The officials of Guangzhou Prefecture all waited with their hearts in their throats for the thunderbolt that was Xue Shao to explode. They just did not know where it would burn, or who it would burn.
For the entire morning, the Provincial Administration Commission, the Prefectural Yamen, and the county yamen were all exceedingly quiet. Officials instinctively softened their footsteps as they came and went, afraid that walking too heavily would somehow be a crime and draw Xue Shao's attention.
The military officers from the Provincial Military Commission and the Thousand-Household Offices folded their arms and watched the show. They even went to egg Cao Rong on. "My lord, why not go to the Provincial Administration Commission and watch the fun?"
Cao Rong was amused as well. After thinking it over, he said, "Go if you want, but do not go too far. If you provoke those civil officials, it will not be good when they start putting stumbling blocks in our path later."
The military officers happily agreed and rode toward the Provincial Administration Commission to see the excitement. "It is just about time for lunch. We will treat them to a meal."
Yet when they reached the street where the Provincial Administration Commission stood, before they had even dismounted, they saw a young man standing tall as a pine leaving the commission under the company of Guangzhou Prefect Song Hao, with a string of civil officials behind them.
The military officers exchanged looks. Had things already been smoothed over?
Had they not said that this Xue Shao was upright and incorruptible, a hard bone that would not yield to either soft or hard tactics?
The thought had barely flashed through their minds when several people in short jackets and cropped trousers, dressed in rags and wearing only straw