1
<25>
After Cecil left, looking at me as if I were Edwin, I concluded the meeting and gave a special order to the secretaries.
"Each of you, recommend ten exceptional talents from various fields––administration, finance, military, arts, diplomacy, education, history, or anything. They must be employable. You have a month."
The eight secretaries looked bewildered.
"You're finding people to share your workload. Make sure they're competent."
That was when their eyes lit up with understanding. They had been scorched by incompetent coworkers before and were struggling to survive the flood of work from all over the country. Therefore, they would fish out some worthy talents.
I glanced around at the motivated secretaries and began the 'despair' chapter.
"I'll be leaving the palace for a month."
As expected, their initial bewilderment gradually turned into dismay. They seemed to have realized that even without me, there would be no rest for them.
