Chapter 42 Traitorous Officials Who Bring Ruin to the Country
In the Great Xia Dynasty, promotions for officials were mostly based on seniority. Unless one had outstanding political achievements, it would take at least three years to get promoted. However, Pei Wu had only been in the Hanlin Academy for two months when he was promoted to the fifth rank, which was almost a two-level promotion.
Everyone in the Hanlin Academy knew that he had been busy compiling the national history this month. With the prime minister's support, his promotion was almost a certainty. However, no one expected that this promotion would lead him directly to the Privy Council, where his future would be limitless.
After the imperial edict was read, Pei Wu stood up to receive it, and all the officials stepped forward to congratulate him. Pei Wu politely thanked them.
Although everyone offered their congratulations, they were all a little apprehensive. They knew Pei Wu would be promoted, but no one expected that Song Pingzhang would not promote him to the Secretariat-Chancellery, but instead to the Privy Council.
Everyone knows that Su Mu is now the sole voice of the Privy Council. Although Su Mu's faction has gradually weakened since the late emperor's passing, even a starved camel is bigger than a horse. Pei Wu entered the Privy Council under the identity of Song Pingzhang's protégé. Whether this is a blessing or a curse, no one can say for sure.
After the acquaintances finished congratulating him, they all added a word of advice to him to take care. When it was Ji Chaoying's turn, he patted Pei Wu on the shoulder and said, "We brothers entered the court together to serve as officials, so there is no need for formalities. From now on, I only wish that you will have wings and transform into a fish in the Northern Sea."
Today's imperial edict not only applies to Pei Wu, but also to Ji Chaoying, who was ranked second in the imperial examination and filled Pei Wu's vacancy by appointing him as a compiler in the Hanlin Academy, which can be considered a promotion.
The third-ranking scholar, Ning Yiheng, simply stepped forward and gave Pei Wu a hug, then said, "It's not like we'll never see each other again. When I have time in the future, I'll visit Lord Pei's house again. You must treat me to good wine and meat."
Pei Wu smiled and said, "Of course."
Now that he had received the imperial decree, Pei Wu should prepare to take up his post. Officials need a transfer document to be transferred. Pei Wu received the document, but the handover of his work took some time, so he could only go to his post the next day.
The Privy Council belongs to the Western Prefecture and is far away from the Hanlin Academy, in completely different directions. This means that Pei Wu will have to get up earlier than before to go to work, not to mention going to Zhouqiao for drinks. He won't even have enough time to make a round trip.
Because of this transfer, Pei Wu returned home exceptionally early that night, and coincidentally, Jiang Ru was also free at home that day.
She hired a few more workers for her beverage shop, with shifts every day so she wouldn't have to watch over it all the time. She could just check on it occasionally to avoid getting sore legs from standing all day.
The two huddled in the courtyard, with Pei Wu's appointment documents on the table. Jiang Ru let out a long hiss: "That's not right, you've only been in court for two months, how come you've already been promoted?"
She knew Pei Wu was promoted quickly, but she didn't know it was this fast, especially since he was promoted to the second rank in one go. Even a rocket couldn't have done it this fast.
She had previously told Pei Wusheng to slow down so he wouldn't have to attend court, but now it seems that in a few months, Pei Wusheng will actually be able to attend court.
The transfer document stated that Pei Wu had outstanding political achievements and was therefore promoted. Jiang Ru stared at it for a long time. The document was written in a complicated way, but she could understand it all.
Without needing to say more, Jiang Ru understood everything. Pei Wu had been busy with this for the past few days. It turned out that Pei Wu had known all along that he was going to be promoted, but he had kept it from her.
At first, she thought it was just the Hanlin Academy working overtime, but she never expected it to be just one floor. Jiang Ru was speechless and poked the clerk with her finger: "I told you not to go to work and not to work too hard. Look, you got promoted, didn't you?"
Pei Wu, fearing she would tear the document, closed it and put it aside.
Jiang Ru felt annoyed just looking at this document. Pei Wu was indeed very capable, but his rapid promotion was likely to arouse envy.
Jiang Ru stared at the document, then glanced at Pei Wu. Seeing that Pei Wu seemed completely unaware of the danger, she said with exasperation, "Do you even know the Doctrine of the Mean?"
Pei Wu nodded.
Jiang Ru earnestly advised, "You must learn to conceal your cleverness with clumsiness, understand?"
Pei Wu nodded again, but halfway through, he realized something was wrong and frowned, saying, "The Doctrine of the Mean... it doesn't seem to mean this..."
Jiang Ru didn't care at all: "Whether it's true or not, you know what I mean, right?"
Pei Wu could only nod and then shake his head, saying sincerely, "This is not something I can decide."
That seemed to make sense, so Jiang Ru had no choice but to teach Pei Wu some tips on slacking off: "Let me tell you, in the future, if someone assigns you a task, do you want to finish it quickly?"
Pei Wu: "Of course."
“No.” Jiang Ru pointed at Pei Wu. “You’re wrong from the very first answer.”
Pei Wu looked at Jiang Ru with a puzzled expression.
Jiang Ru continued, "You should learn from this. You should tell him that you are working hard and putting in extra hours, then take your time to eat and drink tea before starting. Even while you are working, you should take breaks from time to time so as not to exhaust yourself."
Pei Wu: ""
It must be said that Jiang Ru's idea did make some sense, but she didn't understand the officialdom. If Pei Wu was really like that, at best he would never be promoted, and at worst he would be demoted.
However, Pei Wu didn't remind her of this. He listened to her finish speaking before he tried to speak, but Jiang Ru didn't give him a chance to explain. Instead, she continued, "I'm asking you to get me a glass of water. What are you going to do?"
Upon hearing this, Pei Wu raised his hand, picked up the teapot, and filled the water glass in front of Jiang Ru.
Jiang Ru shook her head: "No, you're wrong. You should have told me that you were already pouring water for me, and then waited until I was really thirsty before pouring it for me."
Pei Wu: "..."
Jiang Ru sighed: "Learn to slack off and don't get promoted too quickly, or you'll become a target."
Pei Wu seemed to have listened, yet also seemed not to. He pondered for a long time before finally saying, "I understand."
Jiang Ru felt that this should be considered enlightening Pei Wu, so she patted his shoulder from a distance: "Study hard, and when you've mastered it, you can graduate."
Whether Pei Wu truly understood the conversation or not, Jiang Ru didn't know. But seeing Pei Wu's thoughtful expression, she figured she could assume he did understand.
However, Jiang Ru wasn't sure if teaching Pei Wu to slack off was the right thing to do. She could only let things take their course for now. After all, although Pei Wu had been promoted, he was still only a fifth-rank official. Promotions became increasingly difficult, and it was uncertain whether Pei Wu could continue to rise.
The next morning, Pei Wu went to the Privy Council early. The Privy Council had known he was coming for several days, and when he entered, everyone had strange expressions and hesitated to speak.
After reviewing his transfer documents, the official in charge took him to see the Associate Privy Councilor. As a new official, it was natural for him to visit his superiors upon taking office.
Bai Qi, the Associate Privy Councilor, was over forty years old and a seasoned veteran of the officialdom. He showed no unusual reaction to Pei Wu's arrival and said with a smile that he would take him to see Su Mu.
Su Mu's office was the most magnificent place in the Privy Council, with gorgeous decorations and a sense of luxury built with money everywhere.
Bai Qi told them to wait outside while he went in to report. However, not long after, Bai Qi came out looking embarrassed and said to Pei Wu, "This... the Grand Chancellor is still asleep. Let's wait a while."
The two waited outside the door. Before long, Bai Qi made an excuse and ran away, leaving Pei Wu waiting outside.
Pei Wu waited patiently for a while. They were under a corridor, where the sun shone in from the side. He stood upright, and his expression showed no dissatisfaction.
As the sun rose, its rays touched his boots and slowly climbed upwards until the sun was directly overhead, at which point the person inside finally stirred.
Before long, the person inside came out and called Pei Wu in. Pei Wu shifted his feet slightly, then straightened up and walked into the room with his back straight.
He bowed and greeted the man.
The person inside lay leisurely in a grand chair, perhaps having just woken up, as a trace of weariness still lingered in his eyes. He gently lifted his eyelids, glanced at Pei Wu, and chuckled, "Where did Song Pingzhang find this scholar to send me such a little white rabbit?"
As he spoke, the man in the chair sat up straight. Surprisingly, he was very young, no more than thirty, perhaps even less than twenty-five. There are very few people who have reached this position at such a young age.
It was a somewhat effeminate face, both alluring and enchanting, with expressive eyes and a face like a peach blossom. His long black hair was loose and unbound. He wore a purple official robe, the wide sleeves of which made his wrists appear extremely slender. A crane was embroidered on the robe, standing lifelike.
He sat up, but did not look at Pei Wu. Instead, he slowly rinsed his mouth with the help of someone beside him before looking at Pei Wu.
His posture was languid, as if Pei Wu were some insignificant person.
He stared at Pei Wu for a while, then clicked his tongue and said, "This year's top scholar is such a little kid. He's only a few years old. Are all the scholars in Great Xia so useless?"
After he finished speaking, Pei Wu raised his eyes and looked calmly at Su Mu.
It had been a long time since he had seen someone so unafraid of him. Like a newborn calf, he was not reckless, but expressed his dissatisfaction in a very awkward way. Su Mu was amused by him and pointed at Pei Wu, saying to the people next to him, "You're unhappy? I was clearly praising him."
No one dared to answer. Su Mu then commented on Pei Wu, waved his hand, and asked, "Where is Bai Qi? Tell him to come and take the man away. Since Song Pingzhang brought him here, he should be given something to do. Otherwise, that old man will say that I am mistreating his people again."
In fact, Pei Wu and Song Pingzhang had no relation whatsoever, but at some point, everyone automatically categorized Pei Wu as a member of the Song faction.
Perhaps this was Song Pingzhang's tactic: to let everyone know that Pei Wu was a member of Song's faction, so that whatever he did would benefit from Song Pingzhang's influence or serve as a shield for him.
Bai Qi arrived quickly. He bowed respectfully to Su Mu and was about to take Pei Wu away immediately when Su Mu called them back just as the two were about to turn around.
He said thoughtfully, "Tell me, the late emperor has been dead for almost two years, so why are these people still chasing after me and trying their best to put pawns in my hands?"
Few people openly discuss the late emperor's death like this, and everyone in the room is on high alert, fearing that Su Mu might utter some more treasonous words.
Fortunately, after a brief pause, Su Mu stopped talking about the late emperor and instead launched into a tirade against the Empress Dowager.
"The Empress Dowager is ruling from behind the curtain, yet no one dares to place any pawns in her court. Why am I, this lonely and powerless ruler, the only one out there? What kind of treacherous minister am I, who has brought disaster to the country and its people?"
Clearly, Su Mu must have said such things from time to time in the past, and no one present dared to pay attention to him; they all lowered their heads and dared not utter a sound.
Su Mu was speaking enthusiastically when Pei Wu suddenly spoke up: "Prime Minister, be careful what you say."
Su Mu paused abruptly, his bewitching eyes scanning Pei Wu up and down before he suddenly laughed: "I suddenly realized that since Song Pingzhang sent someone to annoy me, I might as well send him to see the Empress Dowager. Let's see if the Empress Dowager is more of a devil, or if I am."
As he spoke, he waved his hand and said, "When we enter the palace later, you will come with me."
Pei Wu did not object, so Su Mu got up from the armchair and said, "Let's go, I'll take you to the palace."
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The author's note: "May you grow wings and transform into a fish in the Northern Sea." - From Su Shi.
The second update will depend on the situation.
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