At this time, Yu Shu didn't know where Xue Rui was, so she took Lu Hong and Xu Qing to the Prime Minister's Estate first. When she found out that Xue Rui hadn't returned home, she went to Wangji Restaurant. However, she didn't find him. Finally, she went to the Supreme Court to look for him.
It was already late, and the front door of the Supreme Court's yamen was tightly closed. Yu Shu walked through the side door and met two guards. She asked them:
"Has Official Xue passed by Xue Rui?"
The two guards didn't know because they had just changed shifts.
"Can you let me go in to look for him?"
The guard shook his head, "It's already past the hour of the rooster. The Supreme Court doesn't allow outsiders to enter."
No matter how much Yu Shu tried to persuade them, they refused to bend the rules. At this time, a person walked out of the door. When he saw Yu Shu, he made a sound of surprise and took the initiative to greet her, "Isn't this Miss Yu?"
Yu Shu saw that it was a middle-aged official who looked somewhat familiar, so she politely asked, "This is?"
"Official Xue and I are colleagues. My surname is Li." Official Li introduced himself with a smile.
Yu Shu didn't know where to find Xue Rui's whereabouts, so she hurriedly said, "So it's Official Li. My apologies for not recognizing you. I'm here to look for my sworn brother. Did you see him today? "
Official Li moved her to the side to talk, "You came at a bad time. Official Xue went out on official business this morning. He won't be back for at least five days."
When Yu Shu heard this, she became anxious, "Where did he go?"
"He went to Fenghua Manor. Do you have an urgent matter to discuss with him?" Official Li was good at reading people's expressions. Seeing the situation, he helped her come up with an idea. "If we can't wait for him to come back, we'll use the official road to chase him away. If they're in a carriage, you can send people to chase after them on horseback. If they're fast, we'll be able to catch up with him in a day."
Yu Shu was very worried. Tomorrow was the day of her evaluation. If she went to chase after Xue Rui now, she would not be able to come back in time. Moreover, Jing Chen had presented the portrait to the Emperor, and it had not happened yet. If she went to look for Xue Rui with such great fanfare, wouldn't she be exposing herself?
She was extremely regretful. If she had known this would happen yesterday, she wouldn't have made a fuss and didn't dare to see him.
"Thank you, Master Li. I'm not in a hurry. Let's wait for him to come back."
"You're welcome."
The more Official Li looked at Yu Shu, the more satisfied he was. He thought that when Official Xue returned, he might as well mention his younger brother to his face and see if he could ask him to be a matchmaker.
.....
When Yu Shu returned to the manor, the first thing she did was to summon Song Dali.
Both Zhou Hu and Song Dali were martial artists that she bought from the Supply House. Because the former was meticulous in his work, she arranged for him to be a steward in the front yard, while the latter became the head of the patrolling guards.
She wanted to send someone to inform Xue Rui. If Lu Hong and Xu Qing went, it would be too conspicuous. Song Dali was her servant, so he did not lack loyalty.
"Tomorrow morning, as soon as the city gate opens, go out of the city and look for my sworn brother Xue Rui at the Fenghua Manor. Bring him a message from me. Say, Sir Yanye's youngest son has drawn a portrait and handed it over to his uncle."
This matter was of great importance. Yu Shu did not write a letter, nor would she divulge a single word of it to anyone else. Hence, she believed that with Xue Rui's quick-wittedness, he would definitely be able to understand what she meant.
Yu Shu had Song Dali repeat it three times for her. After confirming that there were no mistakes, she asked Yun Dou to weigh out 1.5 taels of silver and gave it to him. She also brought him to the stables to meet Little Red. Tomorrow, before dawn, he would wake up to lead the horses.
Horses were luxury goods. Any one of them would cost hundreds of taels of silver, not to mention the cost of taming them. After Yu Shu set up her own business, she bought two good horses through Pei Jing's channels. But when it came to leg strength and endurance, Little Red, whom Pei Jing had carefully selected for her, was still the best.
Even with such arrangements in place, Yu Shu still could not rest assured. She tossed and turned all night until dawn. She only fell asleep when she heard that Song Dali had left.
.....
After getting up early and bathing, Yu Shu changed into the newly tailored autumn clothes sent by the Secretariat. The clothes were made of silk and the embroidery women's exquisite needlework outlined the two iris petals on her shoulders. She tied her hair up and wore a crown. She slightly drew on her eyebrows and tail. Her slender figure had an androgynous heroic spirit, which made Xin 'er and Lin' er, who were helping her with her makeup, flustered and blushed.
At a quarter to seven in the morning, Yu Shu arrived at the Celestial Commissioner's Office. She did not go to the Kunling Bureau. Instead, she sent Lu Hong and Xu Qing to Taixi Tower.
She originally thought that she had arrived early, but she did not expect that she would not be the first to arrive. It seemed that there was someone looking forward to her assessment more than her.
In the empty hall, Yu Shu saw Shui Yun sitting in a wheelchair. She was not surprised at all. If she was in a good mood, she might tease her. Unfortunately, she was not in a good mood today, so she did not have the patience to play games with her.
"Official Yu, please sit. It's not the hour yet. The Head Supervisor and the other officials have not arrived yet. You don't have to be nervous." Shui Yun said sarcastically with a friendly face.
"It's okay. My legs are good, so I don't feel tired standing." Yu Shu also responded politely.
There were a few chairs placed on the left and right sides of the hall. Besides Shui Yun's seat, she sat on the second seat on the right. There were two empty seats on the left and right. It seemed that there were six officials participating in Yu Shu's assessment.
Of these six seats, two were from the Taicheng Bureau, two were from other departments, and the last two were officials from the Kunling Bureau where Yu Shu worked.
According to the rules, in order to show fairness, except for the people from the Taicheng Bureau, the other four were personally appointed by the Head Supervisor. They were only notified one day in advance. Yu Shu did not know who these people were in advance, so she did not want her colleagues to protect each other.
Yu Shu and Shui Yun did not pay attention to each other and waited awkwardly for half an incense stick to burn. People arrived one after another.
First, it was Cao Zuoling, the chief official of the Taicheng Bureau, and a recorder from the Secretariat. Then, it was Jing Chen from the Kunling Bureau, followed by Yu Shu's subordinate, Xie Lan. Finally, it was the adjutant of the Bureau of Astronomy, Cui Xiuyi.
Now that all six people were present, someone was sent upstairs to invite the Head Supervisor to take his seat. Only then did the assessment officially begin.
Today's assessment was presided over by the Head Supervisor. When he came up, he first asked someone to bring a chair for Yu Shu to sit down. He pointed at her and said to the two sides, "Since ancient times, heroes have been born from youth. When I was her age, I was still studying in the Taishi Library."
The people below laughed.
He was as kind as an elder and asked Yu Shu with concern, "Don't be too reserved. You didn't sleep well last night, right?"
Yu Shu knew that the Head Supervisor had a cheat code and did not dare to talk nonsense in front of him. She smiled shyly and said, "I was a little worried."
The Head Supervisor nodded knowingly and did not say anything else. But with these two sentences, anyone with a discerning eye could see that he was very satisfied with Yu Shu as a female Imperial Official.
He sat on the steps with a screen behind him and a six-legged turtle table in front of him. There was a thin scroll by his hand. He glanced at it and read,
"Yu Shu, from Yiyang in Jiangnan. Seventeen years old. Year of Zhao Qing 13th year of Da Yan Examination, Two Roll Third Grade Jia Zi, Fourth Grade Yi Shi. In July 14th year of Zhao Qing 14th year, she was appointed as the female Imperial Official of the Kunling Bureau of Celestial Commissioner. She has been in office for three months. During this period, if there is any dereliction of duty, abuse of power for personal gain or other incompetent conduct, everyone present must report it truthfully and not cover it up. "
After he finished reading, he pushed the scroll to the side and clasped his hands together. He looked at the people below and nodded.
"What do you all have to say? Who will speak first?"
The six officials who participated in the assessment looked at each other, but no one made a sound.
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