The lacquered surface of the long desk shone, gleaming brightly, as wisps of blue smoke curled upwards.
Liang Qu ground the ink.
Xu Wenzhu held the brush.
From cause to effect, from beginning to end, he penned no less than two full pages in an elegant flow. The date adorned the end of the letter, and senior officials from the Fishing Tax Office, including Su Guishan, Yang Dongxiong, Wei Lin, and Xu Yuelong, stamped their seals one by one, adding a full page of vermilion impressions.
The ink was dried with a draft of air.
Xu Wenzhu rolled up the letter, tucked it into a metal cylinder, affixed it with red chicken feathers, sealed both ends with fire, and looked around.
"Who shall we send to deliver this?"
"Ashui, you go!" Scholar Su did not hesitate.
"Me?"
Liang Qu was not too pleased.
Running errands and delivering messages promised some reward, yet it would not amount to much. The two to three months spent would undoubtedly be a waste of his efforts.
