Before dawn on the eighth day of the fourth month, Shen Xitang stood before the bronze scale frame in the Chengyun Treasury.
The newly cast "Creation of Heavenly Works" weights shimmered with a cold light in the morning sun. A piece of gilded gold, popped from a secret compartment in one of the weights, fit perfectly against the dragon-whisker pattern of the Directorate of Ceremonial’s official seal.
"Fetch the salt distribution ledger for the sixth year of the Jiajing era!" she commanded, pressing the weight onto the scale’s pivot point. "Use the sulfur-revelation method to verify the vermilion markings."
Chapter 18