Chapter 1312: Chapter 1314_1
Glancing at the variety of dishes on the dinner table, his satisfaction was evident, and there were two doll-like children urging him with each bite, "Uncle, try this," or, "Uncle, try that," not treating him as a eunuch at all but serving him as if he was a distant relative who had come from afar.
Eunuch Cui was extremely pleased; indeed, just as Ye Zi’an had said, he left with several boxes of assorted fruit wines, enough not only for his own enjoyment but also to present as a tribute to the Chief Eunuch.
As for the gifts intended for the Emperor, they were loaded onto a separate cart and were sent to the Capital City by personnel jointly dispatched by the county office and the Prefect.
The day Eunuch Cui came to deliver the decree, the news of Ye Zi’an being promoted to Prefect of Shandong spread like wildfire, reaching every corner swiftly.
This was particularly true in Jiangsu Prefecture, which was the earliest to receive the news. Officials of all ranks were aware of it.
Consequently, once Eunuch Cui had left, people from all walks of life came to present congratulatory gifts for the celebration.
Ye Zi’an accepted what was appropriate, and for gifts that were too valuable to accept, or returning which might offend the giver, he deposited them directly into the county office’s public account, noting down the month, the contributor’s name, and their contribution to Mianyang.
This approach was so efficient that it even caught the attention of the Prefect of Jiangsu.
However, the Prefect of Jiangsu felt a bit of regret. He had originally planned to give Ye Zi’an an excellent evaluation at the year-end appraisal, intending to please General Luo in the process. But the Emperor’s sudden action disrupted his plans, leaving him with no relation to Ye Zi’an’s promotion, which understandably led to his frustration.
But there was nothing he could do about his frustration, and upon reflecting that others were certainly more disappointed than he was, his mood lightened once more.
After Eunuch Cui’s departure, May soon arrived, and the two little bundles of joy were now three years old.
The day after their birthday, Yangyang complained that he had not had the chance to fully savor the previous day’s cake when he was hauled off to the study by his father. He was told quite sternly that from now on, they must seriously start their studies and could no longer skip lessons as they wished.
Lele had no objections to this.
Yangyang’s complaints were drowned out by the martial training schedule his mother had set for him, which included squatting in a horse stance every morning for a quarter hour, progressively increasing with time.
In Mianyang County and Fushui County, the kidnappers had been thoroughly rounded up. As for the other counties, the lists had already been handed over to the Prefect to worry about.
The Fancy Red Pavilion was naturally left to the Prefect and the court to deal with. After all, there was more than one Fancy Red Pavilion in Jiangsu Prefecture, including one in the prefecture itself.
However, to the Prefect’s frustration, by the time he arrived to seal off the Fancy Red Pavilion, the place was already deserted, leaving behind only those who had just arrived and knew nothing.
The news from the Fancy Red Pavilion in the Capital City only came through in August.
It was said that the closure there was timely, capturing two big fish, both high-ranking court officials. Confiscation and exile were inevitable.
But anyone with discernment could see that these were merely scapegoats. The hidden figures involved surely numbered more than just these two, as evidenced by the fact that half of the Fancy Red Pavilions across the nation were empty when the crackdown occurred. And those who were caught from the other half knew nothing.
It seemed as if the mastermind behind the Fancy Red Pavilion had been wanting to rid themselves of this burden, moving their operations underground. This presented an opportunity to offload the major liability by capitalizing on the court’s actions, shifting their core influences and letting the non-essentials be captured.