by Ning er
“That’s enough you may all go now!” Chu Nan Shan’s attention had been attracted by the delicious food inside the kitchen. Obviously he was not in the mood to handle these servant girls. Therefore while waving his hand he gestured them to retreat out of the room.
Chu Fei Yang’s eyes were focused on the slim figure inside. And since it was already dark outside the candle lights were already lit inside the kitchen. Under the reflection of the faint yellow candle light the beautiful figure of Yun Qian Meng had given him a warm and comfortable feeling of home in Chu Fei Yang’s heart. No need to say out loud that the thing he had been seeking for for almost half of his life was such feeling of comfort that was actually present right in front of his eyes at this very moment.
At this moment Yun Qian Meng seemed to have sensed the passionate gaze fixated on her and despise being busy she lifted her head to see Chu Fei Yang gazing steadily at her. While giving a smile she said “Are you hungry? We can eat after a short moment!”
With a simple question that was normally heard in the daily life it had brought warmth to Chu Fei Yang’s heart. After which he also smiled. Lifting up his leg he prepared to set his foot inside the kitchen yet he was being blocked by Yun Qian Meng “This place is not big enough, don’t come in and cause trouble.”
There were already five people inside the kitchen. If Chu Fei Yang was to come inside, perhaps it would be somewhat difficult for them to move around.
After having heard what Yun Qian Meng said Chu Fei Yang did not set foot inside the kitchen, instead he just leaned on the door frame. His eyes filled with deep emotions while staring at her figure.
Chu Nan Shan was somehow unable to resist shaking his head. Seeing that the sky had turned darker he instructed Shang Guan Mama to add some more lamps in the courtyard so as avoid to avoid bumping to each other while walking. He then advanced toward the side room to wait for the dinner to be served.
After a short while a lot of steaming hot delicious food were arranged on the table before Chu Nan Shan and Chu Fei Yang. Due to it being the winter season in order to keep the food hot for a longer duration of time Yun Qian Meng used ceramic pots and casserole to contain the food.
Seeing all the delicious vegetables and meat dishes in front of him and with the fragrance which was assailing the nostrils with the smell of food which was still piping hot, Chu Wang actually had no idea where to start!
“Yeye, these dishes are boiled cabbage, tianyuan stir-fry, simmer-fried eggplants, white radish roasted meat, carp with scallion, and chicken ginseng soup.” Seeing Chu Wang was unable to settle down his chopsticks on the dishes Yun Qian Meng introduced the dishes based on their taste and color. She stated them in order starting from the light flavored dishes to the strong flavored dishes. Chu Nan Shan tried the food according to the order as stated by Yun Qian Meng, after which he nodded in satisfaction. However the chicken ginseng soup was left untouched by him. Since Chu Nan Shan was used to eating such sort of food during the usual days, it resulted into this chicken ginseng soup seemingly less appetizing than compared with other dishes in front of Chu Nan Shan.
And being the exact opposite of Chu Nan Shan, Chu Fei Yang had first settled on this chicken ginseng soup. He used his chopsticks to tear open a piece of tender chicken meat and to his surprise he found that the belly of the chicken was actually stuffed with a lot of other food. He carefully enumerated the things he found inside as it contained glutinous rice, wolfberries, red dates, mushrooms, chestnuts and other seven or eight kinds of spices. No wonder this chicken ginseng soup smelled extremely fragrant, as it turned out, the answer to this riddle was all inside the belly of the chicken. Using a ladle to scoop out the food inside he then put it into his mouth. This dish was mixed with the fragrance of the chicken meat and with a bit of sweetness it really shook up people’s appetite.
Watching Chu Fei Yang having a great time eating Yun Qian Meng’s eyes filled up with a smile of satisfaction. After which she sat beside him and lifted her own bowl and chopsticks to quietly eat.
Yet, Chu Nan Shan had discovered that Chu Fei Yan was only staring at that chicken ginseng soup in front of him. He lifted his eyes and discovered that the entire chicken was actually filled with treasures inside. For a moment he threw other dishes aside and directly attacked the chicken ginseng soup. However, Chu Fei Yang refused to permit him to get away with it and the two of them started fighting each other at the dining table.
“Chu Fei Yang, don’t you know how to respect the elder?” Fighting for almost half a day Chu Nan Shan fiercely glared at Chu Fei Yang who was grabbing the chopsticks tightly in his hand.
“Yeye, you need to learn how to love the young!” But as the grandson, Chu Fei Yang answered back after he spoke. He lifted the chopsticks up and took a piece of that tasty and tender chicken meat. After that he slowly put it inside his mouth.
After swallowing it down Chu Fei Yang then said “Five courses of dishes in exchange for this dish, plus an overnight stay here. They are really worthwhile for you, aren’t they, Yeye?”
Hearing Chu Fei Yang’s words Chu Wang was caught up in the dilemma. However, thinking about five against two, it seemed quite advantageous for him. Knitting up his brows he retreated his hand, without consulting anyone and swept through those five dishes, swallowing them all down into his belly.
Yun Qian Meng secretly shook her head feeling that Chu Fei Yang really knew how to deal with everything. The time of preparation for those five dishes was still nothing compared to the chicken ginseng soup in front of his eyes. This time Yeye Chu Wang had a huge loss.
cristina
Chapter 129: Part 1 | Chu Wang Fei
“Your Majesty, weichen believes that the Assistant Minister of Ministry of War, Qu Zhang Qing, is a qualified candidate! During the current provincial military examinations, Qu Zhang Qing was earnest in choosing talents. Moreover he was objective and fair when handling the affairs. Weichen believes that he would be able to assume the position as the high official of the Ministry of Justice!” During this time, Chen Wang, was silent for a long time, slowly spoke under the pleading eyes of Su Yuan.
Su Yuan’s entire body began to tremble violently after these words were spoken. He stared at Jiang Mu Chen’s face If Emperor Yu Qian agreed with Chen Wang’s suggestion, perhaps on the same day next year would be his death anniversary. Qu Zhang Qing, who was Yun Qian Meng’s cousin, would never let him get away.
The pale look in Su Yuan’s face faded away and was replaced with a dark, deathly stillness. His last life line had already drifted away along with the spoken words of Chen Wang, leaving him with empty eyes.
And Chen Wang’s recommendation similarly gave rise to all the officials’ astonishments. All of them knew that Chen Wang did not get along well with Fu Guo Gong Fu, then why would he suddenly recommend his own political enemy to such important position?
Moreover, Su Yuan was actually Chen Wang’s man. This time, aside from not saving Su Yuan, he had also recommended the high position to his own enemy. What would be his intended reason, it was really hard to fathom.
Not even Yun Xuan Zhi could understand this decision of Chen Wang, a look of surprise flashed across his eyes. He was unable to tell if today’s Chen Wang had gone mad from anger or made careful deliberations in making his decision.
After all, if any other person took over the Ministry of Justice, Chen Wang would have the means to control it. But if it were Qu Zhang Qing, perhaps even if someone held a knife in his neck, he would never surrender.
With such analysis, Yun Xuan Zhi’s gaze shifted towards Chu Fei Yang, yet he discovered that the other person only raised up the corner of his lips, but his eyes were still as calm as usual, unlike the shocked expression of the others. This was truly rare in the whole world.
“Qu Zhang Qing?” Hearing Chen Wang’s suggestion, Emperor Yu Qian’s beautify, well-maintained fingers gently tapped the table, as if thinking about the feasibility of this matter.
All the people watched a
s Emperor Yu Qian seemed not to immediately overrule this recommendation from Chen Wang. They believed this matter was not completely feasible. What made them really puzzled was that when did the relationship between Chen Wang and Fu Guo Gong Fu became so close like this?
“Your Majesty, I’m afraid that it will be difficult for me to undertake such a huge responsibility! Weichen’s age and experience are still lacking, moreover ever since I assumed my official post, it was usually different positions from the Ministry of War, I had never gotten access to the matters concerning the Ministry of Justice. If I were to suddenly take over the Ministry of Justice, I’m afraid I might……” This time after hearing Chen Wang elected him as a candidate, Qu Zhang Qing cupped his hands and tactfully declined this offer.
“Governor Qu, are you having doubts with your own ability, or are you just suspecting my insight?” But before he could finish speaking, he heard Chen Wang’s extremely cold voice echoed within the main hall.
After those words were spoken, Qu Zhang Qing wrinkled his brows, then he quickly took a glance at Chen Wang. Yet he discovered that although Chen Wang was speaking to him, but his gaze was directly fixated at Emperor Yu Qian. It could be clearly seen that as for Chen Wang, Qu Zhang Qing really had no say regarding this matter, and the only thing that mattered most was Emperor Yu Qian’s precious opinion.
“Wangye, there’s no need to be anxious as to who will be the next candidate for the high official of Ministry of Justice! The Ministry of Justice is one of the six major ministries, the person who will assume the position as its minister must be someone having both integrity and talent. Thus we must cautiously gather everybody’s suggestion as our reference, perhaps there will be a candidate more suitable than Qu Zhang Qing!” This time Chu Fei Yang unhurriedly said, his reaction had eased down the nervous atmosphere inside the main hall, also allowing enough time for other people to reflect on the matter.
“Do you have any suitable candidates, Chu Xiang?” Emperor Yu Qian watched as the people on both sides quarrelled endlessly, then he voiced out this question. But his stern eyes glanced at Qu Zhang Qing, as if he was pondering over the feasibility of this matter.
“Your Majesty, the six ministries normally have their own administrators, if we were to pull out some administrators from the other five ministries to fill the vacant position for the Ministry of Justice, it might result to insufficient manpower for the other five ministries. It would be better to obtain an outstanding official from the external group to assume the position, it can still be considered as a better option!” Chu Fei Yang slowly remarked, but his opinion made Chen Wang puff the air out from his nose on the spot.
“I faile to understand you, Chu Xiang! You are worried that the five ministries will be lacking their manpower, but aren’t you afraid that the government offices will incur lack of manpower due to the process of transferring the officer? Such self-contradictory opinion is truly ridiculous!” Looking at Chu Fei Yang who was on his first day in attending the Imperial Court after his wedding, having an invigorated energy, Jiang Mu Chen felt disgusted. Particularly when Chu Fei Yang overruled his own suggestion, it had stirred up the animosity within his heart.
Facing Chen Wang’s criticism, Chu Fei Yang explained without delay, “Your Majesty, now that the current imperial examinations had ended, among the elected scholars, there is no lack of people with ambition. But their experiences were still shallow, having insufficient abilities to be the officials of the capital, it might cause people to criticize them. It would be better to appoint them to the official posts outside of the capital, enabling them to develop their skills, secondly, they will be able to fill the vacancies; with this, it will be hitting two birds with one stone, isn’t it perfect?”
People present listened to Chu Fei Yang’s explanation. Immediately they nodded their heads, then started to discuss the workability of this matter in lowered voices. Compared to Yun Xuan Zhi and Chen Wang’s proposal, this could be considered getting the best of both worlds.
However inside all the people’s hearts they were originally planning to suggest the members of their own families to assume the high position in the Ministry of Justice. Now taking the advantage of Su Yuan being dragged down from his position, yet if someone from the outside would show up and took this advantage, perhaps the situation would become much more difficult to handle in the future.
Consequently, although the people recognized Chu Fei Yang’s suggestion, but those truly second the motion was too few.
“Your Majesty, weichen believes that the solution suggested by Chen Wang is feasible! Although Chu Xiang’s opinion would be able to achieve both benefits, but since ancient times, all the disciples of the Emperor all held their official posts within the capital, for the time being they were still not familiar with the laws and decrees inside the Imperial Court and all the important matters in every aspect, as much as possible they must retain inside the Imperial Hanlin Academy to learn things. But if in case we were to assign scholar who doesn’t know anything to other parts of the country to hold their official posts, perhaps they would make a fool of themselves, not only lose His Majesty’s face, also making people thought that the Imperial Court of our Western Chu was lacking abled persons, for going so far as to dispatch these ignorant sons to assume the offices of the government in different regions.” Under the all the people’s dispute, Qu Yan suddenly stepped out to second the motion of Chen Wang’s suggestion.
Having said these words, he lifted his head and quickly stole a glance at Chen Wang, after which he lowered down his eyes. Deep within his heart he was guessing Chen Wang’s intention today.
Based on Qu Yan’s nature, he naturally would not want Qu Zhang Qing to be on an equal footing with himself. If in the future when Qu Ling Ao was not around anymore, Qu Zhang Qing would inherit the title of Hou Ye from him.
This reason alone was enough to made Qu Yan to feel upset. How could he allow Qu Zhang Qing to be effortlessly promoted from the third-rank assistant minister of Ministry of War to a second-rank minister of Ministry of Justice?
But Qu Yan also knew that the Imperial Court was evidently not a place for someone to act impetuously. Hence for Chen Wang to make such suggestion, that implied that he had already given serious consideration on this particular issue and instead of waiting for other people to mention about it, it would be better for Qu Yan to also speak out, in order to strengthen his place and significance in Chen Wang’s heart, and for Qu Jing Qing to have the chance to marry into Chen Wang Fu.
As compared to Su Yuan who would always suppress down his opponents, Qu Yan learned to outflank other people. Moreover being able to push Qu Zhang Qing towards the position of the high official in Ministry of Justice under the heated argument of everyone, perhaps this might not necessarily be a good thing for Qu Zhang Qing.
Everyone was also staring closely at Qu Zhang Qing, waiting for him to commit mistakes, for him to be scandalous, with these, without spending a great deal of effort he would be able to push him to the heart of the struggle, making Qu Yan feel utterly delighted.
When Qu Zhang Qing saw Qu Yan step forward to second the motion Chen Wang put out, a look of surprise and annoyed flash across his eyes. Qu Zhang Qing immediately retorted back, “Governor Qu, even if you are recommending candidates, you also learned how to avoid arousing suspicions. You and me are children of the Qu family, how could we recommend each other?”
This statement had roused the hot anger in Qu Yan’s heart, yet he could only blame himself for only thinking about winning favor from Chen Wang yet he forgot that Qu Zhang Qing was also his own nephew. Thus favoring his own relative would be very likely to make Emperor Yu Qian doubt about his own motives.
For a moment, numerous thoughts flashed through Qu Yan’s mind, even his gaze towards Qu Zhang Qing was also harbored with anger.
“Assistant Minister Qu, there’s no need to be like that! His Majesty would always employ those who are worthy, what harm is there if the talented person is elec
ted by his own relative? Don’t tell me that because of the saying ‘employing one’s own’, making our Western Chu lose the opportunity to employ the talented person. If that is the case, then it will be the Imperial Court and His Majesty’s loss.” Seeing Qu Yan arguing pointlessly, Jiang Mu Chen remarked, although his face remained cold, but his gaze towards Qu Zhang Qing was mixed with warning and coldness.
Qu Zhang Qing wasn’t in the least bit afraid of the attitude that Chen Wang was showing him right now. On the contrary, he straightened up and carried on despite of being stared at by Chen Wang, then earnestly faced the hundred officials’ whispering about.
And Chen Wang’s words gave rise to another heated debate, as all the people were pondering about whether to employ the worthy person or to use one’s own.
But thinking about the relationship between the Qu family and Emperor Yu Qian, the recently heated up discussion immediately died down.
“Chen Wang, do you mean to say that Qu Zhang Qing is usually prudent when handling things, and his personal character is fair and strict, thus being suitable for the position being the high official of the Ministry of Justice? Governor Shen!” Being able to see all the expressions and reactions of the people, Emperor Yu Qian slowly spoke.
“Yes, Your Majesty!” Being called out by Emperor Yu Qian, the minister of Ministry of Rites immediately stepped out, awaiting further instructions.
“Immediately draft an Imperial Decree promoting the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of War to Minister of the Ministry of Justice, in the next few days he shall take over the office of the Ministry of Justice!” Emperor Yu Qian handed over his Imperial Decree while watching Qu Zhang Qing’s calm expression slightly sank down.
“I hereby receive this Imperial Decree!” Noting down the words Emperor Yu Qian spoke earlier, the minister of Ministry of Rites immediately responded.
