The young man is chivalrous, making friends with the heroes of the five cities. He is open-minded. His hair stands on end. He is ready to talk. He is willing to die together. A promise is worth a thousand gold. He is brave and unrestrained. He is lightly covered. He rides a flying saddle. He fights in the east of the city. He drinks wine at the wine shop, and the spring scenery floats in the cold jar. He sucks the sea and hangs the rainbow. He calls the eagle and the dog at leisure, and picks the carved bow with white feathers. The cunning sword is suddenly empty. The joy is fleeting.
——"Six States Song Head·Young Man's Chivalry"
-----
In mid-October, the examination results came out, and those who passed the examination were appointed as officials immediately.
Yan Shang had an exceptionally good start.
The position that the Ministry of Personnel arranged for him was the head of the Secretariat. This position was from the eighth rank. In this dynasty, scholars who just started to serve as officials, even if they were the top scholar, had to start from the ninth rank. Yan Shang started from the eighth rank, which was really enviable.
What is even more enviable is that this official position of the eighth rank belongs to the Secretariat. The Secretariat is the core of the court. If you start your career as an official from this starting point, it is possible that you will have the opportunity to become a prime minister in the future.
Moreover, all the scholars in Chang'an knew that Liu Xianggong had just accepted Yan Shang as his little disciple. With Liu Xianggong, the current Xianggong, as his teacher, Liu Xianggong had been in power for decades and had many students under his tutelage, and all his resources would be inclined towards Yan Shang.
This is really something that makes everyone envious.
The number of people in Chang'an who were eager to make friends with Yan Erlang was more than a hundred times greater than before. For a time, the alley where Princess Danyang's residence was located was crowded with people. These people happened to come to visit Yan Erlang next door, not to visit Princess Danyang.
It is said that Princess Danyang was very angry about this and scolded Yan Erlang and asked him to move away.
However, Princess Danyang Mu Wanyao has also been in high spirits recently.
Although Yan Erlang, whom she had recommended, did not become her boyfriend, but Yan Erlang entered the Secretariat. After two days of silence, the prince pretended to be happy and sent someone to congratulate him.
Because of the private deal between Mu Wanyao and the prince, the prince is now helping to hand over the right to organize the year-end grand palace banquet to Mu Wanyao.
For this reason, even Jin Prince's biological mother, Concubine Xian, was somewhat unhappy.
But Empress Xian had never competed with the Imperial Concubine for power in the palace for so many years, and now the Imperial Concubine was troubled by her son's affairs in the court. After hesitating for a while, Empress Xian still tried to compete with Mu Wanyao...even though Empress Xian herself felt that she could not win.
After all, Mu Wanyao has the prince to protect her.
Mu Wanyao was happy about more than that.
Yan Shang's career was going smoothly, and her own affairs were progressing smoothly. But apart from that, the person Chang'an talked about the most recently was not Yan Shang, but Wei Qilang, Wei Shu, from the Luoyang Wei family.
When Yan Shang first entered the court, he was only doing odd jobs as the head of the Secretariat.
However, Wei Shu also passed the examination for the Boxue Hongci subject with excellent results. Wei Shu started his career in the court as a supervisory censor.
Yan Shang's position as the Director of the Secretariat was only an eighth-rank official, while Wei Shu's position as the Censor was directly above the eighth rank.
Not only that, the Supervisory Censor was under the jurisdiction of the Censorate. The most interesting thing about this position was that although it was only an eighth-rank official, it could supervise all officials. Therefore, the Supervisory Censor was once known as the "little minister".
It is also reasonable to say that it is a prime minister of a lower rank.
Wei Shu is only fifteen years old now, and he has become a Censor at such a young age. How could people in the court and the country not be surprised and want to make friends with him?
It's just such an opening, but some people are happy while others are sad.
-----
"What?" Wei Shu's elder brother Wei Kai, a secretary, returned to his mansion and heard his wife talking about Wei Qilang, saying that he was now the Censor-in-Chief.
The tea in Wei Kai's mouth sprayed out.
His wife asked angrily, "My dear! Why are you so surprised?"
Wei Kai was both angry and amused. He took a handkerchief and wiped the tea stains on his clothes. He still found it unbelievable: "The Central Government has arranged for Qilang to be the Censor?"
His wife said, "Yes. My dear, Qilang is very capable now. Shouldn't we also go and send him some gifts to improve our relationship with him?"
Wei Kai glanced at his wife and said, "Do you think it's really good for this official to be called Xiao Xianggong?"
He thought thoughtfully: "This is an official position that offends everyone."
It looks glorious, but a small official of the eighth rank can investigate all officials from top to bottom. Is this a good thing? It is really embarrassing for a small official to have great power.
This kind of official position was clearly reserved for aristocratic families. And not just any aristocratic family, but only the children of aristocratic families with extremely high status would have the courage to take up such an official position.
Because he had offended all the officials in the court, no one could protect him unless they were from a prominent family.
Wei Kai said: "The Central Government is putting the Wei family on the spot... Could it be that His Majesty personally approved it?"
His wife doesn't understand politics, so naturally she can't give any advice.
Wei Kai was a little annoyed and frowned. The Wei family wanted to arrange a different path for Wei Shu from others, so from the beginning Wei Kai had no intention of supporting his seventh brother in the court. Even at the Qujiang Banquet, he deliberately went to make the relationship with Wei Shu even more strained.
However, the Central Government is now directly putting Wei Shu in trouble. It is clear that they do not want Wei Shu to have an easy time, and they are also testing the relationship between the Wei family and Wei Shu.
Wei Kai pondered for a moment and decided to write a letter to the head of the family in Luoyang to explain the situation. Chang'an did not trust the Luoyang Wei family, and the Wei family needed to lie low. As for Wei Shu's problem at this time, it depended on whether Wei Shu could handle it himself.
After all, he had never liked Qilang, the son raised by his mistress since he was a child. When Wei Kai was about to write a letter, he thought of this and still felt a little gloating.
He smiled and said, "The old emperor is such a wonderful person. He asked my seventh brother who is not good at speaking to talk to others and offend people everywhere... Isn't this embarrassing for Qilang?"
-----
The court played this move very skillfully.
While outsiders were enjoying the feast, Wei Shu himself was not very happy.
Fortunately, Mu Wanyao helped him.
Mu Wanyao felt sorry for Wei Shu when he found out that the poor boy had been put into the fire pit of the Censorate right after he entered the court. If it were someone else, how could a young man who didn't like talking to people and making friends be allowed to be an official who had to talk to people and make friends?
Moreover, this official is responsible for monitoring all the ministers, which is too offensive. If he offends too many people, he may not be able to get promoted in the future.
This kind of official position is best given to someone like Yan Shang who is good at dealing with people.
How can I give it to Wei Shu?
The court's ill will towards Wei Juyuan was so great that it made Mu Wanyao feel distressed.
So, in order to help Wei Shu, Mu Wanyao specially set up a banquet in his house and invited Wei Shu and those ministers in the court who were on the same front as him.
It's not about how to take care of Wei Shu. After all, these ministers also obey the prince, and they are not on the same path as Wei Shu. But within their ability, it's always okay to turn a blind eye to Wei Shu, right?
Wei Shu was not very happy to attend the banquet, and was taken by Mu Wanyao to meet people.
The Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue is the highest official under the Minister of Revenue, and now that the Minister of Revenue is not in charge of things and has been waiting for the right time to resign, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue is now the head of the Ministry of Revenue. What's better is that compared to others, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue is actually from the Danyang Princess's mansion.
This Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue used to be Mu Wanyao's aide.
Mu Wanyao brought Wei Shu over. The Minister of the Ministry of Revenue looked at the quiet and indifferent young boy and assured the princess with a smile, "Don't worry, Your Highness. At least in my Ministry of Revenue, I can guarantee that the officials will not cause trouble for Juyuan. Juyuan is young, but he has taken on such a big responsibility. His future is limitless."
Muwan shook his head and smiled.
If this official does a good job, his future will naturally be limitless; but if he does not do a good job, his life may be ruined.
Didn't Liu Wenji's father used to be an imperial censor? Now he was demoted to Lingnan, and his own son... Never mind.
-----
There was a lively banquet in the courtyard. Mu Wanyao only accompanied them at the beginning. After the Minister of Revenue took away Wei Shu, who had a sullen face the whole time, Mu Wanyao returned to her own dormitory to rest.
She poured herself a cup of tea and said to the man behind the screen, "So, your teacher and others are too abominable. In order to check and balance the Wei family in Luoyang, they threw Juyuan to be the Supervisory Censor. It sounds so glorious, but don't you consider Juyuan's temperament? Is he capable of being such an official?
"It just so happens that this official position is the best rank that the court can give after entering the court! Outsiders can't say anything bad about it. Your teacher is such an old fox, it's really too much."
A figure can be vaguely seen behind the screen decorated with inscriptions.
The man was changing his clothes noisily, all the while listening to Mu Wanyao's endless complaints and pity for Wei Shu.
Mu Wan shook his head and said, "This kind of position that offends people should not be given to Juyuan, but people like you should be given it. What you can handle, Juyuan can't handle. You can offend people and then win their hearts back, but after Juyuan offends people, he will probably never have anything to do with you again. It shows that your teacher favors you, protecting you in his own territory, but throwing Juyuan out to attract the attention of outsiders.
"Juyuan just blocked the arrow for you."
After a while, Mu Wanyao stopped complaining, and then he heard the person behind the screen say helplessly: "How can you say that? The Censor is called 'Little Xianggong', which is indeed the glory that only the top scholar of the dynasty should have. Juyuan is a bit quieter...but this is also a kind of training. How can you be afraid of talking to people when you enter the court as an official? This is also the experience given by the teacher."
This clear, mellow voice naturally comes from Yan Shang.
The teacher he was referring to was naturally Mr. Liu.
Mu Wan shook his head and squinted at the screen. He saw a figure walking slowly and not even fully dressed.
Yan Shang paused again and said, "Besides, how can I be the one who offends others? Your Highness feels sorry for Ju Yuan, so you think, think... that I deserve it? Do you think it doesn't matter if I offend people?"
Mu Wan raised his eyebrows, looked at the screen seriously, and said with a smile: "Why, is Yan Erlang jealous? I am just speaking the truth. Juyuan is not suitable for this position."
Yan Shang said slowly: "I will naturally find a chance to talk more with Ju Yuan. The position of Supervisory Censor... is indeed difficult for him."
Mu Wanyao smiled happily: "Yes, you should teach him how to get along with others. How can you sell people out and still expect them to count money for you happily... The more I talk, the more I think you should... Forget it, you won't be happy if I tell you, so I won't say anything."
It's quiet behind the screen.
Mu Wanyao was getting impatient waiting, she tapped the table with her hand: "Have you changed your clothes? How many years will it take you to wear an official robe? If you don't know how to put it on, tell me and I'll go in and help you."
Yan Shang hurriedly said, "It's almost done, it's almost done."
He was in a panic, as if he was worried that she would go in and see.
Mu Wan tilted her head to look at the scenery outside the window, fiddling with the small incense burner in front of her out of boredom.
After a while, hearing footsteps, Mu Wanyao turned back casually and looked at Yan Shang, who was wearing a green official uniform, walking out from behind the screen.
Seeing him walking out slowly, with his slender figure and the green robe that made him look elegant and graceful...Mu Wanyao's eyes lit up little by little as if they were lit by stars.
Because of the customs of the Wei Dynasty, the emperor did not wear a dragon robe when attending court, and the ministers did not wear official uniforms when attending court. And the lower-ranking officials, such as the eighth and ninth ranks, who did not even need to attend court, did not have the habit of wearing official uniforms throughout the year.
In the Wei Dynasty, court officials usually wore official robes in only two situations:
First, extremely important occasions such as grand sacrifices, ceremonies, and banquets;
Second, when the minister was planning to do something big, he would wear official uniform to warn other ministers, such as "threatening to die to give advice".
So even though Yan Shang had an official position, joined the Secretariat, and was given several official uniforms, unless he wanted to cause trouble, he would not wear the official uniform under normal circumstances.
However, Mu Wanyao was surprised. It was probably the first time she saw a real eighth-rank official standing in front of her, and she felt the joy of watching him grow up in person.
What's more, Yan Shang is so handsome.
Mu Wanyao urged Yan Shang to wear his official robe in private so that she could see it.
-----
Seeing Mu Wan staring at him intently, Yan Shang lowered his eyes, his fair face slightly red, feeling a little embarrassed by her direct gaze.
He said, "Is it okay?"
Mu Wan shook her head slowly: "Why are you in such a hurry? But you look like this in your official robes... Well, I still think you look better without clothes."
Yan Shang: “…”
His face turned even redder, but he looked at her helplessly.
He originally wanted to take off the official robe, but after Mu Wanyao said that, it seemed that he took off his clothes just to show it to her... Yan Shang put his hands on the belt, hesitating a little.
His gentlemanly character is playing tricks on him again.
Mu Wanyao chuckled, stood up suddenly, and left the incense burner on the table. She walked over, not as hesitant as Yan Shang, she easily put her arms around his neck and hugged him.
She walked forward indifferently, kicked off her pearl shoes and stepped on his shoes. He was slightly stunned and was forced to step back.
As he was backing away, his knees hit the bed rails behind him, and Yan Shang fell backwards, falling beside the bed. Mu Wan followed him onto the bed with a smile on her face, kneeling between his legs, looking down at him with a smile.
She hooked her slender fingers around his collar, her eyes smiling: "Why are you always so flustered? It's like we're doing something bad."
Yan Shang: "Your Highness... This is not good. In broad daylight..."
Mu Wan snorted, "I didn't commit adultery in broad daylight, so what's wrong with that? Why, is it wrong for me to even kiss you?"
After saying that, she leaned down, held his chin to make him raise his face, and then she bit the corner of his lip.
Yan Shang: “Hmm!”
When he opened his mouth in pain, the soft and delicate tongue started to play tricks on him. After that, his breathing became hot and unstable, and he was tortured by Mu Wan shaking his chin. His face was very red, and he lay stiffly on the bed with his eyes closed. He clearly liked it, but he was more embarrassed.
Her long green sleeves were draped over the edge of the bed, her green robe was torn open, and her black jade belt was tangled in a mess.
He was wearing an official robe that symbolized majesty and authority. The quail went around his collar and waist, then bent its neck and wings, and was dragged into the hands of the girl who was leaning over him in a very complicated way.
It's really disgraceful.
Mu Wanyao liked the way he lay there with a red face. The way he didn't resist and let her do whatever she wanted made her kiss him again and again every time, and she liked him more and more as she saw it.
She liked his clean scent, his soft lips and tongue, and the way he was so tolerant and allowed her to bully him.
Mu Wanyao still hadn't figured out what to do in the future. But she couldn't resist Yan Shang's temptation. She felt that it would be a pity if she missed him and gave him to someone else...
Don’t think that she didn’t see clearly because it was dark and snowy that night. She actually saw very clearly the admiring and fond look that Mr. Liu’s granddaughter showed towards Yan Shang.
Yan Shang's gentle temperament is very attractive to girls. After Mu Wanyao agreed to be with him that night, she also decided to do so for the time being.
Anyway, Yan Shang said that he is not in a hurry to get married for one or two years.
And who knows what the situation will be like in a year or two? Maybe by then, Mu Wanyao and Yan Shang will have parted peacefully and the two will no longer have any other relationship.
Maybe it wasn't her who abandoned Yan Shang, but Yan Shang couldn't stand her bad temper and wanted to separate from her.
In short...it's better to enjoy life while you can.
Mu Wanyao decided to be an irresponsible bad woman. No promises, but she would have a good time with Yan Shang. She would not let down her strong feelings for him.
As Mu Wanyao was daydreaming, she felt as if someone was gently hooking her waist.
She suddenly looked at someone below, smiled, and parted her lips from him: "What are you doing?"
Yan Shang finally managed to gently place his hand on her waist, but after a slight pause, he moved his hand away. He looked at the charming girl above him and said, "Nothing."
Mu Wan gave him a sidelong look, regretting in her heart. She wondered why she had said such a thing. If she hadn't said anything, Yan Shang might have put his arm around her waist.
Well, she wanted to know when he would have the courage to touch her. He only had the courage to play with her hand. Nothing more...
Yan Shang lowered his eyes and said softly, "Your Highness, stop messing around. I should go to the front yard to meet Juyuan. It's not good for me to not go out after such a long time since I came back."
Mu Wanyao made way for him and let him sit up. She knelt on the mattress and watched him sit up and straighten his clothes. Seeing him seriously going out to meet people, Mu Wanyao felt unhappy again.
She felt that he only cared about the court officials and she was not important.
Mu Wan shook: "Do you know what I am thinking?"
Yan Shang lowered his head, smiled slightly, and said softly: "Your Highness, don't worry, I will help Juyuan. It's not that difficult to be a censor... Juyuan will have a good future if he does a good job in this position."
Mu Wan was stunned for a moment.
Then she was speechless, looking up at the sky above the bed curtains in a daze.
After just a while of playing in bed, he started thinking about government affairs.
Yan Shang said softly, "Your Highness and I have such a relationship, I naturally know what Your Highness is thinking."
Mu Wanyao thought to himself that you have no idea at all.
She sneered, "What's your relationship with me?"
Yan Shang still had his eyes downcast, but he had already put on his clothes, neatly dressed, ready to go out at any time. He whispered, "Of course it's... we're sleeping on the same bed."
Mu Wanyao couldn't help laughing out loud.
She rushed over from behind again, hugged his shoulders and smiled with a blushing face: "You are so tactful... and we are sleeping on the same bed! I don't know whether we are in a relationship where we sleep on the same bed, but you definitely don't know what I am thinking about."
Yan Shang frowned slightly.
He turned his head to look at her and humbly asked for advice: "May I ask what is going on in your mind, Your Highness?"
Mu Wanyao whispered a few words in his ear, which made Yan Shang blush, exclaim, couldn't help laughing, and felt embarrassed.
As expected, he said, “This…is not good.”
Mu Wan snorted, shook off his shoulder, stepped back, and said unhappily, "You are so boring! Go away, go find Ju Yuan."
Yan Shang sat on the bed, looked at her for a while, and compromised: "Then you should also be prepared."
Mu Wan glanced at him and said, "How are you going to prepare? Are you going to bathe and burn incense for three days, or fast for three days, to show your determination? Just going to bed, how hard can it be?"
Yan Shang was speechless by her casual attitude. He always felt that her attitude was problematic... as if only that incident was important in their relationship. He didn't understand before, and she said she wanted him to do whatever she wanted. But later he found out that she didn't value him at all, she just wanted to sleep with him... Yan Shang changed his attitude.
Can't be casual.
Yan Shang: "I hope it can be the wedding night..."
Before he could finish his words, a pillow came flying at him and hit him on the back of the head.
Yan Shang turned around in pain and saw Mu Wanyao staring at him with wide eyes: "Wedding night? You'll have a lot to wait for then. You'd better dream faster."
Yan Shang saw that her eyes were wide open, bright and charming. When she was angry, her eyes were wide open, which was actually quite beautiful... Yan Shang stared at her eyes, and was stunned for a while, until he was hit by a pillow again.
Mu Wanyao said, "Why are you in a daze? There's a maid outside looking for you, why don't you leave?"
Yan Shang lowered his eyes and stood up, and before leaving he said one more sentence: "You can come out later."
Mu Wan shook: "No need for you to remind me."
Yan Shang sighed and had to leave.
-----
When the Great Wei was preparing for the year-end ceremony, the small countries in all directions that had pledged allegiance to the Great Wei were naturally the important objects of congratulations.
However, the officials of the Wei Dynasty were very hesitant and didn't know whether they should include the Wuman.
Logically, Wuman and Wei have a marriage relationship, so they should be included; but the princess who married the princess has returned and presided over the ceremony this year. If Wuman comes to pay homage, will there be conflicts between him and the princess who married the princess?
Moreover, the Nanman were at war. The Wuman and the Chiman had been fighting fiercely before, and it was unknown whether the war was over or not...
After some hesitation, Da Wei still sent out the invitation. As for whether Wu Man would come or not... we'll have to wait and see.
At this time, it was the southern barbaric wasteland, where the Chiman lived, with rocky cliffs and steep mountains, and endless green fields.
In the tent of the King of Chiman late at night, a tall man was curled up on a tiger-skin throne, slowly and methodically tearing open the letter sent by the ceremonial officer of the Great Wei.
He had deep eyes, a high nose, a huge, shiny silver ring on his left ear, and a deep scar that ran across half of his face.
The scars were caused by the war in the past two years, but they did not detract from the handsomeness of this young man. Although he was lazy, even when he was just reading a letter and smiling casually, he exuded a sense of silent dominance.
Below, a middle-aged barbarian was being held down by two men, trembling as he knelt on the ground. This barbarian was still wearing the robe of the Red Barbarian King, and was pulled out of bed in the middle of the night.
Now that the royal court had become someone else's, the Chiman King had no choice but to kneel at the feet of his enemies.
The Chiman King struggled: "Wuman King, please don't kill me... We can cooperate..."
The Wuman King Meng Zaishi, who was sitting on the tiger-skin throne above, had just finished reading the letter sent by the Great Wei. After hearing what the Chiman King said, he couldn't help laughing: "What are you thinking? If I want to cooperate with you, what is the point of fighting for the past two years? Am I teasing you... Kill!"
He was still smiling when he said the first half of the sentence, which made King Chiman blush and think that the matter could be negotiated. But as soon as the last word "kill" came out, there was no smile in his eyes anymore.
The Chiman King had no time to react before the men holding him on both sides raised their swords and chopped off his head, which fell to the ground.
The Red Barbarian King died silently at this moment.
Meng Zaishi looked at the blood flowing on the ground expressionlessly.
His subordinates asked, "My king, what does the letter from Wei say?"
Meng Zaishi was absent-minded: "It is the birthday of the old emperor of the Great Wei Dynasty. A grand ceremony will be held and all countries will be invited to attend."
The subordinate asked: "So... shall we go?"
Meng Zaishi supported his chin with his hand, with a playful smile in his eyes: "It's hard to say. On the one hand, we are on good terms with the Wei Dynasty, and on the other hand, we are subordinate to the Nanman after all. Recently, the Nanman King has been very powerful and seems to be trying to unify the five Nanman tribes... We Wuman are not welcome here either."
He tore up the letter in his hand bit by bit, his eyes were expressionless, and his tone was still smiling: “But I miss my little princess so much.
“It’s really hard to deal with.”
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