Returning to the Capital City for an official appointnt is exactly what he has been yearning for yet could not attain!
Young Master Jing, before him, speaks such a sentence at the very outset; is there so hidden aning here?
He cautiously took another sip of tea before saying, "Thanks to the Young Master’s auspicious words, I wonder if in my lifeti, I will have this fortune!"
"Why wouldn’t you? I have co this ti specifically to present you with an official post!" Huangfu Jingchen cast him a sidelong glance.
Shang Jingwang felt a surge of joy but was puzzled. To think that the Second Young Master of Prince Kang Mansion would suddenly be so kind, having fun here and putting in a good word for him—it would be as if smoke rose from the ancestral grave of his family.
But he’d just t this person, and had not yet shown any goodwill either, with neither friendships nor ties between them. Would Young Master Jing really award him an official position?
Even if he had taken a fancy to him, he was just a Young Master of the Prince Mansion, not even the Princely Heir, what power did he have to grant him an official position?
Shang Jingwang cautiously asked, "Young Master, what do you an by this?"
Huangfu Jingchen leisurely said, "You have been in the County Magistrate post for fifteen years, nine years in the Prefecture, and now you are in the Fifth Rank. Among your peers who are also officials, you might be the one achieving the least."
Shang Jingwang felt a bit ashad; indeed, he was the least successful. The places he was sent to were either barren and desolate lands or locales rampant with bandits. Exhausting himself with hard work, unlike those enjoying prosperity with cushy external assignnts, not having to toil as hard.
Now forty-five, with so much stress and tiredness, he looked as if he were over fifty.
With such thoughts, he couldn’t help but feel sad.
Huangfu Jingchen glanced at him sideways and asked, "Is it because you lack capability? No, from what I know, you are capable. The current Prefectural Governor Yu Shikui holds a position one tier above yours, yet is ten years younger. His swift rise isn’t due to greater ability or superior knowledge compared to yours but because he knows how to showcase what’s most advantageous to himself, knows how to accumulate political achievents!"
Shang Jingwang wanted to say he could do the sa, but he lacked a Marquis uncle.
Yu Shikui’s mother is a concubine’s daughter from the Marquis Anning Mansion.
Marquis Anning holds so influence in the Capital City, is skilled in navigating among various parties, and as an inheriting Marquis, his family foundation is strong.
With such connections, he naturally would have a flourishing official career.
Though the peculiar expression in his eyes flickered for a mont, Huangfu Jingchen caught it clearly. Raising a teacup to his lips, he frowned disdainfully before setting it down, saying, "Don’t belittle yourself, what’s in the past is past; you are not who you were! You managed the local governance well in office, but that’s not enough!"
Drinking the tea, the once bitter tea had been consud completely, initially to curry favor with Young Master Jing of the Imperial Mansion, but now he did not know what to feel, not even tasting the bitterness.
Now, hearing the implication of young Jing’s words, hope reignited within him, gaze burning as he looked at Huangfu Jingchen, though puzzled, yet expectant, treating it as a last resort in desperation. He set down the empty cup, stood, and solemnly bowed to Huangfu Jingchen, saying, "Young Master Jing, please guide to a bright path!"
Huangfu Jingchen saw that this person indeed possessed cunning yet also ambitions at heart, and with a smile asked, "No rush, before I guide you to a bright path, let first ask you two questions!"
"Please ask, Young Master! This lowly official will speak without reserve!"
Huangfu Jingchen said casually, "Earlier my horse suddenly lost control, knocking over a vegetable stall, the stall owner fell, vegetables scattered everywhere..."
"Was anyone injured?" Shang Jingwang blurted out.
Huangfu Jingchen glanced at his own arm, surveyed himself, and replied, "I have good riding skills, no one was injured!"
Shang Jingwang stamred, "The... the stall owner?" He was initially asking about the stall owner. Seeing Young Master Jing sitting here unscathed, it was obvious no harm ca to him, yet he couldn’t dismiss it like that. After asking, he regretted it, realizing it was inappropriate to ask about the stall owner and that it might displease Young Master Jing; nevertheless, the concern erged with his question, and he couldn’t take it back.
He was a bit annoyed.
Though the expression was subtle, Huangfu Jingchen noticed it clearly, and casually said, "I don’t know, there was red all over the ground and who knows if a bone was broken!"
Shang Jingwang got anxious again, saying, "Then... he has to be sent to the dic center!"
Huangfu Jingchen looked at Jiang Ning standing to the side and asked, "How’s the person?"
Jiang Ning inwardly slandered, how long has his master lingered in the Jianghu? And he’s learned the skill of weaving tales? What could he do? He had to follow along, replying earnestly, "Young Master, the red was tomatoes; the person was unhard. I compensated him with Silver as if purchasing all his tomatoes, and he was delighted, saying he’d welco you to tip over his stall again next ti!"
No harm ca to anyone, and Shang Jingwang exhaled a sigh of relief, yet the thought of welcoming another turnover seed peculiar in aning.
Huangfu Jingchen said, "Lord Shang, what I wanted to ask was, if the stall owner died, what cri would I bear?"
Shang Jingwang sarcastically laughed, "Young Master Jing, wasn’t there no harm? No cri, no cri!"
Seeing Huangfu Jingchen’s eyes, deep as the sea, still fixed on him, he felt his forehead heat up, beads of sweat forming, and gritted his teeth to say, "If the person died, the young master wouldn’t avoid imprisonnt!"
Jiang Ning at the side said, "What nonsense are you spouting? My master is a Prince’s Young Master, not a commoner, harming soone inadvertently deserves prison? Say that again!"
Shang Jingwang bowed, smiling, "Isn’t this hypothetical? When a prince breaks the law, he should be punished just like a commoner, and besides, imprisonnts can be long or short. Given the young master’s prestigious status, this is a requisite formality, but since it was unintentional harm, there should be room for maneuver!" He cautiously asked again, "Young Master, the stall owner truly is unhard, right?"
Jiang Ning was amused with exasperation at this, thinking Shang Jingwang’s cunning deanor mistook his young master for a wastrel. His young master was testing whether he was a person who could take responsibility.
Huangfu Jingchen laughed, "Naturally, no harm, if there were, isn’t this Governnt Office here for nothing? No one is filing complaints now?"
Shang Jingwang thought it made sense and said, "What else does Young Master wish to ask?"
"Naturally, I want to ask if you wish to get promoted, if you wish to head to Capital City to realize your aspirations soday!"
"Naturally, that’s what I want!" Finally back to the main issue, Shang Jingwang felt a surge of heat in his heart, his eyes glead eagerly, hastily adding, "Please, Young Master, guide !"
"What you’re missing is political achievents." Huangfu Jingchen shook his head, "It’s not that you have none, but previously they were either erased by others or usurped, leaving only trivial neutral records for you. If you had undeniable achievents, you could also beco a Prefectural Governor; serve a term, then get transferred back to the Capital City as an official. Wouldn’t that be possible?"
Shang Jingwang sighed, saying, "Political achievents... are difficult!"
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