Luoyang was a major transportation hub with roads leading in every direction. Before long, the incident at Peony Pavilion had spread far and wide, becoming common knowledge.
There were two reasons why the news spread so widely in such a short time.
First, just as Duanmu Huai had said, not everyone with the ability to contend for the world was willing to let Cihang Monastery choose the Son of Heaven, but neither did they want to openly oppose Cihang Monastery. Duanmu Huai had so thoroughly disparaged the He Shi Bi Jade, and everything he said was historical fact rather than fabricated nonsense. This greatly weakened the jade's effectiveness in selecting an emperor.
After all, there was only one He Shi Bi Jade, but many people were competing for the world. Thus, they all had the same thought.
If I can't have it, then none of you can have it either. So those overlords hinted that their subordinates should spread the matter far and wide. That way, even if Cihang Monastery gave the He Shi Bi Jade to someone, its influence would be greatly weakened.
Second, Duanmu Huai had directly accused Cihang Monastery of hypocrisy and putting on airs. No matter how grand and righteous their words sounded, in the end, they were still trying to seize the world. Of course, if someone else had said this, it probably would not have had much effect. The problem was that these words had come from Duanmu Huai—and he had truly killed Yang Guang!
If anyone else said it, they could be mocked with, "If you think you can do better, then go ahead." But Duanmu Huai had really done it!
I killed Yang Guang, so of course I can criticize Cihang Monastery for doing nothing but talk and pretending to be benevolent.