Post stations provided food, lodging, and fresh horses for those delivering government documents and military intelligence, as well as officials traveling on government business. Wangjing Post Station was the first station west of the Kang Capital and the closest to it. Its size and facilities also ranked among the finest in Great Kang.
But however good a post station's facilities were, its accommodations followed a strict hierarchy. A sesame-seed-sized official like Hu Xiaotian, at the lower grade of the Principal Ninth Rank, received only the same treatment as an ordinary courier. After they presented their documents and official seal, the station provided them with two rooms: one private room and one large room. The private room slept two and was pitifully small, with scarcely room to plant a foot beyond its two beds. The large room had a communal sleeping platform along the wall that could hold six.
Hu Xiaotian had initially assumed the private room was his, but Murong Feiyan was a woman. Even if he was willing to share a room with her, she certainly would not agree. Only after asking the Post Station Steward did he learn that the private room was for Murong Feiyan; he had been assigned the communal platform. He could not help feeling disgruntled. Sleeping with these four household servants? Are you kidding me? I'm a Principal Ninth Rank official, at least!
Still, Hu Xiaotian did not lose his temper. Even the Post Station Steward outranked him, after all, and when traveling, it was best to avoid trouble. He put on a smile. "There's a lady in our party. Could you give us another room? Otherwise, it's rather inconvenient."
The Post Station Steward's attitude was appalling. Plainly, he thought nothing of this sesame-seed-sized ninth-rank official. "I've already done you a favor by not