A Pawn's Passage

Qi Xuansu had certainly heard of the Xuanhui Court of Palace Attendants, also known as the Court of Palace Attendants or the Xuanhui Court.

He and Shi Bingyun had touched on this topic once while discussing efforts to reform public morality in the Imperial Capital. Shi Bingyun had said that there were two particularly striking reforms in terms of new policies between the Daoist Order and the Imperial Court—one targeting eunuchs and the other targeting prostitutes. The former was a violation against men, and the latter against women, which should be entirely abolished.

Though Shi Bingyun had not mentioned the Xuanhui Court by name, Qi Xuansu understood what she was implying. Back when he was still at the Wanxiang Daoist Upper Palace, Xu Kou had already hinted to Qi Xuansu that he would be taking up a post in the Imperial Capital. Thus, Qi Xuansu studied the Great Xuan Penal Code in depth as he had anticipated dealings with various factions, including the Tianchen Division and the Xuanhui Court, among others. The Gen Garden library was vast and comprehensive, containing many internal secrets of the Daoist Order. Fortunately, he was on good terms with Elder Sun, who, upon hearing his reasons, generously gave him open access to this information.

What Qi Xuansu had not expected was the issue of prostitutes since the Wanxiang Daoist Palace’s archives held nothing on that topic. Hence, he had sought out Shi Bingyun for guidance.

As for eunuchs, the Daoist Order had generally kept out of the matter for many reasons. Even in the previous Wei Dynasty, most eunuchs practiced Daoism rather than Buddhism. It was said that a founding elder of the Quanzhen Sect was once plagued by worldly desires and could not find inner peace, so he castrated himself to focus on his cultivation. In the Wei dynasty, the palace eunuchs did indeed follow Daoist practices, but they did not worship the Primordial Daoist Ancestor. Instead, they revered this particular Quanzhen Sect elder. Since the eunuchs claimed to be followers of the Daoist faith, they became one of the emperor’s main tools in counterbalancing the Confucian School. Thus, out of courtesy, the Daoist Order refrained from interfering and left the matter to the Imperial Court’s discretion.

Still, the Daoist Order had voiced its stance. The Holy Xuan had expressed the hope that once the existing eunuchs passed away, no new ones would be created. The idea was to retain the current population but ultimately phase out the class.

The founding emperor of the Great Xuan Dynasty had agreed to Holy Xuan’s proposal. He inherited nearly 100,000 eunuchs from the previous Wei dynasty but chose not to add to these numbers. The 24 government offices of the inner court were abolished, and in their place, the Xuanhui Court of Palace Attendants was established to oversee them all under a single administration.

Logically speaking, the old eunuchs from the previous dynasty should have been long dead because more than 200 years had passed since the Great Xuan Dynasty claimed the empire. However, what was supposed to be settled remained unresolved.

Like prostitutes, eunuchs were slated for abolition, but in the end, they were never truly phased out. The Xuanhui Court remained, though their numbers had shrunk dramatically. From over 100,000 in the previous dynasty, there were now fewer than 10,000 eunuchs. Unlike before, the eunuchs were now confined to the Palace City. They could no longer serve as imperial envoys or eunuch-commanders posted across the empire.

At the founding of the Wei dynasty, the Green Phoenix Guard and the 24 government offices of the inner court were established to safeguard the royal family. The Green Phoenix Guard had 13 Grand Guardians of the heir apparent by recruiting eccentric talents from across the empire. Meanwhile, the eunuchs were groomed from a young age by the imperial household and passed down the teachings of a Confucian master well-versed in all Three Religions. That was why there were often rumors that there were experts within the palace. Their teachings were passed down generation after generation, from master to disciple, which was similar to the inheritance of a sect.

Like Rogue Cultivators, this Yin-Yang Lineage was pieced together from disparate teachings. But while Rogue Cultivators could sometimes attain immortality, the Yin-Yang People could not. Thus, the Yin-Yang Lineage was never classified under the Six Immortals Lineage.

The eunuchs themselves firmly believed their lineage did not stem from Confucianism, but from that Quanzhen Sect elder who castrated himself in pursuit of cultivation. They believed he had glimpsed the mysteries of immortality and comprehended the natural transformations of the heavens and earth. Yet, to this day, no eunuch has actually attained eternal life.

Naturally, the Daoist Order looked down on such a “mutilated lineage” as it required bodily harm.

However, this lineage did have one strength even the Six Immortal Lineages could not match. The Yin-Yang People could survive by attaching themself to the leylines of the empire, suppressing the Three Corpses through the dragon qi. Though they could not gain true immortality, they could achieve false immortality. More importantly, they would not have to suffer any heavenly tribulations every 100 years.

Those who achieved immortality through severing the Three Corpses were indeed able to live forever, but they had to face a heavenly tribulation every century. It was a way for the heavens to force them to either ascend or perish, for their very existence in the mortal realm violated the natural order of life and death.

However, the Yin-Yang People found a loophole. In this way, they resembled Godly Immortals. While Godly Immortals fed on incense power and faith, the Yin-Yang People fed on the dragon qi drawn from the ley lines, which were also known as the dragon veins.

This dragon vein’s fortune came from the sacred Kunlun Mountain, which was the sacred land of Daoism and the greatest of all mountain ranges. The world’s three great dragon veins all originated from Kunlun. Following the geography of mountains and rivers, the undulating terrain of the dragon veins was divided into three flows: the Southern Dragon (south of the Yangtze River), the Central Dragon (between the Yangtze River and the Yellow River), and the Northern Dragon (north of the Yellow River).

The Southern and Central Dragons had both declined, and only the Northern Dragon remained.

The terrain of the Northern Dragon was vast and imposing, stretching eastward from Kunlun. Its ridges, such as the Nanshan and Zhongyue Mountains, intertwined in a majestic embrace, forming numerous auspicious sites where fortune gathered. Water on the western side of these mountains flowed into Longmen Prefecture’s West River, while on the east, it traveled through Youzhou and into the sea. Beimang Mountain was a part of the Nanshan Mountain Chain, and its exceptional feng shui had drawn generations of emperors and nobles to build their tombs there.

If the Northern Dragon were seen as a massive dragon traveling from the river to the sea, its tail would lie in Kunlun, its head in Bohai Prefecture by Donghai, the Wuxing Mountain would be its reverse scale, and the Imperial Capital sat precisely at the eye of the dragon. As such, the Imperial City was its pupil. The two encircling rings of mountain and river beyond the city channeled all their spiritual energy into that spot. Using this, a grand formation had been constructed, one which, when fully activated, could unleash such an overwhelming force that even Immortals would have no choice but to retreat.

Furthermore, the dragon vein was closely tied to the fate of the dynasty. When the empire flourished, the dragon qi surged strongly, so much so that even if a Heavenly Immortal descended from the heavens, they would have to tread carefully. But in a dynasty’s twilight, the dragon qi waned. Its suppressive power over Immortals weakened significantly.

Now, even the Northern Dragon showed signs of decline. The Imperial Court once convened over 100 Sages and Great Sages from all three Daoist sects to perform a geomantic survey. Their conclusion was that the Northern Dragon was the last dragon vein in the world. Once it faded, the era of dragon veins would end. The throne that had existed since the First Emperor might well come to an end with it.

This would mark a transformation unseen in 3,000 years. But if the Great Xuan royal family handled it wisely—retreating from the center of power, living out their years in comfort, and enjoying the people’s reverence—they might finally escape the bloody fate of annihilation that plagued past dynasties. In that sense, it could be considered a blessing in disguise.

By then, if even the royal family—the great tree under which the eunuchs sheltered—could no longer protect itself, then the eunuchs, whose origins and livelihoods were tied to imperial households throughout history, would naturally follow them into extinction.

There was a saying that a ruler must fall by what they rose from. Such was the mandate of heaven.

Yet for now, the eunuchs could still cling to life, as long as they did not leave the capital. It was said that deep within the palace, there were several old eunuchs who had lived over 200 years, essentially relics from the previous dynasty. Though decrepit and half-dead, their cultivation was so profound that they could still put up a fight even facing an Immortal within the Palace City.

This was one of the reasons why the Great Xuan royal family went against their ancestors’ decision and reinstated the eunuchs.

After all, Immortals stood at the helm of the Three Religions. They would never bow and serve. But these old eunuchs were different. Their lives depended on feeding off dragon qi, barely clinging to existence. That dragon qi was in the emperor’s hands. No matter how deep their cultivation, they had no choice but to obey the emperor’s commands and protect him.

For the emperor, that temptation was simply too great, especially as the Northern Dragon weakened and the Imperial Capital’s grand formation diminished daily. The situation now resembled the end of a dynasty, with waning dragon qi unable to even restrain an Immortal, let alone capture one.

Though the Daoist Order tried to reassure the royal family by saying the decline of dragon qi was natural and unrelated to the empire’s fortune, the royal family remained uneasy. As the grand formation lost its effectiveness, the eunuchs grew ever more vital.

This group of eunuchs had no intention of passively awaiting their demise. They were much like the cruel officials of history. Emperors used them to eliminate enemies, then discarded them afterward, blaming all the misdeeds on the executioners. But these enforcers were no fools. Not wanting to be thrown away, they would go to great lengths to keep the emperor anxious and make him feel threatened, thus pushing him to launch purges and major cases. That was because this gave them another chance to prove their usefulness.

The eunuchs felt the same. With the Imperial Court’s intent to abolish them already set, many old eunuchs grew restless. So they staged a trap.

At the time, though the empire had just been stabilized, hearts were unsettled and undercurrents stirred. Some Confucian factions still resisted the new dynasty, especially as the Great Xuan Court launched sweeping reforms like land surveys, clearing hidden holdings, and taxing the population rather than land. These changes struck at the core interests of the traditional gentry class, who lived off land ownership.

Sensing the discontent among the gentry, the eunuchs infiltrated their ranks, posing as radical Confucian disciples to forge secret alliances and amass loyal fighters. During the reign of Emperor Taizong, they launched a rebellion, striking directly at the Imperial City. Some ministers also responded to the call.

Emperor Taizong was caught completely off guard. At the time, the Daoist Order was locked in a fierce conflict with the Buddhist Sect. The Confucian faction that had pledged loyalty to the Great Xuan Dynasty was entangled in battles across the Western Region. The situation was precarious.

At that critical moment, the eunuchs demonstrated extraordinary loyalty. Disregarding their own safety, they shielded the emperor, suffering heavy casualties. In the end, they succeeded in quelling the rebellion.

Their actions naturally earned Emperor Taizong’s favor. Though he did not openly reinstate the old 24 offices of the inner court or allow eunuchs to meddle in state affairs, he ceased any efforts to suppress or reduce their influence. This allowed the Xuanhui Court of Palace Attendants to persist to the present day.

The truth behind these events only began to surface during the current reign of Emperor Gaozong. By then, Emperor Taizong had already passed, so the eunuchs could not be charged with deceiving the emperor. Most importantly, the royal family had grown too dependent on the eunuchs, so the matter was quietly left unresolved.