Zhou Wencheng and Xiao Zixiu looked at each other silently.
Zhou Wencheng blinked: Would you call this a hen crowing at dawn?
Xiao Zixiu nodded: Fine! So, why don't you, Chief Secretary Zhou, go and offer some advice to His Highness the Prince of Yue?
Zhou Wencheng quickly shook his head: Am I crazy?
I was sent to Yuezhou by the petty King of Yue to be a lowly, dead-end position as a chief secretary. If I offend the Queen of Yue, what good will come of it for me?
Xiao Zixiu shrugged: That settles it.
Zhou Wencheng was unwilling to give up and looked at Xiao Zixiu with hopeful eyes: General Xiao, you are the prince's maternal uncle.
Xiao Zixiu sneered: Uncle? Even your own mother couldn't help!
Helian Jue was once arrogant and disdainful, only recognizing his adoptive mother, the Empress, and showing no affection whatsoever for his birth mother, Consort Xiao.
Now, Helian Jue has undergone tremendous changes and has become increasingly eccentric and willful.
If you really provoke him, he can go completely berserk!
Xiao Zixiu was also tricked by the vengeful Helian Jue. Unless absolutely necessary, he would never dare to offend this master easily.
The King of Yue clearly trusts his queen and is willing to let her, a woman, take the lead in the outside world and oversee the overall situation. As her subordinates, they should just watch and not offer any advice.
Is it because he's afraid of having too comfortable a time in Yuezhou?
Zhou and Xiao, the two people who should have been most willing to advise Helian Jue, didn't say a word, let alone the others.
Those who claim to have abundant blessings and long life are merely servants who only know how to obey their masters and don't care about whether things are in accordance with the rules.
As for others, they have even less right to speak.
Thus, Xie Yuan stood before the public for the first time, representing the King of Yue in overseeing all matters of the royal palace.
...
There was no existing royal residence in He County, so Xie Yuan needed to personally explore the surrounding suburbs to ultimately choose the most suitable location.
However, the group could not actually sleep on the streets.
Even Governor Cui wouldn't dare to humiliate a prince in this way.
He ordered his men to find a five-courtyard house in the city, which was carefully cleaned and tidied, and invited Helian Jue, Xie Yuan and his party to stay there temporarily.
As for the eight hundred guards, they were housed in empty houses on the outskirts of the city.
Because it was hurricane season, some officials and wealthy merchants in the city fled inland to "avoid the storm."
There are many empty houses in the city.
I roughly estimated that Governor Cui requisitioned several houses.
“Chief Clerk Zhou, along with his family and General Xiao, all need their own courtyards!”
Seeing that Prefect Cui was reliable in this matter, Xie Yuan didn't hold it against him and even took the opportunity to make his own request.
Governor Cui gave a stiff smile, suppressing his impatience, and nodded, "Very well! Your Majesty's orders will be obeyed!"
"Thank you for your trouble, Governor Cui!"
Xie Yuan bowed slightly, his posture so perfect that there was not a single flaw.
Governor Cui gave a forced smile and then hurriedly left, citing official business as the reason.
And so, the group settled down in He County for the time being.
"Miss Zhou, I've heard you're educated?"
After settling things with Helian Jue, Xie Yuan went to check on the arrangements for Zhou Wencheng and other subordinate officials.
As she left the Zhou family home, Zhou Wencheng's wife and eldest daughter, along with several other female relatives, personally saw her off at the door.
As Xie Yuan reached the door and was about to board the oxcart, he stopped and turned to Zhou Jiao'e, the eldest daughter of the Zhou family, and said...
"Your Highness, I do indeed recognize a few characters!"
Zhou Jiao'e looked to be thirteen or fourteen years old, but she was calm and considerate.
Her answer was very modest.
As the daughter of a civil official, she was personally educated by Zhou Wencheng from a young age.
Her level of education goes far beyond simply "knowing a few words".
He was well-versed in the Four Books and Five Classics, proficient in poetry and prose, and even had some knowledge of arithmetic, horsemanship, and archery.
"That's good! Starting tomorrow, I will be selecting a site for the Prince's Palace, and there will be some paperwork that needs to be done."
Xie Yuan turned around and said to Zhou Jiao'e with a smile, "Miss Zhou, would you be willing to be my lady-in-waiting and handle some trivial matters for me?"
Zhou Jiao'e was stunned.
Female officer?
How could a young woman from a respectable family become an official?
Of course, this doesn't mean there were no female officials in the Great Zhou Dynasty.
However, most of them were empresses or empress dowagers in the palace, and they would have female relatives of noble families or imperial clans serving as "female attendants".
The Attendant-in-Ordinary was the prime minister, but the female Attendant-in-Ordinary was not a female prime minister; at most, it was just a nice title with no real power.
Their duties were limited to advising and reminding the Empress of etiquette, and some even simply chatted with her, without offering any "advice."
But Princess Consort Yue was just a princess consort, and Zhou Jiao'e was just a girl from a poor family; she had no right to be a female official.
However, Zhou Jiao'e's heart was racing!
A glimmer of hope flashed in her eyes—a lady-in-waiting, serving by the princess's side, assisting her in selecting a site and building the palace—that didn't seem so bad.
It's better than being trapped in a small courtyard, doing trivial things like needlework, cooking, and brewing tea every day.
Zhou Jiao'e was tempted, but dared not agree easily. She cast a pleading look at her mother.
Zhou Wencheng's wife, Su, was also somewhat tempted, but more than anything, she was worried about her daughter's reputation.
After thinking for a moment, she declined on behalf of Zhou Jiao'e, feeling both apprehensive and guilty: "Your Highness is so kind to me, but my eldest daughter is clumsy and might delay your important business!"
These days, the requirements for women are not very strict, but ladies from respectable families still rarely show their faces in public.
Especially the word "work," which is somewhat presumptuous, and Mrs. Su didn't want her daughter to steal the limelight.
Zhou Jiao'e lowered her head, concealing the disappointment and sadness in her eyes.
Since the parents were not happy, Xie Yuan could not force them. She smiled and said, "It's nothing serious, just some trivial matters! Madam can discuss it with Chief Secretary Zhou!"
"Of course, it's up to you whether you agree or not!"
After saying this, Xie Yuan got onto the oxcart.
"Your Highness, this Su family member is far too ungrateful!"
Duo Shou was somewhat dissatisfied with Su's attitude and couldn't help but complain to Xie Yuan.
"I understand! Yuezhou is remote and wild, and it's almost impossible for a good girl to find a good husband here!"
"If you spend all your time in the public eye and lose your good reputation, it will be even more difficult for you to get married in the future!"
"Sigh, I was just assuming things!"
Xie Yuan sighed, "But I have no choice. His Highness is short of manpower, and so am I."
Ancient times were far inferior to later times; illiteracy was the vast majority of people here.
Like Ruyi, she was still a servant in a noble family and only knew a few characters.
This is already much better than many daughters of officials.
It should be noted that many daughters of officials and wealthy families were not necessarily able to study.
"Actually, it's not entirely without a solution. Doesn't His Highness have a ready-made example?"
Duo Shou was quick-witted. Seeing that Xie Yuan was worried about "talents", he hurriedly offered advice and suggestions.
Xie Yuan already had a plan in mind, and upon hearing Duo Shou's words, he couldn't help but smile and nod, "Yes! Your Highness is truly wise to employ the exiles!"
Those who could be exiled to Lingnan were either extremely wicked or high-ranking officials.
The former is one thing, but the latter and their families are basically all educated.
"Alright, let's recruit a group of 'migrants' to help us first."
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