"A letter from the Divine Capital?"
"And an urgent crane courier?!"
At the runner's report, Jia Yucun instinctively wondered if he had gotten himself into trouble again.
Fortunately, he had only just been reinstated and assigned here a few days ago. Remembering that he hadn't even had time to set his three new-official fires burning, and hadn't done anything at all, he gradually calmed down.
"Could it be..."
As he thought it over, an idea struck Jia Yucun.
He knew that crane couriers usually carried important or urgent documents from the Heavenly Court, but also helped deliver private letters between officials.
So, once he had composed himself, he signaled for the gatekeeper to wait and turned to the runner.
"Where's the letter?"
"Bring it here!"
The runner didn't dare delay. He hurried over, bowed, and presented the letter, then bowed again and respectfully stepped aside.
"This is..."
Jia Yucun ignored the man and glanced at the name and seal on the envelope. His surprise only grew.
The sender wasn't Jia Zheng of Rongguo Immortal Estate, as he'd assumed. It was a private letter from an old fellow candidate of his—now a friend serving at the Immortal Selection Bureau in the Divine Capital.
They had kept in touch, but were little more than acquaintances. They had only met up a few times when Jia Yucun had gone to the Divine Capital to seek an official post. Yet now, just after Jia Yucun had taken office, and as he was preparing to handle a thorny case, this man had written to him. It struck him as rather suspicious.
By rights, their relationship wasn't close enough for them to be exchanging letters so soon. And as a mere prefect posted to the provinces, Jia Yucun hardly seemed important enough for a high-ranking official