Trouble at the Post Station, Hooves Thundering

[It was already night.]

[Jiakang City was no more than thirty li away. At full gallop, they could have reached it in no time, but as night deepened, the gates of such a great city were not easily entered.]

[Although Jiakang City had no curfew, inspections at night were far more meticulous.]

[In such a bustling place, those urgently seeking to enter the city after nightfall faced strict queues and had to show their identities. You did not wish to alarm the city's people, and that was clearly not what you wanted.]

[This journey to Yan Capital called for keeping a low profile.]

[Your group decided to rest peacefully at a post station outside the city and set out again tomorrow.]

[Jiakang City, as a major regional stronghold, had a post station every five li and a pavilion every two li.]

[These post stations existed specifically to provide travelers with places to rest. Larger ones came fully equipped with station attendants, swift horses, provisions, and fodder.]

[In the past, only those holding official posts or official travel documents could enjoy such conveniences. Ordinary people traveling afar could only stay in crude village inns, with no chance to enjoy them.]

[Yet in recent years, the winds of reform had blown fiercely through Yan Territory, and commerce had flourished as never before.]

[The post station system had changed along with it. Stations now had commercial lodgings specifically for merchants and travelers; one merely needed to spend silver.]

[Some even had free post stations where common people could stay, eat, and drink without charge. Naturally, there was profit to be found in this as well, most often whenever the city councilors and prefects of major cities came due for replacement.]

[The great households within the city often sought to win supporters by lavishly