"Young Master, the checks at this pass seem stricter than before," Old Zhou said quietly.
Xiao Yun looked in the direction of his gaze—the soldiers at the pass were inspecting everyone crossing one by one, far more carefully than usual. Everyone had to lift their hats and pull back their hair.
A row of notices was posted beside the city gate, red paper with black characters, the ink very fresh.
Xiao Yun got down from the carriage and walked over. The notice showed a portrait of a young girl, with several lines written beside it: "Star Luo Royal Family Wanted Notice: Dai Xiaozhao, fifteen years old, white hair, frail, suspected fugitive. Anyone who provides information will be rewarded with one thousand Gold Soul Coins. Anyone who shelters her will be judged guilty of treason."
The notice was signed by the Star Luo Empire's royal family and stamped with a vermilion seal.
A wanted notice.
Not an imperial proclamation.
If an imperial princess had run away from home, they should have issued an imperial proclamation to find her, not a wanted notice.
This meant the problems within the Star Luo Empire ran deeper than he had imagined.
Xiao Yun tore down one wanted notice, folded it, slipped it into his sleeve, then turned and went back to the carriage.
The soldiers guarding the pass had already finished inspecting the carriage. They had checked it very carefully—the underside, the hidden layers of the compartment, beneath the seats—and found no one concealed inside.
"Go on." The soldier waved a hand.
Old Zhou cracked the whip and urged the horse on. The carriage passed through the checkpoint and entered the buffer zone between the two nations.
The buffer zone was about one kilometer wide. There were no villages, no farmland, only wild grass and