The Great Wei Literary Palace.
Tap, tap, tap, tap!
With a flurry of footsteps, the Eight Gates Capital Troops strode swiftly over.
Every soldier wore a cold expression. Armed with square-bladed halberds, sabers, and spears, they surrounded the Great Wei Literary Palace, their faces grim and stern.
Forget a person-not even a fly could escape.
Outside the Literary Palace.
The commoners watched it all unfold, their eyes brimming with excitement. They wished Xu Qingxiao would execute those men on the spot right now.
They meant nothing else by it. Everyone was human. Grand Confucians deserved respect, sure, but shouldn't they also listen to reason?
They had forced Xu Qingxiao to go to the imperial palace and prove his innocence, and he had gone.
They had insisted over and over that Xu Qingxiao practiced Unorthodox Arts. Fine, Xu Qingxiao had explained the circumstances.
Still not satisfied? They insisted on bringing in a Heaven-and-Earth Grand Confucian. Fine again-Xu Qingxiao had obediently let him examine him.
When the examination revealed nothing, they demanded that he prove his innocence at the Literary Palace.
That was fine too. Xu Qingxiao had gone to the Literary Palace.
Once there, Xu Qingxiao had even offered reconciliation. After all, there was no need to make things so bitter. They were all scholars-why make life difficult for one another?
From beginning to end, Xu Qingxiao had never once taken a hard line. Instead, he had remained perfectly cordial.
Nobody was a fool. They knew Xu Qingxiao still respected the Great Wei Literary Palace and these Grand Confucians.
Yet they refused, insisting that Xu Qingxiao prove his innocence.
Fine. Xu Qingxiao had done so. Not only that, even the Sages had sensed his potential to become a future New Sage and bowed to him.
How many people in heaven or