Jinghe Year Fifteen, the sixth month, the start of the dog days.
Summer descended on the Capital City, the blazing sun overhead.
Before the horse hour arrived, the blue flagstones on either side of the Imperial Street scorched the feet.
Along both banks of the Qinhuai, weeping willows let their branches droop listlessly.
From the pagoda tree shade, the willow tips, and beneath the tiled eaves, the cicadas' cries joined into one unbroken chorus, their din making people's hearts itch.
Two great events had stirred the Capital that month.
The first was the Crown Prince's coming of age.
At the end of the fifth month, Emperor Jing of Zhou chose an auspicious day by imperial decree. Having turned fifteen, Crown Prince Jiang Heng formally came of age, began attending court assemblies and listening to deliberations, and was admitted to discussions of military and state affairs.
On that day, the Son of Heaven personally visited the Hall of Literary Splendor, and the assembled officials offered their congratulations. In accordance with the rites of adulthood, the Crown Prince took his seat east of the Imperial Throne for the first time in his capacity as Heir Apparent.
The second was the bitter departure of the Tangut and Khitan envoys.
The state letters accompanying the tribute presented by the two foreign states in late fourth month and early fifth month had been debated at court for nearly a month.
By early sixth month, the envoys of both states could wait no longer.
The two envoys, one from the north and one from the west, left the Capital on the same day.
That night, the Ministry of War dispatched urgent reports overnight to the two garrisons at Liaodong and Ningxia.
The fourteenth day of the sixth month.
Wei Nisheng woke before the mao hour.