Chapter 35 (1/2)

[If you're not reading this on chichilations, then you're reading a pointlessly stolen copy. As always, thank you for commenting and liking.]

Jinzi pelting me with furious admonishments leaves me stunned for a moment. He's not an emotional person, always in a self-imposed gloom –

what's with this outburst?

I get an absurd feeling: if Zhang Qinglian knew his gigolo and former boytoy dared to talk to him like this and willfully get angry at him, how would he feel?

I'm still too useless, apparently.

“Jinzi, what's wrong? I was just feeling cooped up, so I went out for a stroll…”

He didn't show any sign of calming down, still holding me firmly. “Where did you go to?” He demanded.

Why does he need to know the answer to such a boring question? What's with that tone?

I'm also getting angry. “Do I have to tell you about everywhere I go?”

Jinzi immediately loosened his hand, biting his lip hard in rage, his clear eyes glaring at me. Though I was too soft-hearted to look at his upset expression for a moment, I still didn't show him any weakness and glared right back.

The outcome was that we started a new round of our cold war.

Getting along with him is becoming more and more of a problem recently. Jinzi's acting strange, as if he's super sensitive or something.

I really don't feel like walking on eggsh.e.l.ls for this crown prince. Is he in his rebellious phase? Last time I initiated the make-up process when he was acting like a brat; I had said that I'm older than him and should cut him some slack, but I can't keep cutting more and more of it. I feel like I'm even more-so not in the wrong this time. I can't be the first to give in.

At this time, someone came in and reported that Qu Baifeng and Liu Chunxi had come.

These two are the most frequent visitors to my Residence, Qu Baifeng being one of the more zealous of my fans, and Liu Chunxi is here today for an obvious reason: it's come time for the Annual Election.

The Annual Election is the time each year when officials are chosen. Officials will get appraised by the Ministry of Appointments, and will either get promoted, or stay where they are, or move to an equal position, or get demoted – which, as far as officials are concerned, means their life is over. A promotion is naturally good; even if it's just moving to different position, there's a lot of well-paid posts to be had, and many not-so-well-paid offices. Those already occupying well-paid posts won't speak of transferring offices, nor even of taking up a higher one. For a few days every year, the front yards of the homes of the Minister and a.s.sistant Ministers of Appointments are as busy as marketplaces for under-the-counter influences. This also must be done with caution, biding time for when the night is black and the wind is howling, or an Imperial Censor will find out what you've been up to, and that's no laughing matter.

Furthermore, each major faction's feud will be intensified at this time. As if dividing the spoils of a siege, they fiercely fight over the posts yet divide up the important or relatively important official's positions relatively equally.

It's at this time that everyone acts like a gra.s.shopper in heat, emotions running high, jumping and hopping about all day long, trying to gather favor everywhere they can, and not letting a single opportunity slip past them with a keen sense of smell.

For example, my G.o.dson Gao Yushu has a considerably important post, and it could even be said that he's situated where the wind and waves are most vicious as the Minister of Justice. His moral character has always been spurned by very many people, yet he's the backbone of my party and a thorn in the Qingliu's side – even Shao Qing's lackeys look down on him. However, the Minister of Appointments is an old fox from the Zhongli party, and will not move the core characters of each faction, so he will definitely give him an excellent review. For that reason, he's still quite secure.

However, Gao Yushu is no less active, as the Minister of Appointments is an unavoidable force. He'd invited me to his home two days ago, deliberately setting up an affectionate “family feast” or whatever, and because it's a “family feast”, I got to see the face of my legendary tigress of a G.o.ddaughter-in-law. She's a n.o.blewoman of 40 years of age, with a st.u.r.dy stature and a homely face, yet it can still be seen that she's of high birth — I would later learn that she was the daughter of the former Prime Minister. Gao Yushu's own family origins aren't of a wealthy sort; he became a top-scorer in the imperial examination rising from years of hard work and humble beginnings. Like very many opera dramas, the Prime Minister affianced him – though this Prime Minister's daughter isn't at all as beautiful as a spring flower, this didn't affect his ability to climb to higher branches, and from then on he began to go down a road of quickfire success. Shame that later on the Prime Minister would be convicted and was exempted from being able to retire and go home from officialdom, losing Gao Yushu his pillar of support. Following a ten-year abundance of melancholy from not being able to garner success, he shamelessly relied on me to climb further and once again make it in the world.

It's hard to tell if his acc.u.mulated power got too heavy, but obviously since his old father-in-law's fall from grace, he's still as tremendously afraid of getting henpecked as ever. He doesn't even have a single concubine, his three daughters all having been born from his wife; he can't even use the excuse of not having a male heir to take a concubine. He can only occasionally seek out Lan Guan, producing even more of a scandal.

Ol' Gao's life is hard.

Gao had an overly-sappy conduct, saying a lot of overly-sappy words following that. My G.o.ddaughter-in-law ‘righteously' retired for the night, and after that, ol' Gao spoke to me about the the amnesty granted following Shao Qing's return and the follow-up handling of the Cui family's eldest son in regards to the ‘human duck incident' – the Ministry of Justice had already taken advantage of the pardon and changed his beheading sentence to an exile of 3,000 li away, issuing him to serve in the front lines of the army. Governer Cui is quite satisfied as such.

Then my G.o.dson began to dance around the topic of the Annual Election, then began to wibble, until I gave him the a.s.surance that I would absolutely support him if he'd stop making trouble.

Due to my G.o.dson's heads-up, I'm very clear on why Liu Chunxi's come. But… why'd he come with Qu Baifeng?

The answer to this question was revealed when I went with Jinzi to the small lobby used for guests to wait in: the two sat very far apart, answering each other with the smiles and politeness one would give a stranger. Seems they didn't come together, but just happened to come at the same time.

“Chunxi, Baifeng. What good winds have blown you to the same place today?” Even though I'd just fought with Jinzi and my mood was bad, I'm still grinning from ear to ear, presumably making people feel as if they've been cleansed by a spring breeze. [3]

They stood up together and exchanged greetings.

I introduced them to each other. “Are you two acquainted? This is Young Master Qu Baifeng from Jiangnan, who's a candid and mellow lover of poetry and wine by nature. This is a.s.sistant Minister Liu of the Ministry of Revenue, with the ability to be material for a pillar that holds this country up. You're both giants among humanity, getting along shouldn't be a problem.”

They said that they'd already pa.s.sed each other their surnames, yet I see that they seem like they've gotten off on the wrong foot, both their expressions quite a bit ill at ease.

A not-small amount of pleasantries and one cup of tea later, I ordered for dinner to be prepared and went to eat with them. I just don't want the awkwardness of eating alone with Jinzi since I'd recently had a disagreement with him. That'd be the definition of ‘if you don't talk while sleeping you shouldn't speak while eating' [2]; having dinner in so much silence that you can hear the fine and tiny sounds of chewing would be tremendous to bear.

In any case, the two are getting along in a way that could be called ‘pleasantly'.

Dinner includes five or six more dishes than usual – My Residence's cook isn't bad, and Hong Feng knows how to handle these things properly.

Qu Baifeng seems to think Liu Chunxi is the sort of person who looks for instant gratification and is a bit disdainful of him, only speaking to me. Liu Chunxi is also wanting to talk to me about the Annual Election in private and is inevitably a bit uninterested in Qu Baifeng's presence, not paying attention to him either. Knowing of Yao Jinzi and I's relations.h.i.+p, he politely tries to conversate with him, but unfortunately there's nothing Jinzi likes better than acting cool. Furthermore, his mood is currently poor, making him even more standoffish, speaking only a sentence at a time if he even spoke at all. Out of everyone, I'm the only one trying to regulate the atmosphere like my life depends on it, only pausing to take a bite to eat, mentally and physically exhausted.