Chapter 723

The three mansions of the central government—the Chancellor's Mansion, the Censorate, and the Grand Commandant's Mansion—are all outside Wide Transport Gate, in a place even closer to the previous dynasty. These three mansions are not the King's destination; he doesn't want to see those three during his holiday.

The King used a guard's waist token to sneak into the Public Carriage Gate; after entering, he denied his entering identity and arranged a new identity for himself.

"Our father is Qian Tong, a junior doctor at the Lesser Treasury. We came to find him because thieves had entered our home and we were scared. Otherwise, our being here would make no sense; we'd be out of place."

"Does making up that lame excuse make sense? What about me?"

"You're an adult; can't you think of what kind of errand to run? Just make up any excuse."

The three sauntered past the Imperial Library, peeked outside, saw people moving back and forth inside, and, under the watchful eyes of the guards, did not go in.

One could say the government office area had plenty of foot traffic, but their trio of various sizes was conspicuous wherever they went, until they saw the Ministry of Agriculture.

Outside the side gate of the Ministry of Agriculture, the queue had at least four rows, noisy like a market!

I never expected that Grand Minister Zhang, in front of him, would only shout 'I am incapable,' while outside he is so influential.

The King wanted to join this bustle, and he found that the people handling affairs at the Ministry of Agriculture were truly all sorts: some properly dressed in various official uniforms, some in patched casual clothes; there were dust‑covered, stooped elders, and also youths eighteen or nineteen who had never been beaten up at work.

In the noisy din, careful listening revealed a jumble of regional accents. The chaos here gave the King a feeling that they could also slip in unnoticed.

He thought that, and so he did it.

He dragged Lao Qi, picked a spot, and joined the queue for business at the Ministry of Revenue; Wei Shen couldn't even pull him back.

He asked softly, "What are you queuing here for—collecting stipend or submitting documents to apply for silver?" Da Wang instinctively covered his pocket at the words, and he wouldn't budge.

He followed the old man beside him, tiptoeing and craning his neck to look inside; seeing nothing, he fixed his gaze on the document in the old man's hand. That look made Wei Shen think he wanted to snatch it and boldly go in to see for themselves. Obviously the old man also found the two kids odd, and he covered the thing in his hands with his chest……

Wei Shen: ……

Da Wang:!

Who would bother to look!

I'm skipping work just to avoid seeing these things!

Lao Qi is small, he couldn't see anything, and soon broke out in a sweat from being shoved. The kid had no idea what they were doing, looking dazed as he followed Da Wang, pushing hard to get inside. Whenever someone came out, the crowd would stir and surge forward, and Da Wang found it quite… fun.

While Da Wang was mindlessly squeezing in, he didn't forget to chat with the old man beside him: "You think the Ministry of Revenue's service is a bit slow? Why does it take so long for just one person to come out?"

Stop spouting nonsense!

The old man, having lived so long, knows trouble comes from the mouth; he originally didn't want to bother with him, but Da Wang is good-looking, and his smiling face really makes it hard to dislike him.

"Never mind how long, as long as you can get the document submitted, that's fine! I'm afraid you'll queue all day only to get it sent back unchanged… Wait, you're this old and already out working?" That would require some serious backing!

"I… I'm here in place of my father! My father went out and had his leg broken by a horse, and there's no one else at home, so I had to come. Well, I even forgot my little brother, but thanks to the emperor's mercy, the gatekeeper brother made an exception and really let us in." Da Wang didn't think twice; he'd already given the two brothers a new backstory.

"So that's how it is." The old man thought it was absurd but not impossible; he couldn't be bothered to ask further and kept his eyes on the gate.

Da Wang was about to complain further about the Minister of Revenue when he felt the crowd stir again; he craned his neck to see two minor officials personally dragging someone out, and the outside queue instantly surged forward again.

That man's face was full of despair; though he hooked his leg and refused to walk, the two minor officials still dragged him out, their feet not touching the ground.

The two let go and walked away; that man lay on the ground for a long time without getting up.

Da Wang immediately grabbed Lao Qi and squeezed over, asking, "You… all right?"

If Da Wang hadn't asked, it would have been fine, but once he did, the man suddenly burst into tears: "Heaven~ I'm from Northern Liang Prefecture; it took me over sixty days to get from home to You Prefecture, ahhh~"

The man looked about thirty or forty; now he looked wretched, a grown man bawling in the street—showing how desperate he was, and Da Wang felt a twinge of sympathy. "Tell us the details, stop wailing, and we'll think of a way to help."

The big man lifted his eyes and saw a child squatting in front of him, and beside him another… even smaller, probably just learning to walk.

"It's useless, useless……"

Da Wang quickly pointed to Wei Shen, who had also stepped out of the queue, and said, "This brother of mine has some connections in You Prefecture~"

Wei Shen: ……

Young Master Wei held his head high and chest out, putting on a proud face.

The man stopped wailing, his voice trembling: "The Secretary of Affairs inside said my document's seal is too faint; no matter how I plead, they won't make an exception, insisting I go back to re‑seal it! I'm from Cangshan County in Northern Liang Prefecture; I walked nonstop for over sixty days to get to You Prefecture, and now they say the seal is too faint—no way! I set out when the snow hadn't melted, and now I still have to walk over sixty days back just to re‑seal it—over sixty days!"

Da Wang frowned. "Cangshan? I have a vague impression—it's north of Wuwei, pretty remote; I've been to Liang Prefecture several times and never passed through there."

Wei Shen jumped in: "You came all the way from Liang Prefecture on foot? Didn't you arrange a horse for your errand?"

"Our Cangshan County can't even afford horses—we don't have a single donkey! The county office collapsed under heavy snow; the magistrate's mother had her leg broken and is using borrowed medicine; even the magistrate's son's pants are patched up to the knees, let alone us…"

"This time the funds for repairing the county office weren't approved, so we all have to take turns keeping watch outdoors at the office. But I haven't even submitted my document yet, and a round trip would take four or five months… Will the repairs even be finished before the snow falls?"

Someone nearby, eavesdropping, also sighed: "The Ministry of Revenue has always been the strictest; when has anyone ever gotten their document through in one go? Just looking at you, it's obvious this is your first time handling affairs—any misspoken or miswritten character is unacceptable."

"Our county's application for a warehouse also requires drawings; this is my third time coming for this."

Wei Shen asked Da Wang, "He just has a faint seal from age—is it really that strict?"

Da Wang nodded. "Such documents need to be archived for decades; logically the seal should be proper and solid, and the clerk handling it wouldn't want to take responsibility for that."

Hearing that, the big man seemed unable to support himself any longer and collapsed back onto the ground in despair, wailing, "Lord Magistrate~" His howl twisted nine times and eighteen bends, carrying the accent of Northern Liang Prefecture. It wasn't the right occasion, but Da Wang almost laughed.

Da Wang: "But special cases get special treatment; the magistrate's mother has her leg crushed—she can't possibly still be living in a "cloud‑view room"."

Wei Shen: "What's a "cloud‑view room"?"

Da Wang: "A roofless house."

Wei Shen: ……

Da Wang kicked the big man and said, "What's the point of howling in this corner? I see you've got the guts—why not go howl at the main gate of the Ministry of Revenue? Just use that same tone." Queuing to submit documents here is a side gate of the Ministry of Revenue, with the Sign of the Affairs Office hanging above; Da Wang was referring to the heavily guarded main gate of the Ministry of Revenue…

Wei Shen: ……

Zhang, the Minister of Revenue, was also busy, weighing how to prioritize the various application documents; historically, tasks with no rice to cook have been the hardest to do.

He was frazzled when he heard a commotion outside.

"Sir, sir! Terrible news—someone's hanged himself at our gate!"

Zhang, the Minister of Revenue: ……

Zhang Sinong: Get me a rope too, I want to hang him beside!