After Lu Quanan finished speaking, the office fell silent.
Yi Yang sat in the round-backed chair, his expression unchanged, but his mind began rapidly weighing the two choices.
One intervention.
And an intervention by the Chief Inspector himself, at that.
The reward sounded impractical, as though Lu Quanan were painting him a grand feast he would never get to eat.
Unlike the first option, it did not lay promotions, rank, and wealth out on the table in black and white. Most people hearing such an offer from Lu Quanan would probably think he was fobbing them off.
But Yi Yang felt the second option was far better than the first.
He shifted slightly in the round-backed chair, resting his right hand on his knee, his thumb unconsciously rubbing the seam of his trousers.
The first path was to report this matter to Qingzhou City.
Truthfully, this did seem like the way to maximize his gains. Qingzhou City was the higher authority governing the entire province. Any one of its important figures could press down on Suining Prefecture until it could hardly breathe.
If his achievements were submitted—five Incense Masters, a century-old stronghold, and a Centennial Family colluding with the enemy—they would make an impressive record anywhere. If some important figure took a liking to Yi Yang and recruited him to work in Qing Province, he would ascend to the heavens in a single step, soaring straight into the clouds.
But Yi Yang had never had any faith in his luck.
For the first sixty years of his life, he had not even been qualified to practice martial arts. He could figure out how much fate favored him with his toes.
Even taking a step back, supposing the rewards did come down, what could Qing Province give him?
Silver? He had