Xuanqing Guard

Zhang Qian and Gan Lin are Deputy Thousand Households at the Garrison Thousand Households Station in Fengri City. Their lives are usually pretty easy—aside from daily drills, there’s not much else to do—so they’re often seen wandering around outside, either at the Flower House or the tavern. And they’ve dragged Shen Hao out with them more than once.

Truth be told, these two can count as Shen Hao’s friends. Sure, they get together mostly for drinks and food, but there’s real loyalty between them too.

But this time it looked like Zhang Qian and Gan Lin left in such a hurry, they only had time to leave behind a letter.

In the letter, they said they’d received orders from the Ministry of War to each take their Personal Guard and head immediately to Hai Xia to be reassigned into the garrison there. Their positions at the Garrison would be filled by others.

Between the lines, Shen Hao could tell Zhang Qian and Gan Lin were both excited. They said straight out, "We’ve been waiting for this day for a long time."

It didn’t take much to figure out why Zhang Qian and Gan Lin were sent to Hai Xia. There’s only one reason: experience. These two were both from the Jingxi Army, and old hands who’d seen real battle. Having them train troops at Hai Xia for backup was only logical.

But with both Zhang Qian and Gan Lin being transferred, it probably meant that reassignments in the Jingxi Army and Jingnan Army were happening even more frequently, huh? Not that the Xuanqing Guard had any real-time briefings on top military secrets like that.

Shen Hao put the letter back in the envelope, thinking to himself: "So they’re getting ready for a big war."

There’s a shake-up happening at the top of the military right now. Shen Hao wasn’t sure what sort of situation Yang Yansi was in these days, but Vice Minister Xu Hong from the Ministry of War had been jailed, Wen Mingju was stepping in—that was bound to cause turmoil. Yet, judging by Zhang Qian and Gan Lin’s urgent transfers, the war preparations down south didn’t seem to be affected by any of it.

After eating, he did some stretching in the yard. He practiced his Magic every day, and he couldn’t slack off on his meditation training, either. But he hadn’t slept for a few days, so Shen Hao planned to get some rest as soon as he finished his work.

Late at night, after Hu Tian came to check in, he just went straight back to his room to sleep—not knowing how late Master Shen would train tonight.

The only one still up waiting for Shen Hao was Xia Nu, who was dozing off while leaning against a pillar nearby. When Shen Hao was home, she had to wait and serve him until he went to bed or told her to go rest. Originally, the two little ones were supposed to do the same, but they were too young to handle late nights. Shen Hao was lenient with them, so they were already fast asleep.

When Shen Hao wrapped up his magic training, he went over and tugged Xia Nu’s ear: "Fetch some water for the bedroom. I need a bath."

"Ouch! Eh? Oh! Don’t worry, Master, I already got it ready. Drew three big buckets—just head to your room and you can wash up."

"Good, you come too."

Xia Nu, still half-asleep, heard this line and jolted awake as if someone had stepped on her tail. Her face instantly turned a vivid red, she dropped her head, and mumbled two quiet sounds—who knew if she was even responding.

Shen Hao led the way, and as soon as he got inside, spread his arms for Xia Nu to help him undress, then headed straight into the washing room behind the bedroom.

The weather was hot these days. There was no need for a hot soak—just a cool rinse-off made sleep even sweeter. Of course, things changed quite a bit when Xia Nu came in to serve Shen Hao, wearing nothing but thin silks.

He’d barely finished his first bucket when Xia Nu bent to fetch a new one, and Shen Hao just pulled her into his arms, pushed her up against the wall from behind... and carried her straight into the bedroom afterwards...

By now, Shen Hao really had a sense of the Barbarian Race People’s physical strength. Xia Nu was just an ordinary Fox Woman, not trained in cultivation, maybe only with a touch of inner charm, but she could handle most of Shen Hao’s demands. If it were a Human Race woman, unless she was a Cultivator, she’d probably be stuck in bed for two days after a night like that. But Xia Nu would just get worn out, and by noon the next day, she’d be perky as ever.

And Shen Hao wasn’t some greenhorn—he’d seen enough of the world, was a regular at the Flower House, but with Xia Nu, he always felt unsatisfied. If it weren’t for needing to meditate and the other person’s limits, he could keep her going all night.

"Even if a cultivator’s stamina is off the charts, you still gotta show some restraint." Shen Hao glanced out the window at the bright daylight—he suddenly realized he’d overslept a little.

As soon as Shen Hao got up, Hong Chou and Brocade and Silk heard the noise instantly, carrying in hot water and a washcloth from the room next door. They set about helping Shen Hao wash up as usual, sneaking peeks at Xia Nu, who was still asleep in bed, with only a scrap of blanket on her belly—most of her body exposed, looking rosy and smiling in her sleep.

These two girls weren’t like the young flowers in a brothel—they already knew a lot for their age. Plus, Xia Nu in her silly way was always teaching them things she’d picked up at the brokerage, so now the two of them were starting to pick up some of her foolish habits too.

Especially Hong Chou, the little foodie. Everything she’d eaten seemed to grow in just the right places—well-proportioned, already showing a spicy little figure. Sometimes Shen Hao couldn’t even look at her as just a kid.

After breakfast, Shen Hao headed out. All the tiredness of the past few days was gone; he was full of energy, his usual irritability completely faded, and even his face looked kinder. The two Guards driving the carriage could tell their master was in a great mood today.

"When we get to the Garrison, ask them how much longer those men stationed around my house have to stick around?"

"Yes, sir. Once we arrive, I’ll go ask."

After the carriage ride to the Garrison, once the tea was brewed and brought into the office, Shen Hao took out the files for the Ma San Case and got back to work organizing them.

By late morning, a Guard came to report that he’d asked, but couldn’t get any concrete answer—just that they’d keep protecting the area around Shen Hao’s house until the assassin was caught.

Having people stationed around his house all the time wasn’t a great situation—it just made Shen Hao feel like he was being watched. Not to mention, he already had three top experts secretly guarding him, so these Xuanqing Guard soldiers out in the open didn’t add much.

And from the Guard’s words, it sounded like there’d been no progress on the attack?

He waved the Guard away, thought for a while, and used his lunchtime break to find Tang Qingyuan in the mess hall. Apparently, Tang Qingyuan was the main person in charge of investigating the assassination attempt. Old acquaintance—easier to talk to.

"Oh? Lord Shen, haven’t seen you in a while. Your Black Banner Battalion just took down another big case, huh? The rewards this time must be something else." Tang Qingyuan was shoveling food as he saw Shen Hao come over with his lunch, cracking a joke with a smile.

Tang Qingyuan was genuinely jealous. This young man in front of him was red-hot right now, while old guys like him were on their way out—the difference was night and day.

"Just got back yesterday—been so busy my head’s spinning. You’re making a joke out of me, Lord Tang." Shen Hao picked up a rib and tossed it in his mouth, giving a squinty-eyed grin in return.

"You’re about to rack up more merit than you can count. I don’t even have time to be jealous, let alone laugh! Tsk tsk, bet it won’t be long before you get another promotion."

After some small talk, Shen Hao finally got serious: "Lord Tang, about the attempt on my life—any progress on the case?"