His hands were becoming like ice. Although he had already gotten into the carriage and was exposed to the cold no longer.

Why did he feel this way?

"Have we arrived yet?" He asked impatiently.

[You just got on the carriage, and I'm outside driving the carriage, I'm colder than you are!]

His coachman wanted to say but did not dare to say so directly, instead, he replied politely: "Not yet Lord magistrate!"

"Pick up the pace!" An impatient voice ordered.

The coachman did nothing but agitated the horses a little to give forth an illusion of an increase in speed.

Satisfied, w.a.n.g Bo abruptly turned to his a.s.sistant who was sitting as calm and collected as possible. The man was dressed in plain dark blue, with his hair tied into the style of a scholar with a piece of cloth covering the bun and tied up. He seemed to be around the same age as w.a.n.g Bo, but there were no traces of w.a.n.g Bo's debauchery, it seemed that he was an honest and respectable man who worked for a corrupt official.

"When we arrive back to the magistrate's Court I want to read all the notices that were sent from the imperial capital within this past year."

"Yes." The man said.

w.a.n.g Bo nodded and sat back down, spending the entire journey of the trip trembling with his thick cloak on. His a.s.sistant, Tao XuHan looked at him with a condescending gaze as though a grown man could not handle the cold even after being in the north for years.

Yet, he kept everything to himself, as he listened to the sounds of the wheels of the carriage rubbing about with the pavement below. It was quite easy to pick up the sounds, as when night fell, most of the citizens would be in their homes after a long day of work.

When the carriage came to a slow stop, w.a.n.g Bo hurriedly got off the carriage, he quickened the pace into the magistrate's court, where he was treated by many servants that were tending to the many braziers in the court that was to be kept going at all times.

This was especially because w.a.n.g Bo was p.r.o.ne to getting chills.

But all view this as a waste of resources, as good wood in the north was hard to come by, considering that it was scarce and the weather of ice always caused the wood to have some moisture.

Though using coal was slightly better, it caused a smell that was poisonous and unbearable to fill up in the rooms, so w.a.n.g Bo objected to that.

Once inside, w.a.n.g Bo headed straight to his study room, bringing along with him the cloak that he had been wearing in the carriage. Leaving the servant who was ready to fetch it baffled.

He did not need to order it, yet the servants as though knowingly bring in a cup of ginger tea in order for him to warm up.

w.a.n.g Bo sat in his wooden chair, all bundled up, his hands were outstretched, over a crackling brazier that was filling his numb fingers with a warmth.

He took a sip of tea and instantly felt his body slowly warming up from the inside. The ginger brought on this spicy aroma that made it feel as though his stomach was a warm breath of fire, slowly warming up his stiff limbs.

After a short rest, he was able to part with his cloak. Which was thrown to a servant to bring out of the room.

Tao XuHan entered the study, carrying with him a thick book which held the notices that had been sent from the imperial capital.

Looking at the book that was as thick as a brick, w.a.n.g Bo hesitated and swallowed a mouth full of saliva, he looked at Tao XuHan and asked: "You have read that, right?"

Tao XuHan looked at him, his eyes were condescending as he looked at his superior who was hesitant to even read a page.

[How did he even pa.s.s the civil exam to become an official?]

Nevertheless, w.a.n.g Bo was still his superior, and he must show a right degree of respect to this man: "Yes." He replied.

"Good, just tell me what it says." w.a.n.g Bo said in relief. He could not truly remember the last time he actually read a book.

Tao XuHan placed the book upon the desk, turning it to the most critical pages for w.a.n.g Bo to look at before he began to explain in detail.

"Earlier this year, a year after many officials were executed for having a part to do with Consort Ning's death, the officials belonging to the emperor's faction have started to accuse the family members of the executed officials of conspiring together to smuggle weapons into the imperial capital because they wanted revenge for the deaths of their kin..."

At this point, Tao XuHan slightly paused to see that w.a.n.g Bo was leaning backward on his chair, at a weird position that should bring one back pain when one awoke.

He secretly sighed in his heart.

How did he even end up working for such a man?

It was clearly him who did this man's work, yet this man got paid more than him just because he was ranked higher.

They had both pa.s.sed the exam that same year, and he remembered that w.a.n.g Bo was ranked among the top ten scholars, while he was in the top twenty. There was not much of a difference when they were awarded their ranks back then, yet why was their work ethics so different now?

He left the thick book that was what he had organized to be notices sent from the imperial capital on the desk and left, hoping that w.a.n.g Bo would awaken with severe back pain.