Outside the palace gates
Just at this moment, guards and officials had already come over.
"Step back at once, and if you stay here any longer, you will be immediately disciplined on record!" As Zhao Xu swept his gaze over them and spoke coldly, upon hearing the words "disciplined on record," the provincial graduates finally felt fear and instantly dispersed.
A few officials looked at each other. Seeing the provincial graduates gradually disperse, and that what might have led to a catastrophe had thus dissipated, the vital breath that Zhao Xu had been using to sustain himself suddenly collapsed, and his legs turned weak, causing him almost to fall.
"Lord Zhao!" Qian Wei cried out in alarm and hurriedly stepped forward to support him.
Zhao Xu barely managed to stand, steadied his mind, and sighed, "Old man that I am, I am getting old!"
Hearing these words, Qian Wei instantly understood that Zhao Xu had the intention of retiring due to age. His heart felt thoroughly unsettled, and his original dissatisfaction and anger toward Zhao Xu also dissipated along with it.
How could Zhao Xu fail to see the change in his attitude? Pointing his finger at the distant provincial graduates, he said, "You are the interrogating official. How do you plan to handle this?"
Although these provincial graduates had dispersed, they had only dispersed temporarily. Because they came to make trouble on the first day, they were not in the right no matter how it was spoken of.
Yet if they could not give these provincial graduates a reasonable answer, they might make trouble once, and there might be a second or third time... By then, it would not be as easy to clean up the mess as it was now.
Naturally, Qian Wei understood this logic as well.