Transmigrating to the Qi Family - Chapter 145

After completing the handover formalities, Pei Che officially begins his new position. It’s his first time as an official, and he can’t help but feel nervous. Although he has been surrounded by officials since childhood, that doesn’t mean he knows how to be one himself.

At night, Pei Che tosses and turns, unable to sleep. Jiang Miao, annoyed by his restlessness, pulls the thin quilt over and turns his back to him.

“Ah Miao, are you awake?” Pei Che, realizing his movements have disturbed Jiang Miao’s sleep, feels a bit guilty.

“With how much you’re tossing and turning, you’d wake the dead,” Jiang Miao retorts. Despite his words, he turns back around to comfort Pei Che. “Come on, tell me, what’s keeping you up?”

“I’m just worried… that I won’t do well,” Pei Che admits. He has always been open with Jiang Miao.

“Not do well at what? Being an official?” Jiang Miao asks.

“Yeah. I’m afraid I’ll make poor decisions like Zhou Xu and end up harming the people of the city.” Before arriving, Pei Che reviews Zhou Xu’s records. Despite coming from the same imperial examination class, Zhou Xu served as Cangzhou’s Assistant Prefect for seven years without promotion, essentially without hope of advancement. This time, he lets himself be swayed by selfish motives after hearing that the new prefect is from a prominent family in Liangjing, losing his judgment and getting played by two swindlers.

“You won’t,” Jiang Miao says confidently, without a moment’s hesitation.

Pei Che is surprised. “Ah Miao, how can you be so sure?” Yet, Jiang Miao’s resolute words lift his spirits.

“Because you are the heir of the Duke’s Mansion, such a background can be said to be powerful and wealthy. You lack nothing, so naturally, you won’t make a wrong decision out of selfish desire.” As the saying goes, having no desires makes one strong.

“Is that the only reason?” Pei Che presses on.

“Hmm… Your grandfather and uncle are also formidable. They wouldn’t just stand by and let you make foolish decisions,” Jiang Miao adds.

“…Anything else?” Pei Che’s face falls. 

Noticing Pei Che’s disappointment, Jiang Miao adds a few more words to cheer him up.

“Of course! You’re brave and wise, incorruptible and upright, handsome and dashing, with an air of elegance… There’s no way someone like you would stoop to corruption!”

Pei Che laughs, leans over, and hugs Jiang Miao, whispering softly in his ear, “I didn’t expect that in Ah Miao’s heart, I’m so perfect. Thank you for your praise.”

Jiang Miao rolls his eyes in the dark and says, “Can you sleep now?”

“Let’s sleep.” Pei Che tightens his hold, buries his head by Jiang Miao’s neck, closes his eyes, and looks very sleepy.

“…How am I supposed to sleep like this?” Jiang Miao grits his teeth. In winter, this would be fine, but it’s nearly summer, and cuddling is unbearably hot.

Pei Che suddenly realizes and pulls Jiang Miao’s hand to rest on his own body. “Alright, now let’s sleep.”

Jiang Miao is too tired to complain. 

He tries to break free, but Pei Che, strong as ever, holds him tightly as if his arms are made of steel.

With his struggles in vain, Jiang Miao, just before drifting off to sleep, decides that starting tomorrow, he’ll sleep on a cooling mat.

…

The next morning, Pei Che is up early. He dresses in his official robes, preparing to report to the front office for attendance. Jiang Miao wakes up even earlier, and when he opens the door to call Pei Che, he sees him adjusting his light crimson official robes in front of the mirror.

Jiang Miao crosses his arms, leaning against the door frame, and boldly admires the tall, long-legged, handsome man in front of him. He has seen others wearing the same official robes before and thought the design of Daliang official attire was ugly. Now, it’s clear that it only looked bad because the people wearing it weren’t as striking.

Pei Che notices the gaze behind him, turns around, and smiles. “Ah Miao, how do I look?”

“In one word: handsome!” Jiang Miao gives him a thumbs up and walks over to help straighten his belt. “Luckily, there’s no one else in Cangzhou wearing the same uniform as you; otherwise, they’d feel terrible.”

Pei Che laughs heartily at Jiang Miao’s unabashed praise. It’s often said that women dress up for those they love, but men, in front of the ones they care for, are like peacocks showing off, always wanting to present their best side.

After breakfast, Pei Che goes to the front office.  

By the time he arrives, many people have already gathered. When they see Pei Che, they freeze for a moment, and it isn’t until he finishes reporting for attendance and looks back at them that they snap out of it. They have only known that the new Prefect exposed the swindlers, but they hadn’t realized how striking his appearance is.

“My fellow colleagues, I’m sure you already know who I am. My name is Pei Che, a newly appointed scholar of this year’s imperial examination, honored to be appointed as Cangzhou’s Prefect by the Emperor’s grace. I hope we can work together, united in purpose, to overcome difficulties and govern Cangzhou well.”

After Pei Che finishes speaking, everyone bows together and says, “We will serve with utmost dedication and do our best to assist you, Sir, in governing Cangzhou.”

“Thank you, everyone,” Pei Che replies with a smile and a nod. “Now, please return to your respective offices and bring over the matters that require my attention.”

“Yes!”

With that, the crowd disperses. Someone approaches Pei Che respectfully, offering to lead him to his office. Pei Che expresses his gratitude and follows them to the place where the previous Prefect works.

As the head official, the Prefect’s office is the largest in the entire government building. It has good ventilation from front to back, making it quite comfortable to sit in.

“Please have a seat, Sir. I’ll have the documents sent over shortly,” the person says before leaving. 

Soon after, someone else comes in to serve tea, providing considerate hospitality.

Meanwhile, over where Jiang Miao is, the area is bustling with people. They live in the back quarters of the Cangzhou government complex. Due to Cangzhou’s long-standing financial struggles, the construction isn’t great. It resembles the shared courtyard Jiang Miao once rented at the Bai family’s place, rather than the individual residences found in other areas.

As the Prefect, Pei Che is assigned two main rooms, two side rooms, three wing rooms, and a separate kitchen. However, the courtyard is still shared with others, which feels uncomfortable for Pei Che. But being new here, it isn’t appropriate for him to buy a house and move out just yet. It would make him seem unsociable, and staying here allows him to keep a closer eye on things, deterring any potential mischief. Pei Che can’t guarantee that everyone will willingly accept his authority.

While Pei Che finds it uncomfortable, Jiang Miao, along with Xiao Shitou and Pei Mu, adapts quite well. After breakfast, Jiang Miao has them reading and writing, then takes Chan Yi and Wen Jing along with some guards to tidy up their quarters. They only arrived late yesterday and have barely set up their bedding, replacing the old sheets and quilts with their own.

As Jiang Miao cleans, he realizes that the previous Prefect probably didn’t bring his family with him when he took office; otherwise, why would these rooms be so messy?

He silently complains as he throws the cleaned-out items into the yard, planning to dispose of them once he finishes cleaning.

At that moment, a group of well-dressed women approaches. “Young man, we’re here to pay respects to the Prefect’s wife. Could you please let her know?”

“…”

Jiang Miao is silent. Even with his thick skin, he is too embarrassed to say in front of this group that he is, in fact, the Prefect’s wife.

However, Jiang Miao’s silence is interpreted by the group of women as a sign of inconvenience. One of them steps in to smooth things over: “The Madam must still be unpacking since she’s just arrived. How about we come back to pay our respects tomorrow?”

The others nod, realizing that showing up unannounced might be impolite. They only think about the need to greet the wife of the new Prefect, not considering how inconvenient it might be.

Seeing that they are about to leave, Jiang Miao braces himself and calls out, “Aunties and sisters, please wait a moment.” They will be living together from now on, and sooner or later, everyone will find out he is the so-called ‘wife.’ Better to get it over with now than leave a bad impression by hiding the truth.

Everyone turns to look at Jiang Miao, curious about what he wants to say. 

“Uh, I am… the Prefect’s, um, wife,” Jiang Miao says, blushing and feeling quite embarrassed.

The women’s mouths form perfect “O” shapes, their eyes full of disbelief. They clearly hadn’t expected those words to come from Jiang Miao’s mouth.

After a moment of stunned silence, one woman suddenly exclaims, “I remember now! Last year, wasn’t there news from Liangjing about the Emperor granting the Duke’s heir a male spouse? So, that’s you…” Realizing everyone is staring at her, she quickly covers her mouth, embarrassed.

“Yes, I’m the male spouse granted by the Emperor,” Jiang Miao confirms.

The women’s gazes change as they take in the sight of him. They hadn’t expected the male spouse to look… so plain.

Jiang Miao is dressed in simple gray clothes, his hair casually tied up and held with a hairpin, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and his face covered in sweat. He seems to have no airs about him at all.

When the news from Liangjing reached Cangzhou last year, everyone speculated that the male spouse must be an exceptionally beautiful person. 

Not that Jiang Miao isn’t good-looking, but he appears more like a refined young man, not at all like the graceful image they had imagined. And to see him working alongside the servants—showing no airs like a lady from a noble family—what an unusual sight for a noble’s spouse!

Feeling self-conscious under their scrutiny, Jiang Miao regrets his choice of attire. He dresses this way because he knows he’ll be cleaning, opting for old, easy-to-wash clothes. If he had known about this formal visit, he would have dressed properly and waited inside to greet them.

The woman who speaks earlier is the first to recover, smiling and saying, “The Prefect is truly fortunate to have such a hardworking and capable spouse. We are humbled.”

“Aunties and sisters, please don’t call me ‘Madam.’ My surname is Jiang, so just call me Brother Jiang,” Jiang Miao replies warmly, ignoring her awkward phrasing—he guesses she meant to say ‘virtuous.’

“Alright, then I’ll address you as Brother Jiang,” she responds graciously. “I’m the wife of Yang Huai, the assistant magistrate, and these ladies are…” She goes on to introduce the others, and Jiang Miao makes an effort to remember their husbands’ positions and match them to faces so he won’t be caught off guard next time.

Jiang Miao greets everyone. No matter how high or low the official is, he smiles cordially so as not to make others feel resentful or think that he is arrogant.

After the introductions, Madam Yang adds, “Brother Jiang, have you finished tidying up? Would you like some help?”

Jiang Miao quickly declines, “No need, no need. We’re almost done, so I wouldn’t want to trouble you. The place is a mess right now, so I must apologize for not being able to offer tea. I hope you can understand.”

The women assure him it’s fine and leave, feeling much more at ease. If the Prefect’s spouse is this approachable, then surely the Prefect himself won’t be overly harsh. They have seen all sorts of officials come and go, and generally, the saying “a family shares one heart” rings true. It seems that even for a married pair of men, the same principle should apply, right?