Not only had Wu City stood firm as molten gold for many years, but Wu Qi had also taken its elite troops away. Even the garrison soldiers atop the walls had long since grown lax and weary, paying little mind to defensive duties.
Especially after Wu Qi left, some of the city's guards would hide away in corners to eat, drink, and make merry during the hours when they should have been patrolling.
This was only natural. By all reason, even if enemies truly came, these men would not be the ones to spot them first. From Qing Province to the Southern Wasteland, watchtowers lined the entire route. If enemies appeared, beacon smoke would rise at once. There was simply no way for anyone to creep silently up to the city.
Most of the soldiers guarding the city were also the overlooked sons of powerful local clans, sent here merely to gild their résumés. After serving a few years, they would go on to receive promotions.
Wu Qi was not in a position to stop such things either. He could only pretend not to know.
Over all this long time, the relationships within the city had already become as tangled as climbing branches. Of all the powerful clans, which one was not tied to the Wu Family by marriage or kinship?
It was not that he could not deal with them if he wished to, but doing so would damage too much goodwill.
They were merely unimportant posts. If they were given away, then so be it. He still held the truly critical positions firmly in his own hands.
For instance, the unit responsible for opening and closing the city gates consisted entirely of Wu clansmen of spotless background. Outsiders could not lay a finger on it.
Thus, for several