“On purpose?” Qin Yining looked at Pang Xiao in shock, shaking her head: “I don’t understand. Why would my father deliberately not return when everything is fine? Does he not want to deal with this mess in the capital?”
Just after speaking, Qin Yining immediately shook her head to deny her own thought: “No, that’s not right. Father is an extremely responsible person. He would never do something so irresponsible, absolutely would never abandon his family and run away by himself.”
Pang Xiao had often seen her composed and intelligent side—it seemed that no matter what she encountered, she could calmly resolve it. Sometimes her cleverness made him feel his own existence played no role at all.
Now seeing her so bewildered and at a loss, he actually found it quite refreshing. Seeing her with furrowed brows muttering to herself was truly adorable, so he stretched out his long arm to pull her close, laughing: “You’re thinking too complexly. The matter is actually very simple. It’s just that you’ve only recently arrived in the capital and don’t understand Great Zhou’s affairs. Once I explain, you’ll understand.”
Saying this, he picked up Qin Yining’s tea bowl and took a sip.
Qin Yining didn’t mind his heavy arm resting on her shoulder, nor did she mind him drinking her tea. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at him.
Pang Xiao was so affected by her moist gaze that his heart raced and his spirit soared. He nearly couldn’t control himself from kissing her, and swallowed hard with difficulty.
Seeing him silent for a long time, Qin Yining pushed him: “Hurry up and tell me.”
Pang Xiao was amused by her appearance and chuckled, his arm around her shoulder: “Alright, I’ll tell you now. The matter is actually very simple. Great Zhou has a system of capital evaluation, and I think your father is waiting for this.”
Qin Yining asked in confusion: “What is this capital evaluation you speak of?”
“His Majesty made slight modifications based on the old customs of the Bei Ji nation and established a system for evaluating officials. All officials below the second rank and outside the cabinet who serve in the capital must undergo performance evaluation every three years.”
Hearing this, Qin Yining slowly nodded, saying thoughtfully: “Tell me in detail how the capital evaluation is conducted.”
Pang Xiao then said: “The capital evaluation is divided into two stages. In the first stage, the participating officials must submit a self-assessment report. The content cannot boast of their achievements, but must review their shortcomings over the past three years—what they did wrong, what mistakes they made, and so forth. They cannot conceal or falsely report anything. After the self-assessment reports are submitted, the Ministry of Personnel conducts a unified major examination, and the self-assessment reports from the first stage become the main evidence during the examination.”
“So this year’s capital evaluation is about to begin?”
Pang Xiao smiled: “To be precise, it’s next year. The government offices are all sealed before the New Year, and this will begin after the New Year passes.”
Qin Yining pondered for a moment, her brow gradually relaxing as she breathed a long sigh of relief: “So my father should return after the New Year, once the first stage of capital evaluation ends and the officials have all submitted their self-assessment reports.”
“Clever.” Pang Xiao scraped her nose bridge gently.
Qin Huaiyuan was the leading figure among Great Yan’s surrendered officials. Moreover, the mortal enmity between him and Pang Xiao could be utilized by Li Qitian, so after returning to the capital, he would certainly be given important positions.
The Great Yan surrendered officials coming to Great Zhou’s capital were injecting fresh blood into Zhou’s court. If he returned early, His Majesty would be forced to begin rewarding merits for the sake of reputation.
But the court was already a system where each position had its designated person—without good positions available, the official posts for the Yan dynasty surrendered officials group would become more inflated.
As long as Qin Huaiyuan didn’t return, Li Qitian couldn’t begin rewarding merits.
By staying away, he was precisely waiting for the capital evaluation to begin and the first stage of examination to end, when a large group of officials would submit self-assessment reports detailing their failings while in office.
This way, when Li Qitian wanted to secure positions for the Yan dynasty surrendered officials, he would have clear targets.
Qin Yining was certain that Li Qitian would definitely make important use of the Yan dynasty surrendered officials, precisely because of Great Zhou’s current court structure. The former officials of Bei Ji nation occupied most of the civil positions, while Li Qitian’s loyal nobles, though holding military power, couldn’t compete with the civil official group.
When Great Yan dynasty surrendered officials came to Great Zhou, having already lost their foundations, the only thing they could rely on was Li Qitian—their only path was loyalty to Li Qitian.
Presumably, Li Qitian also hoped to grant the Great Yan surrendered officials higher positions. Qin Huaiyuan’s disappearance precisely gave Li Qitian a reason to delay rewards and wait for vacancies.
“Really…” Qin Yining shook her head and smiled bitterly: “I worried for nothing all this time. You knew the capital evaluation was about to begin—why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
“I just forgot to mention it.” Pang Xiao smiled: “Now you can be at ease, right?”
Qin Yining nodded: “Having no news for so long, I already found it suspicious. Even if something really happened, given my father’s character, he absolutely wouldn’t fail to send even a message home. Now it seems father was determined that I would learn about the capital evaluation and analyze when he would return.”
“Yes, so having a clever daughter is also your father’s blessing.”
Qin Yining blushed from his indirect praise and smiled: “How is your mouth like it’s been touched with honey? You’re so good at coaxing people today.”
“When has my mouth not been sweet? Would you like to taste it?” Saying this, he deliberately leaned toward her.
Qin Yining shyly pushed him away: “Stop being improper, quit fooling around.”
Pang Xiao couldn’t help but chuckle softly, raising both hands in surrender: “Alright, alright, I’ll stop fooling around. Let’s just sit quietly for a while. During the New Year period, His Majesty will probably put on a show of ‘brotherly affection,’ and since His Majesty has gone to great lengths to find my legitimate mother, I won’t be able to visit you often.”
Hearing this, Qin Yining was startled and sat up straight to ask him: “What legitimate mother?”
Pang Xiao’s eyes turned somewhat cold, his tone full of mockery: “What legitimate mother? Of course, my father’s legitimate wife. My mother was just a servant girl who accidentally conceived me. After learning my mother was pregnant, Madam Pang drove my mother away and even tried to have her killed along the way. Fortunately, my mother was clever and managed to escape.
“Madam Pang should have died back then, but who knew His Majesty would actually find this person for my sake. Now that the Pang family has fallen and the only legitimate mother has been found, His Majesty says that at least the Pang family has gained a bit of hope and can be considered to have both senior and junior members present. He wants me to properly serve my legitimate mother with filial piety.”
“Do you really have to bring that legitimate mother back to the prince’s residence? What about the Old Madam?”
“If I really bring her back, since my mother was originally a servant girl in the Pang family—not even a concubine—she would naturally still be a servant girl now.” The corner of Pang Xiao’s lips curved into a mocking arc.
Qin Yining shook her head: “This matter is improper. You cannot let the Old Master, Grand Madam, and Old Madam be bullied. In my opinion, whether this legitimate mother is real is still questionable. Why not confine her and investigate slowly? Directly contradicting and embarrassing His Majesty wouldn’t be good, but once the person is in your hands, how to treat her becomes easy.”
Pang Xiao looked at her with a smile: “I thought you would advise me that legitimate and secondary children should maintain proper hierarchy. After all, you are a legitimate daughter, while I don’t even count as a secondary son—at most I’m an illegitimate child. If General Pang hadn’t died, I would never have had wealth and status in this lifetime.”