General Ashina said, "His Majesty should have already appointed a new Protector-General of Anxi. By the time we return to Xizhou, the Protector-General of Anxi should have arrived as well."
In fact, the new Protector-General of Anxi was still in the capital at this moment. He had only received the imperial decree yesterday, bid farewell to friends and family today, and was planning to set out tomorrow.
Because the war was urgent and the distance between the two places too great, news lagged behind; no one knew what the situation in Xizhou was now. So he could not tarry. For this posting to the Western Regions he would not bring his family, only intend to take some guards and household retainers to assume office.
He had just finalized the people who would go with him when an imperial attendant came to relay a decree: "Lord State Duke, His Majesty has arranged a family banquet in the palace and has summoned you to enter the palace to share a simple meal."
