As one of the Three Elders, Tang Changsheng naturally enjoyed a host of privileges. Legal exemptions aside, his personal safety was a matter of the utmost importance, especially during a meeting of the Elder Council.
Yet someone had come to his door looking for trouble. His status alone was enough to turn away ten thousand challengers.
The young man's face flushed scarlet. Stung by Tang Changsheng's condescending tone, he blurted out, "What's so special about one of the Three Elders? Our Qin family isn't—"
"How dare you! Who are you to slander the Three Elders of Great Chu?" The onlookers erupted in anger.
To become one of the Three Elders, a person first had to hold a noble title, come from a distinguished background, have rendered great service to Great Chu, and be revered by its people.
Because the Three Elders were nobles, they held little direct power in most circumstances. Instead, they represented the highest ideals of Great Chu's culture, bearing, and etiquette. They were the inheritors of Great Chu Attire and stood high in the hearts of most commoners.
So when this man brazenly declared that the Three Elders were nothing special, more than one or two people took offense.
The young man was not ignorant of propriety. The words had slipped out in a fit of anger, and he already knew he had made a grave mistake. But young men were hot-tempered. The onlookers' rebukes, coupled with Tang Changsheng's disdainful expression, only inflamed him further.
Rather than take back what he had said, he raised his voice. "It's true! The Three Elders of Great Chu are nothing but a bunch of hidebound old fossils!"
That was how his family described the Three Elders in private. They were hardly the only ones who spoke of them that way