Zhou Gu was surprised when he saw Cui Xingzhi and Ning Ze.
However, he did not inquire why the two of them arrived at the Royal Capital so soon, as he was not in a position to chat casually. He simply gave a wave of his hand and said, "Ziye, you show them around. I want them back here to help me in half an hour."
Ziye saluted, "Gentlemen, please."
Ning Ze perked up when he heard the respectful address. Yes, from this day forward, he too was a man of importance.
Cui Xingzhi, on the other hand, picked up on the key point in his cousin’s words, that they were supposed to come back half an hour later to assist him right away. This meant that the moment they arrived at the Ministry of Housing, they were on duty and should start working. The Ministry was busy, so it was natural for them to get back to work as soon as they returned. This was something he had no contention with.
Then, Ziye took the two of them for an orientation on the current situation of the Ministry of Housing and introduced them to Sun Chunwang, the Minister of the Revenue, and the rest of the busy staff.
Sun Chunwang was grinning ear to ear, praising the two for their timely return. He said that the Princess was truly compassionate and empathetic, caring about her subordinates. The Ministry of Housing was short-handed, and they were officially starting work from this day on. Both of them were advisors of fourth rank, only a level below Zhou Gu, and would now be working under the Princess’s husband.
The other officials in the Ministry were initially surprised to see two new superiors taking charge on their first day. Despite the fact that these officials outranked them, they were part of the Princess’s trusted inner circle, and had fought alongside her in Dawei. One of them was even the husband’s cousin. As such, they were content with their arrivals, and even as they were busy perspiring heavily, they couldn’t help but show cheerful expressions. After all, having a high-ranked position was not just about show; it meant more people to share the workload. Currently, it was rather overwhelming as each of them was doing the work of ten people.
Half an hour later, Ning Ze, wiping his sweat, asked Ziye, "Is this much work normal? Are we going to have to work overtime every night?"
Ziye shook his head, "At the latest, we will leave at the ninth double hour, that’s the Princess’s latest regulation for all the departments. After all, people are not made of iron, they can hold on for a day or two, but it will be difficult to keep up in the long run."
Ning Ze thought about it, the ninth double hour was quite late.
Ziye said, "Mr. Ning, you’re probably not aware, but on the day our Young Master came to the Ministry of Housing, he didn’t leave until after midnight."
Ning Ze no longer found the ninth double hour late.
Ziye added, "Later on, the Young Master realized this wasn’t sustainable, so the Princess proposed to open the grace examinations. Afterward, she specifically summoned the ministers from the Six Ministries and strictly stipulated that we must leave work before the ninth double hour."
Ning Ze was astonished. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶
"You two just came back today, you must be tired, right?" Ziye looked at the two, "Should I tell the Young Master for you two to come back tomorrow?"
"No need." Ning Ze shook his head, "Let’s start today!"
If he hadn’t taken a rest last night, naturally he would be very tired, but today, after being addressed as ’Mr. Ning’ so many times, he was invigorated. Even Ziye had changed his tone when speaking to him.
Cui Xingzhi also nodded in agreement, "No need."
Seeing that the two were not too tired, Ziye brought them back to Zhou Gu on time, half an hour later.
Upon their return, Zhou Gu wasted no time and assigned them tasks right away.
Ning Ze and Cui Xingzhi accepted their assignments and, like everyone else, comfortably immersed themselves in their work.
After six months of rigorous training, Ning Ze had tapped into his potential. Cui Xingzhi, having received special attention from Mr. Cui from an early age and coming from the reputed Qinghe Cui family which had produced bureaucrats for generations, came from a strong background and was naturally competent. With these two now assisting, although they were not very skilled in the beginning and experienced some difficulties adjusting, Zhou Gu suddenly felt a great weight lifted off his shoulders.
What’s more, today the Ministry of Housing managed to clock off early, before the ninth double hour.
Upon leaving the Ministry, Sun Chunwang said gleefully to Zhou Gu, "Young Master Zhou, it really takes you. With the addition of two competent people to the Ministry, things have truly taken a turn for the better. I can clearly feel the weight lifting off my shoulders. My back even hurts less today."
Zhou Gu smiled, "Minister Sun, you should go and rest. The Princess has received a reply from the Crown Prince of Daliang. The seeds for spring farming have been requested from Dawei, amounting to ten thousand bushels. The Ministry has to assign experienced people to inspect the seeds, so that we aren’t being fooled with bad seeds. So, it still requires people to be dispatched, and by this time tomorrow, we’ll probably still be busy."
Sun Chunwang was overjoyed, "I must thank the Yan Crown Prince for this."
Even if it meant dispatching two more people, he was very happy to have this significant matter resolved.
Once they reached the gate of the Ministry, Minister Sun Mount the carriage and left first. Zhou Gu turned back to see Ning Ze, who looked exhausted and weary, emerging unsteadily. Cui Xingzhi looked a bit better, but the fatigue in his eyes was clearly evident.
Zhou Gu clapped each of them on the shoulder, "You should both go and rest."
Ning Ze was initially thinking about celebrating Zhou Gu’s successful appointment as the husband of the Princess with a drink after returning to the royal capital. However, feeling so tired now, he had no energy left for that. He just nodded his head, "Alright."
However, Cui Xingzhi managed to say, "I haven’t congratulated you yet, cousin. Congratulations."
Zhou Gu raised his eyebrows in joy, "Alright, I’ve received your congratulations. Off you go now."
With that, Zhou Gu climbed into his carriage.
As Ning Ze watched the carriage disappear in the distance towards the direction of the Imperial Palace, he mumbled indistinctly, "Huh? Doesn’t the Princess’s husband live in the Zhou Residence? I vaguely remember someone telling me that he also has a mansion outside the Palace."
"My cousin’s mansion is the first one in our residential area. However, it’s not strange for him to live in the Royal Palace instead of there." Cui Xingzhi urged, "Mr. Ning, let’s go."
"Alright, let’s go. I am so tired." Ning Ze quickly mounted his horse and rode off.
When Zhou Gu returned to the Feng Hall of the Royal Palace, he noticed that Su Rong wasn’t back yet. He asked, "Why hasn’t she returned today? Where did she go? What is she doing?"
Zhao, the wet nurse, quickly responded, "Responding to your highness, the Princess is still in the Council Hall, it seems that the task of arranging manpower for the dike repairs in the Ministry of Works has detained her."
Zhou Gu nodded. He wanted to go find Su Rong, but was afraid of interrupting her, and decided to take a bath instead.
After bathing, Zhou Gu found that Su Rong had still not returned, so he followed her usual habit. While waiting for her in the room, he played with the nine-chain puzzle.
After waiting for half an hour and finding that Su Rong hadn’t returned yet, Zhou Gu, having lulled himself to sleep, was leaning his head to one side. He threw the nine-chain puzzle aside, gave a final blinks, and fell soundly asleep.
When Su Rong came back, the lamp in the hall was still lit. She immediately slowed her steps. Seeing that Zhao, the wet nurse, was still awake, she asked in a low voice, "Did Zhou Gu come back first?"
"Yes, he returned an hour before you." Zhao also lowered her voice. "The old servant asked him a few questions and found out that Mr. Ning and Cui Xingzhi returned from Xinqi City today. Without taking a break, they went straight to the Ministry of Housing, and people at the Ministry finished work an hour earlier than usual today."
Su Rong got it. During her break, Lan Zhi had mentioned to her that Ning Ze and Cui Xingzhi had returned to the royal capital. She hadn’t expected them to arrive so early, two or three days ahead of her projections, and to be so sensible as to report straight to the Ministry He o right after their return.
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