Lamplight flickered in the study of the Xu Residence.
Qi Zhao drew a letter from his sleeve, set it gently on the desk, and pushed it toward Xu Bingwen.
"Take a look at this first."
Xu Bingwen took it and examined it by the lamplight.
It was a calling card, its handwriting precise and upright, like inscriptions on a stele, like formal script.
At the bottom was Kou Yuan's personal seal.
Yet after reading it through, he found it nothing more than an ordinary letter.
It offered greetings, recalled old times, and invited the recipient over for a talk. Every word was courteous, every sentence proper. Not a single word could be made into ammunition.
Xu Bingwen set the letter down and looked up in puzzlement.
"Vice Minister Qi, this is merely an ordinary calling card..."
"Could I have missed something?"
"You missed nothing, Vice Director Xu." Qi Zhao smiled.
"This letter is perfectly ordinary to begin with.
But its very ordinariness is what makes it extraordinary."
"Oh?"
"Do you know who wrote it?"
"It is Grand Secretary Kou's handiwork."
"And to whom did Grand Secretary Kou write it?"
"To... whom?" Xu Bingwen checked the signature again. No recipient was named. He paused in surprise.
"Vice Minister Qi, you came from the Kou Residence. Was this letter written to Wei Nisheng?"
"Precisely," Qi Zhao said.
"Grand Secretary Kou wrote this letter himself tonight and asked me to have someone deliver it to the Wei Residence."
Putting those words together with the current winds at court, Xu Bingwen considered for a moment.
"I can guess something of the Grand Secretary's intentions.
His Majesty has now approved the Crown Prince's military farmland proposal, and at today's Cabinet Council, Shen Duan changed his stance as well.
The imperial will is settled on the