Chen Ping'an planned to ask the old cultivator Liu Jia for some Travelogues and Reports. Ones from this continent, ones from other continents—the more, the better.
On his way to the alley, however, a young Court of State Ceremonial official came looking for him. The man held a lowly Subordinate Ninth Rank post and had only just entered the ranks of respectable officials. Though temporarily overseeing the capital's temple affairs and the Supervisory Office, he was also a Sea Gazing Realm Dao Cultivator. He respectfully handed Chen Ping'an a wooden official token and, speaking the Great Li official dialect with a faint Xunzhou accent, explained that the minister had personally ordered him to serve as Mr. Chen's contact. If anything came up, Chen Ping'an need only call; he would come at once. Along with the token, he presented a quaint little sword case engraved with the character "Heaven," no bigger than a palm. He himself carried its "Earth" counterpart, allowing the two of them to exchange flying sword messages.
The young man was named Xun Qu. Handsome and graceful, he was a newly minted Second Class Jinshi.
Nanxun Workshop lay to the right of the Thousand Pace Corridor and housed government offices in abundance. The Court of State Ceremonial was one of them, right beside the Ministry of Works office where Guan Yiran served.
Chen Ping'an examined the wooden token. On the front were the words "Court of State Ceremonial, Xun Xu Ban." The back read: "Officials attending court shall wear this token. Those without one shall be punished according to law. Borrowers and lenders share equal guilt. Not required outside the capital."
One look at the writing told him it was the hand of the Heavenly Water Zhao Clan's patriarch. In fact, the admonitions displayed throughout the kingdom's government