Off-screen, Su Xi was nearly dying of laughter, but her little Zai Zai clearly had no idea that his thoughts were bubbling out one after another in speech balloons. Su Xi pretended not to notice the child’s little fit of jealousy.

Seeing that her Zai Zai still seemed quite averse to Yun Xiupang, Su Xi—being a mother who supported freedom of friendship—didn’t force the two to become friends.

However, according to the system’s judgment, when she just now grabbed her Zai Zai’s hand and handed over that string of candied hawthorn to Yun Xiupang, it had already been registered as the protagonist actively expressing goodwill.

Soon, a message popped up on the screen—

> “Congratulations on completing Side Quest 5: Made your first friend. Reward: +200 coins, +2 points!”

With that, Su Xi now had forty-two points in total! Her goal was to top up to one hundred as soon as possible—by then, she wouldn’t have to tug at his sleeve to communicate with her Zai Zai anymore.

And according to the system, the shop would also unlock some sort of grand reward pack at that point! She was already halfway there, and the thought made her a little excited.

After the servants and guards from Prince Ning’s Manor helped Lu Huan move his luggage into the official quarters of the Ministry of War, Lu Huan officially reported for duty.

The uniform of a Cong Wu Pin (from Fifth Rank) Ministry of War assistant secretary was a deep-green long robe embroidered with crimson patterns and a dark-brown Azure Tiger.

When Su Xi saw her Zai Zai change out of his bright-red Jiu Pin (Ninth Rank) companion-reader uniform and into this one, she felt a bit of pity—after all, the red uniform had looked so nice.

But once her Zai Zai actually put on the new official robes, she immediately changed her mind.

That saying “clothes make the man” was a lie—her Zai Zai looked good in anything, each outfit bringing out a different charm.

In the Ninth Rank companion-reader’s attire, he looked like a finely carved young noble; but in the Fifth Rank martial officer’s robes, he carried the cool, sharp grace of a silver spear and a snow-bright sword.

On Lu Huan’s first day reporting to the ministry, it was already late evening for Su Xi’s side—almost bedtime. Still, she propped herself up on her pillow, deciding to play a little longer to send her Zai Zai off for his first day at work.

She used the two points she’d gained from the side quest to unlock the Ministry of War’s four-division panel.

The head of the Ministry was the Shangshu (Minister of War), and the second-in-command the Shilang (Vice Minister). These two oversaw the four subordinate divisions.

The First Division handled martial officers’ inheritance and selection of soldiers; the Second managed procurement and storage of military supplies—horses, weapons, and the like; the Third dealt with military merits, rewards, and punishments; and the Fourth oversaw transmission of military books and reports.

Each division had a chief official—Director of the Fifth Rank—and a deputy—Assistant Director of the Fifth Rank. Under them were about ten Zhushi (Section Heads), and beneath each section head were several clerks and functionaries.

Lu Huan’s post was in the Ministry of War’s Second Division.

That meant his current rank was effectively the second-in-command of Division Two.

After spending some time reading the system’s background info on government structure, Su Xi became quite eager to see what her Zai Zai’s first day as an official would look like.

Even though a Assistant Director of the Fifth Rank was technically a minor official who didn’t even need to attend court, he still oversaw a dozen section heads—surely that carried some authority!

But to her surprise, on his very first day in office, her Zai Zai was immediately given a hard time by the Second Division’s section heads.

When he appeared at the ministry gates, those section heads were still huddled together whispering, voices loud enough for everyone to hear—completely ignoring the fact that the person they were talking about had already arrived, as if they were speaking for Lu Huan’s ears.

Large blocks of disdainful text popped up on Su Xi’s screen.

> “No idea how that brat won Commander Yun’s favor and got placed here! This kind of back-door appointment is disgraceful!”

> “Exactly. He’s merely a concubine-born son from Prince Ning’s Manor, with no accomplishments whatsoever. He only joined those young nobles on one hunting trip to Qiuyan Mountain—how does that qualify him to be promoted above us?”

> “We section heads might not all come from noble families, but at least we earned our way up properly. Section Head A is the son of the Prefect of Rong Zhou, and Section Head B was the tanhualang [third place in the imperial examination] three years ago! I honestly thought that when the assistant secretary’s position opened, one of you two would be promoted. Who would’ve guessed they’d bring in some snot-nosed kid instead!”

Among the group, the two men labeled Section Head A and Section Head B wore especially sour expressions.

One man’s face was filled with resentment, his fists clenched tight. Another, however, hid his emotions well and hastily waved his hand. “No, no, Brother C, that was years ago when I placed third in the imperial examination. Naturally, time passes and new talents emerge—how could I compare to the young nobles of the capital now?”

Su Xi immediately thought this Section Head B was quite the schemer. Sure enough, after his seemingly modest remark, the others became even more indignant.

They all started saying, “We despise those who rely on their fathers’ influence the most. So what if he’s a shizi [heir son of a noble]? Everyone in the capital knows Prince Ning’s Manor has long since fallen into decline. What’s more, the new assistant secretary is only a low-born concubine’s son! What great achievements could he possibly make? He’s probably just an empty show—useless trash!”

A dozen men spoke one after another, their voices full of scorn. “Concubine-born son of Prince Ning’s Manor,” they called him again and again, degrading the Zai Zai until he was worth less than nothing.

Su Xi hadn’t expected things to turn out like this and felt deeply upset.

Still, it was understandable. After all, these section heads had probably assumed that the new assistant secretary would be chosen from among them. Who wouldn’t grumble when an outsider suddenly dropped from the sky to take the post?

But that meant her Zai Zai’s position here wouldn’t be easy.

Who knew what kind of trouble they’d give him next?

Behind Lu Huan stood two guards from Prince Ning’s Manor, carrying his bundles. He listened to every sarcastic word they said, yet his expression remained perfectly calm.

At the gate of the ministry, he paused briefly, then gestured for the guards to go in first and tidy up his desk before lowering his voice slightly to the side. “You’re still here?”

Su Xi had already greeted her Zai Zai earlier—she’d been about to log off—but after washing up, she couldn’t resist opening the screen again while lying in bed.

She tugged quietly at his right hand, her heart heavy.

Even though her Zai Zai had worked so hard these past months—from Yong’an Temple to Qiu Yan Mountain, to the matter at the Yunzhou palace—he had finally escaped the hardships of Prince Ning’s Manor.

Yet it still wasn’t enough. In their eyes, he was nothing more than a concubine-born son from a fallen princely house, someone they could trample on at will.

It was the same back at the Imperial Academy. Those students might act friendly, copying his homework, but behind his back, they still looked down on him as merely a concubine-born son of Prince Ning’s Manor.

And now these adult officials didn’t even bother to hide their disdain when bullying a youth.

…She no longer even hoped for the game to quickly reveal the storyline about her Zai Zai’s background—she just wanted him to rise high soon, so no one would dare look down on him again.

Although Lu Huan couldn’t see her face or her movements, just that single tug on his hand was enough for him to sense that her mood wasn’t good.

He thought for a moment, guessed the reason, and said softly, “Go rest. Sleep for a while. When you come back again, I promise—you won’t hear them say such things anymore.”

Then, on Su Xi’s screen, a new message popped up—

> [Side Quest 6: Bring the Ministry of War’s Second Division under control. Resolve its long-standing issues, and begin attracting the attention of General Zhenyuan and the Minister of War! Reward: +2 points!]

Even if it hadn’t been triggered as a new quest, Su Xi would’ve wanted to help her Zai Zai teach these brats a lesson anyway!

She tugged his left hand, signaling she was logging off for now. But as she watched him walk into the ministry hall while the section heads deliberately ignored him and strolled off chatting among themselves, she couldn’t help the spark of anger rising in her chest.

Unable to think of a way to deal with them for now, she opened the in-game shop and searched the keyword “Ministry of War.” After some browsing, she found only a simplified ledger of military supplies from past years.

It was listed under the Second Division, so it might come in handy.

She dragged her Zai Zai’s character to the back of the ministry building, handed him the ledger, and finally logged off.

Su Xi was truly exhausted now. Still mulling over how this side quest probably wouldn’t be completed anytime soon, her eyelids began to droop. Drowsiness overtook her, and soon she drifted off to sleep.

───♡───

Meanwhile, on Lu Huan’s end, when his guards had finished setting up his desk, those section heads lifted their eyes toward him. Someone gave a cold, sarcastic snort.

Lu Huan swept his gaze over the group, and his eyes quickly settled on two men among them—Section Head A and Section Head B.

The others seemed to cluster around these two; clearly, they held higher status than the rest.

Yet, the two didn’t seem to get along—their desks were placed far apart, on opposite sides of the room.

Lu Huan understood at once. Saying nothing further, he turned and walked into the curtained area of the ministry hall to take his own seat.

Once he had gone inside, the section heads finally broke their silence and began whispering again, commenting that this young official sure had quite the air of authority, wondering if he had any real ability to match it.