Xuanqing Guard

Stepping into the Thousand Households Station, the atmosphere felt distinct from usual.

Although the Station was always bustling with activity, faces were generally relaxed; rarely would anyone walk around with a tense expression, and the urgency now lingering in the air was almost palpable.

"Sir, latest news from the south!"

Just as he reached the Public Office doors, Wang Yiming was already waiting there, holding a stamped copper rod, his anxious expression quite apparent.

Shen Hao said nothing, opened the Public Office door and entered. Wang Yiming followed him in.

After the gatekeeper brought in tea and shut the door, Shen Hao pointed at Wang Yiming and said, "Don’t shout so frantically when you’ve got urgent matters—yelling outside the door! Are you hoping someone else won’t overhear?"

Wang Yiming gave an awkward smile, "I was careless, Sir, thank you for the reminder. Here’s the latest strip—the southern border army and the Barbarian Race clashed again last night, thirty li northwest of Jianchuan. Looks like the border army suffered a setback."

Suffered a setback?

Shen Hao frowned slightly, reached out and took the rod from Wang Yiming, opening it up—it was a rubbing, but the content perfectly matched the original.

It read:

...May 20th, night, our Mixed Battalion conducted a night reconnaissance at Jianchuan and encountered enemy cavalry patrols fifteen li northwest of Jianchuan. We made probes and contact, fought for a stick of incense’s time, then retreated, losing several dozen men in the process. The enemy pursued relentlessly, and later, thirty li northwest of Jianchuan, awaited their reinforcements. Once joined, their numbers reached nearly two Mixed Battalions and they turned back to fight.

The Southern Barbarians fought fiercely, refusing to back down. At early 9 p.m., the Southern Barbarians received two reinforcements, totaling over six thousand, and encircled our two Mixed Battalions.

At mid-9 p.m., our two Mixed Battalions retreated to the military camp, the enemy withdrew.

In this engagement, our forces lost over eight hundred men killed and three hundred injured; enemy losses estimated at over eight hundred...

After reading, Shen Hao’s brow was taut as ever. Though not versed in military affairs, he could tell from the report that the border army truly suffered, and for a single battle, it was a major loss.

The casualties ourselves matched the enemy—this was merely an estimate, and judging by previous casualty ratios, the Jingjiu Dynasty troops had clearly shown superior fighting power, but now the losses were equal, and factoring in the wounded, nearly an entire Mixed Battalion had been wiped out!

What was more vexing, the night reconnaissance had obviously been detected in advance; otherwise, Barbarian reinforcements would not have arrived so quickly, nor would their pursuit have been so relentless.

Moreover, maybe the Jingjiu Dynasty had taken advantage in the previous two skirmishes, causing them to drop their guard psychologically. Had they retreated immediately upon seeing enemy reinforcements, the losses may not have been so severe.

"Luckily, a military camp had been built beforehand. Otherwise, once retreating, we might’ve lost the northwest Jianchuan front entirely, allowing the Barbarians to threaten the rear again with their northern pincer. However, from this engagement onward, the initiative at Jianchuan passes to the Barbarians. Unless the border army sends more troops, no one inside the camp is getting out."

Wang Yiming analyzed a few points—this was the real shift caused by suddenly losing this battle.

"In your view, what are the chances that Zuo Yuliang will reinforce that area?" Shen Hao noticed Wang Yiming seemed quite knowledgeable about military affairs, and wanted to hear his opinion.

"Sir, I dare not presume Marshal Zuo’s intentions. But if I were commanding, I’d immediately order the central and lower routes—our two flanking forces—to launch probing attacks on the Barbarian camps at White Head Gorge and Hu Zhu Yuan, while also sending reinforcements opposite Jianchuan, that is, our camp on the upper route.

Right now, both sides are locked in a standoff; we’re clearly unprepared, and the Barbarians don’t seem ready either. No one dares to commit main forces. So, it’s especially crucial not to lose established positions; if the Barbarians force their pincer, we’ll struggle to hold any ground east of Wu Lake."

Shen Hao did not comment; he was an outsider to these matters, but clearly his deputy had skills previously unnoticed. Right or wrong—time would tell.

After the discussion, Wang Yiming withdrew. As soon as he left, Wang Jian knocked and entered, closing the door behind him.

"Sir, there’s progress from Wu Kai’s side!"

Another message bearer. Shen Hao breathed a sigh of relief—Jiang Cheng’s strict deadline orders had placed him and all Black Banner Battalion staff working the Ma San Case under immense pressure.

Judging by the dark circles under Wang Jian’s eyes, he hadn’t rested properly in days.

"Sir, Wu Kai used the pretext of purchasing elixirs from Xie Kai through court channels to establish contact. He probed whether Xie Kai had anything better than the Small Nourishing Pill, like Great Nourishing Pill, and Xie Kai confirmed, but said only lower-grade Spirit Stones or magical artifacts would be accepted—no more silver coins.

Wu Kai wonders if we should try buying more potent elixirs from Xie Kai to gain his trust..."

Wang Jian was interrupted by Shen Hao’s wave of the hand before he could finish.

Shen Hao scoffed coldly. "Wu Kai is dreaming. Using Xuanqing Guard’s silver to buy pills for himself, now eyeing lower-grade Spirit Stones and magical artifacts too—greedy as hell. In the past, I might have let him do as he pleased, but right now, time is far too tight, and we don’t have any extra time for him to slowly build trust.

Did Xie Kai reveal where these embezzled military supplies come from? A mere Camp Captain probably doesn’t have the means to skim off Great Nourishing Pills, does he?"

"No, Xie Kai certainly doesn’t have that ability. Those are Assistant General’s quota allocations. To skim off those, you’d need to control the entire logistics at Beach Stone."

"So this implicates the Military Garrison Commander in charge of logistics?"

"Yes, Sir, but that’s only a deduction. If we want concrete proof, Wu Kai needs direct contact for confirmation. Do you think..."

"No, the timing’s too tight." Shen Hao refused again. He understood Wang Jian’s concern—mere conjecture doesn’t count as evidence for investigation records, and doesn’t meet superior requirements. Tracking this slowly would be too sluggish, and there’s no guarantee of success.

"Can we ask for help from the Inspectors in the garrison?" Wang Jian grinned, rubbing his hands, as if finally voicing a long-considered solution.

"Inspectors?" Shen Hao was taken aback, surprised that Wang Jian suddenly brought this up, and waited for him to elaborate.

Wang Jian, feeling uneasy under Shen Hao’s gaze, smiled awkwardly, "Sir, it’s the only way we—the Little Ghost, Ghost Gate, and Judge sections—think we could finish the investigation in two months. By leveraging Wu Kai and the many Xuanqing Guard Inspectors within the border army, we could apply internal and external pressure to all targets, and act rapidly to expand the results. But we can’t reach the Inspectors ourselves; we’d need you to coordinate."

Shen Hao thought it through and understood Wang Jian’s intent: seeing ’insufficient manpower,’ he wanted to enlist the Xuanqing Guard Inspectors to aid in the investigation. Indeed, more hands meant greater strength. To accelerate progress and achieve breakthroughs, relying only on current scouts in the border army was far from enough.