Chapter 11: Little Brat

At the Grand Preceptor Mansion, in the Longevity Joy Hall.

The noon sun was slightly warm. Grand Preceptor Huo stood under the eaves, wearing a gray-green straight-collared Daoist robe with wide sleeves, teasing a white-feathered parrot on its perch with a twig.

Inside, Old Madam Huo was offering food and comforting Shen Yuezhuang.

“What’s so good about the palace? Sending you out at noon, not even letting you have a proper meal. It’s just as well you weren’t chosen. We’re not short of food for you here!”

Shen Yuezhuang finished the soup Old Madam Huo had handed her, put down her bowl and chopsticks, and said, “His Majesty wants me to enter the court as an official.”

“A female palace official?” Grand Preceptor Huo was unimpressed. He stroked his goatee and chuckled. “In charge of meals or clothing?”

He turned, pointing at Shen Yuezhuang with the twig. “Surely not in charge of overseeing the palaces!”

Shen Yuezhuang grinned. “His Majesty wants me in the Ministry of Revenue. In charge of debt recovery.”

She pulled a list from her bosom, shook it open, cleared her throat, and recited with mock solemnity, “In the twenty-sixth year of Qianyuan, the new Top Scholar borrowed fifty-three thousand nine hundred and sixty-two taels of silver.”

Grand Preceptor Huo strode over to grab the list, but Shen Yuezhuang quickly tucked it back into her robes and leaned into Old Madam Huo’s embrace.

“Hey, Grandfather, this concerns official court business—not convenient for outsiders to see! Unless… you know who this new Top Scholar is?”

Nonsense—it was him!

Grand Preceptor Huo swallowed the words he was about to say. Under the eaves outside, the white-feathered parrot chimed in perfectly.

“Little brat! Little brat!”

Shen Yuezhuang immediately looked up at her grandmother and tattled, “Grandmother, I want to eat dry-fried parrot.”

“Get lost!” Grand Preceptor Huo waved his wide sleeve and sat down beside Shen Yuezhuang. “Wanting both money and a bird—why don’t you just go up to heaven and ask the Jade Emperor himself!”

Shen Yuezhuang grabbed her grandmother’s arms and crossed them in front of herself. “There’s no Jade Emperor in the palace. Only the Emperor. And right now, the Emperor wants me to collect debts.”

She sniffed. “Grandfather, aren’t you supposed to be so refined that you never owe anyone money? Then how has this debt been…”

She counted on her fingers, and behind her, her grandmother said without thinking, “Fifty-nine years.”

Shen Yuezhuang looked at her grandmother in surprise. Grand Preceptor Huo was already fuming.

“You accepted it?”

“Yeah.” Shen Yuezhuang blinked, coming to her senses. “His Majesty said that if I can collect all the debts owed to the court, he’ll support me for life.”

Grand Preceptor Huo shot up from his seat in fury, pointed at Shen Yuezhuang, sputtered “You” for a long moment, then finally slammed the desk.

“Do you think debt collection is a good job? Who do they owe? They owe the court—the public treasury! If you get the money back, they’ll resent you. If you don’t, you’ve failed your assignment!”

“What kind of crap female official is this? You’re a living target! You think it’s some treasure? Huh? You dare accept it without thinking—who gave you the guts?!”

Grand Preceptor Huo was over eighty, with white hair. He usually spent his leisure time admiring flowers and playing with birds, the picture of an immortal. Now, even he was cursing. But after finishing, he suddenly realized something.

“No. This doesn’t add up.”

During the Qianyuan era, the imperial examination system was reformed, allowing many commoners to enter officialdom. Huo Rufang was one of them.

They had no background, no wealth or power. They often struggled in the capital, so borrowing from the court was common. Later, officials borrowing from the court even became a trend among the incorruptibles.

Then, during the Xuanwu era, war broke out frequently, and all court expenses went to the military. The practice of borrowing ended.

Regardless, the number of people who owed the court was vast. The law couldn’t punish everyone. As long as no one stuck their neck out, they could all drag their feet, stall, and the court would have no way to deal with it.

But… “The announcement about female officials was made earlier…”

Perhaps this whole matter shouldn’t be traced back to Shen Yuezhuang accepting the task, or to the Emperor meeting her.

“Tell me honestly—why did you go to the palace in the first place?”

Shen Yuezhuang answered with complete honesty, “I went to snatch a groom from the exam results list, and I ended up snatching the Empress Dowager instead.”

Huo Rufang: “……”

“The Empress Dowager said the Emperor wanted to see me, and that it had something to do with you. So I went to the palace.”

The Empress Dowager…

Huo Rufang’s expression grew even more complex. His shoulders sagged.

“She just told you to go to the palace?”

“No.” Shen Yuezhuang said, “She also said the Emperor had something to entrust to me, and that I should accept it. She said that if I handled it well, I would be free.”

“Free?” Huo Rufang let out a cold laugh. “You’ll be free, all right. Your father will be worried to death. After you finish going around collecting these debts, which family would dare marry you?”

He looked at Shen Yuezhuang, sighed, and tried to persuade her. “When you were little, your father doted on you. He used to hold you and say that if any brat dared to trick you away, he’d break their legs!”

Shen Yuezhuang’s expression was innocent. “But now, my father wishes he could break my legs and then send me off to someone else’s house.”

Huo Rufang: “……”

That was true, actually.

Huo Rufang couldn’t talk sense into her. He was so angry his beard bristled. “I’ve said all this, and you don’t listen. But whatever she says, you follow it without a second thought!”

“Yeah.” Shen Yuezhuang replied, “Didn’t you tell me that if I ever couldn’t figure something out, I should find someone who could, and then just do what they say? So that’s what I did.”

“But,” Old Madam Huo finally spoke up after listening for a while, “Little Walnut, didn’t you and the Empress Dowager fall out years ago?”

If they had fallen out, why was she still so obedient?

Having her enter the palace could be excused as worrying about her grandfather, but why did she obey so readily when it came to accepting the Emperor’s task?

Old Madam Huo’s warm, dry fingertips brushed Shen Yuezhuang’s cheek. “Tell your grandmother the truth—what’s really going on between you and the Empress Dowager now?”