In the early morning of the second day, there was a blanket of snow outside the window.

Mei Xiaoren's resting house was the residence arranged for her by the Li Governor's Mansion, and it was also one of the several mansions of the Prefect in Xuanzhou.

Governor Li is a notoriously stinky person, but he treats his subordinates unequivocally, and he is quite generous when he should be generous, so there are many people around him who are willing to work for him.

Mei Xiaoren understands that it was not enough to be appreciated by Lao Li in the past, and now if she wants to stand out from the many officials of the Futai Yamen, she needs to make persistent efforts.

In the fine snow, Mei Xiaoren went out wearing a fur cloak.

Ye Zhi held the umbrella beside her, and it was not until she sat in the sedan chair that she put the umbrella away, retreated to the bottom of the steps, and then watched the sedan chair man carry the sedan chair away.

Ye Zhi stopped there, Mei Xiaoren couldn't bear it for a while, but she was no longer the head snake, and the Futai Yamen was not her territory, she couldn't say that she would use whoever she wanted, and if she wanted to give Ye Zhi an errand, she had to rely on her to make Lao Li happy and then talk to Lao Li.

The general judgment of the six products is insignificant in the entire Daning officialdom, but in the local area, it is second only to the prefect and the adjutant of the same knowledge.

The people of the state capital have some eyesight, and when they see this sedan chair, they know that there are people from the official family sitting inside, and there are four sedan chair bearers who carry the sedan chair, and it is by no means those eight or nine grades in the yamen of the government and the small officials who are not even in the stream, so they have stood on the side to make way.

The road was unimpeded, and the sedan chair finally landed under the steps outside the yamen of the palace.

The palanquin man carefully opened the curtain and said respectfully, "Your Excellency, please." ”

Mei Xiaoren came out of the sedan chair, his heart was already unhappy, just like the first time he entered the Yamen of Qiushui County, he did not get the excitement he wanted, but regarded the door in front of him as another starting point.

She took office on the first day today, even though no one here knew her except Lao Li, but since she entered the yamen, people have been saluting her constantly, both miscellaneous servants and Tsing Yi officials, because she has worn a long-lost dark blue official uniform, and she is the third in command in this yamen.

As soon as Mei Xiaoren passed through the Yimen behind the gate, a middle-aged official named Zhang Liben greeted her, dressed in green clothes, and said that it was the order of the prefect to take her to get acquainted with the mansion.

Xuanzhou Mansion sits north to south, there are three halls, the main hall is the public hall, the left is the six rooms of the Chengfa Division and the scribe who transferred the office documents, the right is the public office, and the officials except the six rooms of the clerks are all on errand in the public office.

The second hall after the main hall is the Zhengjie Hall, the left side of the hall is the book room where the files and cases are stacked, and the right side of the hall is where the Tongzhi Office and the General Judgment Office are located. Behind the corridor on the west side, there is a mirror white hall for officials to rest and drink tea, and on the east side is a flower garden planted with flowers and plants and a few small trees. It's winter, and the flower beds are bare, and you can't see what's being planted.

The third hall is at the back, which is the office of the Futai people, there is a flower hall for rest on the left, and the warm pavilion on the right is the study.

After that, there is the back garden of the government office, which was originally a place for the prefect and his family to live, but the family background of the Li prefect is solid, how could he take a large family to commit himself to the backyard of the government office, so the back is still vacant.

Zhang Liben only briefly talked to her once, and then took her into the general judgment office next to Zhengjie Hall.

The General Judgment Office and the Tongzhi Office are actually under the same roof, and after entering the door, there is a side hall, and there is a room on the left and right. The left ear room is the general judgment office that Mei Xiaoren will stay in the future, and the right ear room is the same knowledge office.

The doors of the two rooms were facing each other, and the bookcases inside were also facing each other, which meant that she and her fellow intellectuals would bow their heads and not look up.

Lord Tongzhi hasn't come yet, and at this time, there are only two people in the house, she and Zhang Liben.

Mei Xiaoren sat down behind the wide bookcase, and now there was only pen, ink, paper, and inkstone on it, and nothing else. The bookshelves on the wall are also empty, after all, the Xuanzhou Mansion has passed the judgment

The seat has been vacant for a long time.

As soon as she sat down, the little maid brought tea, even if it was just tea, it was also a cautious look, and she didn't dare to say anything else, burying her head in and burying her head out, it can be seen that the Futai Yamen is different from the county yamen, the more officials, the more rules.

She couldn't sit here and be an idler when she first came to take office, so she raised her head and asked, "Lord Zhang, does the prefect say what I should do today?"

"The prefect said that the adults have just arrived, and everything is not familiar yet, so let the adults first follow the adults to familiarize themselves with the official affairs, and assist the adults to run errands."

She saw this tall man in the Li Mansion yesterday, and he was Lord Tongzhi. Yesterday, when she came out of Lao Li's place, she happened to see him entering, but Gao Tong knew that he was young, and his steps were fast, and he passed in a few hurried steps, so that she only had time to take a look, and she didn't have much impression.

Mei Xiaoren nodded, sat and waited. After a while, the officials from the yamen came to greet her, and the small room was suddenly full of people, vying to introduce themselves to her.

There were officials, and there were scribes without rank. There were many noisy people, and Mei Xiaoren didn't remember a few in the end.

"Why doesn't anyone serve tea?"

A tepid sentence came from outside the door, and the officials who had just returned a word to me were immediately silenced, and then turned around and waved out of the door.

When they bent down, Mei Xiaoren's gaze looked into the opposite room without hindrance. Gao Tongzhi came, and at this time he was standing behind the bookcase opposite her, while his eyes were looking at the smooth desk.

After a while, the little servant brought tea to his desk in a proper manner, and then he looked away at the officials, "Why is it so lively today?"

Zhang Liben stepped forward and said: "Back to my lordship, today Lord Mei took office, and the lowly officials came to pay a special visit. ”

Gao Tongzhi raised his eyes and looked at her, with a smile on the corner of his mouth: "You are the new judge."

Mei Xiaoren arched his hand: "Exactly." ”

Gao Tongzhi sat down, smiled, glanced at the other officials, and indifferently ordered: "You stand down." He looked at Mei Xiaoren again, "Come here." ”

Mei Xiaoren still had to listen to the orders of this Tongzhi Lord, so naturally he didn't dare to slack off, and after the other officials withdrew, he went to the opposite room, stood in front of his bookcase, and said: "The lower officials have just arrived, and there will be many places to trouble the Tongzhi Lord for advice in the future. ”

Gao Tongzhi leaned back on the chair, put his hands on his laps, looked relaxed and comfortable, and said with a smile: "I can't talk about advice, we are all colleagues, and we should help each other." ”

"The prefect asked the lower officials to assist the adults, but I don't know what the adults need the lower officials to do."

Gao Tongzhi didn't rush to answer, and asked: "Where is your ancestral home and where is your home?"

"Xiaguan's ancestral home is Xuanzhou, and his home is in Yun County." Mei Xiaoren replied. At the beginning, Lao Li asked her to participate in the imperial examination, and what he fabricated for her was also Xuanzhou's household registration.

"You grew up here, have you ever been out"

The matter of going to Jinzhou to study can't be spread outside, Mei Xiaoren shook his head, "Xiaguan has never left Xuanzhou." ”

"Then you have relatives in your family as officials"

Mei Xiaoren still shook his head.

"It's not easy to get into the woods." Gao Tongzhi sighed, sat on the chair, and bowed his hand politely to her, "Admire." ”

If he continues to ask like this, the old man will have to be lifted out, Mei Xiaoren hurriedly diverted the topic and asked again: "The prefect asked the lower officials to listen to the orders of the adults, so what should the lower officials do now?"

"It's okay for the time being, you go sit down and rest."