Shen Hao stayed in Tu Kui City until October 28th before returning to Fengri City. Tang Qingyuan took the personal guards from the Thousand Households Station and left one day earlier.

The reason for staying so long was that Shen Hao wanted to personally oversee the construction of a fixed outpost on the stone wall at Caiyuan Village. He waited until it was finished and confirmed that Liu Kuan himself had taken charge of the task before leaving.

Upon arriving in Fengri City, he didn’t even go home—he went straight to the Thousand Households Station. They said someone from the Governor’s Office had come, and he needed to report for a briefing.

Only after he arrived did he learn the matter was not trivial.

The visitor was a Households Officer from the Governor’s Office, surnamed Lin. Shen Hao knew him; he’d met him once in Jiang Cheng’s Public Office. The man was courteous and always smiling.

But the news Households Commander Lin brought was quite telling.

"Wu Changhe, for allegedly issuing disorderly orders, is under investigation by the Governor’s Office. Day-to-day affairs at the Fengri City Thousand Households Station will be temporarily handled by Deputy Thousand Households Tang Qingyuan."

Households Commander Lin used the phrase "allegedly issuing disorderly orders." That was carefully chosen. Shen Hao instantly understood: this was a move against Wu Changhe. "Disorderly orders" wasn’t a crime, at most it counted as a "mistake"—and it was just "alleged." This kind of phrase might be normal in local government offices, but in the Xuanqing Guard, it stood out sharply.

To put it bluntly, they were looking for an excuse to slap Wu Changhe down. First, restrain him with "alleged," then slowly force him to cough up more information. If he’s got even a speck of dirt on his record, tough luck—most likely he’ll never see the sun again. For people like this, even if sentenced to death, they wouldn’t be dragged out to the market square; their heads would be chopped off in the dungeon at night.

Earlier, Shen Hao had suspected this was the Xuanqing Guard seizing the chance to purge a traitor. Now he felt seventy percent sure his guess was correct.

Wu Changhe was Prince Shou’s man, and blatantly sided with him during Prince Shou’s visit to Fengri City, even teaming up with Xie Youlin from the local government office to serve the prince.

This did boost Prince Shou’s influence in Fengri City, but it shook the Xuanqing Guard’s footing. Wu Changhe probably didn’t realize it, but the Xuanqing Guard’s upper echelons were surely displeased.

Now, Shen Hao boldly guessed: Wu Changhe, who came up as a guard, sitting in the Commander’s Office in a public office with a cushy, idle post—not bad. Like Xue Houxuan, the "flower vase" in the Governor’s Office—not good-looking, but reliable.

But the result? Suddenly dispatched to oversee dozens of cities—could he remain peaceful? The moment trouble arises, a problem’s bound to crop up!

When something goes wrong, it’s easier to deal with him.

If things are as Shen Hao imagines, the Xuanqing Guard’s top brass were probably already planning to distance themselves from Prince Shou last year. Only, with this Tu Kui City incident, they finally got the "knife master" they needed.

While Shen Hao didn’t know the minds of the Xuanqing Guard’s leadership, or the true intentions of Commander Pang Ban—was it simply to sever ties with Prince Shou, or to use this opportunity to cut off relations with all the princes?

Shen Hao assumed Wu Changhe wasn’t just a lone example; further moves were certain to follow.

Moreover, with Wu Changhe imprisoned and investigated, in a core location like Fengri City, no new Thousand Households officer was sent to take charge, nor was anyone promoted internally. Even the temporary assignment wasn’t given to one of the station’s old hands, but to Tang Qingyuan—the one with the shallowest roots and shortest tenure.

Why Tang Qingyuan?

Shen Hao mulled over the question as he returned to his Public Office. He could only think of one possibility: Jiang Cheng was waiting for certain people to make their own statement. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

As for whether Tang Qingyuan could eventually remove the "temporary" tag, Shen Hao didn’t even entertain the idea—it was impossible. Tang Qingyuan had no patron above, no support below; reaching deputy Thousand Households was already thanks to Shen Hao’s influence. Trying to climb further, in theory, simply wasn’t possible. He was just pushed up as a tool this time.

Shen Hao even wondered whether to remind Tang Qingyuan to keep a low profile during this period—avoid making enemies, lest he’s embarrassed in the future.

But timing was key. Otherwise, considering what Shen Hao knew of Tang Qingyuan, he might well be misunderstood.

Bitter medicine isn’t for everyone; not all are willing to swallow it.

He’d just sat down when a notification sounded outside his Public Office—Wang Jian had arrived.

"Sir."

"Sit and let’s talk."

Wang Jian perched on the chair and immediately spoke: "Sir, news from the Imperial City—the target’s residence already has servants starting to clean. It should be put to use at the beginning of next month."

"How are preparations on your end?"

"Everything’s ready—we can make contact anytime. Would you like to take a look?"

Shen Hao thought for a moment and nodded: "Yes. Tomorrow night. I’ll go see the two of them. Right, how’s the investigation on their families going?"

"It’s done. Liu Meng arranged for them to be sent away. There’s someone keeping watch in Pingshun City."

"The documentation?"

"All taken care of. They left under ’meritorious service in exchange for crimes’—they’re no longer registered as slaves."

"Excellent. Tell the people in Pingshun City not to be too strict—these are survivors of catastrophe, they know their limits. And especially now, don’t let anything go wrong."

"Understood, sir. I’ll inform Liu Meng."

Wang Jian reported a few more details before departing. This kid, who’d followed Shen Hao from Li City to Fengri City, now seemed a bit exhilarated. If such a huge plan succeeded, then the name "Wang Jian" would surely be a bold stroke in the Black Water Plan. The credit was easy to imagine.

Afterward, Shen Hao began to write in his Public Office, recording what he’d seen and heard during the Sword Emperor’s Tomb incident in Tu Kui City, along with his opinions for emergency handling of such events. He’d submit it through Black Banner Battalion channels.

Shen Hao’s focus had already shifted away from the Sword Emperor’s Tomb itself—or rather, he didn’t need to report on it. The three Golden Sword Cultivators who entered the tomb had surely reported everything inside and out to their superiors. What Shen Hao wanted to address were issues with the Black Banner Battalion in this incident.

The Black Banner Battalion’s performance in Tu Kui City this time was less than satisfactory—in the end, it came down to strength. They lacked top-tier talent, didn’t have enough information reserves for sudden situations, and overall capability was lacking. Even manpower was insufficient.

Most of these problems can’t be solved overnight, but Shen Hao brought them up. Riding the aftermath of the Sword Emperor’s Tomb incident, he figured he could persuade Jiang Cheng to allocate more resources to build up the Black Banner Battalion.

It’s like pouring water into a pool—as long as the opening’s a bit wider, water accumulates much faster.

This benefits the growth of the entire Black Banner Battalion.

After all, in Shen Hao’s plan, even the early stage of the Black Water Plan required strong martial force for support. Relying on reinforcements from the Governor’s Office obviously wasn’t a long-term solution, nor did it fit his own calculations.