Zhulan unfolded the two "fortune" characters on red paper, finding no other marks or stamps beside the two simple characters. They could not be more plain, but after all, they were written by the Emperor himself, and she needed to carefully preserve them as authentic works of the Emperor.
Zhou Shuren had also finished reading the Zhezi and immediately noticed the "fortune" character. "Generally, it is written for second-rank officials and frontier ministers, but this year they included me as well. Now in the eyes of all the ministers, I have completely become a confidant of the Emperor," he said.
Zhulan put down the fortune characters in her hand. "Being a confidant has its perks, but the downsides are there, too. When imperial power changes hands, the new Emperor will promote his own confidants. By then, you will become a thorn in the new Emperor's side."
