Echoes of My Heart Throughout the Court-Chapter 313: The Honest Man, Xu Yanmiao New

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The Vice Minister of War had passed away. Naturally, the Emperor and the Minister of War had to appoint someone else to fill the position.

After some deliberation, they issued an order to transfer Pan Dingsheng, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, to the Ministry of War to fill the vacant position of Left Vice Minister. Meanwhile, Cui Yanzhen, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, was reassigned to the Ministry of Revenue as the Left Vice Minister.

A classic case of swapping positions.

— It was common practice for the six ministries to rotate officials back and forth. This was done to prevent any one official from staying in the same department for too long and accumulating excessive power.

Next, the vacant positions were systematically filled. Zhang Xuan, a Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review (the same one who collapsed a floor while with his eighth concubine), was promoted to Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War.

Wei Ren, an Imperial Censor (whose son married a princess because of his excellent teeth), was promoted to Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

As for the now-vacant Vice Minister position in the Court of Judicial Review, after careful evaluation by the Ministry of Personnel, it was decided that Zhu Bailu, a local official from Shandong Province, would be transferred to the central government.

Once the Minister is promoted to Prime Minister in the future, even more positions will open up, allowing further promotions.

But none of this had anything to do with Xu Yanmiao.

He stormed through the marketplace, angrily buying three pounds of peanut and sesame candy before heading home: “Why is he suddenly in such a bad mood? No wonder the former Deputy Commander of the Front Army said the old Emperor was unpredictable.”

The former Deputy Commander of the Front Army, who lived just behind Xu Yanmiao’s house, widened his eyes in shock.

There were Jinyiwei watching Xu Yanmiao!

Without hesitation, he jumped up, determined to rush to the palace and crack a few jokes to smooth things over before the Jinyiwei reported him.

— Xiao Baize, you’ve put me in trouble!

Xu Yanmiao pulled out his key and unlocked the door.

The cook had already prepared a meal in advance, keeping it warm in the stove. Another large pot held hot water, with a small fire still burning underneath, ensuring there was hot water available the moment Xu Yanmiao returned.

The house was cozy. A fluffy lion-cat curled up in a ball on the bed, purring lazily. The evening glow filtered through the paper windows, casting colorful patches of light inside.

Xu Yanmiao called out: “Little one! Come here, I’ve returned from the hunt!”

A white, four-legged beast proudly raised its tail and strutted over as if walking down a red carpet. When it reached him, it affectionately rubbed against his leg, letting out soft “mm-mm” sounds.

Xu Yanmiao had read before that cats make these sounds to appear more adorable to humans.

“Come! I brought you a late-night snack—chicken and duck gizzards and liver!”

“Mm-mm!”

Xu Yanmiao set the candy down on the table, then patiently boiled the gizzards and liver, chopping them into small pieces before placing them in the cat’s dish. Just as he was about to enjoy his own sweets, a knock sounded at the door.

“Who is it?”

From outside came the voice of the Minister of War: “Master Xu, I have an urgent matter to discuss with you. Could you open the door?”

Xu Yanmiao hurried over and opened the door. “Please, come in.”

“No need. I’ll leave right after speaking—I’m in the middle of dinner preparations at home.”

Standing at the threshold, the Minister of War hesitated for a moment before saying: “But before we get to the main issue, Master Xu, have you really never considered hiring a doorman? Every time you have to open the door yourself, it must be inconvenient for social interactions.”

Xu Yanmiao shook his head. “If I hire a doorman, I won’t have space for him to live. I’d rather enjoy my big house alone… As for social interactions, I’m not particularly enthusiastic about them anyway.”

The Minister of War didn’t press the matter further but instead made a suggestion: “Then perhaps you could install a locked box with a small opening on your wall. That way, if someone needs to send an invitation or request a meeting while you’re not home, they can leave a message inside. Also, aspiring scholars hoping to gain your favor and recommendation for official positions could submit their letters there as well.”

“Isn’t that basically a mailbox? That’s actually a good idea.”

Xu Yanmiao nodded and thanked the Minister for the suggestion.

Only then did the Minister of War get to the real reason for his visit: “I’ve heard that the Minister of Rites is planning a departmental restructuring. It’s likely that other ministries will take similar actions. Be cautious in the coming days—don’t give anyone an excuse to target you.”

Xu Yanmiao quickly expressed his gratitude and silently decided to make a small sacrifice—he would refrain from eating while walking for the next few days. Also, he would try to avoid socializing too much to stay out of political disputes.

Minister of War: “I’ve delivered my message. I’ll take my leave now.”

“Wait a moment!” Xu Yanmiao ran back inside, grabbed an empty box, and filled it with peanut and sesame candy. He handed it to the Minister: “I know you like sweets. This sesame candy is excellent! I bought three whole pounds of it and picked out the best-looking pieces just for you.”

The Minister’s eyes lit up. “Then I won’t refuse.”

He even ate a piece on the spot, his eyes shining even more. As he closed the box, he looked reluctant to stop eating. “It’s quite hard, but not overly sweet, with a strong sesame fragrance! Not bad at all. Where did you buy it?”

Xu Yanmiao reported the name of the shop, and the Minister of War left in high spirits.

Xu Yanmiao turned around.

Xu Yanmiao walked into his house.

Xu Yanmiao let out a sharp scream: “Little one! Don’t you dare lick that candy!!!”

The next morning at court, Xu Yanmiao was deeply troubled, unable to shake off his thoughts.

[Can cats even eat sugar?]

[Little one licked the candy, then kept licking his lips, his nose, and his paws—he must really like it, right?]

[Should I check the system? But what if it’s just survivor bias?]

Xu Yanmiao was utterly conflicted.

The Minister of War was exasperated.

Why are you worrying about a cat?! You should be worrying about what’s happening in the Ministry of Rites!

As the Art of War states: “If a war is prolonged, weapons become blunt, morale declines; besieging cities drains strength, and keeping an army in the field too long depletes national resources.”

Updat𝓮d from freewēbnoveℓ.com.

You’ve been delaying for too long—how will you have the strength to deal with the upcoming restructuring?

— He wasn’t even exaggerating. If anything, he was holding back. The Minister of Personnel clearly had plans to overhaul the Ministry of Personnel, though, fortunately, that wouldn’t affect Xu Yanmiao.

Perhaps thanks to the Minister of War’s silent prayers, Xu Yanmiao, unable to resolve his inner conflict, finally opened his system.

[Let me check how the Minister of Rites plans to restructure the Ministry of Rites.]

The Minister of Rites lifted his chin and cast a dismissive glance at the Minister of War.

Did you think I hadn’t considered Xiao Baize? You self-righteous old bull-nose, watch and learn—your foresight and strategy are nowhere near mine.

[Whoa! He went straight back from the racetrack and immediately summoned everyone in the Ministry of Rites to the office?! That urgent?!]

Xu Yanmiao was stunned.

Not even a moment’s delay?

The Minister of Rites smiled.

Of course. Otherwise, if I waited until the next morning’s court session and you found out from your system that I was going to audit the accounts, wouldn’t that give them time to prepare?

The officials of the Ministry of Rites sat stiffly, their gazes lowered, their faces full of unease.

[Whoa, I just realized—the banquet held for the examiners on the day of the imperial exam results was entirely organized by the Ministry of Rites, using funds from the Ministry of Revenue.]

[And I even received some silver flowers and fine fabrics from it…]

[Wow, so this is how they skim money! They personally purchase the banquet ingredients, overreport the expenses, and split the leftover funds among the officials—distributed by rank! Who gets 30%, who gets 20%, and who gets 10%—it’s all clearly divided!]

The old Emperor gave the Ministry of Rites officials a long, deep look.

The officials avoided his gaze, looking guilty.

The Minister of Rites, taking advantage of Xu Yanmiao’s distraction, quickly made a hand signal to the Emperor.

‘Your Majesty, stop staring, stop staring—I already made them return the money yesterday!’

Only then did the Emperor retract his scorching gaze.

What the Ministry of Rites officials had done was essentially an unspoken rule—like how clerks in various departments would privately accept bribes. If one didn’t pay, their documents would be deliberately delayed within the system, never reaching the right department until the last possible moment.

This was one of those “if the water is too clear, there will be no fish” situations that the Emperor tacitly allowed.

Xu Yanmiao: [Huh? That banquet back then—were household servants allowed to eat in the kitchen? How did I not know about this?]

Other Examiners: Cough, cough, cough!

[Oh! It turns out it’s allowed, but only for one person…] Xu Yanmiao froze, suddenly feeling like the most honest person alive. [But they all brought four or five people?!]

Other Examiners: Cough, cough, cough, cough!

The Minister of War, acting as the Deputy Chief Examiner, maintained a straight face, but his gaze wavered.

…He had also brought people to eat. Not four or five, though—just three.

The old Emperor’s eye twitched.

He glared at them, thoroughly unimpressed.

Look at you fools! So lacking in ambition!

[HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!]

[Too lazy to cook, the Vice Minister of Rites even secretly brought the Grand General to eat. Everyone else brought household servants, but the Grand General sat in the back kitchen like a bear, devouring everything. The staff up front started hinting that the servants shouldn’t eat too much, or the banquet would run out of food and make them look bad.]

[The servants were so wronged—it was mostly the Grand General who ate everything!]

The Vice Minister of Rites was feeling extremely conflicted.

He shot a glare at the Grand General.

‘Why the hell did you eat so much?!’

The Grand General cautiously glanced at the old Emperor’s expression before sneaking a pitiful look at the Vice Minister of Rites.

It wasn’t his fault! As a general, it was perfectly normal for him to eat an entire wooden bucket of rice and three pounds of fatty pork in one sitting, right?

[Huh? The Minister of Rites actually made everyone in the Ministry pay back all the illicit gains within a day? Hmm… if that’s the case, wouldn’t the same approach work for the Ministry of Personnel?]

[That means I have nothing to worry about!]

[I haven’t done anything shady—not only that, I didn’t even know about any of this!]

[Understanding the unwritten rules of officialdom? Never heard of it!]

Other Officials: “……”

For some reason, they suddenly felt like Xiao Baize seemed awfully proud of himself.

[Wait a minute…]

[Damn it!!!!]

Others: “?!”

What happened?!

What did he find out now?!

Everyone in the Ministry of Rites tensed up, their muscles stiff with fear. Memories of past terrifying consequences flashed through their minds.

Was Xu Yanmiao about to expose another case of corruption?

Had someone been lying to the Emperor again?

…Surely no one had colluded with an enemy nation, right?!

Xu Yanmiao: [Wait, officials are allowed to take food home from the public kitchens?!]

[I was worried I wouldn’t finish it, so I never took my full portion!]

Despite already having millions in wealth, Young Master Xu let out a sharp, indignant wail over this revelation.

Other Officials: “???”

Wait, all that panic… just for this?!

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