Expertise

It had been years since Zhang Xiu had last been in the capital and everything and nothing had changed. The summers were as hot as ever but made even more unbearable now that he'd acclimatised to the climate on the northern borders but when winter came, he knew that it would be the first of many years where he did not develop chilblains. 

The hardships were over. 

Even in the heat, one could count on the streets of the capital to be bustling. The western marketplace was the designated foreign quarter, which was also where the lavish inns catering to foreign dignitaries were situated, amidst the busy trading posts. Today, however, he was on the eastern side of the city, escorting their visiting guests on a tour as he showed them the sights and sounds. On the surface, it was all very proper and no expense had been spared to treat the representatives of the northern tribes with the best of comforts that the kingdom could afford.