*
Gao Zheqi offered a faint smile, and the official fell silent.
*
*
「Upper Monarch Hall.」
The servant added some incense and was about to withdraw. From behind the beaded curtain, a lazy, lounging voice chuckled. "What now? Has that old fool Gao Zheqi arrived?"
The servant, slightly startled, quickly lowered his gaze. "A messenger just arrived. Mr. Gao is already on his way to the Imperial Palace."
"I am tired," came the careless, laughing voice. "If he arrives, tell him to wait."
The servant quickly assented and withdrew.
*
*
The wind picked up again.
The territory of the Dayong Dynasty was vast, growing ever more barren and desolate the farther west one traveled.
Huge, crisscrossing gullies scarred the landscape like sores, as if the heavens themselves had lashed the earth with a whip. Carriages and horses bumped along the uneven terrain, and sudden gusts of yellow sand would billow up, blinding anyone caught in them.
