C131: The Minister of Internal Affairs

Ning Chen didn't care much for the gazes of others. After greeting the Eldest Prince and the Ninth Princess, he quietly went back to his seat to eat, head lowered and ears shut.

As for Ming Yue, she wasn't any better either, especially since she was only familiar with Qing Ning who was standing beside Zhang Sun at the moment. She kept her head lowered and minded her own business, eating fruits while handing over some peeled fruits to the bad man from time to time.

Grabbing it, Ning Chen tossed it into his mouth without a second thought.  Now that she brought it up, he did, in fact, take a fancy to the palace's loquats; they were rather sweet.

"How long does that Empress of yours plan on taking?" Ming Yue discreetly threw a look at the host's seat surrounded by officials partaking in polite banter.

"No idea but the matters of our elders are none of our business, let's just stick to eating." Ning Chen whispered back.

Ming Yue nodded her head, and returned to picking out her favourite sweet and sour fruits.

Thus a rather strange scene descended upon the gardens of the Nine Palaces. On one hand were the court officials paying respects to the Empress on her birthday, in return, Zhang Sun would extend her own well wishes and ask about their families while expressing concern. On the other hand, there was a pair of figures, one large and one small, both busy wolfing their food without a care in the world.

Seeing that, Qing Ning couldn't help but chuckle silently. Those two, they were clearly just here for the free food;they didn't even try to socialise.

Yet, it was at that moment that a discordant voice interrupted the otherwise peaceful scene: "May this one ask of the Marquis, Zhiming, has he found a marriage partner yet?"

In an instant, silence descended upon all the officials seated below the host's seat, as they turned their eyes towards the source of the voice —-it was the Minister of Internal Affairs, Marquis Anqing.

Marquis Zhiming's origins had long been an open secret, one that everyone didn't mention and yet someone chose to break this unspoken rule now, in order to throw the new military marquis a not-so veiled insult.

Unknowingly, Zhang Sun frowned. Looks like Ning Chen's appointment as military marquis had garnered the ire of a few.

The Marquis Anqing was one such person. However, he wasn't some foolhardy n.o.ble rus.h.i.+ng to his death; he was an established n.o.ble with power second only to the military marquis.

All around, the officials waited with bated for breath for Zhiming's response. It wouldn't be an overstatement to say that Anqing's insult was a dagger straight to the heart; one misstep by the young marquis and he would end up as the laughing stock of the banquet.

Ning Chen, however, wasn't at all fazed as he calmly peeled his loquat and prepared to swallow it. Suddenly, his hands froze as he felt the icy gaze of Zhang Sun fall upon him. He trembled out of sheer reflex before hurriedly handing over the fruit to little Ming Yue and standing up.

Ming Yue happily received the loquat and began nibbling on it, clearly not bothered by this entire farce.

The bad man wasn't even a real eunuch after all, such matters were trivial to him. Besides, that minister's level was just too low to be even considered a threat. In this world, the two most intelligent people were Fan Lingyue and the bad man, as for everyone else, they didn't even come close.

Back on the host's seat, Zhang Sun grew even angrier as she glared at the boy. That brat truly infuriated her at times; the other side was clearly out to get him and yet he sat there munching on fruits.

Qing Ning on the other hand, wasn't all too bothered by this. Even without much effort, she could figure out what was going on. In just these few months alone, he had to deal with opponents on the level of the Mortal Buddha and Fan Lingyue on a daily basis. Compared to that, this n.o.ble really wasn't worth a second of his time.

Just like what Ning Chen once told her, 'even if a dog bites a human, it's not like any sane person would bite him back.'

With no other choice but to stand up, Ning Chen promptly turned around to face the annoying n.o.bleman and, bearing disgust he felt from biting a dog, said, in the most serious tone he could muster: "Marquis Anqing, I hear your daughter hasn't found a partner yet, this Marquis will make a formal proposal today."

Having said that, Ning Chen turned towards Zhang Sun and bowed. "Your Majesty, I beseech Your Majesty to be the witness today."

*cough* Ming Yue almost choked on herself as she spat out the loquat in her mouth. The bad man was truly an evil one!

Those present were just as amused by the scene as they gloated at the marquis who just dug his own grave.

Marquis Anqing only had one daughter who was fifteen this year. As Zhiming said, she was of marrying age but his actions were clearly intended to stir up the n.o.bleman.

"Approved."

"You wish."

Zhang Sun and Marquis Anqing answered at the same time, one calm while the other visibly angered. Yet this was Grand Xia and in Grand Xia, Zhang Sun's words were law.

"Your Majesty, you mustn't."

Marquis Anqing immediately stepped out and pleaded with his knees on the floor.

"Why not, are you saying Marquis Zhiming's status isn't worthy of your daughter?"

Zhang Sun coldly snapped while scowling at the man. That old fart of a coattail rider actually dared to make fun of a military marquis, truly his nose was raised as high as the heavens themselves.

"It's because, because…"

Marquis Anqing was sweating buckets right now, struggling to come up with an explanation without bringing up that all important secret. As to why it was so important, that was because those of the Imperial Services branch weren't allowed to be conferred a marquis.h.i.+p, that was a directive pa.s.sed down through generations.

(TL: I used the term "government branch" in the previous chapter and some other term which I forgot in the older chapters. Now I'm settling on Imperial Services permanently as I feel it clearly separates the normal non-castrated officials from the eunuchs who also perform administrative and civil duties.)

The Xia Emperor broke that commandment by conferring a n.o.ble peerage onto Ning Chen but that was only allowed because he was the Xia Emperor; no one dared to defy that despot then so it went through unopposed. If Marquis Anqing dared to expose that now, it would be an affront to the late Emperor and those present.

"Your Majesty, that was an error on this subject's part, your humble subject requests that Your Majesty reconsiders her edict."

With no other choice, Marquis Anqing was forced to kowtow and beg for mercy. He only had one daughter in this world and he raised her like a precious treasure since birth, how could he bear to watch her be pushed into the firepit.

Immediately, Zhang Sun's expression turned even icier. If all it took was a simple admission of fault to change her edicts then she might as well not be an Empress anymore.

Whether it was for official reasons or for personal reasons, this matter mustn't be settled so easily.

Officially, a military marquis like Ning Chen wasn't a figure any person could just insult w.i.l.l.y nilly. On a personal level, the boy was someone she brought up personally; while it was alright for her to scold him or punish him, that didn't mean others could.

"Marquis Anqing, this Empress is worried about your growing age, perhaps it's time you took some time for yourself." She blandly declared.

Beneath, the scene was one of shocked silence, the Marquis himself, even more so, judging by his pale face.

"Imperial Mother, you mustn't." The Tenth Prince immediately stood out to plead for the man.

So he couldn't hold himself back in the end, Zhang Sun coldly mused to herself. Marquis Anqing was one of the Tenth Prince's men and should he retire now, it would deal a huge blow to him.

"Duke Xiyu, what's your opinion?" Zhang Sun calmly asked.

"The position of Minister of Internal Affairs should have a new master." Duke Xiyu elegantly waved his feather fan as he answered.

The Duke knew the Empress had already made up her mind by now and that asking him was merely a way of giving him face, thus he shouldn't try to push his luck.

With that said, the matter was settled and Marquis Anqing lifelessly collapsed on his b.u.t.t, eyes glazed over in shock. To think a mere comment would actually bring him such an end, even now he couldn't square himself with reality.

The Tenth Prince rose to his feet and backed off as well. Seeing as the matter was settled, further pleading was now pointless; the piece known as Anqing had to be discarded.

Amongst the officials, a thousand thoughts ran through their minds right now. Perhaps the Empress wasn't pleased with him for a while now but seeing as he was the Tenth Prince's man, did that also mean that she was leaning towards the Third Prince?

Naturally, Zhang Sun wasn't one to mind such considerations. Looking at the sh.e.l.lshocked Marquis Anqing, she calmly declared: "Since Marquis Anqing isn't willing to marry off his daughter, then this Empress won't force the issue. We'll put this matter to rest for now, as for Marquis Zhiming's marriage, this Empress has her own plans."

"Hic." Ning Chen abruptly paused, an ominous feeling rising within him soon after. 'Don't tell me Zhang Sun is about to start another round of random matchmaking…'

"Your Majesty, this humble subject is still young, such matters can be put off for another two more years." Ning Chen immediately interjected himself into the matter.

However, all that got him was a stare from the Empress and a simple, "Sit, this Empress knows what she's doing."

With no other choice, he sat down as ordered though the unease never once lessened. He knew exactly what her personality was like, it was just like his —obstinate. Once either of them decided on something, they wouldn't change their mind for anything; truly a troublesome matter.

At the side, Qing Ning was just as concerned about this issue. She knew that both of them weren't the type to back down. 'They wouldn't start a fight because of that, would they?' Was her worry right now.

"The position of Minister of Internal Affairs cannot be left open, do the ministers of the court have any opinion on who should be appointed?" Zhang Sun turned her eyes towards the officials gathered below and asked.

Immediately, the crowd grew silent once more. This time however, it didn't take long before a man from the Tenth Prince's faction stood out and made his recommendation in a bid to win back the post they lost.

Naturally, the Third Prince's faction immediately stepped up to reject his nomination with allegations of their own. No matter what, they didn't want that position to return to the Tenth Prince's faction.

Soon, the two sides erupted into a heated argument that boiled over to the point where some even forgot that this was the Empress's banquet.

Seated just below the Empress, Xia Ziyi coldly surveyed the ugly scene of greed playing out before him. *crack* The wine gla.s.s in his fingers snapped. When, in Grand Xia's thousand years of history, did the empire become so tainted, lamented Xia Ziyi.

Even so, the tug of war between the two sides continued unabated while the Empress's face grew darker by the second.

Finally, the stalemate was broken by Xia Ziyi, who threw Ning Chen a look before saying: "Ning Chen, how about you take up the post of Minister of Internal Affairs."

It was a simple suggestion, said in the calmest of voice and yet it stunned the entire banquet.

Ning Chen frowned upon hearing it. He didn't want to stick his hand into those sort of problems. While the reputation of the Internal Affairs Bureau wasn't completely horrid, it wasn't that far off either. Adding on the fact that his own reputation wasn't all that great either, he didn't wish to have this stain dumped on him.

"This subject has no objections."

"This subject has no objections."

It was a short moment of silence that ended the moment the two princes spoke up at the same time. The two of them had the same thoughts then, since they couldn't obtain the post themselves, they might as well use it to sell Zhiming a favor.

Seeing as three of the princes had made their opinion known, the rest of the officials quietened down.

Thinking on their suggestion, Zhang Sun nodded her head as well. The boy was in fact the best candidate for the post. He was smart, competent and more importantly, ruthless; truly a fit for the Internal Affairs Bureau.

In the first place, the Internal Affairs Bureau was a department filled with dirty secrets. Such a shady organization would undoubtedly come in handy when owned by Ning Chen, especially given how heated the war of succession was getting. Under such trying conditions, what she needed was more intelligence and power to make preparations.

"Does the court have any objection to this appointment?" Zhang Sun asked.

"This subject has no objections." The officials answered in unison.

"Dukes, what are you opinions on this?"

"As the Empress says."

Hearing that, Zhang Sun rose to her feet and formally made the declaration. "Marquis Zhiming, heed my command."

"Your subject is present." Left with no choice, Ning Chen slinked forward and respectfully replied.

"From this day forth, this Empress confers the t.i.tle of Minister of Internal Affairs onto you, along with the gaols of this empire."

"This subject thanks Her Majesty the Empress."

Knees to the ground, Ning Chen, from this day forth, held the position of the shadiest ministerial post in Grand Xia.

With that declaration over, Xia Ziyi rose to his feet and said, in the gravest of tones possible: "Do not disappoint the Imperial Mother."

A moment later, the Third Prince and the Tenth Prince rose to their feet and gave their congratulations.

"Hah." Ning Chen lightly laughed in the direction of the Eldest Prince before cupping to the two princes but saying nothing more.