Wen Ke Xing presented himself at the imperial court. The staff searched him to make sure he did not carry any weapon. It was forbidden to carry weapons to court. Uncle Bai explained that the Song people were terrified of assassins and enforced all these rules to protect their lives. Such cowards. The Jin people were fearless. If he had wanted to kill, any object could become a weapon, Wen Ke Xing could easily defeat all the guards and soldiers with just his bare hands.
After he collected his stationary and name tag, the staff helped him dress into his new official robe and hat. Uniforms were required to enter the administrative building. He then asked to be walked to the military office to meet Prince Zi Shu.
"This is too early, the prince is not yet at the military office. He is usually in his bedroom at this time." The eunuch explained. "Let me take you to his room instead."
Wen Ke Xing followed into the palace and observed an exquisite pavilion surrounded by a flower garden, and then as he walked into Prince Zi Shu's front yard, he noticed a small pond with water lilies, some goldfish, and turtles inside. Decorations were simple, pleasant, not overly extravagant.
When they reached his bedroom door, before they had the chance to knock, a young maid pushed the door open and ran out of the room, crying heavily. She pushed the door so hard, it had bounced back and closed itself after she stormed away. The first thought that came to Wen Ke Xing's mind was that Uncle Bai was right once again, all Song men - especially the royal family and high-ranking officials - enjoyed sexually harassing the young maids in the palace. It was free entertainment for them. If the girls got pregnant they would then be forced to undergo abortion. If they refused, they would be accused of being indecent and get beheaded. If they agreed, they would get to keep their life and their job, but they would continuously get raped over and over, and get abortions again and again. Men were savages in the courthouse. You might as well call it a whorehouse. The Jin maids, on the other hand, did not get tortured like that.
Looks like Prince ZiShu was no exception, Wen Ke Xing thought to himself.
Knocking the door, the eunuch announced that he had brought the Secretary of War to greet the Prince.
"Perhaps this is not a good time, we should come back when the prince is ... decent." Wen Ke Xing suggested.
"No, right now is fine. Brother Wen may step in on his own. You may retreat and return to your other duties." Prince Zi Shu ordered. He must have heard Wen Ke Xing talking to the eunuch.
"Yes, prince." And the eunuch left.
Feeling the need to give the prince sufficient time to ... clean up and get ready... should he need to, Wen Ke Xing knocked again.
"Brother Wen, come in. You don't have to knock, I already know you're here."
Wen Ke Xing gently pushed the door opened and kept his head down, not comfortable stepping in yet. "Prince Zi Shu, I'm reporting for duty."
"Brother Wen, just step in, no need to be this formal. I'm not the Emperor. You don't have to bow or look down, just come on in."
With that, Wen Ke Xing stepped in and looked up, and was surprised to see a dozen eunuchs and maids in the bedroom. Each group of 3 people shared a desk and there were 4 desks. They were all seated on the floor with books in their hands.
"You may all return to your duty now. Remember to recite the poem, and do your assignments. Class is dismissed." Prince Zi Shu announced, and all the staff retreated.
"You were giving lessons to the servants?" Wen Ke Xing asked.
"Yes, of course. Most of the servants can't read or write, but if I teach them, then they learn a skill that they can later use when the opportunity presents itself."
