At that, Sixth King beamed and said a couple of words, then suddenly slapped his forehead and exclaimed, “Look at my memory, I almost forgot the main thing. Young master, when I went out to buy something just now, I happened to run into someone from Second Master’s household on the west side and heard some news. Sixth Master is said to be getting a promotion, just waiting for the official document to arrive. The Xu clan is all planning to offer their congratulations when the time comes—it was the eldest master who first suggested it, and Sixth Master agreed as well. Since you’re the younger generation, you really ought to put some thought into the gift.”

Brian Clark studied Sixth King’s eager, smiling face and nodded absentmindedly, saying, “Good thing you’re attentive. I know now.”

After saying this, he walked slowly inside. He had just stepped through the second gate when he heard, from behind him, a woman’s distant, reproachful voice: “Why do you meddle so much! The young master has never bothered with these social affairs. If he gets annoyed and scolds you, wouldn’t that be unfair?”

“What do you know, long hair, short insight! The young master used to stir up trouble outside, and I couldn’t and didn’t dare to interfere, but this time things have gotten big. I heard the eldest master and several clan elders are discussing it behind the scenes. If Seventh Young Master doesn’t come out well, where will the two of us go? This is such an easy job—those few vegetable plots save us a lot of chewing, and there’s quite a bit of extra income from the shopping errands too.”

“Where isn’t there work? If you hadn’t gotten into trouble back then, you’d still be at the yamen, and I wouldn’t have to suffer here with you.”

“You wretched woman, he hasn’t even gone in yet and you’re already shouting so loud. If someone hears, then I’ll really be the one wronged!”

If Brian Clark hadn’t been only half drunk and deliberately listening, he would have missed this low, muttered quarrel. His face remained impassive, but in his heart he couldn’t help turning it over and over. When he entered the main room and saw Ryan Clark coming up to apologize awkwardly, he just waved his hand, sat down on the wall-side canopy bed in the west room, and said to Ryan Clark, who was bending over to take off his shoes, “Ryan Clark, go out in a bit and find out what official post my Sixth Uncle has been promoted to, and how big of a celebration they’re planning.”

Ryan Clark was just putting the two shoes together, and on hearing this, he immediately looked up in surprise, then nodded, “Don’t worry, young master, I understand.”

Seeing Ryan Clark about to leave after agreeing, Brian Clark suddenly thought that this fellow had only come up from the countryside a month ago, and his sense of social affairs had been muddled by his previous master’s bad influence. Sending him to do this would surely be twice the effort for half the result. So, before Ryan Clark reached the door, he called out, “Wait, don’t rush off yet—go call Sixth King here first!”

“You mean Sixth King brother, not Sixth King’s wife?”

Ryan Clark was completely confused, but seeing Brian Clark nod, he could only leave, puzzled. In no time, he brought Sixth King in.

As soon as Sixth King entered, Brian Clark noticed his eyes darting all around, sizing up everything—the tall wardrobe, the camphor chest with the brass lock, the tall porcelain vase in the corner, even the canopy bed he himself was sitting on. From this, he got a rough sense of the man’s character. He told Ryan Clark to bring a stool for Sixth King to sit, then got straight to the point: “Just now you said Sixth Uncle is getting a promotion and will hold a banquet. Do you know what post he’s been promoted to, when the banquet is planned, how many tables, how many guests, and who they are?”

Sixth King sat on the stool, but his eyes were still restless. When he heard the question, he was genuinely startled. He stole a glance at Brian Clark’s expression, and seeing it wasn’t a trick, he perked up at once: “Young master, you’re right to ask me. Today I ran into Old Ying, who handles outings for Second Master’s household. He was showing off on purpose and explained it all clearly. Sixth Master has been promoted to ‘Jingli Si Jingli’—that’s finally a seventh-rank official. I heard that besides the family’s own relatives, Sixth Master’s household is preparing to send out about a hundred invitations. Not counting the well-known families nearby, the Chief Magistrate, Second Magistrate, and Third Magistrate of Ying Tian Prefecture may not necessarily attend, but the ‘Biejia’ and ‘Sili’ will probably show up. Plus those big households—there’ll be at least twenty tables, and most likely the celebration will last three days.”

Although Brian Clark had a rough idea that Ying Tian Prefecture had various officials like ‘Tongzhi’ and ‘Tongpan’, hearing all these different titles at once made his head spin, so he interrupted, “Slow down, slow down—what are the Chief Magistrate, Second Magistrate, Third Magistrate? What are ‘Biejia’ and ‘Sili’?”

Off to the side, Ryan Clark saw Sixth King grinning smugly and clearing his throat, and couldn’t help but urge, “Young master is asking you, Sixth King brother, don’t keep us guessing!”

“These Chief, Second, and Third Magistrates originally referred to the various officials in the county yamen, but nowadays the prefectural yamen uses these titles too. The Chief Magistrate of our Ying Tian Prefecture is, of course, Prefect Wu—he’s a high-ranking third-rank official. Even when dealing with the senior officials in the capital, it’s all mutual bows and courtesies. Besides, Prefect Wu has been in poor health since the start of the year, so Sixth Master surely wouldn’t trouble him. The Second and Third Magistrates are Prefectural Vice Magistrate Liu and Prefectural Registrar Fang—both high-ranking, and not easy to invite either. As for ‘Biejia’, that refers to the two ‘Tongpan’ of Ying Tian Prefecture, Lu and Zhu, and ‘Sili’ is Judicial Officer Shen. Plus, there might be officials from Jiangning and Shangyuan counties dropping by. So, there’ll definitely be a lot of guests.”