Qiang Jin Jiu (Author : Tang Jiuqing 唐酒卿)

Chapter 74 : Toast Exchange

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The second month of the lunar year was crucial for planting mulberry and flax in spring. The various localities hurried to submit their reports and urge the Ministry of Revenue to allocate funds. With mountains of trivial affairs piling up, the various departments were so busy they were burned out from exhaustion. Li Jianheng dished out the rewards and conferments, and Xiao Chiye was promoted to the rank of Marquis of Dingdu. Meanwhile, Shen Zechuan received a skip in grade and was promoted to a third-grade Vice Commander. He also concurrently took up the portfolio of the Northern Judge and began to take charge of the imperial prison.

The Grand Secretariat initially did not agree to this, but Cen Yu submitted a memorial to make a strong case for a recommendation. Hai Liangyi also saw Shen Zechuan in a new light because of the epidemic, and so it was decided.  

Xiao Chiye carried the earring case on him, but he never found the opportunity to run into Shen Zechuan. Shen Zechuan was on the go all over the imperial prison, having to go through all the cases accumulated before the new year one at a time. He was so busy he skipped sleep and meals. On the other side, he still had to get Qiao Tianya to lie in wait and keep a watch on Xi Hongxuan so that he could find a way to get Qi Huilian and Ji Gang back. 

Young swallows made a ruckus on roof beams, while the young shoots of weeping willows spouted. The vermilion walls and green glazed tiles of Qudu gradually showed as the weather remained clear and sunny for several days in a row. On the day when spring rain fell uninterrupted, Cen Yu hosted a feast and invited a few friends from the latest incident. Hai Liangyi was not one to attend private banquets, and it just happened that he had yet to recover from his illness, so he did not partake in the feast.  

By the time Shen Zechuan arrived, it was already late. He was led straight to the main hall. When he lifted the curtain, he saw that it was full of officials who were familiar faces to him.

Han Cheng, Kong Qiu, and Cen Yu shared a table. Xiao Chiye already had his third round of wine, and he was listening with propped arms to Yu Xiaozai – whose seat was at the bottom – telling jokes to an entire hall of important ministers. 

The moment Shen Zechuan entered, Yu Xiaozai hurriedly paid his obeisances and greeted him. “Your Excellency is late. Please hurry and have a seat at the head of the table.” 

Shen Zechuan removed his cloak and said with a smile, “There’s much to do in the imperial prison, so I’d like to ask of Your Excellencies to please bear with me. I’ll sit at the bottom.” 

Cen Yu stood up and beckoned to him, saying, “Those etiquettes for public display won’t work at private banquets. Once you are here, we are all friends despite our age differences. So why still stand on ceremony? Old Han, you tell him!” 

Han Cheng said, “It’s as he said. Lanzhou, come on up and sit here. The few of us old and useless ones have the honor of being in the company of the Marquis today too. Your Lordship, you could be said to have lowered yourself for us!” 

“Commander-in-chief, what you’re doing is putting me down.” Xiao Chiye seemed to be a little drunk. He did not look at Shen Zechuan and merely smiled, “Who present here is not a respected elder? I’ll still have to look to all of you for advice in the future.”

Shen Zechuan had already taken his seat, which was a little distance away from Xiao Chiye across the table where he would be able to reach the latter if he stretched out his legs. Both men did not look at each other, nor did they greet the other. Kong Qiu looked left and right at them and said with a smile, “I’ve long heard that both of you have beef with each other. Why won’t you even say a word on meeting each other? You worked on this assignment together, and it seemed all good to me. So why still take those past grudges to heart?”