Joy of Life: The Mei Family's Son Grows Up

Chapter 21 Child Prodigy Mei Chengan

After sending him out of the palace, Eunuch Hou did not return immediately, but instead sent him all the way back home.

Then he repeated to Mei Zhili the story of Mei Cheng'an's audience with the emperor, which surprised and delighted Mei Zhili.

I am happy that His Majesty has personally acknowledged Mei Cheng'an's title of child prodigy, but I am shocked that this kid is only ten years old, but His Majesty has given him an official position, and a seventh-rank one at that. The emperor's grace is so great that I won't say anything else and will go to the palace to express my gratitude.

Mei Zhili left with Eunuch Hou, and Mei Cheng'an stayed alone in Mei Zhili's study. He was not in a hurry to return to his own courtyard. It should not take long for Mei Zhili to go to the palace to express his gratitude, and he still had many questions to consult Mei Zhili.

Sure enough, Mei Zhili came back soon. After expressing his gratitude, Emperor Qing invited him to drink a cup of honey, said a few words of encouragement and then let him leave the palace.

Mei Cheng'an welcomed Mei Zhili in. The father and son first exchanged their experiences of meeting the emperor. Then Mei Cheng'an asked Mei Zhili a lot of questions about the Hanlin Academy, such as where the Hanlin Academy was, when and how to go there, what to do after arriving, how long to stay, etc.

As the prefect of Kyoto who was in charge of all affairs in the capital, Mei Zhili was naturally familiar with all the major government offices in Kyoto and answered Mei Chengan's questions one by one.

After some questioning, Mei Cheng'an felt much more at ease. Both father and son took a sip of tea in unison. They were simply thirsty.

"Dad, how long will it take for the Ministry of Personnel to prepare my official uniform, hat, and seal after receiving the imperial decree? Do I need to go get them myself or do they send them to me?"

Mei Zhili thought for a moment and said, "After the Ministry of Personnel receives the imperial edict, they will first send the design drawings of the official uniforms and hats, as well as various materials for making the uniforms. You need to find someone to sew the official uniforms and hats yourself. The official seal will be sent later, after all, it needs to be engraved with your name and official title. It will take about seven days to prepare everything, and then you can go to the Hanlin Academy to perform your duties."

So that's how it is. Mei Cheng'an heaved a sigh of relief. Seven days was enough time for him to prepare himself mentally.

"Do I need to go to court?"

"You are a seventh-rank official, so you don't need to attend the grand court meeting on the first and fifteenth day of each month. Our dynasty stipulates that officials of the fourth rank and above must attend court meetings on the third, sixth, and ninth days of each month. These are considered small court meetings. On the first and fifteenth day of each month, all officials of the ninth rank and above in the capital must attend court meetings. These are grand court meetings."

The new moon and full moon days are the first and fifteenth day of the lunar month, which means that he only needs to attend two grand court meetings a month. Mei Chengan feels that this is acceptable, as the court meetings in Qing Kingdom are quite humane and not so rigid.

"Do I need to work every day? How often do I get a break? Is it easy to ask for leave? How many times can I ask for leave at most? Can I ask for leave to attend court? Are there holidays? How many days do I have holidays?..."

Even though Mei Zhili was in a good mood, his face drooped when faced with his series of questions. Why does this child have so many questions? It's so annoying. But after all, he is his own son. What can he do but spoil him.

After understanding this, Mei Zhili patiently answered.

If the servant hadn't come to inform him that lunch was ready, Mei Zhili felt that the child still had a lot of questions waiting for him.

"Eating is the most important thing! We can talk about other things later."

After saying this, Mei Zhili ran away.

Mei Chengan was left confused.

Aren't we eating at the same table? Why don't you take me with you? Are you in such a hurry?

.........

On the other hand, with the announcement of the results of the boy's examination, Mei Cheng'an left the palace. The poem he wrote about the pond and the poem he wrote about tea in the prelude to the group, along with the earth-shattering news that the child prodigy was promoted to an official at the age of ten, first reached the prince, then the residences of major high-ranking officials, and then quickly spread to the entire Kyoto and to every street and alley.

The first reaction of those who heard the news was that it was wrong. After asking around and confirming its truth, their jaws dropped.

After all, a ten-year-old child and an official title could never be connected in the past. This was unprecedented, but it happened so openly. It was simply magical.

Unlike the astonishment of the officials, the scholars focused on the poems. After hearing about the two poems, they felt like they had found a treasure and regarded them as a guiding principle. They felt that it was only natural for him to be awarded an official title since he could write two such quatrains. The title of child prodigy did not arouse their jealousy, but rather they felt honored. After all, the child prodigy was also one of them before he was awarded an official title. The child prodigy's magical experience was not absurd, but rather encouraged them. As fellow scholars, they could also have a day of success.

As for the common people, they may not be able to tell how well the poem was written, but they are extremely interested in the story of a ten-year-old child who was directly appointed an official by the current emperor because of his good poetry writing. It is a great topic of conversation. As the story is passed on from mouth to mouth, it becomes more and more bizarre. Even the child prodigy is said to be a god from heaven, with three heads and six arms, who knows everything. It is said that the child prodigy can tell at a glance whether your child can become an official in the future.

Back to poetry, why was the child prodigy Mei Cheng'an given an official title? The reason was because of these two poems, especially the one the boy tried to write. This poem was loved to such an extent that it was widely interpreted because of its characteristics and even used as a warning poem. Later, some people even rated this poem as the best seven-character poem of the time.

When Mei Cheng'an heard about this incident later, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Isn't this a typical case of the monkey becoming king when the tiger is away from the mountain?

However, there are still seven years before Fan Xian goes to Beijing, so it will not be a bad thing for him to take this title for the time being. It will not be too late to give it to the poet later.

Of course, this is a story for later. Although Mei Cheng'an didn't know that he was still the center of discussion in the entire Kyoto, he had also noticed some situations. During dinner, people who wanted to inquire about the news kept coming to visit him. Mei Zhili dealt with a few of them, but later there were more and more of them, so he simply refused to see anyone and closed the door to refuse visitors.

"Dad, what's going on?"

"They all came to inquire about you."

"What news?"

"What do you think? Of course it's about you being appointed as the proofreader. They want to confirm whether it's true or not. Everything will be fine once the official decree comes down."

"Oh." Just these two words shocked Mrs. Mei and her little sister.

What did you just hear?
Mrs. Mei: "Son, have you been given an official title?"

Mei Cheng'an was stunned, and then he remembered that he had not had time to tell his mother and sister about this, and they didn't know about it yet.

"Well, His Majesty gave me a question in the palace, and I wrote a poem, and then I was given an official position, the proofreader, a seventh-rank official."

Mrs. Mei looked at Mei Zhili with her mouth wide open.

Noticing his wife's gaze, Mei Zhili stroked his beard with his right hand, smiled and nodded.

"it is true."

After confirming that it was true, Mrs. Mei stood up excitedly and kept muttering, "My son is an official now. He has been an official since he was ten years old."

Then she ran to Mei Chengan, hugged him, and kissed him all over the face.

"Son, you're awesome!"

Mei Chengan's face turned red with embarrassment and she wiped it.

"Mom, what are you doing? We're eating!"

My little sister also came to join in the fun, standing up and taking a sip.

"Brother is so awesome!"

Mei Zhili watched with a smile on his face. It didn't matter whether it was rude or not. The most important thing was that the family was happy.

After a lively lunch, Mei Cheng'an wanted to ask Mei Zhili some more questions, but Mei Zhili dismissed him with the excuse that he needed to take a nap.

When they returned to their own courtyard, the four maids also learned the news and there was another commotion.

The official decree arrived in the afternoon, and the people who came to inquire about the news disappeared.

The Ministry of Personnel responded quickly and sent the official uniform design and various fabrics that afternoon.

The Ministry of Personnel sent a lot of clothing materials. After an introduction, Mei Cheng'an learned that official uniforms and hats were divided into four seasons. Although they looked similar in appearance, the inside was different.

The task of sewing official uniforms and hats was given to a professional tailor in the mansion. Hongshu felt a little regretful because she wanted to sew for the young master herself. Fortunately, she snatched a job to measure the young master's body from the tailor.

Hongshu is deft and good at sewing. She is also good at taking measurements and is very professional. Bluebird is taking notes on the side.

After taking the measurements, Hongshu personally delivered the data to the tailor, and then explained some of the young master's requirements and preferences, which the tailor recorded one by one. The tailor is not afraid of you making requests, the more you make, the happier he is. What he is afraid of is the kind of person who doesn't say anything, but finds fault with this and that when trying on clothes.

For the next week, Mei Cheng'an basically stayed in his own courtyard and did not go out, because many people gathered outside the Mei Mansion, wanting to catch a glimpse of the handsome face of the child prodigy Mei Cheng'an. They did not disperse until Mei Zhili sent the team leader to drive them away.

After the crowd dispersed, Mei Cheng'an had no intention of leaving. He had been too popular these days and he needed to stay out of the spotlight.

Although Mei Zhili had been deliberately avoiding him these days, how long could he hide in the same mansion? In the end, Mei Chengan found an opportunity and blocked him in the study.

This time, Mei Cheng'an asked all the accumulated questions in one breath and then let Mei Zhili go. Mei Cheng'an left with satisfaction, but Mei Zhili was pale and his eyes were dull.

Mei Cheng'an's official seal was delivered on the fifth day. After receiving the seal, Mei Cheng'an studied it carefully. It was square in shape and not as big as he had imagined. Anyway, his small hand could easily hold it in one hand. It was made of gold and jade and was quite heavy. There were nine characters engraved in seal script at the bottom: "Mei Cheng'an, School Secretary of Hanlin Academy". He dipped the seal in the ink and stamped it on the paper. You know what, it looked pretty good.

On the sixth day, his official uniform and hat were ready. Of course, it was only the spring uniform. There was no rush to make the other sets, after all, his size was constantly changing.

The official uniform is the same as in the drama, with an overall gray tone and no patterns. Mei Chengan tried it on and found the size to be quite suitable. It is worth mentioning that the official uniform of the Qing Kingdom actually has shoulder pads and a waist-hugging design, which is very popular in the fashion circle.

Then he put on a small official hat that was obviously too small.

You don't say it, you really don't say it, it looked so funny that several maids couldn't help but laughed so hard that they were shaking with laughter. Mei Cheng'an thought he was dressed wrong, but after asking, he found out that it was because they were used to seeing Mei Zhili wearing official uniform, and when they saw Mei Cheng'an wearing an official uniform that was several times smaller in proportion, they inexplicably found it very funny.

Mei Chengan himself laughed at this incident.

After the laughter, Blue Bird reported to him something. The Lin Qingyuan whom he had mentioned came to the store today and got a job as the shopkeeper's assistant as he wished.

Mei Cheng'an just nodded when he heard it. It was good that he was not pedantic or stubborn. He had been given the opportunity and his future depended on himself.

(End of this chapter)