Chương 69: The Wolf hears a generous offer

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?"

SUY NGHĨ CỦA NGƯỜI SÁNG TẠO
ThirtyTyrants

Minister Hu: I give you a choice of virgin omega, and in turn I receive...

Xiao Zai, pulling out his sword: instant death

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"godchildren" and "godfather" make absolutely no sense in an ancient chinse setting, since they're terms derived from catholicism. However, the relationship Minister Hu is referring to is one who happens between "yifu" and one or several "yizi", the literal translation usually leads to "foster father" and "foster children", but that't not very appropriate and also isn't what's happening. The relationship is really more reminiscent of a godparent, which (traditionally, and to this day in the countries where it's still a thing) the godparents would be someone of higher status than the parents, and were supposed to help their godchildren whether economically or by leveraging their power to get them better life opportunities. This is much closer to the "intent" of the ancient chinese practice, than "foster father" -- especially considering those also existed, and obviously played a very different role