Cang Yuan clearly cared a great deal about his appearance. After the carriage left the Ministry of Justice, it neither departed the Divine Capital nor headed for the Censorate. Instead, it went straight to the Ministry of Works.
Before long, the carriage arrived. The Ministry of Works welcomed the Investigating Censor warmly; a Director of the Imperial Workshops even received him in person.
Director of the Imperial Workshops was the highest office a Great Xia craftsman could attain. If a craftsman devoted himself solely to his craft and never gave a thought to becoming an official, it was ordinarily the highest rank he could reach through seniority.
The post was Principal Fourth Rank, the ceiling for a mid-ranking official. Above it were the so-called upper three ranks, whose officials could be counted on one hand across Great Xia.
Interestingly, the head of the Censorate, the Deputy Censor-in-Chief, was also Principal Fourth Rank. In rank alone, this white-haired old craftsman stood equal to Di Luonan himself.
There were only two or three Directors of the Imperial Workshops in the entire Imperial Court. They were master craftsmen and national treasures; even the emperor treated them with a measure of courtesy.
Seeing Cang Yuan receive a personal welcome from such a master took Pan Long by surprise.
When Master Jiang heard that Cang Yuan wanted a Ghost Mask made for himself, he showed no surprise. He smiled, nodded, and had a subordinate bring over a stack of designs for him to choose from.
Cang Yuan was the one taken aback. "Do many people want Ghost Masks? How can you have so many designs ready to hand?"
"Quite a few officials are entitled to commission armor from us," Master Jiang said. "And many of them like to add decorations to it."
"Ghost faces and