After bidding farewell to the three adults, Yan Jiu left gracefully, without any intention of treating them to a meal.
Zhang Bingcheng sighed helplessly, "Let's go, Lord Guo, Lord Li, it's my treat to dinner at Zuixianlou..."
Yan Jiu returned to the stable at the post station and asked the innkeeper for a piece of discarded cloth.
He deftly took off the tattered shirt and then tightly wrapped it together with the cotton he had collected.
He quickly changed into the clothes he had left home, and then put on a sheepskin coat.
It curled up in the haystack like a cat to digest its food.
He ate quite a lot just now.
At this moment, he felt a mix of emotions, both pleased and somewhat worried.
The good news is that I am about to take up my post as the prefect of Suizhou. The relocation of my whole family is not too difficult, except that the travel expenses are a bit tight.
In fact, officials have a budget for taking up their posts, but with so many family members, the budget may not be enough.
What worries him even more is who should be entrusted with the management of his Dazhou?
well.
Oh, I should go ask Lord Zhang Yuqing.
Just as I was about to leave, I saw a large group of palace staff coming over, led by an eunuch.
"Imperial edict arrives—"
Standing at the entrance of the post station, the eunuch looked him up and down. The little eunuch next to him stepped forward and opened the box he was holding. The eunuch took out a bright yellow imperial edict from inside.
Where is the newly appointed prefect of Suizhou, Yan Jiuzhi?
oops.
The innkeeper exclaimed in surprise.
Official post stations are authorized to receive imperial edicts, but they haven't received any for many years.
Even the waiter was a little unaware of the rules.
They hurriedly summoned the person in charge of the post station and barely managed to set up a proper setup, while simultaneously stopping Yan Jiuzhi, who was wrapped in a sheepskin coat, from leaving.
This was also the first time Yan Jiu had received an imperial edict, and she knelt on the ground with the people from the post station.
His Majesty also bestowed five hundred taels of silver as a reward. This time, there were no jade ornaments, but rather several cotton-padded coats.
Yan Jiu was very pleased. With this money, he wouldn't have to worry about moving his whole family, and he would even have a lot left over, which he could send back to Dazhou to help with the local finances.
His head pounded repeatedly as he kowtowed, "Thank you, Your Majesty—"
Now, everyone at the post station and the officials staying there knew that the burly man from the northwest living in the stable was the soon-to-be-appointed prefect of Suizhou.
Everyone wanted to know why His Majesty had chosen him.
But no matter how much they inquired, they couldn't find out anything.
Go through the back door?
That's impossible. Who could possibly get ahead of His Majesty through back channels?
Did you get in through the back door of the Minister of Personnel? That won't work either, Zhang Yuqing is already in jail.
People at the official post station were making all sorts of guesses.
As soon as the imperial eunuch left, Yan Jiu was surrounded.
Congratulations were heard incessantly.
Yan Jiu couldn't hold on any longer and quickly slipped and ran to the back stable.
Meanwhile, other officials in the capital also knew about this matter, as this was the future prefect of Suizhou, personally selected by His Majesty.
Your Majesty is so young. As long as Yan Jiu doesn't make a foolish mistake like Yang Yong, he will likely be a favorite of Your Majesty for the next few decades.
Officials of all ranks wanted to invite Yan Jiu to a banquet, and in one afternoon, the post station was flooded with visiting cards from officials of all ranks in the capital.
The person in charge of the post station was both in pain and happy, because now the post station had to make room for Yan Jiu no matter what.
Yan Jiu simply waved his hand and said in a deep voice, "Just don't lose my things."
After saying that, he ran off again in a flash.
But after only a few breaths, he turned back and asked, "Excuse me, how do I get to the residence of the Minister of Personnel, Zhang?"
"Uh..." The person in charge looked surprised. This guy was about to become the prefect of Suizhou, but he didn't know that his superior had been imprisoned?
"Lord Yan, this... Lord Zhang has committed a crime and has been arrested by the Imperial Guards. He is currently either in the Imperial Guards' prison or the Ministry of Justice's prison."
Yan Jiu frowned. "For claws?"
The waiter didn't understand the dialect at first, so Yan Jiu switched to Mandarin, "What brings you here?"
"Oh, I heard it involved something like poisoning. Anyway, the arrest was really sudden."
"I heard that Lord Zhang was fine when he went to court, but he was arrested when he came down and didn't even have time to go home," said the official in charge of the post station, who was better informed than the common people.
"Lord Yan, I suggest you don't go any closer now, lest you get implicated..."
I just got the position of prefect, and I haven't even had a chance to settle in yet.
This is a sincere suggestion.
Yan Jiu's brows furrowed even more.
How did they get arrested for no reason?
Ignoring the waiter's advice, he went straight out.
The waiter behind him shook his head and sighed, "Alas, they don't know how lucky they are. They're going to lose this prefecture they've just got their hands on..."
Yan Jiu was worried that things might change if she waited too long, so she first exchanged the silver bestowed by His Majesty for silver notes.
Based on my memory, I arrived at a Hengyue money exchange.
He slammed a bag of silver onto the counter.
After a cup of tea, he left the money exchange with the silver notes in his pocket.
"Huh?"
He had just stepped out of the money exchange when Cherry got off the carriage and saw a tall figure. She recognized him at a glance.
She watched the figure disappear around the street corner, pursed her lips, and stepped into the money exchange.
Yan Jiu keenly sensed that someone was watching him from behind. After turning the corner, he stood in the corner and carefully looked back, but did not see anyone suspicious.
"This capital city is really... how can the waters run so deep?"
He made up his mind that after visiting Lord Zhang Yuqing, he would immediately set off back to Dazhou.
Upon arriving at the Zhang residence, a desolate scene came into view.
The once magnificent mansion now appears utterly dilapidated, its vermilion gates having lost their former luster and become dull.
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