His strike was vicious, without the slightest mercy!
"Get lost! Who gave you permission to come this close? Don't you understand the rules?!"
The officer barked harshly, his blade-like gaze sweeping over the people nearby waiting to queue up and enter the city.
"All of you, line the hell up for inspection! Anyone who dares cut the line or offer a bribe will be treated as a spy!"
Clearly, he did not think this man was qualified to speak with him!
The servant groaned in pain, clutching his stomach as he staggered back. His face had gone pale, and the money pouch fell to the ground.
He scrambled and rolled back to the convoy, hurried to Chen Zhiyuan's horse, and endured the pain as he whispered a few urgent words.
Chen Zhiyuan sat upright on horseback. As he listened to the servant's report, his face instantly turned livid, and the fingers gripping his reins whitened at the knuckles from the force.
His lips moved soundlessly, clearly doing everything he could to hold back a furious curse.
Those damn soldiers were endlessly greedy. The connections had clearly already been greased, yet at the very last moment, they were jacking up the price!
But circumstances were stronger than any man.
He drew a deep breath, forcibly suppressed his anger, and squeezed a stiff smile onto his face as he personally urged his horse slowly forward.
This time, he made no attempt to hand over another money pouch. Instead, he moved close to the officer, beneath the watchful, tiger-eyed stares of the surrounding soldiers,
and spoke a few veiled words in a voice only the two of them could hear. At the same time, his sleeve shifted slightly,
and a heavier, less conspicuous leather pouch silently slipped into the officer's already outstretched palm.