When Pei Xiu reached the entrance to Taiji Hall, Cheng Ji stopped him.
Cheng Ji looked him up and down. This man was a rare visitor indeed.
Of all the ministers, he came the least often; they scarcely saw him a few times a month.
He sent someone inside to report his arrival, and soon an attendant led Pei Xiu into the hall, toward the East Hall.
As he reached the entrance to the East Hall, Pei Xiu heard laughter coming from within.
He recognized that hearty laugh. It belonged to Lu Zhi, Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.
Pei Xiu remembered him as a steady, rather serious man.
Why did he sound so happy today?
Pei Xiu entered, and sure enough, Lu Zhi was sitting beside the emperor, looking thoroughly delighted, his face wreathed in a smile rarely seen on ordinary days.
The moment he saw Pei Xiu, however, the smile vanished from Lu Zhi's face, and he immediately became solemn again.
Cao Mao looked at him in surprise. "Minister Pei is here! What a rare visitor!"
"Minister Pei attends to ten thousand affairs a day and is extraordinarily busy, yet he actually has time to come to Taiji Hall to report on government affairs!"
Pei Xiu simply pretended not to understand the mockery. He saluted the emperor, then paid his respects to Lu Zhi. Although they held equal office, the other man was his senior in age, after all.
Only then did Cao Mao have him sit to one side. "What great matter has brought Lord Pei here so suddenly?"
Pei Xiu said, "We have reached a decision through discussions concerning the Imperial Academy. Beginning this year, before Imperial Academy students take the assessment, they must first serve locally as academic clerks for one year so that their