He Shu's words made the air freeze.
Shen Tang's easygoing expression vanished. She fixed He Shu with a solemn gaze. "As a member of a great lineage, you've said something so deranged and outrageous, Family Head He. Can I take it as your pledge of allegiance?"
"Of course—" He Shu's smile stretched out in a curious way as he drawled, his manner enigmatic. "You can't! If this counts as a pledge of allegiance, what would that make me, He? The war was real, the defeat was real, and the fact that I was outmatched was real. But so was the fact that I took the opportunity to eliminate a hidden threat to Lord Shen. Your Lordship, when a decision must be made, you should make it without hesitation."
He Shu's assessment made Shen Tang laugh.
Over the years, she'd only ever heard people say she was too ruthless. No one had ever accused her of being lenient toward the great lineages. And the person making that judgment was a lineage head, which made it hard to know what to say. Confiscating lineage lands and auditing tenant farmers were the harshest blows Shen Tang had struck without flipping the table. Any harsher, and who knew how many people would rise up against her!
A considerable proportion of the officials in Kang's Imperial Court came from great lineages.
The country couldn't function without them. Until people capable of replacing them appeared, she couldn't stab them to death with a single knife.
She was unmoved by He Shu's incitement.
As if! If Shen Tang agreed with He Shu, she wouldn't just be endorsing his future allegiance; she'd also be shouldering the blame for slaughtering the great lineages of Shang Nan Commandery. Once she took on that burden, whenever Shen Tang tried to expand