat voice. “Your Highness, I am taking you out of here.”

Ji Ruxue slowly lifted his dark eyelashes and gave him a faint glance. The expression was indifferent, devoid of emotion, yet Lin Ruoxuan clearly saw a tragic outcome: he himself being carved to death, the protagonist being turned into a human stick, and the storyline collapsing as the readers revolted.

Calm down. Calm down. Don’t panic.

Ji Ruxue must think he was putting on an act—breaking his leg, setting it, and then throwing him into the cellar as a “carrot and stick” tactic to force him into submission for his own perverted amusement. That is exactly what a villain in a novel would do.

Brother Ji, Master Ji, please, I have absolutely no interest in molesting you. I only like mature, gentle women. Look at my sincere eyes.

Ji Ruxue stared at him with no reaction.

“…” Lin Ruoxuan lost the staring contest. Forget it. Rome wasn’t built in a day. To change my image, I have to take it one step at a time.

Lin Ruoxuan put on a kind smile. “Your Highness, it is not like that. I did not order them to throw you into the cellar. These servants misunderstood.”

Ji Ruxue responded indifferently, “Mm.”

Zhang Youde was left blinking in confusion.

The atmosphere was awkward. Lin Ruoxuan didn’t know what else to say, so he acted. He walked up, bent down slightly, and whispered, “Pardon the offense.”

He scooped Ji Ruxue up, one arm under his armpits, the other under his knees. The boy’s body was as cold and light as a frosted leaf. Ji Ruxue was startled, a look of utter revulsion crossing his face, as if Lin Ruoxuan were a pile of filth. He quickly hid the expression, however, and frowned. “Chief Eunuch Lin?”

Lin Ruoxuan softened his voice, coaxing him like a child. “Please rest assured, Your Highness. I mean no harm; I am simply taking you back to your room to recover.”

Ji Ruxue nodded stiffly. He remained tense but did not resist.

Lin Ruoxuan carried the young villain back to the bedroom, placed him gently on the bed, and tucked him in. He checked the splint on his calf—it was still secure, and the bone hadn’t shifted. He breathed a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, he heard a sound: “Gurgle.”

With that strange noise, Ji Ruxue turned his head away, clearly uncomfortable. Lin Ruoxuan blinked, remembering the spilled leftovers in the cellar, and asked tentatively, “Your Highness, have you not eaten since yesterday?”

Ji Ruxue pursed his lips and remained silent.

Lin Ruoxuan felt his heart tremble. These servants in the Cold Palace are trying to get me killed!

He quickly summoned a young eunuch. “Prepare some food immediately. No, forget it! I will do it myself!”

Back in his modern life, Lin Ruoxuan had been a single man living alone. Unlike many others who relied on takeout, he was a health-conscious medical student who preferred cooking his own meals; his culinary skills were quite good.

It was said that skills never weigh you down. Now was the perfect time to use them. As the saying went: to win the heart of a villain, you must first win the stomach of the villain!

He hasn’t eaten in over a day; heavy meat dishes won’t do. What should I make?

Lin Ruoxuan stood at the kitchen stove, pondered for a moment, and rolled up his sleeves to begin.

Ji Ruxue sat with his eyes closed, thoughts racing through his mind. A while later, a faint, sweet aroma of fermented rice wine filled the air. He opened his eyes, puzzled, and looked toward the door.

Lin Ruoxuan walked in holding a small white porcelain bowl, blowing on his burnt fingertips as he sat down on the edge of the bed. He looked at the boy with anticipation. “Your Highness, I made these sweet rice balls myself. Would you like to try them?”

Ji Ruxue looked down. The bowl contained four large, soft, snow-white rice balls, each the size of an infant’s fist, floating in a fermented rice soup that smelled intoxicating.

What scheme is this eunuch dog plotting now? Are these rice balls poisoned? A sleeping draft? Or a lethal toxin?

But even if they are poisoned, how can I refuse? Since I cannot kill him yet, falling out with him will only cause me trouble. And even if I refuse, he will surely find other ways to deal with me.

Ji Ruxue lowered his eyes, staring at the rice balls. Countless thoughts flashed through his mind in a split second.

“Your Highness, is something wrong?”

As a modern, simple-minded youth raised under the red flag with zero experience in palace intrigue, Lin Ruoxuan could not keep up with Ji Ruxue’s complex thoughts. Seeing the boy hesitate, he blinked in confusion, then realized.

It seems Ji Ruxue is a picky eater, just like my four-year-old nephew! Brats are brats, ancient or modern. Patience, I must have patience.

Lin Ruoxuan coaxed him again. “These are black sesame fillings, freshly ground and very fragrant. Would you like to try one? If you do not like them, I will make other fillings.”

Ji Ruxue stared at the bowl, his throat moving slightly; he was clearly famished, but he still wouldn’t move the spoon.

Lin Ruoxuan summoned all the patience he used to have for his four-year-old nephew. He scooped up a rice ball, took a small bite, and the rich, dark sesame filling spilled out, filling the room with fragrance.

“Your Highness, they really are delicious. Please, at least have something to fill your stomach so you do not get sick from hunger.”