Chapter 517: You Should Abdicate

The events at Shaoyin's wedding spread throughout the entirety of Huaxia at an incredibly fast, fast yet unbelievable speed; if only other matters could have this speed of transmission.

Every family that recently intended to hold a wedding also planned to imitate the process of Shaoyin's wedding to hold their own children's wedding banquets, but since mostly high-ranking officials and dignitaries went, ordinary people had no chance to attend, so the procedures everyone circulated were different, with various versions.

No one could be certain, so after inquiries from all sides and subsequent summarization, they finally understood the whole process.

On the third day after Shaoyin's wedding, there was a relatively wealthy family who was taking a wife for their son; they were also the first family in Huaxia to imitate the process of Shaoyin's wedding. They were very generous, purchasing all the meat and Wine they could buy, but more of it was fresh seasonal vegetables and flour-based foods.

The parents of both sides were present, but Baifeng was missing. They felt that Baifeng must be present, but they could not possibly invite Baifeng. Someone had an idea, saying that since the spirits of Huaxia were worshipped by writing on stones, why not write Baifeng's name on a stone to represent him in person?

Everyone shouted that it made sense upon hearing this, so they prepared quickly and had the son who knew how to write carve the two characters "Baifeng" onto a stone, but feeling it wasn't quite right, after much thought, they wrote the words "Baifeng's Entire Family."

Among those present, there were always a few who felt it was strange, a bit like a tombstone in a graveyard after someone had died, but since the host family was doing it out of respect, no one spoke out of turn, though they did feel somewhat uncomfortable in their hearts.

The next day, this news reached Baifeng through his secret intelligence network. After seeing it, Baifeng sprayed a mouthful of tea, creating a brief rainbow.

Yulong hurriedly asked, "Father, are you alright? Did you choke?"

Baifeng took the paper with the intelligence on it, wiped the table with it, told Yulong he was fine, and then had someone call the people from the Ministry of Rites over.

The Minister of Rites, who had always been neglected as if he were in a trash heap, jumped onto the table with joy upon hearing that the King was summoning him. The Ministry of Rites, which had a total of four people, also urged their boss to go quickly after seeing him act this way, to see what the matter was; they couldn't just sit in the office playing chess and cards every day.

The disheveled Minister of Rites, Zhigui, swaggered in to pay his respects to Baifeng, and after rising, stared at Baifeng with a face full of anticipation, hoping the King would arrange some important task for him. If it were to go and argue or negotiate with the Xuanyuan Clan or the Suiren clan, that would be best; that was what he looked forward to most.

Baifeng, who had been in a fairly good mood, saw Zhigui in such a state and his expression darkened: "Zhigui, do you know why the Ministry of Rites is called the Ministry of Rites?"

Zhigui was stunned, stammering and unable to answer, but he also felt that this probably didn't bode well for him. He thought rapidly in his mind whether he had committed any mistakes, or if his subordinates had committed any, but they only played cards and drank tea every day; this... couldn't count as a mistake, right?

Seeing this, Baifeng shook his head; he felt that his choice for Minister of Rites was wrong, or rather, that his own preaching had not been effective.

Baifeng raised his hand to have Zhigui withdraw: "Go tidy up your clothes and hair before coming back in. If you can't tidy them up, you can stay outside and tidy them for me for a whole day."

Zhigui hurriedly retreated, not elegant in the slightest, acting crazily. After a while, he finally entered looking slightly tidier, at least on the same level as people from other departments, but Baifeng was not very satisfied.

He went down personally, grabbed Zhigui's clothes and said: "Is this what you consider tidy in your eyes? Your clothes aren't straightened, they don't fit, your undergarments are sticking out, and your hair, why isn't it neatly tied up? Get out, tidy up again, pull my clothes straight for me, wear them neatly, and comb and tie your hair well before coming back in. If a single strand of hair falls out, I will shave your head bald!"

Zhigui's legs trembled from Baifeng's lecture. This time, he bowed timidly before going out, then returned to the Ministry of Rites office, presumably wanting his subordinates to help him tidy up.

The young people in the Shangshu Department felt secretly pleased when they saw this; they had long found the Ministry of Rites, which took food but did no work, an eyesore. They seemed to be of no use at all.

Baifeng felt somewhat troubled; he seemed to have neglected the Ministry of Rites too much. Although there was not much interaction with other tribes for the time being and no use for the Ministry of Rites, he could let them teach etiquette to the people of Huaxia, making the people of Huaxia more civilized in their behavior, not just relying on laws to restrain them. Unfortunately, this Ministry of Rites seemed to be the most unrefined of all.

After tapping his desk with a pen and thinking for a long while, Baifeng suddenly had a strategy, so he had the people from the Phylum of the Gate call the Wu over, and then went to his small office to wait for him.

The Wu came over unhurriedly, paid his respects to Baifeng, and sat on the chair Baifeng had arranged for him.

Baifeng got straight to the point: "Wu, how do you feel about the work of the Ministry of Revenue now? Is it a bit too strenuous?"

The Wu's heart tightened, tears immediately welled up, and he slowly stood up to kneel to Baifeng. Baifeng hurriedly pulled the Wu up: "What are you doing? We are just chatting simply."

The Wu knew he was old, and now his mind was getting slower and slower. The increasingly cumbersome work of the Ministry of Revenue was indeed a bit strenuous for him. Fortunately, he only handled the overall situation, so he could barely manage, but when Baifeng asked this, wasn't he complaining that he hadn't done his job well?

The Wu sniffled and said: "King, I... I am old and can no longer handle the affairs of the Ministry of Revenue. Did the Ministry of Revenue commit some great mistake? Please punish me."

Baifeng took the teapot from the maid's hand and poured tea for the Wu personally: "Hey, don't overthink it. I see the contributions you have made to Huaxia. It is because you have been here for so many years that Huaxia has been able to develop so well. I am just concerned about your health and afraid that you are too exhausted. After all, I still have some big tasks to entrust to you."

The Wu's eyes brightened instantly, but they immediately dimmed again: "King, although I really want to continue working for Huaxia, even if I die it would be fine, it is just that I am afraid I no longer have the ability, mainly because I might mess up the tasks you entrust to me."

Knowing when to advance and when to retreat—this was the old subordinate he liked. Baifeng comforted him: "Don't worry, this job won't be too tiring, and it is considered what you are best at. It is just that you need to step down from the position of Minister of Revenue and serve as Minister of Rites. Do you have any objections?"

How could the Wu have any objections? It was just that he felt this was the King's excuse. What big tasks could the Ministry of Rites have? It was just that the King felt he was useless and wanted him to step down from the important department of the Ministry of Revenue to go to the Ministry of Rites, which had no work, to wait for death.