With the Blade

So, Du Chengfeng began earnestly studying cat's cradle with the old eunuch. Some palace attendants, unaware of the situation, even once suspected the two were having an intimate relationship.

Of course, such rumors ultimately did not spread, not because the old eunuch issued orders to suppress them, but because everyone had their own duties to attend to—on one hand, their primary responsibilities as palace attendants, and on the other hand, because of the giant's guidance.

During this time, the giant had been residing in the palace, and since everyone saw him frequently, they inevitably chatted a bit. However, it wasn't them initiating the conversation. They didn't dare speak to such an imposing figure, but since they didn't dare to speak, the giant himself became friendly with whoever he met.

"Morning, have you eaten?"

This was the most common phrase the giant would say, no matter who he encountered. But when saying it to the attendants, since a noble asked them, how could they not respond?

However, as soon as they responded, the conversation would be deemed started, and they would be caught by the giant in a lengthy chat.

As for the content of the conversation, there was really not much substance, generally revolving around their work and household gossip within the palace, like which consort was difficult to serve, or who in the palace was having an affair… Since they served in the palace all day, these were all they could discuss.

"This won't do, how come you don't have any life of your own?"

Whenever he heard such things, the giant would shake his head.

"You only talk about other people's things. Don't you have your own life?"

"This…"

After hearing the giant's question, the attendants found themselves at a loss for words.

They didn't know how to answer this question.

"We…are here to serve His Majesty."

At last, one of the attendants spoke timidly.

"We're here to remain loyal and diligent…"

"That's about work. Do you not have any time off?"

The giant's face suddenly turned serious.

"That's going too far. Where's the emperor? I'll go talk to him."

"Don't!"

The attendants coaxed the giant, managing to dissuade him. They didn't want such a small matter to cause a stir in the entire palace—but the giant was clearly not easily convinced, insisting on having an explanation from the emperor. Therefore, they could only explain to him that outside of their duties, they indeed had their own personal time.

In fact, this was true because to prevent the attendants from becoming overly fatigued and making fatal mistakes while serving the emperor, most duties in the palace were operated on a two or even three-shift rotation schedule. This ensured absolute service quality and also guaranteed the attendants some rest time. As for manpower issues, this was never a problem for the royal family.

So the question arises, even if they had rest time, what could they do?

They had to do something, otherwise, the giant might really cause trouble for the emperor. But if they had to do something… In the past, when they were idle, they had to be mindful of the nobles' expressions and be ready to cater to their preferences at any moment. This is why they paid such close attention to social dynamics because such things were truly useful to them.

But obviously, the giant had no interest in such matters. The giant wanted to see certain skills from them?

Yes, indeed skills. During this time, they saw it all. The giant either squatted in the imperial kitchen researching cooking or went to study cat's cradle with the palace's elder, and even a Commander from outside the palace gained the giant's favor through cooking, thus earning the freedom to come and go as he pleased within the palace—although, strictly speaking, only the emperor could bestow such an honor, but right now, who didn't know the emperor was young?

The one with real authority was the elder who had served three emperors, and even the elder couldn't afford to offend the overwhelmingly powerful giant.

So what could these ordinary attendants do?

The palace now had yet another…

"Alas!"

When they thought of this, the attendants suddenly realized something.

It seemed nothing was really different. It was just about serving another noble, except previous nobles demanded expensive objects or had peculiar preferences—except this giant noble was relatively unique, and his requests were peculiar. He didn't demand labor from them, nor did he expect them to be servile like beasts of burden. He neither asked them to serve people nor did he want them to do menial work.

Instead, he wanted them to showcase some skills.

"What a weirdo."

Upon realizing this, the attendants shook their heads. The giant wanted to see something so ordinary; they had never encountered such a strange person.

However, shaking their heads didn't mean they couldn't do it. In fact, precisely because this was so ordinary, it was even easier for them—instead of learning a bit of skill, it wasn't as exhausting as servile labor, let alone being treated like beasts of burden.

Thus, in the entire palace, everyone began trying to learn some skills, although even they themselves didn't know what to learn. But trying more couldn't hurt—if their skills caught the giant's eye, given the giant's current status in the palace, wouldn't it allow them to soar to great heights?