When he recalled how serious Old Mi had been about acquiring this item, Zu An brought the case up to his nose and took a whiff. “Is this some kind of miraculous medicine?”
There was a hint of a medicinal odor, but it was extremely strange. It wasn’t the same medicinal odor that he was familiar with from Ji Xiaoxi’s place.
At this comment, Pei Mianman suddenly grew interested. She moved closer to him to examine it. “I don’t think it is. I don’t sense the slightest ki fluctuation. It doesn’t seem like a treasure at all.”
“This thing is definitely extremely important,” Zu An said decisively. If it weren’t, Old Mi wouldn’t have been constantly obsessed over it.
“Where did you find it?” Pei Mianman asked out of curiosity.
“There was a hidden compartment underneath his bed. It was quite well-hidden, so it must be pretty important,” said Zu An.
“Hidden underneath his bed…” Pei Mianman’s brows drew together in a confused frown. A sudden thought struck her, and her face turned completely red. She threw the case away as if it were boiling hot.
“Hey, hey, hey! Be careful!” Panicked, Zu An rushed to catch it. He couldn’t help but ask her, “What are you doing?”
Pei Mianman turned around and snorted. Her face was still red. “That thing is what you men consider your treasure.”
He rarely saw her this embarrassed, which only stoked his curiosity further. “Do you know what it is?”
He brought it closer to his eyes while saying this.
Pei Mianman was mortified as she saw him bring it all the way up to his nose again. She couldn’t hold herself back any longer and said, “Wait, stop! That’s… that’s a eunuch’s… the source of a eunuch’s distress…”
“Source of distress?” Zu An didn’t seem to understand her at first. He was just about to probe further, but realization struck him. He too tossed the case away as if it were burning his fingers. “God damn it!”
He felt his stomach churn as he recalled how he had been turning it over and over in amusement, and how he’d even taken a strong sniff of it. He ran over to the bushes and threw up.
His behavior improved Pei Mianman’s mood dramatically. She even patted his back gently.
Zu An was almost lost for words. “Sis, couldn’t you have told me that a little sooner?!”
“I only just realized it as well!” Pei Mianman’s face turned red. “Besides, you’re the man here. Why didn’t you recognize it first?”
Zu An’s face darkened further. “I’m used to seeing soaring eagles! Why would I recognize this dried-up earthworm?”
He felt more and more grossed out.
Pei Mianman roared with laughter. “It’s probably because some court eunuchs are castrated at a young age. They preserve their members with all sorts of medicines to prevent it from decaying. After drying it out, I believe that only… that much of it is left over.”
Zu An was speechless for a moment.
Even though he knew that eunuchs existed, it was still a rather distant concept to him. How could he have known?
Pei Mianman suddenly grew anxious. “Eunuchs always care a lot… about these treasures. When they are buried, these things need to be buried together with them, to symbolize that their bodies are whole. Only then can they be complete in the next life. These things are usually preserved carefully within the palace, and can’t be removed by anyone. Eunuch Wei must hold special status in the palace. The emperor likely showed him favor and allowed him to keep this himself.
“This means that you’ve stolen his treasure. Once he finds out, he won’t let this rest until you are dead. Should we find a chance to return it?”
This thing was completely useless to anyone else, but it was a sore spot for all eunuchs. It was enough to drive them completely mad! The risks of keeping it were completely disproportionate to the benefits.
“Don’t worry, I did something to make sure that the theft isn’t immediately discovered.” Zu An had a strange expression on his face. After putting these clues together, a sudden revelation came to him. Many things that were beyond his understanding before seemed to make much more sense now.