Chapter 101 Reward
Chapter 101 Reward

"Master, why are you still getting dressed?"

Ye Xuan rolled his eyes when he heard that. Does this young master have to set a time to get dressed?

However, before Ye Xuan could complain, Qiu Yan actually took action, lifted up Ye Xuan's trousers and said, "Master, let me help you!"

Ye Xuan felt a chill somewhere, and he shivered all over. He blurted out, "Qiu Yan, your hands are so cold. Did you touch water this morning?"

Qiuyan covered her mouth and chuckled when she heard this, and joked, "I think yours is too hot!"

Halfway through his speech, he suddenly became serious again and urged: "Master, please hurry up, the angel is still waiting!"

"Angel?" Ye Xuan was stunned, and blurted out subconsciously: "Gabriel?"

He came to his senses immediately and asked in surprise, "Did an imperial decree come down?"

Qiuyan had gotten used to Ye Xuan's occasional strange words these days, so she didn't pay much attention to it and said, "I don't know about this, but there are a lot of people here, beating gongs and drums, so hurry up!"

Ye Xuan was still a little drowsy, and when he heard the words he just thought that Zhu Yuanzhang had issued another decree, so he quickly put on his clothes and went to the door.

When I saw this, I was stunned.

I saw a group of drummers wearing red robes, playing suona and drums, shaking their heads and looking very happy.

Behind the drum band was a group of armored soldiers who were carrying things on their shoulders. Judging from their attire, they looked like the Jinwu Guards, one of the palace guards.

On both sides of the road, there was a large group of people watching the excitement. Almost all the neighbors in Xiangyun Lane came out and were looking at Ye Xuan, who was still a little confused, with envy and jealousy.

Right in front of the crowd was an unfamiliar official and Ye Xuan's old acquaintance - Yun Qi.

As soon as Ye Xuan showed up, Yun Qi came up to him in the shrill voice that was unique to eunuchs, "My dear, you finally came out. You kept me waiting for a long time!"

Although Yun Qi's voice has always been feminine, Ye Xuan always felt that this guy's voice was particularly "coquettish" today. He couldn't help but shudder and took a step back.

Fortunately, at this time, the unknown official also came up and bowed to Ye Xuan and said, "This must be Lord Ye Xuan, the captain of the Jinyiwei, right? He is indeed a young hero and a handsome man!"

Ye Xuan hurriedly bowed in return, and Yun Qi introduced him, "This is Lord Li Ziqiao of Yingtian Prefecture. This team of drummers was found thanks to Lord Li."

Li Ziqiao waved his hand and said with a smile: "It's a small matter. Today is Brother Ye's big day. A small group of trumpeters is just a small token of my appreciation."

Ye Xuan was shocked when he heard this. The prefect of Yingtian was not an ordinary prefect, or perhaps he was just a small county magistrate in the eyes of some people in later generations.

Instead, it is a prefecture-level administrative unit, one level higher than an ordinary prefecture, and one level higher than Xi'an Prefecture, Hanzhong Prefecture, etc., which are equivalent to prefecture-level cities in later generations. If we must make an analogy, it is equivalent to a municipality directly under the central government.

The prefect of Yingtian Prefecture was a civil official of the third rank, which was only one level lower than the six ministers.

Such a person is someone that ordinary people in the local area can never look up to in their entire lives, but he actually came to visit in person today?

Ye Xuan immediately raised his hand and invited, "Now that we are here, please, Eunuch Yun and Lord Li, come to my humble abode for a cup of tea." Li Ziqiao smiled and waved his hand, saying, "There is no rush for tea. Lord Ye should take the order first."

“Accept the order…” Ye Xuan turned to Yun Qi, only to see Yun Qi smiling and saying, “Ye Xuan, accept the order!”

Ye Xuan immediately ordered Qiuyan and others to set up the incense table and burn incense with washed hands.

The process of announcing the decree was omitted here. It was different from what Ye Xuan had guessed. It was not that Zhu Yuanzhang had assigned him any new tasks, but rather an imperial decree commending Ye Xuan.

The imperial edict simply praised Ye Xuan for his intelligence, loyalty and outstanding performance, and hoped that Ye Xuan could continue to work hard.

He also allocated 100 taels of gold and 1,000 taels of silver from the treasury to reward Ye Xuan, and also gave him an imperial plaque.

Ye Xuan walked up to the plaque covered with red cloth, stretched out his hand to uncover it, and saw four large characters written on the carved plaque: Loyal, Brave and Resourceful, with the reign title and the emperor's signature on the side. The two Jinwu Guards carrying the plaque were jealous when they saw it.

Ye Xuan didn't know that not only the two Jinwu Guards were jealous, but even the Yingtian Prefecture Governor and Yun Qi who followed behind him were envious.

This is the plaque bestowed by Zhu Yuanzhang, the current emperor!
Even if ordinary people have made great contributions, the most they can get is promotion and wealth. Unless they are trusted and appreciated by the Emperor, they will never get it.

Either he had worked diligently for the court all his life, appeared before the emperor and had acceptable political achievements, in which case he would be awarded a plaque by the emperor when he died or retired to his hometown, and given an appropriate four-character comment to evaluate his life.

This is enough to make people grateful and hang it in the ancestral hall for generations.

Because it is a symbol of honor, as long as people see this plaque, no matter how many years have passed, they will know at a glance that this is a large family with glorious ancestors.

Even when compiling the family tree, you have to write a lot more about your life and deeds than others. How impressive!
Li Ziqiao looked at the imperially bestowed plaque with envy, imagining that he would have one like this in the future, hanging it in the ancestral hall of his hometown. In the future, when the clan members paid homage to their ancestors, they would point to this plaque and ask, "Is this the imperially bestowed plaque on our ancestors?"

By then, his Hejian Li family could barely be called a noble family because of him, Li Ziqiao.

Therefore, in the eyes of court officials, the imperial plaque is an honor that cannot be bought with mountains of gold and silver!

However, Ye Xuan just curled his lips, complaining in his heart that Lao Zhu's calligraphy was too murderous, and then looked at the boxes of gold and silver with fiery eyes.

God bless you, although Ye Xuan has some real power, theoretically it is easy for him to get some money.

But being an official under Zhu Yuanzhang meant that if one embezzled more than 60 taels of silver, one would lose his head. Ye Xuan just wanted to live peacefully during the Hongwu Dynasty, so he lived a tight life relying on a salary of eight taels of silver.

However, seeing this scene, Li Ziqiao and others wondered if they were dazzled. Did Ye Xuan seem to curl his lips at the imperial plaque?

Is this... disdain?
"Thank you all for your hard work!" Seeing the real gold and silver, Ye Xuan was immediately in a good mood. He waved his hands repeatedly to invite Yun Qi and Li Ziqiao into his house for tea.

Li Ziqiao and the other man quickly started to be polite with Ye Xuan, without thinking about whether Ye Xuan curled his lips at the imperial plaque.

But facing Ye Xuan's good intention, Yun Qi waved his hand and said, "I'm afraid this tea will have to be drunk another day. His Majesty has ordered that Captain Ye follow us into the palace to meet the emperor."

Li Ziqiao, who was standing by, heard this. Although he still had a smile on his face, he felt a little sad in his heart.

(End of this chapter)