Atop the Eastern Pavilion, father and daughter walked quietly, one behind the other.
The Eastern Pavilion had two passages. One, called the "Pavilion Walkway," led straight to the Upper Secretariat of the Department of State Affairs. Xiao Luan had taken this route when he came to the Lower Secretariat earlier. (See the image above.)
A painted pottery model of linked towers from the Eastern Han, now held by the Henan Museum. The passage connecting the two towers in the middle is the Pavilion Walkway. For the precise location of the Department of State Affairs, see the earlier diagram. The two secretariats-
(Continuing the caption above: the wavy structure connecting the two secretariats is the Pavilion Walkway. The "Biography of Xu Xiaoke" in the Book of Chen states, "A pavilion walkway spanned the road from east to west, leading to the court hall." This likewise refers to the elevated passage connecting the department's two secretariats.)
The other, called the corridor passage, led directly down to the eastern courtyard of the Lower Secretariat, where the officials lived. Baoyue followed her father down this way, passing covered corridors that stretched on and on, with buildings packed together like the teeth of a comb. Whenever someone approached and caught sight of Xiao Luan, they stepped aside, lowered their heads, and bowed, only resuming their journey after father and daughter had passed.
The Lower Secretariat sprawled over an area almost the size of a small town. A central passage ran from north to south, with offices on either side; the Night Duty Quarters stood near the central courtyard, while the archives lay to the west. Lower-ranking officials mostly lived in the southern rows, their families mingling together, their doorways side by side. Senior officials each had separate residences scattered around the northern corner, forming a