Every time Jin Yin said the title “number one good official,” it was full of sarcasm.
Mo Zi wasn’t oblivious to this, but her shipping gang had very thick skin. Smiling and playing dumb, she asked, “Did he come to collect it in person?”
The fan in Jin Yin’s hand stopped waving, revealing a hint of interest. His beautiful eyes narrowed into fox-like slits. “Brother Mo has come here, presumably having received news. Since you already have the answer in your heart, why ask me again?”
“Since Young Master Jin is unwilling to answer me, and I asked your counter clerks at the front, why did you specifically invite me inside?” Mo Zi retorted.
Jin Yin made clicking sounds with his tongue. “Brother Mo is sharp-tongued and quick-witted—I admire that extremely. That’s right, I was afraid my counter clerks might be clumsy with words and accidentally offend an honored guest, so naturally I had to come out to receive you myself. Good, then. Before a clever person, I won’t beat around the bush—yes, that person came to collect it in person. I offered to buy it for two hundred and fifty thousand taels. Guess what happened?”
Mo Zi smiled. “Naturally, he didn’t sell. If he had sold it, why would Young Master Jin have resentment in his heart and nearly fan his fan to pieces?” But why didn’t he sell? The number one corrupt official had just been granted amnesty—he should really need money, right? At the very least, to properly fix up that garden overrun with rabbits.
“Brother Mo’s eyes are also sharp.” Jin Yin was startled. He always wore a false smile on his face—people wouldn’t find it very sincere, but they also couldn’t see his true emotions. Yet this woman before him, who spoke with such oily smoothness, had seen through him.
“You’re too kind.” Since she had run into Jin Yin, she might as well take the opportunity to inquire about some matters, because she was desperately curious. “Young Master Jin’s business is so vast. Back then, upon hearing that title alone, you could guess who it was, and knew that person had entered the palace. You must have very well-informed channels for all kinds of news.”
“However well-informed my channels may be, they can’t compare to Brother Mo’s. Thinking he was certain to die, he unexpectedly emerged safe and sound, completely unscathed. Brother Mo told me that day that you save people entirely according to your feelings at the moment, and that this person’s life shouldn’t end. He truly borrowed your auspicious words.” To not die even in such circumstances—could it be destined that he would stir up monstrous waves?
“It wasn’t borrowing my auspicious words, but rather that some people are naturally lucky.” If only he could share a bit of that with her. “Young Master Jin, I’m ignorant and have traveled to few places, my knowledge isn’t broad. I’d like to ask for instruction.”
“Why does Brother Mo need to be so modest? However, feel free to ask.” Jin Yin couldn’t figure out her reason for coming to verify this in person. Since the pearl had been collected, the relationship with the money house could be considered temporarily concluded. He had invited her into the inner hall, and she hadn’t refused—it turned out she had her own thoughts as well.
“Since that person was Nande’s Prime Minister, able to achieve a position below one and above ten thousand, his age should be quite advanced, right? Forty or fifty years old, something like that?” The one-in-ten-thousand probability of having the same name—if it were to happen, it wasn’t impossible.
“Brother Mo, you saved that person, yet you don’t know anything about him?” Oh, so it seemed that when she said earlier there was no romantic involvement between her and that Yuan person, it wasn’t a lie.
“We met by chance. I only knew his former official position, nothing else.” Naturally, one would think that anyone who could climb to such a high position couldn’t be young, right? So when she spoke with him, she had always regarded the other party as an elder of profound learning.
“That person at fifteen years old shocked Nande’s imperial capital as a child prodigy. He was specially permitted to skip levels and participate in the national examination. An essay on the Zuo Commentary startled the chief examiner and he was named top scholar. In the great hall, his talent received the Emperor’s praise, and he was appointed by imperial decree as the young top scholar, granted the position of Secretariat Drafter at Junior Fifth Rank. Afterward, he was promoted once every year. At twenty, he became Left Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs. At twenty-one, when the Minister retired, all the court officials recommended him to succeed, and from then on all court government affairs passed through his hands. At twenty-three, the Son of Heaven enfeoffed him as Grand Tutor, an official of First Rank, one of the Three Preceptors. At twenty-four, the old Emperor passed away and the Crown Prince succeeded. The wind direction in court changed. His primary enemy, Grand Preceptor Wu, launched an attack, submitting a joint memorial exposing his eight years of corruption. Overnight he fell from the highest position. All his family property was confiscated, he was stripped of his position to become a commoner, and exiled a thousand miles to the southern heat lands.” Jin Yin spoke concisely.
Half a person’s tumultuous life, told by others in just a few sentences. While sighing with emotion, Mo Zi absorbed this shocking information. Child prodigy. Young top scholar. What was a Secretariat Drafter? She wasn’t familiar with official positions, but Fifth Rank was already quite a high official, right, for a fifteen-year-old youth? And promoted one rank every year. That speed—converting it, was almost like a rocket to the sky. However, Nande’s official reputation had always been poor, corruption from top to bottom. Moreover, the old Emperor also had a name for incompetence. If Yuan Cheng truly was a prodigy, as long as he catered to the Emperor’s preferences, being able to become head of all officials at twenty-four or twenty-five years old was probably due to the advantage of favorable timing, geography, and relationships.
“Then—” There was still one small question. Hesitating, she felt this Young Master Jin was also no ordinary person and wouldn’t have the narrow-minded thoughts of ordinary people. “I heard that person and the Empress Dowager had something?” At the time, when that Yuan person mentioned helping the Empress Dowager dress as a man, he seemed to have some remembrance. It was precisely this point that had seriously misled her.
Jin Yin suddenly laughed heartily. “Brother Mo, do you think that person would have an ambiguous relationship with the Empress Dowager? That day I asked you whether that person was your sweetheart. You said, when a woman helps a man, does it necessarily mean she has feelings for him? I thought Brother Mo’s open-mindedness was rare among women of this era. I didn’t expect that while Brother Mo herself is open-minded, toward others she still holds worldly views.”
Mo Zi felt rather embarrassed. Making a sound of acknowledgment, her attitude in admitting error was very good. “Young Master Jin is right. I was shallow. You needn’t concern yourself with this question—I didn’t understand clearly from the start.”
Seeing Mo Zi so readily admit her mistake, Jin Yin inwardly cheered again. “I was merely joking. If one didn’t know that person’s age, it’s no wonder Brother Mo misunderstood. Nande’s Empress Dowager has already passed her fiftieth birthday. I hear she has a lively personality. Among the common people there are even rumors of her dressing as a man to travel, and she and that person once playfully called each other mother and son. Sadly, in the end she couldn’t compare to her biological son. For the sake of her son’s firm grip on power, what had once been familial affection used to win loyalty became drawing swords against each other today. That Grand Preceptor Wu’s joint memorial—I hear his backbone was very stiff. Without someone backing him, given that person’s power at its zenith, who would dare write their name on it?”
Factional struggles always represented different forces within and empowered by the imperial clan. Anyone who had studied history would understand this to some degree. Though Mo Zi came from an engineering background, she still had basic common knowledge.
“There are no permanent enemies, and no permanent friends.” She murmured quietly.
Jin Yin’s ears were very sharp. He snapped his fan shut with a clap, striking it against his palm. “Brother Mo speaks truly well. Those who share benefits are friends; those who compete for benefits are enemies. Like myself and you, Brother Mo—if we seek to pursue mutual benefit, we can be called friends.”
Ever since the beginning when Mo Zi encountered ruthless characters like Qiu Sanniang, she never dared take this era’s merchants lightly. She immediately replied, “Young Master Jin thinks too highly of me. I’m merely someone who runs errands and does odd jobs for others. How am I qualified to be friends with a big boss like you? Now that the entrusted item has already returned to its owner, what mutual benefit could I possibly pursue with you?”
“That’s incorrect.” The brilliantly shining fan began swaying again, fingers adorned with gemstones slender and crystal clear. “Brother Mo has a life-saving debt with that person. As long as you speak up, he must repay this favor. Moreover, as Brother Mo said, he has just experienced great calamity. Even if he can keep his life, he still needs silver on hand. Ready cash is much better than a pearl that can be looked at but not used. A matter beneficial to all—everyone gets what they want.”
“I never thought about having that person repay any life-saving debt.” It was merely that hearing the person’s refined speech, feeling somewhat compatible, and pitying his circumstances. “Speaking of which, why do we always call him ‘that person’?” They both clearly knew his name. Seeing Jin Yin not say the name, she also followed suit in not saying it.
“Because when I say that person’s name, my mood becomes bad.” Annoyed by that guy. “Brother Mo, between the two of us—him and me—who do you think looks better?”
Oh my God! This narcissistic thieving flower! A grown man comparing looks with another man? Mo Zi’s eye roll nearly couldn’t come back down. She absolutely didn’t want to answer this very boring, very idiotic question. However, what Young Master Jin directed at her was absolutely not a gaze that allowed refusal.
Mo Zi laughed dryly. “Well, this—”
“Which one?” His smile was dazzling.
“I can’t really say. You two are both one in a hundred—no, one in a thousand outstanding figures.” If she absolutely had to choose one, she would choose the more plainly colored one.
“Brother Mo.” A flash of ghostly green jumped in Jin Yin’s eyes. “Do you know that by saying this, you’re saying that person looks better than me?”
Huh? Hadn’t she said both were good?
“Anyone with eyes, upon first seeing him and me, would say I look better, right? That person, at most, is refined—and it’s fake refinement.” The problem was starting from the second glance. “You say we’re the same—isn’t that putting me down and elevating him?”
Mo Zi changed her dry laugh into a bitter smile. “Young Master Jin, I absolutely didn’t mean that. Actually, you and that person are completely different. Your external appearance is beautiful and noble, while that person is very plain and simple—there’s fundamentally no way to compare. Like a bright pearl and pure jade, both beautiful.”
She spoke the truth. The jade-like man in the red plum black robe wore not a single accessory. One might think he was merely refined and scholarly, yet his radiance emanated from within, gradually attracting the eye. For such a person, even the most exquisite accessories couldn’t enhance him. As for Jin Yin, he himself was too dazzling, so he used various shining ornaments to cover it, borrowing wealth and nobility to force people to retreat. But he was too handsome and beautiful—in the end, those external objects became mere foils instead. These two completely opposite people surprisingly made her feel that placed together, they would be very harmonious.
“I had forgotten Brother Mo is eloquent.” This kind of explanation, he could accept. “Let’s return to what we were discussing earlier.”
Mo Zi’s brows knitted tightly. She had originally thought that though this flower was narcissistic, it was actually quite good that the topic had diverged.
“Young Master Jin, that matter seems to have no need for further discussion. I’m truly powerless to help.” She wouldn’t even acknowledge that person. To use a blunt phrase from modern times, they were fundamentally people from two different worlds. Only a major upheaval had created their intersection. Now, they should each go their separate ways. “Moreover, you’ve forgotten what you yourself said—that person isn’t someone who repays favors. Give him a drop of water and he can make waves. You want me to ask for a favor—wouldn’t that be asking for trouble?”
Bailiang and Qianliang’s eyes rolled around, watching the show between Mo Zi and their young master with relish.
Who would prevail?—
My apologies!
There should have been a double update today, but I’ve truly been busy lately. Christmas and New Year are coming, and there’s a tremendous amount of work. Weekends also require preparing many holiday things and attending social activities.
I hope you all will understand.
I’ll strive to make it up tomorrow.
Everyone knows me by now, right? If I have saved chapters, I absolutely can’t hide them—I’ve even released double updates early! If I can’t do a double update, it’s because I can’t spare the time, absolutely not because I’m lazy.