On a summer night within the forbidden palace, the bright moon hung high in the sky.
Outside Shouchang Hall, the palace attendants paced in frantic circles, and the officers and soldiers of the Imperial Guard were equally uneasy. The Son of Heaven had shut himself inside the hall without ordering supper, asking only for two large jars of Jingkou wine. How could they not worry? Yet he had expressly forbidden anyone to disturb him, so no one dared offer remonstrance. As for sending word to a consort in another palace, they dared even less. The Son of Heaven despised loose tongues above all.
Just as they were at their wits' end, a sudden shout came from inside, calling for supper!
Overjoyed, everyone hurried to bring in the dishes as quickly as possible. But scarcely had they finished laying the table when the Son of Heaven drove them out again.
With the policy essay before him, the Son of Heaven ate heartily and gulped down wine, sweeping through the meal like a wind scattering clouds. Thoroughly satisfied, he tossed aside his chopsticks and sat holding the essay, surveying the hall, looking this way and that, brimming with triumphant satisfaction.
His eye happened to fall on the document Lü Wenxian had submitted earlier concerning the Department of State Affairs' budget for building Temporary Granaries. He picked it up and casually leafed through it. Attached at the end was a joint remonstrance from several officials of the Revenue Division, arguing that building the granaries would cost too much and bring more loss than gain, and that they should follow established practice and economize. They cited Emperor Wen of Han, who had wished to build an open terrace, but abandoned the idea after summoning craftsmen and learning that it would cost a hundred measures