Busy Time

Since the envoys had returned, I set out to work on the accumulated documents and procedures. I first completed the paperwork and initiation procedures, then went to check out my conferred residence (in a nice part of the capital, though I doubted I would use it). Upon initiation, I was immediately given a bonus of 50,000 taels for my contribution while the envoys were still here. This was shocking especially to the Ling Clan, since even first ranked generals (military officials were more valued in this era of war and strife) only got 80,000 taels a month.

I was assigned a tidy and spacious office in the ministry (in the fringes of the palace), official's robes, stationery and accessories, and was also appointed a tutor to familiarise myself with the traditions and business paperwork and official documents of this dynasty for 3 months. The official's robes were blue-black fabric with birds stitched onto the rank badge. There was a set of court necklaces for imperial concubines, decorated with ambers, each having 108 beads in four parts divided for 3 big beads. This was because official's robes usually functioned as court robes in the Yuan An dynasty. I was required to come into office or complete the equivalent work 2 days a week, or as otherwise needed.

Unfortunately, since it was a busy period now, I was at the office 5 days a week, making me reminisce my time as an office lady in modern times. Thankfully, I had made some demands before accepting my role. For example, I wanted to be placed in a wing with ample wind and sunlight, since I refused to suffocate in a stuffy, dim ancient office. I was even granted a patio, and the servants decorated the office tastefully since a concubine was occupying it. Beautiful plants and vines decorated the windows and patio, and vases of fresh flowers could be seen here and there. There was also a neutral, pastel colour theme, and bookshelves were lined with literary novels and paperwork as well as ornaments.

It also introduced a lot of hoo-ha. It started with the trip, really, where for the first time, I was given 2 female bodyguards to accompany and protect me constantly. After I was conferred a post and would have to travel to and fro my palace and the office often, I was given 2 additional female bodyguards, making it a total of 4. They were named Yun, Xin, Ou, and Fei.

Finally, the palace's all-female special forces, Blood Moon's talent were shown. Permanent female bodyguards were typically not given to females in the palace unless they were Imperial Concubine Rank and above, or born royalty. For concubines and visitors, they were only given temporary female bodyguards who would rotate during shifts as needed.

This was a big win for feminists in ancient times – an "independent" woman holding a high and key government post, with an entourage of elite all-female bodyguards. Unknown to me, I was secretly idolised by many noble misses who also longed for independence and a status of their own besides that given by their clan or husbands.

Of course, this also attracted the ire of misogynists, which were plenty and ran amok in this era, who felt women were below men and should just marry and stay quiet and dependent. Unfortunately, no matter how they bellowed and splashed pig blood, they were chased away by palace guards, and berated and refuted by Minister Hui. In his words "Can you translate a key foreign language and change the outcomes of wars? If you can, then you can talk. If not, you don't have the right!"

I liked Minister Hui. He was a good man if he supported women's rights and would be impartial to me. I heard he also had a daughter around my age. I wondered if the previous Ling Yue knew her.

In 3 months, just when my paperwork was starting to die down and I was hoping I could laze around at home for a while, we received word from the Novgorod Tsar. Minister Hui knocked on my office door. "Noble Concubine Ling! Come out! We have news!" he said excitedly. I put down my sketchbook and tucked it away in a secret corner, then opened the door.

Minister Hui was beaming from ear to ear. I had scarcely seen him this happy. "Come! The servants are placing everything in the yard as we speak." he said. I followed him down the halls and into a backyard. Unlike the other ministries, which were full of stress and tension, the Ministry of Foreign Exchange and Trade rarely received much news or work and mainly would just communicate with vassal states and friendlies, and so had a peaceful atmosphere. It was the polar opposite of, say, the army, which was perpetually itching for a fight.

It was late morning, and the back was flooded with soft sunlight. In one of the large pavilions, which was neatly maintained, there was a large pile of packages and boxes wrapped in animal skins and foreign tree bark. A palace eunuch stood at attention beside the pavilion, directing servants where to put the goods. I was surprised at first that they managed to send so many things through, but then again, I heard they had a route to Yuan An that was adjacent to but not through the Northwest tribes. It was heavily guarded and we had also stationed some of our men there.

Finally, the packages stopped coming and the eunuch reported the inventory to us. As discussed, brought personally by one of our men from the route was a very important package. It was very thick, perhaps the size of a small printer, and wrapped in many layers of bearskin and paper. Minister Hui hugged the package and didn't let go. We watched as they unboxed the packages. Gifts of goodwill – specialties, furs, alcohol, ornaments, preserved food and more from the Norse were unveiled. Minister Hui instructed them to bring them inside and lock it safely in the treasury, then sent out a message to the Emperor that the things had arrived.

That's where the paperwork started again. The package was pried away from Minister Hui and unwrapped, revealing thick volumes of books, journals, documents and paper. Laid out on the central meeting table, 10 or so of the ministry's 4th rank and above officials all pored over them. Apart from tags mutually written in Huaxia and Norse which I had handed to them to label some agreed upon things with, of course they couldn't understand anything. How long would it take me to go through all these? Each page was packed densely with walls of words and diagrams.

Minister Hui saw my expression and hastily said "We'll send you 2 scribes to write out the documents for you. You don't have to do it yourself." After I submitted a rough list of document names to them, the entire package was sent to my office. Sigh. It's hard being the MVP (most valuable player). I stared wistfully at the pile of packages, and then glanced at the 2 scribes who sat at small desks newly set up in my office. Everyone was sitting on their hackles and waiting for me. Well. I would start with the most important document first, the summary.