Inside the Hall of Literary Depths, the grand secretaries faced one another, none willing to yield.
Song Yue lowered his head to look at his crumpled cuff, then raised his eyes to Fang Qi.
Then he flicked his sleeve and shook off Fang Qi's hand.
"Fang Jingwen," Song Yue began.
"You said I 'secretly prowled women's lanes.' Let me ask you, how many times have you been there, and to how many lanes?"
Fang Qi froze, never expecting Song Yue to respond that way.
He looked Song Yue over, then showed his disgust, and finally retreated half a step.
"I have no such penchant, much less such tastes!"
Song Yue: "..."
"Stop letting your imagination run wild!" Song Yue straightened his sleeves and explained.
"A widow named Wu lives in Yang Family Lane in West City.
Her husband died defending the frontier in Liaodong, leaving her three children. The eldest is only seven.
She earns her living washing clothes for others. She used a pair of cracked wooden tubs for four years, until their bottoms wore through.
I repaired that tub for her, then asked someone to find her cleaner work.
She doesn't know who I am. She only thinks I'm some kindhearted man from a government office."
"But last time, I saw Grand Secretary Song in the eastern part of the city..."
"Shut your mouth! No more reckless nonsense!"
Fang Qi was left spluttering, unable to answer for a long while.
Having silenced Fang Qi, Song Yue turned to Kou Yuan, his tone growing more earnest.
"Grand Secretary Kou, what you said just now about ancestral institutions and seniority was sound enough."
Then he pointed at Fang Qi.
"But Grand Secretary Fang's remarks were quite improper..."
"The Grand Secretariat deliberates on affairs of state, not household gossip.
If