Once again, Hou Xiaoliang sidled a few steps closer to the outside. ‘My future mistress ah, you truly have guts to call the master a ‘kept man’. Out of the whole Great Ming Empire, you’re probably the only one who’s able to say something so impolite to him without retribution.’ He needed to get out of earshot. Otherwise, his master might fly into a fury over the fact that his subordinate had heard something so humiliating. He also didn’t dare to reprimand his future mistress either.
“Hee hee! I’m only teasing you ah! Do you think there’s anyone in the capital who will dare to compete against us when we combine both of our enterprises? In the future, wouldn’t that mean I could count money every day until my hands cramp?” Yu Xiaocao suddenly had a feeling that she was going to become the richest noble lady in the capital and felt incredibly proud at the prospect.
“Is counting money exhausting ah? This prince will send a few people over and have them count for you. You can just stand at the side and watch them.” Zhu Junyang aggressively said as he gently stroked the little lass’s fine and glossy black hair with a hand. He relished in the silky feeling slipping through his fingers.
“Hee hee!” Yu Xiaocao, the little money grubber, sniggered. Her whole demeanor resembled a tiny squirrel who had just eaten some stolen pine nuts. She was simultaneously adorable and childish. Zhu Junyang loved and hated that image at the same time. Just where did she get that oddball temperament from? Uncle and Auntie Yu were both placid and down to earth people. Her older brother and sister were the same. Her younger brother was also steady at a very young age. It was only this lass who had a weird personality.
Zhu Junyang loafed around the Yu Residence until the moon peeked over the willow trees. Only then did he reluctantly say his farewells. After leaving the Yu Residence, he and Hou Xiaoliang headed out of the capital, back towards the army. Although he never took outside criticism to heart, he was someone who was about to become married. Thus, he couldn’t let his wife be worried about him in the future. It was important to keep up his image. Thus, he had no intention of getting accused of the crime of privately returning back to the capital without the army!
Three days later, Great General Zhenxi returned back to the capital. News from the northwest had just gotten back and the entire capital was thunderstruck and then elated by what had happened. Royal Prince Yang, who had become Great General Zhenxi, was now also given the nickname of ‘War God’. In the short time period of a year, he had managed to beat back the invaders and traitors of the northwest until they couldn’t even raise their heads anymore. Thus, the people of the northwest now had a few decades of peace in the future. No matter what the time period, the commoners all hoped and prayed for peace in where they lived.
In order to see the ‘War God’s’ imposing demeanor in person, many of the capital’s people had arrived in the suburbs of the capital early to wait. The Yulin Division had imposed martial law within a one kilometer radius of the suburbs for safety. This was done because the emperor himself, along with court’s civil and military officials, were coming out to receive the army back home.
On the day of the procession, Xiaocao had been summoned to enter the palace. Within the imperial study, Zhu Junfan was currently looking over the crown prince’s school work. The crown prince was already twelve this year and had grown into an impressive youth. All of his work had been praised to the skies by his various imperial tutors and, more and more, he was gaining the appropriate demeanor and solemnity as the imperial heir.
Although the imperial palace had added a few more young princes and princesses, the second oldest prince, who was a three to four year old, had an eight year gap between him and the crown prince. By the time the second oldest prince got older, the crown prince would have almost reached his age of majority. Thus, no one could possibly be a threat to his position then! Furthermore, as long as the crown prince didn’t make a huge blunder such as being unfilial to his parents or become a traitor to the empire, it was very likely his position would be rock steady. Consequently, it was highly unlikely that a bloody fight for the throne would happen in this generation.
“Official Yu!” Zhu Hanwen placed down the brush in his hands and smiled when he saw Xiaocao being summoned inside.
“This official greets the emperor and the crown prince!” Yu Xiaocao was holding a box of food in her hands. She hesitated for a moment before she went down on her knees to perform an official bow. However, the emperor interrupted her before she could finish.
“Alright, no need to do these false courtesies. You are exempt from the official greetings and may take a seat!” Zhu Junfan never expected his fellow transmigrator to do these overly convoluted and complicated customs in front of him. He pointed at the food box in her hands and heatedly said, “Oh! It’s rare that you think of us. You actually brought a present along! If we hadn’t summoned you, you would probably never show your face around here, right? It’s fine that we don’t see heads or tails of you at court, but do you truly believe the imperial token that allows you to access the palace to be a mere frippery?”
‘Your Imperial Majesty, just why are you speaking in such an aggrieved tone?’ Yu Xiaocao glanced over in confusion towards the crown prince, who was sitting at the side. The two of them exchanged clearly puzzled looks.
“Imperial Majesty, this official’s rank is not high enough to allow me to attend the daily court sessions.” Yu Xiaocao quietly reminded him.
Zhu Junfan snorted a bit and retorted, “Oh what? Do you dislike your position for being too low now? I would have never expected you to be someone who was obsessed with getting promoted ah.”
Yu Xiaocao was seriously starting to wonder whether another soul had transmigrated over and taken over the emperor’s body. Why was he acting in such a weird way? Why did she get the feeling that the emperor was currently whining and acting spoiled in front of her now? Oh my gosh, she was starting to get goosebumps from his behavior!
Zhu Hanwen looked at his imperial father and blinked a few times. If it weren’t for the fact that Official Yu had already been engaged to his imperial uncle, he would have seriously started to suspect that his imperial father was interested in Official Yu! After all, just what did that aggrieved expression and casual tone of voice mean?
He turned his attention back to Yu Xiaocao. The young crown prince regarded her seriously for a few moments and came to a few conclusions. In the past two years, Official Yu had truly grown into her looks. Just her flawless skin alone, which seemed as delicate as the outer shell of an egg and as luminous as a flawless crystal, was enough to blow all of the noble born maidens in the capital out of the park. Furthermore, she had a pair of large and lively eyes that seemed to have the ability to pierce a person’s soul.
Zhu Hanwen suddenly felt a bolt of lightning go through his heart. He returned his gaze back towards his imperial father. ‘Imperial Father, did Official Yu truly catch your fancy now ah? That absolutely cannot happen ah! Imperial Uncle Yang has just done a great deed for our empire and obtained a great military victory. You absolutely cannot steal his wife from him! If you do, it’s likely that Imperial Uncle Yang would fly into a rage over this and there’s very few people in the capital who can possibly stop him when he is incensed…’
‘Imperial Father, ah, Imperial Father, you’ve been a wise ruler all this time, so you cannot, in a moment of muddle headedness, become an infamous ruler who tried to steal one of his official’s wives ah!’ One had to admit that the crown prince had a pretty active imagination sometimes.
Zhu Hanwen suddenly discovered that his imperial father had looked over in his direction. He met his father’s eyes and immediately hid his thoughts as he said, “Imperial Father, Official Yu has done many meritorious deeds over the past few years. She has undertaken hard tasks despite receiving criticism from other officials, yet she still only has a lowly sixth ranked position as an agricultural official. This son believes…isn’t it about time to promote her a bit?”
Zhu Junfan regarded his son with an impressed eye. He had spent all of these years painstakingly educating this son to be his successor for the sake of handing over the throne once his son turned twenty. At that time, he planned on becoming a leisurely emperor emeritus, traveling with the empress throughout the country as well as into foreign lands. Wouldn’t that be such a relaxing life?
“Imperial Son, rewards and punishments must be allotted accordingly in order to become a wise ruler. In your eyes, what is the best way to promote Official Yu?” Zhu Junfan had also thought about promoting this trusted official of his. However, he didn’t have a precedent to do so and he had just awarded her with the glorious title of a royal princess, so he had delayed her promotion in officialdom.
Zhu Hanwen pondered for a moment before he seriously replied, “This son has studied with the imperial tutor and remembers that in the Qin Dynasty, there was a position called the ‘Clerk of the Capital for Grain’. This son believes that, with Official Yu’s current duties, it falls well within the position of ‘Clerk of the Capital for Grain’…”
“Imperial Son, what you’re trying to say is…that within the Ministry of Revenue, we should add in the position of Clerk of the Capital for Grain? What rank should it be?” Zhu Junfan searched his mind but couldn’t remember what the heck the ‘Clerk of the Capital for Grain’ was. Just what the hell was this title? How come he had no inkling of what it was? However, for the sake of preserving an imposing and all-knowing demeanor in front of his son, he pretended to project a mysterious expression in front of him.
“Imperial Father, Official Yu currently has the position of ‘Agricultural Official’. Wasn’t that a position that you had created on the spot too ah? For the past few years, Official Yu not only managed to properly cultivate the western hemisphere’s corn, but also produced a high-yielding strain of winter wheat. Furthermore, she’s perfected the art of growing fruits and vegetables out of season in greenhouse pavilions, adding variety to our tables during the previous dead season. This year, she also began experimenting with rice paddies and the preliminary results are incredibly promising and exciting. By adding together all of her merits and successes, I believe she should at least be promoted three levels right? This son believes that this position should be at least rank four or above. Otherwise, we’d be slighting Official Yu too much.” Zhu Hanwen had become close to Yu Xiaocao during his tender childhood years. Naturally, he now stood at her side and advocated for her benefit.
However, Yu Xiaocao had no desire to be promoted into officialdom. No matter whether it was in her past life or this one, she wasn’t interested in obtaining more power. Other than her desire to make more and more money, the rest was ephemeral to her and of no value. She was quite satisfied with the way her life was now and really didn’t want a promotion. This was because she knew that the higher the rank, the more power she had, the more responsibilities she would get. In fact, the number one reason she didn’t want to get promoted was because rank five officials and above all had to attend morning court. Being forced out of the house before the sun had risen was truly a fearsome thing!
“That uh…” Yu Xiaocao knew that if she didn’t open her mouth now, her new position would be set in stone, so she hurriedly interrupted the father and son duo, who were currently discussing this with enthusiasm, “Your Imperial Majesty, Imperial Highness, this official is already very satisfied with my current position. I don’t think I need to get promoted now, right?”
“How could that be okay?!” The father and son duo simultaneously exclaimed. Zhu Junfan glared hatefully in a threatening way at his fellow transmigrator and said, “We are a wise ruler. Successes need to be rewarded, so we naturally need to find something proper for you. Just sit there obediently and don’t butt in!”
Yu Xiaocao hastily interjected, “In actuality, rewards doesn’t have to be a promotion necessarily ah! Other things that are more practical, like gold and jewels, are also quite good, right?”
Zhu Junfan revealed a toothy grin and suddenly asked, “Aren’t the businesses under your hand doing quite well now? Did you encounter any problems with your medicinal cuisine business or Blossoming Beauty enterprise recently?”
“No, why? They’re all doing quite well!” Yu Xiaocao was a bit confused now. She stared warily at the emperor as she wasn’t sure just what the emperor was hinting at now.
“Since your businesses are doing quite well, that means you don’t lack money, right? What’s the point in throwing a bit of money down a money-filled well ah? The little bit that we could possibly give you is merely the cherry on top for you. Do you still lack money? Are there truly officials like you who don’t long for the glory of promotion?”
Zhu Junfan hatefully glared at her as he grouchily thought, ‘The amount of money you have in your hands is much more than what we have in our personal treasury. Yet you still want to spend money from our hands. You are truly quite cold-blooded ah!’
Yu Xiaocao still needed to struggle to the end, “But…I’m just a silly girl, why do I need to have such a high rank at court ah? I only know how to farm and make some tasty food. I’m not cultured enough nor do I have enough elegance, there’s no point in playing music to me, the cow!”
“Being able to farm is already enough!! The ‘Clerk of the Capital for Grain’ is a special position that manages agriculture matters, after all! Alright, why do you have to be so stubborn, Lass? We are giving you a promotion, so do we need to ask for your permission ah? Enough nonsense, we are getting annoyed!”
Zhu Junfan felt quite sullen now. Other people racked their brains to come up with an excuse for promotion, yet this lass was the complete opposite. She not only wasn’t grateful for the opportunity but she was also doing her best to push away a possible promotion. Did she think that having a high rank at court was an inconvenient thing? That wouldn’t do! This emperor’s tender heart was quite hurt by her excuses and he needed some delicious delicacies to soothe the painful wound.
“Just what are you holding in your hands? Aren’t you tired from holding it up for so long ah?” Zhu Junfan had long been eying the box of food in her hands. Zhu Hanwen had also been regarding it in a pathetic manner. The delicious aroma from within had already tempted the gluttonous bug in his stomach out. However, in front of his imperial father, he had to preserve his image.
