East of the River: Home of the Sun Clan sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne

“Thank you, good sir,” Taishi Ci said gratefully. “I need my wits about me…”
“You sound like a man from the northeast,” the tavern keeper noted as he turned and gestured to an apprentice behind him. “Qing Province, is it…?”
“Donglai,” Taishi Ci confirmed.
“…You seem like an honest sort; you get to tell these things in my line of work,” the tavern keeper decided. “Alright, well, follow the lad when he comes back, and you’ll be on your way west in no time!”
“My… thanks,” Taishi Ci said with increasing fatigue.

Although the carriage ride was bumpy, Taishi Ci was able to get some sleep for the first part of the journey; it was only when the open carriage reached Luoyang that the driver was stopped by a gang of swarthy men that wore a mixture of scruffy work clothes and robes under their leather armour.
“Who’s in the back?” the leader of the men said to the driver as he stroked the nose of the carthorse.
“J-just some messenger from the east,” the driver replied.
“Wh-what…?” Taishi Ci yawned as he sat up and looked at the gang of men that now surrounded him.
“Who’re you, then, mate?” the bandit leader asked rudely.
“A messenger from Donglai,” Taishi Ci replied as his wits returned. “I’m delivering an urgent letter; it’s all I have on me now.”
The bandit leader frowned and said, “No money purse?”
“It’s empty,” Taishi Ci chuckled as he showed the bandit leader his battered leather purse. “Search me if you want… but I spent everything I had getting here.”
“…Alright, lads, let’s leave him be,” the bandit leader said after a moments’ reflection. “Off you go, fellows.”
The White Wave Bandits backed away from the carriage, and Taishi Ci continued the last part of his journey toward Luoyang.

The vastness of the imperial capital might have overawed Taishi Ci on any other day, but he knew that he had a job to do.

Unfortunately, entering the capital would be no easy feat, as recent uprisings and insurrections had led to a massive increase in security checks on any travellers going into or out of the capital.
Taishi Ci leant forward, tapped the driver on the shoulder and said, “You can leave me here, friend… no sense you getting caught up in checks when you don’t even want to go in there!”
“My thanks,” the carriage driver said, and Taishi Ci disembarked and said his farewells. Once the carriage was gone, Taishi advanced toward the main gate, and noticed an agitated man in official’s robes arguing with two soldiers.
“I need to get through!” the man protested. “I have an urgent petition from the Inspector of Qing Province!”
Taishi Ci was struck dumb with horror; this was the man that he had been sent to overtake, and now he was in front of him with a considerable advantage.
“And we already told you that you need to wait!” one of the soldiers retorted. “You’ll get your turn, Mister whoever-you-are, so please wait!”
“I’ll be making a complaint to the Magistrate of Luoyang!” the messenger bellowed.
“You do that,” the second soldier heckled. “Get in line.”
The frustrated messenger turned, observed the queue of people and carriages waiting to pass the human wall of security, and groaned noisily.
“…Right… okay… think… think…!” Taishi Ci said to himself with increasing frustration. He knew that he had only one chance to succeed, but that meant a small moral compromise. After a few moments of wrangling with his conscience, he made his decision and acted upon it.

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