Phoenix Rising

069

"How are things back in the capital?" Zi-ning asked, raising her teacup to her lips. She was seated with Shengwu at the small pavilion beside the lotus pond that bordered her accommodation, having a casual chat over some freshly brewed pu-er tea and green bean cakes.

"Not much has changed. If you're asking after your family, recently Minister Han received a censure from the chief minister because of a delay in sending food supplies to aid the Yanjiang region. There's been a serious flood in the area, so the damage is quite severe. The fifth prince volunteered to lead a contingent to Yanjiang to survey the situation and lead the relief efforts."

Zi-ning frowned. She remembered the Yanjiang flood. A crack in the dam at the western section of the river had led to violent flooding of the surrounding regions, destroying crops that spanned hundreds of mu of farmland and destroying plenty of homes. Ru-an's seemingly selfless trip to Yanjiang had been a resounding success, resulting in a huge boost in his reputation both among the populace and within the royal court. Back then, the crown prince had died of his illness while Ru-an was away, hence allowing the fifth prince to dodge any potential accusations regarding Ru-quan's death. With his achievements at Yanjiang, Ru-an's star began to rise, until he became the frontrunner to inherit the throne.

"The king agreed?" she asked.

Shengwu nodded. "But the king also asked that the crown prince and the eighth prince go along with him, citing the need for all them to experience the suffering that the people were going through in order to be able to empathise with the masses."

"Ah." That changed everything. This time around, Ru-quan had not fallen seriously ill, hence the position of crown prince was still out of Ru-an's grasp. It made sense for the king to ask the crown prince to make the trip to Yanjiang—after all, would the king not want to help his heir build credibility among the people? But asking for the eighth prince, Ru-wen, to go along made things uncertain. It seemed a little excessive to send three princes all the way to Yanjiang, even if the situation there was dire.

Regardless, it pleased Zi-ning to know that Ru-an's plans would not go as smoothly this time. If he was not the only prince sent to provide aid to the region, then the rewards would also not belong to him alone.

"How has it been adapting to your new job at the ministry?" she asked, giving Shengwu a warm smile.

He shook his head, chuckling wryly. "Much harder than I expected. Most of the officials are beleaguered with menial administrative tasks, which leaves hardly any time for actual discussion and handling of more critical matters. The minister is more concerned with ensuring that he gets to go home on time every day, and so he never has anything to raise in front of the king, lest it earns him more work."

Zi-ning's smile broadened. It seemed that becoming a court official had helped Shengwu open up a lot more. He had possibly said more to her in the past hour than he ever had in all the years they had known each other. When they were younger, Shengwu would spend all his time buried in his books and scholarly pursuits, never having any time to bother with the more frivolous pastimes that his younger siblings had. Zhenzhu used to joke that her older brother was a block of ice, and that he would have to find her a sister-in-law that was like a ball of fire, so that she could thaw his cold, frigid heart.

Thus far, no such sister-in-law had appeared, even though there had to be plenty of young ladies in the capital who would be more than willing to marry the newly minted top scholar.

"Such is the world of politics," she replied. "Take it slow. I'm sure you'll be able to make a difference in the way things are run one day."

"I hope so. Unfortunately, there are many practices that are already deeply rooted within the court. It will take more than one junior official to be able to shift a mountain."