Arriving at the Capital

Three days later, the convoy finally arrived at the heart of the Qin Empire, the Capital City. During these three days, Lin Xiao earned around 10 gold pieces from Ping Jianyu, all from selling his spoils of hunts. The moment they entered the gate of the city, Ping Jianyu’s caravan separated from their group. Before they left, he gave Lin Xiao the address to their shop, telling Lin Xiao to come over whenever he wanted. Ping Jianyu also helped to pay the escort fee of the White Swan mercenary group.

“Actually, didn’t he suffer a loss instead?” Lin Xiao wondered and Ruo An who was nearby only shook his head at Lin Xiao’s statement.

“Brother Lin, no amount of money can buy your life back after you died. Master Ping might lose money during these past few days, but as long as he’s still alive, he can still recover those loss,” Ruo An informed Lin Xiao.

“True. But I still don’t like that daughter of his… if it weren’t for her, we would’ve arrived yesterday,” Lin Xiao grumbled in dissatisfaction.

“Anyway, Brother Lin, we’ve arrived at the capital, but I don’t think you can manage the wagon and the carriage on your own. How about we escort you all the way to your destination?” Ruo An suggested. A good client like Lin Xiao is really hard to come by. In addition, Lin Xiao occasionally help them when they were attacked by bandits, and even hunted meat for them. Though, he can’t help but feel curious why Lin Xiao would hunt so many meats every day. ‘What happened to the meat that wasn’t eaten? Isn’t it a waste?’ Ruo An silently thought.

Little did he know that none of the leftovers were wasted. They were all used to fill up a certain stomach of Lin Xiao’s three ‘little brothers.’

Lin Xiao heard the offer that Ruo An made and he didn’t waste any time to agree. The only problem was that, even Lin Xiao himself doesn’t know where to go from here on out. He peeked into the wagon from his seat to see Long YinLian eating the dumpling they bought along the way earlier. “Shizun, since we’ve arrived, where are we going to next?” Lin Xiao asked.

“En. First, ask around where the Xia family lives,” Long YinLian replied and Lin Xiao relayed it to Ruo An and the rest of the member of White Swan.

Xia family is currently one of the most well-known family in the capital, all due to the fact that the current patriarch is the leader of one of the top mercenary group, Thunder Hawk. They lived in the inner city, where most nobles and high-class family’s lives.

After finding out their destination, the group proceeded going through the city into the inner city. By the time they arrived, the sun is already high up and it was time for lunch. Lin Xiao got down the wagon and thanked Ruo An for their escort.

“Brother Ruo, please accept this as a token of our appreciation,” Lin Xiao said as he handed another 10 pieces of gold as bonus. If it were not for them, the journey to the capital wouldn’t be as smooth as they had.

“Please don’t mention it, Brother Lin. If fate wills it, we’ll meet again in the future,” Ruo An said as he cupped his hands together. “Thank you for hiring the White Swan. We had an enjoyable journey these past few days. Take care now, Brother Lin. And tell Brother Long as well as the young miss that too,” Ruo An said with a smile before he took his men away.

Lin Xiao watched them leave and then, turned back to the wagon. He wanted to give the sword back to Long YinLian since they are now in the capital.

“Keep the sword, Xiao-er. It’s alright,” Long YinLian said as he pushed the sword back towards Lin Xiao.

“But, Shizun, we already arrived…”

“I know,” Long YinLian smiled before he took out a wooden token from his clothes and handed it over to Lin Xiao. Lin Xiao saw that it was the same token that have the character ’Xia’ carved on it. “Go and talk to the guard on the gate and show them this token.”

Lin Xiao nods his head and then, he went to the guards who were guarding the gate. The guards actually noticed Lin Xiao’s company when they arrived earlier, but they didn’t bother with them. After all, their job is only to guard the entrance to their lord’s manor. But then, they saw him approaching and they began to raise their guard up.

“Good day, sir,” Lin Xiao greets the guards who continued to look at him suspiciously. Their eyes were cold, ready to kick him out the moment Lin Xiao caused a commotion. Lin Xiao also noticed this and he can’t help but prepare himself for the worse. “Few days ago, I saved a young lady from bandits attack. I have escorted her here and she have this with her,” Lin Xiao handed the token to the guard who took it. After inspecting it, they suddenly became hostile.

“How do you have this?!” they asked as they pointed their spears towards Lin Xiao. Lin Xiao just raised both his hands up, not wanting to resort to violence. He repeated what he had said before, but the guards don’t seem to listen to him. “If that is true… then where is this young lady you spoke of?”

“She’s in the carriage! Brothers, you can go and check,” Lin Xiao answered, though he is already tempted to resort to violence. ‘Tsk! If we’re not in the capital and I’m not afraid to get into trouble with the officials, do you think I’m going to be this obedient?!’ Lin Xiao sneered in his heart.

The guards still did not believe him and instead, they pointed their spears to Lin Xiao. At this time, Long YinLian had gotten off the wagon. He already knew that the guards probably won’t listen to them which was why he left the sword in Lin Xiao’s hand.

“Xiao-er, they won’t listen to you. The Xiao family guards are always like this,” Long YinLian said out loud. “If they attack, just defend yourself,” he added as he used his wooden cane to walk towards the carriage.

Lin Xiao on the other hand, started to sweat when he saw that the guards called for reinforcement the moment, they hear Long YinLian’s word. Bandits, Lin Xiao still can manage even if he was overpowered. But this time, he’s surrounded by well-trained guards so he can’t let his guard down.

“Brothers… can we just solve this peacefully?” Lin Xiao tried to negotiate but alas, it was a futile attempt. Now he knows why Long YinLian let him keep the sword.