#AHAHAHA sui zhou the naggy wife

[minmotl]

Chapter 54: How Sui Zhou Ends Up Managing Tang Fan’s Salary (& How Tang Fan Lets Him)

Context: After the events of the case in the previous chapter, the case is wrapped up properly. While the White Lotus Sect is still in the wind, it was revealed that the Nan Cheng Bang’s case is connected to Wan Tong (Royal Consort Wan’s brother and Sui Zhou’s superior) and the man is punished (lightly). Wang Zhi is praised by the emperor for handling this well, but Consort Wan chides him for not protecting/helping Wan Tong.

On the other hand, even though Tang Fan contributed the most to this case, he does not get rewarded (because the emperor is not fond of him), while Sui Zhou is promoted for his part in solving the case.

Embarrassed, Tang-daren says, “We’re not even halfway through the month yet, but my salary is almost gone.”

So that’s what it is. Sui Zhou is a little speechless, and the tension on his cold face is palpable.

“… where did your money go?”

Introduction Post | Masterpost

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Highlights under the cut

Originally, Deng Xiu Cai would have had to go through a ‘waist cut’ penalty, but because he was frank and honest, an exception was made for him to first die by ingesting poison. A suicide void of pain, and they would behead him after. A waist cut is incomparably excruciating, so in order to die comfortably, Deng Xiu Cai spared no effort in spilling everything he knew.

Before Ah Dong and the children, who knew how many other children landed in their hands? Even that puppet Ding Yi Mu was also heavily involved. No one knows how much fresh blood stains their hands, so it is hardly a travesty that these people are put to death.

Everyone’s efforts as they busied themselves working through most of the night were not in vain, and the case finally came to a close. They can almost call this a perfect ending.

Throughout this whole case, aside from those injured in the battle against the members of the Nan Cheng Bang, the person who was injured the most is definitely Tang Fan.

He was first knocked out with a wooden stick to the head and it was verified after, that he did bleed from that. Then, when his hands were restrained back in the cellar, he bled then too, and after that, Xin Shi Tou shoved him once. His hands were still tied then and he was unable to move, so his knees immediately suffered from abrasions as they bruised and bled, and then he was cut by the porcelain piece on his neck and more…

Although not severe, Tang Fan can be considered as marred with injuries all over his whole body. Thankfully, he was injured on the job and thus, Tang-daren is able to request for half a month’s worth of medical leave with a peace of mind, and also help Sui Zhou to celebrate in this time.

Yes, Sui Zhou has been promoted yet again.

This time, however, is purely an accident.

After heading to Jiang Xi previously to deal with the Huang Jing Long case, Sui Zhou was already promoted to fu-qianhu and technically would not be eligible for any promotions in the short term, but due to the missing children’s case and with the Emperor upset at Wan Tong for colluding with the bandits, he invited Yuan Bin back to lead the Embroidered Uniform Guards.

And Yuan Bin’s background - His meritorious contributions include saving the Emperor, and the person he saved was the previous Emperor.

That year of Tu Mu’s Rebellion, Yuan Bin accompanied the Emperor, protecting Ying Zong. He was even caught hostage together with Ying Zong and took care of him. The both of them went through so much hardship and thus, their relationship was not like that of the relationship between the Emperor and other officials. Afterwards, Yuan Bin helped the previous Emperor to regain the throne, and thus, can be considered to have made major contributions.

Due to this history, when today’s Emperor ascended to the throne, he too, treats Yuan Bin with immense respect. The only thing is that as Yuan Bin grows older, he no longer handles any actual tasks and was the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guards in name only. This time however, the Emperor intends to teach Wan Tong a lesson, and thus invited Yuan Bin to return to his former post.

With Yuan Bin’s accolades and reputation, even the Emperor of today needs to show him some respect. This is something that Wan Tong, this cheap relative, will never be able to amount to no matter how much he tries to flatter his way into the Emperor’s good graces.

These years, because of Wan Tong, the Embroidered Uniform Guards is now a place rife with corruption where despicable men can do as they like. Those who pander to Wan Tong will be able to become the Wan family’s important and esteemed guests, while those who oppose him, Wan Tong uses the power he has in the Embroidered Uniform Guards to pressure and attack. For example, the supervisor that Sui Zhou spoke of previously tried to impeach both Royal Consort Wan and her brother, and this led to his family’s demise.

Once Yuan Bin arrived, the atmosphere suddenly changed.

Although Yuan Bin is old, he is still in good shape and is firm in handling things. The moment he arrives, he gets rid of the Embroidered Uniform Guards’ Southern and Northern Administrative Courts leaders, who are also Wan Tong’s trusted men. Wan Tong grits his teeth in resentment, but is unable to do anything to him. He is unable to complain in front of the Emperor as well, all because Yuan Bin was sent by the Emperor precisely to reform the Embroidered Uniform Guards.

With this, no one dares to say anything when they see Wan Tong now. All those troublemakers naturally have to back off and turn over a new leaf obediently, lest they be implicated and dragged into more trouble.

Although it seems as if these happenings have no direct relevance to Sui Zhou, due to his position and how competent he is, he quickly loses the ‘fu’ in his title, and rises to become a real qianhu.

Qianhu is a Rank 5 title, but don’t look down on the rank or his role as a military official, as a qianhu from the Embroidered Uniform Guards has no small amount of power. There are five official posts under both the Northern and Southern Adminstrative Courts, and qianhu commands one of them.

More importantly, because Yuan Bin recently removed the previous Northern Administrative Court in-charge, the position currently sits empty, so Yuan Bin let Sui Zhou take over the role temporarily. This is also out of consideration of Sui Zhou’s sudden promotion as Yuan Bin is afraid that the other men in the Embroidered Uniform Guards would not acknowledge or recognize Sui Zhou’s authority, so the man did not directly push him into the position. Instead, Yuan Bin is giving him the role as a deputy.

Things are indeed different once a veteran like Yuan Bin steps forth, and even on matters such as these, he is meticulous - if Sui Zhou performs well, he can expect to formally transition into his new position in the near future, but if he does not, Yuan Bin can remove him at any time. There are no lack of people eyeing his position, and this inadvertently serves as motivation for Sui Zhou to work his hardest.

So Sui Zhou is now receiving that of a Rank 5 qianhu’s salary but sitting in that of a Rank 4 position. The speed at which is he progressing at is met with the red eyes of jealousy by others, but what Sui Zhou is about to face are multiple obstacles and pressure that comes with thinking about how to win the loyalty and hearts of others, how to convince others and get them to acknowledge him, and how to ensure that people working under him will listen to his orders.

Regardless, this is still something worthy of celebration. In order to celebrate for Sui Zhou, Tang Fan and Xue Ling, together with some of Sui Zhou’s long-time subordinates, decided to host a meal. Not in Xian Ke Lou as it is too expensive there. Since everyone is familiar with each other and there are a lot of restaurants in the city, they do not have to head to an expensive one.

Tang Fan chose a time-honoured food stall called Yang Ji Mutton. The mutton here is most famous and he reserved a room in advance, called a few of his colleagues from Shun Tian Prefecture, and along with Sui Zhou, Xue Ling and some others from the guards, they gather around a table to have hot pot mutton.

There are four pots on the table and four large plates of tender and fat mutton slices on the side. In addition to that, there are green vegetables, mushrooms, noodles and assorted side dishes, garlic, soy sauce, spring onion, sesame oil, pepper and other condiments. Everyone can personally customize and do it themselves as they get into the food.

This time it is not just Sui Zhou, but Xue Ling and the others, because of Yuan Bin, were promoted as well, and this is naturally cause for joy.

On the other hand, Tang Fan, who solved two consecutive cases and made two meritorious contributions - firstly helping Royal Consort Wan to prove her innocence and secondly finding the children of those officials, heading into the bandit’s cave and battling the Nan Cheng Bang with both courage and wit - as he spared no effort and even putting his own life on the line, did not get even the slightest bit of a reward. His rank remains unchanged. Tang Fan does not think much of this personally, but close friends of his find this unfair for him.

After indulging well in both food and alcohol, Xue Ling stands up from his seat, walks over and pats at Tang Fan’s shoulder with great force, assuring him, “Run Qing, I don’t think that you are this unlucky. I’m sure you’ll definitely be able to become a high ranking, major official in the future, do not be discouraged!”

“That’s right!” Pang Qi adds, “It’s just your time has yet to come, don’t be upset.”

Both Xue Ling and him are still working under Sui Zhou at present, but they have already been promoted to baihu rank, going further in their careers as officials. Not just the both of them, but also Sui Zhou’s long-time subordinates, they have all risen up the ranks. With this, everyone knows that if they follow the big boss, they will be taken care of, and thus are now even more loyal to Sui Zhou.

Sui Zhou sees that Xue Ling has drank too much, and is now leaning unsteadily on Tang Fan. He cannot help but reach out and pull him away, and chides lightly, “Stand properly!”

They are not currently on duty and everyone has indulged in some alcohol, so Xue Ling is unafraid of him. Instead, he giggles and jokes, “Da-ge is really so good to Run Qing-xiong, even us brothers who have accompanied you for a long time cannot compare to him!”

A chorus of ‘that’s right’ rings out amongst everyone else.

Sui Zhou says, “I still have some empty space at my place, how about you move over and stay with me, and I’ll be good to you everyday?”

Xue Ling laughs sheepishly, and immediately shuts up.

What a joke; although he has not yet married a wife, he has concubines at home too, not to mention his frequent visits to brothels. If he has to face Sui Zhou’s stoic face every day, it will probably be more miserable than death itself.

Tang Fan laughs, “Everyone wants to be promoted, but I would not want that.”

Xue Ling yells, “You obviously do not mean that, who would not be happy at a promotion?”

“That’s right!” they chorus.

Tang Fan pretends to be pained, “Just think about it. I’m only Rank Six right now, and already I have to infiltrate a bandit’s nest, be struck with a wooden stick and almost died. If I inch even further upwards, wouldn’t I have to confront the White Lotus Sect leader myself? If that happens, by this time next year, none of you will be able to sit with me and have a drink!”

His explanation is indeed interesting and everyone bursts out in laughter. They intended to reassure him initially, but seeing that he is so open-minded about this, everyone does not say anything more.

After the banquet and celebration, everyone heads home and goes on to do what they are supposed to do.

On the way home, Sui Zhou sees that Tang Fan’s brows are tight and troubled, and thinks that while Tang Fan presented himself as rather nonchalant earlier, he must still be bothered by it on the inside, and says, “Sometimes good things can come out of bad things, and in the same way, bad events can lead to good things. You may not have been promoted this time, but it may not be a bad thing, and who knows, better opportunities are lying ahead of you.”

“I’m not worried about this…” Tang Fan says.

Sui Zhou asks, uncomprehending, “Then what is it?”

Embarrassed, Tang-daren says, “We’re not even halfway through the month yet, but my salary is almost gone.”

So that’s what it is. Sui Zhou is a little speechless, and the tension on his cold face is palpable, “… where did your money go? You guys treated me to a meal today, and the portion you contributed was only a few hundred coins?”

Helplessly, Tang Fan replies, “Yesterday, Pan-daren looked me up and the both of us had a meal outside, and who knew that when it was almost time to pay, my shixiong said he was having a stomachache and ran to the toilet, and so I ended up paying for it all first. He wanted to pay for his portion when he returned, but how could I have taken his money?”

“You guys couldn’t have gone to Xian Ke Lou to eat, could you?”

“Of course not. It was at a dumpling stall near Shun Tian Prefecture’s court, we had fish dumplings and pork and cabbage dumplings. Speaking of which, that stall’s skills is comparable to those located in the north of the city, and now that the weather is getting colder, when spring comes, there will be dumplings with chicken fillings, that is truly a delicacy…”

“… you have gone off-topic.”

Tang Fan goes ‘oh’, and continues, “This meal came up to a 100 coins or so as well.”

Upset, he adds, “But a few days ago, when I visited a colleague’s house, I realized that he was so poor that he couldn’t come up with his next meal, and so I treated him to one. I spent 50 coins on this… it is not as if I used a lot at one go, why does it feel like I spent everything at once?”

The more Sui Zhou hears, the more suspicious he gets, “Didn’t you receive 500 taels from that White Lotus Sect lady? Even if you gave me half of it, you couldn’t have used up 250 taels that quickly?!”

This is something that made Tang Fan feel happy for at least half the day. He didn’t tell anyone else about this, only Sui Zhou, and he ended up splitting the money up with him, the both of them each getting a portion.

Sui Zhou refused to take it, but Tang Fan insisted and shoved it into the other’s hands, forcing him to accept it.

Speaking of this, Tang-daren becomes even more embarrassed, “I saw how terrible the conditions were at my colleague’s. He has four children along with elders waiting to be fed, and the rent on the house he is living in is due very soon, but he is unable to come up with the money, so I ended up giving him all 250 taels.

Sui Zhou, expressionless, says, “You’re really generous.”

Thinking that Sui Zhou is praising him, he says humbly, thick-skinned, “Not at all, not at all. Helping the poor is the duty of people my age, and anyway, the money came easy, so it doesn’t pain me to spend it.”

Still expressionless, Sui Zhou continues, “How did this money come easy, did you go steal it or rob someone?”

“…”

“Did you forget that you almost lost your life in the bandits’ cave? No matter how difficult your friend’s situation is, giving him 100 taels would have been more than enough. How are you so intelligent at everything else but on your own matters? You do things without planning and spend money too easily!”

Tang-daren, being lectured as a child would be, does not dare to raise his head. Ashamed, he says, “Yes yes yes, I’ll get Ah Dong to supervise me when I go back!”

Seriously, since Sui fu-baihu became Sui-qianhu, and also gaining power over the Northern Administrative Court, his authority grows increasingly day by day. Before this, Sui Zhou was already rather adept at lecturing others, and now when he gets this fierce, Tang Fan does not dare to make a sound.

Sui Zhou says, “How will Ah Dong be able to restrict you? From now on, after you exchange your salary for cash, submit half of it to me, I will keep it for you. Next time, after you finish spending the money you have and need more, you will have to tell me, and only after I agree can you use it.”

He has never liked to put his nose into someone else’s business, and the only unrelated things that Sui Zhou interferes in are mostly Tang Fan’s. And fortunately they are this close in their relationship, otherwise if outsiders heard him, they would definitely find him hard to understand and may even get into an argument with Sui Zhou.

However, for an eccentric person like Tang-daren, he instead nods gleefully, “That’s great! With you watching me, I will no longer be such a spendthrift!”

And since then, aside from dealing with the tasks of the Northern Administrative Court, Sui-qianhu now has to handle Tang-daren’s finances when he gets home. He commands power both at home and in public, and also the envy of others.

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Notes:

*副千户 fu qianhu

Qianhu is the rank that Sui Zhou officially bears, while fu 副 means vice.

*仙客楼 xian ke lou

This is the very expensive restaurant that Wang Zhi brought Tang Fan to in previous chapters.

*万通 Wan Tong 

As Royal Consort Wan’s brother, he is head of the Northern Administrative Courts, but is demoted due to his involvement in the missing children’s case.