Li Sheng didn't speak much with Xu Yi. After completing the handover, he sent two eunuchs to accompany Xu Yi and oversee the setup of Xishan Road.
Xu Yi had thought carefully about why this newly established route had been named Xishan Road. It was probably meant to evoke the sun setting over the western hills—in any case, it certainly wasn't a name chosen to bring him good fortune.
Time slipped by, and before long, more than half a month had passed. The framework of Xishan Road was finally in place. Xu Yi hadn't had a hand in appointing any of its key personnel, from the Road Envoy down to the Tower Masters.
Even the list of former Huisha Tower subordinates he'd wanted to recommend had gone nowhere after he submitted it.
Perhaps word of his killing Lin Fen and the other two had spread. Since taking office as a Road Envoy in name only, he hadn't had a single person show off in front of him. Even Zhong Yang, the Road Envoy assigned to keep him in check, treated him with great courtesy—while secretly paying lip service and doing as he pleased, severely curbing Xu Yi's authority.
All in all, Xu Yi found his work as Road Judge unbearably frustrating.
Fortunately, he'd been prepared for this. He couldn't be bothered to fight for power, so he let Zhong Yang and his men keep a firm grip on the route.
Xu Yi could afford to wait. Chen Bingying couldn't. After holding out for a month or so, he finally got in touch.
Xu Yi figured the time was right, too. Organizing an event seemed worthwhile, so he told Chen Bingying that preparations were already underway on his end and that a major operation was about to begin. He told Chen