Praying for Rain

Fang Yun and the others walked up to the round table. The enormous table could seat thirty people. Every chair was identical, with no nameplates, yet as they followed Fang Yun forward, each person arranged themselves according to Literary Rank.

Those of equal Literary Rank were ordered by when they had passed the Metropolitan Graduate examination. If they were Same-Year Distinction graduates from the same list, they were ranked according to their placement when the results were announced.

When Fang Yun stopped beside the foremost chair, the four Hanlin Academicians stood behind the chairs to his left, and the others chose their seats accordingly.

Without anyone guiding them, they all found their rightful places.

After the thirty Metropolitan Graduates had taken their positions, the other guests also gradually found their seats, though no one sat down.

Before the crimson Metropolitan Graduate table stood white jade steps leading to Heaven-Serving Hall. The entire hall had been built atop a platform, with an open area between the stairs and its doors.

An altar table and other tools for praying for rain had been placed in the open area of the platform. They differed markedly from the sacrificial rites held for the Temple of Sages, ancestral temples, mountains, or rivers; they were not nearly so grand.

Before long, drums and ritual music sounded together. The Empress Dowager emerged slowly from Heaven-Serving Hall, carrying the young monarch.

The monarch was too young to pray for rain, so the Empress Dowager had to lead the ceremony. Yet she could only govern from behind a curtain; even while praying for rain, she had to cover her face with a veil lest ritual propriety be thrown into disorder.

The Empress Dowager walked around the tables and stopped before the crowd. Then everyone offered their greetings.

Afterward, the