"Since Magistrate Lu considers himself unable to hear the Revival Society case, who does Prefect Yan believe should hear it?" Fang Yun looked amiably at Yan Wu, the prefect of Taihe Prefecture.
Yan Wu did not answer immediately.
Lu Ming glanced at Yan Wu, a flicker of displeasure crossing his eyes, then turned to Fang Yun, his heart full of respect. He understood that Fang Yun's earlier suggestion that Yan Wu take over had been a deliberate trap. Coupled with this question, it left Yan Wu unable to advance or retreat.
Yan Wu's aim was obvious: keep the trial within Taihe Prefecture. Whatever the verdict, he could steer the outcome in the Qing Kingdom's favor. But now that Lu Ming did not want to hear the case, Yan Wu had to either use his authority as a superior to force Lu Ming to accept it or hear it himself.
Once Yan Wu used his rank to pressure a subordinate, he would be giving Fang Yun a pretext to issue an order in his own capacity as governor-general.
If Yan Wu heard the case himself, Fang Yun would seize any mistake as an opportunity to remove him.
For a governor-general to act unilaterally, nothing else was needed-only a pretext.
Many officials present already understood the meaning behind Fang Yun's words. Some were deeply astonished, even stealing glances around them, suspecting that a seasoned political operator at the level of a minister or even one of the four prime ministers was secretly advising him. However great a person's literary qi, without decades of tempering in officialdom, he could never have said such a thing.
A faint sheen of sweat appeared on Yan Wu's forehead.
The other "Qing Officials" were secretly anxious and wanted to help Yan Wu. But aside from Taihe Prefecture's