Red Lotus and White Lotus Root Were Originally One Family

Third Watch

Could this be...

Sun Shaozong took the pitch-black post in hand and examined it carefully, his expression growing far more solemn than before.

The post had been backed with stiff paper, then soaked in thick ink. Once dry, it looked hard and glossy, strikingly similar to the legendary "black posts" that had appeared in Shuntian Prefecture's Criminal Division.

After a brief hesitation, Sun Shaozong tucked the post securely into his sleeve, then crouched and slipped out of the cabin. He called to the three minor clerks standing on the shore, staring at one another. "Is there anything in that pavilion for keeping warm, like charcoal?"

At his words, the three clerks involuntarily hunched their shoulders. One of them stammered, "Yes, there's a brazier, and also..."

Before he could finish, Sun Shaozong had already leaped ashore and strode into the pavilion.

Several small dishes sat on the stone table, along with a pot of hot wine set over the charcoal brazier, bubbling away.

Besides that, there were actually three hand warmers on the stone table.

How leisurely.

No wonder those clerks had looked so sheepish when he questioned them earlier.

Sun Shaozong was somewhat irritated, but then reconsidered. What did it matter if officials of this era slacked off to admire the snow? If they could compose a few good poems, they might even earn themselves a reputation as refined scholars.

Besides, this was not something worth dealing with on the spot. He could handle it later.

What mattered now was determining whether this black post was real.

With that in mind, Sun Shaozong wrapped a rag around the handle, lifted the wine pot from the brazier, then kicked over the stand covering the coals and tossed the post into the fire.

The flames surged at once. Most of