My Wife is Unbeatable in the Whole World, Touch Me If You Dare!-Chapter 372 - 246: Rise in the Open, Fall in Secret

"""That..."""

Scheeren Zhang’s words, after some thought by everyone, seemed indeed feasible.

Being promoted just half a month after taking office, while not entirely unprecedented in court history, was also extremely rare.

The last time someone was promoted right after assuming office was his father, Li Xuanjing.

When promoting him, he certainly couldn’t turn around and blame the court.

His current official position was Standard Sixth Rank, and one more promotion would make him Secondary Fifth Rank.

Many marginal government offices’ chiefs were just Secondary Fifth Rank.

And this time, promoting him after two months, it would be plausible to wait a bit longer for the next promotion.

Du Yu had clearly agreed with Scheeren Zhang’s suggestion and, after much consideration, said, "Then where shall we promote him to?"

The Three Provinces and Six Ministries were definitely out of the question.

He caused such a storm in the Ministry of Rites, so if he were sent to the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Revenue, or the Three Provinces, wouldn’t he turn the world upside down?

There were a few among the Nine Si that could be considered.

Especially those with the least power and the most work, which would suit him best.

One Scheeren’s eyes lit up and he said, "Why not send him to Honglu Si? The Honglu Si Prime Minister is just Secondary Fifth Rank. Transferring from the Ministry of Rites to Honglu Si makes sense and others can’t find fault with it."

Honglu Si was responsible for managing foreign guests and the etiquette of imperial audiences, which was closely related to the Ministry of Rites and Taichang Si; officials from the Ministry of Rites and Honglu Si often transferred and were promoted between the two.

But compared to the Ministry of Rites, the power of Honglu Si was much less.

They were only in charge of managing foreign envoys.

To be precise, it wasn’t management, but service.

Foreign envoys were not considered as subjects of Daxia.

The Da Xia Court didn’t have the power to manage them; if foreign envoys committed crimes within Daxia territory, they were usually dealt with by their own country.

Just like the last incident at the Four Directions Hall, where the real culprit behind the scenes was left to the Chu Country to deal with.

Most importantly, Honglu Si had no authority to oversee officials visiting prostitutes.

At the Ministry of Rites and the Secretariat, it wasn’t easy for him nor for the court officials.

Sending him to Honglu Si would be good for everyone.

Du Yu clasped Scheeren Zhang’s hand and said, "Lord Zhang, I won’t say more than necessary, but if this matter can be accomplished, the next time at the Happy Building, I’ll pick up your tab..."

As the official overseeing the Ministry of Rites, he was truly worn out by that person.

He just wanted him transferred out of the Ministry of Rites—it didn’t matter where to, just so that he would no longer be sending memorials to him.

Scheeren Zhang smiled and said, "We are all colleagues here, Lord Du is being too formal."

Soon, the gong signaling the end of work sounded, and officials from the Secretariat each left the government office.

Scheeren Zhang walked out of the government office and headed back to his own residence on foot.

A Scheeren at the Secretariat held a Standard Fourth Rank official position and had control over important state affairs; the court was very generous to the officials appointed as Scheeren, and each one received a residence not far from the Secretariat upon taking office.

However, they only had the right to live there.

When a Scheeren was transferred or demoted, the residence was also reclaimed by the court.

Scheeren Zhang returned home to find a figure in an apron emerging from the kitchen, drying her wet hands on the apron, and saying, "Wait a bit, dinner will be ready soon."

During dinner, when the recent turmoil in Chang’an was mentioned, the woman said, "The investigation was good. Those brothels should be shut down to save you men from neglecting home, constantly thinking about those unclean women..."

Scheeren Zhang had a few bites of the meal his wife had cooked before he replied, "Things aren’t that simple. The backers of these cash cows are either Imperial Relatives or nobility; they’re not so easily shut down. Besides, the existence of these brothels has its purposes, at the very least, it consumes the excess energies of most nobles and dignitaries. If these places didn’t exist, with their power and means, some things are unthinkable; otherwise, why do you think the court has always turned a blind eye to these matters..."

The woman snorted coldly and replied, "Those are just excuses you men come up with. Let me tell you, I don’t care about your socializing, but if you bring any sickness home, I won’t let you off!"

Scheeren Zhang defended himself, "How could that be? Whenever I go, I only play mahjong..."

"And you still play mahjong?"

"When in Rome. Being an official at court, one can’t be too upright; otherwise, it’s easy to be ostracized, and surely you don’t want your husband to face that, do you?"

"You!"

"Don’t be angry, my wife; I’m telling the truth..."

After a tumultuous meal, Scheeren Zhang returned to his study, massaging his waist which had been pinched several times, a smile surfaced on his lips as he whispered softly, "Young master, I’ve done my best..."

Ministry of Rites.

It was well past the end of work when Li Nuo finally left the government office.

The Ministry of Rites had run out of memorials and would need to order more for tomorrow.

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After leaving the office, Li Nuo didn’t go home but headed to the Song Residence.

Today, Jiaren had returned to the Song Residence, and Li Nuo planned to have dinner at the Song Family in the afternoon before going home together.

Several days had gone by since he last visited the Song Residence, and it was only at the dinner table that Li Nuo finally saw Yiren.

But she did not even glance at him, busily eating her own meal.

Midway through dinner, Song Zhe suddenly looked towards Li Nuo and said, "Recently, there may be some changes to your official position, so you should be mentally prepared."

Li Nuo had already prepared himself for this; otherwise, he wouldn’t have submitted those petitions.

Su Qing asked, "Why so soon, and where to?"

Having served as an official for twenty years, her husband had only been reassigned a few times. Li Nuo had not been in his position long, yet he was already facing a transfer, which made her quite surprised.

Song Zhe replied, "The initial proposal from the three provinces is for him to go to Honglu Si as the Honglu Si Prime Minister."

Su Qing, with no concept of official ranks, inquired, "Is that a promotion or a demotion?"

Song Zhe responded, "The role of Assistant Minister of Rites is Standard Sixth Rank, whereas that of Honglu Si Prime Minister is Secondary Fifth Rank. Looking at the official hierarchy, it is technically a promotion by one level."

Su Qing remarked, "Then that’s a good thing, isn’t it? Why the long face?"

Song Zhe shook his head and said, "Although he moved up one official rank, he lost a lot of power. It’s a promotion in name but a demotion in effect. It seems that the recent crackdown on brothels and the serious investigation into officials consorting with prostitutes has incited widespread anger. They’ve now moved him to a peripheral government office..."

Within the ranks of the Six Departments, although the Ministry of Rites is at the bottom, it’s still far better than Honglu Si.

According to the customs of the Da Xia Court, Honglu Si is where officials from the Ministry of Rites spend their retirement.

For someone as young as he to go to Honglu Si, such a peripheral government office, to warm the bench—how could it be anything but a demotion?

In other departments, at least they hold some measure of power.

For instance, the Ministry of Rites still has the duty to uphold the Law.

Once the officials of the Ministry of Rites get serious, they can make life difficult for everyone from the Ninth Grade junior officials to the Standard First Rank senior officials.

The daily duties of Honglu Si officials are to meet the needs of foreign envoys and resolve disputes between nations’ envoys.

Before Li Nuo could say anything, Su Qing slammed her chopsticks on the table, angered, "Is this how the court handles things, letting the top scholar of the Six Arts be bullied like this? Li Xuanjing is supposed to be so capable, yet he’s just watching his son get pushed around!"

Song Zhe explained, "He is the Minister of Justice and has no control over the court’s appointments, but this is not entirely a bad thing. Normally, to ascend from Standard Sixth Rank to Secondary Fifth Rank, it takes at least five years or even more than ten for some people, and there are those who never get promoted in their lifetime. He has just used two months, and hereafter, no matter where he is transferred, he will not be below Secondary Fifth Rank..."

Having a father-in-law working in the Ministry of Personnel meant that even though official fortunes may not always be soaring high, at least they usually got wind of promotions in advance.

Being transferred to Honglu Si was something Li Nuo had not anticipated.

But getting a promotion was even more unexpected.

As his father-in-law had said, it was easy to go from being an Assistant Minister of Rites to a Honglu Si Prime Minister, but to be transferred back would mean not returning as an Assistant Minister of Rites.

If he could be transferred this way a few more times, then it didn’t matter to him where he served as an official.

He still had more than three thousand days left to live, plenty of time to play their slow game.

After the meal, his wife was called away for a chat by the Old Lady.

Song Yiren was practicing swordsmanship in the courtyard when Li Nuo walked past her, and she acted as if she didn’t see him.

Li Nuo walked back to her and asked, "Have I offended you?"

Song Yiren glanced at him indifferently and replied, "No."

Li Nuo continued, "Then why are you treating me like this? You weren’t like this before."

Song Yiren’s expression remained calm as she said, "I’m not your wife; how do you expect me to behave towards you?"

Li Nuo was left speechless by her retort. She picked up her sword and said, "Move aside, I need to practice."

Li Nuo stepped under the eaves while she continued her sword practice in the courtyard, uncaring about his presence.

Li Nuo, not wanting to further humiliate himself, waited for Jiaren to return from the Old Lady and then went home together with her.

Su Qing stepped out of her room and saw Song Yiren still in the courtyard. Puzzled, she asked, "Aren’t you going back with them?"

Song Yiren sheathed her sword and responded, "Go back where? That’s Song Jiaren’s home. Why should I go back there?"

Yiren had rarely talked back to her from childhood.

Su Qing could feel the resentment in her heart but did not get angry, only saying, "You’re her sister. If other women can live there, why can’t you?"

Song Yiren was taken aback—she had been prepared for a scolding after speaking to her mother like that.

It seemed her mother really had changed.

Could love truly bring about such a drastic change in a person?

Her mother had changed.

Song Jiaren too.

Even the Yuqing Heart Technique couldn’t prevent her from falling for him.

It was truly moving...

She had been superfluous from the beginning.

She exhaled softly, looked at Su Qing, and said, "I want to return to the Sanqing Sect..."