The tenth day of the sixth month was clear and slightly hot.
This year's Qionglin Banquet was held in a garden not far from the Liu Yu Mausoleum in the Capital.
The garden had no proper name. Its plaque bore only the two characters "Wenxi"-"Joy at the News"-written by Emperor Taizong of Great Zhou himself.
A century had passed, yet the founding era's heroic spirit had not quite faded from those brushstrokes.
In the Capital in the sixth month, the heat eased after noon, and breezes threading through the corridors set the garden's green willows swaying.
The newly successful Presented Scholars walked inside in twos and threes.
Apart from the top three, who had been awarded scarlet robes, everyone wore green.
Yet the expressions on their faces were the same.
Joy-joy they could not suppress.
Zhang Zai stood at the garden entrance, wearing an official robe of parrot green.
A silver belt circled his waist, and black boots shod his feet. He had made himself neat and tidy from head to toe.
Today was a formal occasion. He could not fool around as he had at the Flower Festival.
Yet his official headwrap stood a little taller than everyone else's, whether custom-made or deliberately propped up.
From a distance, he looked like a white goose holding its head high.
"Zi'an!" Spotting Wei Nisheng's carriage from afar, Zhang Zai hurried over, taking three strides in two.
"You're finally here! I've been waiting for you for quite a while."
Wei Nisheng stepped down from the carriage and straightened his robes and headwear.
Today, he wore the imperially bestowed Scarlet Robe, which he had kept put away ever since the procession following the Palace Examination.
The emperor would attend today's Qionglin Banquet in person. He dared not leave it unworn.
"A scarlet