The Kingdom That Never Sleeps CH 050 Wang Zifeng! Part 1
Tang Shen and Li Shu stood behind the coiled dragon white jade pillar to the left of the dragon throne, both bowing in salute. By then, Zhao Fu had already walked past them. All Tang Shen could see was a small corner of bright yellow robes, which made his eyelids twitch. After a moment, he heard Zhao Fu say softly, "You may rise."
"Thanking Your Majesty."
Li Shu sat down and began preparing to record, while Tang Shen stood behind him.
In the silent and cold Zichen Hall, the morning court had quietly begun.
The entire power center of the Song Dynasty stood behind that small coiled dragon white jade pillar. A minister stepped forward to report on recent border conflicts. Zhao Fu listened and then said, "We will discuss this further." Li Shu recorded this in the "Records of the Emperor's Daily Life." Ministers took turns stepping forward to report recent events, but there were no major issues in the court.
An hour later, the morning court session ended. Facing the throne, the officials first saluted to send Zhao Fu off. Once Zhao Fu left, they departed from the two side doors of the Zichen Hall. By this time, Tang Shen, Li Shu, and the other official responsible for recording the emperor's daily activities had already followed Zhao Fu out of the hall.
From the start of the morning court, the Chamberlain and the two Junior Chamberlain responsible for recording the emperor’s daily activities had been by Zhao Fu’s side. Except when he went to the restroom, they did not leave him even for a moment. It wasn't until evening, when Zhao Fu went to the Immortal Ascension Platform to practice cultivation, that the three of them were stopped at the door, with only two young Taoist attendants allowed to enter.
Tang Shen gave Li Shu a curious glance, but Li Shu kept his eyes on the ground and said nothing.
Tang Shen sighed inwardly.
After all, an emperor is still an emperor!
In theory, the Chamberlain and Junior Chamberlains should follow the emperor from dawn to dusk, from morning court until the emperor retired to the inner palace at night. However, Zhao Fu never allowed them to follow him while he practiced cultivation, which was against protocol, but no one dared to object.
Still, he was considered a rule-abiding emperor.
It was said that during the previous dynasty, there was an emperor who wielded absolute power. One day, he suddenly demanded to see the "Records of the Emperor's Daily Life." The civil and military officials all jointly advised, "Your Majesty, you must not!" But the emperor refused to listen. No matter how much they tried to persuade him, he wouldn’t budge. The ministers, unable to argue with this powerful emperor, had no choice but to let him see the records. However, by the time the emperor received the records, much of it had been altered.
In later generations, this incident was recorded in history books, leading many historians to consider the "Records of the Emperor's Daily Life" from that emperor's reign as unreliable.
Zhao Fu, however, was different. He simply didn’t allow them to follow him and had never interfered with the records. Nevertheless, he was meticulous in his daily affairs. He might not be a wise ruler of his era, but he was a competent and unproblematic emperor.
When the emperor finished his cultivation and had his evening meal, he entered the inner palace. Only then did Tang Shen and the other two officials leave, taking advantage of what was left of the time to exit the palace before it was locked.
This was Tang Shen's first day on the job. The next day, he didn’t need to enter the palace and instead spent his time reading at the office.
Days passed like this, and soon seven days had gone by.
Tang Shen was still learning under Li Shu and hadn’t really started working on his own when he received his long awaited arrivals.
That day, Tang Shen had a day off. Early in the morning, he and Yao San went to the canal dock in the western part of Shengjing. They stood on the dock, gazing out at the vast river. After waiting for half an hour, a passenger boat appeared on the horizon. The boat docked, and the passengers disembarked one by one. When Aunt Yao and Tang Huang emerged from the cabin, Yao San immediately recognized his mother and excitedly shouted, "Mother! Mother! I’m over here!"
Aunt Yao saw her son and her eyes reddened with joy.
Standing next to Aunt Yao was, of course, Tang Huang. But when Tang Shen saw the graceful young lady, he was stunned. It wasn't until Tang Huang and Aunt Yao approached that he snapped out of it and called out, "Tang Huang?"
Under the azure blue sky, the slender young girl was dressed in a lotus pink gown with auspicious cloud patterns and wore a white fox fur coat. She was delicate and elegant, standing by the flowing river, with a gentleness unique to the Jiangnan region that surpassed the girls of Shengjing.
In just two short years, Tang Shen hadn’t expected his little sister to grow up so beautifully!
But then he remembered that Tang Huang was already twelve years old. Twelve was the age of graduating from elementary school in modern times, but here, in another three years, she would be of marriageable age.
Still, Tang Shen felt that something was a bit off.
Noticing Tang Shen looking at her clothes, Tang Huang lowered her head and softly explained, "Aunt Yao said that Shengjing is colder than Gusu, so she told me to bring more clothes. But it doesn’t seem that cold now." She was explaining why she was wearing a fur coat.
Tang Shen looked at his sister and, after a moment, his eyes lit up with understanding. He smiled and said, "You’ve gained weight, haven’t you?"
Tang Huang immediately raised her head, glaring at him, "I have not!"
Tang Shen laughed heartily, "You’re speaking so softly that you can barely catch your breath. If it’s not because you’re too fat to breathe properly, then what is it? Oh, but now you’re speaking louder!"
Tang Huang snapped, "Stupid brother, can’t you say something nice for once?"
"Sincere advice is often unpleasant to hear. I’m just looking out for you." Tang Shen’s expression was earnest.
Tang Huang was speechless.
My brother’s brain hasn’t gotten any better after two years!
After this little commotion, the group burst into laughter and then boarded the carriage back to the Tanhua Residence.
Sitting in the carriage, Tang Huang breathed a sigh of relief.
At the beginning of last year, when Tang Shen had just left, Tang Huang missed her brother and longed to go to Shengjing every day. But as the days passed, her feelings gradually changed. People told her that Tang Shen had ranked second in the xiangshi and was now a distinguished juren. They also told her that Tang Shen had achieved the third spot in the top rank of the imperial exams and was a true official now.
Tang Shen’s approach to raising Tang Huang was somewhat hands-off. He never confined the women of the family within the house like other families, restricting their outings. Tang Huang had a dedicated tutor and frequently went out with other noble young ladies from Gusu. Some people told her that Tang Shen had become an important official and that, even as his sister, she would have to be more cautious in her behavior and couldn’t afford to lose her manners.
So, before coming to Shengjing, she had mixed feelings. When she boarded the boat, she even felt a bit scared.
But after seeing Tang Shen, Tang Huang felt reassured: My brother is still the same annoying brother who only knows how to tease me.
When the four of them returned to the Tanhua Residence, Tang Shen learned what had happened in Gusu during his two years away.
Yao San said, "I told the young master about this last year when I first came to Gusu. Sigh, it’s really a case of kicking someone when they’re down. As soon as the little boss left Gusu last year, a few restaurants and cosmetics shops took an interest in our business. They couldn’t find any faults with our Zhenbao Pavilion or Xixia Tower, so they started targeting Tang's Logistics, falsely accusing our workers of theft. It wasn’t until the news of the little boss becoming a disciple of a daru reached Gusu that these people suddenly stopped beating their drums and disappeared overnight."
Tang Shen was surprised: "You even know the phrase 'to lay down one's banner and stop beating drums'?"
Yao San's face turned red: “Little Boss, after everything I said, is that all you heard?"
Tang Shen smiled and asked, "Brother Yao, have you ever thought about studying?"
Yao San quickly waved his hand: "No, no, I just want to assist the little boss. That’s enough for me."
Tang Shen wrote letters back to Gusu every month to keep in touch with his extended family. Sometimes, he would ask Wang Zhen to send things to Jiangnan using the Wang clan's boats. However, many things couldn’t be clearly explained in letters.
Tang Huang spoke animatedly: "I heard that after you passed the exam and became a yayuan, our home became very lively. The wealthy merchants of Gusu who have interests in Xixia Tower and Zhenbao, as well as some acquaintances and strangers, all came to visit us. Even the newly appointed governor of Gusu came." After a pause, Tang Huang added, "But he had wanted to visit you long before, and just used the excuse of you becoming a yayuan."
Tang Shen glanced at Tang Huang, surprised that she knew the new Gusu governor visited their home not just because he had passed the exam but because of his connections with Fu Wei and Wang Zhen.
Tang Huang continued: "After the xiangshi, your uncle held a banquet for you in Gusu, lasting for seven days and nights! When it was heard that you had become the tanhua, it became even more extraordinary. Our relatives from all over Gusu came and held a ten-day and night banquet. The entire Gusu was invited. It’s a pity you didn’t go back. Eldest Aunt says you should find time to return for a special ancestral worship ceremony."
Tang Shen thought to himself that it wasn’t the first time they had held a special ancestral worship ceremony for him, but he only said, "I understand."
Tang Huang remembered something else and looked at Tang Shen with a peculiar expression, winking at him: "By the way, brother, do you remember what happened when we left Zhao Family Village?"
Tang Shen was puzzled: "Something happened when we left Zhao Family Village?" He thought for a moment, "What happened?"
"Think harder."
"Did we forget to repay a debt or did someone owe us money?"
"…"
"Can’t you recall the village head promising us something if you were to pass the imperial examinations?"
Tang Shen suddenly realized: "Ah? That thing?"
Aunt Yao laughed: "Zhao Family Village no longer exists. After you became a juren, it was renamed Tang Family Village!"
Tang Shen was both amused and exasperated.
He hadn’t expected that a joke from back then would become true.
However, behind the renaming of Zhao Family Village to Tang Family Village, there were some interesting incidents. The village head had casually said that if Tang Shen passed the imperial examination, he would change the village name to Tang Family Village. But becoming a juren wasn’t easy. Tang Shen’s eldest cousin, Tang Yun, the eldest son of Tang juren, still hadn’t become a xiucai!
The village head never expected that just over a year later, Tang Shen would indeed pass and return with the title of tanhua.
The village head was suddenly in a difficult position.
Renaming wasn’t a simple matter; it had to be reported to the Gusu government. Moreover, once the village name was changed, many family genealogies would need to be updated. In the future, they would no longer be "someone from Zhao Family Village," but "someone from Tang Family Village." The village head hesitated, and his hesitation lasted until after the New Year, when news of Tang Shen gaining the title of tanhua traveled back.
At that point, it was the villagers who urged the village head to make the name change. The village head, pleased, went ahead and changed it.
No matter how troublesome it was, could anything be more important than having a first rank, third-place scholar who came from their Tang Family Village?
Listening to Tang Huang and Aunt Yao talk about what had happened at home over the past two years, Tang Shen’s heart gradually warmed. After two years in Shengjing, he was experiencing the warmth of home for the first time, as if he had returned to the days spent in Gusu.