The beloved baby has a space

Chapter 644 New Position

In Wanning City, almost all government departments were located within the Imperial City. More important departments, such as the Grand Council and the Cabinet, were located in the Inner Palace, and usually only played a leading role over other departments.

Logically speaking, the Department of Astrology was a peripheral department and should have been placed in the most remote corner, or along with the Imperial Observatory, relegated to a lower position than the Ministry of Rites.

However, the Department of Astronomy was different. It occupied a prime location, with the Hanlin Academy in front, the Imperial College behind, and the Ministry of Rites' Department of Sacrifices nearby. The latter was in charge of large-scale sacrifices, ceremonies, festivals, and other related matters, and was nominally the superior department of the Department of Astronomy.

On the other side was the small imperial garden outside the imperial city. Compared with the imperial garden in the inner palace, it was naturally much smaller in scale, but there were 20 such small imperial gardens in the imperial city, which were used by officials to relax.

The imperial city was enormous; even 20 imperial gardens weren't enough. However, the officials living in the imperial city, apart from their female relatives, were more interested in tea, so the smaller imperial gardens were often turned into vegetable gardens.

Ayu walked along a vegetable garden to the Astronomical Bureau.

Since she had been promoted to the title of Lady Yuxiang, all the formalities for a Lady Yuxiang had been prepared and sent to the royal family, including the Lady Yuxiang's identity badge, the various forms of the Lady Yuxiang's attire, the appropriate clothing and jewelry bestowed upon her, and even two maids sent from the palace to support her.

Those two nannies were chosen by the Empress Dowager and the Empress, one each. They were both experienced and reliable people in the palace, without any of the usual scheming or cunning, making them particularly suitable for teaching Ayu etiquette and manners.

They were just thinking that once Ayu got married, she would be a prince's consort. No matter how unconventional she was, she should at least know some etiquette so as not to be ridiculed by some busy people.

That's really disgusting.

Ayu didn't think much of it. When Old Madam Wang nodded and let them stay, Ayu didn't care anymore. Later, she heard that those old women had been sent to another courtyard, supposedly to help train a group of useful servants.

Those servants were selected by Madam Ma and Madam Liu. Now, in Wanning City, Old Madam Wang basically doesn't manage things anymore, and has delegated the affairs to her second and fourth daughters-in-law. As for her granddaughter-in-law, she is taught by her mother-in-law.

"Lord Yuxiang, the Astrology Bureau is just ahead. This servant will wait for you here." Tangyuan said with her head bowed, then stood respectfully to the side.

Tangyuan is Ayu's personal maid, and now her status has risen accordingly. She can now enter the imperial city, which she was originally not allowed to enter.

Tangyuan was extremely prudent in her actions. Long before entering Wanning City, she had already found someone to teach her some etiquette in the capital, and she was even using her own monthly salary.

Later, Ayu was conferred the title of Lady of the Township, and Tangyuan immediately went to find Old Lady Wang and learned etiquette from the two old nannies from the palace. Although he is not yet fluent, he is almost there. After a few more days of practice, he will be able to graduate.

She only thought that now Ayu only had her as her maid, and no matter how the Wang family viewed her, she must remember her duty as a maid and never do anything wrong.

Because outsiders would only see her as a maid, if she lost face, it would be Ayu's loss of face.

"Sister Tangyuan, you don't have to wait for me. You can go home first. I can find my way." Ayu said to Tangyuan with a smile, "Waiting here is so boring. If we run into some important person, we'll have to bow and pay our respects. That would be so tiring."

Ayu had already inquired about it; she was now a village lady, a proper fifth-rank noblewoman, and generally did not need to bow to court officials.

Officials of the fifth rank and above usually lived elsewhere and did not typically use this route.

The palace maid beside her whispered, "Lord Yuxiang, there is a small kitchen in the small imperial garden, which connects to a garden. If this lady doesn't mind, she can go there and sit for a while. When the time comes, I will go and call her to come and pick you up."

Tangyuan is now a grown woman. In fact, she looks a bit younger than the palace maid who led the way. But when serving the royal family, age doesn't matter; only status and position matter. So the maid calls Tangyuan "elder sister."

Ayu nodded: "Thank you—what's your name?"

"My name is Liufang." The palace maid was secretly pleased when she heard Ayu ask her name. When nobles asked her name, it usually meant something good was going to happen.

"Sister Liufang, this is the first time our Tangyuan sister has come to the capital. Please take good care of her." Ayu remembered that her mother had once told her that now that she was going to work in the capital, even if she wasn't in the inner palace, she still had to follow certain rules, such as giving benefits when asking people to do things, so that others would be more willing to help.

After thinking for a moment, Ayu took out a handful of silver ingots from her pocket. Just as she was about to give them to the palace maid, Tangyuan spoke up without saying a word: "Sister Liufang, then I'll wait for you here."

Ayu looked at Tangyuan with a puzzled expression, then with a flick of her wrist, handed her the silver ingot and said, "Sister Tangyuan, I heard that there are some places that sell food in the capital. If I come out late and you are hungry, you can use this to buy some food."

After spending so many years together, people naturally develop a certain tacit understanding.

Tangyuan readily agreed, accepted the silver ingot, and nodded: "Thank you for the reminder, Lord Yuxiang."

Outside, Tangyuan always calls her that.

They were afraid she would forget that she was a local magistrate, and that sometimes she could act with impunity.

After this little incident, led by the palace maid Liufang, they bypassed two high gates and finally saw a magnificent and splendid hall, the grandeur of which goes without saying.

“Lord Yuxiang, it’s not there. Please come with me.” Seeing that Ayu was about to walk towards that grand hall, Liufang quickly reminded her, “The Astrology Department is right next to it.”

They walked around the main hall and into the courtyard, where they saw a small house that was similar to the one the Wang family owned in Hujia Village.

The only difference is that the Wang family now lives in a row of large brick and tile houses in Hujia Village, and each of the older brothers has their own independent courtyard, but none of them have gone back to live there.

The small house in front of us is similar to the Wang family's ancestral house in the village. It's just a row of four rooms, and there's a table in front of the house with four people sitting upright behind it.

One of the men, who had been writing documents at his desk, looked up when he heard the noise. When he saw Ayu, his eyes lit up: "You must be the legendary Jade Village Lord! Your employment contract has been written for you. You just need to stamp it here to officially start working!"

Ayu was still a little confused: "Isn't there still an assessment? What about the other examinees?"

Judging from the large scale of their deployment, they must have brought at least a lot of people.

The man exclaimed "Ah!" and said quite naturally, "We received three resumes, but two of them did not meet the requirements, so we rejected them. You are the village head, so naturally everything about you is perfect, and there is no need for an assessment. I think you are a perfect fit for our astrology department!"

Ayu: "..." Something felt off.

Out of politeness, Ayu still asked, "And you are?"

"Oh, I am the 108th Commander of the Astrology Division, named Xie Zhen. You can call me Xiao Xie."

Looking at the other person's thin but clearly middle-aged appearance, even someone as talkative as her didn't know how to respond for a moment.

"By the way, what position are you looking for in the Department of Astrology?" Xie Zhen thought for a moment and asked tentatively, "How about I give you the position of Commander?"

Ayu: "..."

Or perhaps she should go to the ancestral hall next door and ask if they could make an exception and accept a woman, considering that she was a local magistrate.

She really felt that this astrologer was a bit unreliable.

(End of this chapter)