Fang Yun and Dong Wencong led the officials of Baling City outside the south gate to await the special envoy from the Hall of Punishment.
The envoy had yet to arrive. Fang Yun spoke quietly with Dong Wencong, Fang Shouye, and a few others, while the remaining officials gathered with acquaintances and conversed in low voices.
As they talked, Fang Yun looked over the people around him and noticed that, apart from Rites Office Director Nie Changju and a few minor officials, most members of the Rites Office were absent. They had earlier excused themselves on the grounds of being busy with official duties.
Fang Yun betrayed nothing. Someone had clearly tipped them off, but that was actually a good thing for him.
Before long, a white cloud appeared in the sky, and an elderly man wearing the robes of a Hall of Punishment Grand Academician descended swiftly.
Fang Yun took a closer look and recognized Han Zhengyang, a Grand Academician of the Han Feizi Family. These people from the Hall of Punishment aren't all hidebound old pedants, after all. Everyone knows how close I am to the Han Feizi Family. Recovering just that one lost volume of their Sacred Canon, Han Feizi, was enough for the Han Household to remember me for a hundred generations.
Fang Yun had met Han Zhengyang while visiting the various families in Kong City. He was Han Shoulu's second uncle, and their conversation had been very pleasant.
Although Fang Yun was a Void Sage, Han Zhengyang represented the Hall of Punishment and the Sacred Academy. The instant Han Zhengyang landed, Fang Yun stepped forward and cupped his hands. "The distinguished arrival of the Hall of Punishment's special envoy lends splendor to our humble Xiang Prefecture."
The other officials dared not merely cup their hands.