Jinghe Year Fifteen, the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month.
The emperor had not held court for five days.
The Crown Prince governed as regent, with Shen Duan assisting him.
A small desk had been set up on the eastern side of the Hall of Literary Splendor.
Crown Prince Jiang Heng sat behind it, while Shen Duan stood in attendance beside him.
There were two stacks of memorials: reviewed ones on the left, those awaiting review on the right.
The Crown Prince held his brush and read page after page, the Vermilion Brush descending very slowly.
When he reached a document from the Shaanxi Office of Clear Accounts concerning frontier military pay, Jiang Heng looked up at Shen Duan.
Shen Duan stood with his eyes lowered, his expression unchanged.
When he said nothing, Jiang Heng asked nothing either. He lowered his brush and wrote a single word: "Approved."
Neither man spoke of it openly.
Some things had to remain unspoken for sovereign and subject to remain sovereign and subject.
"Chancellor Shen." Jiang Heng finished reviewing a stack, set down his brush, and rubbed his wrist.
"I wish to ask you about someone."
Shen Duan bowed. "Please ask, Your Highness."
"What sort of man was Grand Tutor Feng?"
Shen Duan's expression faltered for an instant.
The Crown Prince watched him calmly. "By the time I was old enough to remember anything, the Grand Tutor had already retired to the woods.
"What I know of Lord Feng, I heard either from my imperial father or from Zi'an.
"But their friendship with Lord Feng was as deep as the boundless sea, so their accounts must paint him in flawless colors.
"Today, I wish to hear of a Feng Yan with both virtues and flaws."
To judge Feng Yan's life, one should turn neither