Qi Yu's behavior that morning was exemplary. He climbed out of the dragon bed himself before the Fifth Watch, did not doze off while Chun He combed his hair, and did not wrinkle his nose at the ginseng soup A Ping brought him. He picked it up and gulped it down in one go, set the bowl on the table, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and asked, "Where's Father?" A Ping said His Majesty was reviewing memorials in the West Warm Pavilion. "I'll go find him." Chun He chased after him, calling, "Your Highness, you haven't had breakfast yet!" But he had already run around a corner of the covered walkway and vanished.
Qi Xiao was behind the Imperial Desk, reading the Ministry of Revenue's summary of Autumn Tax collections. He had read the memorial twice. The figures were five percent lower than last year's, and the Minister of Revenue had worded his annotation cautiously, saying only, "Owing to flooding in Jiangnan." He set the memorial aside, intending to discuss it once the Crown Prince returned from Jiangnan. The door opened, and Qi Yu squeezed through the gap, carrying his half-copied excerpts from the Zizhi Tongjian along with his brush, ink, and inkstone. He went over to the little desk placed beside the Imperial Desk especially for him, arranged his things one by one, sat down, opened his book, picked up his brush, and looked up at Qi Xiao. "Father, I'm ready."
Qi Xiao glanced at him. The boy was being so good today that he probably wanted something. He did not expose him. Setting down the Ministry of Revenue's memorial, he picked up another document from the desk. It was the officials' Merit Assessment Register submitted by the Ministry of Personnel, listing the names and posts of provincial