After Ye Ziāan left the guest quarters, he thought to himself that fruit wine was certainly goodāsome types probably sell for a dozen silver per bottle in Capital City. He had requested two cases, which meant twelve bottles, amounting to several hundred silver. No wonder it was good.
However, this kind of eunuch who served directly under the Emperor was better treated well at a higher expense than offended.
Ye Ziāan returned to the harem and saw Yangyang standing in front of the platform, his eyes sparkling with admiration as he saw him return.
"Beautiful daddy, youāre really amazing!" And with that, he gave him a thumbs-up.
"Son, thank you for the compliment."
He patted his little head and led him into the house with one hand.
"Beautiful daddy, when I grow up, I want to be like you, I want to be a high-ranking official too."
"High-ranking official?" Ye Ziāan glanced at him upon hearing this.
"Yep, Sister Mingcui said daddy is about to become a Prefect soon, and a Prefect is a chief executive of a region, which is a high-ranking official," Yangyang said, looking expectantly at him.
Raising an eyebrow, Ye Ziāan replied, "Thatās somewhat true and somewhat not. A Prefect is indeed a chief executive of a region, but canāt be considered a high-ranking official. A Prefect is a fourth-rank official, and above that, there are third-rank, second-rank, first-rank, and even higher super-rank officials."
"I see, then I want to be a super-rank official," Yangyang exclaimed loudly upon hearing this.
Super-rank? Ye Ziāan thought to himself, the boy sure has big ambitions. Super-rank officials usually come from families with titles and achievements. There are very few civil officials who could be granted titles, while military officials might find it slightly easier to earn titles during years of war, depending on the timing.
Yet, these were not the things he could tell his son at the moment, as it might dampen his enthusiasm.
"Son, if you want to become a super-rank official, you need to start studying hard from now on, and you must also learn martial arts like your mother, becoming proficient in both civil and military affairs to have a chance in the future."
"Is that so?" thought Yangyang. Being able to beat people like his mother was no problemāin his eyes, martial arts meant being able to beat people. But as for studying hard and liking books, he wasnāt too keen on that. What to do?
Seeing that he seemed a bit troubled, Ye Ziāan didnāt say more, letting him figure it out for himself.
But he didnāt expect the boy to come up with an answer so quickly. Just as they entered the house, Yangyang spoke loudly, "Starting tomorrow, I will study and practice martial arts with mother."
Yang Chuxia then asked him, "Why not start today?"
Blinking, Yangyang replied, "Donāt you both have no time to teach me today?"
"Hmm, youāre quite clever," she remarked.
Yang Chuxia looked at Ye Ziāan and pointed to the sky, "Whatās all this about?"
"A power play," Ye Ziāan shrugged. Stepping forward and embracing her, he whispered, "I suspect itās the Emperorās way of showing heās unhappy with the pressure from all those courtiers urging him to issue a decree to punish me. So he secretly issued this imperial edict. Itās meant to slap those ministers in the face and remind them who owns this world. The ministers in Capital City probably have no idea this edict even exists. Theyāre going to be furious when they find out. But..."
"But what?" Yang Chuxia urged as he paused.
"I suspect I wonāt be taking up my post as the Prefect of Shandong anytime soon. Those people will likely find a way to delay finding a replacement County Magistrate for Mianyang. I will be the Prefect of Shandong in name, but Iāll still have to stay in Mianyang waiting for the handover."
Those old men, they were best at such things.
In fact, as soon as the imperial edict from Mianyang reached Capital City, the countermeasures those people came up with were exactly as Ye Ziāan had anticipated.