As warm morning sunlight fell on Changle Palace, the slightly hurried footsteps within gradually multiplied, and palace maids and eunuchs moved among the halls.
Outside the Imperial Palace, officials chatted in groups of three or five, waiting for the emperor's summons to enter.
"Do you think this business of a meteorite falling from the heavens is real? They say even the paving slabs inside the Imperial Palace weren't broken. Could something fall from the vault of heaven and still leave everything intact?"
The doubts were quite reasonable.
Although Dong Zhongshu had suffered a thorough beating from the Luo Clan just as he began to rise, and the study of prophetic texts was not particularly flourishing throughout All Under Heaven, that merely meant no one had to answer for it at the official level.
In truth, even in an age of extremely materialistic science, great numbers of people believed in supernatural explanations for natural disasters, gods, and ghosts.
How much more so in this world, where supernatural wonders already existed?
Emperor Liu Yang believed that these recurring natural disasters were Heaven's warning to him.
And who knew how many people throughout All Under Heaven thought the same!
"Not necessarily. Have you forgotten the heavenly stele that descended during Sage King Zhao's Treading Down the Law?
"It likewise seemed to appear out of thin air, leaving no traces on the ground.
"Could everyone who participated in Treading Down the Law have been lying?"
The rebuttal was equally well-founded. With a precedent before them, they could not simply assume this was a fabrication.
Especially since everyone had another unspoken thought: Even if you doubt supernatural wonders connected to the Luo Clan, do your best to believe they are real.
"What do you suppose that person wants to do by coming to Chang'an?"
"That