Lingnan Prefecture, the Prefectural Yamen.
After the imperial edict arrived, messengers had already gone to notify the commanders of the various camps to muster their troops, while Ba Wu sat upright in his chair, carefully studying the very brief edict.
Serving as an official, you need not fear making an occasional mistake, but you had every reason to fear working in the wrong direction.
If the emperor clearly told you to take a shit, but you stood in a corridor and inexplicably slapped yourself instead, that would be a real problem.
So the first skill an official needed was learning to "read the question"-to work out clearly what those above actually wanted you to do.
Beneath the swaying palace lanterns, Ba Wu read the edict carefully three or four times before saying softly to a deputy general, "De Cai, it seems... we need to split our forces."
"My lord, why must we split our forces? His Majesty clearly ordered us to lead our army to Loushan Pass." The deputy general was somewhat puzzled.
Ba Wu carefully put away the edict and said quietly, "The contents of this edict boil down to one thing-protect Little Prince Huai at all costs. Capturing the infiltrators from Great Qian and wiping out the outlaws are not the main priorities. Getting Little Prince Huai safely into the Capital is what matters most. However, His Majesty specifically mentioned that Wang Shantang and I must protect Little Prince Huai without leaving his side, even eating and sleeping together... what do you think that means?"
The deputy general furrowed his brow. "His Majesty places great importance on Little Prince Huai?"
"That is certainly true." Ba Wu slowly rose. "But His Majesty wants the two of us to escort him together without leaving his side because he wants us