Xiao Zai followed Minister Hu into the adjoining study to the reception hall with a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.
The Minister was the kind of man he despised. Avaricious and callous, surrounding himself with beauty and luxury, uncaring of how many starved to ensure he got where he was. The way he paraded his spouses, whose number could rival the royal harem, as if they were personal merit trophies he had collected was nauseating.
He took a seat on a high backed chair in front of a lacquered desk, and gestured for Xiao Zai to do the same.
Xiao Zai sat down reluctantly, doing his best not to let his displeasure show in his face.
"I have to give his Highness, credit," the Minister said, chuckling drily, "all of us ministers, court officials and clerks alike, thought the wedding to the Xin fox would be the final nail on the coffin of His Highness' aspirations to the throne."
"But now you've changed your mind?"
