Li Chengzhen remained silent.
The Empress Dowager said, "Eunuchs are people too—they have parents and families. Have you considered their loved ones when you cruelly took their lives?"
Li Chengzhen raised his head, his pupils dark and hollow. "Eunuchs are servants. You once told me, Mother, that servants are forever beneath us, born lowly by fate."
Killing a few servants was hardly a matter of consequence.
The Empress Dowager sighed deeply, her voice tinged with sorrow. "Do you not realize that the foundation of the Great Qing Kingdom is built upon the very servants you despise? Water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it."
Li Chengzhen wore a blank expression.
Seeing his innocent yet wicked demeanor, the last traces of warmth in the Empress Dowager's heart slowly faded—this child would never be fit for the throne.
