East Brilliance Pavilion, Linzi, Great Qi.
Originally a warm pavilion for resting one's feet, it gradually acquired extraordinary significance because the reigning Emperor often read here, held small discussions, and received his subjects.
The Emperor had held court for fifty-eight years—holding court in Purple Extreme Hall, cultivating in Delu Palace, and reading in East Brilliance Pavilion had nearly become an unchanging routine.
People of the time said: Those who frequently entered and left East Brilliance Pavilion were all in the Emperor's sacred heart.
A hunched old man wearing a tattered leather cap and a ragged coat, carrying a White Paper Lantern in hand, walked in with an air of terrible ill omen. The Golden Melon Warriors standing at the entrance acted as though they did not see him.
Han Ling, chief of the palace attendants, stood silently at the Emperor's side.
Li Zhengshu, known by the elegant title "East Brilliance Scholar," sat beside him with his hands tucked into his sleeves.
The pavilion was hushed, its lamplight warm. Only the blind old man's footsteps sounded, neither hurried nor slow.
The Emperor of Qi set down the scroll he had been reading and lifted a finger, signaling a palace maid to bring over a large chair. He said warmly to the old man, "You have worked hard, sir. Please, sit."
But the old man did not sit.
He tucked the White Paper Lantern behind his back and bowed to the Emperor. "Though I have received Your Majesty's generous favor... this humble one is shabbily dressed and foul of body, and dares not appear in such splendor."
The Emperor of Qi did not press him. He merely sighed, rather wistfully. "When was it that I first met you, sir?"
Zhu Sui thought for a moment before answering, "It should have been the