People from outside the capital returned one after another, but some officials, afraid of being impeached for violating ritual, continued buying geese and chickens.
Outside Spring Garden, all the officials had already sprung into action, strictly ordering that every gift-giver be taken away and forbidden from delivering anything to Spring Garden.
Only then did the people outside Spring Garden gradually disperse.
Yet many of the poultry and livestock had already entered Spring Garden, and there was no way to send them back.
Fang Yun ordered his servants to contact the capital's government offices and distribute all the poultry and livestock received that day to the cleaners responsible for sweeping the capital. No one was allowed to misappropriate or take any away, or the Capital Prefect could forget about keeping his official hat.
The Capital Prefect was a third-rank high official, equal in rank to a provincial governor, with considerable power and status. Yet upon learning of this, he personally went to offer his regards to those cleaners, guaranteeing that nothing would go wrong.
Night fell, and the boisterous capital quieted down.
Cooking smoke curled into the air, carrying the fragrance of chicken, duck, and goose meat throughout the capital.
After finishing dinner, Fang Yun sat alone before his desk. He held his brush for a long time, yet did not write a single word.
At last, he wrote three large characters on the blank sheet before him.
Political Science.
But Fang Yun did not continue writing. Instead, he put away his brush, closed his eyes, and pondered.
A night passed. When court convened again, Fang Yun still sat upon his Marquis Wu Chariot, waiting outside the imperial palace alongside the other officials.
Compared with the previous court session, the officials were exceedingly enthusiastic. One after another, they asked Fang Yun