"Who goes there!"
"This is the Six Gates Yamen! You can't just barge in!"
At the gates of the Six Gates in Liang Prefecture, two guards stopped Chen Jing, travel-worn and dressed in plain cloth.
Chen Jing did not take offense.
He took the long-unused Six Gates badge from his robes.
The two guards looked.
A Bronze Badge!
They rubbed their eyes.
There was no mistake!
Yet when they looked up at the rough-looking young man, neither could recall seeing this Bronze Badge Inspector in Liang Prefecture.
They could hardly be blamed.
Chen Jing had left barely two days after reporting for duty.
Naturally, he was an unfamiliar face.
But the Bronze Badge was genuine, through and through.
One guard held Chen Jing's badge with great care.
"Please wait a moment, sir!"
"I'll announce your arrival at once!"
Chen Jing waited briefly before someone came to lead him inside.
He entered the imposing Chief Command Hall.
The place felt strangely familiar. Chen Jing had grown used to roaming wild in the Great Desert, and returning so suddenly to a place ruled by protocol left him ill at ease.
At the front of the hall,
the stern, commanding Fang Yuanyi stood beside the gaunt Zhou Jiyao. Both lowered their eyes to examine him.
For a moment, Chen Jing felt almost dazed.
He barely knew them, after all.
After a pause, Chen Jing remembered to cup his hands in salute.
"Bronze Badge Inspector Chen Jing has returned from the Western Regions to report on his mission!"
Fang Yuanyi narrowed his eyes and studied Chen Jing slowly.
Then he barked,
"Well, Chen Jing! Do you know your crime?"
Chen Jing's heart stirred.
I haven't even caught my breath, and this is starting already?
But his strength had grown, and so had his confidence.