A kind-looking old fellow treading next to me was wearing a bamboo hat.

I nabbed it right off his head.

Although I heard him shouting, his old legs probably had too much arthritis to weave through the mass of people and catch up. Granting, I only wore it for a few paces before tossing it away anyhow, irked by how the straw laid itchy on my forehead. Maybe he’d get it back somehow. With a little force and half at a run, I shoved past two big men carrying a log. Their curses, too, were quickly drowned out by the clamor. I enjoyed the anonymity within a crowd. Even if Qin Fengge was gifted by fate with eyeballs like a predatory bird, there are enough people that it would take time for him to pick me out of the crowd.

I made it a distance without signs that I was being pursued.

This problem is that there are only two gates to enter and exit the city. The crowd disperses on the road once one leaves the gates, so if I were to buy a horse and tried to leave out the way we entered, the Western gate, Qin Fengge could be looking for me there. On the other hand, Zhou Liang would be waiting outside of the Eastern gate with the horses. What about this—I wander about the city and buy new clothes, cover my face and sneak out as a common peasant. Wait, no, this won’t do. This would take too much time. Qin Fengge can send a letter to Zhou Liang, then he could use his authority to have the city yamen runners¹Yamen Runner (Chinese: 衙役) is an occupation which served for Yamen (Chinese: 衙门), the law enforcement department in ancient China. There are three kinds of Yamen Runner, zao(皂), zhuang(壮), kuai(快). But in fact, there were more different kinds in specific. They worked as the lowest class in the government department which made them a bridge between the common people and the government. and guards comb the premises. With his stubbornness, I wouldn’t put it past him to do so. I needed something quick. If I’m being entirely honest—I wanted to escape in a way that allowed excessive gloating, so that the two of them would grind their teeth in rage.

At this Kang City, all sorts of people stop here to or from the capital, so I may as well find some others to help me in my great mission. I could not help but touch the full coin pouch under my robe with satisfaction.

Outside of a liquor shop, there happened to be six charming men.

Tall and broad-shouldered, with faces marred by scars of triumph, frayed clothes, and the scabbards at their sides rusted and chipped from use. Their hair pieces were wooden, and the engraving on one man’s scabbard read ‘Fuyu Su’, from a northern forgery. This same man held a dish of liquor in his hand, bellowing with laughter and speaking to his comrades about good women.

I walked over to them like I owned the city. “Gentlemen, may I have a word?”

“Huh?!” said one, not pleased with my attitude. The others also raised their brows with ridicule.

The man with the liquor gave a cursory glance at my figure, not taking me with much seriousness. I was a little thin, a little old, and a little too chipper. Nevertheless, he raised a hand to silence his lackies. With vague disgust, he spit onto the ground a rubbed his greasy hair.

“What’d you want?”

I bowed once, twice, then stood up straight with a knowing smile. “I know it’s terribly rude of me to interrupt, but, gentlemen, are you by chance mercenaries…?”

“Uh-huh, we do jobs at a fair price,” he shook his liquor in his hand and took a drink, wiping his mouth with his hand, “An’ we’re currently on break!”

“Traveled to here from out of town?”

Another rolled his eyes. “Say what ya want already!”

Their accents were definitely from the north, too.

I replied, “You gentlemen are in luck, I have a request that you will certainly find worth your time—the sort that pays for the best kind of liquor.”

Of course they wouldn’t be interested until I patted my lower waist and the money pouch jingled loudly. The lips of the men slowly curled, and the man with the liquor capped it and hooked it onto his waist.

“We’re listening.”

I nodded at the liquor shop with its bright lanterns and bold lettered sign. “I’ll pay for drinks, so let’s talk some place a little more private.”

And so we went inside. Overall, the shop was not large nor very busy, but still had a second floor. I ordered a private table without delay, putting an oval silver ingot onto the table to pay while glancing inside the coin pouch as I did—for logistical purposes. Hearing I’d pay for drinks and then watching me place down the silver, the mercenaries had switched their attitudes. Now they were looking forward to speaking with me.

We climbed the stairs. As we sat down, I said,

“Please, gentlemen, order a drink. Don’t look at the price. Whatever you like, it’s on me.”

A few hoots of awe, there were ambitious smiles wrought with missing and crooked teeth along with a jumble of drink orders. However, I had no spare time to get drunk. I looked at the man whom appeared to have the most say in the group.

“Your name, sir?”

“Aye’, it’s Huo An.”

“Please call me…Du Zhong²Zhong means 'loyal, devoted, and honest',” I glanced at the rest, “let’s talk business.”

I slid a piece of parchment out of my sleeve and onto the table. It had a red seal and was printed with neat, half arcane characters, causing the men to grimace down at it and attempt to read what they couldn’t³Many commoners could not read in ancient china besides a few common characters for day to day use (but research on this varies).. I leaned over the table, lowering my voice to elaborate.

“This is a letter from the governor’s son, Young Master Chen of this Kang city. I’m merely his servant, and went out to look for a befitting persons on his request this very afternoon.”

I’m not sure how valuable this piece of paper is. A little earlier I ripped it off the entrance of a shop. It has a seal of some certification of some profession, and I borrowed a brush and added a few words onto it at the bottom. The words were only a few ostentatious fabricated lines, that such-and-such young master of this city condoned my actions and blah-blah-blah.

“Does it say that?” said one, scrutinizing the letter like he could intimidate it. But he couldn’t, so eventually he sat back and took another drink. “Really? Sounds like a kinda nonsense.”

I shook my head with disappointment. “Is my generosity and this document not telling enough? The truth is, I could have asked any group of mercenaries, and it happened to be you gentlemen. If you have doubts, it’s no offense, I will be taking my leave.”

I made to stand, but in an instant several men interrupted.

“Wait!”

“Don’t be hasty…”

At the very least they wanted another round of drinks, so I sat back down.

Huo An sat with his arm leaning onto the table. “I believe you. But what could Young Master Chen want with our lil’ group of mercenaries?”

The others grunted in agreement. I carefully folded the document down the middle and put back into my sleeve.

“A very simple task. You sirs may have heard, but the young master is coming of age soon. And to put it delicately, his reputation is a little wanting if he’s to inherit his father’s position.”

They laughed under their breaths. Huo An spoke with jeering, “A little? Du Zhong, you got a way with words! We’ve been here less than a week and already heard of the Lord’s son—a Young Master who likes gambling and drinking.”

“Yes, yes. So, he wants a better start to his coming of age. Something that will really make the people forget the past and think of him fondly-”

“Say what he wants already!”

“...There are numerous villages outside the city, small and scattered to the point that being attacked by bandits wouldn’t be unheard of. If the Young Master prevented such an atrocity with the wave of a hand, stepping into the scene with a chivalrous spirit, how could the civilians of Kang city forget that the he cared for even the most insignificant of farmer?”

The men gripped their cups as the server came by, pouring them full one by one. Huo An drank it in one gulp then slammed his cup onto the table, shaking all the dishes, and his coarse voice was like a disgruntled bear’s.

“Oh what a great deal you got! You want us to be criminals?!”

I only continued to smile. A pot of liquor sat in a porcelain jar on the table, blue dragons flew around the top, forming a circle. I treated his annoyance like nothing, narrowing my eyes. The other men were at first eager for their drinks, now they turned quiet and still to watch the sparks fly between us.

“Please don’t be quick to disagree, Mister Huo,” I said. “For mercenaries, a job without killing couldn’t be simpler. Nothing, isn’t that so? Or is it too difficult to pretend to hassle some easy-minded village folk?”

I lifted the dragon porcelain, filling his white cup, and he grudgingly picked it up.

“Bah! It’s not difficult. If we do it, the reward?”

“Five silver ingots⁴ancient currency of which I will not be very accurate or specific about *nervous laughter* as a down payment...” I discussed it.

Working in the department of Revenue, I was very good at making it a generous reward, but not so generous that they think it’s a scam. It was decided that they wouldn’t get paid if any villager, or the ‘Young Master’ ended up seriously injured. 'Young Master Chen' wasn’t interested in having any innocent lives weighing on his shoulders, after all.

For a pause, Huo An glared down into his liquor, his taunt expression glaring back. Sweat dribbled down his neck. The offer was a small fortune. Another spoke up in no more than a hiss.

“Something stinks! Money is worthless if we rot in prison. How can this be safe for us, how do we know that we won’t be executed?”

In response to their worries and concerns, I once again explained that the Young Master didn’t want any persons harmed. His only goal is receiving a boost in reputation as the rescued villagers go about spreading words of praise. They worst the mercenaries would have to do is skip to the next town afterwards. The man glanced at Huo An, but he was still absorbed in the ripples in his liquor cup.

The man said, “I’ll say it straight—I don’t trust you government people. What if this was only to lure us there, then allowed us to be killed like sitting ducks? Works out pretty good if the Young Master is the only one who knows the truth.”

“It wouldn’t be much of a heroic act if the Young Master came with a whole unit of soldiers, no? Young Master Chen never rides outside the city with more than three guards. It would be too suspicious if he suddenly decided to bring out more.”

“Oh, huh…” he said.

The others continued to glance at Hou An for guidance, then over to me with raised brows. Uncaring, I placed my hands on the floor to rise.

“You all do not seem too interested, so this Du Zhong will pay and-”

“We’re interested.” Huo An raised a hand to stop me. “But as my brother said, the usual punished for bandits is imprisonment or execution. You serve under the lord of this city, but have got to understand that for us lower class, the elite don’t care about us. It makes us uncomfortable if you only make wordy promises. So, what protection is there for us?”

The gears in my heard turned, and then the ‘official document’ once again came out of my sleeve. Lightly, I placed back onto the table.

“If you were to expose this paper with his seal and writing, it would cause some trouble to the young master.”

It would actually cause trouble for themselves, because it would be slander and fraud.

I stood up, slowly putting my hands behind my back and staring at them all, one by one, but there were no signs that they doubted the authenticity of my scribbles. It was a deplorable ignorance that only persons unfamiliar with the area would have. Too bad for them, I’m not going to correct their mistake, but I have a feeling I’ll burst my stomach laughing over it later.

“So what do you gentlemen say? If you accept the document, then it’s an agreement. I am ready to notify the Young Master at once and the plan will begin immediately. If, for some reason, you take the first payment and do not hold up your end of the deal, there will be appropriate consequence-”

“-deal!” answered Huo An, nodding with a meaningful furrow in his brow. “It’s a deal.”

I placed down the money, watching their eyes gleam brightly. I said,

“The little village of Shi is the first off the road out the east gate, surrounded by a short passage of forest. Rise up some smoke and we will arrive shortly.”

Huo An asked, “How do we collect the rest of the payment?”

“Just outside of Shi village, once the ‘bandits’ have been driven away. I’ll be there looking worried and afraid. If there’s a witness nearby, I’ll come find you all at a later point in time.”

“Heh…!” Huo An gave a toothy grin. “Surname Du, you’re a funny fellow.”

I gave a slight exclamation. “I near forgot—you all haven’t seen the Young Master’s appearance before?”

Hou An and the rest shook their heads. With a smile, I placed a finger onto my right cheek.

“There’s a small scar here, but it’s very noticeable. He fell on a sharp rock when he was a child.”

Amarathia

Fang Shuren is scummy. He steals an innocent person's hat and then tricks hardworking mercenaries.