Wei Yingnan’s wish to become an official wasn’t some idea she’d just had yesterday; she’d been mulling it over for nearly two years now, and during this time she’d been studying the methods Yin Shuangshuang used in her own administration.

Yin Shuangshuang herself was a woman serving as an official, so she naturally didn’t oppose Wei Yingnan’s desire to enter office. Although it was very difficult for a woman to be an official, now that she herself had paved the way, it would ultimately be easier for Wei Yingnan to follow this path.

Besides, she would still be here; even if Wei Yingnan ran into some tricky problems after becoming an official, she could give Wei Yingnan guidance and would never let her suffer losses.

Thinking this, Yin Shuangshuang said to Wei Yingnan, who was standing by waiting for her opinion, "If you’ve really made up your mind to become an official, then I’ll support you with all I’ve got.

As it happens, I’ve also been thinking it’s time to let my two cousins go out and take up posts of their own. Cousin Ruibo is gifted in criminal justice; I’m certain he’ll be able to enter the Ministry of Justice in the future.

Cousin Ruiqi is adept at the civil service path, and he was even specially appointed as third place in the imperial exam before. Just now there happen to be two County Magistrates under Qingyang Prefecture who are about to leave office; it won’t be difficult if I ask the Emperor to grant one of those County Magistrate posts to Cousin Ruiqi.

You’re a woman; becoming an official will definitely draw criticism, so your starting point must be modest. From what I’ve seen of you lately, what you’re good at is the way of civil administration, so work in criminal cases is no good.

Why don’t you go serve at Cousin Ruiqi’s side as County Magistrate? Once Cousin Ruiqi is promoted in the future, you can smoothly take over the position of County Magistrate. Advancing step by step like this won’t attract too much attention."

Wei Yingnan nodded, having no objections to Yin Shuangshuang’s arrangements. "I’ll just listen to you, Sister Shuangshuang."

Yin Shuangshuang smiled. "You’ve loved martial arts since you were little, your skills are excellent; originally you should have taken the route of a military general. But for a girl to be a military general is not only dangerous, it’s far too inconvenient in many ways.

Besides, marching and fighting in war means spending years in the barracks, and the army is full of men. Mr. Nameless would definitely never allow that. It’s different if you become a civil servant; Mr. Nameless should agree."

Wei Yingnan smiled. "I used to think I’d never be able to like reading and things like that in this lifetime. Back then, sitting in one place for a long time without moving to process official documents was pure torment for me.

But these past days, following Sister Shuangshuang and watching you exhaust yourself for the common people, I suddenly feel that being a civil servant is actually quite good.

Even though you can’t battle on the field like a military general to defend the country, you can still protect the peace of the people in one region.

That’s very meaningful too. And I also want to be a civil servant like my grandfather, someone who can complement the military generals instead of scheming against them.

I don’t know if it’s like my grandfather said and I’ve opened up, but now I find studying literature interesting too. On ordinary days I can read a few books without getting sleepy and unable to take anything in like before."

"Then that’s good. You’ve been by my side for some time now, seeing a lot of how I handle documents and other affairs. This time, going to serve as County Magistrate will be a good chance to show your abilities and let me see the results of what you’ve learned from me."

"I promise I’ll make you, my master, satisfied, Sister Shuangshuang. I won’t embarrass you." Wei Yingnan, who had become steadier in recent years, for once showed a girlish, mischievous smile, her eyes shining brilliantly.

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Arranging posts for Wang Ruibo and Wang Ruiqi was relatively easy. Wang Ruibo didn’t care for letters, but he had a degree to his name; Wang Ruiqi had even placed third place in the imperial exam back then, winning the hearts of who knew how many young ladies.

Yin Shuangshuang wrote a secret memorial, listing all of Wang Ruiqi’s, Wang Ruibo’s, and Wei Yingnan’s achievements in assisting her in Qinglin County, and used it to request rewards on their behalf.

Yin Shuangshuang did not avoid appointing those close to her; she laid out her thoughts openly and uprightly. Wang Ruiqi and Wang Ruibo really were capable, and for her sake the Emperor certainly wouldn’t reject her request.

So long as these two performed decently after taking office and didn’t make Yin Shuangshuang lose face, everything would be fine.

As for Wei Yingnan, she didn’t even need to rely on Yin Shuangshuang’s influence. Just with Mr. Nameless and the Empress behind her, the Emperor would never refuse.

Sure enough, not long after Yin Shuangshuang’s memorial went up, the Emperor’s rescript came back; he approved every one of her requests.

But in one stroke, three people left Yin Shuangshuang’s side. Plus Gao Ya had also departed from Qinglin County, and Yin Shuangshuang’s surroundings suddenly felt much emptier.

Fortunately, Yin Shuangshuang was used to farewells. She only felt unsettled for an instant before quickly adjusting. It was Luo Linlang who was a bit unaccustomed.

Originally she had Gao Ya, Wei Yingnan, and Yin Shuangshuang—three girls who were all on the same wavelength as her—around her.

Now, all of a sudden, only she and Yin Shuangshuang, who was busy all day and rarely seen, were left. That made Luo Linlang feel very out of sorts.

Yan Yi, on the other hand, seized this chance to crazily build up goodwill with Luo Linlang. And sure enough, this timely move when she was vulnerable really did soften Luo Linlang’s attitude.

By the time Yin Shuangshuang finally managed to straighten out all the relationships in Qingyang Prefecture and the official business at hand, Yan Yi came over beaming, dragging Luo Linlang along to ask Yin Shuangshuang to act as their principal wedding sponsor.

Yin Shuangshuang stared in a daze for quite a while, feeling that the world changed too fast. Clearly, not long ago, Luo Linlang had still been hesitant and held back; how had she been "won over" in the blink of an eye?

Still, Yin Shuangshuang was more than happy to see this happen. Yan Yi’s character was good enough, and although Luo Linlang had a shameful past, she was a good girl who stood on her own two feet and strove for herself.

Yin Shuangshuang herself had no interest in romance and didn’t feel there was anything particularly good about getting married, but she could tell that although Luo Linlang hadn’t wanted to marry before, it wasn’t because she lacked feelings.

Luo Linlang’s refusal to marry was only because, after seeing too many fickle, heartless men, she’d become disillusioned with love. Now that she could put down her worries and try to accept a man, that was a good thing.

Luo Linlang and Yan Yi’s wedding was personally handled by Yin Shuangshuang. Luo Linlang’s dowry totaled sixty-eight sedan-loads, all of it provided by Yin Shuangshuang; it was comparable to a noble young lady’s marriage, and the wedding itself was held with great pomp.

Aside from Wang Ruibo, who had already gone up to the Capital City to take his post at the Ministry of Justice and couldn’t return, Wang Ruiqi, Yang Yixuan, Gao Ya, and Wei Yingnan all managed to find time to attend the wedding.

Although in name all these years Luo Linlang had been a servant and Yan Yi a guard, in terms of feelings everyone was more like friends. Yin Shuangshuang had never deliberately emphasized the difference between master and servant.

After marrying, Yan Yi and Luo Linlang didn’t buy a house to live in on their own, mainly because both of them still had to follow Yin Shuangshuang.

And with Yin Shuangshuang being reassigned to a new place every three years, maybe even in less than three years, there was no telling where they’d go in the future. If they really bought a house, it would be a hassle when it was time to move.

So it was better to just keep living in the government office compound for now. Anyway, the places they lived in weren’t small; now that they were married, it was simply a matter of moving into the same courtyard.

Besides, Yin Shuangshuang had especially assigned servants to attend to the two of them, so they didn’t have to worry about anything themselves.

After the wedding, Yan Yi and Luo Linlang’s relationship grew even better. The two of them were perfectly in sync in everything they did; Luo Linlang issued commands to Yan Yi with complete confidence, and Yin Shuangshuang found herself being "shown off to" by the couple from time to time.