Yangshe Street.
“Willow Garden?” Mo Zi looked at the door plaque, then noticed the brand new spring couplets pasted beside the door and two simple but beautiful large lanterns hanging there—quite an imposing exterior. Not understanding, she looked at Yuan Cheng.
Yuan Cheng held up an umbrella, sheltering her under half of it. “Now that you have an official position and are the eldest daughter of the Song family who must serve as a model for women, you need a place to receive guests, don’t you? Surely you can’t invite colleagues for drinks and meals and have them go to the Yuan Mansion? You don’t need to live here regularly—just use it for entertaining. It also gives people a place to find you and submit calling cards. If there’s official business, servants will naturally come to the Yuan Mansion to report.”
Receive guests? Invite colleagues for drinks? Mo Zi laughed. “This official position of mine is just an empty title. Who would pay me any attention? I’ll probably keep Yang Qiao company, the two of us staring blankly at sparrows by the door.” The Emperor had granted her an official title, but she had no intention of actually considering herself somebody important—it was just to make those Da Qiu people somewhat wary.
“It’s not such an empty title.” Yuan Cheng gestured for her to walk ahead. “In a few days you’ll take up your post. If you see anything improper, won’t you deal with it? Others have to report to their superiors—you can go directly to the palace for an audience with the Emperor. If I were your colleague and you invited me for drinks, I would definitely not miss it.”
“I’m a woman. If I go to the Shipping Bureau and they don’t give me dirty looks, I’ll treat you to a meal.” If the ministers attacked as a group with a petition signed by hundreds or thousands opposing her, the Emperor would get a headache and compromise. “The prerequisite is that you don’t smooth things over for me in advance.”
Yuan Cheng smiled and said fine, requesting a roasted meat feast, adding that he’d run out of rabbit recently and rather missed it.
Mo Zi stepped forward to knock. A very clever-looking servant came to open the door, and upon seeing her, immediately kowtowed with a full prostration, calling her Young Miss.
Once inside, she saw several buildings with bluestone and brown tiles, ponds and wooden bridges—everything clear at a glance. Walking further in, there were water pavilions and mirror terraces, flower chambers and tree towers, each with its own character, fully displaying the soaring spirit of northern wealth. The residence wasn’t actually large, but its simple structure made one feel very comfortable inside.
Apart from the servant who opened the door, they encountered no one else along the way until they passed through the central hall and heard laughter.
Under colorful fireworks, there were some unfamiliar faces, but also many she knew well. Dou Lu, Bai He, A Yue and A Hao, Zan Jin and Ding Gou, the Three Stinky Fish Brothers, and even Jiang Tao—all catching snowflakes, drinking wine, a scene of harmony and joy.
Mo Zi’s heart suddenly felt very warm, so warm that the corners of her eyes grew moist. Not long ago, she had sat in that lofty palace hall where fine wine had no fragrance and delicacies had grown cold. Behind all the singing and toasting lurked conspiracies and schemes, concealing swords to kill and blades to harm. Yet those very people determined the fate of most people in the world—when they wished peace, there was peace; when they wished upheaval, there was upheaval. Because of those people’s selfish desires, the lives of common folk were like grass, disposable at will.
“If Da Qiu starts a war,” gazing at those family and friends amid the splendor, Mo Zi suddenly knew her path, “I will fight back fiercely. Not for Da Zhou, not for Yuling, but only for myself and everyone I care about.”
“Yuan Cheng, if you want to retreat from the world, I might not be able to follow you this time.” When she had been uncertain, he had once given her a promise, but now she was no longer afraid.
“Mo Zi.” In Yuan Cheng’s call was genuine laughter. “Even if you wanted to retreat from the world, someone wouldn’t let you.” Finally, they were of one mind.
“Who wouldn’t let me?” Couldn’t she escape?
“I won’t let you.” Through the faint smoke emerged Jin Yin, gleaming with jeweled light all over. “Your second brother is getting dragged into this—how can Third Sister stand aloof?”
Third Brother had become Third Sister, because from now on Mo Zi no longer needed to disguise herself as a man, thanks to the Emperor’s golden words and jade decree.
He glanced coldly at Yuan Cheng again. “You clearly won’t let her either, so why say ‘someone, someone’? Can’t you speak more straightforwardly?”
Yuan Cheng lowered his eyes for a moment, then raised his head and smiled at Mo Zi. “Rarely is your second brother correct—I truly don’t want you to hide away. In this world, even if one wishes to retreat, it must wait until the realm is pacified. Otherwise, so-called establishing a peaceful land is just self-deception.”
Jin Yin couldn’t close his mouth, fanning himself and laughing wildly. “Yuan Cheng, you also have a day when you admit being wrong to me.”
“I didn’t admit I was wrong to you—I told Mo Zi that you were correct.” A top scholar’s mouth, a prime minister’s mouth, naturally silver-tongued.
Jin Yin openly cursed his sharp tongue. “My Third Sister, take a look at this residence—do you like it? Second Brother is giving it to you.”
Mo Zi looked at Yuan Cheng and said quite honestly, “I thought he bought it.”
“A poor fourth-rank official like him, where would he get spare money?” Jin Yin seemed to have forgotten he was talking about a corrupt official. “The idea was his, but the one paying is me.”
“No need to give it—I’ll just buy it myself.” Mo Zi actually asked, “How much silver?”
Jin Yin was somewhat surprised. “Though there are several thousand taels of silver from Hongyu in my bank, surely you don’t want to misappropriate it?” He thought she was just managing it for Yuan Cheng.
“I have some money of my own.” Recently earned.
“Oh? You just left Prince Jing’s mansion a few days ago and already have private funds?” Jin Yin was mildly impressed.
“You gave it to her.” Yuan Cheng said.
Mo Zi quickly tugged at Yuan Cheng’s sleeve.
Yuan Cheng narrowed his eyes and ignored it. “She sold one pearl, collecting money from both sides. You gave her thirty thousand taels, the other side gave her—” His arm hurt as the woman beside him pinched him.
Jin Yin’s fan wildly beat the snowflakes. “That pearl… sold for two hundred thousand taels?” His eyes blinked like a fan. He feigned grief and grievance. “Third Sister, I trusted you so much, and you actually deceived me!”
Mo Zi held back her laughter and put on a serious expression. “Young Master Jin, you’re no match for my cleverness—better to graciously accept it. Besides, that silver won’t be taken from you for nothing. There will be benefits later.”
“It’s not that I’m stingy about a few tens of thousands of taels! You tell him—” Jin Yin pointed at Yuan Cheng’s nose, “everything without hiding anything. We became sworn siblings together—such blatant favoritism.”
“I didn’t tell him. But living in his place, what secrets could I possibly hide?” Who knows how many informants there are.
Jin Yin thought about it—that was true. “From now on you’ll live here, no longer letting him spy on you.”
“If she lives here, she’ll let him spy on her.” Yuan Cheng coolly added, “He has nowhere to hide, so he bought a residence in your name, wanting to avoid a fatal disaster. Be careful that you two sisters get implicated by him—one surprise attack and you’ll all be captured together.”
Mo Zi finally couldn’t help but laugh until tears came out.
Several days later, the Ministry of Personnel sent someone to Willow Garden to deliver a specially made exquisite female official’s robe, appointment documents, and official seal. When the clerk left, he respectfully addressed her as Inspector Song, which took her quite a while to get used to.
“Sister, will people call you Administrator Song?” Thanks to temporarily staying at Willow Garden, the sisters could see each other often. “I’d say both Inspector Song and Administrator Song sound rather strange—better to call you Administrator Mo Zi. It has both a woman’s name and official authority.” Dou Lu held the female official’s jade coronet and helped her sister put it on after she changed into her official robes.
Brocade loose sleeves, cloud-patterned borders, peony flowers concealing Da Zhou’s official insignia. Jade belt at the waist, jade coronet securing the hair.
A face like jade, eyes bright with intelligence, beautiful yet strong and not weak.
Dou Lu’s eyes shone as she said three times how good it looked.
“Administrator Mo Zi?” Mo Zi looked in the bronze mirror, left and right—honestly the visibility was very low, so she couldn’t tell where the beauty was. “That’s good. I’ll have someone post a notice at the main gate: Anyone who addresses me as Administrator must include my name, or I won’t receive them.”
After the sisters joked for a while, Mo Zi took a carriage to the Shipping Bureau.
The Shipping Bureau and the Military Shipping Yard were both by the river. The Shipping Bureau was the government office responsible for national shipping affairs. With this placement, the Capital Shipping Yard was essentially a directly subordinate department of the Shipping Bureau, receiving far more attention than official shipping yards elsewhere. Mo Zi had entered the shipping yard last time, but the person who questioned her about the sunken ship incident was the Bureau Chief, and the master craftsmen who participated in the questioning were all arrogant with aggressive words—probably the advantage of being directly subordinate.
Led by the gate guard to see her superior, she noticed other officials in the Bureau secretly sizing her up. Mo Zi responded with a smile, but received only complete disregard.
She could skip that meal with Yuan Cheng. Thinking this, she raised her eyebrows and curved her eyes—despite receiving many cold looks, her mood was quite good.
Halfway there, she encountered the Chief Manager of the shipping yard coming from the opposite direction. She nodded slightly and took the initiative to greet him. “Chief Manager Yin.” This person was named Yin Shi, forty-five years old, once a master craftsman who later injured his fingers and transferred to management—a seventh-rank official.
Yin Shi had originally wanted to avoid her like the others, but since she had greeted him first, he couldn’t avoid responding. He casually cupped his hands. “Song… Female Official.”
What kind of thing was this? A woman serving as an official—even if it was an empty title, she was still permitted to move about. Though she was several ranks above him and he should address her as Administrator or Inspector, it was truly difficult to say.
Deliberately calling her Female Official to demean her? Thinking of this, Mo Zi smiled faintly, as if she didn’t mind his disrespect. “Yin Shi, His Majesty has me investigating the sunken ship matter. After I pay my respects to the Bureau Chief, I’ll come find you for a chat.”
Seeing her switch from calling him Chief Manager to addressing him by name directly, then hearing her mention the Emperor, Yin Shi’s heart immediately trembled. He thought to himself, this woman had already been articulate and difficult to deal with at the shipping yard last time. Now, regardless of whether she holds this position for long, offending her at this moment would certainly be unwise—better to respond superficially.
He reluctantly put on a smiling face. “Inspector, following imperial orders, this subordinate will naturally do his utmost.”
“You needn’t address me as Inspector. It’s merely nominal—just call me Miss Song.” Administrator Mo Zi would also be rather strange.
Yin Shi agreed, cupped his hands again perfunctorily, and left.
Mo Zi saw through his insincerity but didn’t care. If she got angry and upset so easily, she might as well stop living. No matter how beautiful the words, one must still accomplish real tasks. Yin Shi—she would “communicate” with him slowly.
In the Bureau’s main study, the Bureau Chief and his directly subordinate officials were already seated in position.
After Mo Zi paid respects with the protocol of a subordinate to a superior, she sat down on the Bureau Chief’s right side. Because the Bureau Chief was only one rank above her, and among those present, except for the Deputy Chief who was her equal, she outranked all the other officials.
But she was a woman and received none of their flattery or deference.
“When I saw last time that the Manager Mo of Hongyu was a woman, this official was quite surprised. I never expected that His Majesty would appoint the first female official in the Shipping Bureau’s hundred-year history, and it would actually be Miss Song. You truly have remarkable abilities!” The Bureau Chief was also advanced in years, over sixty, with a face full of white beard.
“Your Excellency is too kind. This time His Majesty generously rewarded me, and Mo Zi is quite apprehensive.” Yuan Cheng had once said she could be an official because she was diplomatic. In her own words, it was because she knew her own weight.
Hearing her speak her given name herself, everyone couldn’t help exchanging glances and whispers, their eyes contemptuous.