"Steward Chen!"
Seeing Chen Yong approach from a distance, Steward Qian suddenly perked up.
But constrained by the crossbows pointed directly at him, he still didn't dare to rise, only kneeling there with the most amiable expression he could muster: "Please tell these soldiers, I'm truly a steward of the Four Seas Trade Alliance! A third-rank steward! My surname is Qian!"
The stewards of the Four Seas Trade Alliance were divided into three ranks. Third-rank was the lowest, first-rank the highest, responsible for the alliance's specific affairs. Above them, there were nine honorary stewards who only held titles and didn't handle mundane matters.
The occasions requiring their presence were when dealing with other dignitaries of the Qi Kingdom.
Although Steward Qian was merely a third-rank steward, he'd usually been quite imposing. The fact that he'd fallen to this state was truly hard to explain in a few words.
He hadn't been in Jia City long, but had already amassed a great deal of wealth. Taking advantage of his control over life-saving supplies, he'd raised prices and sold high, squeezing the large and small families of Jia City until they were in great distress.
Never mind that the Xi Family had already withdrawn—without their backbone, what could Jia City do? Even if the Xi Family were still there, what could they do against the Four Seas Trade Alliance? They could only be exploited at will!
Even the Yang Court relied on the Four Seas Trade Alliance for disaster relief and didn't dare to offend them—what could a subordinate city like this do?
To Steward Qian, this was a minor matter and something the Four Seas Trade Alliance tacitly approved. It was only because of Jia City's current leaderless state that he'd done things "slightly excessively."
But the problem was, a large portion of the wealth he'd taken went into his own pocket, separate from the portion for the Four Seas Trade Alliance. It couldn't see the light of day.
Upon learning of the plague's mutation, he'd immediately swept up all the valuables he could carry and fled. Just in gold and silver alone, he'd filled over a dozen crates!
To hide his wealth, he'd concealed his identity and deliberately taken a longer detour through Pingxi Commandery. (Also one of Qi Kingdom's border commanderies.)
He understood the horror of the plague mutation, but hadn't grasped the severity of the Qi army's border封锁.
First, he'd been reluctant to reveal his identity, fearing his ill-gotten assets would be discovered by the Four Seas Trade Alliance. Then, during negotiations with the border guards, he'd attempted to bribe them.
The result was nearly being killed on the spot.
Later, forced to reveal his identity, he was expelled due to his earlier deceptive behavior.
Of course, most of the valuables he'd been carrying were confiscated—reportedly out of respect for his status as a Four Seas Trade Alliance steward.
With no alternative, Steward Qian had to make his way back, retracing the Four Seas Trade Alliance's trade route through Dingyao Commandery to return home.
But the border封锁 grew stricter each day, and he'd lost his identification token during his earlier ordeal, unable to prove his identity...
Poor Steward Qian was nearly killed on the spot, but fortunately the border guard remembered that they'd detained a group of Four Seas Trade Alliance people the day before, so they called Chen Yong over to verify.
How much loyalty could a superior who took all the benefits for himself and fled at the first sign of danger inspire?
If he could, Chen Yong would have truly liked to say he didn't know this guy and have the soldiers kill Steward Qian right then and there!
But his good friend was also behind Steward Qian, kneeling together with him, looking utterly miserable.
The two pretended not to know each other, without even exchanging a glance.
"Ah!" Chen Yong said. "Steward, what are you doing here?"
"It's a long story." Steward Qian glanced at the border guards and said politely, "Gentlemen, may I stand up?"
In his heart, he planned to return home and use his connections to teach these rough soldiers a harsh lesson, but with blades and crossbows pointed at him, he had to be submissive.
Once his identity was verified and confirmed as a Qi citizen, the border guards didn't make things too difficult. "Stand up."
When Steward Qian saw Chen Yong, he was surprised, but the man was far too cunning to ask questions like "why are you here too?"
Abandoning his duties to return to Qi Kingdom at a time like this meant he'd obviously learned about the plague mutation!
And he'd never informed this subordinate about it...
But Steward Qian was the type of person who wouldn't feel the slightest embarrassment, only offering a perfunctory concern: "You weren't given too hard a time, were you?"
"The soldiers are very disciplined, how could we be given a hard time?" Chen Yong said. "Steward, what's the current situation? The brothers are all very uneasy."
"Enough! Is this a place for idle chatter?" The border guard interrupted them with a reprimand. "Disperse!"
"Right!" Steward Qian turned and started leading his group toward Baichuan City.
"I said, disperse! Go back!" The border guard suddenly raised his crossbow and aimed at them again.
"But... didn't we already prove I'm a Qi citizen?" Steward Qian was bewildered. "I'm a steward of the Four Seas Trade Alliance!"
"Regardless of who you are, our orders are to allow no one from the Yang Kingdom direction to enter!" the guard said. "If you want to enter the city, bring a military order letter!"
As for the officer in charge the day before, he wasn't there at this moment.
Steward Qian was seething with rage inside, but knew there was no way to vent it on these soldiers.
They were executing military orders—even if they truly killed him, no one would stand up for him!
The blade was at his heart, but he endured!
"Then what about him?" Steward Qian asked, pointing at Chen Yong.
"He can't enter either! He's currently being held at the military camp."
"Then hold us there too. I can wait!" No matter what, Steward Qian couldn't possibly return to the Yang Kingdom—that would be too terrifying.
But all he received was the soldier's cold response: "No!"
"Why? I'm also a Qi citizen!" Steward Qian suppressed his anger.
"Yesterday was yesterday, today is today. With each passing day, the situation grows more severe. You can still retreat now, but if you come back tomorrow, we'll kill you without mercy!"
"Don't you know what the situation in the Yang Kingdom is like now? Do you want me to go back and wait for death?" Steward Qian felt a rush of blood surge to his head. What endurance, what patience for the future—he couldn't care about any of that anymore!
But the Law-Breaking Crossbow raised by the soldier doused him like a bucket of ice water: "Or you can die right now!"
Steward Qian: ...
In the end, Chen Yong could only watch as Steward Qian led his group away in disarray, his good friend among them.
But he didn't dare say anything more. Nothing he said would have any use.
In the face of such a cruel situation where life and death were held in others' hands.
How fragile and worthless all the connections and relationships he'd once been so proud of now seemed!
...
Steward Qian led what remained of his wealth, taking a different route, willing to pay higher tolls to pass through other countries on his way back to Qi.
But at this point, he made a terrifying discovery: it wasn't just the route from Yang to Qi that was blocked. The entire Yang Kingdom was surrounded by a massive army!
It was well known that Qi Kingdom had nine elite armies, known as the Nine Corps.
Called Autumn Kill, Winter Silence, Spring Death, Summer Corpse.
Called Wind Chaser, Rain Slayer, Thunder Annihilator, Lightning Imprisoner.
The first of the Nine Corps was Heaven's Cover, traditionally the Heavenly Army commanded directly by the Qi Kingdom's ruler, now led by the Qi Kingdom's God of War, Jiang Mengxiong.
Through his connections, Steward Qian made every possible inquiry and finally obtained some news.
The army blocking the entire Yang Kingdom was called Autumn Kill—one of the Nine Corps, a first-rate killing force, one of the world's great armies!
What was the Qi Court planning? Why hadn't the Trade Alliance received any prior warning?
...
It was the end of the seventh month, already autumn.
The autumn had come for the army of Autumn Kill.
Le Wen