The officials, who had long been prepared for discussion of laws, maintained their composure, though they couldn’t help but feel their hearts rise with concern, wondering whether Zhao Hanzhang would only modify the inheritance law and female household system she had mentioned, or if she would involve other laws as well.
Because they were preoccupied with this matter, many officials didn’t listen carefully to the young Emperor’s speech.
The young Emperor, who had stumbled through the latter half of his congratulatory memorial, saw everyone respectfully bowing their heads, seemingly not noticing him, and couldn’t help but breathe a quiet sigh of relief.
He didn’t want to attract attention at all.
Ji Yuan raised his head and quickly glanced upward, then lowered his eyelids to conceal the emotion in his eyes. The young Emperor lacked astuteness—this was actually a good thing. But even his diligence was discounted, which showed he simply wasn’t born with the fate to be an emperor.
Ming Yu was more direct than Ji Yuan, looking straight at Xun Fan and others’ expressions. With this, you still want to restore power to him? Handing the country over to this wet-behind-the-ears child, letting the realm continue in great chaos?
Xun Fan lowered his eyelids; no one knew what he was thinking.
Xun Zu felt anxious inside and exchanged glances with his like-minded associates, deciding to intensify the young Emperor’s education. Even if it was pretense, he had to appear clever and capable.
Otherwise, how could he win people’s hearts in a court where most officials were Zhao Hanzhang’s confidants?
To win people’s hearts, first they had to believe that following him had a possibility of success.
That required showing them his ability, his intelligence…
Just as he was thinking this, Zhao Hanzhang suddenly mentioned his name. Xun Zu’s heart skipped a beat, thinking his schemes had been seen through by Zhao Hanzhang, when he heard her ask with a smile: “What does Junior Tutor Xun think?”
Xun Zu couldn’t help but look at his elder brother.
Xun Fan knew he had been distracted. He lowered his eyelids, his mouth barely moving, but his voice still drilled thinly into Xun Zu’s ear: “After spring begins, His Majesty will start studying the Book of Documents and the Book of Rites. The Grand General wants you to focus on teaching His Majesty.”
Xun Zu immediately stood up and solemnly accepted.
Sitting above, Zhao Hanzhang looked at Xun Fan with a half-smile, encouraged Xun Zu with a few words, and even had the young Emperor toast his two teachers.
At this moment, the young Emperor only knew that after the New Year he would have to add two more courses. Though sad and distressed, he still forced a smile and raised his wine cup to toast Xun Fan and Xun Zu.
Xun Fan looked at the young Emperor with a complicated expression. Clearly, he still didn’t understand what this meant.
After tonight, the young Emperor would be eleven years old, yet he was so unperceptive.
Xun Zu, not having heard everything, was quite pleased as he tilted his head back and drank the wine.
Putting down the wine cup, Zhao Hanzhang continued her speech, which was essentially praising everyone—praising everyone’s achievements and merits over the past year, then bestowing rewards upon them.
The previously difficult-to-convert treasures in the palace all found their destination. Together with the New Year cakes and other foods from the imperial kitchen, Zhao Hanzhang bestowed them upon the officials, letting them take them home to share with their families. Everyone felt honored and was quite pleased.
Eating had never been the main theme of palace banquets—political affairs were. So besides the rewards, Zhao Hanzhang would also make some official position adjustments or express what she intended to do next, stating directly: “I wonder if you gentlemen have suitable candidates that you can recommend to me?”
Everyone respectfully agreed.
Among them, Xun Zu was very interested in the position of Imperial Censor. From what he heard, in the future the Censorate would not only have the right to report on hearsay, but would also participate in some special cases, while simultaneously having responsibility for inspecting local regions.
If he could become the head of the Censorate, he could use this as a base to accumulate power for the Emperor.
And he now had a convenient advantage: besides being Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince, he also concurrently served as a censor. However, previously for the Emperor’s safety and education, he never went on external assignments, but stayed in Luoyang doing censorial work.
Xun Zu quietly said to Xun Fan: “Elder Brother, recommend me.”
Xun Fan lowered his eyelids without speaking. Xun Zu grew somewhat anxious. Taking advantage of when General Ping Yi came forward to perform a sword dance, he leaned close to Xun Fan’s ear and said: “Elder Brother, if I can become the chief official of the Censorate, then I can contact local officials on His Majesty’s behalf.”
He felt he and Xun Fan were of one mind, so having stated his reason, he believed he and Xun Fan had already reached unanimous agreement. Without waiting for Xun Fan’s response, he immediately took his wine cup and stood up to find other like-minded associates, speaking in low voices about his plan, asking them to echo Xun Fan in a moment. Even if they couldn’t obtain the position of Imperial Censor, they should at least seize the Vice Imperial Censor position.
The official he contacted looked like he wanted to speak but hesitated. Seeing that Xun Zu seemed serious, he said in a low voice: “But Junior Tutor no longer serves in the Censorate. You just personally agreed to focus on teaching His Majesty.”
Xun Zu was stunned. “What?”
The official looked at Xun Zu probingly. “Does Junior Tutor not remember? Just now the Grand General said that after the New Year, His Majesty will add two courses, the Strategies of the Warring States and the Book of Documents, to study the way of being a sovereign. To allow Junior Tutor and Grand Tutor to focus on teaching His Majesty, the Grand General is having Fan Ying replace you as Supervising Censor.”
Fan Ying had once been close to Zhao Hanzhang, but when in Bingzhou, she gave her the responsibility of an inspector, ordering her to patrol the surroundings—essentially the duties of a censor. After returning, she also mainly worked in the Censorate, collaborating with the Ministry of Justice.
So everyone knew she would enter the Censorate after the New Year. They just hadn’t expected that she would displace Xun Zu. After all, the Censorate was actually quite short of censors and didn’t need to displace anyone.
But since Zhao Hanzhang said so, Xun Zu would have to hand over his work to Fan Ying, then focus on teaching the Emperor.
Xun Zu was greatly shaken and suddenly looked toward Xun Fan.
He wasn’t surprised that Zhao Hanzhang would transfer him from the Censorate. If he wanted to compete for power, Zhao Hanzhang would naturally want to guard against him. What startled him was Xun Fan’s actions.
He had been distracted at the time and hadn’t paid attention, agreeing in confusion, but what about Xun Fan?
He had been watching the whole time.
Thinking about how Xun Fan had rarely participated in their discussions during this period, Xun Zu felt somewhat uneasy. He silently sat back down.
After Ping Yi finished献剑舞, Xie Shi came forward with a smile to play the qin for everyone.
Zhao Hanzhang watched with great interest. The palace didn’t keep entertainers. Previously, Ji Yuan and others had all worried that the palace banquet would be too simple and that officials and aristocratic families would look down on it. Zhao Hanzhang then said, “I have all my officials—who isn’t both civil and military, excelling in qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting? If you want to enjoy music and dance, why not have you gentlemen献 for the country? Perhaps you might even gain two or three kindred spirits at the palace banquet.”
Thus, she had civil and military officials who were willing献 their talents at the palace banquet.
The famous scholars of the Wei-Jin period quite enjoyed displaying themselves. For them, displaying themselves and gaining people’s appreciation and praise was as normal as eating and drinking.
So quite a few people signed up. Ping Yi danced with swords, Xie Shi played the qin, Wang Huiniang played a piece on the konghou, Fan Ying and Zhao Yunxin danced together, Cheng Da stripped off his upper garment on the spot and had a wrestling match with another general.
Even Ji Yuan and Ming Yu were heckled into singing a song and dancing on the spot.
Ji Yuan and Ming Yu exchanged glances and were just about to rise with smiles when they saw Xun Zu stand up, walk to the great hall, bow, and say: “Tonight’s joy has reached this point. Why doesn’t the Grand General add joy upon joy by selecting an Empress for His Majesty?”
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