Wild geese flew across the setting sun; dusk pressed down upon the city.
Inside Yanchang Hall, the Son of Heaven, Xiao Ze, stood briskly before his desk, wielding his brush in broad, sweeping strokes. The ink raced like dragons and serpents.
Qian Ruo'er, the newly appointed junior supervisor of the Yellow Gate Office (a eunuch administrator, a middle-ranking eunuch), knelt beside him with a miserable expression, holding a square red sandalwood box. It looked light and felt light, yet somehow its weight brought sweat to his temples and a heaviness to his chest.
(Eunuchs in the Southern Dynasties held very little power or status. Important palace posts were mostly entrusted to outside officials, while eunuchs handled low-level duties. Many administrators did not even hold an official rank. Apart from a few specially favored exceptions, an ordinary middle-ranking eunuch ranked below a county magistrate when measured against outside officials. If that magistrate belonged to the gentry, the gulf between them was as vast as heaven and earth.)
"Come and have a look. How many characters do you recognize?"
The Son of Heaven set down his brush and looked at the eight large, ink-drenched characters on the paper. His lips curved slightly, his brows relaxed, and he seemed in fine spirits, as though the gloom that had gathered since the Prince of Badong raised his troops had finally dispersed.
Qian Ruo'er dared not delay. Carefully holding the box, he rose, bowed, and approached the imperial desk. With utmost trepidation, he looked at the emperor's writing and struggled to make it out:
"Clerk... quarters..."
The Son of Heaven laughed heartily:
"What clerk and quarters! You only recognize half of each character! That says 'serve as an envoy'! An envoy, to, the four, quarters!"
In his embarrassment, inspiration suddenly flashed through Qian Ruo'er's mind,