Putting an azure robe, a striking robe that contrasted with the serious persona of an official, evoking a feeling of "a great scholar in the city," when looking at him.
Yunyin walked out of his courtyard, seeing that the official had left.
"Bailuan, in the future, no matter who it is, you should detain them or call for the yamen runners. We don't accept these unruly people here." He reminded him while passing by his steward.
It was he who had noticed a martial artist in black enter.
He wasn't sure of what to do, and considering this was the capital, no one would randomly enter an official's courtyard except if they had business. Because of this, he only informed his lord through the household registry the moment his lord entered the courtyard.
"It's really perplexing. How could the Ministry of War raise such a person? Breaking into an official's courtyard is one thing, but not even realising there would be people who instantly detected him… this should be a member who had only freshly left the training, thinking that with the ministries' backing, he didn't need to consider too much.." Yunyin could only make this guess, as the situation was too confusing.
Other officials might not have reacted so strongly, but no official would be happy about a random martial artist barging into their courtyard!
Walking out of the gates, he entered the carriage that had been told to wait here. Heiluan helped him enter while he himself was thinking about various things, mostly about what the minister would ask him once he was there.
The carriage proceeded normally under the bright sun above them. The whole court session took two hours, the normal duration. Sitting and kneeling in such a state was already quite a hurdle, so Yunyin rubbed his knees a few times, feeling a headache incoming as this would be the norm day in day out from now on.
'Maybe I should consider learning martial arts? Just some health preserving or body strengthening ones, no need to really become a martial artist,' a thought appeared in his mind, remembering that quite a few officials took this path as a third path after becoming a scholar.
The path of wisdom was that it opened the doors to many other paths, leading to officials learning supplementary professions while scholars even engaged in different paths. This was unlike the martial path that focused mostly on itself.
As the carriage drove, it passed through several alleys before entering the heartland of this district – the Official's District!
Yunyin's courtyard was at the edge of this district, not quite inside. Only because of his position was it partially included.
The courtyards here were all owned by the various ministers, assistant ministers and other officials starting from the sixth rank in the city. His own position wouldn't allow him to rent or even purchase a courtyard here, even if he had the silver and gold to afford it.
Soon they arrived in front of a large courtyard, in the fourth ring of this district –
The district was arranged in the form of a funnel, with the peak being the Prime Minister's residence directly facing the Imperial Palace Complex. Behind that were crescent half-rings of different ministries' officials –
First ring, Grand Ministers. Second ring, Ministers. Third ring, Assistant Ministers. The last ring was a large space containing the courtyards of officials from the sixth to fourth rank, somewhat disorderly, yet containing a deep set of rules.
Arriving at a third ring residence, Yunyin saw how grand a courtyard could be – just from the space it covered, one could see how expensive this courtyard was!
While it is said that the courtyards here are owned by the ministers, there are various hidden rules that ensured only those active ministers lived here. If your family declined, you had to actively sell your courtyard, either to the successor or the imperial family, to ensure you wouldn't be stamped with the mark of 'not knowing the situation' and being called ignorant.
Yunyin stepped out of the carriage, looking at the courtyard up front. When he looked at it, he felt that while it was large and decorated beautifully, it didn't have the pompous look of other courtyards he had passed. Rather, it looked like a serene place of seclusion in the middle of the city, a beautiful look.
"Please state your business," a guard halted them, respectful in his demeanour but not yielding in the slightest.
'Even the front guards of high ranking officials are high martial artists!' Yunyin exclaimed internally when he felt the pressure of this guard – a seventh rank guard! Although the strength was understandable, it still astounded him.
Heiluan stepped forward, taking out a visitation card, "We have sent a visiting card just an hour ago, please check it."
The guard took the card and inspected it, then handed it over to his partner, taking out a small scroll from his belt, checking the names on the card and the names recorded there.
"My lord, the visitation is very short-timed, so I haven't been informed yet. I shall go in and ask the steward about this," the guard looked apologetic as he said this, putting back the scroll while turning around, taking the visiting card with him.
Yunyin didn't mind and simply stood there, waiting for the guard to return. From the corner of his eye, he saw the other guard observing him seemingly casually.
'The tests have already started?' Yin chuckled internally, not taking it seriously while externally keeping his expression casual, even asking Heiluan about something, as if he didn't mind the wait at all.
Impulsive or arrogant officials would've done something here already, so seeing the calm demeanour, the guard simply checked that this official passed the first test.
A moment later, the guard of before came with the steward, who greeted Yunyin on the spot, "Greetings honourable Official Jie! It was our neglect that led to this delay!"
"No need, it's just a few minutes." Yunyin said generously, acting generous rather than humble, indicating that it was indeed their fault for causing a delay. Even his casual demeanour couldn't be bullied!