Chapter 521: I Am the Embroidered Uniform Guard

"This godforsaken backwater has no sense of order!" someone among the traveling merchants cursed. They didn't notice that several old hands of the jianghu had already drawn near, and these words were heard clearly. The men exchanged glances, all frowning.

The city gate guard who had been struck stood frozen, hand to his face. His companions behind him were equally unresponsive. After a dazed moment, the man wiped his lips, saw the trace of blood, and instantly flew into a rage. Howling, he shouted, "You dare hit me? I'll make sure you—"

He had only gotten out a few vicious words when the merchant who struck him simply turned around. When he turned back, he had already drawn the steel saber from his saddle. The blade was over four feet long, straight-edged with only the tip curving up, thick-spined and broad-bladed, gleaming with a cold, sinister light.

The motion was seamless, making the eyelids of those Xuzhou jianghu men twitch violently. In the blink of an eye, the blade was already pressed against the guard's neck. A savage, contemptuous sneer twisted across the merchant's face as he said scornfully, "So what if I hit you? A filthy wretch like you, not even fit for a dog to bother with — killing you would be nothing. Who dares say I'm in the wrong?"

The area before the city gate fell instantly silent. Everyone had thought this was just a brawl of shouting and cursing; who could have imagined a blade would be drawn? Seeing that coldly gleaming saber pressed against a man's neck, no one dared make a sound.

"You dare assault soldiers of the garrison? This is... this is rebellion!" One of the city gate guards was quick-witted enough, shouting out in a stammer.

"Right, it's rebellion!" The reason he had shouted out gave everyone the courage to yell righteously, yet not a single one dared step forward. Though they held spears in their hands, they had barely been in a few fights. All day long they blustered and bullied like foxes borrowing a tiger's might, but when faced with the strong and sturdy they'd shrink back. Now, with a gleaming steel blade before them and such ferocity, they were already terrified out of their wits.

They shouted, but not a single man moved. The one with the blade at his throat was even shouting in a trembling voice, "Don't come closer! Sir, keep your hand steady — one slip and there'll be blood! And you lot, stop yelling! Let's talk it over. Everything can be discussed civilly."

By the end, his voice had actually taken on a sobbing tone, and his whole body was trembling. Yet the man wielding the blade had such fine control of his hand strength that not a drop of blood appeared on the neck.

The several jianghu men had already drawn close enough. Their faces showed expressions of excitement and timidity, just like the idle onlookers, but they had spread out from one another. One man even reached into his robes; the grip of a dagger had just emerged when the older, steadier man pressed his hand down to stop him.

"There's still business at home. We're going back!" the steady jianghu man said in a deep voice.

Go back? The man who had drawn the dagger was about to speak, but was silenced by the stern look of the one who had spoken. The group slowly retreated.

The merchant who had drawn the saber used his free hand to feel inside his robes and pulled out a round iron badge. He brandished it for all to see and announced loudly, "Zhang Jianting, Junior Flag Officer of the Left Thousand-Household Office, Four Hundred-Household Office, Nanjing Embroidered Uniform Guard! Here in Xuzhou on official investigation and arrest! We are the Emperor's personal guard — anyone obstructing us is guilty of rebellion! Who dares act recklessly!"

The Embroidered Uniform Guard? The man with the blade at his throat didn't react for a moment. The several city gate guards also looked at each other in bewilderment. It sounded like some kind of official status.

This wasn't their fault. Xuzhou had been in decline for decades. Being posted here as a Subprefect was a dead-end assignment, and the Regional Commander of the garrison was too big a figure for ordinary Embroidered Uniform Guards to touch. So for decades, they'd had no dealings with the Embroidered Uniform Guard at all.

But while they were slow to react, the traveling merchants and passersby watching knew exactly how fearsome this was. Anyone who traveled the roads far and wide knew the dreaded reputation of the "Mounted Arrest Officers." Someone cried out, and the crowd scattered in an instant — some out of the city, some in — each fleeing without looking back.

As for the jianghu men who had been about to make a move earlier, they exchanged glances, the shock in each other's eyes plain to see. One man hesitated, then gritted his teeth and walked out of the city. The others wanted to call out but made no sound. One man lingered, undecided, while the rest, faces grim, walked into the city. One man, upon reaching the gate, suddenly spun around and ran swiftly out of the city.

Only the two who had drawn the dagger and spoken up to stop them remained. Both were in their forties. The one who had drawn the dagger looked at his companion, glancing back as he spoke: "Old Guo, you make the call."

The one called "Old Guo" felt his eyelids twitching. He looked back at the city gate guards, who were now kneeling in terror. Those men had finally realized what the Embroidered Uniform Guard truly was and were nearly paralyzed with fright. Someone looked their way, and Old Guo hurriedly turned his head, terrified of being called over.

"... We'll go deliver the news. Master Jin is worth betting on!" Old Guo did not hesitate long, gritting his teeth as he spoke.

The other man nodded, and the two strode quickly into the city.

The east gate of Xuzhou, bustling just moments ago, was now as desolate as New Year's Eve — when the gates were shut and everyone was home for the holiday, with not a soul in sight.

"Four great sirs, four lords, we lowly ones had eyes but could not see! We didn't know you were imperial envoys, we meant no offense! Please spare our lives!" The blade had already been removed from the man's neck. He was weeping bitterly, kneeling on the ground and kowtowing.

What kind of figures were the Embroidered Uniform Guard? They didn't need to go through the yamen — they could arrest anyone, kill anyone, on their own authority. Even those great officials, those powerful magnates, could be taken directly by the Embroidered Uniform Guard. How laughable that he had, at the instigation of those men from Zhao's Camp, gone up to block their path. Wasn't that just courting death?

Fortunately, Zhao Jin's fearsome reputation and authority were equally intimidating. Even as they begged for mercy, these men weren't so foolish as to blurt out Zhao Jin's name.

"Scram to the side. Don't block this lord's path into the city." Though the four Embroidered Uniform Guard agents had drawn blades and raised their hands, now that things had reached this point, they didn't continue making trouble. They didn't even waste more words on the begging garrison soldiers, merely ordering them coldly to move aside. Then they sheathed their sabers, mounted their horses, and entered the city.

Hearing this, the several garrison soldiers kneeling on the ground didn't react at first. Only a moment later did they scramble and crawl aside, their souls barely clinging to their bodies as they watched the figures disappear into the city gate.

"Chief Zhang, if word of what we just did gets back to Nanjing, the brothers will laugh their teeth out." The four Embroidered Uniform Guards were not tense at all; instead, they chatted and joked easily.

"Since the higher-ups gave the order, we follow it. What's the point of talking so much?"

"Old Li might not have this in mind. It's not necessarily what the Thousand-Household Commander thinks, either. It could well be that Supervisor Ma's idea."

"What 'Supervisor Ma'? In Nanjing we give him face. Out here, you still call him that?"

"All of you, shut your mouths! Do you think words like that won't reach the ears of Demon King Ma?" Zhang Jianting barked sternly.

The four men glanced at one another with mutual suspicion and fell silent for a moment. There was truly nothing worth seeing inside Xuzhou city. Streets that might have been bustling decades ago were now long dilapidated. Impoverished commoners had built shacks and hovels in every crack and crevice, making it look even filthier and more chaotic. Before they had gone far, the men grew tired of looking. One spoke up again: "Chief Zhang, should we head straight to the Subprefect's yamen? Judging by this wretched poverty, I doubt we can squeeze much out of them."

"I hear all the good places in Xuzhou are over by the He Family Manor. They've even got singsong girls from Yangzhou there. Why don't we head over today? It's still a long while till dark." One man spoke with eager enthusiasm.

Zhang Jianting looked at his companions with exasperation and said, "We follow the procedures handed down from above. First, we find an inn and settle in. With the ruckus we just caused at the city gate, the news will have spread all over Xuzhou by now. When we go to the yamen tomorrow, those with guilty consciences will already be afraid, and things will naturally go smoother. Besides, the higher-ups gave such clear instructions — if we don't follow them and that Demon King Ma finds a fault when we get back, just think about what'll happen."

Everyone immediately fell silent. Asking any random person on the street would tell them that the best inn in the city was the Tonghui Inn. Once they got clear directions, the four riders headed that way.

Not long after they entered the city, people were already following behind them. But those in front didn't care, and those behind were cautious, so nothing was discovered.

Just like that, they arrived at the Tonghui Inn. The Tonghui Inn's business was quite prosperous. Travelers coming from the east or north, heading to the He Family Manor, would need to stay at least one night. The large inns outside Xuzhou city had long since vanished; if one wanted comfortable lodgings, the Tonghui was the only choice.

Moreover, everyone knew that Old Zhou of the Tonghui Inn had curried favor with the Zhao father and son. The inn could be said to have multiple layers of protection, so everyone felt secure staying there. What few knew was that the owner of the Tonghui Inn had also become Manager Zhou himself. After how tactfully Manager Zhou had handled that previous incident, Zhao Jin had naturally been generous in return.

Upon arriving at the Tonghui Inn, even without knowing their identities, the shrewd reception clerks could tell these four had extraordinary backgrounds. They immediately went up to serve them with eager, careful attention. When the group wrote down their identities and origins at the counter, they made no effort to conceal their status as Embroidered Uniform Guards, which made the entire inn staff serve them with even greater trepidation. They hurriedly arranged to vacate the best private courtyard and urged the men to give any instructions directly — the inn would certainly fulfill them.

Zhang Jianting did not stand on ceremony. He directly ordered them to fetch a top-tier banquet from the best restaurant in the city, along with several jars of fine wine, and also six singsong girls. After making these demands grandly, Zhang Jianting also asked to see the inn's account books.

According to government regulations, places like inns were required to record guests' names and origins so that cases could be investigated if needed. But few establishments actually followed this rule. However, an inn of this caliber, which dealt frequently with officials and wealthy figures, would not be sloppy about such records.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard was indeed different — they actually knew to ask for this. The innkeeper dared not show the slightest negligence. While arranging the banquet, wine, and women on one hand, he presented the account books on the other. But Zhang Jianting merely flipped through a dozen or so pages before tossing the books back. He went to the stables for a look, perhaps to check how the mounts were being tended, then returned directly to the private courtyard to rest.

Tea and refreshments were naturally provided in full, but these four had clearly seen and experienced far better in Nanjing. They had no interest in the pleasures Xuzhou could offer. They simply dismissed the clerks, shut the door, and rested.

With the door shut, they naturally had no way of knowing that quite a few people had already gathered outside. Some, without even luggage, wanted to rent rooms. Others, dressed as staff, were sweeping and cleaning the area around the inn's private courtyards. Even the surroundings of the inn had suddenly gained several stalls selling sundries and cooked food. Still less could they know that the Tonghui Inn's other vacant private courtyards had just been occupied by able-bodied men.