In the Flower Hall of the Xie Residence, a middle-aged official in plain clothes sat in the seat of honor. Marquis Taichuan, Liu Ye, sat below him as a companion, his manner respectful.
"Lord Xie, regarding the addition of another deputy commander to guard Shiyang Pass, could you perhaps make an exception?"
Smiling ingratiatingly, Marquis Taichuan Liu Ye rubbed his hands and presented a gift list, first showing his sincerity.
The middle-aged official named Xie Peng pinched the gift list between two fingers. Without even looking at it, he tossed it aside and lightly uttered, "These are useless!"
Marquis Taichuan Liu Ye's expression darkened, but he still smiled and said, "Then I ask Lord Xie to enlighten me."
In truth, this Xie Peng was merely a Supervisor of Revenue in the Ministry of Revenue. By rank, he was only a fourth-rank deputy official, to say nothing of any noble title—at best, he held a minor honorary rank.
In terms of title, he was not worth a fart before Liu Ye.
But there was no helping it. The man held real power.
Xie Peng was a Loyalist Minister of the current new monarch, Ji Ao. As the saying went, a new emperor brought new courtiers. Ji Ao's accession to the throne had been somewhat unusual, so he did not dare replace high-ranking ministers on a large scale. However, the mid-ranking officials in each office who held actual power became the new monarch Ji Ao's tentacles for wielding power by other means.
Using all manner of pretexts, the new monarch Ji Ao had extensively replaced officials with his own trusted men in order to seize control of the court.
Xie Peng had risen to his position at that time.
As a Supervisor of Revenue in the Ministry of Revenue, he oversaw the