The Sights

"Turns out our master should have returned long ago, but then another big deal came along, so he had no choice but to overstay..."

After a long while, Xiang Zhitian set down the letter and stood to greet Wu Ming. "Thank you, friend, for bringing the letter. According to what our master wrote, you seem to be an overseas Chinese who has been living in the Western World?"

"That's right..."

This was the identity Wu Ming had forged for himself: an Eastern man who had lived in the Western World and only recently returned to the Great Chang Empire.

"My surname is Wu, and my given name is Ming. Shopkeeper, there's no need to be so polite."

"Very well, very well!"

The shopkeeper replied with a hearty smile, then said, "Our master originally asked our trading company to vouch for you, Mr. Wu, so you could obtain a foreigner's travel permit. That would have been a simple favor, but lately there have been some complications!"

"Oh? What complications?"

Wu Ming hadn't expected things to change at this point. The corner of his mouth curled up, and he asked with a hint of curiosity.

"Alas... It's because a band of Western fugitives has been roaming around the port lately, committing several crimes with truly brutal methods. It's caused quite an uproar... For the sake of public order, the entire settlement corps has issued strict orders to increase checks on all seaborne merchants, especially Western traders. They've also tightened their approval process for travel permits and other documents..."

This was a new development since Zhang Fan had gone to sea, so Wu Ming naturally hadn't heard about it.

"I see!"

Wu Ming nodded. "That is a bit of a problem!"

The Great Chang Empire was a strictly governed country. Without a travel