Chapter 40: The Storm at the City Gate

  "Halt! What's going on? What are you carrying in the cart?" Just as they approached the city gate, a shout came from the gate and a soldier wearing leather armor walked towards them.

  As soon as he saw the soldier, Zhao Hu rushed to put down the cart loaded with grain and hurriedly ran towards the soldier. "Sir, I'm here with my son to sell grain in the city." As he spoke, Zhao Hu turned around and pointed at Zhao Fei, who also hastily bowed to the soldier.

  "Nothing but food, is there?" The soldier didn't even glance at Zhao Fei, walked around Zhao Hu and went straight to the cart. Watching the soldier's arrogant appearance, Zhao Fei felt a bit angry, but he didn't dare show it. No way out, no money, no power, so he could only pretend to be obedient.

  "Of course not, nothing but food was loaded." Zhao Hu followed the soldier honestly and replied humbly.

  The soldier glanced at Zhao Hu and then looked at the cart, saying sternly: "You said you didn't load anything, really nothing was loaded. Take everything down, I want to check."

  The people passing by the city gate were already used to it and didn't gather around. At this time, Zhao Fei also saw something, nothing more than the melodramatic plot of a TV series, wanting to stir up trouble and collect some money. Zhao Fei had originally wanted to settle the matter peacefully, sending him some money to hurry things along, but unfortunately, he didn't have a single copper coin on hand.

  Zhao Hu was too honest and couldn't figure out the inside story. When he heard the soldier say this, he became very anxious at once. He grabbed the soldier's sleeve and begged urgently: "Officer, there is really only grain on the cart, nothing else!"

  When Zhao Hu said that, the soldier was taken aback at first. Then he became angry and shouted, "You scoundrel, you don't understand the rules! Since you don't want to spend money, I won't blame myself." He roughly pushed away Zhao Hu's hand and shouted, "Hey! You rascal, you're hesitant to let me see it, are you hiding something that can't be seen? Someone come and push this car away, I'll inspect it carefully!"

  Zhao Hu was flung aside by the soldier and almost fell over, but Zhao Fei rushed over to support him. "Dad, are you okay?" Before Zhao Hu could respond, he heard the soldier's shout and quickly got up to run to the soldier's side, grabbing onto him. "Officer, I'm just an ordinary citizen, I really didn't hide anything that can't be seen! You can't take away my cart, our whole family is relying on it to survive!"

  Hearing Zhao Hu say this, the soldiers couldn't help but become even more enraged. "You dare to speak like that, if it weren't for General's good mood, I would have taken you, a thief trying to sneak into the city, and yet you still dare to ask for a ride? Bring people over, get these two out of here."

  Upon hearing this, Zhao Fei's anger also flared up. Bribery didn't work so they resorted to robbery. Are these soldiers or bandits? Just as he was about to rush forward, he heard shouting from behind.

  "What's all the shouting about?" Zhao Fei turned his head to look, and saw a heavily armored general with a sturdy and tall build. His expression was firm and resolute, with sharp eyes. "He must be an official!" This was Zhao Fei's first impression upon seeing this person, because unlike others, he wasn't holding a long spear, but instead had a precious sword hanging from his waist.

  Upon hearing the shout, the soldier's arrogant expression vanished and he turned into a flattering face. He shook off Zhao Hu and hastily ran over to that person. "Reporting to Commander Zhao, I just discovered a suspicious person." He pointed at Zhao Hu. "I was just trying to inspect his vehicle, but this man has been making excuses and obstructing my inspection."

  "Is that so? I'll go take a look." After hearing the soldier's words, the sword-wearing soldier walked over to Zhao Hu. The sword-wearing soldier was named Zhao Meng, and he was the gate commander of this city gate. Although his position was not high, he was still an official after all. He also had more than ten soldiers under him. Originally, Zhao Meng didn't want to get involved in this trivial matter, because it was also a rule, and those few kids knew they had to show respect to him after collecting the money. At first, he even resented Zhao Hu for not understanding the rules. However, just now, news came from above that Zhang Lao Ye's carriage would be passing by soon, and absolutely no one should block Zhang Lao Ye's entry into the city. Who was Zhang Lao Ye? He was a figure in Zhending City who was known to everyone. He was a prominent family in Zhending City, although he might not have been anything outside of it. But within this small Zhending City, he was absolutely a person who had the final say. Moreover, the governor had intentionally tried to form an alliance with the Zhang family through marriage, and although Zhang Lao Ye had not agreed yet, it still made the Zhang family's power grow day by day. Anyway, Zhao Meng knew that if they wanted to get rid of him, it would be easier than pinching a dead ant to death. So, seeing things getting more and more out of hand, with the city gate already congested, Zhao Meng had no choice but to step forward.

  Looking at the sword-wielding soldier walking towards him, Zhao Hu became more and more familiar. After careful consideration, he pointed at the general and suddenly spoke up: "Are you Xiao Meng?"

  Hearing someone call out to him, Zhao Meng was taken aback. Looking at the middle-aged man in front of him, he felt a sense of familiarity, but didn't dare to acknowledge it. "Who are you?"

  "I'm your Uncle Hu, Zhao Jia village's Uncle Hu. Your dad isn't Zhao Cai, is he? I often go to your house to help out, you don't remember?" Zhao Hu said excitedly.

  "Ah!" Zhao Meng suddenly realized, unexpectedly it was him. Forget it, since he recognized him, not helping out would be inappropriate. "So it's Uncle Hu, why didn't you contact me when you came into the city?"

  It turned out that the person who came was indeed Zhao Meng, and Zhao Hu's mood became very happy. However, the soldiers following behind Zhao Meng couldn't help but tremble slightly. They had bullied Zhao Hu, thinking he was just a country bumpkin with no background, but now everything was completely overturned. It turned out that this person actually knew his superior, and it seemed to be Zhao Meng's elder.

  "I came to the city to sell grain, you know that this year's harvest is good. So I was going to exchange some of the leftover grain for money to spend, but before I even entered the city, I encountered this matter." Zhao Hu said honestly, although he confirmed that the person was Zhao Meng, but due to his humble mindset, when encountering an official, no matter how familiar they were, he didn't dare speak loudly.

  Just then, Zhao Fei walked up to Zhao Hu's side without thinking, sizing up Zhao Meng. Indeed, he was worthy of the "Meng" character in his name, looking very brave and robust, with a sturdy build. He didn't seem as slender as other soldiers, and should have some strength. His expression seemed slightly dull, but not like that of a great villain. But he had such a father. Was he really just like what he looked?

  "Huh? Who are you again?" Zhao Meng looked at Zhao Fei and asked.

  "This is my son Little Fei." Zhao Hu pulled over Zhao Fei and pointed at Zhao Meng saying: "Come, Little Fei, call him Brother Meng."

  "Brother Meng." Zhao Fei greeted Zhao Meng.

  "I remember you were weak and sickly before, I didn't expect that now you've also become quite robust." Zhao Meng patted Zhao Fei's shoulder and said.

  Zhao Fei humbly said, "Thanks to Eldest Brother Yun's blessing, I had the opportunity to learn from Master Tongyuan for a period of time, so I was able to make some progress." As soon as Zhao Yun was mentioned, a hint of gloom flashed across Zhao Meng's eyes, but Zhao Fei didn't notice.

  Seeing the three chatting so happily, the soldier who was just arrogant and domineering actually had his legs trembling with fear, his face pale. He originally wanted to see Zhao Hu being bullied, thinking of taking advantage of the situation to get some money, but he didn't expect it would turn out like this.

  Suddenly, Zhao Meng remembered his mission and felt that he couldn't delay any longer. "Alright, Uncle Hu, let's enter the city first, don't block the city gate." Before Zhao Meng could finish speaking, a group of cavalry appeared in the distance, approaching slowly.

  "Bad, fear what comes what." Zhao Meng saw the people and horses in the distance secretly calling out "not good", and hastily turned around to shout at the soldiers behind him: "Quickly get a few people to move this cart aside first, then hurry up and disperse the pedestrians." After Zhao Meng shouted, the soldiers who originally seemed to have no energy quickly became busy, some pushing carts, others dispersing pedestrians. They completely lost their previous demeanor.

  Zhao Fei looked at the distance in surprise, wondering if a high-ranking official was coming, with such a big fanfare. The knights in the distance slowly approached, and it turned out that the person on horseback was not wearing armor, but a simple robe. "How does he look like a household servant?" Zhao Fei muttered to himself. Not far behind the team of horses and men was a delicate carriage. On the carriage was a flag with a white background and black characters, written with a single character "Zhang". "I don't know who is sitting inside the carriage, but it's quite a big show." Zhao Fei looked around and found that the people around him all showed expressions of envy and jealousy.

  Suddenly a strong gust of wind blew up, blowing open the curtains on the horse carriage. In an instant, a familiar figure appeared before Zhao Fei's eyes. "It was actually her." Zhao Fei's heart surged with waves.