Driving for a few minutes, they soon arrived at the beginning of the forest. The viscount and his group had not entered too deep, but it was not possible to go in with the carriage, so they waited. It was already late at night, so it came to no surprise when the viscount came out just a bit later.
Surprised by the carriage and the five guards, he stepped back and let his guards take the lead. They took out their swords and screamed "Identify yourself! You are in the territory of the Viscount!"
The guards were about to say something when the carriage opened, and Ji Li went out. He looked at the two guards and then at the noble hiding behind them, a metal cage in hand. Looking at the fox, it seemed to feel his gaze and met it. There were no words for a few seconds, till Ji Li looked at the noble and said coldly "Since when did a mere viscount stand above an eunuch?"
The guards were taken aback, but still kept their swords out as a protective measure "Even if it is an esteemed eunuch, this is the Viscounts territory!"
Ji Li could argue, talk them into cooperation and fix the issue calmy; but he didn't want to. He saw it in the eyes of the fox, it was hurt. They were the eyes he had in his past when he still lived with his parents: hurt, enclosed and insecure about everything.
He used his Talent and grew the grass surrounding the three, making it grow thirty centimetres before freezing it. They stood in a circle, unsure what to do. It was dangerous to let this go on, but they could feel from the essence that it was an Essence Awakening eunuch with a Talent, that being enough proof of his identity, not to mention the robe that no one would every dare to falsely wear, no matter how bold they are.
Ji Li looked coldly at the viscount as he hissed with every word "Do you not realise what you have done? This fox clearly has some ability to use essence, that would already be enough to punish you for not registering it publicly.
Yet it does not only posses' primary control at such a young age, but it already shows signs of gaining sentience!"
This, once again, caused those that heard it to be confused, but something in Qianyu and Shixuan's minds clicked, and their gazes froze. They were ashamed that they hadn't understood before, but the fact that the viscount, a noble of the empire, still didn't understand… they could relate to the rage Ji Li was feeling.
"You fools! For decades we have an agreement with the Beastkin Alliance! For the right to traverse their lands and trade freely, we have agreed to give away any and all young sentient beasts! The fox clan is one of the mightiest in their alliance, a supporter of us!
And yet here you have a young sentient fox! Do you not understand the implications of gaining sentience at such an age? The beast has a deep bloodline, and you are keeping it away from its proper home!"
The faces of all froze and they had sweat all over their face, yet the viscount didn't seem to properly understand, so Ji Li nearly screamed "You imbecile! How can a viscount of the empire be so stupid? Even your guards know better!
The Beastkin Alliance has deep connections with the Merfolk Kingdom; together, they are the strongest force on the eastern continent! Even such a matter could be used to break the agreement, the Wolf Clans have been biding their time for exact such a thing! Do you think we are not in enough wars? Why do you think your father left you and made you his successor?"
Ji Li had enough of the actions he saw and commanded the guards behind him "Take the Viscount and his guards, all of them, to the branch." With this, he pulled back his essence to let his own guards take them on.
This was a major problem, and he would have to fix everything promptly if he wanted to arrive at the march in time. At least this will be a good precedence case for his mission, the Marquis shouldn't be too reckless with choosing if he gets to know if this.
…
Back in the branch, the senior eunuch had time to think about it, and he finally understood. So when Ji Li and his group came back together with the viscount, he bowed to him and said aloud "Please excuse my traitorous behaviour, I have become too old and forgetful!"
Ji Li looked at him silently for a few seconds, then dismissed him "Pack your things, in the coming week, another eunuch shall replace you. You should retire back to the capital, it's better than this small viscounty. Maybe take on a few mentees, of course only after you took some good classes to refresh your memory."
The eunuch bowed one more time and left to the inner rooms. This was the lightest punishment he could get; obviously, even if he did wrong, he was still an eunuch. Everyone was biased against your own family, still, punishment was a must… although it was more like an early retirement as well as a learning opportunity.
Ji Li went to the main hall and waited there, sitting on a higher platform. His brothers took seat next to him. The viscount was already kneeling below, together with his guards. Slowly, more and more guards arrived, together with some officers that were supposed to be aiding the viscount.
Finally, there were ten Talent Refining Stage guards, three Officials of the same strength, and two Intermediate Eunuchs that were acting as his assistants. Thirteen Talent Refining Stage cultivators, all of them could be Barons… of course it wasn't that easy. For a noble title, you would need more than the strength, you also needed a population and other requirements.
Still, the ten guards had the title 'Knight', while the officials had the title 'Vice-Director', even if they weren't working in a ministry, they would still have that official title. Since one could only have either an Official Title, Noble Title, Military Title, Guild Title or Eunuch Title, there were naturally no cases where one had both; although there is the possibility of changing the title at ones will, you'd normally get at least one rank downgrade when doing so.
"Ten Knights, three Vice-Directors and even two Intermediate Eunuchs? It seems that this viscounty has truly been complacent, fifteen people that would know of the possession of a sentient young fox" he said as he patted the fox in his arms, which he took out of the cage as we were waiting "and none of you thought of reporting this case?"
The knights were somewhat confused, while two of the three officials knelled down and started pleading "Esteemed Eunuch, we did not kn- "
"Quiet!" Shixuan yelled, while Qianyu eyed the two menacingly as he continued "You are working in this viscounty, none of you working for less than several years. How dare you try to fool us!"
Ji Li liked what he saw; he didn't say anything, and he knew they were acting this was to make up for not instantly understanding the situation, but he was still happy with that. Obviously, he didn't show that as he had a cold grimace looking at the fifteen people.
He took out his mission scroll, showing the sigil of the Eunuch Ceremonial Palace, which was a large marble building with an emerald three in the centre, and said aloud "Representing the Eunuch Ceremonial Palace, I punish thee ten guards with the following:
You shall lose your Noble Title, only regaining it when you prove yourself worthy of it.
You shall join the forefront southern army, defending the county to reclaim your lost honour.
You shall serve the Eunuch Palace for fifty years after you have proved and reclaimed."
The faces of the guards paled; the first was not that great of a loss, only some benefits all nobles gained. The second meant that they would fight at the army, but some of them had such ideas anyways and wanted to follow their previous viscount as soon as he gained a standing in the army… but the third was clearly just free servitude for the eunuch palace.
Not being able to counter it, they went to the side and stood there, waiting. Without break, Ji Li looked at the two officials that tried to refute him and said, "For your ignorance and act of defiance, you shall never set foot in the Inner Capital, your rank retrieved and the only chance for retributions being the military or a proper compensation."
Guards were one thing; they would have honour and serve well just to leave as fast as possible, or they might even see it as an opportunity. But Officials were different; they were usually sly and would try to laze around as much as possible, or even worse, try their best to restrict your authority and claim some of it.
Either they would pay back with essence stones, or they would have to join the military. Of course, they could also refuse both and life on the countryside… which of course would be the same as death for those power-hungry officials. They might as well kill themselves and make sure their descendants aren't implicated by their mistake.
He waved them off without the chance to beg, as the guards quickly carried them away.