It was not yet dawn, but the small courtyard was already bustling with noise.
All the little eunuchs in the house had gotten dressed and left, while Li Xu did not push open the door to his room until he had armed himself with enough mental preparation.
In the courtyard, among dozens of similar huts, he mixed with a group of yawning little eunuchs, responding with ease to greetings of "Xiao Lu Zi, Xiao Lu Zi," showing no obvious signs of discomfort.
Li Xu smiled and greeted everyone, whether their intentions were kind or malicious. However, the virtual screen and live stream interface behind him remained unchanged, making him feel both anxious and itch with impatience!
"What happened last night?"
A short, fat little eunuch appeared before Li Xu; his presence quieted the surrounding noise considerably. Most people glanced their way, and Those near Li Xu quickly stepped back, creating a large space around him and highlighting his presence.
"Nothing, nothing happened..." Li Xu, unsure of how to respond at the moment and recognizing the voice, realized the short, fat little eunuch was Little Guizi from the secret discussion next door the night before, "Just, just had a nightmare, a nightmare!"
"A nightmare?" Little Guizi's face was cold as ice. Just then, Li Xu noticed some light changes on the virtual screen behind him—bright and dark—and he immediately wanted to turn back to look...
"I wonder, Master Gui, did Eunuch Lu cry out for his parents again last night?"
Laughter made Li Xu stop his urge to turn his head. He cursed in his heart, silently wishing this "childish" farce would end quickly.
The people around him were young, the oldest barely fifteen or sixteen years old, and the youngest was practically a mere toddler. No wonder Li Xu, with his habitual mindset, thought nothing of it and only wanted to deal with them perfunctorily...
But he soon realized he was wrong!
No matter how well he pretended, Li Xu's behavior was vastly different from the norm. He acted panicked but not disordered, feigned fear without the bone-deep terror and meekness; even Master Gui across from him caught a fleeting glimpse of impatience in his eyes...
Little Guizi did not explode immediately but took a moment to look at the sky and, noticing it was still early, he cast a sinister glance around...
The laughter and frolicking came to an abrupt halt, and everyone fell silent; even the youngest kids on the outside began to tremble with fear.
Four or five relatively strong little eunuchs immediately pounced on Li Xu, who took a half step back and hesitated briefly before crying out in "panic," "What, what are you trying to do... Wuu!!"
His mouth was the first to be covered followed promptly by his arms and legs pinned down "successfully" on the ground, with two little eunuchs pressing down his body, two securing his limbs, and a dark, skinny little eunuch grabbing and prying open his clenched fist, capturing his thumb and raising it up, fixing it emotionlessly...
"Wuu wuu wuu~~" Li Xu's struggles and resistance were firmly suppressed, and Little Guizi leisurely drew a fine sewing needle from his chest, flashing a sinister smile at Li Xu's suddenly widened eyes, slowly advancing...
"Damn it..."
Li Xu was truly panicked now; he had not anticipated such a turn of events and began to struggle and resist in earnest, only to find that inhabiting such a frail body, even with the soul of a modern adult inside, he was powerless.
"On my first day entering the palace, Master Gui told us that in this palace, every blade of grass and tree is a rule..."
The tip of the needle began touching the skin on Li Xu's hand, and a chill from the tip ran through his body like lightning.
Little Guizi smiled softly and in a piercing, steady tone said, "One of the most important rules is the clear distinction between superiors and subordinates, order and hierarchy... Xiao Lu Zi, tell me, did you salute me just now?"
"Wuu wuu~~"
"Everybody saw it, right? Don't say I'm abusing my power!" As he spoke, the needle that was tracing over Li Xu's thumb suddenly stabbed down fiercely!
Pain!
For a moment, the pain was so intense that Li Xu almost fainted!
He had never experienced such agony in his life; the needle had even pierced into Li Xu's finger bone!
"Does it hurt?" Little Guizi squatted down, lifting Li Xu's chin with a smile and asked.
Li Xu's eyes were already soaked with the cold sweat that had burst forth in an instant, and at this moment, his body was still convulsing due to the immense pain…
"It's good that it hurts, only then will you remember…" Little Guizi pulled out the needle, wiped the blood off on his sleeve, and turned around to survey the surroundings. "You all need to remember this, engrave it into your bones. So even if your mind forgets, your body cannot. At a critical moment, it could save your little lives."
The crowd fell silent, and it was uncertain who first reacted, speaking with an extremely obsequious and ingratiating tone: "Eunuch Gui really speaks golden words, you rootless cowards, don't you hurry up and thank Eunuch Gui for his instruction!"
"We will carefully heed Eunuch Gui's instruction!"
Little Guizi nodded with satisfied modesty. At that moment, a faint cough came from the edge of the crowd, and Little Guizi's expression instantly changed, a warm and flattering smile emerging.
Making his way through the crowd, he called out before even seeing the person: "Master, why have you come out here? It's cold outside, if there's anything you need, just command us..."
The one who appeared was the old eunuch from the previous night, all bowed to him in greeting. Supported by Little Guizi, the old eunuch stepped forward, glanced at Li Xu on the ground, and asked slowly, "What's going on here?"
"Nothing much, just teaching him some rules!"
"Rules?" The old eunuch asked with a mocking smile, "Alright, we have a lot to do today, we'll teach him the rules some other time!"
"Alrighty, we'll follow your orders!"
The crowd that had been squeezed together began to disperse, and Little Guizi, no longer paying attention to Li Xu, shouted, "Quick, get in line, if you delay the hour, watch your heads!"
At this moment, nobody cared about Li Xu anymore, nor did anyone pay attention to him. Finally, he had the chance to turn around and take a glance at the live stream interface behind him.
Viewer count: 5!
The barrage of comments scrolled:
'What the hell is this live stream?'
'Seems like a period drama...'
'What's going on, a live broadcast site showing a television drama?'
'…'
'…he's looking at the camera, OMG, something's fishy!'
Li Xu quickly covered his mouth and turned his head, afraid he would lose control and do something inappropriate.
After having gone through that episode, he remembered, yes, everything here was real, including the danger!
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