Yin Lüe wavered a little. After a moment's silence, he relented:
"Then what do you suggest? Are we supposed to watch Wang Yang's wings grow stronger as he gains power day by day? If we fail to strike first and lose our chance, once his foundations are secure, it'll be hard to touch him..."
Li Dang chuckled inwardly. As though touching him now would be easy. This idiot has served in the Imperial Guard so long he actually thinks he's invincible...
Zhang Ji suggested:
"Why not wait for the Commander of the Guards while having Wang Yi persuade him to disband his troops?"
At the suggestion of approaching Wang Yi, Yin Lüe's expression darkened further:
"You think I haven't approached Wang Yi already...?"
He had sent several groups of men in succession!
Every time, Wang Yi agreed readily enough, but it didn't achieve a damn thing!
Ask him, and he was "pressing the matter"; urge him, and it would be "soon"!
Tell him to issue a chief clerk's order commanding Wang Yang to disband his troops, and he said he was waiting for news from the Jianping Man. The instant it arrived, he would issue the order!
Ask when the news from the Jianping Man would arrive, and he said "soon." Tell him "soon" wasn't good enough, that he couldn't keep dragging this out, and he said he was "pressing the matter."
Pressing the matter wasn't enough. Surely there had to be a time!
There was: soon!
A goddamn closed loop!
Wang Yi had driven Yin Lüe into a shell of despair. He had given up on working through him.
In fact, Yin Lüe wasn't the only one approaching Wang Yi. Officials from the local administration and the Provincial Tribunal had sought him out as well.
Some worried about affairs