The burly escort officer made everyone stop about twenty meters from the entrance.
Then, putting on an affected expression, he said, “We’ve finally arrived, but now we have to complete the handover. It’s quite complicated, and there are a lot of procedures involved.”
“We’ll need to grease a few palms.”
As he spoke, he cast a sideways glance at the members of the Wei family.
The Wei family’s money was now being managed by Grandmother Sun.
When they were exiled, their maternal relatives had given Mother Yang one thousand taels of silver. Second Aunt’s family had only secretly given her one hundred taels.
That one thousand one hundred taels had been spent over the more than three months of their journey.
Now, only fifty taels remained.
If they had to hand over even more money, how would a family of more than a dozen people survive the coming winter?
Seeing that the Wei family wasn’t taking the hint, the younger escort officer snorted.
“If you don’t have money to smooth things over, the handover could take three to five days. We won’t provide you with any food during those days, either. You’ll have to stay out in the wilderness outside the city, and an inn costs money too.”
Second Uncle Wei Chong exchanged a glance with Father Wei Qian.
Wei Chong stepped forward with an awkward smile.
“Sir, with all the expenses for our entire family along the way, plus the money we’ve had to spend to smooth things over, the silver our in-laws gave us has already been nearly exhausted.”
“Could you trouble yourself to speak with the military officers and explain our situation?”
The burly escort officer immediately snapped,
“Nearly exhausted? So you still have money left, but you refuse to take it out to grease the palms of others? You expect me to humiliate myself by begging people to help you? What kind of dream are you having?”
“Either give us thirty taels for the necessary arrangements, or wait.”
“Thirty taels?”
The Wei family’s faces immediately paled.
Wei Qian couldn’t help asking,
“Didn’t we only have to pay ten taels at the previous checkpoints?”
“That was then. This is now. Pay if you want, don’t if you don’t. I can afford to wait. Can you?”
The younger escort officer was arrogant and overbearing.
Seeing this, the Wei family stopped trying to reason with him.
Wei Chong and Wei Qian turned back and exchanged a look with Grandmother.
Wei Qian had previously been a Hanlin Academy editor, a sixth-rank official. His rank wasn’t particularly high, but everyone had respectfully addressed him as Lord Wei.
Wei Chong, meanwhile, had owned more than a dozen shops and once made money every day. He had been extremely generous with his spending.
Now, however, his pockets were nearly empty.
The three of them looked back at the entire Wei family.
The old, young, sick, and weak had gone an entire day without eating or drinking anything.
Everyone was starving, their faces haggard and their clothes disheveled.
It was a miserable sight.
Grandmother finally hardened her heart.
“Fine. We’ll pay. Sir, we only have thirty taels left. You must get this done today!”
The burly escort officer gave the younger man a look.
The younger escort officer immediately stepped forward and unlocked Grandmother’s wooden cangue.
After holding her arms raised all day, Grandmother was finally able to lower them.
Her arms trembled, numbness and soreness spreading through them.
After resting for a moment, she reached into her clothes and tremblingly pulled out thirty taels of silver.
She handed it over.
The younger escort officer snatched the money, counted it, and said casually,
“Wait.”
Then he entered the Yinzhou Garrison Office with the burly escort officer.
The Wei family waited.
And waited.
An hour passed.
The sky was already beginning to darken, yet the two escort officers still hadn’t come out.
Those who could no longer stand leaned against the wall or sat on the ground, their bodies slumping in exhaustion.
Wei Yuan and Wei Zhao had already been put down and were sitting on the ground.
Wei Yan, his face deathly pale, moved closer to Wei Ning and said weakly,
“I have a feeling this isn’t over. Those two bastards are probably planning another dirty trick.”
Wei Ning said nothing.
She simply didn’t have the strength to speak.
She was injured, running a fever, starving, and had walked for an entire day.
How could this small, weak body possibly endure any more?
She was relying entirely on her extraordinarily stubborn willpower to keep going.
As darkness approached, the Wei family became increasingly anxious.
Everyone wore worried expressions.
The temperature gradually dropped.
The warmth from the daytime had disappeared, replaced by the chill of the northern wind, though a trace of the day’s lingering warmth still remained in the air.
“Clip-clop, clip-clop…”
The quiet street suddenly echoed with the sound of orderly footsteps.
Everyone looked toward the sound.
A group of Embroidered Uniform Guards came briskly down the street.
They wore blue-green uniforms, black boots, felt hats, and sabers hanging from their waists.
Leading them was the Embroidered Uniform Guard Qianhu from the previous night—the man with the missing section of eyebrow.
Walking beside him was a roughly forty-year-old, dark-skinned, heavily built man.
The burly man wore a crimson round-collared official robe with a leopard embroidered insignia on the chest.
He wore black boots, a gold-and-silver decorated leather belt, and an official badge hanging from his waist.
A black gauze hat sat on his head.
Neither man slowed down.
They continued walking straight ahead.
The burly official’s sharp eyes swept directly over the Wei family, carrying an intimidating presence.
It’s him.
The Embroidered Uniform Guard Qianhu who had intervened and rescued them from their predicament the previous night.
Both Wei Ning and Wei Yan paused.
Wei Ning saw that he seemed not to notice them and was about to walk away.
Suddenly, an idea flashed through her mind.
She deliberately raised her voice and asked Wei Yan beside her,
“Big Brother, why is this handover taking so long? Those two officials have already been inside for an entire hour.”
“Do we have to wait here all night? I’m so hungry and cold!”
She deliberately put on a worried expression and looked at Wei Yan with an innocent, clueless face.
Everyone in the Wei family was startled.
They all turned toward Wei Ning.
Wei Yan looked at his younger sister’s innocent expression and immediately understood what she was doing.
He played along.
“Yinzhou Garrison is located on the northern frontier of the Great Qi Empire, so there are naturally many affairs to deal with. It’s normal for things to take a little longer.”
“Come stand beside Big Brother. I’ll shield you from the wind.”
Wei Ning obediently moved to Wei Yan’s other side and hid behind him.
Lu Qianhu stopped walking.
The Embroidered Uniform Guards behind him also came to a synchronized halt.
Lu Qianhu turned his head toward the burly official and casually asked,
“Lord Guan, are there so many matters at the garrison that they can’t be handled?”
“Looks like I’ll have to report this to His Majesty and ask him to send several capable men to assist Lord Guan, so that you don’t work yourself to death.”
The burly official, Lord Guan, responded politely in an official tone,
“Thank you for your concern, Lord Lu. I can handle the garrison’s affairs myself. There’s no need to trouble His Majesty.”
Lu Qianhu glanced toward the Wei family.
A faint smile appeared on his lips.
Lord Guan immediately understood.
He turned to one of his subordinates, who was dressed in a similar official uniform, and coldly ordered,
“Go. Find out which fool is handling this matter and get it resolved quickly. Don’t let them block the entrance to the office.”
“Yes, sir.”
The subordinate immediately bowed and accepted the order before hurrying toward the garrison office.
“Lord Lu, don’t worry. Someone below must have been slacking off. I will certainly punish them severely.”
Lord Guan turned back toward Lu Qianhu with a smile.
Lu Qianhu nodded slightly before walking toward the garrison office.
Only after all the Embroidered Uniform Guards had entered the office did Wei Qian turn around and give Wei Yan and Wei Ning a meaningful look.
In the end, he didn’t ask them anything.
“What rank is that Lord Guan?”
Wei Ning quietly asked from behind Wei Yan.
Wei Yan looked toward the entrance of the garrison office and answered calmly,
“Judging from his official uniform, the insignia on his chest is a leopard. He should be the Commander of the Yinzhou Garrison, a third-rank official.”
Wei Ning didn’t understand.
“Is that considered a high rank? He seemed pretty intimidating.”
“He is in charge of the entire Yinzhou Garrison.”
“So he’s basically the boss of Yinzhou. Then why is he afraid of a Qianhu? Isn’t a Qianhu lower-ranking than him?”
“Lu Qianhu is an imperial official from the capital. He has direct access to the Emperor. How could Lord Guan afford to offend him?”
“Oh.”
So that’s how it was.