Chapter 225

Hearing him say this,

Sister Xichun gave this person an even colder look.

Shen Ruzuo was startled.

He had not expected that, despite having never met the other party,

the other party would actually know him so well.

Gritting his teeth, he said, "Marquis Wushuang, you have misunderstood this subordinate. As a Compiler of the Music Bureau, it is only natural that I must frequently enter and exit the Music Bureau!"

The position of Compiler was, in fact, a very important and busy official post.

Originating in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, Jia Hui, possessing the experience and knowledge of Lu Bu, happened to know this.

Initially directly under the highest power structure of the imperial court and under the jurisdiction of the Secretariat, it was responsible for compiling national history. The person in charge was called a Compiler, a position equivalent to the one held by Sima Qian, author of the *Records of the Grand Historian*, though with slight differences.

The famous Eastern Han scholar Cai Yong had served as a Compiler, which is also the earliest record of the position in historical texts. Cai Yong was also the author of *Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute*, the very person whose daughter, Cai Wenji, Jia Hui had just seen in his space.

Later, after several changes, the Compiler remained a very important official post in the imperial court, generally held by talented young nobles.

The Compiler headed the Bureau of Compilation and became a fifth-rank official post.

In the imperial court, this was a prominent position for someone young yet holding high power, still held by talented descendants of noble families to demonstrate the court's appreciation for talent.

On the surface, Shen Ruzuo was also such a person.

His father was also an imperial official, belonging to a high-ranking, powerful family.

He himself was a man of talent and refined demeanor, not only speaking elegantly but also understanding music, and he played the flute well.

All of this fit the identity of a Compiler perfectly.

However, in reality, it was not like that at all.

Because his position as Compiler was not the regular fifth-rank Compiler of the Bureau of Compilation.

The difference between the two was like heaven and earth.

His was a Compiler of the Jingcheng Music Bureau.

It belonged to the regular eighth rank.

Daily, he was responsible for composing music and writing lyrics; to put it bluntly, he was just a songwriter and lyricist.

That was why he spent all day in the Music Bureau.

Therefore, his defense of himself seemed correct.

But Jia Hui sneered: "Stop playing dumb, kid. You've done your fair share of cheating the singing girls of the music houses; do you think I don't know? No matter how deep you hide it, it's useless."

Hearing this,

Shen Ruzuo was instantly panicked.

If it were an ordinary person, it would be fine.

Their words would have no influence.

But this was Jia Hui, as he knew.

A newly promoted Marquis, a high official of the dual regular third rank!

Higher than even his own father.

Shen Ruzuo's father was Shen Ming, a Reviewer in the Rites Bureau.

The Rites Bureau was an independent agency, responsible directly to the Emperor. Led by a Chief Minister and staffed by ministers of the two systems as deliberative officials, it was responsible for deliberating on various ritual systems.

The function of a Rites Bureau Reviewer was usually to assist the chief official, being one of the grassroots official positions.

To put it bluntly, he was just someone who collected review papers.

The rank of a Reviewer was not high, belonging to the associate seventh rank.

Moreover, the power of this position was truly not great, and even ordinary military officers did not hold it in high regard.

Let alone a high official like Jia Hui?

And Shen Ruzuo had just learned that Jia Hui had actually been promoted to Marquis again!

So, after hearing the commotion, he had deliberately pretended to bump into him by chance.

He had not expected his true colors to be exposed!

He was instantly annoyed and ashamed, regretting it endlessly.

If he had known, he wouldn't have come over!

If such a big shot were to make a declaration,

and spread his misdeeds, his lyrics would have no market in the music houses, and his reputation among scholars would be ruined.

As such,

wouldn't that cut off his livelihood and his path to survival?

So he panicked.

He wanted to find a way to remedy the situation.

Rely on threats?

A joke.

Jia Hui would probably throw him into prison immediately, to keep company with the people from the two great Duke Prefectures and the Marquis Prefecture!

Thinking of this,

cold sweat broke out on him!

Thus, he stopped pretending!

Since being tough wouldn't work,

he could only resort to being soft.

His expression changed instantly, and he immediately smiled obsequiously: "Marquis, I was also doing it for work, looking for inspiration to compose lyrics and music, please forgive me. By the way, I know there are two top headliners in the Music Bureau, one is the singing girl and top beauty Zhang Haohao, and the other is Headliner Wei. I know them; how about I invite them to perform for you immediately?"

The title of 'Headliner' in ancient times referred to the top star in a brothel.

Zhang Haohao, Jia Hui had just met her.

And Headliner Wei was a courtesan, yet very gentle and generous. Speaking of which, she was also related to Gu Tingye; she was his confidante, the person who understood Gu Tingye best, and Gu Tingye also appreciated her very much, sharing whatever was on his mind with her.

Seeing him reveal his true nature,

Sister Xichun was even more disgusted.

The people from the Imperial City Guard around them felt much the same.

They had not expected this fellow to be so despicable.

And Shen Ruzuo could not care about much else.

He thought to himself,

as long as he could befriend this Marquis Wushuang, who was currently in high favor with the Emperor, it would be good.

But Jia Hui did not give him any face at all.

Jia Hui scolded: "Get lost immediately, you're delaying my work!"

"Yes, yes, yes!..."

While feeling ashamed, angry, and hateful inside, Shen Ruzuo dared not show the slightest bit of it on the surface.

He continued to smile obsequiously.

Seeing Jia Hui driving him away,

although disappointed, he also breathed a sigh of relief.

He thought the other party had let him off.

He left in a panic immediately.

Watching his back, Jia Hui sneered.

Let him off?

In his dreams.

Tomorrow, he would spread this person's misdeeds.

Ruin his official career.

Anyway, chasing away one Ouyang Xu was enough, chasing away two was also fine.

The other party was, after all, a small character.

To Song Yinzhang, he was a big character.

But Jia Hui didn't take him seriously at all. ===== CHAPTER 226 =====