Early that morning, Huan Chong went to roll call at the military camp outside the city. After making a few arrangements, he took off his armor, changed clothes, and headed into the city to the Western Expeditionary General's Office, which also served as the Jingzhou governor's public offices.
There was no helping it. When the young messenger had suggested last night that his nephew take over the arrangements, he had merely recognized that Huan Chong was unsuited to organizing the subsequent banquet and such things. It did not mean Huan Chong no longer needed to report.
Indeed, after thinking it over carefully that night, Huan Youzi had concluded that the youth was right. The only eldest son of age in three generations of the Xi Family had come personally to accept a recruitment offer. No amount of attention would be excessive. Rather, a close relative with some political standing, such as himself, needed to act as a proper intermediary to ensure that his eldest brother received accurate information.
Thus, he still went to seek out his eldest brother, Huan Wen, at the earliest opportunity.
But upon reaching the governor's offices and entering the front courtyard, he first encountered a peculiar scene.
A subordinate official of General Huan's headquarters, dressed in red and clearly responsible for carrying messages, lay facedown on the flagstones. Four armored spearmen stood solemnly around him, while two black-clad personal guards pinned down his hands. Two more black-clad guards stood behind him to either side, raising black wooden staves high, only to bring them down past the edges of his clothes and strike the flagstones with loud clacks.
The red-clad official even cooperated, wailing precisely each time a staff hit the ground.
Huan Chong watched for a moment. Though he found it strange, the man being beaten