Daily Life of a Villain at Work [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 54

Chapter 54: The Eighteenth Day of the Villain Being Emperor

Wen Qingyun did not hide her favoritism for Chu Xin. A month after Chu Xin’s return to the capital, she issued a new appointment.

Chu Xin was promoted from Reader Academician to Grand Secretary of the Wenyuan Pavilion. As for Chu Xin’s father, who previously held that title, he was reassigned as the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices (a fourth-rank position). In terms of grade, her father had actually been promoted.

Chu Xin’s actual rank shifted from 5B to 5A, while her prestige rank remained 4B. On paper, it was a one-step jump, but a look at the Cabinet roster revealed the magnitude of the promotion. There were only four Grand Secretaries: Si Yu (Rites), Si Wen (Communications), Liao Cong (Finance), and Chu Xin.

Chu Xin was the only one without a concurrent ministerial post, but every official knew the Emperor was simply placing her in the Cabinet to “polish” her before an even greater promotion.

When Master Chu heard the edict, he breathed a sigh of relief. Entering the Cabinet is good! It meant the Emperor intended to use his daughter’s talents as a statesman, not sequester her in the harem for amusement.

Chu Xin was beyond moved. Her desire to serve the Emperor for a lifetime reached a fever pitch, and she entered “hardcore mode”—waiting at the palace gates before dawn and returning home long after dark.

However, this didn’t last long. Wen Qingyun noticed that the weight she had painstakingly helped Chu Xin gain over the past month had vanished in five days of overwork. With a wave of her hand, she bestowed Jingren Palace upon Chu Xin and ordered her to move in.

Terrified, Chu Xin knelt immediately. “Your Majesty! Jingren Palace is a residence for imperial consorts! For a subject to live there is a grave transgression of protocol!”

“Oh? Then perhaps you prefer my warm pavilion? Do you wish to sleep in the same room as me?” Wen Qingyun countered.

“I… I can buy a house near the palace! Please, Your Majesty, withdraw the order!”

“No house outside is closer than a palace inside,” Wen Qingyun said firmly. “Jingren Palace is ready. I’m giving you half a day off. Move your things in before the gates lock tonight.”

“Your Majesty, I cannot…”

“Fine. If you don’t move, you shall sleep in the warm pavilion with me starting tonight. It will make reporting on state affairs more convenient.” Wen Qingyun leaned her chin on her hand, watching Chu Xin’s distressed face with amusement.

Between living in a consort’s palace and sleeping in the Emperor’s bedroom, the latter was infinitely more scandalous. Chu Xin had to choose the lesser of two evils. She chose Jingren Palace.

…

“The child agreed?” the Empress Dowager asked, surprised.

“I gave her two choices: Jingren Palace or the Hall of Supreme Harmony with me,” Wen Qingyun replied calmly.

The Empress Dowager shook her head. “If you truly have feelings for her, speak to her clearly. Chu Xin is an honest soul; she won’t disobey an edict, but she might worry herself to death.”

“I intend to, but I must vacate the right ‘position’ for her first,” Wen Qingyun smiled. “At least let her know I still value her utility as a minister.”

The conversation shifted to the North. The Empress Dowager’s sister (the Emperor’s aunt) reported that the Tatars were facing a poor harvest and might raid before winter. Wen Qingyun assured her mother that the treasury was full—thanks to the confiscated wealth of the southern gentry—and promised to support the Northern border.

“I plan to move against Japan next spring,” Wen Qingyun added. “Once Japan is subdued, we will march north to crush the Tatars. In three years, I intend to lead an imperial expedition personally. Mother, would you like to come with me?”

“At my age?” The Empress Dowager was nearly fifty.

“Retirement is at seventy, Mother. You have twenty more years of glory in you.”

The Empress Dowager laughed. “If you lead the expedition, I shall go with you.”

…

Since moving into Jingren Palace, the court’s gaze on Chu Xin had changed. Rumors of her being a “seductive influence” began to circulate. Chu Xin ignored them; as a Grand Secretary, she was so busy she barely saw the Emperor except at morning court and lunch.

That changed when Wang Yuejiao returned from the coast, having successfully repelled the pirates. Wen Qingyun named her the Marquis of Dinghai—the first woman to be formally ennobled for military merit. Soon after, the Minister of War retired, and Wen Qingyun appointed Wang Yuejiao to the post, making her a Grand Secretary as well.

With Wang Yuejiao sharing the load, Chu Xin hoped for a breather. She was wrong.

“Your Majesty, what did you just say?” Chu Xin’s eyes widened.

“I am renovating the Hall of Supreme Harmony. During the construction, I will stay in Jingren Palace,” Wen Qingyun repeated.

“Then… I shall move to the side hall? Your Majesty will take the main hall?” Chu Xin stammered.

“Don’t be so formal. I will stay with you. That way, we can discuss state affairs deep into the night.”

“But…”

“Chu Xin,” Wen Qingyun interrupted, “does a subject not have the duty to relieve the monarch’s worries?”

“Yes…” Chu Xin’s heart raced.

“Then will you relieve mine?” Wen Qingyun’s eyes sparkled. “Wait for me in the main hall of Jingren Palace tonight. Remember to bathe and change first. I will come after my own bath.”

Chu Xin’s brain felt like mush. Bathe and change? Discussion of state affairs? She was both terrified and secretly elated—a realization that filled her with shame. A “loyal” official should be protesting this breach of inner-court rules, not wondering if she was “pretty enough” to catch the Emperor’s eye.

…

Distraction came in the form of a case brought by Bai Siyang from the Court of Judicial Review. It involved a “wife murdering her husband.” The local magistrate had sentenced her to death, but Bai Siyang suspected foul play.

The investigation revealed that the husband had tried to poison his wife to stop her from taking the civil service exams. However, he accidentally drank the poisoned wine himself. The local officials, biased against the woman, claimed she must have known and swapped the cups, thus committing murder.

Wen Qingyun was furious. “If a husband kills a wife for being a scholar, he is ‘disciplining’ her. If she survives his attempt and he dies by his own hand, is she a murderer? I’ve said before: husband and wife are equal. Release her. Dismiss every official involved in the original trial.”

Wen Qingyun then decided to visit the woman, a scholar named Lu, in the cells. Chu Xin followed, once again being forced to ride on the same horse as the Emperor.

At the prison, Wen Qingyun saw that the woman’s legs had been mangled by torture.

“You,” Wen Qingyun said to Lu. “Did you know the wine was poisoned?”

“Student… did not know,” Lu whispered, sweating. “He said it was an apology for our past quarrels.”

Wen Qingyun sensed the woman’s intelligence. Lu had become a “Linshan” scholar (a top-tier student) on her first try, far surpassing her husband.

“I am revising the law,” Wen Qingyun said. “If I gave you a choice, what position would you want?”

Lu gulped. “I would be honored to serve as a Clerk in the Ministry of Justice.”

Wen Qingyun smiled. “Too modest. Heal your legs. If you pass the exams this autumn, come to the Court of Judicial Review as a Seventh-Rank Judge.”

As Wen Qingyun rode back to the palace with Chu Xin, the officials watched in silence.

Bai Siyang watched them go. She knew the truth: Lu likely did know the wine was poisoned and let her husband drink it anyway. But in a world where the Emperor needed an example to change the laws on marriage, Lu’s “ignorance” was exactly what the crown required. Lu had gambled her life on the Emperor’s new policies, and she had won.