At the Selection Bureau office of the Ministry of Personnel, the afternoon duty shift had only just begun.
Wei Nisheng was bent over his desk, examining old files, when the door curtain lifted. A clerk stood beneath the covered walkway and saluted with clasped hands.
"Vice Director Wei, the Chief Minister sends word: he wishes to speak with you in his Duty Room."
Wei Nisheng set down his brush and rose. "I shall obey."
The clerk withdrew. Wei Nisheng straightened his cap and smoothed his robes.
Qiu Heng drew close and lowered his voice.
"My lord, I fear Chancellor Shen has not summoned you on official business."
"What makes you say that?"
"The Record of the Old Drunkard's Pavilion says, 'The old drunkard's heart is not set on wine, but on the mountains and waters.'" Qiu Heng paused, then continued.
"My lord, you have been back on duty for barely half a day. No official dispatch has arrived, yet his message has come first.
"If he truly had business with you, a single ministry dispatch would outweigh ten verbal messages."
Wei Nisheng shook his head. "Rest easy, Guangda."
"Master Zhu once said, 'Use a man's own methods to deal with the man himself.'" He adjusted his cap and robes.
"Since he has summoned me with courtesy, I shall answer him with courtesy.
"If he can find no fault with my observance of propriety, he will return empty-handed."
"First make yourself invincible, then wait for the enemy to become vulnerable." Qiu Heng shook his head with a soft laugh.
"My lord, you mean to leave Chancellor Shen stranded on the shore."
In officialdom, the hardest courtesy to master was the kind in which no one could find a fault.
The sharpest knife was the one wrapped in solicitous concern.