42 Ash 123
Maybe it was because Shuai had a taste for it in the last season but what exactly changed? It had been something he had actively done for quite some time already for years- not that anyone else knew about it or, if they did respected it enough to just play along because he had done a decent job of keeping it under wraps. So maybe that was the change? The accolade to himself for having done something? That would of course be the easiest conclusion to draw from it but no. Shuai was the same old battle junkie he always was and he was not ashamed of it because everyone should be afforded their own vices, the nobles especially should be expected to have some vices; just because they represented the peak of Kalzasi society did not mean they are exempt- just heavily scrutinized in their indulgences. But that was it, was it not? Him indulging in his well known lust, for blood, was indeed scrutinized and seen as something positive instead of the negative he was normally discouraged from.
That in itself was enough of a sign for him to pursue it even more. More blood. More violence. More... bandits? At least those refugees from Zaichaer were good for something, to embolden the bandits to leave their hidey holes for their easy marks. Sort of hypocritical that he would we the both of them and fail to realize the same. Though he looked down on the refugees for good reason as it was a well known fact that those from Zaichaer were taught from young to hate what made up a significant amount of the population of Kalzasi, Shuai included, he too had since the inception of the project of Chisuo the last season heavily exploited and seeked out the easy marks among the refugees for his own House's profit. That said, his actions were not too bad... The bandits were the dregs of society taking down everyone else with them. Shuai at least tries to uplift those poor refugees, as was the mission of Chisuo.
And its desires. To help. Which was the excuse for him to take with him some of the house guards for a jaunt towards the border between Kalzasi and Zaichaer, and back. The change of scenery would be good for him after being stuck in the office for so long... was an excuse which definitely would not fly eventhough he knew that some of the guards which volunteered to go with him felt the same. No, as he had been working with plenty of refugees since the previous season he only had to talk about their feelings on the matter, of them being refugees, and cite the increasingly distressing reports of the dangerous roads which despite the foot traffic and patrols still had a significant amount of bandit attacks for the travelers.
"You reckon its because its getting colder so they are just getting their goods for winter?" Funny because that was the reason why Shuai felt he needed to have his fun in the Ash. Frost would very likely mean not only would he not have the chance to venture forth but also that he would not have the desire to. "A quick trip then," and one which was easily planned out in no small part thanks to how the news travelled through the refugees and then from those refugees to him. "We'll hit this route, stop by here, here and here over the nights. Here's the highest concentration of them from what I heard so we'll actually set up camp, stay for about three days, then return. Even if we don't run into any bandits out presence should make them think the roads aren't safe for them and they'll reduce their activities. You men have four days to prepare. Lets do it!" Shuai said in his hopefully rousing briefing to the house guards.