Yet Yang Chuxia had received no news at all about the man she was tracking.
September quickly approached, and Ye Zi’an’s tenure had co to an end. However, with the new County Magistrate not arriving anyti soon, he still had to wait here for the handover.
What he didn’t know was that his tenure completion had caused quite a stir at court.
What was even more unexpected to him was that those at court would actually delay his appointnt.
"Emperor, although Ye Zi’an’s term has concluded, his evaluation results have not been released. How can he assu the post of Prefect of Shandong?"
The news of Ye Zi’an’s promotion had gradually beco known to the ministers after the imperial decree was read, but at the ti, they were all frightened by the Fancy Red Pavilion affair and thus had not spoken up.
But now they couldn’t wait any longer. The position of Prefect of Shandong was a lucrative one—how could they let so green youngster take it?
"Emperor, setting aside his evaluation results, during his tenure, such a major issue arose in Mianyang County, with so many lives lost. He doesn’t even qualify as a competent County Magistrate, so how can he be fit to manage an entire prefectural capital? There were such significant oversights in managing just a single county. Would he be able to manage a whole prefecture?"
"I concur!"
"I concur!"
"..."
Old Mu, standing below, originally wanted to say sothing, but before he could speak, he heard the Emperor’s light words from above, "If I indeed want him as Prefect of Shandong, what would you all do about it? Are you planning to offer advice till death, or are you thinking of resigning from your posts?"
Instantly, the faces of the ministers below turned green. Who wanted to offer advice till death? Who wanted to resign? They just didn’t want Ye Zi’an to be the Prefect, alright?
Seeing their change of expression, the Emperor chuckled, "If none of you wishes for that, then shut your mouths. Whoever I wish to appoint as Prefect, I will appoint. Don’t spew nonsense about Ye Zi’an’s political achievents. I am clearer about them than any of you. One by one, if I were to throw you into Mianyang, let’s see how you’d fare? Great Zhou has no shortage of places like Mianyang. Would you like to pick one out for you to try, and while you’re at it, compare yourselves to Ye Zi’an?"
Silence!
A mont of silence ensued!
Satisfied with this, the Emperor snorted arrogantly, then announced the end of the court session and departed.
The Emperor thought to himself, how could Mianyang be anything but clear to him? Just the reports from the shadow guards, along with that of the little eunuch surnad Cui, were enough to know that Mianyang was not bad, and that the fruit wine tasted exceptionally good. He even wanted to see the flower-thed characters they had grown. However, Ye Zi’an’s little wife did have quite the temper, wanting to resign from her post, but he would not let her resign.
Old Mu observed these n, their heads held even higher than a rooster’s.
Provoking the group of ministers to huff and puff angrily.
One of them then snorted, "Hmph, look how proud he is. Since the Emperor won’t change his mind, let’s just make him stay in Mianyang and serve as the Prefect of Shandong for good."
"That’s a good idea; I agree with that!"
"Right, let’s do just that!"
And so, under the troubles of this group of elderly n, Ye Zi’an ended up staying until the end of the year, and only then did they hear definite news about when the new County Magistrate would arrive.
Jiangsu Mianyang
"Alas, how ti flies! I’ve been in Mianyang for over two years now." One day after lunch, Yang Chuxia started to clear out the accounts, which were the tallies from the liquor store and brewery over the past couple of years.
"After the New Year, we’ll be able to leave this place." Ye Zi’an just laughed, "After the year turns, you can start packing. The letter says it’s fine as long as I arrive in Shandong by mid-May. Calculating the ti, we should be able to stay in Yangshu Village for at least half a month."
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