CHAPTER 1623: CHAPTER 1598: SET ASIDE

Manbao quietly went back to the Chongwen Pavilion.

Two days later, just as she was preparing to pack up and leave for vacation at home, Bai Shan came running breathlessly from outside, directly entering her room, his eyes shining as he said, "I heard from the Office of Palace Affairs today that the Ministry of Rites has bestowed honorific titles on your father and mother."

Manbao directly sprayed out the water she hadn’t swallowed, then started coughing violently, "Who? Honorific titles, isn’t it supposed to be posthumous gifts?"

"Your biological father’s legacy ranks even higher than yours, is there a need to use your official position for posthumous gifts? Of course, it’s Uncle Zhou and their honorific titles."

Manbao was stunned and exclaimed, "I—I didn’t send any gifts to the Ministry of Rites."

Bai Shan paused for a moment before skipping past that remark, saying, "I heard from the Office of Palace Affairs that the officials from the Ministry of Rites who submitted the proposal are people of the Crown Prince. The memorial has already been sent to the Central Secretariat. What’s strange is that the Central Secretariat actually agreed, and now the memorial is at the Imperial Secretariat."

As long as the Imperial Secretariat passes the review and the memorial reaches the Ministry of Rites, it’s already eighty percent done.

Bai Shan looked at Manbao, and Manbao also looked up at Bai Shan.

Honorific titles in this dynasty are not numerous, though merely symbolic, without financial reward, at most the court might send some clothing or cloth each season, or during major festivities, offer gifts like celebratory rice, cloth, or household items like pots and pans.

But this symbolic name sounds grand, giving officials and recipients of honorific titles immense satisfaction and rapidly elevating their social status.

Don’t think all officials can apply for their mothers and wives, the approved applications are few.

Because unless one excels exceptionally in merit, enjoys immense imperial favor, or has rendered long and outstanding service, honorific titles are not given.

The first is often seen among military generals who have achieved great feats on the battlefield, like Yin Li and Minister Li; the second are typically imperial relatives and nobles; the third are such civil officials who have served for many years, accumulating many minor merits like Libationer Kong.

Currently, Manbao is none of these; she was thinking of applying for her parents after mastering her medical skills, gaining fame, and saving countless lives, but unexpectedly, the Crown Prince gave her a backdoor now.

At this moment, Manbao felt an intense passion to die for a confidante, saying with tears in her eyes, "The Crown Prince is really too good to me."

Bai Shan took out a handkerchief to wipe the water from her mouth, nodding, "He’s indeed very nice, the Crown Prince is buying you over."

Manbao tilted her head thinking, "Forget it, I won’t do bad things for him anyway, let’s not untangle such complicated relationships."

Bai Shan thought she was just lazy, but the benefits given by the Crown Prince are indeed just right, he surely didn’t know, these little favors are exactly to the liking of Manbao and the Zhou family.

There aren’t many people bestowed with honorific titles in the Great Jin, they can still sometimes enter the palace for a banquet, chat with the Empress, though without real power, their status is unusually high.

Manbao is fifth rank, just at the point eligible for honorific titles.

If she applies, the Ministry of Rites would most likely reject it, but since it’s the Crown Prince’s application, the Ministry has to consider his prestige.

The Crown Prince’s people in the Ministry of Rites are astute, knowing ordinary applications might not be approved, thus when applying, they emphasized Zhou Jin and his wife’s righteousness and benevolence. After Zhou Yin passed away, it was the couple who took great risks to raise Zhou Man to adulthood, despite the difficult family situation, yet they could still afford to cover Zhou Man’s education, hence cultivating an outstanding talent for the court...

The memorial made Manbao’s teeth ache just reading it, yet the colleagues at the Ministry of Rites could pen it with an impassive face, which Manbao admired greatly.

The court always likes to commend righteous people, filial sons, and virtuous wives to convey certain values and educate the populace. Zhou Jin and his wife’s acts evidently deserve commendation.

Although Zhou Man is not their biological daughter, they raised her to adulthood, now that she is an official, she has the heart to apply for honorific titles for her parents, why wouldn’t the court seize the chance to commend them?

The memorial reached the Central Secretariat, naturally arriving before the Emperor.

He heard the memorial was written by the Crown Prince’s people, Zhou Man herself doesn’t even know yet, he thought carefully, though unsure if the Crown Prince’s move was to buy over Zhou Man or to warn the other imperial princes of the consequences faced by the Prince of Yizhou, or both, he still picked up the pen and circled it.

The Emperor agreed, the Central Secretariat naturally had no objections and promptly sent the memorial to the Imperial Secretariat.

Wei Zhi had visited Qili Village, and had seen the then innocent and lively Zhou Man, so he naturally knew the Zhou family, he thought for a moment, put aside the memorial, neither approving it nor allowing others to approve it.

The next day during a small court meeting, Wei Zhi pushed the matter back, saying to the Emperor, "Though Zhou Jin and his wife’s righteousness deserves commendation, Zhou Man’s contributions are shallow, not yet sufficient for honorific titles."

The Emperor wasn’t very concerned about an honorific title, upon hearing this, said, "This is the Crown Prince’s application."

Wei Zhi then said to the Crown Prince, "It might be better for Your Highness to wait until Zhou Man accumulates enough merits before commending?"

The Crown Prince said, "Didn’t Zhou Man previously treat both my father and me? Isn’t that enough for commendation?"

"Treating His Majesty is the duty of the Imperial Hospital, it’s the credit of the entire hospital, not her sole contribution, Zhou Man herself admits this."

In terms of arguments, truly no one can compete with Wei Zhi, moreover, he wasn’t saying not to bestow titles, but clearly stating now isn’t the time, Zhou Man’s contributions aren’t sufficient, if her parents are bestowed titles, how about the applications of other officials?

The Crown Prince frowned, didn’t argue this issue with Wei Zhi during court, but after court, couldn’t help but go to Wei Zhi, "Lord Wei, why block this matter?"

Everyone had no objections because this didn’t involve anyone’s interests, merely a symbolic title, far less than a tenth of last year’s legacy of Zhou Yin.

Wei Zhi glanced at the Crown Prince and said, "Your Highness, spoiling like murdering, if you truly care for Zhou Man, you shouldn’t only see her, but the entire Zhou family behind her, and she has six brothers and a sister."

The Crown Prince raised his brows, somewhat puzzled.

Wei Zhi said, "Your Highness, managing a family is like governing a country, governing a country is like flying a kite, wanting it to fly far and high requires proper tension and relaxation. If always indulging, when a storm comes, the kite will plummet, and by then the string in your hand is already slack, unable to tighten, the kite can only crash to pieces."

The Crown Prince was stunned.

Wei Zhi was also one of the Crown Prince’s teachers, seeing him listen attentively, nodded slightly, and walked away with hands behind his back.

The Crown Prince thought all the way back, and upon returning to the East Palace, saw Manbao leisurely eating snacks waiting for him. Seeing him return, she immediately jumped up and ran over, giving a quick salute and said, "Your Highness, was your memorial rejected?"

The Crown Prince: ...Feeling somewhat embarrassed, what to do?

Manbao saw his expression and knew, relaxedly said, "That’s good, let’s suppress this matter, and not apply yet."

The Crown Prince raised his eyebrows, asking, "What, you don’t want the honorific titles?"

Manbao shook her head, "I do, I still want it now, but my mentor said excess leads to deficiency, right now honorific titles may not be a good thing for my family."