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

Chapter 34: Honglu Temple Secretary Acting as Junior Secretary
Even if he stayed in Qilin Hall for four years, even if he could read all the books in the collection, it would still be too exaggerated.

Because to reach this level, you not only have to read them all, you also have to remember them all. This is tens of thousands of books. Is this possible?

This is impossible unless he is not human.

There is an outlier among the four people, that is Lord Xin Qiwu.

He was very excited at the moment, even a little proud.

"I've seen it for a long time. He is not an ordinary person."

The highest-ranking official among the four people present was Guo Youzhi.

"Well, who cares who he is? We just need to inform His Majesty of the results of the examination and ask His Majesty to make a judgment. Then our mission will be accomplished."

"Yes Yes Yes."

"Master Guo, this makes sense."

The four of them put the test papers, answer sheets, and final results together, placed them on a tray, and Guo Youzhi carried them out of the side hall.

Royal study room.

"Your Majesty, the results are out."

"Let them in."

The four people waiting outside the hall entered one after another.

"Your Majesty, we have fulfilled your mission and are now presenting the results."

Eunuch Hou took the tray and placed it in front of Emperor Qing.

Emperor Qing picked up the answer sheet and started reading it.

Everyone on the field held their breath and waited quietly.

Mei Cheng'an had been sitting quietly on the side, but when he noticed that Lord Xin was secretly winking at him, he almost couldn't hold back his laughter and burst out laughing. He pinched himself hard on his legs a few times before he calmed down.

It was a close call. I almost lost my manners in front of the palace. Lord Xin is too funny. Doesn’t he know that his face is very comedic?
Mei Cheng'an quickly lowered his head and looked at his nose, and then his nose looked at his heart.

As long as I don't look at him, he won't be able to make me laugh.

Emperor Qing read it for a long time and finally finished it.

"So, except for the three questions that were left blank, all the others were answered correctly."

Guo Youzhi: “Yes!”

Emperor Qing remained silent, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the test paper in his hand.

"I heard that you gave the test questions back to the Crown Prince and the Second Prince. Why did you give them a copy?"

The four people's expressions changed drastically and they quickly knelt down.

"Minister Guo, please speak."

"I...I...I was just making the test questions when I found that there was a lot of new knowledge in the collection. I had never heard of it before and felt that it broadened my horizons. I know that Your Highness the Crown Prince is always studious and thirsty for knowledge, so I couldn't help but share a set of test questions and answers with Your Highness the Crown Prince."

Emperor Qing was silent for a moment and then seemed to have suddenly realized something.

"Ah, so that's how it is. I misunderstood. I thought you misunderstood the candidates and deliberately missed some questions. Now that everything has been said and the truth has been revealed, it's all a misunderstanding. Get up, everyone. You've worked hard these past few days. Go back and have a good rest."

The four of them ignored the sweat on their heads and said in unison: "I will take my leave!"

"Go ahead, Xin Qiwu, stay for a while."

Xin Qiwu froze on the spot when he heard this. His heart, which had finally been at ease, was hanging in his throat again.

Didn't we just say it was a misunderstanding? We won't make up stories like this.

It's over, it's over. I'm done. Your Majesty is not easy to deal with a second-rank official, so you want to start with me, a fourth-rank official. Isn't this all over? It's over!

"Mei Chengan."

Mei Chengan stood up.

"The minister is here."

"I have seen that your answers are good, enough to dispel some people's doubts about you. Eunuch Hou, go and give this answer sheet to Chen Pingping and see what else he has to say."

Eunuch Hou took the answer sheet, bowed and left.

It took about a cup of tea to get back.

"Your Majesty, Dean Chen said that he was convinced and he shouldn't question your Majesty's judgment."

Emperor Qing waved his hand.

"Okay, Dean Chen is also impressed by your knowledge. Now it's time to talk about your reward. I'm going to write an imperial decree. The proofreader Mei Cheng'an has made great contributions to the management of the Qilin Palace. He is smart and studious, and has a vast knowledge of both ancient and modern times. Mei Cheng'an is to be appointed as the acting junior minister of the Honglu Temple."

Honglu Temple Deputy Minister and Deputy Minister? What kind of position is this? Forget it, I'll ask you later when I get out. Thank you first.

Mei Cheng'an knelt down with a plop: "Your Majesty, I, Mei Cheng'an, thank you for your grace. Long live Your Majesty."

"Haha, get up, get up. You have passed the test I gave you. This is what you deserve."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Emperor Qing turned to look at Xin Qiwu, who was standing there stupidly with his mouth wide open. He was amused by his exaggerated expression and pointed at Mei Chengan, asking him to look with him.

Mei Cheng'an was well prepared. Before he looked over, his hands were already in place by his legs in his sleeves, just in case.

Eunuch Hou saw that His Majesty and Mei Cheng'an were almost done watching the show, so he reminded Xin Qiwu.

"Ahem, Lord Xin, please pay attention to your manners in front of the palace."

Xin Qiwu finally came to his senses, and quickly adjusted his expression and nodded slightly.

"Xin Qiwu."

"Chen is here!"

"From now on, Mei Cheng'an will be your colleague in the Honglu Temple. He is still young, so you must take good care of him and give him advice."

"Your Majesty, I will obey your command."

"Okay, all of you go down. I'm tired after a whole day of hard work."

Mei Cheng'an and Xin Qiwu looked at each other and said in unison: "I'll take my leave." When they left the imperial study, only the edge of the sun had set, and the sky was filled with red clouds.

The two walked and admired the magnificent sunset. No one spoke until the sun completely disappeared.

Xin Qiwu bumped him lightly with his shoulder, his face already showing a familiar funny expression.

"What did I say? I've long said that you, Xiaomei, are not an ordinary person. Sooner or later, you will make it big and have a bright future. Look, it has come true now. We will be colleagues in the Honglu Temple in the future. Please take care of me in the future."

Even Mei Cheng'an could hardly withstand Xin Qiwu's continuous attacks of sweet words and seductive eyes, not to mention that he didn't just bump into her once, he bumped into her every time he said it.

Mei Chengan hid to the side.

"Master Xin, you are too polite. We are just looking out for each other. Um, I still have some questions, and I hope Master Xin can help me solve them."

Xin Qiwu followed and continued to hit.

"Look at what you said. With our relationship, you can ask anything and I will answer everything you know."

Mei Chengan dodged again.

"Master Xin, it's getting late today and it's time for dinner. Why don't we find a restaurant and chat while we eat?"

Follow again, and bump into again.

"That's great. I said I'd treat you to a meal before. Now is the perfect time. How about we go to Yishiju?"

"Of course, but let me make this clear first. This time I will treat you. After all, it is you who I need a favor from, Lord Xin. Lord Xin, please treat me next time."

"That's fine, haha."

Mei Cheng'an was too lazy to hide, so the two of them bumped into each other and walked out of the palace.

Qingniao, who had been waiting outside the palace for half a day, saw the young master finally come out and hurriedly jumped off the carriage.

But seeing that there was someone next to the young master, he didn't ask too much and just quietly put down the stool.

"If Master Xin doesn't mind, would you like to take my car?"

"In that case, I am sorry to bother you."

The two of them took a carriage to Yishiju. Even though the sky was getting darker, Yishiju was still brightly lit and crowded with people.

The two got off the carriage at the door, and Qingniao drove the carriage away. She had to go back to the mansion to inform everyone and then come to pick up the young master after dinner.

"The business of Yishiju is really good." Mei Cheng'an sighed.

"That's right. To be honest, in all these years I've been in Kyoto, I've never seen Yishiju's business be bad. Just think how much silver they must have earned over the years? I'm afraid it could be piled up into a mountain of silver." Xin Qiwu had already begun to imagine what the silver mountain would look like.

"Does Lord Xin know who is the owner of this Stone House?"

Xin Qiwu shook his head, then took a breath and smelled a faint fragrance, which intoxicated him.

"Let's not worry about the boss for now, let's go in quickly, the aroma is overwhelming."

"Listen to Master Xin."

The two of them walked through the lobby and went upstairs. Just then, the guest in the private room by the window on the second floor had just left, and the waiter welcomed them in.

The task of ordering food was given to Xin Qiwu, who is a regular customer here.

Mei Cheng'an stood on the terrace with his hands behind his back, looking at the scenery downstairs. He had never seen this angle in the evening.

Xin Qiwu ordered a bunch of signature dishes and two pots of wine. He turned around and saw Mei Chengan standing by the guardrail, looking at something. He moved over and stuck his head out of the guardrail to look around.

"Master Xiaomei, what are you looking at?"

"Nothing, just take a look."

"Hey, I thought there was something exciting to watch. Let's take a seat quickly. The drinks are coming."

"Being respectful is worse than obeying orders."

Yishiju probably has a lot of chefs, and the dishes are served very quickly. Not long after the two of them sat down, the dishes were served one after another.

Mei Cheng'an originally wanted to pour wine for Xin Qiwu, but Xin Qiwu snatched it away.

"You sit, I'll pour."

Looking at the orange-yellow transparent liquid in the cup which is much darker than the teacup.

"Lord Xin also likes to drink this burping wine?"

Xin Qiwu poured himself a glass and said, "Yes, this wine is so fragrant! It's so refreshing after one sip, and the key is that he doesn't get drunk. Now that I'm here to eat, I only order this kind of wine. Come on, let's have one."

Mei Cheng'an clinked glasses with him and drank the wine in the glass.

They both burped loudly almost at the same time.

Then they laughed in unison.

After eating a few bites of food.

"Master Xiaomei, what did you want to ask me before?"

Mei Cheng'an thought to himself that he almost forgot about the important matter.

"Sir Xin, the official title His Majesty has given me is a bit long, I don't quite understand what it means."

"Oh, this matter, the meaning of "Honglu Temple Secretary, Acting Shaoqing" is that your official position is Honglu Temple Secretary. "Acting Shaoqing" means concurrently. I don't need to explain Shaoqing, so it means Honglu Temple Secretary concurrently Shaoqing. Now you understand, don't you?"

"Does that mean I am both the Minister of the Honglu Temple and the Junior Minister?"

"Hey, this kid is teachable."

"That's not right."

"What's wrong?"

"Aren't you the Shaoqing of the Honglu Temple? What do you mean by letting me serve as Shaoqing concurrently?"

"Well, let me think about how to explain this to you. So, let me first give you a brief introduction to the positions in our Honglu Temple."

"Appreciate further details."

"The highest position in our Honglu Temple is called Honglu Temple Minister, which is a second-rank official and an honorary position. It is not responsible for specific affairs. Below the Honglu Temple Minister is the Honglu Temple Junior Minister, which is my position, and is a fourth-rank official. Logically, there should be two Junior Ministers who jointly preside over the affairs of the Honglu Temple, but the convention of our Qing Kingdom is to only have one, and the other is vacant. The next position is the Honglu Temple Assistant, which is your position. There are two of them, and they are fifth-rank officials. Below them are the Dianke, the Master of Ceremonies, the Chief Clerk, the Recorder, and so on. I won't go into details about them. You will slowly understand them later."

(End of this chapter)