"The Emperor, in compliance with the Will of Heaven, hereby proclaims: Xu Pu, the Chief Justice of Wuyi Palace and the Left Assistant of Youchunfang of Zhanshi Palace, is a man of profound learning, courteous and respectful, well versed in the state system, always adapting to the situation, and living up to his reputation. He is hereby appointed as the Assistant Academician of Jingwang Palace, and is also appointed as the Official of Jingyan, and is allowed to give lectures and banquets in Jingwang Palace. He is granted 100 taels of silver. This is decreed..."
Eunuch Wei exchanged a few simple courtesies with Xu Pu before beginning to announce the imperial decree, his hoarse duck voice echoing throughout the Wuyi Palace.
The imperial edict spoke highly of Xu Pu, saying that he understood the state system and lived up to his reputation. These words sounded very lofty, especially the mention of "marking his mistakes with beans", which was a proud act of Xu Pu.
To be honest, Xu Pu was also a good promoter of himself.
When he was young, Xu Pu was not famous, nor was he a genius. His performance when he was studying in a private school was also very ordinary. He was never a celebrity in the private school, was never valued by the teacher, and had no reputation in the county.
How could the young Xu Pu not feel envious, jealous and resentful when he saw others being in the limelight
Finally one day, when Xu Pu was reading a book about how ancient people used beans to record their crimes and go down in history, inspiration suddenly came to him. From that day on, young Xu Pu deliberately spoke less in private school, stopped bragging and fooling around with his friends, and tried to appear calm and mature in front of others. He also put two porcelain bottles, one white and one black, on his desk, and often put green beans and soybeans in his pockets.
Whenever he helped an old lady cross the road, Xu Pu would put a yellow bean into the white porcelain bottle in front of everyone; whenever he accidentally said a dirty word, Xu Pu would put a mung bean into the black porcelain bottle in front of everyone... In this way, every time he did a positive, correct and good thing, Xu Pu would put a yellow bean into the white porcelain bottle in front of everyone; every time he did a negative, wrong and bad thing, Xu Pu would also put a mung bean into the black porcelain bottle in front of everyone.
Every month, Xu Pu would count the beans in the two bottles in front of everyone, and while counting he would reflect on himself like a lunatic.
At the beginning, everyone didn't take it seriously.
But after Xu Pu persisted for half a year, his reputation began to spread in the county. After a year, Xu Pu's name was known to everyone in the county, and everyone gave him a thumbs up when he was mentioned.
After tasting the sweetness, Xu Pu insisted on doing this until now he had become accustomed to it. There were countless bottles filled with beans in the house, almost filling up the whole room. In order to prevent mice from coming in, Xu Fu specially kept a cat in the house to watch over it. People are like this, they deceive themselves while deceiving.
When Xu Pu knelt down to receive the order, several beans fell out of his sleeves.
Hearing the words "understand the state system, record one's mistakes with a single word, and live up to the virtuous name" in the imperial edict, Xu Pu felt almost drunk.
"Your Highness Xu Pu accepts your order and thanks you. Long live the Emperor."
Xu Pu accepted the imperial edict and thanked the emperor, his face full of joy. He finally got the position of lecturer in Prince Jing's mansion. His meteoric rise to prominence is just around the corner. Hahahaha...
After receiving the order, Xu Pu stood up and began to thank Eunuch Wei profusely.
"Haha, Lord Xu, you are too polite. It is a blessing for me to run errands for His Majesty." Eunuch Wei said with a smile, "Congratulations to Lord Xu. Oh, I almost forgot that the Queen also asked me to bring a message to Lord Wei."
"Please speak, sir." Xu Pu leaned over and whispered.
Eunuch Wei leaned close to Xu Pu's ear and whispered something, and then Xu Pu's eyes lit up and nodded repeatedly.
"Haha, well, the imperial edict has been announced, and the message has been delivered, so I won't bother you any more."
Eunuch Wei smiled, bowed to everyone, and left.
"Go slowly, father-in-law."
Everyone accompanied Eunuch Wei all the way until he walked out of the Wuyi Palace gate, and only then did they stop and watch Eunuch Wei and his group leave.
After Eunuch Wei left, everyone congratulated Xu Pu.
"Congratulations to Master Xu for taking on the role of lecturer in Prince Jing's mansion. I am really envious of you..."
"Haha, that's right. The career of a lecturer in Prince Jing's mansion has unlimited potential. We will need Lord Xu's support in the future."
"Congratulations, Master Xu. Congratulations, Master Xu. Master Xu will be on the rise in no time. We will need your continued care in the future."
"Lord Xu is worthy of being appointed as the lecturer in Prince Jing's palace. I hope Lord Xu will speak well of you in the future when you meet Prince Jing."
... ...
Soon Xu Pu was surrounded by many officials who congratulated him on his appointment as the lecturer in Prince Jing's palace. The people's ears were almost callused from hearing the congratulations.
While congratulating Xu Pu, many people also did not forget to make fun of Zhu Ping'an, using Zhu Ping'an as a foil to Xu Pu.
"Haha, congratulations to Lord Xu. Oh, I almost forgot, and Lord Zhu, congratulations to Lord Zhu. Our Wuyi Palace is really blessed with double happiness. We just gave birth to a lecturer in Prince Yu's Palace, and now we have another lecturer in Prince Jing's Palace. Haha, our Wuyi Palace is really a great place."
"Of course, our Wuyi Palace is the closest to His Majesty, so it is naturally a good place. Lord Xu, Lord Zhu, when you become successful in the future, please don't forget us, your colleagues in Wuyi Palace."
The above sarcastic words congratulating Zhu Pingan are still considered good. There are also many words like the following that blatantly step on Zhu Pingan and praise Xu Pu.
"When I heard someone say this this morning, I thought that Lord Zhu was the lecturer of Prince Jing's Palace. I didn't expect that Lord Zhu was the lecturer of Prince Yu's Palace, and Lord Xu was the real lecturer of Prince Jing's Palace."
"Haha, the threshold to Prince Jing's Mansion is different from other mansions. The threshold is very high. Ordinary people can't get in by taking shortcuts. Only someone like Lord Xu who is knowledgeable and profound, who understands the state system, has made great achievements, and lives up to his reputation can get in. It is important for people to know themselves... Of course, I'm not talking about Lord Zhu, Lord Zhu, please don't think too much..."
"I believe this. Lord Zhu is the lecturer of Prince Yu's Palace. Lord Zhang, you are really judging Lord Zhu by your own standards."
"Oh, yes, yes... Hehe..."
For a time, Zhu Ping'an became another focus besides Xu Pu, but Zhu Ping'an was the focus of everyone's sympathy and gloating, while Xu Pu was full of congratulations and flattery.
While congratulating Xu Pu, many people also wanted to establish a relationship with Prince Jing through Xu Pu, and it would be great if they could enter Prince Jing's palace.
They were all eyeing the few remaining vacant positions in Prince Jing's Palace. Although these vacancies were not of high status and the official positions were very low, it didn't matter. They could work part-time anyway. Moreover, as long as they could get a position in Prince Jing's Palace, when Prince Jing ascended to the throne in the future, they would be old ministers of Prince Jing's Qianlong Mansion. With this halo, their future official careers would be smooth and unobstructed.
Zhu Ping'an watched all these scenes coldly, slightly pulled the corners of his mouth, and cooperated by putting on an "unlucky" and "listless" look.
There are few people on the Huangquan Road, and there are always car gods competing for the top spot. Now the hillside is still there, but the old driver is no longer there!
Dear car gods, please come.
This Road
Excuse me, I can't keep you company.