Youthful heroic spirit, gathering five city champions
Hearts open, hair bristling with vigor
Standing in conversation, life and death shared
A promise worth a thousand gold, heavy with honor
Pushing forward with courage, pride, and unrestrained
Light covers embraced, flying stirrups linked
Fighting in the eastern city
Drinking at the tavern, spring colors float in cold wine jars
Drawing in the sea, hanging rainbows
Leisurely calling hawks and hounds
White feathers pluck the carved bow
The crafty den suddenly empty
Joy rushing by
— “Six Provinces Song – Youth’s Heroic Spirit” —
In mid-October, the imperial examination results were announced, and all successful candidates were immediately appointed to official positions.
Yan Shang’s career began exceptionally well.
The Ministry of Personnel arranged for him to be an Administrative Assistant in the Central Secretariat. This position was of the eighth rank, lower class. In the current dynasty, newly appointed officials, even if they were top scholars, had to start honestly from the ninth rank as minor officials. For Yan Shang to begin as an eighth-rank official was enviable indeed.
Even more enviable was that this eighth-rank position belonged to the Central Secretariat. The Central Secretariat was the core of the imperial court, and starting one’s career there meant the possibility of becoming Prime Minister couldn’t be ruled out.
Moreover, everyone in Chang’an knew that Minister Liu had just accepted Yan Shang as his junior disciple. With the current Prime Minister as his teacher, and considering that Minister Liu had governed for decades with numerous students and disciples, his resources would naturally favor Yan Shang.
This truly made countless people jealous.
The number of people in Chang’an eager to befriend Second Young Master Yan increased a hundredfold. Suddenly, the lane where Princess Danyang’s mansion was located became crowded with carriages and horses, with visitors streaming in endlessly. Ironically, these people were coming to visit Young Master Yan next door, not Princess Danyang.
It was said that Princess Danyang had become furious about this and demanded that Yan Shang move away.
However, Princess Danyang Mu Wanyao was also riding high on success recently.
Although her previous attempt to match with Yan Shang hadn’t resulted in marriage, when Yan Shang entered the Central Secretariat, the Crown Prince, after two days of silence, put on a happy face and sent people to congratulate him.
Because of Mu Wanyao’s previous private deal with the Crown Prince, he was now helping transfer the authority for organizing the year-end palace banquet to her.
For this reason, even Jin Prince’s birth mother, Consort Xian, was somewhat displeased.
But Consort Xian had never won any power struggles against Noble Consort in all these years in the palace. Now that Noble Consort was distracted by her son’s troubles in court, Consort Xian hesitated before deciding to compete with Mu Wanyao… though even she felt she couldn’t win.
After all, Mu Wanyao had the Crown Prince’s protection.
But Mu Wanyao’s happiness didn’t stop there.
While Yan Shang’s official career was flourishing and her affairs were progressing smoothly, the person Chang’an was most excited about wasn’t Yan Shang, but rather Wei Shu, the seventh son of the Wei family from Luoyang.
Yan Shang’s initial court position was just an administrative role in the Central Secretariat.
However, Wei Shu also passed the Advanced Scholar examination with excellent results. Wei Shu’s starting position in court was as Imperial Censor.
While Yan Shang’s Central Secretariat position was only eighth rank lower class, Wei Shu’s Imperial Censor position was directly eighth rank upper class.
Moreover, the Imperial Censor belonged to the Censorate, and the most interesting aspect of this position was that despite being only an eighth-rank official, they could supervise all other officials. Thus, the Imperial Censor position was often called the “Little Prime Minister.”
Calling it a smaller version of the Prime Minister position was quite reasonable.
Wei Shu was barely fifteen years old, and achieving the position of Imperial Censor at such a young age – how could the court not be amazed? How could people not want to befriend him?
However, such a beginning brought both joy and worry to different people—
“What?” Wei Kai, Wei Shu’s eldest brother, and a Secretariat Drafter, returned to his mansion and heard from his wife that his seventh brother had become an Imperial Censor.
Wei Kai spat out his tea.
His wife chided, “My lord! Why are you so shocked?”
Wei Kai, both angry and amused, took a handkerchief to wipe the tea stains on his clothes, still finding it unbelievable: “The central government appointed Seventh Brother as Imperial Censor?”
His wife said, “Yes. My lord, Seventh Brother is quite capable now. Shouldn’t we send some gifts and try to improve our relationship with him?”
Wei Kai glanced at his wife and scoffed, “You think this position is good just because it’s called Little Prime Minister?”
He pondered, “This is a position that offends everyone.”
It might look prestigious, but for a mere eighth-rank official to supervise all officials from top to bottom – was this a good thing? Low rank but high authority was quite troublesome.
This type of position was meant for noble family members. Not just any noble family, but those of extremely high status who dared to take such positions.
Because it meant offending the entire court, only great noble families could protect such an official.
Wei Kai said, “The central government is putting the Wei family on the hot seat… Could this have been personally approved by His Majesty?”
His wife, not understanding politics, naturally couldn’t offer an opinion.
Wei Kai was somewhat irritated, frowning. The Wei family had planned to arrange a different path for Wei Shu, so from the beginning, Wei Kai hadn’t intended to support his seventh brother in court. During the Qujiang Banquet, he had even deliberately made their relationship more strained.
But now the central government had directly put Wei Shu in a difficult position, clearly not wanting things to go smoothly for him, while also testing the Wei family’s true relationship with Wei Shu.
After pondering briefly, Wei Kai decided to send a letter to the family head in Luoyang explaining the situation. Chang’an didn’t trust the Wei family of Luoyang, and the Wei family still needed to lay low. As for Wei Shu’s current predicament, it would depend on whether he could handle it himself.
Having never liked this seventh brother raised by a concubine, Wei Kai felt a hint of schadenfreude as he prepared to write the letter.
He laughed, “The old emperor is truly clever. Making my inarticulate seventh brother talk to people and offend everyone… isn’t this just making things difficult for Seventh Brother?”
The court’s move was indeed masterful.
While others saw glory and splendor, Wei Shu himself wasn’t very happy.
Fortunately, he had Mu Wanyao’s help.
As soon as Mu Wanyao learned that this poor boy had just entered the court and was thrust into the dangerous position of Imperial Censor, she began to feel sorry for Wei Shu. It would be different for others, but how could they make a youth who disliked talking and socializing take a position that required exactly that?
Moreover, this position involved supervising all high officials, which would make too many enemies. With too many enemies, future promotions would be difficult.
Such a position would be best suited for someone diplomatic like Yan Shang.
How could they give it to Wei Shu?
The court’s ill will toward Wei Juyuan was so obvious it made Mu Wanyao’s heartache.
So, to help Wei Shu, Mu Wanyao specially arranged a banquet at her mansion, inviting Wei Shu and those court officials who were on her side.
It wasn’t about asking them to take special care of Wei Shu – these officials ultimately answered to the Crown Prince and weren’t on the same path as Wei Shu. But within their capabilities, they could at least turn a blind eye to Wei Shu, couldn’t they?
Wei Shu attended the banquet unhappily, with Mu Wanyao introducing him to others.
The Vice Minister of Revenue was the highest position below the Minister of Revenue, and since the current Minister wasn’t managing affairs and was waiting to resign, the Vice Minister was effectively in charge. Better yet, compared to others, the Vice Minister of Revenue had truly risen from Princess Danyang’s household.
This Vice Minister had previously served as Mu Wanyao’s advisor.
When Mu Wanyao brought Wei Shu over, the Vice Minister glanced at the quiet, aloof young man and smiled, promising the Princess: “Your Highness, please rest assured. At least in my Ministry of Revenue, I can guarantee that officials won’t cause trouble for Juyuan. Though young, he bears such great responsibility – his prospects are limitless.”
Mu Wanyao smiled slightly.
If one performed well in this position, the future would indeed be limitless; but if one performed poorly, one’s career might be forever stuck.
Hadn’t Liu Wenqi’s father been a Censor before? Now he was demoted to Lingnan, and his son still… never mind—
The courtyard banquet was lively, but Mu Wanyao only accompanied them briefly. After the Vice Minister led the still-expressionless Wei Shu away, Mu Wanyao returned to her chambers to rest.
She poured herself tea and spoke to someone behind the screen: “So you see, your teacher and the others are too cruel. To balance against the Wei family of Luoyang, they threw Juyuan into the Imperial Censor position. It sounds prestigious, but they didn’t consider Juyuan’s personality – how could he handle such a position?
“Yet this position is the highest rank possible for new court officials! Outsiders can’t even criticize it. Your teacher is such an old fox, really too much.”
Behind the screen decorated with calligraphy, a figure’s shadow was visible.
The person was rustling about changing clothes, listening to Mu Wanyao’s continuous complaints and sympathy for Wei Shu.
Mu Wanyao said, “This position that offends people shouldn’t have been given to Juyuan, it should have been given to someone like you. You can handle things that Juyuan can’t. You can offend people and then win them back, while Juyuan will probably never reconcile after offending someone. Your teacher favors you, keeping you protected in his territory while throwing Juyuan out to attract others’ attention.
“Juyuan is just taking arrows for you.”
After a while, when Mu Wanyao stopped complaining, the person behind the screen finally said helplessly: “How can you say that? The Imperial Censor is called ‘Little Prime Minister’ – it’s indeed the glory that the top scholar should have. Juyuan is just quieter in personality… but this is also a kind of training. How can one fear talking to people when serving in court? This is also the teacher’s way of tempering him.”
This clear, mellow voice naturally came from Yan Shang.
The teacher he mentioned was naturally Minister Liu.
Mu Wanyao rested her chin on her hand and turned her head, eyes narrowing as she looked at the screen. Seeing his unhurried shadow, he was still methodically dressing.
Yan Shang paused again and said, “Besides, why should I take this position that offends people? Your Highness pities Juyuan, so you think… think… Do I deserve it? You don’t care if I offend people?”
Mu Wanyao raised her eyebrows, looking intently at the screen with a half-smile: “What, is Second Young Master Yan jealous? I’m just stating facts. Juyuan isn’t suited for this position.”
Yan Shang slowly said, “I will naturally find opportunities to talk more with Juyuan. The Imperial Censor position… indeed puts him in a difficult situation.”
Mu Wanyao beamed: “Yes, you should teach him how to get along with people. How to sell someone out while making them happily count money for you… ah, the more I say it, the more I think you should… well, you’ll be unhappy if I continue, so I’ll stop.”
Silence from behind the screen.
But Mu Wanyao grew impatient waiting, her hand tapping the table: “Have you finished changing clothes or not? How many years does it take to put on one official robe? If you don’t know how to wear it, just tell me, and I’ll help you.”
Yan Shang hurriedly replied, “Almost done, almost done.”
He was flustered, as if worried she would go in to look.
Mu Wanyao turned her head to look at the scenery outside the window, idly playing with the small incense burner before her.
After a while, hearing footsteps, Mu Wanyao lazily turned her head to look at Yan Shang in his jade-green official robes as he emerged from behind the screen.
Seeing him walk out slowly, tall and graceful, somehow making the green robe look like a jade tree in the wind… Mu Wanyao’s eyes lit up like stars, gradually brightening.
Due to Great Wei’s customs, the Emperor didn’t wear dragon robes to court, and officials didn’t wear official robes to court either. Officials of the eighth and ninth ranks, who didn’t even need to attend court, had no habit of wearing official robes throughout the year.
In the Great Wei Dynasty, court officials generally wore their official robes in only two situations:
First, during major sacrificial ceremonies, grand ceremonies, and grand banquets – extremely important occasions;
Second, when an official planned to undertake some major action, they would wear official robes to warn other officials, such as “remonstrating at the cost of one’s life” and other such serious matters.
So although Yan Shang had his official position had entered the Central Secretariat, and even received several sets of official robes, unless he planned to cause trouble, under normal circumstances he would never wear official robes.
However, how rare and precious this was to Mu Wanyao. This was probably her first time seeing a living eighth-rank minor official standing before her, and she felt a kind of joy as if she had personally watched him grow up.
Moreover, Yan Shang looked so handsome.
So Mu Wanyao urged Yan Shang to privately wear his official robes for her to see—
Seeing Mu Wanyao staring at him intently, Yan Shang lowered his eyes, his jade-white face slightly reddening, somewhat embarrassed by her direct gaze.
He said: “Is this enough?”
Mu Wanyao drawled: “Why are you in such a hurry? Well, you look just okay in official robes… hmm, I still think you look better taking clothes off.”
Yan Shang: “…”
His face grew redder, but he gave her a helpless look.
He had originally intended to take off the official robes, but after Mu Wanyao’s comment, it seemed as if he was eagerly undressing for her to see… Yan Shang’s hand paused on his waistband, somewhat hesitant.
His gentlemanly nature was acting up again.
Mu Wanyao giggled, suddenly standing up and abandoning the incense burner on the table. She walked over, not as hesitant as Yan Shang, and easily wrapped her arms around his neck, embracing him.
She carelessly walked forward, kicking off her jeweled slippers to step on his shoes. He was somewhat startled, forced to step backward.
Retreating this way, his knees hit the bed rail behind him, and Yan Shang suddenly fell backward onto the bed. Mu Wanyao followed him onto the bed with a smile, kneeling between his legs, and looking down at him with amusement.
Her slender fingers hooked his collar, her eyes dancing with mirth: “Why are you always so flustered? Making it seem like we’re doing something wrong.”
Yan Shang: “Your Highness… this isn’t proper. In broad daylight…”
Mu Wanyao snorted: “I’m not being licentious in broad daylight, what’s improper about it? What, is even kissing you considered a transgression?”
With that, she bent down, held his chin up, and bit the corner of his mouth.
Yan Shang: “Mmph!”
When he opened his mouth in pain, her soft, fragrant tongue came to tease him. Afterward, his breathing became hot and unsteady as Mu Wanyao tormented him while holding his chin. His face was extremely red as he lay stiffly on the bed, eyes closed, clearly enjoying it somewhat but feeling more embarrassed.
The jade-green long sleeves draped over the bed edge, his green robe pulled open by her, the black jade belt in disarray.
The official robe, meant to be a symbol of dignity and authority, was now like a quail wrapped around his collar and waist, neck curved and wings bent, intricately tangled in the hands of the lady hovering above him.
It was truly improper.
Mu Wanyao loved how he lay beneath her with a red face, his unresisting manner of letting her do as she pleased always made her kiss him again and again, growing more delighted the more she looked at him.
She loved his clean scent, loved his soft lips and tongue, loved how he tolerantly let her bully him like this.
Mu Wanyao still hadn’t decided how to handle the future. But she couldn’t resist Yan Shang’s allure, feeling that if she missed out on him and let someone else have him easily, that would be too much of a waste…
Don’t think she hadn’t seen that snowy night just because it was dark – she had very clearly seen Minister Liu’s granddaughter give Yan Shang that admiring and fond look.
Yan Shang’s gentle temperament naturally attracted ladies, and after Mu Wanyao had inexplicably agreed to be with him that night, she had stubbornly decided to just go with it for now.
After all, Yan Shang said he wasn’t in a hurry to marry for a year or two.
And who knew what the situation would be like in a year or two? Perhaps by then, Mu Wanyao and Yan Shang would have peacefully separated, with no other relationship between them.
Perhaps it wouldn’t be her abandoning Yan Shang, but Yan Shang couldn’t stand her terrible temperament and would want to leave her.
In any case… it was better to enjoy life while one could.
So Mu Wanyao decided to be an irresponsible bad woman. Make no promises, but have a good time with Yan Shang. And not waste these… such intense feelings she had for him.
While Mu Wanyao was lost in these thoughts, she felt someone lightly hook her waist.
She immediately looked down at the person below, half-smiling: “What are you doing?”
Yan Shang had finally managed to lightly rest his hand on her waist, but it stiffened slightly before moving away again. He looked up at the bewitchingly beautiful lady above him and said: “Nothing.”
Mu Wanyao gave him a sidelong glance, inwardly regretting speaking up. If she hadn’t said anything, Yan Shang might have held her waist.
Ah, she wondered when he would have the courage to touch her. He only dared to play with her hands. Anything more… he didn’t dare.
Yan Shang lowered his eyes and said softly: “Your Highness, stop fooling around, I should go to the front courtyard to see Juyuan. I’ve been back for so long without going out, it’s not appropriate.”
Mu Wanyao moved aside to let him sit up. She knelt on the bedding, watching him sit up and arrange his clothes. Seeing him so properly preparing to go out to meet people, she became unhappy again.
Felt that he only cared about those court officials and that she wasn’t important.
Mu Wanyao: “Do you know what I’m thinking?”
Yan Shang kept his head down, smiled slightly, and said softly: “Your Highness, don’t worry, I will help Juyuan. Being an Imperial Censor isn’t that difficult… if Juyuan does well in this position, his prospects will be good.”
Mu Wanyao was stunned for a moment.
Then she fell silent, looking up at the bed canopy in a daze.
They had just been intimate on the bed, yet his mind was already on official matters.
Yan Shang even spoke gently: “Given my relationship with Your Highness, I naturally understand what you’re thinking.”
Mu Wanyao thought to herself that he didn’t understand at all.
She said sarcastically: “What kind of relationship do we have?”
Yan Shang still kept his eyes lowered, but he had already dressed properly, neat and proper, ready to go out at any moment. He said softly: “Naturally… we share a bed.”
Mu Wanyao couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
She pounced on him from behind again, hugging his shoulders and laughing until her face was red: “You put it so delicately… ‘sharing a bed’! I’m not sure if we’re sharing a bed, but you don’t know what’s in my mind, that’s for sure.”
Yan Shang frowned slightly.
He turned his head to look at her, humbly asking: “May I ask what Your Highness is thinking?”
Mu Wanyao whispered in his ear, softly saying a few words. Hearing this, Yan Shang’s face reddened again, both amazed and unable to help smiling, yet very embarrassed.
Sure enough, he said: “That’s… not very proper.”
Mu Wanyao snorted, let go of his shoulders, retreated back, and said displeased: “You’re so boring! Go on, go on, go find Juyuan.”
Yan Shang sat on the bed, looked at her for a while, and then compromised: “Then we should at least make proper preparations.”
Mu Wanyao glanced at him: “What preparations? Are you going to bathe and burn incense for three days, or fast for three days to show your determination? It’s just going to bed, how difficult can it be?”
Yan Shang was rendered speechless by her casual attitude. He had always felt there was something wrong with her attitude… as if physical intimacy was the only important thing between them. Before, when he didn’t understand, he just went along with her wishes. But later, when he realized she didn’t value him, that she just wanted to sleep with him… Yan Shang changed his attitude.
It couldn’t be casual.
Yan Shang: “I hope it can be our wedding night…”
Before he could finish speaking, a pillow flew over and hit the back of his head.
Yan Shang turned back in pain to see Mu Wanyao staring at him with wide eyes: “Wedding night? Then you’ll have a long wait. You’d better keep dreaming.”
Yan Shang looked at her eyes, round and bright, yet still so enchanting. When she was angry, the way she widened her eyes was quite beautiful… Yan Shang stared at her eyes, lost in a daze until another pillow hit him.
Mu Wanyao: “What are you spacing out for? There’s a maid outside looking for you, aren’t you going?”
Yan Shang lowered his eyes and stood up, but added one more sentence before leaving: “You should come out later too.”
Mu Wanyao: “I don’t need you to remind me.”
Yan Shang sighed and had to leave—
As Great Wei prepared for the year-end ceremony, the small countries that paid tribute to Great Wei were naturally important guests to invite.
However, Great Wei officials were hesitant about whether to include the Wu Barbarians.
Logically, the Wu Barbarians had a marriage alliance with Great Wei and should be included; but the princess of the marriage alliance had returned and was now organizing this year’s ceremony. If the Wu Barbarians came to court, would there be a conflict with the marriage alliance princess?
Moreover, with the southern barbarians at war, the Wu Barbarians had been fighting fiercely with the Chi Barbarians, and no one knew if that war was over yet…
After much hesitation, Great Wei still sent out the invitations. As for whether the Wu Barbarians would come… they would see.
At this time in the southern barbarian wilderness, in the Chi Barbarian territory, there were cliffs and endless green fields.
Late night, in the Chi Barbarian royal tent, a tall man lounged on a tiger skin throne, leisurely tearing open the letter sent by Great Wei’s ceremonial officials.
He had deep-set eyes and a high nose, wore a huge silver hoop earring in his left ear, and had a long deep scar across half his face.
The scar was from the wars of these past two years, but it didn’t diminish this young man’s handsomeness. Though he appeared lazy, just reading a letter and casually smiling revealed an indescribable air of dominance.
Below, a middle-aged barbarian was held down by people on both sides, trembling as he knelt on the ground. This barbarian still wore the Chi Barbarian king’s royal robes, having been dragged from his bed in the middle of the night.
Now that the royal court belonged to someone else, the Chi Barbarian king could only kneel at his enemy’s feet, with no other choice.
The Chi Barbarian king struggled: “Wu Barbarian King, don’t kill me… we can cooperate…”
Above, Meng Zai Shi, the Wu Barbarian king lounging on the tiger skin throne, had just finished reading the letter from Great Wei. Hearing the Chi Barbarian king’s words, he couldn’t help but laugh: “What are you thinking? If I wanted to cooperate with you, what were these two years of war for? Was I just playing with you… Kill!”
While the first half of his sentence was still laughing, making the Chi Barbarian king’s face flush red thinking negotiation was possible, when the final “Kill!” fell, there wasn’t a trace of laughter in his eyes.
The Chi Barbarian king had no time to react before the people holding him raised their blades and struck, his head falling to the ground.
A generation’s Chi Barbarian king died silently at this moment.
Meng Zai Shi watched the fresh blood meandering across the ground with an expressionless face.
His subordinate asked: “Great King, what did Great Wei’s letter say?”
Meng Zai Shi answered absently: “The old emperor of Great Wei is having his birthday, holding a grand ceremony, inviting various countries to attend court.”
The subordinate asked: “Then… are we going?”
Meng Zai Shi rested his chin on his hand, his eyes carrying a hint of mockery: “Hard to say. On one hand, we’re on good terms with Great Wei, on the other hand, we’re still under the Southern Barbarians. Recently, the Southern Barbarian king has been quite impressive, apparently wanting to unite the five tribes of the Southern Barbarians… We Wu Barbarians are caught in the middle.”
He tore up the letter in his hand bit by bit, his eyes now completely expressionless, though his tone still carried a smile: “However, I do so miss my little princess.
“It’s truly troublesome.”