Three Officials

"My name is Li Li, and I greet Lord Zhao," Li Li then said, his face still devoid of any smile. Compared to Cai Yaozong's kind and warm smile, he seemed even more unapproachable.

Zhao Ruxi cupped her hands and replied, "Lord Cai, Lord Li."

"Come in, everyone. Let's talk inside," Liu Hongyu said.

While they were talking, some people were already peeking around the government office.

The four entered Liu Hongyu's room and sat down directly according to their social status, without needing to offer each other seats.

Although Zhao Ruxi, Li Li, and Cai Yaozong were all Tongzhi (assistant prefects), they were of different ages and had served as officials for different years.

Cai Yaozong and Li Li were both Jinshi graduates in the same year. However, Cai Yaozong had powerful connections. After serving as a county magistrate for three years, he was quickly promoted to Tongzhi and was transferred to Nanyang Prefecture two years earlier than Li Li. He was considered a senior official. He sat down directly to Liu Hongyu without any hesitation.

Li Li consciously moved to the other side, and Zhao Ruxi sat down to Li Li's left.

"I used to think I was in the prime of my life, but seeing Lord Zhao, I realize I'm really old." Before Liu Hongyu could speak, Cai Yaozong said with a smile.

"Not only is Lord Zhao young, but she is also a woman who has achieved the highest rank in the imperial examination. It is truly admirable."

He then looked at Liu Hongyu and said, "Lord Liu, Lord Zhao is young and has no experience in agriculture and economics. Moreover, she is the top scholar personally selected by the Emperor, so it's not advisable for her to make mistakes. In my opinion, it would be better to let Lord Zhao learn about the situation for a while and get to know the people in various places. Once she is familiar with the situation and feels capable of handling things, we can then assign her responsibilities. What do you think?"

Liu Hongyu's eyes flashed as he looked at Zhao Ruxi: "What does Lord Zhao think?"

With just these two or three sentences, Zhao Ruxi discerned the personalities and interaction patterns of these three individuals.

Liu Hongyu may be upright and capable, but he is about to retire and needs to leave a way out for his descendants, so he naturally does not want to offend Cai Yaozong, who is from the Crown Prince's faction. Therefore, he is now governing by doing nothing. As long as the transgression is not too excessive, he tolerates Cai Yaozong extending his reach into his territory.

Cai Yaozong felt that with the Crown Prince backing her up, Zhao Ruxi was still a young girl, shy and easily embarrassed. She might be good at studying but not necessarily good at being an official. Therefore, even though Wu Huaisi was backing her up, he only needed to maintain a polite facade. He should still hold onto the power he needed to and not let Zhao Ruxi touch it.

Zhao Ruxi believed that even if she became familiar with the situation in a month or two and wanted to relinquish some power from Cai Yaozong, Cai Yaozong would make excuses and only give her some hard and tiring tasks to manage that yielded no results.

As for Li Li, he may be a good person. But he would never go against Cai Yaozong for her sake. He might lend a helping hand within his power, but he would never relinquish his power until she demonstrated her abilities.

As a young girl of fifteen or sixteen, she had little prior experience with agriculture and economics. With Cai Yaozong pulling strings behind the scenes, it was hard to imagine what she could accomplish, let alone command the relevant clerks.

By then, she would have become a joke.

These thoughts may seem complex, but they actually happen in an instant.

Zhao Ruxi blinked and nodded, saying, "What Lord Cai said makes sense."

A smile appeared on Cai Yaozong's face.

Then, Zhao Ruxi, looking completely bewildered, asked Liu Hongyu, "But what exactly does Lord Cai mean by 'understanding the situation' and 'making contact with various places'? How does he make contact? For example, can I access the files and accounts related to salt and grain? Can I also access the information on water conservancy, coastal defense, and piracy control?"

Liu Hongyu: "..."

Cai Yaozong: "!!!" His smile froze on his face.

Li Li, who had been watching from the sidelines, quickly picked up the tea that the yamen runner had poured for him, took a small sip, and tried to hide the corners of his mouth that he couldn't help but curl up.

"Ahem..." Liu Hongyu coughed lightly and said to Cai Yaozong, "Lord Cai, what do you think?"

Salt and grain were lucrative positions, and Cai Yaozong had already secured both before the previous magistrate left office. Even after Li Li arrived, he didn't release them, only assigning him thankless tasks.

Because Cai Yaozong was backed by the Crown Prince, Liu Hongyu didn't want to get involved and let them fight it out. As a result, Li Li ultimately failed to snatch the lucrative position from Cai Yaozong.

As a competitor, Li Li could have stepped forward and said that he could let Zhao Ruxi see the matters he had on hand. This would have left Cai Yaozong with no way out, and Cai Yaozong would have had no choice but to agree to Zhao Ruxi's request.

However, considering that Liu Hongyu would soon retire and Cai Yaozong would take over, leaving him to work under Cai Yaozong, Li Li finally chose to remain silent.

He felt that even if he remained silent, Cai Yaozong would not get the better of Zhao Ruxi.

It was his suggestion to let people understand and be involved in those matters, but then he won't let them see the information. What kind of nonsense is this? Zhao Ruxi is no ordinary person; behind her are not only Wu Huaisi, the Minister of Ministry of Personnel, but also Wu Zong, the Prefect of Linjiang Prefecture. This is going too far. Those two are not to be trifled with. Once the impeachment memorial is submitted, even the Crown Prince will not fare well.

On the other end, Cai Yaozong originally thought that Zhao Ruxi, a young girl who had just reached marriageable age, seemed to know nothing and would be easy to bully, so he said those words.

Those words were polite, but in reality, they effectively sidelined Zhao Ruxi, preventing her from getting involved in any affairs of the government. As for the extent to which she understood the situation and when she could take charge of specific matters, wasn't that entirely up to him and Liu Hongyu? Even if Liu Hongyu felt it wasn't appropriate to go too far and assigned her some thankless, peripheral tasks, that would be enough to marginalize her.

This little girl, even younger than his son, wants to steal meat from his bowl? No way!

In the government office, not only among officials of the same rank, but also among officials of different ranks, there is a struggle for power and profit. This is normal competition; the capable rise and the incapable fall, which has always been the rule of officialdom. Even though Zhao Ruxi has Wu Huaisi, the Minister of Ministry of Personnel, behind him, and even their superior Wu Zong, they can't say anything about this situation.

Their junior sister is a complete failure, utterly incompetent and hopeless. Are they to blame for not handing her power? They're not her parents, and she's not a princess. Since they're all officials in the same court, they should each rely on their own abilities.

But he never expected that Zhao Ruxi was so formidable. She immediately seized on the loophole in his words, using his own words against him, and pinned him against the wall, unable to get down.

Sweating broke out on Cai Yaozong's forehead.