Meanwhile, at noon that same day.
In the Selection Bureau's Duty Room at the Ministry of Personnel.
The window stood half-open, but no breeze passed through. Sparrows pecked at the gaps between the roof tiles, chirping away...
Outside, the summer heat rose like steam, and the cicadas' cries clung to the gauze screens. Without a breath of cool wind, the stuffiness left people dizzy.
Wei Nisheng lay slumped over his desk.
His crossed arms cushioned his forehead as he lay facedown, the back of his Scarlet Official Robe rising in a slight hump.
Before him lay the half-open copy of the "Rites" Lu Yi'an had given him before leaving yesterday.
Its pages had stopped precisely at the chapter "The meaning of marriage."
"The marriage rite joins two families in harmony."
"Lord Wei." Qiu Heng's voice drifted over from the neighboring Duty Room.
"I recall that you had a rest day only the day before yesterday."
Wei Nisheng did not raise his head. He merely gave a muffled "Mm" from the crook of his arms.
"Then..." Carrying a plum-red lacquered wooden box, Qiu Heng strolled to the doorway and leaned against its frame.
"How is a rest day with the Ministry of Rites more exhausting than work at the Ministry of Revenue?
"I heard that yesterday afternoon, Department Secretary Lu of the Ceremonial Office stayed in your courtyard until sunset. And he brought people from the Imperial Household Department?"
At last, Wei Nisheng stirred, turning his head to reveal one eye.
"Have you finished reviewing all your official papers today, Qiu Yuanlang?"
Qiu Heng chuckled. Rather than take up that thread, he turned his head and exchanged a meaningful look with the other department secretaries in the Duty Room.
Those department secretaries had been copying documents with their heads