Chapter 7

The foundation was built with loess, a thick layer of gravel was spread on top, and it was compacted with a roller, making the wide official road very smooth and easy to travel.

For a mere thirty li journey, A-Gou’s well-trained old yellow wolf had excellent stamina. It bounded along playfully, and in less than a quarter of an hour, it had carried Chu Tian to Shuzhou City.

Outside the towering city gate, a few black-clad patrol officers mixed in with a group of provincial soldiers, seemingly dozing lazily. However, their eyes, sharper than those of thieves, constantly scanned the crowds entering and exiting the city.

The old yellow wolf, larger than a large ox, stuck out its long tongue and leaped over a dozen zhang, landing heavily at the city gate. The patrol officers were suddenly startled, straightening their bodies, and their sharp gazes quickly swept over Chu Tian’s face.

A middle-aged patrol officer, looking sharp and agile, parted two provincial soldiers and walked over with a smile, hurriedly saluting Chu Tian.

"Headman Chu, entering the city again? Hey, Old Yellow, be good. Last time, you swallowed the rooster from Widow Li’s house while walking down the street..."

Chu Tian smiled and took out half a silver ingot from his sleeve, tossing it out: "For the brothers to have some tea. No worries, no worries. With Ah Que by my side, even if all the widows in the world joined forces, they couldn’t do anything to Old Yellow. Hmm, is there something going on in the city?"

The middle-aged patrol officer deftly caught the half silver ingot, which slipped into his sleeve.

He shook his sleeve with a chuckle, patted the panting old yellow wolf’s head, and leaned forward to Chu Tian: "Tsk, nothing major, just routine bandit hunting. A Chu family fleet transported twenty thousand bolts of silk, and the big shots from the Three Prefectures forcibly levied a fifty percent toll. The Chu family’s silkworm manager is currently causing a fuss at the provincial government, isn’t he?"

"Fifty percent? Isn’t it usually twenty percent?" Chu Tian’s eyes widened in surprise.

"Scared, right? It’s usually a twenty percent toll, but the new silkworm manager of the Chu family put on airs, scolding those big shots, which escalated the situation. Blood was drawn, how could it end well?" The middle-aged patrol officer shrank his neck and laughed dryly: "If we’re to hunt bandits, we’ll see if we can catch a few unlucky small thieves to take the blame."

He spread his hands and chuckled: "As for those big shots from the Three Prefectures, Headman Chu, you’re one of us, you know, they’re not someone we can deal with."

Chu Tian waved his hand, chuckled a few times, and licked his lips: "Ten thousand bolts of silk, wow, how many fish and shrimp would that buy?"

The old yellow wolf calmed down, took small steps, and carried Chu Tian into Shuzhou City.

Faintly, Chu Tian could still hear the patrol officers and provincial soldiers whispering behind him: "Scared, right? Big scales for gold, small scales for silver, big bowls for meat, big bowls for wine. These days, officials are worse than bandits! Wearing this official uniform, it’s just for show, how much benefit can there be?"

Chu Tian laughed speechlessly and shook his head.

After passing through the long city gate tunnel, there was a walled city covering two hundred mu.

On peaceful days, the walled city was a spontaneous market, with many small merchants and vendors setting up stalls, selling trivial items. Chu Tian rode the old yellow wolf, slowly passing through the walled city, and exchanged a few words with the provincial soldiers guarding the inner city gate, inviting them to have tea as a routine, before officially entering Shuzhou City.

Without needing Chu Tian to guide, the old yellow wolf skillfully navigated through the streets of Shuzhou City. A sweet, greasy scent wafted from ahead, and on the clean, blue stone streets, two rows of exquisite small buildings stood in an orderly manner, with all the doors tightly closed.

In broad daylight, there were few people on this street. Only at the street ends, a few idle men sat at tea stalls, grinning and looking around furtively. When they saw Chu Tian, they wanted to come over to greet him but were hesitant, nodding and smiling from a distance.

Chu Tian nodded slightly to them, and the old yellow wolf, with its long tongue hanging out, walked to the end of the street, its large paws pushing against the small lacquered door of a courtyard.

The old yellow wolf, with its strong and powerful body, pushed the door with its paws, and the door creaked, almost breaking the frame. The signboard above the door, inscribed with "Qingliu Xiaozhu," creaked, and a few dust particles fell from behind it.

Inside the courtyard, a sharp voice shouted: "Which rotten-hearted bastard is causing trouble in broad daylight? The door is breaking, the door is breaking, stop it, stop it, you bastard!"

The door opened with a bang, and a woman, looking over forty, wearing a red dress and green skirt, with seven or eight jade bracelets on her wrist and a few pounds of gold chain around her neck, her head adorned with dazzling jewels, stood with her hands on her hips, glaring fiercely at Chu Tian.

"Headman Chu Tian!" The woman’s bright red lips opened wide, and a large amount of saliva spewed out, scaring the old yellow wolf into jumping back to avoid her spittle: "Our Qingliu Xiaozhu is a proper place, you’re coming in broad daylight..."

"Scared, do I have to come at midnight?" Chu Tian rolled his eyes at the woman and took out a gold bar from his sleeve, waving it.

"Coming in broad daylight to have tea and listen to music is also fine!" The woman’s fierce face suddenly broke into a smile. She forcibly twisted her thick waist, like a fat penguin, and quickly snatched the gold bar from Chu Tian’s hand.

One eye wide open, the other tightly shut, the woman bit the gold bar with her teeth, and her face lit up with a smile: "Pure gold, hehe, Headman Chu is getting rich? Come in, come in, you short-lived bitches, hurry up and get dressed, Headman Chu is here!"

She chuckled and loudly called out, wiggling her round waist: "My dear daughters, the Headman Chu you’ve been thinking about all day is here! Don’t sleep, what are you sleeping for? You’ll have plenty of time to sleep when you’re dead! Come on, a few of you, Headman Chu is here!"

The woman waved the gold bar fiercely, her eyes wide open, staring at the empty, exquisite courtyard.

"Mother Xiu, just busy yourself, I’m here to chat with Sister Hong. Please send a pot of tea over, that’s all!" Chu Tian patted the old yellow wolf’s neck, and it lightly leaped into the courtyard, its thick, strong tail closing the door tightly, and its hind paws even latched the door bolt.

Without needing anyone to guide, the old yellow wolf followed the corridor in the courtyard, heading skillfully to the back.

Mother Xiu smiled like a flower, hurriedly responded to Chu Tian, stuffed the gold bar into her sleeve, and happily hopped away.

After passing through the front courtyard, they followed a path paved with pebbles for a dozen zhang, and several exquisite courtyards lined up in a row at the back.

The old yellow wolf came to the door of the first courtyard on the right, and heavily lay down on the ground outside, its long tail sweeping the ground. Chu Tian patted its head, straightened his clothes, and gently pushed the courtyard door open, walking in.

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