But once his anger had run its course and he carefully pieced things together, Kuang Wenyuan realized the problem was serious. He had come to force Xu Yi to handle the South Mountain conflict, not to arrest him. Xu Yi's defiance of his superior was certainly a grave taboo in officialdom, and punishing him for insolence would have been perfectly justified.
The key was that he had a grand plan: to destroy Xu Yi completely, step by step—not to toss him into the Court Prison for a while, give him a slap on the wrist, and then let him out. Was this really punishing Xu Yi, or helping the bastard dodge disaster? He suddenly realized he might have been played.
And the more he turned it over in his mind, the more bitterness he tasted. He had acted on impulse—truly, he had. It was like an eighty-year-old mother giving birth to a child feet first: how was it that he could never keep his temper in check in front of this bastard? "Lord Chief Censor, that was rash. Far too rash." Lu Yuan's voice reached him through their thoughts.
Kuang Wenyuan swept his hand through the air. "Lu Yuan, Zhang Beiyue, stay behind. The rest of you, get out! You're good for nothing but making a mess. The Traveler Department has produced a shameless lunatic like Xu Yi, and not one of you has looked into your own hearts to ask why? Get back and reflect on your failures!" His fury was now directed entirely at Jiang Yushu and the other junior officials.
Jiang Yushu and the others hurriedly withdrew, but their hearts were pounding with excitement, their blood boiling. They had waited years to see a spectacle like this, something that happened only in the tales and legends. They