As everyone offered advice and laid out detailed plans, Duan Xingbo suddenly rushed in. Before he could say a word, Duan Haiping's face had already darkened.
Duan Xingbo said urgently, "We've received word that all the divisions under the Catching Thieves Division are mustering. That Lei fellow intends to carry out a culling. He clearly means to dig out the grains of sand we've mixed in among them. If he does, we'll be completely blind to what's happening inside the Catching Thieves Division from now on. Father, you need to decide quickly."
Everyone was alarmed. Duan Haiping asked, "When did he show up?"
Duan Xingbo said, "Just now. But the troops from all the divisions were moved to the Fengtai encampment outside the city three days ago. It was ordered by the Ministry of Punishment, supposedly to take a headcount and investigate ghost soldiers on the payroll. That's nothing unusual; the Ministry of Punishment has been working on this lately. Lei Chiyan has chosen this moment to show up, clearly playing the fox by the tiger's might, borrowing the Ministry of Punishment's authority to purge his rivals throughout the Catching Thieves Division. There's nothing else to worry about, but we have to tighten our grip on the middle ranks in the Catching Thieves Division..."
Duan Xingbo was about to launch into another tirade, but Duan Haiping impatiently waved him off. "Enough. I understand. You can go."
"Father!"
Duan Xingbo cried out urgently.
"Can't you understand what I'm saying?" Duan Haiping's voice suddenly rose.
Now that they had already decided to destroy the ancient temple, no one cared about Lei Chiyan's movements anymore. Let him make all the trouble he wanted; they were going straight for the Central Palace.
Once the ancient temple was destroyed, all of Lei Chiyan's efforts would