Wuxia: Drinking with Spring Breeze

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After finishing a meal of hotpot with copper pot, Shen Fa rushed back to the capital without a break.

Now serving as the Northern Town Prefectural Commissioner, it was not easy for him to meet Yang Ge at Lai Lu Ting.

Half a month later, the document promoting Yang Ge to the rank of a Thousand-household Commander of the Imperial Bodyguards arrived at Lu Ting.

Along with the promotion document, there was also a set of ceremonial attire.

The ceremonial robe was a vermilion robe with the pattern of a four-clawed flood dragon emerging from a blue sea.

The jade belt was a wide, gold-inlaid belt with tassels on both ends.

This was not the standard attire for a Thousand-household Commander of the Imperial Bodyguards.

The standard attire for them included a black ox-hide garment, a Gold-Inlaid Ox-tail Saber...

"The Rituals of Wei" stated: Python robe, the garment resembling dragon attire, similar to the supreme His Majesty’s robe but minus one claw, is specially gifted as an honor for exceptional achievements, not rewarded without great merit.

This python robe accompanying the promotion document was essentially the one on the dragon throne telling Yang Ge, "My lad, well done, I think highly of you!"

Fang Ke certainly understood the significance and meaning of the python robe.

So when he carefully took out this python robe from the copper-trimmed santalwood case, his eyes nearly turned green with envy!

Who still needs to go through the trouble of holding onto Yang Ge’s coattails when one could cling to the influential legs of the Prefectural Commissioner himself?

Yang Ge himself had already become a grand leg, full of chivalrous sentiment and tender-hearted courage!

"Put it away!"

The joys and sorrows between people do not always resonate; looking at the python robe now, Yang Ge merely felt a headache: "This thing seems like a major liability if lost or damaged, right?"

Fang Ke nodded absent-mindedly.

Yang Ge stroked his chin and thought: "What about... digging a hole and burying it?"

Fang Ke was shocked: "What? You want to bury it?"

If he could have such a python robe, he would wear it even in his sleep, okay?

Yang Ge: "Otherwise, what? Can’t wear it, no place to put it, and it’s a crime if there’s an issue. I’d feel more at ease burying it!"

Fang Ke immediately grasped the python robe tightly with both hands and exclaimed loudly, "Sir, you must not treat a garment bestowed by His Majesty in such a manner. You should find a prominent place at home to enshrine it, light incense thrice at dawn and dusk as an expression of your profound gratitude and respect towards the Emperor’s majestic favor... drowning in tears of thanks, feeling the grace deep in your heart..."

"Stop!"

Yang Ge’s head was buzzing: "Is this thing a piece of clothing or an ancestor?"

Fang Ke: "If you put it that way, the item bestowed by His Majesty is indeed our ancestor!"

Yang Ge resisted the urge to smack his head askew: "What use do I have for it then?"

Fang Ke didn’t hesitate to answer: "Its benefits are immense, just by wearing it, you’d be exempt from taxes and levies, need not kneel before officials, can enter without being summoned, and your descendants of the Yang Family will be spared from execution for all but the most heinous of offenses involving the extermination of three clans..."

Yang Ge looked at him expressionlessly, and Fang Ke’s voice grew fainter as he spoke.

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He suddenly realized that all the privileges associated with the python robe were Yang Ge’s!

"If you like it so much, then you can keep it safe for me."

Yang Ge pushed the python robe into his arms, "If anything goes wrong, and the court comes after me, I’ll come after you first!"

Fang Ke was stunned for a moment and immediately felt the trouble, forcing a smile and subtly placing the python robe back into the copper-trimmed sandalwood box, "This is a special grace bestowed upon you by His Majesty, how dare I, a lowly official, overstep and touch it..."

Yang Ge pointed at the sandalwood box, "Am I allowed to come after you right now?"

Fang Ke’s hands trembled, and he quickly tucked them behind his back, not daring to utter another word.

"Quit your nonsense!"

Yang Ge walked back to his seat at the head of the hall, rubbing his temples with a headache, "How am I supposed to handle being the commander of a thousand households? I haven’t even gotten the hang of being a trial hundred households commander, and now they want me to take on a thousand? Isn’t this like making a duck climb a perch?"

Fang Ke hung his head in silence at the bottom of the hall... I could do this kind of duck climbing a perch too, hey!

"What are you spacing out for?"

Yang Ge rapped on the desk, "I’m asking you a question!"

Fang Ke said with a bitter face, "Don’t ask me, Your Excellency. I’ve never been a commander of a thousand households either; how would I know what to do as one?"

Yang Ge, "Haven’t you been with Shen for over two years? You may not have eaten pork, but haven’t you seen a pig run?"

Fang Ke looked up at him with a peculiar expression.

Yang Ge immediately realized his mistake, "Bah, you’re the pig!"

Fang Ke chuckled coyly, the slight anxiety and distance in his heart quickly dissipating like smoke and clouds.

He bowed with clasped hands, saying seriously, "I only dare to talk about the superficial knowledge I have. If there’s anything inaccurate, I’ll need you to correct me!"

Yang Ge, "There are no outsiders here. Just speak your mind, and don’t beat around the bush!"

Fang Ke smiled again and deftly stepped forward to lift the kettle from the desk, topping up the tea cup in front of Yang Ge, "I believe that the urgent matter at hand is to sort out our Right Bureau headquarters and your official residence first. If we don’t take care of it, the family will make decisions for us. If it’s within the city that’s fine, but if it’s assigned next to the Bian River, we brothers will have to deal with the riverside wind in the future!"

Yang Ge looked around thoughtfully and nodded, "We do need to change locations, this place is too small... So, you mean that from now on we’re stepping out of the shadows completely, right?"

Fang Ke, "Of course!"

Yang Ge nodded, "Continue."

Fang Ke bowed and stepped back.

Yang Ge watched him for a couple of seconds, perplexed, "That’s it?"

Fang Ke, "Your Excellency, now that you are duly a commander of a thousand households, it’s natural that you won’t just have us, your brothers, as mere shrimp soldiers and crab generals. Two deputy commanders of a thousand and a whole bunch of hundred households commanders and flag bearers will soon be assigned. As long as everyone works together to set up the framework, how we lived before will be how we live in the future. At most, the family will occasionally send some cases over to you, but when it comes to handling cases, you’re far more adept than me, so there is no need for my input."

Yang Ge stroked his forehead, "Is that all?"

Is this being an official or just lying flat?

Fang Ke laughed, "The old saying goes, ’An official pursues his post over a thousand miles just for the wealth.’ We know what the Embroidered Uniform Guard is like; I don’t need to belabor it since you’re well aware in your heart. A commander of a thousand... there is really not much difference, just a bigger appetite and darker hands!"