The Imperial Secretary's plea

"Imperial Secretary He Shan, have I kept you long?" asked Yang Qing as he made his way to where the Imperial Secretary moved.

Imperial Secretary He Shan who seemed to be in the middle of mumbling things to himself hurriedly looked up with a surprised look on his face as he said,

"No, Not at all, Branch Chief Yang Qing..."

Yang Qing made an inviting gesture toward the forest-filled illusory array.

"We can talk inside if you don't mind.."

..

Branch Chief Study

"So what is it, Imperial Secretary?" Yang Qing said as he poured himself and the imperial secretary a cup of ginkgo tea to help calm his nerves.

The Imperial Secretary seemed a bit hesitant at first, however, since the matter he had to ask could not be avoided, he steeled himself as he made the request.

"I sent your message to the king and the head of the Zhang family and they both agreed to your request to meet you personally,

but.."