The others in the hall exchanged glances upon hearing this. Each had their own thoughts and had roughly guessed the truth. From Yang Chi's scattered remarks, it was not hard to discern his intent.
Meng Qingbin sat in his seat with a smile on his face, watching the scene unfold in the hall. He raised a hand and lightly tapped the table, then laughed. "A person cannot just think himself clever and everyone else a fool. If he truly thinks that way, then he is the fool."
His words sounded like a murmur, but they were not quiet. Almost everyone present could hear them, and quite a few faces changed slightly as they sighed inwardly.
"As expected of a former Grand Chancellor—he dares to say such things!"
"I thought Meng Qingbin had come to vouch for Liu Shi. For such a matter, sending a junior from his household would have sufficed, yet he came personally. Now it seems he clearly came to tear down the stage."
"Still, only Meng Qingbin can say this. Liu Shi is, after all, a ruling minister who controls the affairs of the court and wields the sacred instruments of the realm. That cannot be denied. If someone from a school says something he dislikes, his power may not be enough to suppress the Hundred Schools, but it is enough to suppress a single school. And the court's Dragon Qi is enough to suppress one Daoist Sect, so naturally it can also restrain the Daoist Sect."
"But Meng Qingbin is not among them. He himself comes from the Noble Clans. Nowadays, the noble clans of the Northern Lands have risen through the trade, forging, and other methods left behind by the Marquis of Pacifying the Realm, coupled with the development of mechanisms and crafted devices. The