The Imperial Guest Pavilion remains hushed. Kareem's photograph rests safely in its case, while the covenant board beneath the table stays dark. A palace messenger kneels at the open doors, holding a petition sealed in blue wax.
The Palace Messenger
Empress Xifeng, a petition from Reedbank Ward. The households request clean water, but they fear inspectors, compulsory labor, and punishment for refusal.
Xifeng breaks the seal. The petition is crowded with names, crossed-out names, and thumbprints pressed beside careful refusals. At its bottom, a red administrative notation demands immediate compliance with imperial survey protocol.
Empress Xifeng
They want the water, but they believe consent is only a word officials use before giving orders. If I send inspectors, I may prove their fear correct.
Empress Xifeng
Help me design a process Reedbank can choose openly. Every household must know what it accepts, what it may refuse, and who can verify that no office has turned permission into command.
The red notation darkens, and a second line appears beneath the seal: participation shall be presumed where public necessity is declared. The pressure is no longer hidden. Reedbank's consent, if genuine, must now survive the empire's attempt to define it for them.
✓ Quest Accepted
Verify that Reedbank households’ consent remains voluntary
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure imperial recognition of Reedbank’s right to refuse