After hearing Yan Tongshu's response, Qin Yi's evaluation of him improved slightly, if barely. He continued asking, "Do you know why I entrusted you with this important task?"
Yan Tongshu lifted his head, suddenly raising it, his gaze burning, his expression stern, his words righteous and severe: "To plead for the people!"
Foolish!
Qin Yi pressed his fingers to his forehead. Truly a blockhead.
For the first time since ascending the throne, Qin Yi doubted his own decision.
Qin Yi waved his hand. "You may withdraw."
Yan Tongshu lowered his head, his mouth twitching fiercely. She had acted like this, and the new emperor still wouldn't dismiss her?
Dog emperor.
Yan Tongshu's tone was obedient. "Yes, Your Majesty. Your servant takes his leave."
After Yan Tongshu left, Qin Yi's gaze grew deep. He pondered for a moment, then spoke, "Summon the Commander of the Divine Guard."
Lu Xi bowed. "Yes, Your Majesty."
Soon, Meng Yi, Commander of the Divine Guard, arrived as summoned.
Meng Yi wore a black military uniform. He was over eight feet tall, with a physique as imposing as a mountain. He walked with a powerful, steady stride, his eyes sharp.
He strode into the hall, dropped to one knee, and spoke in a resounding voice: "Your servant Meng Yi pays respects to Your Majesty."
Qin Yi gestured. "Rise."
Meng Yi rose swiftly, his iron armor clinking softly. "May I ask what urgent matter Your Majesty summoned me for?"
Qin Yi closed the memorial in his hand with a light thud. "Yan Tongshu just came to thank me for the appointment."
Meng Yi clasped his hands in salute. "What is Your Majesty's intent?"
Qin Yi curled his lips. "Send Princess Tijia's case to Kaifeng Prefecture."
Meng Yi said, "Your servant accepts the command."
With that, Meng Yi left.
Qin Yi lowered his gaze, picked up his vermilion brush, and turned his attention back to the mountain of memorials before him.
Princess Tijia, the beloved jewel of the Empress Dowager.
Yan Tongshu.
Let me see if you are truly dull and feigning righteousness, or if you actually have the skill to survive the Empress Dowager's fury.
...
So angry! So angry!
Dog emperor.
Dog emperor!
You go play your political games — why torment others?!
I curse you to be struck by lightning today!
Yan Tongshu sat inside the carriage, punching the air furiously.
After a while, she ran out of energy. She slumped in the carriage, dejected.
Boo hoo.
Tomorrow, she would have to get up at three or four in the morning for the morning court session. After court, without a moment's rest, she would head straight to Kaifeng Prefecture to take office, staying there until eight or nine at night.
On top of all this misery, she only had one day off per month.
This was worse than a 996 work schedule.
Boo hoo hoo hoo hoo.
She didn't want to go. She would rather die than go.
She wanted to assassinate the emperor.
Yan Tongshu wept a river of tears. That night, she devoured three bowls of rice and an entire fish before collapsing onto the bed to continue crying.
The next day, at three in the morning.
Never mind Yan Tongshu — even Pearl and Jinbao couldn't get up.
These two had grown up serving Yan Tongshu. She was lazy, and they had never suffered the hardship of rising early.
Boo hoo hoo.
The three of them hugged each other and wailed.
Yan Tongshu changed into her official robe. Under the black canopy of the sky, she climbed into the carriage, wrapped herself in a blanket, and went back to sleep.
Finally, they reached the palace. Yan Tongshu stepped out of the carriage and had to walk a long way with the other officials.
Fortunately, Yan Tongshu had offended quite a few people in the past. Now that she had been promoted, no one came up to curry favor. They only exchanged a few polite words, which she could barely manage despite her exhaustion.
At last, the morning court session began.
As a third-rank official, Yan Tongshu stood in a prominent position, right under the emperor's nose, without even a chance to slack off.
Extremely sleepy and ravenously hungry, Yan Tongshu's mood hit rock bottom.
To Yan Tongshu's left stood Minister of Personnel Cheng Buli. He glanced at Yan Tongshu out of the corner of his eye.
Face as black as ink.
Eyes as cold as ice.
Could it be that on his very first day of promotion, Lord Yan was planning to impeach the entire court?
Minister Cheng watched Yan Tongshu warily.
And he wasn't the only one. Many officials still remembered the chilling memory of being impeached continuously for half a month back in the day.
Qin Yi subtly took note of the officials' reactions. While discussing state affairs, he observed Yan Tongshu.
This fellow, with his eyes half-closed — was he plotting some grand scheme?
Struggling through the entire morning court, Yan Tongshu finally dashed out of the palace as soon as court was dismissed, leaping onto the carriage: "Jinbao, Pearl, let's go get noodles. I'm starving."
Jinbao and Pearl replied, "Yes, Young Master!"
They were starving too. At the mention of noodles, they perked right up.
After eating a bowl of noodles, Yan Tongshu led Jinbao and Pearl to Kaifeng Prefecture to assume her post.
As the administrator of Kaifeng Prefecture, she had two deputy magistrates and three record keepers as her aides.
Li Fulin, Magistrate Li, was the presiding judge who had handled Aunt Yang's case back then.
The other deputy magistrate, Zhang Jiu, a twenty-seven-year-old from Jiangzhou, had been the Tanhua (the third-ranked jinshi) in the imperial examinations in the thirty-third year of Emperor Qianfeng's reign.
Yan Tongshu couldn't help sizing up Zhang Jiu. The Tanhua was usually the most handsome among the candidates in that year's palace examination.
And while Li Fulin was already thirty-seven — a normal age for a deputy magistrate — Zhang Jiu was only twenty-seven.
As for herself, being entrusted with the administration of Kaifeng Prefecture at the age of twenty-two? That was purely because the new emperor had a screw loose and wanted to use an unreliable person like her to clean up the government. There was nothing normal about this promotion.
Yan Tongshu skimmed through the files of the three remaining record keepers while stealing glances at Zhang Jiu.
He was truly pleasing to the eye. Peach-blossom face, celestial bearing, broad shoulders, long limbs. Standing there, he was as serene as a pine. Only his narrow, phoenix eyes carried a deep sense of world-weariness.
Zhang Jiu seemed to notice Yan Tongshu's scrutiny, but he didn't care. He spoke up: "Lord Yan, if there are no other instructions, I shall return to my duties."
The sound of a spring splashing over jade.
Hearing Zhang Jiu's voice, that phrase popped into Yan Tongshu's mind.
What an exceptionally pleasant voice.
Yan Tongshu nodded. "Go ahead."
Zhang Jiu bowed slightly. "Yes."
As Zhang Jiu withdrew, Li Fulin cast a deep look at his back and explained on his behalf: "Lord Yan, Kaifeng Prefecture usually has a mountain of work, and Magistrate Zhang often works late into the night before he can rest. He wasn't intentionally disrespectful."
Yan Tongshu said, "It's fine."
Yan Tongshu raised her eyes, her clear gaze landing on Li Fulin. "Magistrate Li."
She asked, "There are three record keepers. Why do I only see files for two of them?"
Li Fulin replied respectfully, "To answer you, Lord Yan, the three record keepers were originally Xie Qu Qu, Deng Mengyi, and Cheng San. But not long ago, Cheng San took leave due to illness. Unfortunately, instead of recovering at home, his condition worsened, and he passed away half a month ago. A new record keeper's appointment requires a recommendation from the prefect, but the post of prefect of Kaifeng had been vacant, so no new appointment was made."
Yan Tongshu said, "I understand. Magistrate Li, I need to review many documents to understand Kaifeng Prefecture's affairs. I'm afraid I'll be troubling you often."
Li Fulin smiled. "If Lord Yan has any questions, I am at your service anytime."
Yan Tongshu continued going through other materials from Kaifeng Prefecture.
As she read and asked questions, the morning quickly passed.
And then the whole day passed by.
After dark, Yan Tongshu cursed the emperor up and down again in her mind.
She collapsed onto the bed, utterly exhausted.
Heavens above, the workload in Kaifeng Prefecture was overwhelming. She had spent an entire day just reviewing files and memorizing those complicated departmental branches and case records.
Yan Tongshu had barely fallen asleep, dreaming sweetly of roasting chicken legs over a fire, when she felt a push at her shoulder.
Pearl’s voice came from beside her ear: “Young Master, it’s time to attend the morning court assembly.”
Yan Tongshu rolled over, not even bothering to open her eyes: “I’m not going. Tell the dog emperor to go to hell.”
Pearl’s face turned pale with fright: “Young Master, you mustn’t say such things.”
After much fussing, Yan Tongshu got up, changed into her official robes, boarded the carriage, and went to court.
After two straight weeks of this, Yan Tongshu’s resentment had grown heavier than a vengeful ghost’s.
She stood there with a grim, scowling face, lips pressed tight. Every person her gaze swept past became her sworn enemy.
Qin Yi sat high on the dragon throne, looking down at the gathered officials.
Every courtier wore a grave expression, trying their utmost to project an image of loyalty and devotion to the sovereign.
But Yan Tongshu stood out, her face brimming with venom and bitterness.
Qin Yi couldn’t help but wonder: Had someone in Kaifeng Prefecture made trouble for her?
The thought flickered past and was gone. He brushed aside that minor grudge of Yan Tongshu’s and turned his attention to state affairs.
When she finally walked out of the palace, Yan Tongshu was exhausted in both body and spirit.
She looked up at the sky in despair. Old heavens above, let lightning strike down either me or the dog emperor—I don’t care which.
At noon.
Yan Tongshu brought Jinbao and Pearl to Aunt Yang’s noodle stall for lunch.
Three bowls of noodles were set on the table.
Aunt Yang added a crisp pastry into each of their bowls.
Yan Tongshu picked up the pastry and took a bite. It was crunchy, crispy, and fragrant.
“Aunt Yang, you’re selling pastries now?” She said, surprised. “This is delicious. Did you just come up with it?”
Aunt Yang wiped her greasy hands on her apron: “No, this pastry is a specialty from Jiangzhou. It’s called sesame crisp cake. It’s made by that woman at the stall across the street, Lady Qing. Lady Qing came all the way to the capital with her mother-in-law and two children to look for relatives.
They spent most of their money along the way. She’s got no one to rely on. I felt so sorry for her, so I thought I’d help—try to sell more of her pastries so she can rent a place soon, instead of squeezing into that rundown temple in the countryside. Little Lord—ah, I mean, Lord Yan now.”
Aunt Yang smiled and said, “Lord Yan, this pastry is my gift to you. If you like it, please patronize Lady Qing’s stall in the future.”
Yan Tongshu looked over. Lady Qing was short in stature, sleeves rolled up, baking pastries.
Her arms were sturdy, her hands rough, her skin sallow. She looked like someone who was strong and used to hard labor year after year.
