Lost in thought, he inadvertently turned over, and with this slight movement, Yan Xiaohan surprisingly woke up, asking, “Jingyan?”
“It’s nothing, go back to sleep,” Fu Shen said, pulling the thin quilt higher for him. Yan Xiaohan softly responded, “Mm” and seemed to sink back into sleep. However, shortly after, he opened his eyes again: “Are you sober?”
“Mm,” Fu Shen picked up a strand of his long hair from the pillow, twirling it around his finger, “Don’t mind me, go back to sleep.”
“You’re already awake, what’s the point of me sleeping?” Yan Xiaohan got up, poured two cups of tea, and returned. They silently moistened their throats. Yan Xiaohan lit the lamp and lay back on the bed: “Can you tell me now?”
Fu Shen: “What?”
“The Emperor called you to the palace this afternoon. Was it about the Southwest matter?
“Yan Xiaohan loosely embraced him, “Gu Shanlu also came to see you about the same thing in the evening? Look how worried our Duke is.”
Fu Shen, who hadn’t experienced the Feilong Guard’s head’s skills for many years, was momentarily bewildered: “How do you know? Did I put you in my pocket when I went out?”
“What’s so strange about that,” Yan Xiaohan laughed, “It’s just my old trade.”
Once again, the familiar ability to know everything. The Feilong Guard may have been disbanded, but the original personnel remained. Moreover, after returning to the capital, the imperial guard’s defense was still entirely under Yan Xiaohan’s control, with countless visible and hidden lines already laid out. After the Huangjin Tai assembly, Emperor Chang Tai had grown suspicious of him, and with people like Xue Sheng constantly stirring up trouble, he was no longer as trusting as before. However, the Emperor had limited capable people. Apart from Yan Xiaohan, he couldn’t find anyone else who could command the imperial guards, so he had to continue using him reluctantly.
The consequence of this was akin to inviting a wolf into the house, delivering one’s throat to the enemy’s fangs, with the door closing too late.
