Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

The Ministry of War and the Ministry of Personnel.

"Oh, it's General Annam." Wu Gai, the most senior official in the Ministry of War, said with a smile, "I see that you have the talent of a prime minister. It's really unfair that you're confined to the Ministry of War. What, did the Privy Council not respond to your request?"

The others sitting in the duty room also laughed and said, "That's right, how dare we junior officers be on par with a general?"

A young official in his thirties, sitting in his original seat, gave a mischievous bow towards Zhuge Ke: "Welcome, General Annam."

"Hahahaha." Everyone on duty burst out laughing.

Zhuge Ke's plump face was already flushed with embarrassment. He could only bow repeatedly and then walk quickly to his desk as if he were running away, where he lowered his head to read a book, pretending to be an ostrich.

Misfortune and fortune have no fixed gate; it is the foolish who create their own troubles.

Previously, Zhuge Ke had been sent to Man Chong's army to persuade Zhuge Jin to surrender. Zhuge Ke did write many letters, but after repeated failures, Man Chong no longer trusted him and only used him as an ordinary military advisor as the General of Annam.

Upon returning to the capital, Zhuge Ke's situation became increasingly awkward. As a general with the title of Annam, he held no position in the central army, and from the emperor down to the privy councilors, no one took him seriously. Zhuge Ke consulted Xu Shu several times, and after Xu Shu communicated with the newly appointed Minister of War, Wang Ling, Zhuge Ke was relegated to the position of a regular official in the Ministry of War, despite holding the rank of Annam general.

He was almost indistinguishable from everyone else.

Following last year's campaign against Wu, the entire court and government, having served in the military for several years, were filled with the mentality of victors. Consequently, they felt a strange sense of contempt for someone like Zhuge Ke, who had opened the city gates to surrender and repeatedly tried to persuade his own father to surrender.

The disdain among young officials is always hard to conceal. Moreover, in terms of achievements, Zhuge Ke only managed to secure a minor official position for himself, without even having the slightest effect of persuading Zhuge Jin to surrender.

Zhuge Ke was always arrogant and often used the victory at Jianye to deal with the intentional or unintentional ridicule from his colleagues. This was the Ministry of War, and his colleagues did not buy into this argument. They believed that the Wei army could break through Ruxu and Wuhu, so if they were to launch a strong attack on Jianye, it would only delay the attack by half a month or a month and would not have any impact on the overall situation.

With his self-esteem repeatedly wounded, the newly appointed Minister of War, Wang Ling, was too lazy to bother with these trivial matters. Before his transfer, Wang Ling had served as the General of Anxi; why would he care about a surrendered general, the General of Annan?

Zhuge Ke finally could not bear it any longer. After a slight argument with the others yesterday, he went to the North Palace to request an audience with His Majesty. He was, of course, hoping to secure himself a real position leading troops or an opportunity to be appointed to an outside post.

However, Cao Rui did not have time to see him.

Instead, Wang Su met with Zhuge Ke and offered some kind words of advice. In the name of the emperor, Wang Su bestowed upon Zhuge Ke a large mansion in Luoyang, ten servants and maids, a carriage, four fine horses, and a certain amount of wealth. He also claimed that it was the court's oversight that the reward was not given immediately after Zhuge Ke returned to Luoyang.

Wang Su also said that with the frequent adjustments of official positions both inside and outside the court, many governors and officials have not yet taken office, so the appointment of Zhuge Ke should be considered later, and he should stay in the Ministry of War for the time being, pending his successor.

This gesture was appreciated by Zhuge Ke, who was naturally extremely grateful.

Unexpectedly, when he returned to his post at the Ministry of Personnel this morning, he was met with ridicule from his colleagues.

There's no escaping it now. Attendant Wang has already personally appeased them. What more do they want? Going to His Majesty to complain would be tantamount to courting death.

Just as Zhuge Ke's face turned completely red, Zhuge Xu, the Gentleman Attendant-in-Ordinary, slowly walked into the large room where the officials of the Ministry of War were on duty.

"What brings Youming here?" Wu Gai stood up and greeted him with clasped hands. Zhuge Xu was a graduate of the Imperial Academy in the first year of the Taihe era. He was a Gentleman Attendant and a favorite of His Majesty. They were both outstanding figures in the same circle, so Wu Gai dared not be negligent.

"Greetings, Brother Yuanxia." Zhuge Xu greeted him calmly with a cupped hand, and then asked, "Where is General Zhuge?"

“General Zhuge… is over there.” Wu Gai chuckled, then raised his voice and said, “Minister Zhuge has come looking for General Zhuge. Please come out for a chat, General Zhuge.”

Zhuge Ke even had thoughts of beheading Wu Gai in his heart. He gritted his teeth, smiled, stood up, walked to the door, and bowed: "Greetings, Attendant Zhuge."

Zhuge Xu nodded: "His Majesty has decreed that General Zhuge Ke of Annam should attend a banquet at Jiade Hall tonight."

Zhuge Ke immediately bowed and said, "Your subject obeys the decree!"

After standing up, Zhuge Ke glanced at Wu Gai as if in a show of defiance, and then took Zhuge Xu's arm with his hand: "I'll go see Vice Minister Zhuge off."

Watching the two figures leave, Wu Gai shook his head, chuckled, and continued with his official duties.

People came and went in the courtyard of the Imperial Secretariat, but no one paid any attention to the two of them.

To be precise, both Zhuge Xu and Zhuge Ke came from the Langya Zhuge clan. Zhuge Ke was actually Zhuge Xu's cousin, though he was only four years older than Zhuge Xu. The two had only met four or five times, yet they were already quite close.

The Zhuge family was already small in number, and Zhuge Dan, who used to be an official in Luoyang, was the only minister to be beheaded because he was involved in the extravagance case. The two cherished each other even more after they met.

With Zhuge Xu's talent, he naturally noticed the mockery from the people in the Ministry of War's office earlier, and couldn't help but ask curiously:
"Judging from the scene in the Ministry of War's duty room just now, it seems that the officials of the Ministry of War have a grudge against Uncle? Wu Yuanxia has always been an upright gentleman, how could he have a conflict with Uncle?"

Zhuge Ke shook his head: "In short, they are still mocking me because of my status as a surrendered general. Youming, don't worry about me. I am the General of Annam appointed by His Majesty. I am only temporarily stationed at the Ministry of Personnel. I will definitely be of great use in the future."

"That's good then." Zhuge Xu nodded in agreement: "The officials in the Ministry of War are all highly experienced, and Uncle should handle the situation appropriately."

“I understand.” Zhuge Ke patted Zhuge Xu on the shoulder, then asked, “I just requested an audience yesterday, why is His Majesty summoning me to a banquet today? And in the Jiade Hall of the Southern Palace no less?”

Zhuge Xu thought for a moment, and since the matter wasn't exactly a secret, he slowly said, "Uncle may not know, but after returning to Luoyang this time, the old ailment of the Prince of Hejian has flared up a bit again. The Prince of Hejian asked His Majesty for permission to return to his fiefdom due to his health, and His Majesty granted the Prince of Hejian's request. Tonight's banquet in Jiade Hall is to send off the Prince of Hejian, and all the generals, members of the imperial family, and nobles from Luoyang have also been invited."

"So that's how it is." Zhuge Ke squinted and thought for a few moments: "A real prince, truly the envy of others."

Zhuge Xu replied, "The merits of the Prince of Hejian cannot be measured by the number of battles fought or the number of spoils captured, but by his role in stabilizing the court and serving as a pillar of the imperial family..."

"Uncle, I'm going to the Ministry of Personnel first, and then I need to go to the Imperial Guard outside the city. I should be going now. Don't forget to get to the Southern Palace as soon as possible."

"I understand, thank you for your help, Youming." Zhuge Ke nodded. (End of Chapter)