When Hsu Fengnian boarded the carriage, Xu Yanbing asked, "Why don't you go in and take a look?"
Hsu Fengnian smiled and said, "The place where Xu Xiao pretended to be a grandson when he was young. I won't go in."
Xu Yanbing smiled knowingly and nodded. "General should be thinking the same."
The carriage headed toward the nearby Zhao Family. Just as court was ending, many carriages headed toward them. After all, other than the powerful six ministries, there were many other yamens of various sizes in the capital.
Carriages and officials on horseback brushed past this inconspicuous carriage.
Xu Yanbing stopped the carriage outside the Ministry of Rites yamen. The carriages and mounts of the officials of the Ministry of Rites had already taken up all the space, causing the wide path in and out of the yamen to be extremely crowded. There was no way around it. The Ministry of Rites was the most important and noble place of the dynasty. It was very busy to receive and send off people. Many officials of other ministries who had not been willing to step half a step into the Ministry of Rites would occasionally come to the Ministry of Rites to find a doctor to talk about old times and get close to him. As for the Minister of Rites Sima Puhua and Left Assistant Minister Jin Lanting, there was no hope. Unless it was someone of the assistant minister level, it was impossible to meet them. Speaking of which, when one reached the position of assistant minister, one could not put down their face. Of course, there was no need to use such a crude method to get close to others.
So when Xu Yanbing casually stopped at a spot, a minor official from the Ministry of Rites quickly walked over. He did not immediately order Xu Yanbing around. There were many serpents in Great Peace City. There were many bloody precedents, and they had learned a principle. It would not be wrong to be kind to others and endure as much as possible. Being a coward was better than being a tortoise that stuck its head out and got chopped off, right?
The minor official quickly rejoiced at his cautiousness. When he saw the clothing of the young person who had raised the curtain, he immediately understood. As expected of someone from the Ministry of Rites. Compared to the absurd comical actions of the two people from the Armory Bureau of the Ministry of War, this person quickly bowed deeply and said respectfully, "This official greets the King of Beiliang!"
Hsu Fengnian got off the carriage, nodded, and walked straight to the Ministry of Rites yamen.
The official from the Ministry of Rites didn't dare to stand up even after Hsu Fengnian had walked through the door.
It was as if he couldn't wait to bow until the end of time.
The one who led the way for the young king was an extremely unlucky official from the Ministry of Rites. He happened to meet the King of Beiliang on a narrow road, and there was nowhere for him to escape. His subordinates also instantly distanced themselves from the official. They didn't even have the slightest awareness of sacrificing themselves for justice.
Is it not easy to enter the Ministry of Rites? If he did not have a familiar person of sufficient rank to lead the way, would the other officials of the Ministry of Rites, who had suppressed their resentment for many years, make things difficult for him?
The truth was, of course, the truth.
However, would the person in front of him care about these shitty rules? When he was still Beiliang and His Royal Highness, he could already carry a sword to court!
So when the official from the Ministry of Rites heard that the King of Beiliang wanted to see the old minister, he didn't even dare to fart. He bowed and led the way. He only said that after the minister left court, there would be a political discussion in the Imperial Study that would not be shaken even by thunder, and that the king might have to wait for a while.
When Hsu Fengnian walked into Sima Puhua's room, he didn't refuse the official from the Ministry of Rites who served him tea.
Seeing the young king standing in front of the minister's favorite painting "Frogs Croaking Out of the Mountain Spring" and admiring it, the official from the Ministry of Rites carefully handed him a cup of hot tea. Only then did the official from the Ministry of Rites remember one thing. After Beiliang's hereditary title was abolished, this young man was scolded for recklessly wasting God's gift, wantonly inscribing on priceless authentic paintings, and even simply stamping the word "fake". At first, it was unknown how many officials in the capital and scholars of the Central Plains, after receiving the paintings from the Beiliang Palace, all beat their chests and stamped their feet. They couldn't wait to catch the young man from Wutongin and beat him up. However, they didn't expect that in just a few years, they would immediately change their attitude and laugh from ear to ear. The reason was very simple. No matter how much the leaders of the scholarly circles resisted, these paintings from the young king's hands, as long as you were willing to sell them, the price of the next person would at least double. Even so, there was still a price but no market!
Thinking of this, the official from the Ministry of Rites felt a little guilty. When Jin Lanting, who hated Beiliang the most, entered the Ministry of Rites and took the second position, he reluctantly parted with his treasures and publicly sold several paintings to show his loyalty. However, he still secretly kept a "Cool Invitation", thinking that one day when he was old and left the officialdom to return to his hometown, he would take it out and show it off to others. Perhaps one day when he was at a critical moment in his official career, he would sell the small invitation with only two words "at a low price" to his early imperial examination master. Giving it away for free? Dream on! Cool Invitation, Cool Mountain. Just based on the two extremely special words "cool", the official estimated that it was worth 500 taels of silver! Gold!
After Hsu Fengnian finished his tea, he walked to the desk and casually opened an exquisite sandalwood box. Inside, there were six ingots of ink neatly arranged. Taking out one of the ingots, the twin dragons spat out pearls to draw golden lines, with the seal script "Hua Zhang Huan Cai" in the middle. It was clearly a tribute ink from the court of the old Southern Tang ink master Chuzhi. A rare item like this, after being passed around for decades, would now be something on the desk of the officials of Li Yang. However, compared to the refugees of the Spring and Autumn Period who had also left their homes, these inanimate objects seemed to be much more fortunate. They were able to survive until a knowledgeable scholar loved them so much that he couldn't put them down. Many refugees of a fallen country could only die in a foreign land.
Minister Sima Puhua still hadn't returned to the Ministry of Rites yamen. The official from the side, suffering, the official from the doctor's face grew paler and paler.
There was a cough outside the door, and the official from the Department for Purging Officials quietly walked out of the room. He saw a good relationship with the minister counsellor of the Department for Purging Officials. He was a good person who had been a minister counsellor for over ten years and still hadn't been promoted. The latter quietly said with a sad face, "Sir Liu, when the minister reached the yamen door, he turned around and left. He said he had to go to the Ministry of Door to take care of business. He also said that we must not let the prince know. He told us to only say that today's meeting will take a long time and that he may not be able to leave the palace before noon. He also told us to take good care of the prince. Whoever makes a mistake will be punished. "
Hearing this grievous news, the official almost jumped up and cursed. He resisted the urge to run away on the spot and took several deep breaths outside the room, as if his heart and liver were in pain.
At this time, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration. The official whispered in the ear of the minister counsellor. The latter had a troubled expression. The official patted the latter's shoulder heavily and said in a resolute and decisive tone, "Hurry up and go!"
After explaining the matter, the official returned to the room as if he was walking on thin ice. He tried his best to speak in a calm tone to the young prince. When he spoke, his face was full of sincerity and guilt. A few years ago, when he secretly gathered a servant girl from the manor to catch the fierce woman in bed, he didn't see the official from the official from the doctor's side like this.
Hsu Fengnian glanced at him and expressionlessly said, "Minister isn't here, but Assistant Minister Jiang and Jin Lanting should be here, right?"
The official didn't have time to think about the meaning of the two different titles. He pecked at the rice and said, "Minister Jiang is here, he is here. Originally, Minister Jiang asked for leave and temporarily returned to the yamen to take care of government affairs. After Minister Jin left the court, he directly returned to the Ministry of Rites. He is also here! "
Compared to the Shang Study Room, which was like a crane in a flock of chickens, the rooms of the two ministers of the Ministry of Rites were each occupied by one person. However, the rooms were connected to several other officials, so it didn't seem to be as unique.
The Ministry of Rites was a place that taught people rules. Its own rules were complicated to the point of nitpicking.
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