The western gate was much smaller, barely wide enough for carts and horses to pass through.
The soldiers guarding it seemed even more lax, but the slyness and greed in their eyes were all the stronger.
Their leader was a squad captain called Wang Laogun, with a short beard on his chin. He stood in a sheltered spot with his hands tucked into his sleeves, stamping his feet against the cold.
Fang Yuan handed over the three travel permits.
Wang Laogun took them absentmindedly, his gaze passing over the words "Fang, grain store clerk" and the clear official seal of the Household Office.
But then his fingers stopped on an utterly inconspicuous scratch in the corner of the permit, one lightly gouged with a fingernail.
His expression changed abruptly. Gone was his earlier laziness. He suddenly slammed the permits down onto a broken wooden crate beside him with a resounding bang! Pointing at Fang Yuan, he shouted harshly,
"Brat! You've got some nerve! These travel permits... these are from the Fengyu Grain Store that got looted last month!
Those permits were taken by the bandits back then! Talk! What's your connection to those marauders?
Are you their accomplice, using a false identity to scout out the city and cause trouble?!"
That roar was like a clap of thunder—not only aimed at Fang Yuan, but a signal to everyone around who had been itching to make a move!
"Clatter!"
Several soldiers who had been slouching about instantly surrounded them like wolves and tigers, leveling their snowy-bright spearheads at Fang Yuan's family.
They sealed off every route of retreat. The refugees waiting to enter the city screamed in fright and scattered backward, clearing an open space.
Almost at the same time, several thugs who had long been mixed into the crowd, dressed