By the time Pan Long returned to Xiangping Prefecture, it was only the end of the chen hour—nearly nine in the morning.
He had left Xiang Duke Temple and greeted the merchants climbing the mountain to worship the God of Wealth just after seven. A fierce battle and a flight back to Xiangping Prefecture had taken less than two hours altogether.
Such was the efficiency of a True Person Grandmaster.
That was why, in a military campaign, if one side had a True Person Grandmaster and the other did not, there was no battle to speak of.
Only when the True Person Grandmasters on both sides kept each other in check, leaving neither free to stir up wind and rain, could the war become a conventional clash between armies.
At the Wind Patrol Office, Pan Long found Shang Man waiting for news.
"Where's Old Tang?" he asked.
"Something came up on Commandant Liu's end. Left Chancellor Tang went over to lend her some support," Shang Man explained. "It's nothing serious, though. She did it on purpose."
Pan Long nodded. He immediately recalled the plan they had drawn up.
According to the plan, Liu Yunqing would clash with a local strongman today. Tang Jingzhe would go first, and Pan Long would follow a little later, one after the other like the Gourd Babies Save Their Grandpa.
This was not gilding the lily. As a Wind-Observing Envoy and one of the Wind Patrol Office's highest-ranking officials in You Province, Pan Long had an image to maintain.
If he rushed over at the slightest trouble, he would look as though he had something to hide.
"My lord, you asked about Old Tang the moment you came in. I take it the trip went smoothly?" Shang Man asked with a smile. "How is the