I Am Truly Not a Treacherous Minister Your Majesty

Chapter 52 Position Change

“I knew you wouldn’t come.” Wu He Ya’s tone was flat, as if she had already expected Qin Ji to answer this way.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, you don’t need to apologize to me. I will listen to your advice. If possible, I hope that when we meet again in the future, I will have enough qualifications to invite you to my country.”

“Hopefully.”

Qin Ji casually found a rock, squatted on it, and chewed on a blade of grass.

Wu He Ya walked up to Qin Ji and then bent down slightly. Her eyes seemed to have a magical attraction, staring at the man in front of her:

“Qin Ji, we will meet again—in another occasion.”

This sentence did not explicitly say where they would meet, but Qin Ji fully understood her meaning.

“By that time, if you really catch me, don’t forget to leave me a whole corpse.” He chuckled.

“A whole corpse? No, no,” Wu He Ya hesitated for a moment, then put her hand on his shoulder, “If I really catch you, maybe my sisters will like your type very much…”

“Hiss… the most poisonous woman’s heart!”

“But, by that time, who to reward you to will be my own decision.”

She shook her head slightly, then stood up: “It’s getting late, and you have a lot of things to deal with, right? Go back early. Thank you for your invitation today. I really like this horse.”

“If you like it, you can take it with you. It seems to have a special connection with you.”

“Forget it. My country lacks many things, but horses are not one of them,” she said, withdrawing her hand from the horse in front of her. “I will soon bring the news back to my country. In the short term, we probably won’t have the chance to meet like this again.”

“Be careful over there. Safety first,” Qin Ji reminded.

“Don’t worry, I will.”

Wu He Ya adjusted her attire, which had become somewhat disheveled from riding, until it was neat and tidy again. She then resumed her composed and elegant demeanor, as she would in a diplomatic setting. “Well then, Your Excellency, Duke of An, to avoid suspicion, please allow me to take my leave first.”

“Mm.”

The sound of horse hooves echoed as Wu He Ya galloped away along the road she had come.

“It seems the young master has a good impression of her,” Ling Yan said softly, gazing at Wu He Ya’s departing figure.

“Rather, I have a good impression of people like her.”

Qin Ji smiled self-deprecatingly. Despite being a practical person, whether it was his former self before coming to this world or his current self, he could never bring himself to dislike such people.

Every person who tirelessly fights for their country and its people carries an unforgettable charm in his heart.

“Young master, you still have to accompany the young lady to paint tonight. If you don’t return soon, she will be waiting for you.”

“Mm, I know,” Qin Ji nodded. Suddenly, a curious question came to his mind. “By the way, Ling Yan.”

“Yes?”

“Have you ever thought about what would happen if I really chose to leave with Wu He Ya…”

“It would just mean a change of work environment. With your talents, young master, you would be well-treated whether in Da Xia or in Sa Er. Thinking this way, my work environment shouldn’t be bad either.”

Ling Yan spoke without hesitation, as if following him was a matter of course.

“You… well, alright.”

Qin Ji really had no way to deal with this guard.

…

Early the next morning, Da Xia’s Chief of Ceremonies, Xia Si Guo, took a sick leave.

An official taking leave raised the question of who would fill Xia Si Guo’s vacancy. To address this, Xia Yu Xiao convened a group of central officials to discuss who should temporarily fill the position.

According to the old system, this vacancy should be filled by the second-in-command of the Chief of Ceremonies’ office. After all, the office mainly handled internal affairs of the royal family. The work could be very busy at times, but it could also be very idle. Most of the time, the second-in-command was sufficient to handle it.

However, this time, the other party insisted that the office’s affairs were very busy recently and required someone capable of managing the situation to fill the Chief of Ceremonies’ position.

Thus, after a “unanimous discussion,” the ministers pushed Xia Yu Xiao’s uncle forward, hoping that this esteemed elder of the Xia family would handle the office’s affairs.

But Xia Yu Xiao politely declined this suggestion.

Then, Xia Yu Xiao smiled and said:

“How about this, I have noticed that Prime Minister Long has been studying our Da Xia’s rituals and laws recently. Since there are no major affairs in the court for the time being, why not let Prime Minister Long temporarily take on this position for the next few days?”

Upon hearing this, Qin Ji, who was below, felt something was off.

Ah, no, this isn’t right.

From noble mtl dot com

The appointment of officials in the Great Xia Dynasty is indeed something the emperor can personally designate. However, some positions are quite special.

Especially the Zongzheng.

The position of Zongzheng, due to dealing with internal affairs of the royal family, sometimes involves a lot of messy royal matters. Therefore, the officials in this position are almost always royal relatives. Moreover, they must be highly respected individuals within the Xia family.

Temporarily changing the Zongzheng is already unusual, but this time, they actually want Prime Minister Long to take the position?

Can Prime Minister Long handle being the Zongzheng?

He can’t, he doesn’t have the qualifications, right?

At least find someone from the royal family, otherwise, if some family scandal happens, it would be regrettable. For example, someone’s brother gets drunk and accidentally mistakes his sister-in-law for his own sister and then causes a big fuss…

This kind of absurd thing has indeed happened, although it was over a hundred years ago, it still remains a popular anecdote among many common people…

The source of the news was a certain Zongzheng from an external family who was courting death. This guy didn’t know what he was thinking at the time, daring to spread this matter.

No, for the sake of His Majesty’s family affairs, I must persuade him properly.

“Your Majesty, I have something to say.”

“Speak.”

“I believe that the Prime Minister, working day and night, might be overworked. Perhaps someone else could take this position.”

Qin Ji said respectfully.

“Then, who do you think is more suitable for this position than Prime Minister Long?” Xia Yuxiao asked.

“I don’t know who is more skilled in the position of Zongzheng, but Your Majesty could choose someone from the military. This person must be familiar with Your Majesty and the royal family, able to balance the various members of the royal family. At the same time, they must be familiar with government affairs to assist Your Majesty in handling state affairs. I believe there is only one such person.”

After saying this, Qin Ji was extremely satisfied.

He couldn’t directly say who he recommended, otherwise, it would be easy to be accused of factionalism.

Since that’s the case, he wouldn’t explicitly say who, but instead, he would state the relevant requirements.

In fact, there was only one person in the court most suitable for this position.

That was General Bai.

General Bai, as an old minister in the court, had outstanding merits and almost never engaged in factionalism. Therefore, he would be more reliable in handling clan affairs and could suppress those royal relatives.

He also looked a bit intimidating. That scarred face, coupled with the hissing sound from his trachea due to a severe injury, could stop a child from crying at night just by standing in front of them.

Moreover, although General Bai did not bear the surname Xia, tracing back, he was a relative and elder of Xia Yuxiao, so he could be considered one of their own.

The last point was the convenience of time and job transfer. General Bai would soon return from the front line, at most the day after tomorrow. He was also a general, so if they didn’t want him to continue as Zongzheng in the future, Qin Ji could just find an excuse to give him some troops and send him on a military mission.

Therefore, after careful consideration, Qin Ji gave Xia Yuxiao this suggestion.

But the problem was, when these words reached Xia Yuxiao’s ears, they were misunderstood to mean something else…

Hearing Qin Ji speak so respectfully, Xia Yuxiao forced himself to calm down.

Damn it, I can’t calm down, my fists are clenched.

Is this never-ending?! You want the army, you want to see the military reports first, you want the secret troops, and now you want the job of Zongzheng too?!

How could it not exhaust you!? Even ambition should have its limits!