The wheels ground over stone, their clatter as urgent as rain.
"Young mistress, they're catching up!"
Baoyue said nothing. Her eyes lowered, she sat motionless as a statue.
"Young mistress!" the Guard called again.
Baoyue's lashes trembled. Her jade-white fingers suddenly tightened around her cuff.
One breath.
Two breaths.
Three breaths-
Baoyue released her grip and raised her head, her gaze cold and resolute:
"Change course. Go to the Lower Department of State Affairs."
"My lord, they're heading for the Lower Department of State Affairs!"
Without stopping or turning his head, Shen Yuan took the official seal from his sleeve and tossed it into his subordinate's arms:
"Take my seal and credentials. Hurry back to the Censorate and muster more men! Tell them we have a case-a major case!"
The palace's three departments-State Affairs, the Secretariat, and the Gate Department-each had upper and lower quarters.
The upper quarters housed the offices; the Lower Secretariat provided lodging and was also called the lower residences.
(Scholars often confuse the distinction between upper and lower quarters, believing either that both served as offices or that certain bureaus of the Department of State Affairs occupied the Lower Secretariat. Neither is correct. The Lower Secretariat was established specifically to house officials and their families. Officials in certain core departments were not even allowed to spend the night outside, even with special permission from the Eight Seats of State Affairs; they could only lodge in the Lower Secretariat. Those subject to this restriction generally held relatively low ranks. High officials had courtyards inside the palace and residences outside, and could stay in either. The Lower Secretariat was not entirely unrelated to official business, however. To my limited knowledge, there were two connections: first, all overnight duty took place in the Lower Secretariat—the night shift.