The Prime Minister's Darling
Chapter 610 - 610 293. Favor of the Chief Assistant (First Update)

Chapter 610: 293. Favor of the Chief Assistant (First Update) Chapter 610: 293. Favor of the Chief Assistant (First Update) Yueluo Mountain is not too far from Capital City, just about ten miles southeast from the south city gate.

The Book Pavilion is a two-part courtyard, and the real venues for book storage are only two study rooms – the East Wing and West Wing.

The owner of this courtyard doesn’t seem to be very fond of reading, the books are scattered around disorderly, without classification. Some books are made of bamboo slips and some are made of paper, all stacked in a disorganized manner, with a good number of them gnawed by termites.

However, these ancient books hold significant importance for historical research. Their task is to sort them according to different dynasties and eras. For the missing or damaged sections, they should restore as much as possible, and for those that cannot be restored, they should mark down for later consultation with the scholars and doctors of the Hanlin Academy.

On this visit to the Book Pavilion, there are four Xiuzhuan, two Bianxiu. Yang Xiuzhuan thought that there would be enough people since there were only two study rooms.

But after he entered the house, he was shocked at what he saw.

Is this really a study room?

Are you sure it’s not a storeroom?

The bookshelves and cabinets were messy, books were scattered everywhere. The previous servant seemed to have cleaned up, using baskets to collect some books. However, they were illiterate and just piled them up randomly.

Yang Xiuzhuan was so upset that he wished he had brought more people with him!

Prince An was also scratching his head, the academy scholars had warned him that the task might be heavy, but he didn’t realize it would be this overwhelming.

He rubbed his forehead and sighed, “Master Yang, we should start by taking all the books out and tidy up the room.”

“Yes, yes, what you said is absolutely right, Jade Heng!” Yang Xiuzhuan, a constant flatterer, responded hastily with a smile on his face.

Then he turned to Xiao Liulang, and his smile disappeared instantly, “Why are you standing there? Hurry up and move the books!”

Xiao Liulang and a scribe by the name of Cen Bianxiu were sent to the West Wing. The orientation of the West Wing was poor, it was unbearably hot in the afternoon sunshine, making it feel like a steaming basket.

The relatively cool East Wing was naturally taken by Yang Xiuzhuan himself and Prince An. Yang Xiuzhuan would not let Prince An get tired. He mainly directed another Xiuzhuan and a Bianxiu to get to work.

Prince An was asked to move the baskets of books.

Yang Xiuzhuan stopped him and said with a smile, “Just leave this kind of job to them, Jade Heng. You can go outside to air the books.”

Moving books to air out was a relatively easy task. Just place the moved books one by one on benches under the eaves, or on stone tables in the courtyard, or on the ground.

Prince An didn’t purposely try to act humbler than necessary. Every individual is unique in their own right. His background is above almost everyone else’s, and he has paid a heavy price for this.

Ordinary people without his noble birth would not need to go behind enemy lines as a hostage at the tender age of eight.

Therefore, there’s no need to decline out of modesty.

Prince An naturally accepted Yang Xiuzhuan’s arrangement.

Yang Xiuzhuan mainly gave orders on the spot, and occasionally he would also assist Prince An in airing out the books.

Xiao Liulang was a bit slow in his actions due to his leg disability.

Cen Bianxiu, who was in the same room with him, was a commoner scholar three years ago. This year, after leaving the college, he entered the Hanlin Academy as Bianxiu. He is also a newcomer, just a few months earlier than Xiao Liulang, Prince An, and Ning Zhiyuan.

Of course, he knew that Xiao Liulang was the champion of the recent imperial examination. However, this champion seems to have offended the runner-up, even the third-place Ning Zhiyuan, had a more comfortable time than him.

Cen Bianxiu muttered discontentedly, “What a nuisance, why did I get assigned the same room as you!”

Xiao Liulang remained silent, silently picking the books on the ground and putting them into the basket.

Everyone worked the entire afternoon, even Prince An, who was only airing books, felt a dull ache in his back and waist. Yet, until now, they have only completed half the work – moving all the books out but not organizing and returning them to their places.

“You two, start cleaning the rooms first!” Yang Xiuzhuan ordered Xiao Liulang and Cen Bianxiu, “You clean the East Wing, and you clean the West Wing.”

Cen Bianxiu had no choice but to obey. Among the two rooms, he chose the relatively cooler East Wing.

Xiao Liulang didn’t argue with him.

Far from feeling grateful, Cen Bianxiu sneered at Xiao Liulang, “I wouldn’t be so unlucky if I weren’t sharing a room with you!”

This remark was a bit over the line.

Xiao Liulang, after all, is a Sixth-rank Xiuzhuan, holding a position higher than him. If Xiao Liulang hadn’t come today, the dirtiest and most tiring tasks would still fall on him.

After all, among their ranks of Seventh-rank Bianxiu, it’s not like they could assign these tasks to the noble-born Prince An, could they?

Would Prince An be interested in an irrelevant official position like Seventh-rank Bianxiu? If it weren’t for Prince An belongs to the Zhuang Clan, which requires every son to pass the imperial examination in order to take a government post, Prince An would not have condescended to such a position.