Chapter 63
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: That's for Men
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His shout was a cry filled with ecstasy. The body of a seventy-year-old man coursed with the vigor of a young man in his twenties.
"Milord? Why all of a sudden... Kyaa!"
The concubine whipped around in surprise, then recoiled in horror at Prime Minister Wei's lower half. It was a monstrous weapon.
"Come here! Tonight, I won't let you sleep!"
"Oh my, oh my! Milord, why this sudden burst of strength... Kyaaak!"
That night, screams, peals of laughter, and the sounds of things shattering rang out nonstop from Prime Minister Wei's mansion.
The next morning.
Prime Minister Wei strode into work with a face so vibrant it seemed the very embodiment of rejuvenation. His back was ramrod straight, his hands clasped firmly behind him, and above all, the smile tugging at his lips refused to fade.
The other ministers whispered as they watched him.
"Did that old coot take the wrong tonic? Why's he grinning like a fool?"
"Wasn't he knocking on death's door just yesterday...?"
Prime Minister Wei reveled in their stares, shouting inwardly.
'Cheonwi! That bastard's a god!'
Rumors spread like wildfire across a thousand li, and the testimonies of those who had experienced the effects firsthand only fanned the flames.
That afternoon.
A surreal scene unfolded in front of Vice Chief Eunuch Cheonwi's office at the Eunuch Bureau.
High-ranking officials in their purple court robes—men who would never normally set foot in a place frequented only by eunuchs—stood in line. Each clutched a hefty bundle of bribes.
"Vice Chief Cheonwi! See me first! I got here ahead of you lot!"
"Out of my way! I'm the Vice Minister of War!"
"I'm the Censor-in-Chief—who dares block my path when I'm in such a hurry!"
Dignity be damned. They pounded on the office door like a pack of starving hyenas.
"Come in. One at a time."
A relaxed voice drifted from inside.
Prime Minister Wei was the first to barrel through the door. He slammed it shut behind him and rushed to Cheonwi's desk, fumbling open his bundle.
Flash!
Pure gold toad figurines and top-grade luminous pearls tumbled out.
"Vice Chief Cheonwi! That medicine! Got any more? I'll give you my entire fortune! Even brought the deeds to my villas!"
Prime Minister Wei's eyes were bloodshot. After sampling ultimate ecstasy, he'd become a body that couldn't survive without the drug.
Cheonwi crossed his legs with haughty ease and tilted his teacup.
"Prime Minister. Calm yourself."
"Calm? How? Just ten pills—no, five! Hand 'em over!"
Cheonwi put on a troubled expression.
"Prime Minister, the ingredients are far too rare. Money alone won't cut it. It requires Red Dragon Root, and that stuff commands its own price..."
"Money's the issue? I'll raid the national treasury if I have to!"
"No, I have plenty of money already."
Cheonwi cut him off bluntly.
In that instant, his gaze shifted from merchant to power broker.
"What I want is 'power'."
"Power? What kind? Shall I lend you my escort warriors?"
"No. Personnel authority."
Cheonwi flicked open a scroll on his desk. It listed the court's vacant key positions.
"This 'Inspector General' post. It's still open, isn't it?"
Prime Minister Wei's face stiffened.
The Inspector General—a formidable role with the authority to monitor officials and impeach them for corruption. Even he, the Prime Minister, had left it empty, wary of appointing just anyone.
"Th-that position requires His Majesty's approval..."
"If you recommend someone, His Majesty won't refuse."
Cheonwi drew a red pillbox from his bosom and set it on the desk.
Clink.
Darker and more iridescent than the one Prime Minister Wei had taken yesterday—a 'Premium Vitality Pill'.
"This is twice the concentration of what you had yesterday. Twice the duration."
Cheonwi held up two fingers.
Prime Minister Wei's eyes glued to the box, unblinking. Gulp. The sound of him swallowing echoed.
Power is eternal only in name, but tonight's pleasure was guaranteed.
Reason surrendered to instinct in his mind.
"F... Fine. I'll nominate whoever you recommend."
"An excellent choice."
Cheonwi flashed a sly smile and slid the pillbox toward Prime Minister Wei.
"Deal struck."
Deep into the night, in Iron Blood's quarters at the Imperial Palace.
The hour was so still even moonlight seemed to hold its breath, yet Iron Blood's bedchamber felt like the inside of a sweltering steam box.
"Ugh... Urgh..."
Iron Blood writhed on the bed, kicking off her silk quilt.
Her entire body was soaked in cold sweat, and hot, sweet breath poured from her lips.
"So hot... Can't... sleep..."
It felt as if she'd swallowed glowing embers into her gut.
The heat originating from her dantian raced through her veins, circulating her whole body and gnawing away at her sanity bit by bit. This was no ordinary illness.
It was the aftereffect of the 'Red Dragon Root' she'd consumed with Cheonwi days earlier.
The legendary elixir known across the land.
For martial artists, it boosted internal energy like a heavenly tonic—but when overactivated without balancing yin and yang, its effects turned into poison-like agony. Especially for Iron Blood, the female general starved of yang qi after years in a life of celibate warfare, the root's boiling heat was brutal punishment.
"Haa, haa...!"
With trembling hands, she lifted the bowl of cold water from beside the bed.
Splash!
She doused her head without a second thought.
Sizzle.
Faint steam rose from her body, like water hitting a scorching frying pan.
But it was only temporary. Her skin might have cooled, but the insidious itch crawling up from deep between her thighs refused to fade. If anything, the cold water's shock had only heightened her nerves.
'This... it's an illness. A side effect of my internal energy.'
Iron Blood clutched the quilt and bit her lip.
As captain of the Imperial Protectorate and Iron Blood the General, she'd stormed countless battlefields—slashed by swords, pierced by arrows—without so much as a whimper.
But this torment—this bizarre cocktail of pain and pleasure—was driving her endurance to the breaking point.
One face filled her mind.
The one who'd made the drug. The one who'd fed it to her. The only one who could quell this inferno.
'Cheonwi... I need his touch...'
Her reason was numbing.
Pride? Dignity?
When her body felt ready to explode—what good were they?
Iron Blood staggered to her feet. She hadn't the mind to dress properly. Throwing a black cloak haphazardly over her thin nightgown, she slipped out of her pavilion like a stealthy stray cat.
Eunuch Bureau building, Cheonwi's office.
Cheonwi was sorting ledgers late into the night. His desk was littered with lists of today's bribes extracted from the ministers and plans for future personnel assignments.
"Hmm, Prime Minister Wei certainly broke the dam. Tomorrow, the War Ministry officials will be lining up too."
As Cheonwi set down his brush with a satisfied smile,
Knock, knock.
A faint presence stirred outside the door.
It wasn't the cautious tap of eunuchs. This was desperate, feeble yet frantic pounding.
Cheonwi instinctively narrowed his eyes.
Few would seek him out at this witching hour.
"Who is it? At this late hour."
Cheonwi asked in a low, even tone.
Only ragged breaths came from beyond the door.
"It's me... Open the door."
A cracked voice. But one he knew well.
Cheonwi's eyebrow twitched.
He rose and approached the door. Unlatching it, he swung it open—and a black-cloaked shadow stumbled inside.
"Oof."
Cheonwi caught her reflexively.
Scorching hot.
Tremendous heat radiated from the body in his arms. Through a gap in the cloak, her face glowed like a ripe peach, her pupils dilated and unfocused.
It was Iron Blood.
"General? Are you unwell?"
Cheonwi feigned ignorance as he supported her. As a fellow consumer of Red Dragon Root, he could guess her plight—but a merchant always confirms how desperate the buyer is.
Iron Blood clutched at his robes like a lifeline and sank to the floor.
Her once ramrod-straight back had crumbled, her icy gaze now brimming with pleas. The noble general was nowhere to be seen.
"The medicine... give me that medicine. My body's going to burst."
Iron Blood gasped, her hand fumbling across his chest.
"Medicine? You mean the Vitality Pill?"
Cheonwi put on a distressed look and took a step back.
"That's for men... Even if a woman like you took it, the excess yang qi would only worsen the side effects."
"No... I don't care..."
Iron Blood crawled forward and clung to his leg.
"Anything you give me. Even poison... Please... make it stop..."
Her reason had shattered long ago.
Her hand slid toward his waist. Fingers trembled against his pants tie. This wasn't the grasp of someone seeking a pill. It was instinct-driven, brazenly hunting the 'source of yang qi' to quench her fire.
Cheonwi looked down.
The empire's mightiest warrior, begging at his feet.
Could any conquest thrill more?
He didn't bother hiding his smile.
"General."
Cheonwi gently seized her wrist. In one fluid motion, he hoisted her up and sat her on his desk.
"Hng!"
Iron Blood let out a sharp yelp at the sudden motion.
Moonlight filtering through the window illuminated her flushed face and the collarbone peeking from her disheveled nightgown. Forgetting all shame, she twisted her body, legs entwining.
"Something better than medicine."
Cheonwi leaned in, lips brushing her ear as he whispered.
His breath alone made her jolt as if electrocuted.
"I'll treat you with my 'body heat'. Red Dragon Root's blaze can only be smothered by even hotter yang qi."
Those words were her lifeline to salvation.
She nodded fervently and pulled his neck into an embrace.
"Yes... that... hurry..."
Cheonwi wasted no more time.
He parted her legs and thrust between them.
"Haa, haa, Cheonwi...!"
Iron Blood gripped his shoulders tight—nails digging in. He ignored it, pressing flush against her.
The instant Cheonwi's Red Dragon Root-enhanced yang qi flooded into her.
"Haaaang!"
Her head snapped back.
A sigh of relief and a moan erupted from her lips in unison.
Like a clogged dam bursting—pure liberation. The agonizing heat churning inside melded with his energy, transforming into electric pleasure.
"I feel alive...! Deeper, deeper...!"