The third return of bitter darkness visits the yellow hall with sorrowful engraving of blue and green sedan chairs.

  It's been nearly three months since Zhao Wen left home in the first month. Due to his prolonged absence, he had a thousand worries and ten thousand concerns, which he couldn't shake off. Just as the spring breeze was about to arrive, he planned to pack up and head back home. However, his grandfather, eager for him to make a name for himself, sent a letter and over 2,000 taels of silver, with instructions that if Zhao Wen didn't pass the exam, he should quickly take the metropolitan examination and secure an official position in the capital. The letter explicitly stated that this was the idea of Wang Xiangsheng, who had managed to scrape together the funds with great difficulty. It urged Zhao Wen to do a good job as an official in the capital, so that his family at home would be spared from being bullied by others. The letter warned him not to waste the silver carelessly.

  Huang Tang: refers to the prefecture or governor's office. In ancient times, the hall of the governor was called Huang Tang.

  Zhao Wen received the letter and was not feeling well, so he had to ask Qian Dianshi to make inquiries on his behalf. He wanted to know where it would be easy to donate money to get a promotion. Qian Dianshi had always looked down on Zhao Wen, but now that he saw him with silver to donate for an official position, he suddenly became friendly again. He thought he could help Zhao Wen and make some profit from it.

  Later, when he saw that Zhao Wen really trusted him, he was overjoyed. One day he invited Zhao Wen to listen to opera, the next day he invited him to dinner. He also brought in a person who played the huqin, saying he was his sworn brother and knew the bookkeeper of the department. If there were any matters to be entrusted, it would be safe and reliable.

  Zhao Wen believed him to be true and after a few days, he went to visit him again, wearing formal clothes and treating him as host. Later, he asked Qian Dianshi to help him with the donation. The two thousand taels of silver were not enough, so Zhao Wen also borrowed five hundred taels from him.

  Zhao Wen then issued a receipt, set a date, and wrote a letter home asking his family to send more silver to repay him. Meanwhile, he found some fellow townspeople to guarantee for him and went to the government office. It took them over a month to finish everything.

  Note: From now on, Zhao Xiaolian will be referred to as Zhao Zhongshu, and Ge Gen will still be working with him in Beijing.

  The story has two threads. Let's talk about Qian Dianshi, who had been in Beijing for several months. Fortunately, he met a good bookkeeper who helped him come up with a plan. He changed the wording of his previous case to make it lighter, then used silver to bribe the original official and added some extra tricks. He was still waiting to be selected by the Ministry. After doing some more behind-the-scenes work, within two months, he was selected as the county magistrate of Shangrao County in Jiangxi Province. When he heard that his position was not bad, he naturally felt happy. Later, when he asked around, it turned out that the prefect who had impeached him in Jiangnan was now serving as the provincial governor of Jiangxi. What a coincidence! He ran into his old enemy again, and his heart became uneasy. He came to discuss with his sworn brother, who was the same person who had cheated him out of money last time. His sworn brother said: "This is easy to handle. The Xu family's old master, who lives next door to me, is a fellow townsman of this governor. Last year, when the governor went to Beijing for an audience with the emperor, Xu's old master invited him to dinner, and I was the one who accompanied him as a junior host. Their relationship is very close, and they talked in hushed tones at the dinner table, whispering something in each other's ears that I couldn't quite make out. Later, when the governor left Beijing, he even asked his long-serving attendant to send Xu's old master four taels of silver as a parting gift." Qian Dianshi said: "With such a close relationship, they should have sent more silver, why only four taels?"

  Shang Dui: Shang means "to offer", and Dui refers to money. So, Shang Dui is offering silver or money.

  ② Indent: Similar to a letter of guarantee.

  ③Impeachment case: refers to the case of impeachment.

  ④ Huāyàng: refers to setting up multiple names and categories to increase the silver income of the officials.

  Governor: an official title, in charge of financial and personnel matters in a province.

  Long servant: Attendant's servant.

  Bai Jing: Giving people money as a farewell gift, with different names for different people.

  He's brother blushed and said, "I don't know about this. Maybe we can send more, or else it won't be seen. Or maybe all our fellow townspeople are just like that. How can they favor one person over another? It's not good to make others jealous." Qian Dianshi said, "We won't bother with that. But what about my business?" His brother said, "Don't worry. I'll go next door and spend a few hundred silver coins to get Xu Da to write a letter for you. That should take care of it." Qian Dianshi said, "A letter costs that much money?" His brother said, "Don't be impatient. Your business is my business too. If you don't have this little bit of money, I'll still help you out." At the time, Qian Dianshi repeatedly begged him to go. It turned out that his brother's surname was Hu and his name was Li, with the nickname "Fox Spirit". He was a clever person who knew many people, and could get in anywhere. This time he had received his sworn brother's request, so that night he went next door and found Xu Da, explaining the situation and saying that there would be 50 taels of gold for his birthday, and asking him to please write a letter. Xu Da said, "Speaking of it, we are fellow townspeople, but we don't have much of a relationship. Why should I write a letter? Even if I did write one, it probably wouldn't work." Hu Li said, "Don't worry about that. Just look at the silver coins and casually write a few sentences for him. That's all." Xu Da thought for a moment - his family was worried about not having money to buy rice, and the servants were demanding wages, and his wife was nagging him to redeem her pawned jewelry, and he was getting anxious. There was no way to think of a solution, but then this opportunity came up. He thought to himself, "Why not use this to temporarily alleviate our difficulties?" So he smiled and agreed, telling Hu Li to come back the next morning for the letter. Then he asked, "Is the silver ready?" Hu Li said, "Of course it is!" and stood up to leave. Xu Da personally saw him off at the gate, saying "thank you" and reminding him of a few things before going back inside.

  Prospect: an old term for referring to someone when dealing with them on a matter.

  Here is the translation:

  The next morning, Mr. Xu got up early and finished writing the letter. By noon, he still hadn't seen Hu Li bring the silver, so he became anxious and said, "Don't let it fail! Why hasn't he come yet?" He even refused to eat lunch with his servants. It turned out that the night before, he had already told his wife and servants about this matter. Everyone knew he had the money to pay, so his wife didn't bother to redeem the pawned items, and the servants didn't rush him to pay their wages.

  But on the second day, no matter how long he waited, Hu Li still hadn't arrived, which made Mr. Xu extremely anxious. Finally, at two o'clock, there was a knock at the door. Mr. Xu himself went to open it and saw that it was Hu Li, so his heart filled with joy. He quickly invited him in, ordered tea to be served, and asked someone to bring out the water pipe.

  Before Hu Li could even speak, Mr. Xu had already taken out the letter and handed it over to him. Hu Li took the letter out of its envelope and read it through once. As he put the envelope back on, he said with a smile, "I really didn't expect this twist." When Mr. Xu heard these words, his face changed color immediately, and he anxiously asked, "What's wrong? Is it not going to work?"

  Hu Li slowly replied, "With me involved, I'm afraid he won't be able to escape anywhere. But if we can't get the money out, then there's nothing we can do." Mr. Xu asked, "Is it just a matter of one or two?" Hu Li said, "There is some, but only half. I apologize for not being able to bring more. It's really embarrassing."

  Mr. Xu asked, "How much is he willing to pay in the end?" But Hu Li didn't answer and instead took out a silver note from his boot with the words "Twenty-five taels of pure silver" written on it. Mr. Xu's eyes widened as he snatched the note away.

  Hu Li said, "This twenty-five taels is actually my own money that I lent him. You can take it first and use it, and then repay me later." Mr. Xu had no choice but to hand over the letter. Hu Li didn't even stay for a smoke or a cup of tea; he took the letter and left immediately to find the pawnshop owner.

  He told the owner that he had lent him one hundred taels of silver, and at first, the Xu family was unwilling to write the letter. But later, seeing his face, they finally agreed to write it.

  Insole: a piece of leather or satin placed inside the boot tube.

  ② Four Heng: The four major silver shops at the end of the Qing Dynasty were all named with the character "Heng".

  Qian Dianshi was overjoyed and busy packing his luggage overnight, planning to leave the next day for the province. After settling accounts, he only had one more person to deal with, his sworn brother Hu Lichu. Although Hu appeared generous on the surface, he was extremely stingy at heart and didn't want to lose face by asking Qian Dianshi to settle their accounts. Seeing that Qian Dianshi had a jade belt buckle worth several taels of silver, which he had previously mentioned wanting to sell, Hu came up with a plan. He lied that there was a customer who wanted to buy it and tricked Qian into handing it over, thinking he could make a profit from the sale. The next day, Hu pretended to be ill and wrote a letter asking someone to deliver it to Qian Dianshi on his behalf. The letter stated: "The belt buckle has already been appraised, and they are unwilling to pay more. After selling it, I will send you the money." In the end, Qian Dianshi had no choice but to settle his own accounts for room and board, bid farewell to Zhao Wen, and leave in a double-horse carriage.

  There is a saying that goes, "If there's something to say, it will take long; if there's nothing to say, it will be short." He arrived in Tianjin and set off by waterway. The sea had steamships, and the rivers had paddleboats. In less than a month, he arrived at the provincial capital of Jiangxi Province and found his accommodation. Coincidentally, the governor was also the guardian, so he didn't dare to send a letter for the time being. He waited for the appointed date, followed by a large group of colleagues into the second hall, bowed three times under the eaves towards the superior, got up and asked for another peace. The superior only waved his hand, patted his waist, and didn't ask any questions before entering. Qian Dianshi came with a handful of sweat in his hands, fearing that he would be questioned about past events and unable to respond; fortunately, the superior did not remember the mistakes of small people, and after passing this hurdle, he finally put down a stone.

  Protector of the Imperial Clan: The Grand Guardian temporarily takes over the duties of the Protector of the Imperial Clan.

  ② Pai Qi: The date when the governor and other officials of the provincial government office receive their subordinates.

  However, the person who took over the position is now in charge, and it's not even been three months since he started. The person who took over also brought a letter with a big seal, which made it easy for him to take over the position. The superior looked at the face of the person who wrote the letter and decided that they had to let him serve for a full year, as it wouldn't be convenient to recall him halfway through. Fortunately, Qian's position was a real one, so even if he didn't do anything for a year or two, it wasn't a big deal. The superior held onto this opinion, so they didn't post an announcement calling him to take up the position. But unexpectedly, Mr. Qian was eager to take up the position and couldn't bear to be idle in the provincial city. Day and night, he would either visit people's homes or look for friends, asking around everywhere, trying to find someone who could speak on his behalf to the superior. He even went so far as to wear formal clothes and visit the government office every day to pay his respects. Later, someone told him that the current head of the Supply Bureau and concurrently the Director of the Business Department, Mr. Huang, was a close confidant of the Governor's, known for being able to get things done with just a word. Recently, he had even been recommended by the Governor for a promotion, and although the official document hadn't arrived yet, it was only a matter of time before he would be promoted to a high-ranking position. As a result, even though he was still just a prefect, apart from the Governor, he looked down on the other officials, and some matters he would even dare to reject outright. The other officials were afraid of him because he was a close confidant of the Governor's and was about to be promoted, so they gave in to him in everything.

  Bureau of Military Supplies: an official department in charge of military provisions.

  ② Exempt from filling a vacancy: An alternate official is exempted from going through the stage of filling a vacancy in his own post and skips one level.

  ③ Tao-tai: Officials of the province and above the prefecture, also known as observers.

  Let's talk about something else. Qian Dianshi heard about this opportunity and was determined to take it. As he handled things carefully, without informing Huang Daren first, he asked someone to introduce him and got acquainted with the gatekeeper of Huang's residence, a man named Dai Sheng. They became fast friends, exchanging gifts and addressing each other as brothers. Only then did Qian reveal his intention: "I'm idle in the province and hope to ask the master for promotion." Dai Sheng said, "Brother, why didn't you say so earlier? This is a small matter that I can help with." Qian was overjoyed and hastily promised to come and pay respects the next morning. Dai Sheng cautioned him, "Don't rush. Coming early won't do any good; there are many people looking for him in the morning, and he won't have time to see you. If you want to come, come tomorrow evening."

  Qian Dianshi said: "I'm just a humble man, if I can get the old master's praise and promotion, and be given a position to support my family, it would be a great kindness." After finishing speaking, he immediately stood up and bid farewell. Dai Sheng said: "You're our own brother, why say such things? Let's meet again tomorrow night, I won't send you off." After Qian Dianshi left, Qi Xiao came to call Dai Sheng in, asking him a few questions. It turned out that Huang Zhifu had discovered that a cashier at the treasury office had embezzled several hundred taels of silver and was immediately dismissed from his position. He thought to himself: "These young officials are all poor and unreliable, there's no one trustworthy among them." So he discussed this matter with Dai Sheng. It just so happened that Qian Dianshi's luck had arrived, and Dai Sheng recommended him, saying: "There is a newly appointed county magistrate named Qian who is very capable and experienced. He has previously held a real position and was recently selected from the ministry because someone else took his place temporarily. If we entrust this task to someone with experience, he will definitely work hard to repay our trust and won't make any mistakes." Huang Zhifu said: "I haven't seen this person before." Dai Sheng said: "He often comes to pay respects. I've been busy with your lordship's affairs and didn't have time to see him, so I never reported it back." Huang Zhifu said: "Since that's the case, call him to come see me tomorrow night." Dai Sheng responded with several "yes"s, stood for a while, then retreated.

  On the second day, Qian Dianshi waited until nightfall at the governor's mansion. The sun was still high in the sky when he arrived, wearing a floral robe and ran to the reception hall. He saw two sedan chairs placed outside the main gate and walked into Dai Sheng's room, where he sat down after greeting him. Dai Sheng told him about the conversation they had the previous night and said, "The Branch Office has assigned someone else to take care of the financial matters, but I managed to persuade them to let you handle it instead. You'll receive good news soon." Qian Dianshi was both grateful and delighted, and he quickly asked, "When will the governor return?" Dai Sheng replied, "He went to court at 7:00 this morning and returned at 9:00. Then he attended a trial for some case, rushed back to the office at 12:00 to eat lunch, and handled official business until his return. He's now smoking in the reception hall and will see you after he finishes with the guests from another bureau." Qian Dianshi had no choice but to wait patiently. After a while, he heard someone shout "send off the guests," and two officials walked out first, followed by Governor Huang sending them off. When they reached the second gate, the two officials stopped, and Governor Huang patted their backs before entering himself. The two officials returned to their sedan chairs and left without further ado.

  Flower robe and supplemental garment: Flower robe refers to a type of official robe; supplemental garment is an outer jacket worn over the flower robe.

  Here is the translation:

  As soon as Magistrate Huang entered the second gate, he asked the steward, "Has anyone been sent to urge the sedan chair shop?" One of the stewards replied, "We've already sent someone three times to hurry them up." Magistrate Huang said, "Today in the court, the guard mentioned that the official document will definitely arrive within these two days. If the sedan chair isn't ready, what will we use to go to court? These good-for-nothings! I won't say anything more, but you'd better go and urge them again." The stewards were scolded and didn't dare speak a word, standing silently with their heads bowed.

  After Magistrate Huang finished speaking, he walked in. After the lamps were lit, Qian Dianshi ate dinner in Dai Sheng's room, then Dai Sheng took out his notebook and went to report back on his behalf. He came out again and led him to a small flower hall on the west side of the main hall to sit down.

  At this time, Qian Dianshi was respectful and polite, sitting alone in silence for half an hour before hearing footsteps outside. Before entering the flower hall, he coughed once. Then he saw the young servant lift the door curtain, and Magistrate Huang walked in: wearing casual clothes at home; a fat face with a greenish complexion from smoking too much, a mouthful of thick black whiskers, and two eyes staring upwards.

  Qian Dianshi quickly knelt down and kowtowed three times, then stood up and greeted him. He took out his resume from his sleeve and presented it to Magistrate Huang, who received it in his hand while gesturing for Qian to sit down. Qian Dianshi sat on the edge of the chair with half his buttocks, listening to Magistrate Huang's questions with a tilted head.

  Magistrate Huang flipped through his resume, then put it down and asked, "When did you arrive?" Qian Dianshi replied hastily, "Last month." Magistrate Huang said, "The position in Shangrao is not bad?" Qian Dianshi said, "It's thanks to your support! But for now, I still haven't received the appointment."

  As soon as he finished speaking, Magistrate Huang called out, and a young servant came in with a water pipe. Magistrate Huang only smoked his pipe and didn't respond. Qian Dianshi couldn't bear it anymore and stood up to greet him again, saying, "Your humble servant's mother is old and poor, although I was selected, the provincial government hasn't issued the appointment yet, please, sir, promote me!" Magistrate Huang said, "There are many people asking for my help, so we need to add a few hundred more positions before we can respond to everyone."

  Qian Dianshi didn't dare speak after hearing this. He saw Magistrate Huang hold up his tea cup, and the stewards shouted, "Send off the guest!" He had no choice but to bid farewell and leave. Magistrate Huang sent him off at the second gate and then went in himself.

  Qian Dianshi came out and still walked to Dai Sheng's house, crying with a sad face, changing clothes there, without saying a word. It was still Dai Sheng who took the initiative to speak, saying: "Old brother! In official circles, you have also experienced it. Where is there a place where you can meet and entrust tasks? You can't help but make a few more trips. Isn't it said that with my foolish brother inside, our brothers' own affairs, what's not being taken care of for you? This is considered something, and it's worth putting your mind at ease, yet you're immediately uncomfortable!" Qian Dianshi said: "As a brother, I'm not unaware of this principle. But one thing, just now when I asked him, his tone was not very good, and next time he might not see me." Dai Sheng said: "Don't worry, I'm here! You see him busy from day to night, and there are many people looking for him. I'll say something, don't be angry, with a brother like you, if someone is inside taking care of things, even if you want to see him, it's likely that you won't be able to see him for three years." Qian Dianshi said: "I know. If your older brother wasn't inside, I wouldn't have been able to see him. With your older brother patting his chest, what else do I have to worry about? You don't need to worry, in the future it will all depend on your great power!" On the one hand, he again asked Dai Sheng for a favor, and then took his leave and returned to his residence. Later, he went there several more times, sometimes seeing him, sometimes not seeing him.

  One day, Qian Dianshi was walking into the gatehouse when Dai Sheng came down from upstairs and smiled at him, saying: "Younger brother, there's something I want to tell you. You should thank me for it." Qian Dianshi thought for a moment and replied: "Older brother, don't joke with people. Who doesn't know that Second Master Dai is as clear as water? Who has ever seen you accept gifts from others?" A colleague of Dai Sheng's who was standing nearby laughed and said: "Master Qian indeed has a good tongue!" Dai Sheng said: "What's true is true, what's false is false. Let's not speak nonsense. We have important matters to discuss." Qian Dianshi followed Dai Sheng to the inner room, where they whispered to each other for half a day. It was unclear what they were discussing, but towards the end, Qian Dianshi said: "In all things, you older brother come first, and then I younger brother follow. Can we still distinguish between us?" After finishing their conversation, they left in high spirits. As to whether he had been assigned that errand of collecting debts, it will be discussed later.

  Magistrate Huang had just returned from the yamen and was having his dinner when someone arrived with a document. He opened it to find that it was the permit for the sedan chair he had ordered. As usual, he tipped the delivery person. It was Dai Sheng who led the group of servants, all wearing red hats, to congratulate him on the new acquisition. After they paid their respects, Dai Sheng said, "The green sedan chair arrived at a good time today. We looked at the almanac and tomorrow is an auspicious day for you to take it out for a ride." Magistrate Huang nodded in approval and asked, "Has the price been settled?" Dai Sheng replied, "We traded in the old blue sedan chair and he only charged us a little money." Magistrate Huang asked, "Has the old sedan chair been taken away?" Dai Sheng said, "Tomorrow when you take out the new sedan chair, we'll have them take away the old one." Magistrate Huang had nothing more to say, so Dai Sheng withdrew. Next, the various officials from the provincial and county governments, as well as those from the Supply Bureau and the Military Affairs Section, all came to congratulate him on his new acquisition. Among them, only the provincial governor was treated with exceptional courtesy by Magistrate Huang. However, it was unavoidable that he had to follow protocol when interacting with his superiors, regardless of who they were. The rest of the night passed without incident.

  The next morning, Huang Zhifu sat in a green sedan chair and went to the government office to thank his colleagues. He still sat in the same position as before, but now he was surrounded by officials who were all standing up to greet him, addressing him as "Dàgōng" (Your Excellency). Just then, someone brought in a name card from the provincial governor and asked Huang to go to the provincial government office. The officials stood up again to send him off. When he arrived at the provincial government office, all the high-ranking officials congratulated him on his promotion. He still bowed to each of them one by one, following the old protocol. They said, "From now on, we are colleagues, so we can dispense with this formal greeting." The officials then yielded their seats to him, and Huang sat down in a chair at the lower end of the table, looking rather awkward. Note that from now on, Huang is no longer just a county magistrate but has become a provincial official (dào tái), so he should be addressed as such.

  That day, after Huang returned from the government office, he took out his old business cards and started paying visits to all the officials in the province, starting with the provincial governor, then the provincial treasurer, the grain tax supervisor, the salt law supervisor, and the heads of various bureaus. He also visited all the acting officials who were waiting for appointments. Along the way, he was accompanied by a red umbrella at the front, four attendants from the military camp, two sedan chair bearers wearing white hats with black buttons, and another attendant carrying a document box, all running to keep up with him. Behind them followed two horses, one ridden by an attendant wearing a long gown.

  Huang sat in his green sedan chair, wearing a pair of large, round, dark-rimmed glasses perched on the end of his nose, and holding a tobacco pipe in his mouth. The four bearers carried him along, rushing to and fro, while the attendants took turns refilling his pipe. They didn't return to the government office until half past three. As soon as he got back, Huang's nicotine craving kicked in, and he started yawning uncontrollably. Without even changing out of his clothes, he lay down on the bed and smoked twenty-four pipes in one breath.

  His attendants were not allowed to say that they were hungry. After that, many acting officials came to congratulate him, all of whom were received by Dai Sheng, who bowed to each of them one by one.

  "Red Umbrella", "Reward Certificate", "Blue Feather": All are worn to represent the identity of officials, ceremonial attire. "Red Umbrella", the umbrella cover in the official's procession when going out. "Reward Certificate", a certificate of reward, here refers to the "Blue Feather" (decorative feathers on the hat) of the fifth-grade top wear.

  ② Ground Tiger: Boot name.

  Two more days passed, and Dai Sheng thought of currying favor with his master. He took the opportunity to come in and report: "Now that Master has passed on, it so happens that tomorrow is also Madame's birthday. The family members have all gathered together and ordered a play, prepared two tables of wine, and will make merry for two days. This little bit of face Master should give to me, after all, it's just a small token of filial piety from the family members." Huang Daotai said: "Why must you people spend money again?" Dai Sheng said: "What's money? If Master is willing to show his face, we're all willing to go all out!" Huang Daotai said: "I'm afraid this commotion will get those people in the yamen to know about it, and they'll make a fuss again. And what about the officials from the garrison headquarters?" Dai Sheng said: "Master's great joy should be celebrated for two days." Huang Daotai had nothing more to say, so Dai Sheng retreated and went off to attend to his duties. But unexpectedly, this rumor got out, and indeed, a group of officials from the garrison headquarters came one day with their public funds; and a group of committee members from the Supply Bureau also came one day with their public funds: all of them brought a play, two tables of wine, and handed over their gifts. Huang Daotai said: "As I expected, this has caused trouble." Dai Sheng said: "It's good that they know about it." And so they decided on the first day to hold a warm celebration, which was for all the family members in the public residence; the second day was for the officials from the garrison headquarters; and the third day was for the committee members of the Supply Bureau. On the evening of the first day of the warm celebration, Huang Daotai discussed with Dai Sheng: "This birthday celebration, with plays and wine, is all just a waste of money, without any real benefit." Just as Dai Sheng was about to respond, he suddenly saw a telegram being delivered through the door. On it was written: "Nanjing telegraphed to inform the Supply Bureau's Huang Daotai of his promotion." Huang Daotai knew this was an urgent matter and hastily opened it to look inside. But there were only numbers on it. Huang Daotai didn't recognize foreign characters, so he quickly asked the accountant to come over and find a "Chinese-foreign calendar" to decipher the code. The first eight characters were "Nanchang Supply Bureau's Huang Daotai". Huang Daotai was eager to see what was below, but mistakenly looked up the wrong code, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get it right. Huang Daotai got anxious and said: "Don't bother with that one character, let's just look at the ones below." The accountant then deciphered three more characters, which were "Military uniform case". As soon as Huang Daotai saw these three characters, his heart started racing wildly. He stared wide-eyed as the accountant continued to decipher the code. The accountant then deciphered six more characters, which were "Commander's investigation confirmed, preparing to impeach". At this point, Huang Daotai felt like he had been struck by a thunderbolt and let out a loud groan before collapsing into his chair. The accountant then flipped through some more pages and said: "There's more." Huang Daotai hastily asked: "What else is there?" The accountant continued to flip through the pages as he spoke: "Zhu Shou and Wang Ling are also to be impeached, your brother is to be demoted to a lower rank, quickly think of a way to deal with this." At the bottom was annotated a single character "Quan". Huang Daotai then realized that this telegram was from one of his relatives in the Two Rivers Governor's office, surnamed Wang and named Zhongquan, who had gotten wind of the situation and was informing him. He said: "Where did this start?" The accountant said: "According to this telegram, since your relative has come to inform you, the memorial has not yet been sent out. If we act quickly, it's still possible to salvage the situation." Huang Daotai said: "Don't make a racket! I'm completely flustered at the moment, let me calm down before we discuss this further."

  Governor

  ②Impeachment: refers to impeachment.

  After resting for a while, just as he was about to speak, he suddenly saw the patrol officer Hu Lao Ye rushing in without waiting for an announcement. Everyone else retreated upon seeing his unusual arrival. Only when they were alone did Hu Lao Ye say: "The protector of the institute has asked me to come here specifically to inform you of a message." Huang Dao Tai was still dazed and didn't know how to respond, he just stared at him. Hu Lao Ye continued: "The protector received a telegram from the governor of Nanjing saying that in the case of the military uniform, you were also mistakenly implicated. It's truly an unexpected thing! The protector asked me to advise you not to take this matter to heart, after a couple of months have passed and the situation has cooled down, we will definitely think of a way to help you." At this point, Huang Dao Tai was already anxious and couldn't utter a word. Later, when he heard Hu Lao Ye express the protector's kind intentions, he felt as if he had been reborn and his parents had given him new life. He was so grateful that he couldn't speak, but finally said: "Please thank the protector on my behalf for his kindness. I am currently a person under discussion and it is not convenient for me to go out during the day. I will personally come to the institute tomorrow evening to thank him." After finishing speaking, Hu Lao Ye hurriedly took his leave and left. Huang Dao Tai was extremely polite this time and saw him off all the way to the gate before returning.

  Defender, Order, and Associate: official titles; Defender, also known as Prefect, Order, County Magistrate, and Associate, Assistant to the Prefect.

  ② Governor-general: also known as Viceroy.

  At that time, another person did not enter the upper house and still walked into the small living room, with his hands behind his back and his head down, pacing back and forth. Sometimes he also lay on the kang for a while, sat in a chair for a while, but couldn't lie or sit for more than three minutes before getting up again to pace around the floor. For about four days or so, the wife sent the old servant woman three or four times to invite the old master to rest, but everyone saw the old master like this and didn't dare respond. Later, the wife was afraid he would get sick from anxiety, so she had to come out and persuade him for half a day before Huang Daotai listlessly followed her in.

  On the second day, which was originally supposed to be a grand celebration of Madam Wang's birthday, everyone in the household was in low spirits due to the previous night's incident. Madam Wang called for Dai Sheng to come up and discuss with him whether they should cancel the opera performance. As soon as Dai Sheng saw that the master had made a mistake, he knew no one would be willing to compensate for the loss, so he took advantage of the situation and said: "The servants also know that the master is not feeling well, since Madam Wang has spoken, we can just have the servants make up for it tomorrow." After saying this, he went out and called in the leader of the opera troupe, telling him to stop the performance. The leader replied: "But my lord! We were summoned by the master himself, and after great difficulty, we finally managed to secure this troupe. Can't we at least perform for a couple more days before sending them away?" Dai Sheng scolded him, saying: "I said no, so it's no! Are you going to stay here and wait for things to get even worse?" The leader was rebuked by Dai Sheng, and having also heard rumors that the master's situation was not good, he knew the performance would not be successful. With a heavy heart, he led his troupe out, instructing them to pack up their belongings. Meanwhile, Dai Sheng went to inform the local authorities and the military camp, who had already received news of the incident. Seeing how things were, they were delighted to save some money.

  By the afternoon, Mr. Huang got out of bed, washed his face and had dinner without saying a word; after dinner, it was already time to light the lamps. Dai Sheng came in and said: "Everything is ready outside. Please instruct, sir, whether to go to the court after dinner or now?" Mr. Huang said: "Go after dinner." It turned out that Mrs. Huang was very knowledgeable about books and etiquette. As soon as she heard that her husband had been demoted, she told Dai Sheng: "Now that the master is going out, he can't ride in a green sedan chair anymore. Our old blue one has been taken away by the sedan chair shop. Why don't you borrow one from another family?" Dai Sheng said: "Things are unclear now, and it's just a telegram, so we can't be sure. According to the family members' opinion, the master should still follow the usual routine today and change after receiving the official document. Besides, borrowing from others is not good for our reputation." Mrs. Huang said: "In my opinion, this matter won't be fake, and it's not good to ride in a green sedan chair to the court and be pointed at by others. It's better to change it now. We have two blue silk canopies that were sent by others when the old lady was not at home. Let's take them out and cover the sedan chair with them. It's an easy thing to do." While saying this, she asked the concubine and the young lady to open the trunk immediately and find three blue silk canopies, which they handed over to Dai Sheng to take outside. Dai Sheng returned to the gatehouse and said: "To think about it, our master is really pitiful! He finally got a green sedan chair, but he hasn't even ridden in it five times, and now he can't ride in it anymore. The mistress says to cover it with blue silk, which sounds easy, but who is from the sedan chair shop? I don't know how to do it. Fortunately, the master is muddle-headed, so let him ride in it one more time tonight. Tell the guards to call someone from the sedan chair shop tomorrow morning and have them bring their tools to cover it well at our mansion." Whether Mr. Huang will still ride in a green sedan chair to the court remains to be seen in the next episode.

  Green sedan chair: a symbol of official rank, at that time only officials above the third grade could sit in a green sedan chair.

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