Chapter 664: Employment
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
In the end, Ah Yu still stayed in the Astrology Divination Bureau because just as she was about to turn around and leave, she heard four loud thuds. She turned around and saw four people kneeling in front of her in an orderly manner. Moreover, the commander named Xie Zhen was even crying.
[…] Even Meatball was shocked. How did this person shed so much tears and snot in a few breaths?
If he introduced this person to the system world, those Best Actor growth systems would definitely go crazy.
This was a natural drama queen!
Ah Yu wanted to go forward and pull these people up, but the palace maid, Liu Fang, ran over and helped them up.
It would be a huge problem if Village Lord Yu personally went to pull them up. “What are you doing? Stand up quickly. If you have anything to say, talk it out.” “Village Lord Yu, please take pity on us!” Xie Zhen completely ignored his dignity as a middle-aged man. As he sobbed, he said very clearly, “This is already the 10th year of our recruitment. Once, I was also a young and handsome youth, but in these 10 years, we have been unable to find new colleagues. They are either scammers or lazy. Not to mention persevering in their duties; those people couldn’t even pass the most basic assessments. We are all mentally and physically exhausted, but there’s nothing we can do. Moreover, the higher-ups have already said that if they still see us old bones and faces, they’ll tear down our Astrology Divination Bureau. At that time, where can we go? As officials driven out by the court, there’s only one dead end!”
Not to mention Ah Yu, even the palace maid, Liu Fang, had never seen such a scene before. She had only heard that the Astrology Divination Bureau was the least important department in the entire Imperial City, but she had never heard that a group of people with abnormal brains were locked up here.
If others came to take a look at such a department, wouldn’t they have to run away quickly? Otherwise, they would go crazy too.
Village Lord was such a precious identity. Even if she had just been conferred the title, she must have been a rich young lady in the past. How could she live here?
“What about you?” All Yu did not refuse directly. Instead, she looked at the remaining three people.
Of the remaining three people, one was actually the chef, Uncle Luo, one was the fat aunt who cleaned the house, and the other was Xie Zhen’s disciple, Xie Guixin.
Uncle Luo was less than 30 years old, and the fat aunt was 32 years old. Xie Guixin had just joined, and it was said that he had yet to find a wife.
Ah Yu had heard that this department had withered, but she didn’t expect it to wither to this extent. At most, there were only two official employees?
“You might not know this, but although our Astrology Divination Bureau has never revealed ourselves all these years, our ancestors were once famous and even overshadowed the Ministry of Rites. At the peak of our prosperity, from one end to the other, more than ten halls belonged to the Astrology Divination Bureau. There were nearly a thousand people under us!” As Xie Zhen spoke, he said in a sighing tone, “It’s only been more than 200 years, but it’s already become like this. Sigh.”
[…] From your tone, I thought that it was 20 years ago! In more than 200 years, even dynasties can become very weak. It’s enough to forget how many times the leaders have changed!
Ah Yu was also speechless. However, she didn’t come here to obtain any achievements. Instead, she wanted to find a place for the Nine Dragon Treasure Cauldron. The Astrology Divination Bureau had such a glorious past. It might be useful.
“I want to ask, do you have any records of the Astrology Divination Bureau in the past?” When Ah Yu heard the long-winded words, she hurriedly raised her palm and interrupted Xie Zhen.
If she did not interrupt, Xie Zhen might just talk until the sky turned dark.
“Yes, yes, yes. Our Astrology Divination Bureau doesn’t have much else, but we have a lot of books. It’s an accumulation of countless books from our ancestors!” Xie Zhen hurriedly led Ah Yu to one of the rooms and took out his key to open it. It was indeed filled with large wooden boxes, stacked one after another, filling the entire room.
“This has been accumulated over the generations,” Xie Zhen said as he opened the outermost box and took out a yellowed book. He shook it and a fragile page fell off.
“…Ahem, that’s just a small accident. These books are all made of extremely special paper from rare trees and are relatively easy to damage, so we usually don’t open them,” Xie Zhen said as he carefully took out the book and placed it on the table outside.
When he flipped open the first page, there was a pile of scribbles written on it. He said to Ah Yu, “This is the capital of our Astrology Divination Bureau. Village Lord is talented and smart. As long as you finish reading all the books here, you’ll be considered to have entered the sect.”
He forgot to mention that they had yet to finish reading it themselves.
It was not that he was slow-witted, but this book was rather strange. He could only read a few pages before feeling sleepy. Moreover, the concepts inside was difficult to understand and came without any explanations. He had to rely on himself to understand it. If he tried to analyze it too much, he would easily become confused.
“Is it the ancient language or cursive script?” All Yu originally did not have much hope, but when she saw the first page, her interest was piqued. She had studied this language for a period of time.
“Village Lord really understands it?!” This time, not only Xie Zhen, but even Xie Guixin, who had not spoken much, opened his mouth in surprise. He did not expect this young and gullible Village Lord to really have some ability.
Not long after they passed through Yellow Sand City when they were traveling. Ah Yu arrived at a relatively backward nomadic tribe. The tribe had a fixed residence during the autumn season, and there were many similar inscriptions on the walls there.
Ah Yu nodded and pointed at the first line of words. She slowly translated, “The first sentence said that this is a food recipe obtained from traveling. It was copied and recorded.”
The Astrology Divination Bureau and the others:”…” Food recipe?!
Wait, wasn’t this the “Astrology Tome”? They had studied it for many years and written annotations…
Ah Yu asked Xie Zhen to bring several books for her to read. Among them were storybooks, some containing long-lost music scores, others discussing methods of preservation, and even some about parenting techniques.
[Pfft.]
[Kid, look at their expressions.]
Ah Yu looked up and saw the few people who seemed to have been petrified. She blinked. “What’s wrong?”
“Plop!”
“Plop!”
Xie Zhen and Xie Guixin knelt down sincerely and bowed in unison. “Village Lord, please teach us!”
Ah Yu :”…”
Just like that, Ah Yu joined the Astrology Divination Bureau. Moreover, under Xie Zhen’s crying request, she received the title of Astrologer Commander. She was actually also a fifth-grade official!
This was also the only department that could decide the leadership position internally without a test.
Ah Yu originally did not agree until Xie Zhen said to her, “The Astrologer Commander has the option to attend the grand court gathering, but it’s not mandatory. Moreover, you will receive a salary and a grant of 50 mu of official land. One mu of that land is located in the Little Imperial Garden, the vegetable garden you saw earlier. You are free to cultivate it as you wish.”
Ah Yu: “Since you have elders and children at home, you should take this salary. I—”
She wanted to say that although she quite liked the farmland, she was not short of this money.
In the end, she heard Xie Guixin add, “The elder in Master’s family is his grandfather, who is a retired nobleman. His father is the richest man in the neighboring city, Lincang. As for the children at home, he has nieces and nephews. Last year, some of them took official posts in other regions, and one of his nieces married the Crown Prince.”
Ah Yu:”…” She was overthinking..