"Squeak, squeak!!" Little Fox had been staring up at him all along, and that single glance scared her fur straight up.
Su Ziji had no time to comfort her. He called out directly, "Guards!"
"Your subordinate is here!" A residence soldier immediately stepped out and answered in a deep voice.
"Check who left within the past half hour."
"Yes!"
Su Ziji watched the man go, pondering for a long while before sighing. "My foundation is still too shallow."
Back when he had arrived in the Capital City from Linhua County, he could truly be said to have had nothing. Apart from Wild Daoist, he had no trusted confidants at all.
Later, when he was granted the title of Marquis of Dai, Duke of Dai, and even Prince Dai, he had been permitted to establish his own guard and open his own office.
Establishing a guard meant founding one's personal guards, while opening an office meant establishing one's own administrative staff. In ancient times, establishing a guard and opening an office had been privileges reserved for ministers of immense authority; later, only princes and marquises could do so.
For anyone who was not a prince or marquis, establishing a guard and opening an office was a capital crime.
It was, of course, an immense honor, but at the time, he simply could not find anyone he could trust.
He could only recruit former members of the Crown Prince's Residence in the name of "filial piety." They were not only relatively trustworthy, but it also earned him a good reputation and carried the implication of "answering the question"—that he was inheriting the Crown Prince's legacy.
Yet even so, many people had still been planted among them.
"No wonder everyone uses household-born servants. It isn't merely favoritism toward one's own; outsiders really are