Bai Zhou's words jolted everyone half-awake. Xie Yunchen, who was already so drunk that he was dizzy and slumped over the table, was already half-asleep.

Hearing Bai Zhou and Su Jin's conversation, he suddenly looked up and exclaimed, "What? Brother Bai, you've also been sent to Jiangzhou?"

"Bai Zhou, are you talking nonsense? You've been drinking all night and haven't revealed a single piece of information. If you really can't bear to see Su Jin go to Jiangzhou all alone, I'll go and ask the Emperor to send you out as well tomorrow."

As he spoke, Lin Xiangzhi let out a burp.

Bai Zhou's eyes were blurry with drunkenness, and his eyelids, which were almost closed, were lifted again. His fair cheeks were flushed, and if he were dressed in women's clothing, he would definitely be mistaken for an extremely beautiful girl.

He said, slowly and deliberately, "I'm not lying, His Majesty really did send me to Jiangzhou to keep Su Jin company."

Su Jin was immediately invigorated, and his drunkenness dissipated somewhat with joy. "Really? What position did the Emperor assign you?"

Bai Zhou smiled and glanced at everyone, "You guess."

Lin Xiangzhi gestured to Zhu Xi, who then picked up the wine pot and poured everyone another half a cup of wine.

"The wine is ready. You asked us to guess. Since it's a guessing game, if we guess wrong, we have to drink. If we guess right, you drink this wine."

Before Lin Xiangzhi could finish speaking, Xie Yunchen eagerly guessed, "A large amount of ore has been discovered there, and the Emperor must have sent you to be in charge of that area."

Su Jin and Lin Xiangzhi both looked at Bai Zhou. Perhaps due to the effects of alcohol, Bai Zhou nodded slightly forward, then raised his head and shook it. "Not entirely correct. Each of us should drink half a cup."

Xie Yunchen wouldn't have it, pressing his hand on the wine glass, "No, I won't admit defeat until you tell me where I went wrong."

Bai Zhou looked at Lin Xiangzhi, "He's cheating."

They're all friends, and he can't help but feel guilty if he takes sides. Lin Xiangzhi was in a difficult position.

He thought for a moment and said, "Write it down first, and we'll settle the score later after everyone has guessed."

Xie Yunchen released his hand and teased, "As expected of the Minister, you never forget to settle accounts."

"Okay, but don't try to renege later." Bai Zhou leaned back and slumped lazily in the armchair.

Zhu Xi looked up at the hourglass in the room; another hour was about to pass.

He figured they wouldn't be able to go home tonight, so he walked to the door and instructed the maid on duty in the outer room, "Quickly make up the beds in the guest rooms; the gentlemen will definitely be staying overnight."

The maid glanced at the crescent moon above the tree branch. "If the masters are happy, it's possible they'll drink all night tonight."

"Young Master's alcohol tolerance is not bad. The adults are already a bit tipsy, so it's always good to go and prepare for them."

Seeing that Zhu Xi's words made sense, the maid quickly turned around and walked towards the guest room.

Inside the room, Lin Xiangzhi looked at Su Jin and said, "Brother, you go first."

Su Jin picked up his teacup, took a sip, and analyzed, "This time, the Emperor has arranged almost all the positions below the fifth rank for his overseas assignments. If we're guessing based on rank, we're definitely going to have a drinking session this time."

"Brother Su means..."

Lin Xiangzhi vaguely sensed that Su Jin had grasped the truth.

"I guess it's a position of either the third rank or the junior third rank."

As soon as Su Jin finished speaking, everyone's eyes turned to Bai Zhou.

Bai Zhou nodded. "You could say that, or you could say that."

Lin Xiangzhi, considering the developed water transport in Jiangzhou and the fact that official salt was distributed there, guessed, "Could it be the Salt Commissioner?"

Bai Zhou shook his head. "No."

"Damn it, I didn't even guess correctly at all." Lin Xiangzhi began to regret his terrible idea.

Guess what kind of wine you're drinking.

Bai Zhou met everyone's expectant gazes, picked up the teacup beside him, and said, "We're all brothers, how can I let you get drunk alone? I'll drink with you."

"Hey, hey, hey! Lord Bai has the wrong cup, that's a teacup." Zhu Xi was quick-witted and immediately took the teacup from Bai Zhou's hand, then put the wine cup in his hand.

Bai Zhou smiled sheepishly, "The cup turned into two shadows in front of my eyes, I didn't see it clearly, it really wasn't intentional."

"Stop keeping me in suspense and tell me the good job His Majesty has assigned you."

As a third-place scholar in the imperial examinations, his position must have been quite high.

Bai Zhou raised his glass, "Let's drink half as a gesture, any more and we'll really get drunk and pass out. We can talk about it later after we've drunk it."

In order to get Bai Zhou to reveal the answer as soon as possible, everyone raised their glasses to their lips without prior arrangement.

Bai Zhou took a sip of wine and put down his cup, saying unhurriedly, "Acting as prefect, let's see how it goes in a year."

"puff!"

"Cough cough cough..."

"What? Another acting manager?"

Lin Xiangzhi sprayed all the wine he had drunk onto the ground.

Su Jin had just swallowed a mouthful of wine when he choked and started coughing violently.

Xie Yunchen was so surprised that his eyes almost popped out of his wine glass.

Seeing everyone's varied expressions, Bai Zhou said in a serious tone, "Don't be surprised, it's true. The Emperor will announce it at the morning court tomorrow. Whether we can receive our full salaries depends on the Emperor's mood tomorrow."

With the example of Lin Xiangzhi before him, Bai Zhou didn't even think about his salary.

He is currently unmarried, and since he is single, he has no family to worry about. In Jiangzhou, prices are slightly cheaper than in the capital.

With corrupt officials being purged, prices must have dropped several times over, meaning even those receiving only half their salary would have a surplus.

Lin Xiangzhi picked up a handkerchief from the table and wiped his mouth. Only after Su Jin stopped coughing did he say softly:

"Your Majesty is wise; he has mastered the art of 'acting in charge' very well."

Everyone understood that Lin Xiangzhi wasn't really praising someone.

Xie Yunchen raised his hand to make a shushing gesture. "Brother Lin, please be careful with your words. His Majesty is wise and mighty. Whatever decision he makes is correct. If he's going to rule temporarily, then he can rule temporarily for seven or eight years. Eventually, he'll have a legitimate reason to rule."

"See? You also said that if the words are not proper, the name will not be appropriate." Seeing Xie Yunchen's cautious appearance, Lin Xiangzhi deliberately teased him.

"That's not what I meant. In short, these are special times, and His Majesty's special measures are correct."

Xie Yunchen and everyone present knew one thing: after the turmoil of the previous dynasty and the subsequent cleanup, there were not many people available to the court. If they did not appoint new people, they would have to rely on senior cabinet officials.

The capital is the heart of Wanling; how could we send cabinet ministers there?

Su Jinping calmed down and nodded repeatedly, "That's right. Don't worry about whether it's acting as a substitute or not. As long as we do our duty and are loyal, no one will dare to question the Emperor's decision."

Although many of his colleagues were sent down to Jiangzhou, the friendship between Su Jin and Bai Zhou was unparalleled.

Upon learning that Bai Zhou was traveling with him, Su Jin happily picked up the remaining half-cup of wine and jokingly said, "Congratulations, Prefect! I look forward to your continued support."

"Although I'm reluctant to see you two leave, I still congratulate you both on your promotions." Lin Xiangzhi raised his cup, his face full of reluctance.

Xie Yunchen, still somewhat dazed, raised his wine glass, tilted his head back, and downed it in one gulp.

After downing a glass of wine, Su Jin tilted his head and slumped onto the table.

A moment later, three of the four people in the room were slumped in their armchairs.

Lin Xiangzhi said to Zhu Xi, "Give me a hand and help them to the guest rooms."

Zhu Xi shook her head helplessly and muttered under her breath, "As expected, you don't leave until you're drunk, and once you're drunk, you don't have to go home."