There was one very obvious advantage to being Langya Interior Minister: the relocated Langya Commandery bordered Jiankang. From Jincheng in particular, it was easy to follow the northern bank of the Qinhuai River straight into the Eastern City, where the eminent families congregated.
In other words, holding office here did not interfere with continuing to socialize with these distinguished men of great houses, nor with receiving crucial military and political intelligence at the earliest opportunity.
And socializing was itself a perfectly standard political activity. Given the prevailing customs South of the Yangtze these days, it had even become a politician's principal occupation.
So Liu Acheng entered the city whenever he pleased.
Once inside, he headed straight for Black Robe Alley. Unlike his first arrival, when he had not even dared linger in the alley, Liu Cheng had come a long way. Reaching the Langya Wang Clan's neighborhood, he asked where Minister of Personnel Wang Biaozhi lived, dismounted, announced himself, and submitted his name card.
As expected, Wang Biaozhi was not home.
This man was different from the other aristocrats. Liu Acheng had heard that Wang Biaozhi attended to his duties diligently, never idled away broad daylight, and rarely even took sick leave.
Liu Acheng therefore turned toward the somewhat more familiar Xie Family across the way. The Xie Family had only one main gate, clearly a symbol of clan unity-or of a clan that had risen later-but he had never actually entered through it. He submitted his name card again and first asked to see Xie Wan. Xie Wanshi was not home; apparently, he had gone out to amuse himself. So he asked to see the nineteen-year-old Xie Tie, only to find that Xie Tie was away as well.
Just as Liu Acheng was about to ask for Xie Quan,