Top Scholar

Chapter 637 Yes, my lord!

On the eve of Qingming Festival, Su Lu finally recovered from his illness and returned to his post, ready to resume his duties.

Upon waking and having breakfast, he was attended to by the women and put on his perfectly pressed, brand-new official robe.

Looking at the refreshed and energetic top scholar in the mirror, Su Lu couldn't help but beam with joy. Indeed, a great man cannot be without power for even a day; he had really been cooped up for the past two weeks.

Huang E smiled as she helped him put on his official hat, but a hint of melancholy lingered in her eyes. From this day forward, her husband would return to his days of working from dawn till dusk, burdened by paperwork... But she concealed it well, only gently seeing him off from the inner courtyard.

As they reached the door, Su Lu suddenly turned around, took her hand, and smiled, "Don't worry, the water tank is fixed now, I won't be so busy anymore. I'll have time to listen to my wife play music."

"Great!" Huang E's face immediately lit up with joy, and the shadow in her eyes vanished without a trace.

~~
After meeting up with his elder brother, the two brothers bid farewell to their aunt and then walked side by side to the gate of the mansion.

The convoy had been waiting at the door for a long time, and Qian Ning had also come to personally see his godfather off to work.

During the half-month that Su Lu was bedridden, he visited the Zhuangyuan Academy more often than the Leopard House. He even had the audacity to try something new, just like King Goujian of Yue. Su Lu stopped him with a dark face and told him to go back and stop embarrassing himself.

Qian Ning, however, acted as if nothing had happened, and the next day he happily came to the bedside to show his filial piety again...

Upon seeing Su Lu, Song Xiaoyi and his entourage all beamed with joy, and together with Qian Ning, they knelt on one knee and bowed, saying, "Congratulations on your recovery, sir! Heaven blesses our Great Ming!"

"Don't talk nonsense." Su Lu smiled and raised his hand to indicate that there was no need for formalities. His gaze swept across the crowd and he saw that Su Dan and Li Qiyu had also arrived.

Both men were dressed in brand-new ninth-rank official robes, with peacock patterns on their chests. They were newly assigned to Su Lu by the Court of Imperial Sacrifices in response to the Emperor's call to reduce his workload... as his secretaries, whose official title was Chief Clerk of the Registrar's Office.

The chief clerk of the Registrar's Office was Zhu Zihe, who led a group of officials in charge of all the general affairs of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and provided comprehensive services to Su Lu.

After getting into the car and settling down, Su Lu smiled and looked at Li Qiyu, who finally looked like a human being: "Haha, Qiyu, you really look different in official robes."

“That’s right.” Li Qiyu happily stroked his emerald green official robe. “It’s like a dream. How did I, a mere scholar, become an official? And an official in the Court of Imperial Sacrifices at that.”

Then, with a fawning expression, he said, "I was just joking. I know perfectly well that this is all your love for your mother."

"When working, you should address people by their titles." Secretary Zhu reminded Secretary Li, "Is 'brother' what you call him? That's what I call him. You should call him Prefect."

After saying that, he smiled and asked Su Lu, "Right, brother?"

"Alright, stop joking around." Su Lu then asked his cousin, "How's Pingzhi? Is he settling in alright?"

"To be honest, I haven't fully adapted yet," Su Dan said with a shy smile. "I originally thought that as a mere scholar, I would only be doing some copying and errands at most. Who would have thought that the job assigned to me would be liaising with the General's Mansion! What have I done to deserve this?"

"How about we transfer you back to do some copying and writing?" Su Man joked. "The Imperial Household Department has plenty of that kind of work."

"There's no need for that!" Su Dan quickly waved her hand, smiling shyly, "I know perfectly well that the Prefect is giving me an opportunity to gain experience, and I absolutely cannot let him down!"

"Haha, that's the right way to think!" Laughter erupted from the carriage as Su Lu exclaimed loudly:

"I know you're all trembling with fear, and I'm walking on thin ice too, but we're all caught up in this momentous change, and each of us is like a small horse pulling a heavy cart. Since we don't want to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, we have to work our hardest and make ourselves competent as quickly as possible!"

He then said sternly to the two newlyweds, "Let me make this clear from the start: don't expect me to make an exception just because we're related. If anything goes wrong on business, you'll be fired no matter what, and no amount of pleading will help!"

"Yes, sir!" the two replied respectfully.

"In short, be prepared to endure hardship and toil. Our Imperial Household Department has always been a place where one person receives two salaries but does three jobs," Zhu Zihe added with a smile.

"Stop complaining," Su Lu said with a laugh. "Isn't it true that everything is difficult at the beginning?"

"Yes, yes, we all volunteered to work overtime," Su Man said with a smile. "Seeing the adults working so hard, wouldn't everyone be willing to follow suit?"

"During the two weeks I was away, without anyone watching over you, did you all slack off?" Su Lu asked with a smile.

"Absolutely not, everyone is working even harder." Zhu Zihe stopped smiling and said seriously, "Hundreds of imperial estates have to be rebuilt from scratch, and it just so happens to coincide with the busy spring plowing season. Everything is being pushed so hard that people have no time to breathe."

"Spring plowing is a crucial time of year, and it's true that it's a bit tiring at this time," Su Lu said.

"But we haven't had an easy time at other times of the year either," Zhu Zihe complained.

"Look at this, is this what a chief secretary would say?" Su Lu glared at him and laughed, "It's only because I can't live without you, otherwise I would have sent you to work in the T-shaped warehouse long ago."

Another burst of laughter erupted in the carriage.

~~
The top scholar's residence was not far from the Leopard Chamber, and in the midst of laughter and conversation, the carriage arrived at the palace gate.

After Su Lu got off the carriage, he saw that the palace was heavily guarded. Everyone entering the palace, whether officials or eunuchs, had to line up to have their waist tokens checked and give a password before they could enter.

Just as Song Xiaoyi was about to step forward and reveal Su Lu's identity, he was stopped by him.

“No need.” Su Lu shook his head slightly. “This is fine. Once the rules are established, they must be followed. No one should make exceptions, and only then can the access control system truly function.” As he spoke, he asked in a low voice, “But these soldiers look quite unfamiliar.”

Qian Ning hurriedly stepped forward and whispered, "Godfather, this is because the Emperor and Eunuch Zhang listened to your advice and withdrew all the Imperial Guards who were originally guarding the palace gates, and transferred the elite troops from the three major camps to take turns guarding the palace."

"I see." Su Lu nodded. The Emperor was a natural at this, much better than him.

Finally, it was Su Lu's turn. The scarred officer at the head of the group stepped forward, knelt firmly on one knee, and said in a booming voice, "This humble official, Jiang Bin, pays his respects to Lord Su!"

Su Lu was somewhat surprised: "You recognize me?"

"You are our commander's brother, and I have long admired your reputation!" Jiang Bin said with a face full of admiration.

Su Lu nodded in realization and encouraged him gently, "Good, cheer up and stand guard for the Emperor."

"Yes, sir!" Jiang Bin responded loudly again, then stood up and instructed his men, "Recognize him clearly, this is Lord Su. From now on, just let him pass!"

"Yes!" The Imperial Guards looked at Su Lu with burning eyes. The Emperor was their second father, and Su Lu was their second mother.

After the group entered the leopard room, Qian Ning curled his lip unhappily and muttered under his breath, "Sycophant."

Everyone looked at him in surprise, wondering why Master Qian was scolding them.

~~
In the Leopard House Garden, spring is in full bloom, flowers and trees are lush, and birds are chirping.

On their way to the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, Su Lu and his party encountered a group of palace servants. The female official in charge wore a black gauze hat with soft feet and a purple official robe with a round collar and narrow sleeves. On her chest was a round badge with a crane on it.

The rank badges worn by female officials in the inner court of the Ming Dynasty were the same as those worn by civil officials of the same rank, so this was a first-rank female official.

Su Lu and the others were surprised. Female officials generally had low ranks, and they had never heard of anyone above the fifth rank. Where did this first rank come from?

And so young, so tiny...

However, they still respectfully moved aside to let the leader pass first...

As the group of palace attendants approached, the pretty female official suddenly smiled crisply at Su Lu:

"Top scholar, you don't recognize me anymore?"

Su Lu looked closely and recognized the other person. She quickly cupped her hands in greeting and said, "Your Highness? What brings you here?"

The young princess smiled and proudly waved the birdcage in her hand: "I'm walking the bird for the Emperor! I'm now in charge of the Spirit Bird Garden in this palace, and all the rare birds and animals in this Leopard House are under my jurisdiction."

Su Lu thought to himself, "Good heavens, isn't that my uncle's superior?" But on the surface, he said respectfully, "This job is tedious and arduous. How can Your Highness, with your noble status, endure it?"

"What's there to be unhappy about?" The princess was overjoyed. "I'm just idling around anyway, and I can't go home, so I might as well come here to feed the birds and relieve my boredom."

Su Lu smiled and cupped his hands in greeting: "I'm glad Your Highness is pleased. Please take care and stay healthy."

"You must take good care of yourself, Top Scholar." The little princess waved to him and then skipped along, leading the group to continue their bird-walking trip.

~~
Su Lu and his party then arrived at the Court of Imperial Sacrifices in the southwest corner of the Leopard House.

The Imperial Household Department has now been upgraded, with its territory a hundred times larger than before. The expansion project began last winter. Since it is the office of officials, it did not seek to be magnificent, but focused entirely on practicality. Therefore, it was completed in less than half a year.

The two-zhang-high red wall was covered with thorny bushes, and the gate was very unassuming, without eaves or brackets, and there were no stone lions on either side. Only a stone slab was embedded in the lintel, with the three characters "Zhan Shi Fu" written in regular script.

However, the gate was unusually secure, with Imperial Guards dressed in flying fish robes and holding embroidered spring knives in reverse standing solemnly at the tightly closed gate.

A bronze plaque still stands beside the door, with the eye-catching words "Important Area, Unauthorized Entry Will Be Punished".

Upon seeing that the Prefect had finally returned to his office to resume his duties, the Imperial Guards hurriedly opened the gates.

Surrounded by the crowd, Su Lu entered the yamen, only to find a hidden world inside—in front of the imposing main hall with its red pillars and green tiles, there was a spacious courtyard of two acres, paved with neat stone slabs.

Nearly two hundred officials from the Court of Imperial Sacrifices were lined up neatly in the open space to welcome the Prefect back to his office.

Su Lu frowned upon seeing this. It seemed that formalism was bound to arise in any government office, and the Court of Imperial Sacrifices was no exception.

To be honest, it feels pretty good this way, but it severely impacts efficiency and goes against his original intentions. It's causing the Imperial Household Department to rapidly descend into mediocrity…

However, a qualified leader would not reprimand in public, so he simply waved his hand and smiled, saying, "Thank you all for your hard work while I was away. Everyone should get back to work and not bother with these formalities."

He then directly instructed, "Department heads, come to my office for a meeting in a quarter of an hour!"

"Yes!" The crowd responded and bowed before dispersing in an orderly fashion.

(End of this chapter)