The official residence had only three courtyards, yet covered a vast area. At the center of each stood a luxuriant Wutong Tree, not some ancient relic of an immortal family, but said to be as old as the government office itself. In Golden Autumn, leaves occasionally drifted with the wind through the windows and lightly fell atop the young officials' desks. They would be kept, used as bookmarks, perhaps for the sake of a lucky omen.
An old pine transplanted from some immortal mountain peak stood there, its branches horned dragons, its bark dragon scales, dense and verdant. The gusts that passed through its thick foliage seemed somehow chillier than elsewhere. A ring of long green stone benches encircled the tree, convenient for officials from the various offices to come out, rest, and chat. Within the shade stood a Stone Table carved with a chessboard. Whenever golden sunlight filtered through layer upon layer of leaves and shone upon it, it looked as though immortals were placing their stones.
There was also a peach tree in the rear courtyard, replanted by Cui Chan's own hand roughly a dozen years ago. At the time, Rong Yu had still been a little girl who cried whenever she missed home.
By the time Rong Yu had gradually grown into a graceful young maiden, she had also read many beautiful verses about peach blossoms in books.
Setting his brush atop a three-peaked celadon brush rest and closing a dossier, Chen Ping'an called Fu Qing over. He wanted to retrieve a classified file: Cui Chan's detailed itineraries when inspecting the various offices in the capital over the past twenty years, along with whom he had received at this official residence each day, and for how long. Records of the specific matters discussed would be even better.