The Prime Minister's Darling
Chapter 1090 - 1090 527 Huanxi (second night watch)

Chapter 1090: 527 Huanxi (second night watch) Chapter 1090: 527 Huanxi (second night watch) At the New Year’s Eve imperial banquet, the Emperor and Empress Dowager both slipped away stealthily, leaving Empress Xiao and the Crown Prince to preside over the festivities, inviting Princess Xinyang and various other royal relatives to celebrate the triumph at the border pass and welcome the New Year.

This was indeed a first in the annals of history.

The Emperor entered the courtyard with not a trace of psychological pressure; wherever his mother was, there he would be!

Eunuch Wei looked at his sovereign with an expression that said it all.

Ever since the Emperor believed he had taken an aphrodisiac, he had irreversibly embarked on the path of self-liberation. Should someone remind His Majesty that what he ingested was merely a Hair Growth Pill?

“Mother! Your son is here!”

The Emperor instantly became the Empress Dowager’s little shadow.

Eunuch Wei covered his eyes, damn it! He couldn’t bear to watch!

Gu Jiao originally planned to enter the palace to report her well-being to her auntie, but since her auntie had come, there was no need to go to all that trouble.

Gu Jiao and her aunt entered the main hall.

She hadn’t paid much attention before, but now, as she accompanied her aunt around the house, she discovered that there had been quite some changes during the three months she was away.

The vegetable patch in the front yard had been expanded to include more scallions and radishes, and the small fishpond opposite had been filled in and replaced with a large fish tank.

This was suggested by little Jie Kong, who said that now with a little brother in the house, his brother should also have his own play area. Despite the brother being so young, Jie Kong unhesitatingly offered up his own little fishpond.

Furthermore, the passageway in the backyard leading to the neighboring property was no longer a passageway; the wall had been completely knocked down, and the backyards of the two mansions had been connected, forming one large courtyard.

“Your granduncle has purchased that mansion,” Xiao Hen explained softly to a stunned Gu Jiao as she gazed at the now joined courtyard.

“It wasn’t cheap, I presume,” murmured Gu Jiao.

Xiao Hen nodded, “Hmm, it cost a thousand taels.”

The price wasn’t so high before, but ever since a new top scholar emerged, Bishui Alley was given the nickname Scholar’s Alley, and both land and house prices soared.

And that thousand taels was a friendly price.

Gu Jiao asked strangely, “Where did granduncle get so much money?”

If she remembered correctly, the salary of the Guozijian Head of Ritual Wine wasn’t that high.

Xiao Hen tugged at the corner of his mouth, “Well… he sold a couple of official positions.”

Gu Jiao: Granduncle even does that kind of thing!

The old Head of Ritual Wine’s method of selling official positions was as follows. He would first let it be known that he wanted to buy a mansion, after which people with ulterior motives would approach him with hefty bribes.

The old Head of Ritual Wine would then take the gold directly to the Emperor’s Imperial Study Room, indignantly telling the Emperor, “I, Huo Xian, have been clean and loyal my entire life, devoted to Your Majesty with no second thoughts! How could they think to bribe me, it’s utterly delusional! I hereby swear that even if the entire Court of civil and military officials were bought, I would not be swayed!”

The old Head of Ritual Wine’s final words caused the Emperor to reflect deeply. Since the Emperor’s personal rule began, he encountered many issues and suddenly understood some of the Empress Dowager’s past decisions.

The Emperor and Empress Dowager had very different approaches when it came to selecting officials. The Emperor could not tolerate flaws and needed upright and honest individuals, like the old Marquis and the old Head of Ritual Wine, except for the Marquis of Xuanping who was slightly flirtatious, but had never broken the law or violated ethical norms.

The Empress Dowager was more lenient; she valued the strengths and overlooked the weaknesses of people. The most typical example was Tang Yueshan.

Tang Yueshan was eager for glory and engaged in an incestuous relationship with his aunt, something the Emperor would never tolerate.

But after this border battle, the Emperor suddenly felt that Tang Yueshan had more merits than faults.

The Emperor began to ponder the ways of the Empress Dowager’s regency and realized she had many aspects worth his contemplation.

Pure water harbors no fish.

Take for instance the hereditary official system handed down by ancestors; abolishing it outright was unthinkable, for it shook the interests of many nobles and scholars. Yet the Empress Dowager effortlessly solved the problem with the six-ministry evaluation system.

Although hereditary officials still existed, it greatly reduced their mediocre qualifications and tenure in office, achieving a perfect balance.

The Emperor thought that the purchasing of positions would always happen.

If the old Head of Ritual Wine refused, it could not guarantee that the corrupt individual wouldn’t find someone else; rather than letting them reach an unknown official, it was better to let the old Head of Ritual Wine accept the offer.

That way, at least he knew which officials were bought, and everything was under control. Once the state apparatus was completely stable, he would nab them all in one swoop!

Consequently, the old Head of Ritual Wine received bribes openly and rightfully under the Emperor’s consent, and purchased the grand mansion next to the top scholar!