The Eunuch Still Thinks the Holy Monk Isn’t Pure Enough

【Powerful Eastern Depot eunuch, Jiang He × Buddhist sage with impure desires, Liao An】 (Originally titled *The Proud Eunuch*) Money, money, money. Power, power, power. Everyone says that Jiang He, the Eastern Depot’s grand eunuch, holds power over the entire court and is richer than the emperor. They call him a vicious eunuch who kills without batting an eye. But for all his fearsome reputation, his heart is full of bitterness. Wealth and power can’t let him do whatever he wants, nor can they buy him a free life that belongs to himself. The Emperor of Dazhao is obsessed with Buddhism. He wants to build a temple for himself and has specifically demanded the priceless jade Buddha housed at Huguo Temple. Jiang He is already at his wits’ end trying to raise the money to build the temple. Now he also has to find a way to take the monks’ most precious possession by fair means or foul. But Liao An, the holy monk of Huguo Temple, says, “If you’re willing to come to Huguo Temple every day and study Buddhism with me, I might be able to give you the jade Buddha.” Jiang He agrees without a second thought. Everyone says the holy monk Liao An is free of thoughts and appearances, with profound knowledge of the Dharma. He’s always talking about bodhisattvas, too, but Jiang He can’t shake the feeling that there’s something strange about him. “I’m a eunuch, and you’re a holy monk. We shouldn’t…” “You’ve left the palace, and I’ve returned to lay life. We should…” * Time changes all things. Imperial favor flows like water, rising and falling with the tide, and Jiang He’s influence gradually wanes. Just as the officials demand that the emperor purge his inner circle and execute the eunuch faction, Liao An tells him, “Wherever the bodhisattva is, there will I be.” Jiang He never believed in Buddhism. He believed only in cause and effect. They should never have had anything to do with each other. Unless someone had chosen him more than a decade ago. … More than a decade ago, on the day Jiang He was castrated, his face was white as paper as he slumped on a pile of dead grass, blood pouring from his lower body. At that moment, a young novice monk had just seen an image in a sutra of a bodhisattva sitting motionless on a lotus throne. He closed the book, then knelt and bowed to Jiang He three times, overcome with devotion. * The four great vows of Mahayana Buddhism correspond to the Four Noble Truths: First, the Truth of Suffering: I vow to save all sentient beings, without limit. Second, the Truth of the Origin of Suffering: I vow to end all afflictions, without end. Third, the Truth of the Path: I vow to learn the Dharma gates, beyond number. Fourth, the Truth of the Cessation of Suffering: I vow to attain the supreme Buddha Way. “You’re burdened with sin, and my senses are impure. We deserve to share a bed in life and a grave in death.” * Content warnings: Powerful eunuch bottom × holy monk (who returns to lay life) top; a rotten man’s true love × a saint’s private desires One-on-one romance, happy ending, both leads are each other’s only partners. One has blood on his hands; the other has a guilty secret. Read with caution if that’s not your thing. The characters’ values do not represent the author’s. 【Coming Soon】 *The Northeast Tough Guy’s Big City Adventure*: a funny, sweet romance with criminal-investigation elements, an authentic Northeastern-style story about life in a rented room, and two people huddling together for warmth on a kang bed. Top: a mighty police detective who’s full of jokes but also a nurturing homebody ✖ Bottom: a catlike research oddball who studies rice farming, a farmer at heart. One-on-one romance. In the early 2000s, Chen Muyang is the captain of the criminal investigation team. A headless woman’s murder case has gone unsolved for so long that it remains open, so he goes undercover as a street vendor to investigate. Chen Muyang has been selling liangpi for barely two days when someone reports him to the health bureau, claiming his food smells so good that people can’t stop eating it and suspecting he’s added banned drugs. Chen Muyang wails, “That’s chili oil I simmered with eighty-one different spices! Of course it smells amazing. Since when is it a crime to know how to cook?” The person who reported Chen Muyang is Ji He, a PhD from the south who teaches at an agricultural university in the Northeast. Unfortunately, Ji He arrives in the Northeast not in winter, but in early spring, just as the thaw begins. This time of year, the Northeast is also known as the Great Eastern Sydney. There’s no snow on the ground, only black, muddy slush, so Ji He’s first impression of the Northeast isn’t great. While renovating his experimental plot, Ji He accidentally finds a human head, which doesn’t do much for his second impression of the Northeast, either. At last, Ji He tries the liangpi sold outside the campus gates. It makes a wonderful impression, one he can’t forget. He even dreams about its flavor. The addictive feeling makes him suspicious, so he reports it to the health bureau, leaving him with an even worse third impression of the Northeast. After being forced to give up his liangpi business, Chen Muyang goes on to launch a series of famous food ventures: spicy hot pot, grilled cold noodles, candied hawthorn, roasted chestnuts, and roasted sweet potatoes. Every single one gets reported because it’s simply too unforgettable. Chen Muyang: “You’re the one who reported me?” Ji He: “You cook so well. Can I share a place with you?” Chen Muyang clutches the key to his apartment. “I rent it. We have to stoke a stove, and we sleep on a kang. Still want to come?” Ji He: “What’s a kang?” Chen Muyang: “It’s a big, live person slow-roasted over low heat.” * A note before reading: There are some mild regional stereotypes, but absolutely no regional bashing. Read with caution if that’s not your thing. Theme: Choose kindness and be a good person.