Chapter 68 Attendant Thirty-Two
“Speaking of which, the East Horse Ranch is quite far.” The Poison King recalled that they first met at the West Horse Ranch, and his gaze softened. “How about raising them at the West Horse Ranch?”
Upon hearing the mention of Nishimaba, Shinjuku couldn't help but ask, "Does Your Majesty know that Nishimaba has never had an official in charge?" Because there was no one to manage it, Nishimaba was secretly known as the "graveyard of servants," and servants assigned there rarely had a chance to rise in rank.
"..." Upon hearing this, King Zhen fell silent, a rare occurrence, and his expression darkened.
Just as Shinju was wondering if he had stepped on a landmine and was feeling uneasy, he suddenly heard King Zhen say, "I will merge the East and West horse farms again, and you, Xiao Qingzi, will be in charge of managing them. You can then look after the horses as you please."
Now it was Shinjuku's turn to fall silent. He had never expected that the King of Poison would hand over the entire East and West Horse Ranches to him just because he had casually mentioned it.
This position of power, as one would expect, would inevitably attract a lot of trouble. And that, in fact, proved to be the case.
Shinju was initially unwilling, but upon further reflection, he realized that this was a position where he could assist and protect the King of Zhen. Moreover, the King of Zhen was known for his composure and far-sightedness, and every step he took was likely driven by deeper meaning. He was by no means a foolish person who indulged in love and recklessly delegated power.
The power to control horses is equivalent to the power to command troops.
He had already fully grasped the importance of warhorses on the frontier battlefield.
There's another possibility for delegating power to him: it could be a test, a test of his loyalty. Ultimately, power is granted by the emperor; no power can surpass the emperor's authority and will eventually return to him. He can bestow it upon you, and he can take it back from you.
Life and death hang in the balance of the monarch's single thought.
Shinju subconsciously didn't want to speculate about the King of Poison in that direction.
Seeing that Shinju showed no joy, the King of Zhen's heart sank. He suddenly realized that his actions had been utterly ill-considered. He had only recalled that afternoon when Shinju had happily brushed the warhorse's mane on the pasture. Since the horse farm was short of officers, he had been eager to bestow this position upon Shinju, without considering whether the other would genuinely be pleased. He had already devised a plan to protect Shinju from becoming a target of public criticism, but he found himself utterly helpless in seeing through Shinju's intentions.
Just as the King of Poison was about to break his promise, Shinju accepted the mission.
The memorials piled up on Prince Zhen's desk, but he didn't read them carefully, only silently noting down the signatures of those that were the most scathing. The next day in court, Prince Zhen silenced the public outcry with a single sentence.
"Do you all know who rescued me from the underground of the Taoist temple?"
The ministers immediately fell silent, realizing what they were thinking.
No wonder that a eunuch with such shallow qualifications and ridiculously young age held such a high position, and no one in the army raised any objections or even showed the slightest dissatisfaction. It turns out that if it weren't for Shinju rescuing the King of Zhen, those accompanying guards and generals, even with their merits in supporting the emperor, would not have escaped being purged. Therefore, how could they possibly oppose His Majesty's appointment?
The fact that such a great feat as saving the emperor was not mentioned before, but instead used the rescue of the Xi family as a pretext, shows that the King of Zhen had already planned this all along and was waiting for them here.
With this, it was finally decided that Shinju would serve as the head of the Imperial Horse Administration.
When the news reached the Yan residence, a servant brought back a message from Consort Yan.
"The Imperial Concubine said she wanted the head of the family not to obstruct this matter."
Yan Lang, enraged, laughed coldly, slamming his teacup down on the table, his little finger trembling nervously. The servant who had delivered the message was so frightened that he knelt down with a thud, begging his master to calm his anger.
Yan Lang found it absurd. How could he not know what his younger sister was thinking? She probably thought that once that boy became the head of the palace, he wouldn't keep hanging around the Poison King and compete with her for the Emperor's favor.
Naive and foolish! Short-sighted! They only care about the small world of the inner palace and never consider the interests of powerful families.
She probably doesn't even know what the Imperial Horse Administration is, or what it means to hold that position. It's military power! It's a coveted prize that all the major families have been scheming for for so many years, yet they haven't been able to get a single inch of! The entire army is a monolithic entity, which has always been their biggest worry. Without control of the military, it means that even if they force the emperor to abdicate, they might not be able to truly bring the entire court and the entire country under their control.
"That's military power! To just hand it over to some nobody who can't even grow a hair!" This is tantamount to trampling their family's dignity underfoot.
Yan Lang trembled uncontrollably and felt a chill run down his spine whenever he recalled the way the Prince of Zhen had glanced at him in front of the palace gates. His eyes darkened, and a sneer appeared on his lips, his eyes filled with nothing but hatred.
Meanwhile, the Third Prince, who was still at the Yan residence, was being escorted to his carriage.
"I haven't learned enough yet, why are you going back! I'm not going back!" An Shijun pushed the servant to the ground and refused to get into the carriage.
The servant happened to fall down next to Xiao Hengzi's legs. Xiao Hengzi felt a pain in his calf, but he did not back down and just stood there silently.
An Shijun got angry when he saw him standing there dumbfounded, so he pulled the man to his side and scolded, "Don't you have any sense?"
Xiao Hengzi stared blankly into the distance, remaining silent.
The Third Prince then realized that the other party couldn't see him at all, but it was impossible for him to apologize. He hadn't bothered with Xiao Hengzi's provocation earlier, but instead, he was provoked to go and learn the ways of the Crown Prince.
He was engrossed in his studies when, unexpectedly, he was suddenly urged to return to the palace.
"Your Highness! His Majesty has returned, you can't just not show your face!" the servant pleaded with a distressed expression.
"Father won't blame me, and besides, Mother is with me now. Wouldn't it be an eyesore if I went?"
The servant hesitated, unsure how to answer.
The Third Prince, who was completely unaware of the turmoil in the palace, stared at Xiao Hengzi for a while, then suddenly felt parched and changed his mind, saying, "Alright, alright, Xiao Hengzi, come up with me. Let's go back to the palace."
Xiao Hengzi was dragged onto the carriage with a blank expression.
.
West Horse Racing Field.
If you were to ask who was the happiest in this whole affair, it would undoubtedly be the staff at the West Racecourse.
Their long-awaited superior had finally arrived, and they finally had something to look forward to. Although they didn't know who the newly appointed Chief Secretary Qing was, it didn't stop them from being moved to tears and filled with gratitude.
Not long after, when Shinju came to look at the horse, the old servants and others were so nervous that they didn't dare to look at him for even a moment, and thus they did not recognize Shinju.
But as soon as Shinjuku opened his mouth, the old servant felt that the name sounded somewhat familiar. He was the first to raise his eyes, and then he was dumbfounded.
“…Little…Little Keiko??” The old servant looked at the tall and elegant young man in front of him, observing his familiar features and the pearl earrings on his earlobes, and finally voiced the absurd guess in his heart.
Shinju smiled brightly and nodded. At this moment, the admiral standing to the side broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly shouted, "How dare you address the Commander-in-Chief in such a manner! Kneel down and beg for forgiveness at once!"
Shinju glanced at him sideways, his face showing neither anger nor joy, and said, "I have not yet spoken." The implication was that he had not yet taken it seriously, and the admiral's actions were overstepping his bounds.
However, not wanting him to hold a grudge against the servants, Masakatsu explained, "This old man is an old acquaintance of mine; the admiral should not be harsh on him."
Upon hearing this, the admiral could only apologize repeatedly and step aside, refusing to utter another word.
The old servants and others looked at each other, clearly still incredulous.
After all, who could have imagined that the young servant who couldn't even keep his job at the West Horse Ranch would, in such a short time, transform into their superior, controlling not only the West Horse Ranch but also the most resource-rich East Horse Ranch? Such immense power at such a young age would be considered far-fetched and utterly illogical in a historical novel.
Although the old servants were happy for Shinjuku, they couldn't shake the fact that Shinjuku's status was now worlds apart from theirs—a gap they felt they could never bridge. So, they remained silent and didn't try to ingratiate themselves, only nodding cautiously.
Shinjuku's golden eyes flickered slightly, and the corners of his lips, which had been raised, quietly fell back.
The ponies seemed to sense their master's dejection and gently nuzzled Shinjuku's cheek with their heads.
Shinju smoothed its mane, then turned to the servants and said, "You are to take care of 'Kifu'."
Before the servants could respond, the Akhal-Teke horse, Fengzhui, which was half a head taller than the short-legged Qifeng, snorted loudly, as if reminding Shinjuku not to forget that it was also there. At the same time, not daring to swing its tail at Shinjuku, it swung it at Qifeng instead, causing Qifeng to circle behind Shinjuku.
Shinju pointed at it with a warning look in his eyes, then added, "His Majesty's 'Wind Chaser' is also entrusted to you."
The old waiters quickly agreed.
Later, Shinjuku inspected the West and East Baba fields and left only after seeing that the black color on the rare birds and animals had not reappeared.
Now that things are settled here, it's time to go back and take care of the person who was severely criticized as a "tyrant" by the censor.
-----------------------
Author's note: Shinju: King Zhen is definitely not a tyrant.
King Zhen: Is there any possibility that I am the one?
There's a ranking this week, so there will be five updates.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
