"Utter madness! We sent people to warn the Flying Cloud Temple long ago not to stir up trouble. I never thought Li Qinghe would still refuse to give up..." Grand Academician Zhang of the Grand Secretariat looked livid as he spoke coldly.
He had been diagnosed with cancer. It was still in its early stages, and surgery had an excellent chance of success. But once he underwent the operation, he would be bedridden for a long time. His seat as a grand academician would not wait for him.
He had long since pinned his only hope on Tang Changsheng's Divine Pill. If anyone was especially invested in this matter—and especially furious—it was him.
Of course, his illness was a closely guarded secret. Once a lion grew old and weak and showed a flaw, the pack would often rush in to tear it apart.
"Li Qinghe is a Grade A ability user, after all, and he took part in that major operation. Perhaps we shouldn't push him too hard..." said someone of a more cautious disposition.
Someone else immediately said in a sinister tone, "Look at the way he and Mr. Tang are bent on fighting to the death. Which of them matters more, Mr. Tang or Li Qinghe..."
He did not need to finish. Everyone had already weighed the two sides. Li Qinghe might be powerful and important, and he might have taken part in a certain top-secret operation.
But he could not refine the Four-Turn Divine Pill. Tang Changsheng could.
That one simple fact had tipped the scales of reason entirely toward Tang Changsheng.
Only children cared about black and white, right and wrong. Adults talked about interests.
For these politicians, that was especially true.
Shi Jianlian, a vice minister of the Ministry of War who held the Military