Chapter 369: Reward

Chapter 369: The Reward

After speaking, he looked at Ji Yuntang, his eyes glimmering and turning much gentler.

"Princess Ye, I actually knew long ago that Master Yuqing was a fraud. The reason I invited him to the palace was to test you, to see how sharp your wits and reflexes are."

"As it turns out, you indeed did not disappoint me. You passed my test, and now the laureate of the Canglang Poetry Talk is well and truly deserved."

"Every laureate goes on to serve in the Six Ministries. I hereby appoint you as a Records Clerk, responsible for handling official documents. How about reporting to the Ministry of Revenue tomorrow?"

Ji Yuntang: "..."

She knew Emperor Jingyang was shameless, but she didn't expect him to be this shameless.

Just moments ago, he had wanted Master Yuqing to burn her to death, and now he had the audacity to claim it was a test.

And to top it off, he was offering her a low-ranking out-of-grade position.

What was an out-of-grade position?

It meant being outside the normal nine-rank official hierarchy, with extremely low status—similar to a temp or contract worker.

Low pay, tons of work, and constant grief—worse off than a pack mule.

Thinking about this, Ji Yuntang felt extremely grateful that she had never considered entering officialdom. Otherwise, with such a piddling little post, who knows how they'd grind her down once she took it.

A smile curled at the corners of her lips, and she said in a clear voice, "Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty, but I have no desire to serve in the Six Ministries. The Prince Ye's residence cannot be without me right now. If I were to leave, there would be no one to take care of my husband, the prince!"

"I wouldn't feel at ease leaving his care to anyone else, so I humbly ask Your Majesty to rescind your decree."

Emperor Jingyang was just about to say he would arrange two people to look after Luo Junhe's daily needs so she could go to the Ministry of Revenue with peace of mind.

But unexpectedly, Ji Yuntang's words about not feeling at ease cut off every word he was about to say.

Emperor Jingyang's scheme to probe into Luo Junhe's illness came to nothing, but the weight lifted from Xie Jinrong's heart.

He had been afraid that Ji Yuntang would get carried away in the heat of the moment and accept Emperor Jingyang's offer to serve in the Ministry of Revenue.

As for the position of Records Clerk, even if it were offered to Xie Liuzheng, he wouldn't think much of it.

If Ji Yuntang took it, it would be an insult to her talents and a waste of her time.

Being publicly rejected, Emperor Jingyang felt a sting to his pride, but he still wasn't ready to let it go.

He genuinely believed that given Ji Yuntang's talent for stirring up trouble, it would be better to casually give her some minor post and keep her under his thumb.

And while he was at it, he could keep an eye on Luo Junhe as well!

With this in mind, Emperor Jingyang tried to sweet-talk Ji Yuntang, "I know the position of Records Clerk is beneath your station, but the Dongchen Kingdom has never had a precedent of women serving in court. You would be the first. I want you to start at the ground level and slowly promote you up the ranks."

"Princess Ye, why don't you reconsider? As for Prince Ye, you needn't fret. I will arrange for the best imperial physicians to take care of him, so you can have some peace of mind."

Ji Yuntang was all smiles on the outside, but inside she was ranting up a storm.

Emperor Jingyang sure talked a good game, but wasn't he just trying to keep her and Luo Junhe under his watchful eye?

The Prince Ye's residence had already had planted informants from Emperor Jingyang before. She had worked hard to root them out completely, so how could she possibly give Emperor Jingyang another chance to embed new ones?

Ji Yuntang blinked and said with a touch of feigned shyness, "To be honest with Your Majesty, my husband and I are head over heels and glued at the hip. We can't stand to be apart now."

"Besides, A He only eats food cooked by me alone now. He won't touch anyone else's cooking. Having imperial physicians take care of him probably wouldn't work out."

"So after thinking it over long and hard, I've decided to give up the idea of entering officialdom and leave the opportunity to others. Your Majesty only needs to cash in the reward for the Six Ministries position for silver and just hand it over to me!"

"I'm not asking for much—fifty thousand taels will do just fine."

Emperor Jingyang: "..."

Emperor Jingyang: "!!!"

That last sentence was the real point, wasn't it?

Fifty thousand taels of silver—even if a Records Clerk worked without eating or drinking for an entire lifetime, their salary wouldn't amount to that much.

Ji Yuntang did no work at all, yet she had the audacity to demand fifty thousand taels. She sure knew how to work the numbers.

Xie Jinrong walked up to Ji Yuntang and said with a fond look:

"Tang'er, rest assured. The court has long had a clear rule on the books that the laureate of the Canglang Poetry Talk can choose for themselves whether to serve in the Six Ministries. If they choose not to, the court will convert it into a monetary reward and hand it to the laureate. And that's not even counting the other perks like the shop plaques."

"Your exam scores beat every laureate before you, so the rewards you receive will only be higher, not lower. His Majesty is the Son of Heaven, and his word is as good as gold. How could he possibly be stingy with a little silver?"

Emperor Jingyang: "..."

He nearly blew a gasket.

He had originally planned to fob Ji Yuntang off with some excuse, but who knew Xie Jinrong would butt in.

With the two of them tag-teaming him like that, he had no choice but to give in.

Emperor Jingyang choked back his frustration and forced a chuckle.

"Duke Rong is right. Princess Ye is the laureate and a meritorious subject of the Dongchen Kingdom. These are all things she deserves. I have already prepared the rewards, all ready to go!"

He then looked at Eunuch Zhang and said, "Go bring up the rewards I prepared for Princess Ye, and also withdraw fifty thousand taels of silver from the national treasury to bring over as well."

Eunuch Zhang received Emperor Jingyang's gaze and broke out in a cold sweat.

As far as he knew, His Majesty had only prepared a pair of iridescent glazed cups and a deed to a mountain villa for Princess Ye.

The glazed cups were, frankly, just two very light and small cups.

As for the mountain villa deed, it was even lighter—so light you could lift it with one finger.

But what did Emperor Jingyang just say? He said to "bring up" the rewards he had prepared.

Note the word "bring up," not "carry" or "fetch."

These two little trinkets hardly call for the word "haul"!

As a longtime servant at Emperor Jingyang's side, Eunuch Zhang considered himself quite familiar with him.

After just a moment's thought, he immediately understood!

His Majesty was planning to add another valuable reward for Princess Ye.

Once he figured this out, he immediately went to get it done!

The moment the rewards were brought up, Emperor Jingyang almost toppled off his dragon throne.

Eunuch Zhang had his lavishly made golden bathtub brought up.

That bathtub was so heavy that even three or five guards could barely lift it; it took a full ten men just to carry it over.

It was both enormous and extremely weighty, the outside carved with auspicious dragon-and-phoenix patterns, while the inside bore a poem about cozy spring nights in the bedchamber, where the emperor skips the morning court, crafted with exquisite detail.

Placed under the sunlight, the large golden bathtub dazzled brilliantly, shimmering with golden light, and many present cast envious glances at Ji Yuntang.

That wasn't all—Eunuch Zhang also brought out the pair of radiant glazed cups and the deed to the mountain estate!

Additionally, there were fifty thousand taels' worth of silver banknotes, neatly stacked on a red cloth tray.

A sharp gleam flashed in Ji Yuntang's eyes, and she promptly bowed respectfully to Emperor Jingyang.

She said happily, "I really like the gifts Your Majesty gave me. Thank you, Your Majesty."

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