The Kingdom That Never Sleeps CH 064 Attendant Secretary Part 2
TN: bonus chapterđź’•
Inside the Immortal Ascension Platform, Li Xiaoren, the Director of the Astronomical Bureau, was holding a jade bowl. He dipped a bamboo leaf into the water in the bowl and lightly sprinkled it on Zhao Fu. Emperor Zhao Fu of the Song Dynasty was dressed in Taoist robes, sitting cross-legged at the center of the Taiji Eight Trigrams array, eyes closed, cultivating immortality.
Su Wenyun said nothing after arriving and simply waited nearby.
After a quarter of an hour, Zhao Fu opened his eyes and said, "You may leave."
Li Xiaoren didn’t respond at first but understood Zhao Fu's meaning after a few seconds. He immediately withdrew from the Immortal Ascension Platform.
Zhao Fu looked up at Su Wenyun, his expression indifferent, like that of an emotionless immortal. His voice echoed through the platform as he spoke, "When did Fei Ran arrive?"
Su Wenyun replied, "It had just been a quarter of an hour."
Zhao Fu remained seated in meditation and asked, "How is it?"
Su Wenyun responded, "The corruption case from the southern snow disaster three years ago only led to Xie Cheng. Beyond him, if there’s no one else, then they are either hidden too well, or no further leads can be found. I am incompetent and must beg Your Majesty's forgiveness."
Zhao Fu nodded slightly, seemingly deep in thought.
"The snow disaster affected a large area, and the court allocated two million taels for disaster relief. Just one Xie Cheng isn’t enough, is it?" Zhao Fu remarked, but he didn’t continue. Instead, he said meaningfully, "I remember that year, Gusu wasn’t affected by the snow disaster. It’s truly a blessed place, and Tang qing is from Gusu, isn’t he?"
Su Wenyun naturally understood the emperor’s meaning. By all rights, he should have seized this moment to slander Tang Shen, but instead, he curled his lips slightly and said, "Although Tang daren once studied under Liang Song daren, the former governor of Gusu, after Liang daren hanged himself, Tang Shen left for the north within a month to seek out another renowned teacher, distancing himself from Liang daren. Such decisiveness; I’m not his equal in that regard."
On the surface, this remark seemed to praise Tang Shen for his decisiveness, but it was actually a subtle criticism, implying that Tang Shen was disloyal, abandoning his teacher the moment he died. If Liang Song knew, he might rise from the grave in anger.
Zhao Fu looked at Su Wenyun, who made no effort to conceal his disdain for Tang Shen, curling his lips.
Zhao Fu said, "Those who know how to adapt are the most outstanding. There was indeed some wrongdoing on Jing Ze’s part, but he’s still young."
Su Wenyun restrained his expression and didn’t respond.
Zhao Fu waved his hand. "You may go."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
After leaving the Immortal Ascension Platform, Su Wenyun saw Tang Shen as soon as he stepped outside. Smiling bright and haughty, Su Wenyun said, "Tang daren, you owe me a great favor. From now on, we’ll call it even for that time I used you as scapegoat in Cizhou."
Tang Shen frowned.
Su Wenyun said no more and strode away.
Inside the Immortal Ascension Platform, Zhao Fu toyed with two translucent luminous pearls, turning them over in his palm. He looked thoughtfully at the ground and said, "I remember, Tang Shen is seventeen this year, isn’t he?"
Only Zhao Fu and Ji Fu were inside the platform. Hearing this, Ji Fu waited a moment before realizing the emperor expected a response, so he quickly replied, "In answer to Your Majesty, Tang daren was only sixteen when he achieved third place in the imperial examinations. That was early last year. I remember it was Your Majesty who personally appointed him as the tanhua."
Zhao Fu said, "Ah, yes, that’s right. I almost forgot. I greatly enjoyed the essay he wrote for my birthday last year. It was truly resplendent."
Ji Fu smiled. "Tang daren is truly talented, a rising star. Your servant is envious to the point of jealousy."
"Haha, you old rascal."
The hall fell silent for a moment. Then Zhao Fu said slowly, "When it comes to flattery, he’s even better than Zi Feng."
Ji Fu was startled and dared not say a word.
Zhao Fu sighed, "That’s exactly why I like him."
A mercenary, sycophantic official might be considered a petty villain or a treacherous minister, but Zhao Fu liked it—Zhao Fu liked it very much.
"Su Feiran dislikes him, and Wang Zifeng likes him," Zhao Fu mused. "How is it that such a remarkable person as Tang Jingze was born, someone who can be wedged right between the two of them? That makes me like him even more."
No matter how clever Ji Fu was, he was still just a eunuch. He couldn’t comprehend Zhao Fu's intentions, so he could only smile along.
Naturally, how could a eunuch understand the intricacies of imperial politics?
In the court, many esteemed ministers were aging and have formed their own factions. Even Zhao Fu found it challenging to deal with them without causing turmoil. Meanwhile, the younger faction, led by Wang Zhen and Su Wenyun, had gradually risen under Zhao Fu’s intentional support, beginning to rival the older ministers.
Among the younger officials, Wang Zhen and Su Wenyun didn’t get along.
If there were a chessboard laid out in the Zichen Hall right now, one could see that the officials were like chess pieces, with the emperor manipulating them from both sides, as clear as the division between the Chu River and Han Border. Zhao Fu's eyes, though already clouded with age, missed none of the storms brewing in the court. Even a hundred years later, he would still be remembered as the wisest emperor of the Song Dynasty, to be praised for eternity.
He would be immortal, and he would be the most enlightened ruler.
Zhao Fu smiled enigmatically, then closed his eyes and resumed his cultivation.
That evening, officials from the Ministry of Rites delivered a new official robe to the Tanhua Residence. Tang Shen changed into the new robe, and Tang Huang excitedly circled around him several times. Slowly, her excitement faded, and she pouted. "It’s a fourth-rank official’s robe, but Brother, it doesn’t look all that different from what you used to wear."
Tang Shen glanced at his sister. "In the third year of Kaiping, the Song and Liao were at war, and the then-Minister of Revenue, now the current Right Prime Minister Wang Quan, petitioned to simplify all officials’ attire to reduce state expenditures. Look closely at this sleeve."
Tang Huang leaned in and examined it carefully. "What about the sleeve?"
"There’s silver thread here! Only fourth-rank officials can use silver thread!"
Tang Huang: “...”
Who could even tell?
Tang Shen’s promotion delighted the whole household, but the best part was that he could now sleep in an extra half an hour each day.
As a chamberlain, Tang Shen had to rise earlier than all the other officials, arriving at the palace before them. For the past year, Tang Shen hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep. Even when he wasn’t on duty, he still had to rush to the palace, awaiting orders.
Aside from that, Tang Shen, now a fourth-rank Attendant Secretary, didn’t have to attend morning court on his first day, only needing to report to the Qinzheng Hall afterward.
For the first time since becoming an official, Tang Shen enjoyed a good night’s sleep.
In the morning, he dressed in his official robe and entered the palace, arriving at the Qinzheng Hall.
Tang Shen had visited the Qinzheng Hall several times before. It was the only office within the palace. The Song Dynasty had designated a special area for the Secretariat officials to work, so the Qinzheng Hall was also known as the Secretariat Office. However, not all Secretariat officials worked there.
As a chamberlain, Tang Shen was technically a Secretariat official, but his office was located outside the palace, not in the Qinzheng Hall.
In simple terms, the Qinzheng Hall had three main areas. The first was the offices of the four Prime Ministers—Left Prime Minister Ji Wengji, Right Prime Minister Wang Quan, Left Vice Prime Minister Chen Linghai, and Right Vice Prime Minister Xu Bi. The second area housed the offices of the six Ministers of the Six Ministries, with three rooms in total, two Ministers sharing each room. The Ministers didn’t work in the Qinzheng Hall every day, as they often performed their duties in the Six Ministries Office outside the palace.
Behind these rooms was where the rest of the Secretariat officials worked.
The third-rank officials of the Secretariat shared two rooms, while Tang Shen, as a fourth-rank official, shared one room with others of the same rank.
Thus, only officials of fourth-rank or higher could work in the Qinzheng Hall.
Tang Shen arrived early, not keeping anyone waiting. By the time morning court ended, officials returned to the hall. The three other Attendant Secretaries of the Secretariat were surprised to see Tang Shen, but they quickly cupped their hands and congratulated him. "Congratulations to Tang daren. From now on, we will be colleagues."
Tang Shen smiled and replied, "Thank you, Ji daren, Liu daren, and Lin daren."
Ji Miao laughed and said, "The last time I saw Tang daren was three months ago. I was running an errand for Wang daren and happened to come across you. It was just a brief meeting, and I never expected that today we would become colleagues."
Another attendant secretary added, "Tang daren is only seventeen this year, correct? Truly a remarkable young talent."
After exchanging some pleasantries, Ji Miao continued, "Here in Qinzheng Hall, I serve Ji xianggong, Liu daren serves Wang xianggong, and Lin daren serves Chen xianggong. Now that you have joined us, you will likely be working for Xu xianggong. Since the morning court session has just ended and Xu xianggong is quite busy, I imagine someone will come looking for you soon."
As expected, half an hour later, a government officer came to the hall to summon Tang Shen, saying that Xu xianggong, the Right Vice Prime Minister, had requested his presence.
Tang Shen adjusted his official robes and followed the officer to the room where Xu Bi was located.
Xu Bi was reading a memorial, and when Tang Shen arrived, he nodded slightly in acknowledgment. Tang Shen did not say a word, obediently standing behind Xu Bi.
Once Xu Bi finished reading the memorial, he sighed and handed it to Tang Shen. "Take a look."
Tang Shen respectfully received the document with both hands and began reading it.
At first, he remained calm, but halfway through, he was completely bewildered. He reconsidered and started over from the beginning, carefully reading every word of the memorial.
Tang Shen: "..."
Tang Shen finally said, "I’ve finished reading it."
Xu Bi took a sip of tea. "Well, what do you think?"
"...Liu daren, the Governor of Cangzhou, is eloquent, his writing is splendid, and his talent far surpasses mine."
Simply put, the memorial was full of pointless rhetoric, leaving the reader dizzy.
Xu Bi smiled helplessly. "This will be your new duty. The memorials from local officials are sent to me for review. After I read them, I summarize the key points before passing them on to His Majesty. As you may know, given your previous role as court chamberlain, His Majesty has to review an enormous number of these each day."
"I am aware."
Xu Bi sighed, “His Majesty does not have it easy!"
For the first time, Tang Shen felt a sincere sympathy for Emperor Zhao Fu.