She arrived in the mid-morning, which told me something.
A person arriving at mid-morning had gotten up early, traveled a meaningful distance, and made a deliberate decision not to arrive breathless and road-worn at an inconvenient hour. She had timed it. This was not a woman who left things to chance.
I met her in the front reception room, which I had arranged with care — good light from the east windows, comfortable chairs positioned as equals rather than host and supplicant, tea prepared from the southern traders' stock that Ren had recommended. Everything calibrated to say: I am taking you seriously, but I am not afraid of you.
Min Soyon walked in and took approximately three seconds to read the room.
I saw her reading it. And I saw the small, precise adjustment in her expression that meant she had read it correctly.
