Chapter 203 Chapter 203 Update.
After the Lunar New Year, envoys from various countries returned home one after another. After the Lunar New Year, the Tang official's office gradually became less busy. After some of the cooks and nuns finished their shifts, they would stay in the gatehouse of their residence, light a hot charcoal basin, and gamble with sheep's shank bones. They couldn't help but talk about the envoys they were responsible for recently.
"I went to deliver breakfast to the Buyeo envoy, and he gave me a pearl, no bigger than a soybean. I made a hairpin with the pearls and gave it to my daughter as a dowry."
"Han Huiren gave me a bag of dried fish."
"Hey, Zhou Ping, what happened to you?"
"Why ask? Didn't you see the deer antler felt hat he was wearing a while ago?"
Zhou Ping was very proud of what others said. He was collecting clothes in the yard and asked Xiao Hulu's two kitchen maids:
"Did your seasonal food people collect anything?"
"Humph, you're the only one who loves to stir up trouble."
Little Gourd had been crowded there watching their parents toss sheep bones, but after hearing this, she became unhappy and pulled Tong'er into her room.
"That Dayuan envoy is rude and difficult to deal with. How can we get anything from him? I'm afraid Ji Shanren hasn't had a good night's sleep in over half a month."
A nun said that Ji Xu had not made any announcement about the wine in the jeweled wine bag, and later he returned the precious wine bag, so they knew nothing about it. Even Xiao Hulu and the other two were not aware of it. They only remembered that Badan was tricky and difficult to deal with at the beginning.
"I heard that Tang Guanling is looking to promote someone to fill the position of Tang Guancheng, which has been vacant for a year!"
"Really?" Zhou Ping was moved and asked immediately.
"Really? An old maid beside her let it slip. She said she'd wait and see how our departments respond to the envoys before making a decision."
"Before the envoys left, the imperial family hosted a feast for them in the Minguang Palace. Officials with salaries of over 600 shi (approximately 100 liters) were present, including our Minister Tang. Did you ask those envoys to speak well of each of them?"
"The Sushen envoys that my aunt is in charge of promised me that they would speak well of my aunt to Official Tang."
Zhou Pingdao said that if her aunt was promoted to Tang Guanling, the position of the baker in the bakery room would be vacant, and her aunt would definitely recruit her to fill it.
Just thinking about it made her very happy. She glanced at the courtyard next door. Could the Dayuan envoy still speak for her?
It's good enough that she doesn't confuse right and wrong or make random accusations. Her aunt has a 70 to 80 percent chance of winning the position of Tang Guancheng.
The next day, Tang Guanling summoned all the officials and indeed brought up the matter:
"The position of Tang Guancheng has been vacant for a long time. I have already recommended this position to the Minister of the Imperial Household, and yesterday I received the approval of the Imperial Household."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone was excited. This meant that the result of Tang Guancheng's promotion had been announced! The stewards and wine stewards of each department looked at each other, wondering if it was them. Zhou Ping quietly said to the steward Hua:
"It must be my aunt. The soup chef, Xu, is less experienced than my aunt. The fruit and vegetable chef, Zhao, was criticized for gambling years ago. And last year, Jia Jiu, the wine chef, was suspected of using strong liquor to frame Wang Huzi. This is a rumor that has spread among us.
As for Ji Shanren, the baker in the second room, she was chosen from Dayuan this time. My niece heard that the Dayuan envoys had repeatedly picked her, even saying that there was sand in the cakes she made. I believe she also told Tang Guanling about her shortcomings. Therefore, she is the one who is least to be feared.
Hua Shanren also had an idea in her mind and felt that this position would most likely belong to her. You know, Tang Guanling is old. If she can become her capable subordinate, Tang Guancheng, she can take over her position when she retires.
Just as he was thinking about it, he heard Officer Tang announce the document:
"Ji Xu, the second-in-command of the bakery and pastry department, will assume his original position and serve as the official in charge of Tang Guancheng. He will be on trial for one year. If he is competent at the end of the year, he will be considered a true official."
"What?"
Zhou Ping couldn't believe it.
This document means that Ji Xu was promoted to be the official secretary of Tang.
As for "ru shou", it means a trial period before formal appointment, which lasts for one year.
After a one-year probation period, Tang Guancheng was officially granted the position.
However, many important official positions require time to be held. During this year, you just need to be competent and responsible and not make major mistakes. Generally speaking, there will not be major changes after a year.
There was a commotion below, some expressing their rage, others congratulating Ji Xu. Official Tang heard a few words of resentment and said,
"The Jishan people treated the Dayuan envoy very well. Before leaving, Badan told me that she was an excellent chef. It was because of his prejudice that he caused a lot of trouble in the first two days after he arrived."
How could Badan, that rude Dayuan barbarian, say something so nice?
Zhou Ping was shocked at first, and now he was suspicious.
This was actually Ji Xu's request, because she also heard that before the envoys from various countries left, the imperial family would hold a farewell banquet in the Minguang Palace, and the three dukes and nine ministers and other officials would also accompany them. Therefore, she asked Badan to say a few good words for her in front of her superior, Tang Guanling.
Not only her, many chefs who were responsible for entertaining the envoys with delicious food asked others to say good things about them.
Although Badan had gained several pounds in the more than half a month here, he felt in his heart that the Han people were cunning and it was impossible for him to say anything good about the Han chef. This was because she had the leverage over him and Yanliu was there to mediate, so he reluctantly agreed.
"Ji Shanren, congratulations, congratulations!"
After Tang Guanling and his entourage left, the people in the courtyard lingered for a long time. A group of people gathered around Ji Xu and bowed to congratulate him. Some of them said with a smile:
"Why call him Ji Shanren? He should be called Tang Guancheng."
"That's right."
"But we are still in the trial period. You are too polite. It's okay to call me by the same name as before." Ji Xu replied.
"You are too modest. You have only been guarding for a year. During this year, you have been doing the work of the Minister of the Court. The position of the Minister of the Court is just a concurrent one. You should be called this."
Some immediately flattered, and many echoed him.
"That's right."
Cheng is the deputy of the Ling, assisting in managing all the affairs of the Tang Guanling office. Tang Guanling is old, and the person she will rely on in the future will definitely be the deputy she personally selected, so they naturally tried to curry favor with her first.
There were also those who regretted not having gone to the cake and bait sub-room. With Ji Xu's promotion, wouldn't the position of cook be theirs? They regretted it so much that when they returned to their residence at dusk, they gnashed their back teeth with regret as they talked about it.
"I really shouldn't have misjudged her back then. She's actually such a dynamic person. She's been promoted much faster than Hua Shanren."
"In the future, she will be the one in charge of our entire Tangguan Office."
There is also a happy event here in Sangshu Lane. The master of Yangcheng is marrying off his daughter today. His daughter, Yangcheng Si, whose maiden name is Si Niang, is nineteen years old and is engaged to a family from the same Anling County.
The man was a Yulin Lang in the Yulin Guard. Si Niang was taken to a shelter because of the plague, where they fell in love with each other and got married at home. Today was the wedding day with a formal matchmaker and the bride was welcomed and sent off, with all the fanfare and music.
Men, women, young and old, from around Mulberry Alley, all came out to watch the fun.
Tian also brought Feng and Zhu here, and all the neighbors in this lane were there. They were there to attend the wedding banquet.
At this time, there was a custom of giving gifts for weddings, funerals, and congratulations. The gift money was usually more than 100 coins, and the amount varied according to the closeness of the relationship, the wealth of the family, etc.
The guests included relatives, friends, and neighbors. Everyone living in Mulberry Lane received invitations. The nuns also agreed that as neighbors, each of them would give a gift of one hundred coins wrapped in red cloth and give it to the bride in her room when she entered the house.
Because her family's Ping'an Restaurant was built by Master Yangcheng, Tian gave her a little more, totaling five hundred coins.
Because Shen was strict, her daughter Si Niang seldom went out. The young girls in the alley were all fond of her. They came in to see the bride under the pretext of receiving gifts from their mothers and elder mothers.
"The bride is so beautiful."
"Your face is so red!"
Si Niang lowered her head in shame. While they were talking, a shout came from outside:
"The groom is here, the groom is here to pick up the bride!"
A group of naughty kids followed the wedding procession from the alley entrance. They saw that Dayao, the grandson of Liu Laogu, was holding a wooden stick and hitting the groom. This was the stick-beating ceremony before entering the house, representing the family's reluctance to let their daughter marry off.
Because Si Niang had no brothers, she asked a big yak to block the door. However, the ancestors of the Yangcheng family were from a noble family, so they did not use the stick to tease their son-in-law. In some places, people were killed because of the excessive use of the stick.
The big yak knocked gently, and the groom was allowed to come in to pick up the bride. The room was filled with the sounds of drums and cymbals, which was very lively.
"The groom is handsome and well-matched with Si Niang!" said Aunt Xiao.
"After all, he is a Yulinlang. Not to mention that this is an official position with a rank of 300 stones, those who can become Yulinlang are all virtuous and well-behaved children from good families. It can be seen that he is not bad."
When Qiu Gu was young, she often visited wealthy families. She attached great importance to Wang'er's studies and hoped that he could become an official. She was the most knowledgeable about these things.
"Aunt Qiu knows everything here with us."
Tian said, and the nuns who were drinking in the courtyard all laughed. Over there, Shen was sending her daughter out, crying like a tearful person. Master Yangcheng also had red eyes. Qiu Gu then said:
"You still have the heart to laugh?"
Pointing at Feng and Zhu who were looking at the bride, he said, "You have three daughters in your family. When they get married, will some of them make you cry?"
Tian's heart suddenly felt sour, but she said stubbornly:
"I am a man of iron. Have you ever seen me shed tears?"
The wine tables here were connected from beginning to end. The Jin family was also drinking here. They saw how well-matched the couple was, and heard that the groom was a Yulin Lang, with a rank of three hundred stones. It seemed that he was one level higher than his son-in-law Du Xian.
Ji Zhi's face darkened as he looked at his second daughter, who was running around the yard and having fun. He pulled her over and made her sit properly, then lectured her:
"You're already 28 years old, and you're still acting like a little girl. How can I, your mother, find you a good husband? Just be content!"
Ji Zhi had no choice but to stop playing with the little girls and sit down to eat the roasted meat that had just been served.
"It smells so good, Mom, you should eat it too!"
Jin saw this, clenched her teeth, wiped the oil off her mouth with a handkerchief, and said:
"You have no manners when eating. You're such a grown-up and yet you're still so greedy. Yuanniang would have been married by your age."
It is said that Ji Yuan is already pregnant and is taking care of the baby. The yard here is small and there are many people. Jin is afraid that she will be pushed and shoved by others and have a miscarriage, so she asked her not to come and brought her some food home.
"It's so boring to always say these things. I don't want to get married." Ji Zhi said.
I don't know what possessed the girl this time. She kept saying things like she hated getting married. This made Jin very angry. She pinched her and scolded her:
"What nonsense! Men should get married and women should get married. You are at the right age now. If you waste your time and become a bitter woman with a lonely husband, who will want you?"
"Hmph, if you don't want it, then don't. I want to be a female official like Xu Niang next door. She's nineteen, three years older than me, and she's in no rush to get married."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com