"The other six departments are responsible for major and important cases, litigation, criminal law, and so on. The three departments together shoulder the duty of overseeing and inspecting official conduct. From this, you can see just how much power this department holds. In any case, Sect Master, your authority this time is immense. If you wield it properly, you'll reap benefits beyond your imagination."
Steward Fang hadn't thrown in his lot with Xu Yi on a whim, much less acted rashly. He had thought it through carefully.
So, over the past month, he had spared no effort and done his homework meticulously. He had ruled out the Tiger Fang Guard, the place Xu Yi was least likely to go, and prepared detailed notes on the staffing, backgrounds, work histories, and notable achievements of the other departments: the Discipline Department, the Household Registration Department, and the Civil Administration Department. He had recorded everything he could find, and the stack of booklets alone was more than a foot thick.
Now, as he explained things calmly and clearly, making the abstruse easy to understand and laying everything out in good order, he swept away most of the thick fog surrounding the Discipline Department for Xu Yi in an instant.
Xu Yi said, "To be honest, everyone says that becoming a Star Official and gaining power will bring abundant cultivation resources. But I haven't felt that much firsthand. Could the so-called resources just be benefits people voluntarily send my way? If so, what I'm doing wouldn't be any different from overseeing official conduct as part of my duties, would it?"
Xu Yi wasn't being high-minded or thinking that accepting bribes was shameful. He was worried someone might use them to ensnare him, so he had no intention of opening that door.
Steward Fang smiled.