Chapter 87

The short, stout guard walked up to the horse, spread his short legs apart and planted himself, chin lifted, his gaze sweeping from Du Shanü's face to Chinu's and back again, twice.

"You hear me? Dismount!"

He repeated it, his voice a notch higher than before, deliberately amplified so everyone nearby could hear.

The situation instantly turned tense, swords drawn and bows strung.

The townsfolk by the city gate were startled and frightened, hastily gathering their belongings and scrambling back to the base of the wall.

Du Shanü still didn't move.

She sat on her horse, looking down at the guard, her expression unchanged except for a slight tilt of her head, as if she were sizing up something uninteresting.

"Dismount?"

She spoke, her voice low, tone flat like a bowl of cooled water:

"I haven't seen any sign here saying to dismount."

The short, stout guard blinked, clearly not expecting anyone to dare talk back to him.

A twitch ran through the flesh on his cheek, he stepped half a pace forward, rested his hand on the hilt at his waist, thumb pushing the hilt outward to reveal two inches of blade, a flash of iron‑gray light.

"A sign? My word is the sign!"

"The city rule: dismount before entering, then pay the entry fee, and finally——"

He snorted, drew out the syllable, took his hand off the hilt, spread his five fingers, and flung them toward Du Shanü's face:

"Show your travel permit."

"Travel permit."

Du Shanü's eyes flickered slightly.

She of course knew what a travel permit was.

The regulations vary little from prefecture to prefecture and county to county——

When commoners travel far, they must go to the county office to obtain a travel permit, stating name, native place, destination, and purpose, and affix the county seal for it to be valid.

If one walks about without a permit and is stopped, the light punishment is expulsion, the heavy is treatment as a vagrant, possibly conscription or exile.

However, Ju Cheng is only a few dozen li from where they came, the peoples of the two places come and go, and for such short‑range, inter‑county traffic the authorities have always turned a blind eye.

She has traveled back and forth among these county seats since childhood, never once being stopped and asked for a permit.

Today, however, is the first time.

It's likely the demand for a permit is a pretext; the real aim is to make trouble.

Du Shanü naturally had no permit, but she wasn't in a hurry; merely interested, she said, "What if I say I don't have one?"

The short, stout guard's eyes lit up instantly.

That gleam wasn't ordinary joy; it was the hunter's uncontrollable, greedy spark when the prey finally steps into the trap.

He pulled up the corner of his mouth, revealing a half‑show of yellow‑stained teeth; even before his smile fully formed, it already betrayed calculation.

"None?"

He deliberately lowered his voice a half‑tone, sounding as if he were embarrassed, but the delight in his tone could not be hidden:

"That's not easy to handle…… No permit means you're of unknown origin. People of unknown origin are to be apprehended by law."

"But—— seeing you've ridden your horses all the way here to the gate, going back would be a hassle, so it's not impossible to make an exception."

He said this, waving two fingers in front of Du Shanü:

"Twenty taels. Give me twenty taels of silver, and I'll smooth over the permit issue. Once inside the city, I'll guarantee you unobstructed passage."

"Twenty taels."

Those three words landed on the ground like three stones dropped into a pool.

The commotion among the townsfolk at the gate suddenly grew——

Someone sucked in a breath of cold air, someone shrank a shoulder, and the pole‑carrier earlier visibly shrank back further into the wall.

What does twenty taels mean?

An ordinary farming household's yearly food expenses are only three or four taels of silver.

This guard's single demand equals several years of a family's food budget!

Du Shanü felt the horse of Chinu behind her shift half a step forward. He said nothing, but she could sense his gaze resting on the guard, faint, like a thin shadow.

She didn't look back, merely ran the number through her mind again, then the corner of her mouth twitched slightly.

It wasn't quite a laugh, just a faint, knowing smirk.

A gate guard daring to demand twenty taels from any passerby—

this isn't just one man's boldness; it's the whole line of grasshoppers that have been fattened.

Seeing her silence, the short, stout guard took it as hesitation, stepped a little closer, lowered his voice further, and infused his tone with a semblance of earnestness:

"Twenty taels isn't much. Your horses alone would fetch more than that if you sold one. Spend a little silver to buy peace—better than being arrested as a vagrant. The County Magistrate's great jail isn't a pleasant place——"

He spoke loudly on purpose, so everyone nearby could hear.

The meaning couldn't be clearer——

Everyone must bleed, and the wealthy even more so.

No bleeding? Then don't even think about getting through!

Before Du Shanü could speak, a low, urgent voice suddenly came from the gate side:

"You two…… you two, don't be stubborn……"

That voice was none other than the earlier pole‑carrier.

He half‑emerged from behind his basket, face a mix of fear and urgency, eyes avoiding the guard, fixed instead on the bronze buckle of Du Shanü's saddle, his voice kept extremely low, as if afraid of being heard yet unable to stay silent:

"They're the County Magistrate's men; Ju Cheng has its own rules…… you can't provoke them…… you…… you'd better spend a bit, buy peace……"

Before he finished speaking, the short, stout guard snapped his head around, eyes glaring:

"Shut up! What business is it of yours? Get lost!"

"The man's body shuddered as if struck by a whip, he suddenly recoiled behind the basket and fell silent."

"The soldiers satisfiedly turned back to face Du Shanü, putting on that fake smile again, and flicked the copper buckle on her saddle, producing a light 'ding'."

"\"How about it? Have you decided? Twenty taels, neither more nor less—hand it over, and I'll personally escort you into the city——\""

"His words had not yet faded."

"Du Shanü's hand moved."

"Quickly."

"So fast that the soldier's smile was still on his face, so fast that nobody present had time to blink, only seeing a flash——"

"She drew the marshal's crossbow from her waist."

"The crossbow was small, entirely jet-black, with a tight mechanism, just the right size to be held in one hand."

"She drew, raised, and aimed the crossbow in one fluid motion, smooth as if she'd practiced it a thousand times, with no wasted movement."

"The crossbow's muzzle was aimed at the short, stout soldier's throat."

"The soldier had naturally never seen a marshal's crossbow before, nor any sense of danger or killing intent; he only felt something inexplicable instinctively:"

"\"You——\""

"He only managed to utter that single syllable."

"Du Shanü pulled the trigger on the marshal's crossbow."

"\"Click. \""

"The crossbow bolt shot out at the sound, too fast to see its trajectory."

"A jet of black light shot swiftly from the bolt groove, straight and precise——"

"It plunged into the short, stout soldier's throat."

"The arrowhead pierced out the back of his neck, bringing out a puff of fine blood mist."

"The blood mist dispersed in the sunlight, fine and bright red, like someone had tossed a handful of powdered cinnabar into the air."

"The short, stout soldier's eyes widened to their limit, his pupils shrinking to pinpoint black dots."

"His mouth hung open, wanting to say something, his Adam's apple bobbed, but the arrow shaft lodged in his throat, so no sound could escape."

"In a breath, his hand slipped from the sword hilt, his ten fingers clawed twice in the air, grasping nothing, and he toppled straight backward with a muffled 'thud'."

"Afterward, he lay completely still."

"Blood slowly seeped from beneath his neck, and the city gate fell into dead silence."

"An autumn wind blew through the city gate, bringing a cool, ancient stone scent."

"That arrow remained lodged in his throat, the feathers at its tail trembling slightly before gradually stilling."

"In this scene, not only the onlookers at the gate, but even Chinu was somewhat unable to recover."

"However, Du Shanü's face remained calm as a still lake; she merely turned the marshal's crossbow in her hand once and slipped it back to her waist."

"Her motion was neither hurried nor slow, as if she had just done something utterly ordinary."

"She even took a moment to brush off the dust on her sleeves."

"Having done all this, Du Shanü finally raised her head, looked at the startled little soldiers inside the gate, and shouted loudly——"

"\"I am a relative of the Dayin imperial clan, daughter of the elder brother of Emperor Taizong, newly appointed Princess Changping! \""

"\"How dare this lowly soldier insult me so?! \""

"\"Someone! Go find the county magistrate of this place, Qian Youde, and bring him to see me. If he doesn't come, I'll strip him of his office and let him know what rules are! \""

"?? is eh, just this decisive eh! (*^_^*)"