Volume One, Chapter 19: A Thousand Gold for a Bone, the Empress's Temptation

As the Empress’s voice rang out, Cao Mo was instantly stunned.

Deputy Superintendent of the Imperial Household Department.
A rank of secondary second grade!

Good heavens! From a lowly eunuch servant to a secondary second-grade official in just over a day?

How exhilarating! The two great joys of life—the wedding night and a sudden rise in rank and fortune—he had achieved both at once!

"Your subject accepts the decree and thanks Your Majesty for your boundless grace!" Cao Mo bowed his head in gratitude immediately.

One must understand that the Imperial Household Department managed every affair within the palace, large or small. From the Emperor’s selection of consorts and official appointments to the food, clothing, and daily expenses of every soul in the palace, everything had to pass through their hands. It was not only a position of great power and influence but also an incredibly lucrative post. With this status, aside from the Emperor, the Empress Dowager, and a select few, everyone else would have to tread carefully around him. Teasing a few pretty maids in his spare time would be of no consequence at all.

He hadn't expected the Empress to be so bold; she said she would promote him three ranks, and she did it without hesitation.

However... thinking of the covert guards who had struck earlier, and the terrifying strength displayed by the "White Fox-Faced" woman, Cao Mo grew thoughtful. With those powerful hidden guards and a super-expert like the White Fox-Faced woman around, those black-clad assassins could have been wiped out at will. The fact that they were able to reach the Empress’s bedchamber meant she had intentionally let them.

As for why she did it, the answer was obvious: a trap to catch enemies. But she wasn't just fishing for the assassins; she was using them as a pretext to eliminate the commander of the Imperial Guard. As for his own extraordinary promotion, it was a classic case of buying horse bones with gold—a deliberate display for others to see.

Tsk, tsk. His beautiful Empress seemed to be quite calculating.

"Look at all of you; you don't even have the courage of a little eunuch!" After announcing Cao Mo’s reward, the Empress turned her gaze to the gathered Imperial Guards and reprimanded them coldly.

"..." The guards lowered their heads, remaining silent. The Emperor hadn't seen how fierce this little eunuch was—taking down over a dozen assassins single-handedly, blade flashing with every movement, without even blinking an eye. They didn't feel ashamed that the Emperor compared them unfavorably to a eunuch.

"Fu Long?"

The Empress looked toward a deputy commander in the crowd, clad in silver armor with three cloud patterns embroidered on his shoulders.

"Your subject is here, Your Majesty!" Fu Long immediately stepped forward and bowed respectfully. He had been the one leading a detachment of guards at the entrance of the Hall of Mental Cultivation earlier.

Seeing the bloodstains on him, the Empress was satisfied with his performance. "Yang Yan has been put to death. In light of your service today, I hereby promote you to Commander of the Imperial Guard. From now on, you are responsible for the safety of the palace."

"As you command! Your subject accepts the decree with gratitude!" Fu Long bowed deeply, showing utmost respect.

"Remember, I do not wish to see a situation like today's ever again, where assassins can break into the palace and reach my Hall of Mental Cultivation." Her voice was cold.

Fu Long hurriedly pledged his loyalty. "Rest assured, Your Majesty. I will perform my duties with absolute devotion!"

Afterward, the Empress turned to the rest of the guards who had only arrived to "protect" her after the White Lotus Sect assassins had already fled, following Yang Yan’s lead.

"You are Imperial Guards, yet you were negligent in your duties alongside Yang Yan when the White Lotus rebels breached the palace!"

"I should have punished you alongside him, but considering your ancestors’ loyal service to the Imperial family, I will record this offense for now. If there is a next time, there will be no mercy!"

"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty!" The guards, feeling as though they had been granted a reprieve from death, hurriedly kowtowed in gratitude. As the Empress said, most of their ancestors had been Imperial Guards; they were loyal to the core. However, for a long time, the young Empress had lacked real power. Even the Imperial Guard camp had been controlled by the Grand General’s men. If they disobeyed, they would be persecuted by Yang Yan, and even the Empress couldn't protect them. Over time, things had reached this point.

"You may withdraw." The Empress waved her hand, then looked at Fu Long, the new Commander. "Reward those who showed merit today accordingly."

"Understood!" Fu Long took the order and led the guards away.

Those who served with merit would be rewarded, and those who had failed would eventually face a reckoning. Among these guards were many of Yang Yan’s confidants, but such a purge would not be done in the open, nor would it require the Empress to speak of it herself. After all, if he couldn't handle such a small matter, he wasn't fit to be the Commander of the Imperial Guard.

...

After the guards had departed, the Empress looked at Cao Mo with suspicion. "It is the middle of the night; why were you here?"

"Your Majesty..." Cao Mo glanced left and right, and seeing that the guards were far away, he lowered his voice. "The Empress Dowager wants me dead..."

"The Empress Dowager?" The Empress’s expression tightened. "Come inside with me."

She headed straight into the Hall of Mental Cultivation, and Cao Mo quickly followed. Having witnessed the Empress’s calculating nature, he felt that her protecting him would be no problem. Regardless, he was determined to cling to her metaphorical "long legs."

"Tell me, what happened?"

Once inside, the Empress leaned back on the dragon throne. She removed the magical jade bracelet from her wrist, allowing the full curve of her chest to be liberated from its constraint. Suddenly, the magnificent dragon robes were stretched taut in a rather alluring fashion.

Cao Mo secretly gulped. What was the Empress implying? She wasn't treating him like an outsider at all, was she? *Not interested, thank you!*

Complaining inwardly, Cao Mo dared not look too closely. He replied respectfully, "Returning to Your Majesty, just now, when I returned to my living quarters, I found a maid hiding inside who intended to kill me. Fortunately, I managed to kill her in self-defense. I recognized her as one of the Empress Dowager’s personal maids from this morning."

"Wait..." The Empress narrowed her eyes, scanning Cao Mo. "Are you saying you killed her in self-defense?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," Cao Mo nodded.

At this moment, Nangong Li stepped forward and whispered something into the Empress’s ear. She had been guarding the entrance and had witnessed Cao Mo slaughtering the assassins.

"You also killed over a dozen black-clad assassins?" After hearing Nangong Li’s report, the Empress felt even more suspicious. She had wondered why she saw Cao Mo holding a blood-stained blade earlier. She had thought his claim of "saving the Emperor" was just nonsense, but it seemed he really had contributed.

"To be precise, Your Majesty, I killed eighteen assassins." Cao Mo offered a sheepish grin, taking the opportunity to profess his loyalty. "If those black-clad villains hadn't run so fast, I would have wiped them all out. How dare they enter the palace to assassinate Your Majesty? Simply outrageous!"

"..." The Empress looked at him, speechless. Fortunately, she knew his glib nature and didn't take it to heart.

Instead, she asked, "I couldn't tell before—you were just a lowly servant eunuch, yet you possess such high cultivation. What is your current level?"