In the pavilion, there was a round-backed armchair with one person sitting quietly.
No one accompanied him, no tea, and no other furnishings. The pavilion, open on all sides, also had no lighting, leaving it dim and gloomy.
When something was on his mind, Mei Sanghai liked to sit here alone in silence, watching the trees outside the pavilion where faint lights and moonlight mingled to create a subtle fragrance, and observing the shapes of the branches in the dim shadows.
Steward Kong Shen entered the pavilion and reminded him, “Master, it is time to rest.”
Mei Sanghai replied, “The Wolf Guards have entered the city directly. Until things calm down, no one can rest easy.”
Kong Shen said, “I was just about to inform Master that the Wolf Guards have already left the city and there is no movement for now.”
Mei Sanghai asked, “What exactly are the Wolf Guards doing?”
Kong Shen answered, “It is unclear. The key point is that there was no prior warning. They mobilised suddenly without notice, and the details are still being investigated. That said, these Wolf Guards are indeed too arrogant. They are supposed to be stationed outside the city as troops, yet they burst into the city as they pleased. It is simply rampant behaviour.”
Mei Sanghai countered, “Is there any movement from the palace side?”
Kong Shen replied, “There are currently no signs of abnormality in the palace.”
Mei Sanghai leaned back with his face obscured in shadow and sighed, “You see, their arrogance is also indulged by His Majesty. There is no way around it. His Majesty wants the Sinan Mansion to help him achieve longevity, yet he fears losing control over them. That Earth Mother is not someone anyone can restrain, so he can only rely on the elite military forces to keep them in check. The Sinan Mansion was indulged by him, and so were the Wolf Guards. Who is right and who is wrong?”
Kong Shen listened and shook his head with a sigh.
As the sky began to brighten, Yu Qing went out again for his usual early morning roll call.
The carriage clattered along the morning streets and delivered him to the Censorate.
As soon as he entered the Censorate, he saw Lin Chengdao waving from the corner of the corridor, so he walked over.
After they greeted each other, Yu Qing asked with concern, “About the military movement yesterday, is your aunt alright?”
Lin Chengdao replied, “It should be fine. I made some inquiries. The Wolf Guards reported to the Ministry of War that they had discovered the culprits who attacked the juren from Liezhou en route. In their urgency they acted without time to report, which explained why they raided Xiyue Fang and burst into the city. The people temporarily detained at Xiyue Fang were all released that same night. I will go check again after work.”
“Oh, that is good then.” Yu Qing gave a casual response and went back to the duty room for roll call.
After signing in, he waited there again.
After waiting for quite a while, he finally saw Pei Qingcheng arrive unhurriedly. Yu Qing immediately left the duty room and followed him all the way into Pei Qingcheng’s office.
Tea and documents were placed on Pei Qingcheng’s desk in a routine manner.
Pei Qingcheng glanced a few times at Yu Qing, who stood obediently to one side. Once all the items on the desk had been handed over, he waved for the others to withdraw, then asked Yu Qing, “I hear you went out for a meal invitation yesterday and even wrote some calligraphy for them?”
Yu Qing looked up, slightly startled, and could not help asking, “How does Sir know about that?”
He somewhat suspected that Lin Chengdao had spread the news.
Pei Qingcheng snorted, “How could I not know? A piece of calligraphy saying ‘人间好’ has elevated a small restaurant to the skies. Now even I know that Xiyue Fang has a place called Xiaoxian Lou. Even I want to go and see what is so good about the food there that it could make the top scholar leave such a comment after tasting it.
Can you not see it? They are using your fame to promote their restaurant overnight. Next time you write calligraphy, think it through first.
As for accepting meal invitations, you need to be more careful. You are now a court official. You must clearly distinguish whose invitations you can accept and whose you cannot. You are from the Censorate. We have always been the ones impeaching others on such matters. Do not end up being impeached yourself.”
Was the news released from Ye Diandian’s side? Yu Qing wondered inwardly.
Pei Qingcheng then added, “Is the food at that Xiaoxian Lou really as good as you said?” He seemed somewhat curious.
Thinking of the several thousand taels of silver he had eaten the night before, Yu Qing did not say anything negative. He also recalled the benefits from Lin Chengdao and volunteered, “This official thinks it is quite good and rather elegant. The food is a bit expensive, but it is run by the aunt of Lin Chengdao from our document library. If Lin Chengdao helps arrange it, it should be more affordable.”
Pei Qingcheng seemed thoughtful, lost in some consideration.
Yu Qing naturally did not forget his own matter. This time he was determined to leave, so he took out the resignation letter he had prepared the day before from his sleeve, walked to the desk and presented it with both hands. “Sir!”
Pei Qingcheng’s gaze fixed on his hand, his eyelids twitching as he asked, “What is this?”
Yu Qing said humbly, “My resignation.”
Pei Qingcheng said word by word, “Not approved.”
Yu Qing placed the resignation on the desk with both hands, stepped back and said, “Sir, this official really is not suited for officialdom. Please grant your approval.”
Unexpectedly, Pei Qingcheng grabbed the resignation and threw it back at his chest. “It is not written properly. Go back and do whatever you should be doing.”
Yu Qing looked at the resignation that had fallen at his feet and was stunned. He had not even looked at it, yet Pei Qingcheng said it was not written properly.
This time he finally understood what happened with the previous resignation. It was not that it was not written properly, but merely an excuse since the other party did not agree.
Yu Qing immediately picked up the resignation from the floor and presented it again with both hands. “Sir, this official’s mind is made up…”
Pei Qingcheng angrily interrupted, “What mind is made up? Do you think the capital is a place where you can resign just because you want to? Your background and origins mean that the moment you stepped into the capital, you were drawn into the whirlpool. The moment you entered officialdom, there was no retreat.
Rumours are spreading everywhere outside that you lost the top scholar position. Where do you think those rumours came from? Someone is deliberately spreading them. Let me tell you, someone is targeting you and creating momentum against you. At this critical moment you still dare to cause extra trouble. Has water entered your brain?
Why did I keep you by my side? It is precisely to prevent you from making mistakes, to protect you by keeping you close, and it is for your own good. I do not approve your resignation. Now take your resignation and get out immediately. Do what you should do, otherwise do not blame me for being impolite.”
Yu Qing was speechless. One after another, they all claimed it was for his own good.
This one said he had embraced him, that one said he had embraced him.
This one claimed to be protecting him, that one claimed to be protecting him.
This one seemed to be with A Jiezhang’s group, that one also seemed to be with A Jiezhang’s group. Who knows what is true and what is false.
Who harmed A Jiezhang’s family back then?
Why did the people who harmed A Jiezhang’s family silence the dispatched assassins?
Why does A Jiezhang not dare to contact his own people easily?
It is obvious. Even A Jiezhang suspects it was done by his own people.
Therefore, Yu Qing did not believe these ghost stories at all. No matter what anyone said, he believed none of them.
He did not know the details between A Jiezhang and these people, so he did not know how to distinguish friend from foe. But he understood one principle: bad people will not say they are bad. They all claim to be good.
He could set these matters aside for now. The most critical issue was that he could no longer stay in the capital.
In ten days or so, there would be the grand celebration of Jin Kingdom. Even if he took leave and invited Mister Ming, it would be useless. To invite Mister Ming, he must find his little martial uncle, and it would require his little martial uncle and Mister Ming to cooperate.
Not to mention that his little martial uncle had agreed that the palace examination for Mister Ming would be the last time troubling him.
He could not go find Mister Ming and also go find his little martial uncle at the same time. The two places were not on the way at all, in fact they were thousands of miles apart. He would definitely have to find his little martial uncle first, then have his little martial uncle find Mister Ming. The problem was, who could guarantee they would find him smoothly?
Time was tight, and it was highly likely there would not be enough time.
There was also the later marriage matter with the Zhong family. What to do?
He could not stay any longer. Since he had to leave sooner or later, it was better to leave early.
But right now, he was facing the Vice Censor-in-Chief, and he could not force Pei Qingcheng by the neck to agree.
Given the other’s attitude, he could only take the resignation and withdraw for the time being.
Once he left, bang. Pei Qingcheng slammed his palm on the desk in anger and cursed, “Damned thing.”
He no longer had the mood to handle official business. He stood up, put on his official hat again, and left to find someone to discuss the matter.
Some things he could block for a while, but not forever. There is no principle in the world that forces people to be officials. If something goes wrong, whose responsibility is it?
So he must go find someone to consult and find a way to resolve A Shihuang’s intention to leave.
Back in his own duty room, Yu Qing had just sat down for a short while when he saw Pei Qingcheng’s figure leaving through the window. Thinking of something, he immediately stood up and quietly followed all the way to the entrance of the Censorate.
After confirming that Pei Qingcheng had left by carriage, he returned to the duty room. After pondering for a while, he found six blank invitation cards, wrote several invitations on the spot, enclosed an address with each, then left the duty room and exited the Censorate gate. He found the waiting coachman and two guards outside.
Yu Qing handed the invitations to the three and instructed, “I want to host a meal for these six people at noon. You each go to two places to deliver the invitations. The addresses are enclosed inside. I will wait for your news.”
The invitations were sent to Zhan Muchun, Xu Fei, and Su Yingtao and the others.
The guards and coachman naturally accepted the orders.
Yu Qing took his casual clothes from the carriage and returned inside the Censorate to wait.
After half the morning had passed, the two guards and the coachman returned one after another to report. All six people who received the invitations had replied.
Su Yingtao and the four others all gladly said they would definitely attend the meal.
Xu Fei said he had no time and gave no reason. He simply was not coming.
Zhan Muchun also had no time. The guard who delivered the message said it was indeed the case, as he found Zhan Muchun preparing to leave the capital on official business.
However, Zhan Muchun had replied with a handwritten letter. Yu Qing opened it and saw that Zhan Muchun expressed his apology, saying it was truly unfortunate. There had been a flood in the area adjacent to the capital, causing many people to become displaced, and the disaster victims were likely to head towards the capital.
The letter said this was no small matter. He had to accompany his superior to urgently rush to the site for on-the-spot investigation. Only after determining the number of disaster victims could the capital make preparations to respond.
It said that by the time Brother Shihuang saw this letter, he might have already set off with his superior. He apologised repeatedly and said he would host a return meal after returning to the capital.
Yu Qing read it and had nothing to say. He could only let it go. He told the guards and coachman to wait outside, saying he would come out shortly.
Back in the duty room, Yu Qing changed his clothes and put on casual attire.
He folded his official robe neatly and placed the official hat on top properly.
He then took the items and headed straight for the office of the Left Historian.